Over all the Talk About Paris – Don’t Forget to Ratify KP2!

27 June 2019

We find ourselves in a paradoxical situation. The first paradox is that the world’s glaciers are now moving quicker than the Parties to the UNFCCC. The Greenland ice sheet has started doing something we were expecting it to do in 2090. Meanwhile, a large number of countries still have not done what we”ve expect them to do since 2014. Slow and steady just won’t do when we’re trying to honour treaties we have created to fight the climate emergency. Now you’re moving slower than a glacier. 

Remember the table below, Parties? We welcome Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Mongolia, Montenegro, and Paraguay – countries, who have all ratified the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol (KP2) since COP24. We also welcome the references to the need for the entry into force of the KP2 made in sessions such as SBSTA item 6 on matters relating to science and review. Given how much importance Saudi Arabia puts on this matter and how it’s an opportunity to hold developed countries to their commitments, ECO hopes to be able to welcome Saudi Arabia as a KP2 ratifier in the very near future. Can we get this done pre-2020? 

We still need 16 more Parties to sign up to reach the threshold of ¾ of Parties to the KP to secure entry into force. This is where the second paradox comes in: there is an overflowing pool of excellent candidates that could fill the 16 countries gap. Some of these countries are amongst the most vocal on the urgent need for Doha ratification – as you can see from ECO’s helpful table. So what are you waiting for – step up and walk the talk!

Remember also that failure to ratify and implement the KP2 sets a worrying precedent for the Paris Agreement and other international treaties.