A round up of the major outcomes of the two-week climate summit

After two weeks of talks, officials from almost 200 countries have agreed a series of climate measures known as the Doha Gateway. Here are the key details:

Kyoto Protocol

• The EU, Australia, Norway and several other developed nations will sign up to a second commitment period running to 2020, but around 85 per cent of global emissions remain outside the treaty’s jurisdiction.


• The Kyoto Protocol’s Market Mechanisms – the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Implementation (JI) and International Emissions Trading (IET) – can continue through to 2020.


• No moves were made to raise carbon-cutting ambition – countries must achieve average reductions of at least 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels from 2008 to 2012.


• However, the possibility remains that targets could be tightened following a review in 2014. As such, the EU reserves the option to increase its emission reduction target for 2020 from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Finance

• Countries have commited to establishing a process to address “loss and damage” resulting from climate change – but pledges stop short of any admissions of legal liability for developed nations that would require them to pay compensation.


• No timetable was agreed for scaling up a $100bn annual climate aid fund by 2020. However, industrialised countries are encouraged to “provide resources of at least to the average annual level of the (2010-12) period for 2013-15”.


• Work on identifying new sources of funds, such as a taxes on aviation or shipping emissions, have been extended by another year.


• Germany, the UK, France, Denmark, Sweden and the EU Commission announced concrete finance pledges of around $6bn for the period up to 2015.

Carbon trading

• Reforms to the Clean Development Mechanism were discussed, but no major changes were agreed, meaning prices are likely to remain low in the short term.


• The EU and countries including Japan, Australia, Norway, and Switzerland have renounced the use of surplus allowances carried over from the first Kyoto commitment period.


• No decision was taken on the cancellation of surplus permits after 2020 as demanded by developing nations, after those countries that hold surpluses blocked any attempt to remove them from the market.

Process

• Countries agreed a course for negotiating the “Durban Platform for Enhanced Action” (ADP), a new climate deal for all countries to be agreed by 2015 and to take effect in 2020.


• Separate strands of negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol closed leaving the Durban Platform as the sole negotiating forum for the 2015 agreement.


• A first session of talks will be held from 29 April to 2 May in Bonn, Germany, with another mooted in September 2013. At least two sessions will also take place in 2014 and 2015.


• Draft negotiating text for global agreement will be available before May 2015.

Other issues

• South Korea was endorsed as host of Green Climate Fund, which is set to launch activities in 2014.


• Governments discussed ways to measure deforestation.