Doha Briefs: Of Apples, Mangoes and Gateway
Finally, COP18 has come to an end; but then, the reactions on the outcome, dubbed Doha Climate Gateway , have been mixed. But then, let us sort through the apples and mangoes by looking into the nitty gritties of the Doha Climate Gateway. Hot Air The issue of renewing the commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol has been one of the main interests in the build up to COP18. The issue of surplus carbon emission permits, commonly referred to as ‘hot air’, was bound to determine the outcome of talks geared towards getting a second commitment period (CP2). It is important to note that the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period will run out at the end of this year. Australia, EU, Japan, Lichtenstein, Monaco and Switzerland agreed to drop their ‘hot air’ and enter CP2 on a clean slate. The Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms ( Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) , Joint Implementation(JI) and the International Emissions Trading (IET) ) will be available during CP2, but only for