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25 Envtl. Pol'y & L. 144 (1995)
The First Conference of the Parties

handle is hein.journals/envpola25 and id is 144 raw text is: ENVIRONMLENTAL POLICY AND LvAw, 25/4/5 (1995) UNITED NATIONS ACTIVITIES I UN/Convention on Climate Change | The First Conference of the Parties by Sebastian Oberthflr / Hermann Ott * The first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) took place in Berlin from 28 March to 7 April 1995. By the end of March 1995, 127 countries and the European Community had ratified the Convention. For 117 countries and the European Community the Convention had entered into force by the end of the session, all but one of these Parties to the Convention were represented. In addition, more than 50 States took part as observers together with almost 200 observer organizations (UN specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and nongovernmental organizations). Furthermore, more than 2000 journalists were registered at the Berlin Summit. All in all, around 4,000 participants followed the conference proceedings. During the meeting, the COP was addressed, inter alia, by the heads of UNEP, Mrs. Elisabeth Dowdeswell, of UNDP, James Gustave Speth, by the then Chairman of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), the former German environment minister Klaus Tdpfer, and by the German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. All of them called for further measures to combat climate change. Of particular importance was the speech by the German Chancellor who was the only Head of State addressing the Conference. He demonstrated leadership by stressing the need for a protocol on greenhouse gas emissions reductions and reiterated that Germany was committed to reach a 25 per cent reduction of CO2 emissions from 1990 levels by the year 2005. The Conference had been prepared during six sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) for a Framework Convention on Climate Change' - the same body that was in charge of negotiating the Convention, opened for signature at the June 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Lengthy negotiations had thus preceded the Berlin Climate Summit for two and a half years. Nevertheless, the COP failed to adopt a reduction protocol for the time after the year 2000. Important issues like the Rules of Procedure and the extension of existing commitments after the year 2000 were left unresolved. However, the decision to negotiate a protocol or other legal instrument until COP 3 in 1997 is precise and strong enough to call the Conference a good start. * Sebastian Oberthur: Geselilschaft fur Politikanalyse, Berlin; Hermann Ott: Staff Lawyer, Climate Policy Division, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. Adequacy of Commitments: The Berlin Mandate According to Article 4.2 (d) FCCC the first Conference of the Parties had to review whether the current comm it- ments under Art.4.2(a) and (b) of the Convention are adequate to reach its objective. This objective is spelled out in Art.2, i.e. the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level which would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. A second review will take place no later than 1998. As experience in other environmental regimes shows, these review clauses have a great potential to support their dynamic evolution.2 Three ways of developing the Convention further can be distinguished. First, the Convention itself could be amended. An amendment could enter into force after adoption and ratification by three-fourths of the Parties (Article 15), This option would have the disadvantage of re-opening the carefully balanced compromise package arrived at before Rio. Second, the climate change regime could be developed by decisions and declarations of the Parties to the Convention. Some of these instruments would, however, lack the necessary legally binding nature for this purpose. Third, the Convention could be complemented by one or several protocols. Protocols are legally binding instruments which can be designed so as to be flexible enough to be adapted to changing circum- stances as the need arises. International negotiations on the adequacy of commit- ments started no sooner than at INC 9 in February 1994. By INC 10, held in Geneva in August/September 1994, consensus emerged among OECD countries that the commitments currently included in the Convention are not adequate. The great majority of OECD countries appeared to support negotiating one comprehensive protocol as the means of developing the climate change regime further.' Such a protocol had to be submitted six months before COP 1 by 28 September 1994 (cf Article 17.2). After it became apparent that none of the industri- alised countries was prepared to do it, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) submitted a draft protocol calling for a 20 per cent reduction of the CO2 emissions of industrial countries by 2005, i.e. the so-called Toronto target.' Germany followed and formally submitted a paper entitled elements of a protocol, first introduced into the debate at INC 10.7 With regard to the adequacy of commitments, the 0378-777X/90/$3.50 C 1995 lOS B.V. 144

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