An Insufficient Breakthrough

The expectations towards the UN climate summit in Durban were low. The climate policy process saw itself at a crossroad. Finally it was avoided that the world - like de-sired by the USA - would be satisfied with an agreement based on voluntary commitments. Instead, a roadmap towards a new legally binding regime was agreed. The locomotive for this process is the 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. Furthermore, a number of decisions operationalizing the Cancún Agreements were concluded. The big and in Durban unfinished task remains to be the increase in mitigation ambition as soon as possible, to ensure keeping global warming to below 2°C.

This briefing paper analyses and assesses key discussions and results of the climate summit in Durban and considers next steps.