LONDON, 29 June - Chapter six of IETA’s oral history of the carbon market looks at how the Durban climate talks marked a sea change in the international negotiations and laid the path for the Paris Agreement.

Available online from today, this latest chapter of From Kyoto to Paris focuses on the significance of the outcome of the Durban talks and what were the key factors behind it.   

“After the bitter end to the Copenhagen talks in 2009, to have such a turn-around just two years later in Durban is truly remarkable, and a testament to the importance governments place on the international climate change negotiations,” says IETA President and CEO Dirk Forrister. “What happened in South Africa was a game-changer for the UN climate process and set the foundations for where we are today.”

The oral history project, From Kyoto to Paris, charts the path from the 1997 treaty to 2015 and the Paris Agreement. Comprised of both a series of videos and a book, it features interviews with key players in the market’s growth, including negotiators, government officials, project developers, traders and lawyers. 

Chapters previously released have looked at markets and the Kyoto Protocol, early experiments with emissions trading, the growth of the EU ETS and the CDM. The final chapter, released next week, will focus on the road to Paris and beyond. It will be available on our dedicated web page, www.ieta.org/kyototoparis. 

The book will soon be released via Amazon; please email oralhistory@ieta.org to ensure you don’t miss out on this year’s essential summer reading!