COP17 Durban - Key achievements

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne, who led the UK delegation at COP17 in Durban, gave a statement to the House of Commons on Monday 12 December on the outcomes of the Conference. The key points of the statement are summarised below. You can read the full statement on the DECC website.

In conclusion, Chris Huhne said:

"The Durban conference represents a significant step forward. It has re-established the principle that climate change should be tackled through international law, not through national voluntarism. It has persuaded the major emerging economies to acknowledge, for the first time, that their own emissions commitments will have to be legally bound.

"It has encouraged all countries, also for the first time, to admit that their current climate policies must be strengthened. It has established the Green Climate Fund to support the poorest countries in tackling and responding to climate change.

"And it has preserved the invaluable legal framework of the Kyoto Protocol, while at the same time opening the path to a new, more comprehensive and more ambitious global agreement. It was a clear success for international cooperation.

"We still have much to do. Durban alone will not limit global warming to 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels. But we have taken a clear and vital step toward our goal."

The Durban platform

The talks resulted in the adoption of the 'Durban Platform' – a roadmap to a global legal agreement applicable to all parties. Negotiations for the new agreement, to begin early in 2012, are to conclude as early as possible and not later than 2015. The commitments in the new agreement will take effect from 2020.

This was accompanied by an agreement to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol from 2013, thus preserving the 'Kyoto architecture' – the rules and legal framework for managing emissions.

Emissions reduction

The conference explicitly recognised the global gap between countries’ existing emissions reduction pledges out to 2020, and the global goal of limiting average temperature increases  to below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels. It launched a work programme for ratcheting up ambition, a process which will be reinforced by a forthcoming review of the scientific evidence.

Green Climate Fund

The conference also resolved to establish the Green Climate Fund to support policies and activities in developing countries. A work programme will be established to look at sources of long-term finance for developing countries, with the aim of mobilising at least $100 billion per year by 2020.

'Coalition of high ambition'

As well as substantial diplomatic and technical outcomes, the Durban conference saw a highly significant political realignment. More than 120 countries formed a ‘coalition of high ambition’ in support of a roadmap to a global legally binding deal. Many African and Latin American states, the group of least developed countries, and the Alliance of Small Island States joined with the EU to argue for the roadmap to a new agreement. This realignment has laid a firm political foundation, grounded in common interest, on which we can build future achievements.

Other developments

Progress was made on several other parts of the international climate regime, including:

• reporting guidelines for developed and developing countries;
  
• the creation of the Adaptation Committee, which will provide advice and ensure coherent action on adaptation;
  
• the establishment in 2012 of the Technology Executive Committee, to facilitate the development of low-carbon technologies;
  
• further details of the framework for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation;
  
• and a process for establishing new market-based mechanisms to deliver effective reductions in emissions at least cost.