Todd Stern, the US president's envoy for climate change, said the European Union was the only remaining "major player" that would potentially support a continuation of the protocol after its provisions expire in 2012. The lack of support from other countries bodes ill for the forthcoming talks at Durban.
The Kyoto protocol is an international agreement that imposes limits on the greenhouse gas emissions from some signee countries that was negotiated in the Japanese city of Kyoto in 1997.
Kyoto is the only treaty which binds nearly all of the world's industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions but Stern cast doubt on its future.
"Of the major players in the Kyoto protocol, my sense is that the EU is the only one still considering signing up in some fashion to a second commitment period. Japan is clearly not, Russia is not, Canada is not and Australia appears unlikely."
His words were the broadest hint yet by one of the most influential figures at the talks that the negotiations may stall unless the Kyoto protocol is dropped.
Behind the scenes, many experts are advising that arguments over the future of the protocol are likely to be fruitless. Sir David King, the British government's former chief scientific advisor, told the Guardian recently that the protocol should be dropped, as it was only an impediment to reaching a new international agreement on averting global warming. Read the full report here.
Source: Fiona Harvey, Environment Correspondent, guardian.co.uk.
