20 October 2011: The reports of the ninth meeting of the plenary of the Kyoto Protocol Compliance Committee, the fifteenth meeting of the Compliance Committee enforcement branch and the tenth meeting of the Compliance Committee facilitative branch are now available. The enforcement and facilitative branches held their fifteenth and tenth meetings, respectively, from 11-12 October 2011, and the plenary held its ninth meeting on 13th October 2011, in Bonn, Germany.

At its meeting, the enforcement branch considered a question of implementation with respect to Ukraine. The question of implementation arose from the conclusion reached by the expert review team (ERT) that reviewed Ukraine’s annual submission, that the Ukrainian national system does not fully comply with the Kyoto Protocol guidelines for national systems and for the preparation of the information required under Kyoto Protocol Article 7. The branch had previously adopted a preliminary finding of non-compliance with respect to Ukraine and then received a further written submission from Ukraine on the issue, which it considered at this meeting. It concluded that the further written submission does not provide sufficient grounds to alter the preliminary finding of the branch. It confirmed the preliminary finding and decided that the consequences contained in the finding shall take effect and be applied. The enforcement branch also adopted a decision on expert advice with respect to Lithuania, in which it agreed to seek expert advice on the content and basis of the report of the ERT on Lithuania’s annual submission, and on issues related to any decision of the enforcement branch with regard to the indicated question of implementation.

At its meeting, the facilitative branch discussed ways to address concerns with regard to potential non-compliance by parties with their commitments under Protocol Article 3.1 (Annex I parties’ commitments), identified in or on the basis of review reports received by it under section IV, paragraph 6 (a) of decision 27/CMP.1 (Procedures and mechanisms relating to compliance under the Kyoto Protocol). It noted that its function of providing advice and facilitation under section IV, paragraph 6 (a) of the compliance procedures and mechanisms could only be triggered by the information contained in review reports made available to it. It agreed that where concerns with regard to potential non-compliance by a party are raised in a report under Protocol Article 8 (review), it will consider how the matter can be best addressed, including through seeking further information from the relevant ERT or the party involved, as appropriate. The branch then agreed to continue its consideration of information contained in all reports submitted to it under section VI, paragraph 3, including those relating to Canada and Italy, at its future meetings with a view to determining any appropriate action it may need to take. The branch also continued its consideration on how to discharge its mandate in relation to specific sections of the compliance procedures and mechanisms.

At its ninth meeting, the plenary of the Compliance Committee considered: information on privileges and immunities for members; the reports of the enforcement and facilitative branches; information on the status of reports of ERTs under Protocol Article 8; and the consistency of reviews under Protocol Article 8. The plenary also considered the draft annual report of the Compliance Committee to the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP) and adopted the report as amended, agreeing to forward it to the COP/MOP for consideration at its seventh session. [Publication: Report of the Fifteenth Meeting of the Enforcement Branch of the Compliance Committee] [Publication: Report of the Tenth Meeting of the Facilitative Branch of the Compliance Committee] [Publication: Report of the Ninth Meeting of the Plenary of the Compliance Committee]