Sustainable development, adaptation to the effects of climate change and the use of technology as well as market instruments would be the four areas in which countries would commit to work to implement actions against climate change. This is the focus of the proposal made by the president of the climate summit, Stephane Dion, which is being held in Montreal (Canada).

The document suggests ‘exploring and analyzing’ different approaches within the scope of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in a process until December 2007. This proposal will be the focus of the negotiations of the ministers who join the conference today.

The key problem, and the one to which Dion’s proposal is oriented, is what to do after 2012, when the first deadline of the Kyoto Protocol ends. The negotiations are taking place in a complicated framework in the face of an urgent problem: according to a study by the International Energy Organization, applying all available resources and technologies, developed countries would be able to reduce their emissions, by 2030, by between 15% and 20% compared to 2000. But in the global calculation, and given the growing contribution of several developing countries with strong economic growth, such a reduction of 15% or 20% would mean no more than a 5% reduction in total emissions on the planet, the Italian delegation at the summit recalled yesterday. If no action is taken, the increase would be 50% by 2030, so that 5% reduction might seem significant.