Fossil of the Day 6

Japan shamed on birthday of Kyoto Protocol
Papua New Guinea pulls in second place

THIRD PLACE: HELD IN STRATEGIC FOSSIL RESERVE FOR NEXT WEEK

SECOND PLACE: PAPUA NEW GUINEA Papua New Guinea receives today’s second place fossil award for openly opposing the AOSIS proposal for two legally binding protocols. In the COP plenary session, Papua New Guinea spoke out against the AOSIS proposal, which offers the clearest way forward to a fair, ambitious and legally binding outcome to avoid dangerous levels of climate change. Papua New Guinea may be a member of AOSIS, but today it acted more like Japan.

FIRST PLACE: JAPAN Yesterday, 11th December, was the Kyoto Protocol’s birthday. But even though Kyoto is growing older, the Japanese negotiators don’t seem to be getting any more mature. At both COP and COP/MOP today, Japan strongly opposed setting a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol, blocking progress by refusing the chair’s text as a basis for negotiation.

Japan, don’t abandon the poor birthday girl! We thought the new government would bring change, now we’re wondering if it’s the LDP or the DPJ in power. Perhaps Environment Minister Ozawa, who arrives tonight, can explain why Japan’s negotiators don’t seem to be growing up the way Kyoto is!