The got very serious in Marrakech

2001/11/12 Mendiburu, Joana - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Klima
• Ingurumena

The summit began with the hope that the Kyoto Protocol would be launched once and for all, but until the last moment the heaviness was imposed. However, after long hours of inactivity, the 180 countries reached an agreement thanks to the proposal of the European Union. The central point of the Kyoto Protocol for 2008-2012 is that developed countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2%

The members of Marrakech initially believed that the agreement would be reached without major problems, but things were very different. Japan, Canada and Russia, among others, put on the table a series of unacceptable demands and until the last hour were without the right solution. In addition, after all the rumor that hid the hand of the United States opened.

Japan has been the first to step back. He expressed his intention not to comply with the mechanisms established by the Kyoto protocol to sanction excess gas emissions. To a certain extent it could be said that he wants to be in Kyoto but without serving penalties. On the other hand, they argued that it is very difficult to determine the capacity of their forests to absorb greenhouse gases, and that they will not provide the Control Committee with this type of data. In the end, after long hours of debate, Japan has backed down.

Russia asked it to review the amount of gas its forests absorb. In the Bonn agreement in July, the discount on Russian launches was set at 17.5 megatonnes, but Russia said the discount should be higher. The European Union has accepted the question of questioning some calculations and reviewing the discount. So the discount has doubled.

Thanks to this agreement, the Kyoto protocol will be launched next year, but many scientists are not optimistic because they do not forget that the United States has not participated in these agreements.