Fifth meeting of the plenary of the Compliance Committee

The fifth meeting of the plenary of the Compliance Committee of the Kyoto Protocol will be held in Bonn, Germany from 8 to 10 October 2008.  This meeting will be preceded by the sixth meeting of the enforcement branch, which will take place from 6 to 7 October 2008 and the sixth meeting of the facilitative branch, which will take place on 7 October 2008.

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Informal information notes by the secretariat on recent and current compliance cases

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The Kyoto Protocol compliance mechanism is designed to strengthen the Protocol’s environmental integrity, support the carbon market’s credibility and ensure transparency of accounting by Parties. Its objective is to facilitate, promote and enforce compliance with the commitments under the Protocol. It is among the most comprehensive and rigorous systems of compliance for a multilateral environmental agreement. A strong and effective compliance mechanism is key to the success of the implementation of the Protocol.

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The last of the bodies established under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the treaty’s Compliance Committee is now fully operational.  In November 2006, the first annual report of the Committee was presented to the second session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 2).  The CMP approved the rules of procedure for the Committee, as recommended in the report.

At CMP 1, the procedures and mechanisms relating to compliance under the Kyoto Protocol were adopted (in decision 27/CMP.1), and the members and alternate members of the facilitative and enforcement branches were elected.  Later at their first meetings in March 2006, the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the branches were chosen. 

Article 18 of the Kyoto Protocol calls on the CMP to approve, at its first session, “procedures and mechanisms” to determine and address cases of non-compliance with the Protocol.  At COP 4 (Buenos Aires, November 1998), Parties established a joint working group (JWG) on compliance to develop a compliance system under the Protocol, with a view to adopting a decision on this issue at COP 6 (The Hague, November 2000).  The “Buenos Aires Plan of Action” adopted at COP 4 called for work on, among other things, the preparations for CMP 1, including the elements of the Protocol related to compliance.

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Plenary

Enforcement Branch

Facilitative Branch

Updated:  4 February 2008