The Kyoto Protocol must and will survive the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, said Thursday.

De Boer said the protocol will survive because it will take time for a new legal instrument to be ratified if the conference proposes a new one. In the case of the Kyoto Protocol, it took eight years between 1997 when countries started to sign it and 2005 when it finally came into enforcement.

Secondly, De Boer said, the Kyoto Protocol provides market based mechanisms that are already functioning. There is no provision currently under the Convention for the mechanisms. He said that if somebody wants to push a new treaty, there is again a gap that people don't want to see.

Lastly, De Boer said that the Kyoto Protocol is the only legally binding instrument concerning climate change, and there is no good reason to abandon it.

De Boer said that good progress has been made in the Copenhagen climate conference, especially in the area of technology.

His assessment of the conference so far is that people have done serious work, and hopes they continue making advancements.

"It's a lot like moving into a new house ... you need some time to get comfortable," he said, "Then after a day or two, people settle down ... and are ready to get down to work and that's where we are."