Climate Focus: CANCUN AGREEMENTS : SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS

The results of CP16/CMP6 in Cancún, Mexico, held from November 29 through December 10, 2010, offer a reason to celebrate even though a post-2012 climate deal was not struck and thorny issues will remain unresolved until next year at CP17/CMP7 in Durban, South Africa. Both the UNFCCC as well as the Kyoto Protocol governing bodies adopted comprehensive, new and substantive decisions in Cancún.
These make further steps toward a new legally-binding climate agreement, legitimize emission targets in the Copenhagen Accord and, most importantly, restore the diplomatic trust needed to reach consensus
on a climate deal in 2011. This final achievement, perhaps more than anything else, revived the often contentious UNFCCC negotiating process among more than 190 countries.