Attendance at the conference of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Kenya hosted the second meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 2), in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 12), in Nairobi from 6 to 17 November 2006. Sumitomo Corporation attended as a member company of Japan Business Federation.

COP/MOP2 was held at the Headquarter of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi, Kenya

According to the official announcement of the Secretariats of UNFCCC, the total attendants at the conference were 5,948, including administration officials, observers, and journalists. It was the first COP held in the sub-Saharan Africa, but total number of the attendants decreased by about 40% from the previous event in Montreal.

A couple of the most important agenda at COP12 and COP/MOP2 were as follows;

1. Negotiation on next international efforts against climate change, based on the decision made at the COP11 and COP/MOP1 in Montreal;
2. Work programme on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to the influence from global climate change;
3. Review on progress of the work and achievements and future institutional task for the Expert Group on Technology Transfer.

In addition, various issues such as how to manage Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Promotion of CDM in Africa were discussed intensively during the conference.

The wide attention was drawn to the procedures of three different, but equally significant discussions on the future international climate change policy. These discussion topics are; a) talk on future international effort on climate change, which encompasses members to the protocol as well as non-ratified countries like USA and Australia, and non-Annex I countries (developing countries) with rapid growth of greenhouse gases emissions such as India and China, b) review of the Kyoto Protocol, and c) future commitments on Annex I countries (developed countries) beyond 2012.

As decision of COP12 and COP/MOP2, the discussion over review of the Protocol would be carried over till 2008, and discussion on extent and terms of review of the Protocol would continue in 2007. Also, the issue of next commitments for Annex I countries beyond 2012, which has been dealt with by the Ad Hoc Working Group, was agreed in a modest tone that the Working Group should complete its work in a way not creating a gap between the first commitment period (2008-2012) and the second commitment period.

The COP12 and COP/MOP2 made some definitive progress such as taking a special "Nairobi Action Programme" for vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, and launch of "Nairobi Framework" to help developing countries, especially Africa, participate in CDM.