ECO has a full meal waiting for you just here: we have some good news, some bad news, and to finish, a paradox.
The good news is that our host, Poland, has finally ratified the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol. Together with the Cook Islands, Guinea-Bissau, St. Lucia, Togo, Tonga, and Uruguay, the other recent ratifiers, this brings the total number of ratifications up to 122.
The bad news, however, is that this is not yet enough: in order for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (KP2) to enter into force 22 more countries are needed.
And that’s where the paradox comes in. We find well over 22 ratification candidates among some of the countries and groups which most frequently raise the issue of the urgent need for Doha ratification and pre-2020 action. Even Qatar, the birthplace of the Doha Amendment at COP18, has not ratified it yet. What signal does that send to future hosts and presidencies?
It is worth noting that KP2 entry into force will make it possible to hold developed countries to their pre-2020 commitments, and that failure to ratify and implement the KP2 sets a worrying precedent for the Paris Agreement. It’s been six years, Parties. It’s past time to walk the talk.
ECO strongly suggests you use our helpful table below as input to your interventions and discussions at today’s technical part of the Pre-2020 Stocktake, and especially at Monday’s high-level event.
It’s a shame that only 122/192 countries have ratified KP2 ! This is a bad signal for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Maybe countries that have not ratified feel they have been fooled by KP1 ! Given the way the carbon market has been managed. They have loosed confidence.