UN Climate Summit, Durban

COP17 Durban. Photo by UN Climate Change.

COP17 agrees a timetable for a new global climate agreement

The UN climate talks in South Africa have been heralded a success after a deal was struck on measures to cut global carbon emissions.

The timetable agreed at Durban will see the world negotiate a new agreement by 2015 at the latest. The talks resulted in a decision to adopt the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol next year in return for a roadmap to a global legal agreement covering all parties for the first time. Negotiations will begin on the agreement early next year.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said:

"This is a significant step forward in curbing emissions to tackle global climate change. For the first time we’ve seen major economies, normally cautious, commit to take the action demanded by the science.

"There are still many details to be hammered out, but we now need to start negotiating the new legal agreement as soon as possible and there are still many details to be hammered out."

The Summit also agreed to get the Green Climate Fund up and running, to help deliver financial support to developing countries to reduce emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.

COP17 Durban

The 2011 UN Climate Summit was hosted by the Government of South Africa from 28 November - 10 December 2011.

Countries that have ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - so-called ‘Parties’ to the Convention - meet every year at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to negotiate global climate change agreements. COP Summits bring together representatives of the world's governments, international organisations and civil society to agree international action on climate change. The first COP was held in 1995, and the most recent, COP16, was held in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010. The high-profile Copenhagen negotiations, COP15, were held in December 2009.

UN negotiations are considered to be the most inclusive and legitimate fora for reaching agreement, with 194 countries participating in them. Environmental groups, business, local government and indigenous peoples organisations can all participate as observers. 30,000 people are expected to attend COP17 in Durban.

You can read coverage from the UK delegation to COP17 here, and official announcements on the UN COP17/CMP7 Durban website.

Why is international agreement on climate action needed?

Climate change is one of the gravest threats to global security and prosperity.

International agreement is vital if we are to limit average global temperature rises to below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and prevent dangerous climate change.

The UK strongly supports the goal of a 2 degrees Celsius limit. This 2 degree limit was agreed in Copenhagen COP in 2009 and reaffirmed in Cancun in 2010.

Keeping warming below 2 degrees is challenging and becomes more difficult for every year we delay action. Meeting this goal requires us to reverse the current rise in global carbon emissions and see these start to fall by 2020 at the latest.

From there, we need to get global emissions at least 50% lower than 1990 levels by the middle of the century and cut them further beyond then. The later we leave this, the more likely it is that we’ll be unable to make the cuts quickly enough to stay on a 2 degree pathway. A new study by the UN Environment Programme, UNEP, shows that achieving this limit is technologically and economically possible, if governments act now.

Find out more about international climate negotiations on the DECC website.