John Myers Jr., Staff ReporterMONTREAL, Canada:
A 'RULE book' governing the specific legal guidelines to which signatories to the Kyoto Protocol must adhere has been established at the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Montreal, Canada.
The U.N. Climate Change Conference is the first meeting of the 157 countries that signed to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.
The Kyoto Protocol "rule book" is an essential part of measures being taken by the UN to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions which has been considered as a major factor influencing climate change.
In addition to establishing the 'rule book', a clean development mechanism that compensates industrialised countries when they provide aid to developing countries like Jamaica to implement sustainable development projects, has also been established.
Stephane Dion, chairman of the conference and Canada's Minister of Environment, has described the establishment of the 'rule book' as an historic step. "This is an historic step. The Kyoto Protocol is now fully operational," he said on Wednesday.
JOINT SUPERVISORY BOARD
The 157 parties to the Kyoto Protocol have also established a Joint Supervisory Board that would allow developed countries to invest in other developed countries to earn allowances for assisting in reducing carbon emissions which they can use to implement measures to meet the UN's emission reduction targets.
Richard Kinley, acting head of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat said this has now made it valuable for developed countries to assist in sustainable development and meet the emission reduction targets. "Carbon now has a market value.
Under the clean development mechanism, investing in projects that provide sustainable development and reduce emissions makes sound business sense," he said.
The protocol came into effect in February of this year and dictates the emission reduction targets that each signatory must meet from 2008 to 2012. The conference started on November 28 and will end on December 9.
