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 However, the materials have been prepared for informational purposes only and may have been superseded by more recent developments.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: 19/07/2010

During the negotiating session in Bonn in June 2010, the AWG-KP requested the Secretariat’s legal service to prepare a paper on how to avoid a gap between the first and second commitment periods and to identify the legal consequences of any such gap.

The formal request is as follows: “In the context of decision 1/CMP.1 [i.e. to ensure no gap], the AWG-KP requested the secretariat to prepare, for consideration by the AWG-KP at its thirteenth session, a paper that:

(a) Identifies and explores all the legal options available, including proposals by Parties, inter alia as contained in document FCCC/KP/AWG/2010/6/Add.1, aiming at ensuring that there is no gap between the first and subsequent commitment periods; and

(b) Identifies the legal consequences and implications of a possible gap between the first and subsequent commitment periods.”

This briefing note examines these questions, from a legal perspective, before submission or publication of the paper of the Secretariat.