A closer look at Yvo de Boer, the man who heads the UN climate change directorate, and why he is confident the world can get a new climate treaty by 2009.
 | The (Climate-Friendly) Flying DutchmanYvo de Boer has headed the UN climate directorate, UNFCCC, since August 2006 (Photo: Reuters) |
This month, Yvo de Boer chairs the annual meeting International UN Climate Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Some 10,000 delegates from 189 countries will discuss a new climate agreement to follow the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.
For over ten years, de Boer has been involved in climate change policies. He helped shape the European Union's position on the Kyoto Protocol during the 1990s. Since 1996, he has been active in UNFCCC meetings as a leading member of the Dutch delegation. Prior to his appointment as executive secretary of the UNFCCC in August 2006, the 53-year-old Dutchman was director for international affairs at the Dutch environment ministry.
 | Picture Gallery (click the image to start)A round-up of the key issues on the table at the UN Bali climate talks (Photo: Reuters) |
Now, as the United Nations' top official on climate change, de Boer faces a difficult task in finding consensus on a future climate treaty among nearly 200 countries. Encouraged by a growing momentum for decisive action to address climate change, however, he is confident about reaching an agreement.
De Boer has been forthright about the responsibility of industrialized nations to make the deepest cuts to their emissions. But he also appears to be flexible about just how these cuts are made. He is a strong supporter of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), by which rich countries can pay developing countries to make emissions reductions on their behalf. Some environmental groups, including Greenpeace, say CDM and the current trading mechanisms have not reduced emissions.
Boer-ish, not boorish
For de Boer, the most important issue in Bali is to map out a timeline and agenda for negotiating post-2012 agreement during the conference in December. The aim is to have a climate treaty in place by 2009, so that countries have enough time to ratify the treaty before the end of 2012. The negotiations until then will likely focus on precise emissions reductions targets, as well as the mechanisms and financing of mitigation, adaptation, and clean technology transfer.
"What is clear is that industrialized countries must continue to take the lead in emission reductions, in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities," says de Boer.
Only recently, de Boer has criticized industrialized nations again for their rising greenhouse gas emissions. But he remains optimistic that these problems can be tackled if all nations work together.
"A new international climate deal that addresses the interests of both developed and developing countries will make everyone a winner," says de Boer. "The world is now watching and waiting for results. If a decision to launch negotiations is taken, if an agenda for negotiations is agreed, and if an end-date for completing negotiations is set, then Bali will have been a success. Anything short of that will constitute a failure."
editor: Miki Yokoyama
publishing date: December 7, 2007
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