JAN.

28, 2013

NR # 2998B

Brief us on the Kyoto Protocol, solons tell Climate Change Commission

Lawmakers have asked the Climate Change Commission (CCC) to brief the Committee on Ecology of the House of Representatives on issues surrounding the Kyoto Protocol. Reps. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan De Oro) and Maximo Rodriguez (Party-List, Abante Mindanao) filed House Resolution 2994 directing the CCC to brief the panel on the status of the Kyoto Protocol, its current effect on the environment, the compliance rate of the party signatories and the effects of the extension of the international agreement. The authors said the Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012. The Kyoto Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities because it recognizes that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activities. The Cagayan de Oro lawmaker said the 1997 Kyoto Protocol was supposed to expire last year, 2012. In a positive turn of events, a U.N. climate conference in Doha agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol, a decision adopted by nearly 200 countries after hard-fought sessions and despite objections from Russia, Rodriguez said. Due to the very technical nature of the Kyoto Protocol and the even more technical nature of the extension, it would be very helpful if the CCC is invited to brief members of the House of Representatives on the effects of the extension according to him. If the briefing pushes through, the CCC could also answer questions of lawmakers and give a more detailed explanation on what the Kyoto Protocol has achieved, said Rodriguez. (30) sb