The U.N.’s top climate official, Yvo de Boer, stated yesterday that countries supporting the developing world will form an important element in the post-Kyoto climate regime, concluding that additional investments (of around $210bn a year), above and beyond legally binding targets, will be required “and most of that investment should flow to the developing world”.

In an interview with the Associated Press, the head of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change hit upon one of the strengths offered by the voluntary market, advising that “it makes sense to get the biggest bang for your bucks, to identify the most cost-effective emissions reduction options around the world”. Whilst there is a clear credibility requirement for industrialized countries to take the lead with domestic emission reductions, de Boer recognized the importance of going beyond these with additional voluntary emission reductions in order to meet the targets necessary to tackle climate change. “The atmosphere doesn't care where you reduce emissions as long as you reduce emissions” de Boer said.

A combined approach of voluntary commitments adopted alongside legally binding commitments will offer a means to achieve the emission reduction targets so urgently needed. Investment directed to the developing world is necessary to help them adapt to changes in their climate, and is an important component of the next phase of world climate policy.

De Boer will head the UN delegation at a Washington conference next month, which sees the world’s 15 most polluting countries convene in anticipation of the major U.N. meeting in Bali later this year, where a successor agreement to Kyoto will be discussed.