*EPF302 08/30/00
Text: Delegates to Discuss Climate Change Treaty in Lyon
(Seek to finalize preparations for ministerial talks in The Hague) (800)

Delegates from some 150 countries will meet in Lyon, France, from September 11-15 to finalize the operational details of a climate change treaty prior to the ministerial-round of negotiations to be held at The Hague in the Netherlands in November.

According to a United Nations press release issued August 29, a consensus among governments between now and November on the key issues of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol is needed to trigger the necessary ratification to allow the protocol to enter into force.

The protocol would require developed countries to reduce their collective greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, by 5 percent compared to 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012.

Some of the key issues to be discussed by the delegates in Lyon include the participation of developing countries in efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions; the transfer of technology to developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change; the creation of rules that take into account so-called "sinks," such as forests that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; and the establishment of a regime for monitoring the compliance of developed countries to their targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Following is the text of the press release:

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PRESS RELEASE

Lyon talks to set stage for major climate change conference

Bonn - Government delegates from some 150 countries will convene in Lyon, France from 11-15 September to finalize preparations for the ministerial-level round of climate change negotiations to be held in The Hague in the Netherlands in November.

The Lyon talks take place under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol - the global agreement to minimize risks associated with climate change. Consensus between governments on key issues between now and November is expected to trigger the necessary ratification to allow the Kyoto Protocol to enter into force.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin will address the conference at its opening on Monday, 11 September. Dignitaries from other countries will include Jan Szyszko, President of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and former Environment Minister of Poland, and Jan Pronk, Dutch Environment Minister and President-designate of The Hague conference.

Michael Zammit Cutajar, Executive Secretary of the Convention, calls Lyon "a political opportunity to disentangle and thin out the negotiating issues on the table. Momentum towards consensus could be generated in Lyon by initial agreements on the North-South axis of negotiation under the Convention. These could recognize the vulnerability of developing countries, enhance their response capacity and provide incentives to shift their economic growth onto a climate-friendly path. They are the necessary ingredients in the package that will go before the Parties to the Convention in November that will ultimately determine if the Kyoto Protocol is to enter into force as a credible instrument of environmental protection and sustainable development."

Other key Convention issues relate to the transfer of technology and the special concerns of developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change or to the economic impacts of emission reduction measures by developed countries.

Also on the agenda are Kyoto Protocol issues such as the establishment of accounting methods for national emissions and their reduction, creation of rules that take into account the carbon stored in forestry "sinks", establishment of a compliance regime for monitoring implementation as well as the agreement on procedures for the operation of the Clean Development Mechanism and the emissions trading systems.

The Lyon talks will encompass the 13th sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation. These meetings are preceded by one week of informal workshops and discussions.

More than 2,000 participants are expected, including government delegates, representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations as well as the business community. Formal meetings will be complemented by 35 side events organized by non-governmental and other organizations.

The Kyoto Protocol (1997) will enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 55 Parties to the Convention, including developed countries and those with economies in transition representing at least 55% of the total of 1990 carbon dioxide emissions from this group. So far, the Protocol has been signed by 83 governments and the European Community but only 23 countries, all developing, have ratified. The United States accounts for 36.1% of carbon dioxide emissions, the European Union for 24.2%, and Russia for 17.4%.

Information about UNFCCC can be accessed on the Internet at the following address: http://www.unfccc.int

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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