Download THE UN FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (FCCC)

THE UN FRAMEWORK CONVENTION
ON CLIMATE CHANGE (FCCC)
Historical Aspects:
• In 1990 the UN General Assembly
established a Intergovernmental Negotiating
Committee who drafted the Convention
• In June 1992 the Convention was opened
for signature at the Rio Earth Summit; it
was signed there by 154 countries (175
today)
THE UN FRAMEWORK CONVENTION
ON CLIMATE CHANGE (FCCC)
Objective:
• "to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that
would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system. Such a level
should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient
to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate
change, to ensure that food production is not
threatened and to enable economic development to
proceed in a sustainable manner"
THE UN FRAMEWORK CONVENTION
ON CLIMATE CHANGE (FCCC)
Commitments:
• All Parties have common but differentiated responsibilities (such as
national inventories)
• Developed country Parties and other Parties included in Annex I
(developed countries + countries that are undergoing a transition to a
market economy) have specific commitments (such as to limit its
anthropogenic emissions, enhance its greenhouse sinks and reservoirs,
coordinate relevant economic and administrative instruments to
achieve the objective of the Convention, should provide new and
additional financial resources to meet the full costs incurred by
developing country Parties in complying with their obligation, etc.)
THE KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE
CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Historical Aspects:
• In 1995 in Berlin, the first session of the Conference of the
Parties considered that the commitment of developed
countries to aim at returning their emissions to 1990 levels
by the year 2000 was inadequate. So the "Berlin Mandate"
launched a new round of talks on strengthening developed
country commitments.
• In December 1997, 10,000 delegates, journalists and
observers participated in a conference in Kyoto, Japan.
The Kyoto Protocol was opened for signature on March
1998.
THE KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE
CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Objective:
• The conference in Kyoto resulted in a consensus decision to adopt a
Protocol under which industrialized countries will reduce their
combined greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5% compared to 1990
levels by the period 2008-2012 (and that way producing a reversal of
the upward trend in emissions that started in these countries 150 years
ago).
• The Kyoto Protocol will enter into force 90 days after it has been
ratified by at least 55 Parties to the Convention, including developed
countries accounting for at least 55% of the total 1990 CO2 emissions
from this industrialized group.
THE KYOTO PROTOCOL TO THE
CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Total CO2 emissions since 1950 (billions of tons)
Annex 1 Countries
Emissions
US
186.1
European Union
127.8
Russia
68.4
Japan
31.2
Ukraine
21.7
Canada
14.9
Non-Annex 1 Countries
China
57.6
India
15.5
CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM
(CDM)
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The Clean Development Mechanism is defined in Article 12 of the Kyoto
Protocol:
Art. 12.2: "The purpose of the CDM shall be to assist Parties not included in
Annex I in achieving SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, and to assist Parties
included in Annex I in achieve compliance with their quantified EMISSIONS
LIMITATION AND REDUCTION COMMITMENTS"
Art. 12.3: "a) Parties not included in Annex I will benefit from project
activities resulting in certified emissions reductions, and (b) Parties included in
Annex I may use the certified emissions reductions accruing from such project
activities to contribute to compliance with PART of their quantified emissions
limitation and reduction commitments"
Article 12 also sets out the basic conditions and procedures to be followed to
qualify project activities for certified emissions reductions: a) voluntary
participation; b) real, measurable, and long-term benefits related to the
mitigation of climate change; c) reductions in emissions that are
ADDITIONAL to any that would occur in the absence of the certified project
activity
CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM
(CDM)
The significance of CDM:
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CDM has two goals: to lower the overall cost of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, while also supporting sustainable development initiatives within
developing countries
CDM allows developed countries to invest in low-cost abatement opportunities
in developing countries and receive credit for the resulting emissions
reductions.
Developed countries can then apply this credit against their 2008-2012 targets,
reducing the cutbacks that would have to be made within their borders.
Because many abatement opportunities are less expensive in developing
countries, this increases the economic efficiency of achieving initial GHG
emissions reductions.
Because GHG emissions contribute equally to climate change irrespective of
where they occur, the impact on the global environment is the same.
A GLOBAL CARBON MARKET
(from Latin Trade, Sept. 2000)
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Jay Pruett last year spent US$5.4 million of his company’s money to plant a
forest in Brazil. He’s not planning to cut timber or build a resort. But he means
to put those trees to work.
Pruett, environmental services director for Central & South West Corporation,
a large Dallas-based utility company, is counting on the trees to do what comes
naturally: absorb carbon dioxide produced by animals, factories and cars, and
emit oxygen into the atmosphere. He’s tapping into an emerging market
spanning from Costa Rica to Australia, that seeks to assign a price per ton of
carbon dioxide processed by trees.
Over the past several years, large US, European, Canadian and Japanese power
firms have invested at least US$75 million to plant or preserve trees they know
they can’t cut down. More than half have been brokered by non-profit The
Nature Conservancy, based in Virginia. Meanwhile, a variety of plans are
proceeding to trade carbon credits on global exchanges or over the Internet.
Analysts say that market could grow to as much as $100 billion in the next few
years. Remarkably, deals are being made without any guarantee of a concredte
return on investments.