Communication from the Commission to the Council concerning the negotiations on a Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol
Date: 2009-05-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU relations, UN convention, climate change, environmental policy, greenhouse effect, reduction of gas emissions

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 20.5.2009 
COM(2009) 249 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

concerning the negotiations on a Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention 
on Climate Change and an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol  

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

concerning the negotiations on a Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention 
on Climate Change and an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol  

Negotiation for the future international climate regime are on-going in two parallel working 
groups under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto 
Protocol:  the  Ad  Hoc  Working  Group  on  Long-term  Cooperative  Action  under  the 
Convention  (AWG-LCA),  and  the  Ad  Hoc  Working  Group  on  Further  Commitments  for 
Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP). 

The Community and the Member States are committed to reach a global and comprehensive 
climate agreement in Copenhagen in December 2009. Such an agreement could take different 
legal forms. For instance, it could be a wide-ranging amendment of the Kyoto Protocol or a 
new  Protocol under the UNFCCC.  A  combination  of  instruments – binding and non-legally 
binding - is also possible.  

Procedural requirements need to be fulfilled for a legally binding agreement to be adopted in 
Copenhagen.  The  text  of  any  proposed  protocol  or  amendment  needs  to  be  proposed  by  a 
Party at least six months before the meeting in Copenhagen (the '6 months rule').  

A  raft  of  Parties'  submissions  reached  the  UNFCCC  secretariat  by  the  end  of  April.  One  of 
them, a proposal for a new Protocol under the UNFCCC by Japan, fulfils the 6 months rule 
under the UNFCCC. It is therefore possible to adopt a new Protocol under the Convention in 
Copenhagen. So far, no other formal proposal has been put forward under the Kyoto Protocol. 
To  ensure  that  also  the  adoption  of  a  wide-ranging  amendment  of  that  Protocol  remains 
possible, the Commission proposes that, at the forthcoming 8th meeting of the AWGKP (1-12 
June 2009), in the absence of adequate proposals from other Parties: 

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the  Community  and  the  Member  States  put  forward  a  wide-ranging  amendment  to 
the  Kyoto  Protocol  for  adoption  at  COP15  in  Copenhagen,  in  accordance  with 
Article 20 of the Kyoto Protocol; 

the  content  of  the  proposed  amendment  could  be  a  combination  of  the  latest 
negotiating  texts  presented  by  the  chairperson  of  the  AWGKP  and  the  latest 
submissions  sent  by  the  Community  and  the  Member  States  to  the  UNFCCC 
Secretariat; 

the  Community  and  the  Member  States  state  that  this  proposal  is  made  in  order  to 
fulfil the procedural requirements for a new protocol and amendment to be adopted 
at COP15 and is without prejudice to their final position in the negotiations.  

The  Community  and  the  Member  States  should  cooperate  closely  at  COP15,  and  in  the 
preparatory  meetings  thereof,  to  ensure  that  any  legal  instrument  to  be  adopted  at  COP15 
fulfils the objectives laid out in Council conclusions adopted on 3 March 2009 and in further 
conclusions adopted in view of COP 15 

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