Date : 02 February 2010

News Brief : Malta's status within the UNFCCC changes following the Copenhagen Meeting held in December 2009. Malta graduates to Annex I.

News Text : The world’s eyes have recently been focused on the aforementioned meeting of the Contracting Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) referred to as "COP 15", that was held in Copenhagen in December of last year. A great deal was expected from Copenhagen, particularly regarding the legal position at international level post-Kyoto, but the most that could be obtained after the intensive discussions that have taken place since the agreement on the Bali Action Plan in 2007 was the so-called "Copenhagen Accord", setting out principles for future action. During COP 15, Malta also proposed that it graduates to Annex I country status and to this effect had notified the UNFCCC Secretariat of its intention to seek an amendment in this sense of Annex I to the Convention (unfccc.int/files/parties_and_observers/notifications/application/pdf/20090519_note_verbale.pdf). In his letter to the Executive Secretary of the secretariat of the UNFCCC, the Maltese Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs states that ‘Malta does not want to differentiate itself from other (State) Parties… Malta seeks to put itself on the same legal footing as the other Member States of the EU … and to join them in their commitment to advance a global venture that Malta is proud to have launched in the UN over twenty years ago’. The proposal has been accepted by the Parties to UNFCCC and Malta’s inclusion in Annex I is expected to come into effect in mid-2010 pursuant to the relevant procedures under the Convention. Being an amendment to the Convention, with no equivalent amendment being sought under the Protocol, such a change of status for Malta does not represent the taking-on of any quantified emissions target at this point under the international climate change regime. One should note however, that Malta’s situation vis-à-vis quantified emission targets may be expected to change as targets will eventually be set for and accepted by Malta under a post-2012 (post-Kyoto) agreement.

If further information on the issues raised in this article is required, contact Dr Jotham Scerri-Diacono.