12/12/2011 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Strasbourg, 12.12.2011 – Lord Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), former rapporteur on climate change for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and Kyoto Treaty signatory, and Sir Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC), today welcomed the decision taken at the climate change summit in Durban to endorse the policy put forward by the PACE to "Stop the Clock" on the Kyoto Protocol.
“By stopping the clock, the Kyoto mechanisms, core principles, organisational structures and expertise will not expire, and parties will continue to act as if the treaty was still in force while time is allowed for negotiations to finalise a new agreement,” Lord Prescott said.
“We are delighted that this proposal which was originally made by the Council of Europe to the Copenhagen and Cancun climate change conferences – in December 2009 and November 2010 respectively – was finally accepted at the Durban conference. This will encourage parties to continue to work to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions with confidence that a new global regime of binding targets will be delivered,” he added.
Lord Prescott and Sir Alan Meale who presented the PACE proposal ‘Stop the Clock, Save our Planet’ to the climate change Conference and the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Durban, held meetings with several delegations, including the Chinese.