Bali Decisions

Key decisions in Bali

Two-year dialogue

Negotiators agreed to start two years of talks on a new deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the main pact till 2012 to fight climate change, to bind outsiders led by the US, China and India. The talks will start next April and end with the adoption of a new treaty in Copenhagen in late 2009.

Emission cuts

No firm targets, but the pact set an aim for 'deep cuts in global emissions' to avoid dangerous climate change. The final text distinguished between rich and poor countries, calling on the former to consider 'quantified' emission cuts and the latter to consider 'mitigation actions'.

UN Adaptation Fund
The meeting agreed to launch a UN fund to help poor countries cope with damage from climate change such as droughts or rising seas. The fund now comprises only about US$36 million (S$52 million), but might rise up to billions if investments in green technology surge.


Preserving tropical forests
A pay-and-preserve scheme known as the Redd, or 'Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries', aims to allow poorer nations from 2013 to sell carbon offsets to rich countries in return for not burning their tropical forests.


Carbon capture and storage
The meeting postponed until next year any consideration of a plan to fund an untested technology which captures and buries the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, emitted from power plants that burn fossil fuels.

REUTERS