Growing calls for Kyoto Protocol extension

A UN conference on climate change is now underway in Denmark. Developing countries taking part in the meeting are stepping up calls for an extension of the Kyoto Protocol.

It may be extremely difficult for the conference to adopt a new framework, as there is a deep rift between the developed countries and developing nations. The focus is on whether delegates can reach a political agreement on the essential points of a new accord.

The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. There are growing calls from developing countries to extend the Protocol, and they are also demanding bigger reduction targets for the developed nations.

But the US withdrew from the Protocol and China and other emerging nations have no obligations under the treaty. Developed countries like Japan and some European nations have commitments, but their greenhouse gas emissions only account for 28 percent of the global total.

Japan and other developed countries are insisting on a new framework including all the major emitters. They are alarmed by the calls to extend the Kyoto Protocol.