UN Climate Change Conference opens in Bali: delegates hope to frame successor to Kyoto Treaty

The UN Conference on Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia opens today.

Participants at the ten day long conference hope to frame a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Accord, which expires in 2012.

The leading greenhouse gas emitter, China, was exempted from the Kyoto agreement and the second-largest, the US, did not sign. The third-largest emitter, Indonesia, is host to the UN conference.

There have been extensive global preparations for Bali.

Last month in Singapore, ASEAN members signed a declaration at the ASEAN climate change conference in which the 10 member nations pledged to support the UN climate change in Bali In December. The declaration also pledged the members to work cooperatively to promote the use of renewable and alternative sources of energy including solar, wind, hydro and biofuels.

In other pre-Bali preparation, the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) group met in October with Bali on the agenda, while a two-day conference of the 17 “Heavy Smoker” major polluting nations ended with disappointment over President George Bush’s call for voluntary emission targets set by each individual country.

The British climate envoy called the US “isolated” and the South African Environment Minister said “the US needs to go back to the drawing board”.

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