Status of Discussion and Negotiation for a System of Tradeable CO₂ Emission Permits within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Abstract

Since this paper was presented in July 1997, the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted at the third Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 3) in Kyoto, Japan, on 10 December 1997. After lengthy negotiations, Article 17, which opens the way to emissions trading among Parties with quantified emission limitation or reduction commitments, was included in the Kyoto Protocol. The provisions of Article 17 are to be further elaborated, beginning at the fourth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 4) in Buenos Aires in November 1998. The relevance of the paper which follows lies in the snapshot it provides of the negotiation process which led to this eventual outcome on emissions trading.

The views expressed are of a personal nature and do not necessarily represent those of the UNFCCC secreatriat.