Maria da Graça Carvalho, member of the ITRE Committee in the European Parliament, was a part of the European Parliament delegation to the COP18 in Doha. COP finished after 2 weeks of meetings and 48 hours of continual negotiations. "The results obtained - named The Doha Gateway - represent a balanced, sustainable pathway to the drawing up of a more substantial pact in 2015 to be applied in 2020," says MEP Carvalho.
The Doha Gateway involved decisions on the Kyoto Protocol, on the Long Term Action Plan, on Climate Financing and on the Durban Platform.
Second Commitment Period for the Kyoto Protocol. The first commitment period of the Protocol expires the 31 December of this year. The second commitment period will last 8 years. However, Russia, Japan and Canada will not join while the US was never part of Kyoto. The developing countries, for their part, are under no obligation to cut their emissions. MEP Carvalho comments "the countries that signed up to Kyoto 2 represent only 15% of global emissions. In spite of this, the decision was important as the Kyoto Protocol represents the only existing legal binding agreement to fight climate change".
Long term action under the Convention - Bali Action Plan. This work stream was closed and the processes merged with other work streams. For MEP Carvalho "this is a positive development from the procedural point of view, as the UNFCCC negotiations process is extremely complex with many working groups working in parallel. This complexity is one of the causes of the slow pace of progress in the negotiations".
Climate Financing. In the opinion of MEP Carvalho, "financing was a crucial issue during the COP. Developing countries will be able to claim additional funds from the Aid to Development funds devoted to adaptation and mitigation. The announcement of extra fund commitments on the part of the UK and Germany followed by the EU and other countries also facilitated the final agreement." Some new ground has been covered in the final texts: and, in particular, Loss and Damage. The US and the EU have opposed the introduction of this concept in the texts emanating from the negotiations. MEP Carvalho states "we have opened a Pandora's Box. The inclusion of this concept in the texts means that industrialised countries will now be financially responsible for the loss and damage caused by severe climate phenomena such as hurricanes and floods."
Durban Platform. Maria da Graça Carvalho considers that "The Durban Platform represents an opportunity to combat climate change with all countries on board, correcting the distortions introduced by the Kyoto Protocol. Nevertheless, she believes that a distinction should be made between different developing countries and that greater efforts should be made to introduce flexibility and various mechanisms that will allow industrial competitiveness and climate policy to go ahead in tandem. This being said, the agreement in Doha with regard to the Durban Platform remains vague and is excessively concerned with calendar and procedural issues. Europe, for its part, should prepare a solid proposal that takes on board not only climate concerns but also questions of industrial competitiveness and the security of energy supply. The EU should present the main principles of the future agreement in the next COP, one that will return to Europe with the next event having been scheduled to take place in Warsaw".