The second Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) met in July 1996 to review the policy of the IPCC report, progress made by parties toward meeting existing commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and measures for strengthening future commitments. The first Conference of the Parties, held in Berlin in April 1995, had concluded that the current commitment of industrialized countries-to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000-is not adequate. Consequently, the conference adopted the "Berlin Mandate," which established a process for strengthening the commitments of the industrialized countries. An ad hoc group is negotiating a protocol or other appropriate legal instrument to be adopted at the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties, scheduled for 1997.
The 1995 IPCC report added greater impetus to the negotiations on emission reduction targets. It also highlighted the need for further scientific assessment. At the February meeting of the FCCC subsidiary committees, some countries asked the IPCC to prepare regionally oriented analyses of climate change, to help identify predicted impacts in specific areas of the world (Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Vol. 12, No., 26; hereafter, ENB). Others have asked for an analysis of the projected social and economic effects of specific proposals for new emission reduction commitments.
At the March 1996 meeting of the Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate, the IPCC Chair, Bert Bolin, pointed out that various options are available to achieve 10 percent to 30 percent reductions of greenhouse gas emissions at little or no cost (ENB, VoI. 12, No. 27). He also concluded that the economies of all countries could benefit from the implementation of policies and measures to mitigate climate change (ibid.). Available options include increased use of such renewable energy sources as wind and solar power, reduced consumption of energy through efficiency and conservation and use of non-fossil fuels. Many feasible measures have not been instituted because of political and economic barriers. The representative of the Marshall Islands argued that it is inappropriate for some countries to focus on the economic costs of reducing oil revenues when other countries are threatened with complete inundation from rising sea levels (ibid.).
From A Global Agenda: Issues Before the 51st General Assembly of the United Nations, (excerpt from Environment and Sustainable Development, by Gail V. Karlsson). Copyright 1996 by the United Nations Association of the United States of America. Published by University Press of America, Inc.
