S African Wants Agreement on Kyoto Protocol

South Africa wants some form of agreement to extend the Kyoto Protocol at the upcoming COP 17 climate talks in Durban, South Africa, Environment Minister Edna Molewa said here on Wednesday.

"We do believe that... we will have to have some form of an agreement on the second period of the Kyoto Protocol," Molewa told reporters in Cape Town.

Such an agreement would enable leaders from the 194 delegations at the event to act on reducing carbon emissions when they return to their home countries, the minister said, urging immediate action to be taken to address climate change.

"Even if we don't have a legally-binding agreement in (Durban) now, or next year, or the next, actions must be taken. In other words, we can't mark time," Molewa said.

The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires at the end of next year, but there are conflicting points of view over the need to extend the protocol.

The US has made it clear that it would not sign up for an updated Kyoto Protocol, while the Europe Union says it can accept a continuation, provided China and the United States show they are serious about major cuts in the coming years.

Canada, Japan and Russia have also refused to sign on for a second commitment period, objecting to the lack of legal constraints on the world's biggest carbon polluters. Developing countries like South Africa and China want to extend the agreement.

The Kyoto Protocol is the only binding international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The COP 17, formally the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol, will be held in Durban from November 28 to December 9. The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC has been meeting annually since 1995 to assess progress in dealing with climate change.