The Bhutanese Leading the way.
One of the key issues to be considered during the Doha Climate Change Conference is the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which sets binding obligations on industrialized countries as the foundation for any future climate regimes. The first commitment periods of the Kyoto Protocol is scheduled to expire at the end of 2012.
Final Preparations are underway for participation at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, scheduled to take place in Doha, Qatar from 26 November to 7 December 2012.
The Doha Climate Change Conference takes place at a critical juncture in international efforts to combat climate change and is expected to set the stage for the next phase of global action in curbing greenhouse gas emissions
Other important issues that will be considered at the Doha Conference will be the transition of the end of two work streams on the Kyoto Protocol and Long Term Cooperative Action, and the new round of negotiations to create a new international climate agreement by 2015 as mandated by the Durban Platform of Action launched last year.
For developing countries like Bhutan, financing is a priority issue for adaption to the adverse impacts of climate change and also to ensure that development follows a low emission pathway. “With the institutional arrangements for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) which was established at COP 16 due to be endorsed at COP 18 the focus will now be on how to ensure that the goal of $100bn a year promised through the GCF by 2020 will actually be met,” stated a foreign ministry news release.
Bhutan does not contribute to the causes of climate change and is a net sink for greenhouse gases. However Bhutan is a victim of the effects of climate change. As a landlocked and least developed country (LDC) with fragile mountainous ecosystem, the country is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Bhutan, along with other LDCs, expects an outcome from the conference for enhanced action on adaptation from Doha that will launch by 2013 the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process with the necessary support for finance, technology and capacity building.
The Conference will include the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP18) and the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP8) along with meetings of the subsidiary bodies and three Adhoc Working Groups.
The high-level segment of the conference will be held from 5-7 December 2012. The leader of the Bhutanese delegation will participate in the high level segment and deliver Bhutan’s statement for the conference.
The Bhutanese Delegation will be led by Dasho Penden Wangchuk, Cabinet Secretary. The multi-sector Bhutanese delegation includes officials of the National Environment Commission (NEC), Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation.
