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The 20th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference kicked off on Monday in the Gulf Arab nation of Qatar, an oil-producing country with the highest per capita GDP, and the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions.

The talks begin just as the 1997 Kyoto Protocol is set to expire. Much of the discussion will focus on extending the Kyoto Protocol and further developing the Durban Platform, the culmination of last year’s conference which calls for a Post-Kyoto Protocol to be developed by 2015 and implemented by 2020.

Under President George W. Bush, the United States withdrew itself from the Kyoto Protocol, citing the inequality of restrictions between developed and developing countries. China and India, both developing countries, have had their emissions skyrocket since 2000 – China’s by 171% for a whopping eight billion tons of greenhouse gases and India’s by 58% for two billion tons.

The Durban Platform intends to issue sanctions against both rich and poor countries and tentatively includes the United States, China, and India, the three largest emissions producers in the world, all operating under their own emissions standards.

Historically, these climate conferences have not led to significant policy changes. The Kyoto Protocol, created in 1992 and finally put into effect in 1997, failed to take into account issues in developing countries and scientists say that the guidelines have been too loose.

Climate analysts are now saying that current emission standards fall short of what is needed to avert an impending crisis with global temperatures predicted to rise 4 degrees Celsius or 7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. This rise in temperature would lead to more severe weather events that would make Superstorm Sandy look mild in comparison.

GUEST: Mijin Cha, is a Senior Analyst in the Sustainable Progress Initiative at Demos

Click here to read Mijin Cha’s piece about the UN Climate talks in Doha.

The UN Climate conference website can be found at www.unfccc.int.

Mijin Cha recommends Climate Progress as a resource on news of climate change.