Nairobi Climate Change Conference Outcomes

The Nairobi Climate Change Conference has been a success and Canada is pleased to have contributed.

A Better Future Approach

• Review of the Kyoto Protocol -- Kyoto Parties are preparing for the future. They agreed to begin a review of the Kyoto Protocol, to determine what has worked and what has not, so that improvements can be made.
  • This work will begin now, and continue to 2008. The work will help set the stage for a more effective future agreement, including the possibility for more participants, so that further reductions in greenhouse gases can be achieved.
• Future Commitments for Annex I Countries -- Countries like Canada, who have commitments under Kyoto, agreed to a comprehensive work plan to help inform the development of future commitments for the post-2012 period.
  • This agreement arose from discussions under Article 3.9 of the Kyoto Protocol, which states that Annex 1 countries have to start this work now. This is so that commitments can be in place by 2012, when the second commitment period of the Protocol begins. The first stage of this work will be completed in 2007.
• Increasing international participation -- Kyoto Parties agreed to consider how to simplify joining the Protocol to help countries who want to join the Protocol voluntarily and take on commitments.
• Together, these decisions set a forward path for a more effective and inclusive future agreement post 2012.

Adaptation

• At the Nairobi Conference, countries established the Nairobi Work Programme on Adaptation, which will provide valuable information to countries on how to reduce the risks of climate change impacts, particularly those who are the most vulnerable.
• Progress was also made on setting up an Adaptation Fund, which will provide support to developing countries to undertake on the ground projects, such as crop diversification and water management.

Technology Transfer

• Parties agreed to a one-year extension of the Expert Group on Technology Transfer, which develops products on issues such as innovative financing, capacity building and technologies for adaptation

Relationship-building

• The Nairobi Conference offered opportunities for relationship building with important countries, such as China (technology transfer), the European Union and the United Kingdom (emissions trading systems)