The global climate change talks are gathering momentum. The next round will be held in August in Bonn. The outcome of the talks, which will conclude during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, hangs on the resolution of three main contentious issues between industrialised and developing countries. Who will commit to how much cuts in greenhouse gas emissions? Who will pay developing countries for undertaking emission cuts and how much? How can cleantech be transferred from developed to developing countries?
These are not new issues and have remained unresolved for long. The Copenhagen negotiations will seek to arrive at a climate change agreement post-2012, after the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) commits industrialised countries to bring down emissions 5% by 2012 on a baseline of 1990.
While the emission of industrialised countries, which have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, was 17% below the 1990 levels in 2006, it has been increasing after 2000. The UNFCCC has attributed the initial fall in emissions to the decline in the output of the economies in transition in 90s. In fact, the economies in transition among industrialised countries registered an emission rise of 7.4% during 2000-06.
The US has not ratified the Protocol. The US along with China, Russia, India and Japan are the worlds biggest emitters in absolute numbers. China is even reported to have overtaken the US. India has one of the lowest per capita emissions in the world.
The world needs to move forward because the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says there is a need to restrict the temperature rise to a maximum of 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial times to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. It is possible if industrialised countries take emission reduction of 25-40% by 2020 and 80-95% by 2050, both on a base line of 1990. Some commitments have already been made. The EU has committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020.
The US House of Representatives, too, has approved a climate change Bill that sets a target of reducing CO2 and other GHGs by 17% by 2020, 42% by 2030, and 83% by 2050 from 2005 levels. It has yet to clear the Senate. But at the same time, rich countries have proposed that developing countries like India should also cut emissions by 15-30% by 2020 from 2000 levels.
The emission reduction standoff is made worse by lack of progress on funding modalities. UNFCCC chief Yvo de Boer has said that if rich countries commit $10 billion to enable developing countries fight climate change, it would be a good setting for arriving at a climate change treaty. There are quite a few proposals in the reckoning. More recently, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown proposed raising a $100-billion climate change fund, particularly for poor countries. Mexico has proposed a climate change fund, which would be supported by countries on the basis of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. Norway has called for a levy on carbon markets. The least-developed countries want an adaptation levy on international air travel. The proposals are aimed to supplement the Adaptation Fund, which is financed by a 2%- levy on CDM projects.
Source: The Financial Express
Published on 28 July 2009