[JURIST] The twenty-sixth sessions [UNFCCC materials] of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) [official website] opened in Bonn, Germany, on Monday, as hundreds of diplomats gathered to discuss a future compact to replace the Kyoto Protocol [JURIST news archive] when it expires in 2012. Over 160 countries and organizations will meet throughout the next two weeks to begin the development of a new climate control accord. Delegates to the convention say they hope to have such a treaty in place within the next two years in order to help countries move smoothly from Kyoto into the new agreement. Ideas coming from this meeting will be proposed at a larger meeting set to be held in Bali in December, when formal negotiations will take place.

To date, 171 parties have ratified the Kyoto Protocol [UNFCCC backgrounder], which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developed and developing nations. At a meeting of the UNFCCC in late 2005, Kyoto Protocol nations agreed [JURIST report] to extend the life of the agreement beyond 2012. AP has more.