An issue of critical importance is to ensure that all efforts – whether regulated or voluntary --  deliver absolute and material reduction in global GHG emissions. The Kyoto Protocol, at this stage, does not include all nations, and with rapidly growing or large economies such as Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and the US currently without targets, we do not yet have the means to bring global emissions under control. 

Work pioneered by the Global Commons Institute (www.gci.org.uk) proposes a Contraction and Convergence (C&C) framework to extend or replace the Kyoto Protocol.  C&C proposes targets for all countries. Targets are set in a way which recognizes that emerging economies may need space to grow their emissions as they develop (convergence), while mature economies reduce theirs (contraction).  Both emerging and mature economies track towards a single per capita target for GHG emissions – at a level which sustains a stable global climate. 
 

Given the scale and complexity of the climate change challenge, we see a continuing need for voluntary regimes to complement and extend the impact of regulated responses to climate change.  The voluntary regime urgently needs independent global rules and standards to ensure integrity of these critical efforts to extend the reach of regulation.  Organizations including ourselves, The Climate Group (www.theclimategroup.org), the World Resources Institute (www.wri.org), the PEW Centre on Global Climate Change (www.pewclimate.org) and the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA – www.defra.gov.uk) are leading the way. 

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