Fact Sheet: Legal options to avoid a gap and legal implications of a possible gap

All reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this information at the time the advice was produced (please refer to the date produced below). However, the materials have been prepared for informational purposes only and may have been superseded by more recent developments. They do not constitute formal legal advice or create a lawyer-client relationship. You should seek legal advice to take account of your own interests. To the extent permitted any liability is excluded. Those consulting the database may wish to contact LRI for clarifications and an updated analysis.

Date produced: 05/04/2011

In Bonn, June 2010, the AWGKP requested the Secretariat’s legal service to prepare a paper on:

1) the legal options available to avoid a gap between the first and second commitment periods;
and

2) the legal implications and consequences of a gap between commitment periods.

The paper published by the Secretariat is FCCC/KP/2010/10. This Fact Sheet provides a summary of what are, in our opinion, the key issues arising out of the Secretariat’s July 2010 paper on legal options of a gap between commitment periods of the Kyoto Protocol. It is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis and the Secretariat’s paper should be referred to for full analysis.