We don’t want to replace Kyoto – Africa Group

Chairman of the group, Algerian Kamel Djemouai told reporters: “Our objectives are first to continue working on the Kyoto Protocol under its provisions and then complement these with the new elements brought forward by the Bali Action Plan,” he said.

The Kyoto Protocol ties wealthy countries to legally binding carbon reduction targets while the Bali Action Plan is big on principles and intentions but light on specifics.

It essentially outlines the road forward but it is fairly vague. It is based on a series of ‘building blocks’ or ‘pillars’ that need considerable fleshing out.

Those Bali building blocks in full:

By Friday morning it was looking increasingly likely that the developing nations might actually succeed, with their proposals likely to be accepted at least in part by the rest of the world.

On Thursday afternoon French President Nicolas Sarkozy broke with the EU bloc’s official line saying: “if they want Kyoto, why not give them Kyoto?”

Sam Bond