In order to implement a new round of emissions targets in the existing Kyoto framework, three-quarters of all parties to the Protocol, or 143 countries, must agree.  Before each country ratifies the treaty, extensive domestic negotiations and review commonly take place – “a process that may involve a considerable amount of time,” according to the U.N.  In light of these concerns, the United Nations has released for the first time a Kyoto “Plan B” set of contingency options should a new global climate deal fail to materialize.

A gap in coverage between Kyoto’s 2012 expiration date and when a replacement treaty might take effect could be very costly to the $20.6 billion global carbon trade.  The value of these traded emissions credits rests on stipulations as determined in the Kyoto Protocol.

To avoid this time gap, one facet of the U.N.’s “Plan B” would consider reducing the number of countries required to approve any proposals for new targets or proposals to extend the current caps through to 2013 or 2014, when climate negotiators hope to secure a more comprehensive update to the treaty.

After a disappointing showing in Copenhagen this past December, climate negotiators are looking forward to making progress in their third year of talks.  The next major conference will begin this November in Cancun, Mexico.

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JAKARTA, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Indonesia plans a $1 billion green investment fund this year to drive infrastructure developments that aid growth and help cut greenhouse gas emissions, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday.

Indonesia has promised to slash its emissions by at least 26 percent from business as usual levels by 2020 but recently re-elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also vowed to boost economic growth to 7 percent or more by 2014.

At global climate talks in Copenhagen last month, Yudhoyono announced a plan to develop the Indonesia Green Investment Fund, which will catalyse infrastructure development that could speed economic growth, boost food and clean water production and also help cut emissions blamed for global warming.

Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund the Government Investment Unit will put $100 million into the fund and a further $900 million will come from foreign governments including Norway and Australia, plus institutional investors, said Edward Gustely

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