What was once the Kyoto Protocol is now the Bali Roadmap. The United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Bali, Indonesia last week with 10,000 people in attendance, representing 180 countries. What came out of it was a “new negotiating process” to be called the “Bali Roadmap.” The negotiating process is to be concluded by 2009, leading to an international agreement on climate change after 2012.
It has been 10 years since the United States rejected the Kyoto Protocol. The United States was under tremendous pressure on this go-round to stand with the international community on creating an action plan. In the end none of the allies who stood with the US two weeks ago—Canada, Australia, and Russia—were willing to defend the US stance and the US finally agreed to join the consensus. The result was the “Bali Roadmap.”
The Roadmap states that the negotiations slated to take place over the next two years must have a set end date (2009)—an interesting outcome demonstrating the intention of the world community to wait out the Bush administration.
What Was Won, What Was Lost
The agreement sets no hard limits on emissions, as sought by the European Union, and refused by the US. It breaks down the wall separating large and small economies, rich and poor nations, and “developing and developed” countries to a greater extent but allows for separate responsibilities. It also forced the hand of the Bush administration by pushing negotiations forward on two tracks: one for those countries, like the US, who are not committing to mandatory limits on emissions, and a second track building on the Kyoto Protocol. This keeps the Kyoto Protocol alive.
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