(CBS News) The UN climate change negotiations have received very little attention in the media since the disappointing conclusion of the Copenhagen negotiations in 2009, when countries failed to agree on a new treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions.Yet the critical importance of the next major round of negotiations, beginning November 28th in Durban, South Africa, belies the scant media coverage. The Durban talks could play a critical role in determining our global climate future if two concrete outcomes are achieved.
First, the international community must agree on a new global framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which does not limit the emissions of rapidly industrializing economies like China and India, and which the United States never ratified, expires at the end of 2012. In Durban, countries must lay the groundwork for a new treaty, one that is legally binding, and that includes all major emitters in a framework that respects the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
Despite the fact that this item has topped the agenda since the Bali talks in 2007, the United States has stuck firmly to its position that a new agreement should enshrine voluntary instead of mandatory emissions reduction commitments. This is not a serious solution. The United States should take a strong leadership position at the negotiations in Durban, and push the global community towards an ambitious agreement that is commensurate with the climate crisis.