Kyoto and climate finance major issues for Doha

UN climate talks in Doha starting on Monday will attempt to make progress on two fronts: pre-2020 carbon cuts inside and outside the Kyoto Protocol, and a global climate deal.

But the most pressing deadlines hanging over the talks are the expiry of the protocol and of the “fast start” climate funding scheme on 31 December.

Negotiators that have agreed to sign up to a new commitment period under Kyoto must finalise an amendment to the protocol at Doha, allowing their new commitments to start on 1 January. But to do so, they must first reach agreement on some hotly contested details of the new treaty.