COP-6 Part II: The Bonn Agreement

Governments attending COP-6 Part II sought to conclude negotiations on the details of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which were left unfinished at the previous COP-6 session in The Hague. A high-level ministerial session was held midway through the resumed conference to reach a political agreement on key outstanding issues. In order to secure agreement without the U.S., which had indicated its opposition to the Protocol prior to the negotiations, Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk, the President of COP-6, presented a compromise proposal aimed at satisfying the "Umbrella Group" countries, particularly Japan, Russia, Canada and Australia. The support of these countries was considered crucial since, given the lack of U.S. participation, ratification by a combination of these four would be necessary for the Protocol to enter into force.

Following round-the-clock discussions, ministers concluded the "Bonn Agreement" on Monday, July 23. The Bonn Agreement resolved a number of longstanding debates, including many of the rules for implementing the Protocol's three market-based mechanisms (JI, CDM and IET). These included "supplementarity" (the extent to which Annex I Parties must use domestic actions versus actions abroad to meet their commitments) and eligibility for nuclear power and carbon "sinks" projects. Discussions also resulted in a Political Declaration by the EU, Canada, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland on funding assistance for developing countries.

With the exception of the U.S., delegates from nearly 180 countries welcomed the Agreement as a critical step in international efforts to address climate change. Many countries indicated that the Bonn Agreement provided the certainty they need to begin the process of ratification of the Protocol, or at least a process leading to a ratification decision. However, the Bonn Agreement puts the U.S. and the rest of the world, at least temporarily, on two separate tracks. While the U.S. has been pressured to produce an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol, none has yet been offered.

Following the Bonn Agreement, negotiators spent the remainder of the week elaborating its details in decision texts on each issue. Although this process produced consensus documents on issues relating to finance for developing countries, Parties could not reach agreement on detailed legal language addressing the Kyoto mechanisms, carbon sinks and compliance. As a result, negotiations will continue at COP-7 in Marrakech, Morocco.

Detailed coverage of specific issues contained in the "Bonn Agreement," as well as the outstanding issues likely to be completed at COP-7, can be found by following the links at the left.

For information on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol negotiations from COP-1 through COP-6, see the Compendium's Backgrounder

For information on COP-6, through the resumed session see, Climate Change Negotiations Since COP-6.