China and Brazil have warned that one of the world’s biggest carbon markets will be under threat if wealthy countries reject their demands for a new phase of the Kyoto protocol.
It was “inconceivable” that the $20bn UN-backed carbon offset market could continue unless countries agreed to a second round of pledges under the Kyoto climate treaty after the first round expired in 12 months, China’s chief negotiator, Su Wei, told the FT.
“The issue now is to avoid countries getting away with murder,” said Andre Correa do Lago, Brazil’s chief envoy, in a separate interview. “You cannot think you can have the instruments of the Kyoto protocol without belonging to the Kyoto protocol.”