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UNIT 6: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE Limor Weizmann, Esq. What is Climate Change Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions These amount to an average of 5% against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012. The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so. Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities.” The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh in 2001, and are called the “Marrakesh Accords.” The Kyoto mechanisms Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Kyoto Protocol offers them an additional means of meeting their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms. Emissions trading – known as “the carbon market" Clean development mechanism (CDM) Between a developed and developing country Joint implementation (JI) 1 credit = 1 unit of emissions Between two developed countries The mechanisms help stimulate green investment and help Parties meet their emission targets in a costeffective way. Kyoto Protocol Monitoring emission targets Under the Protocol, countries' actual emissions have to be monitored and precise records have to be kept of the trades carried out. Registry systems track and record transactions by Parties under the mechanisms. The UN Climate Change Secretariat, based in Bonn, Germany, keeps an international transaction log to verify that transactions are consistent with the rules of the Protocol. Reporting is done by Parties by way of submitting annual emission inventories and national reports under the Protocol at regular intervals. A compliance system ensures that Parties are meeting their commitments and helps them to meet their commitments if they have problems doing so. Adaptation The Kyoto Protocol, like the Convention, is also designed to assist countries in adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. It facilitates the development and deployment of techniques that can help increase resilience to the impacts of climate change. The Adaptation Fund was established to finance adaptation projects and programs in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Fund is financed mainly with a share of proceeds from CDM project activities. The Road Ahead After Kyoto The Kyoto Protocol is generally seen as an important first step towards a truly global emission reduction regime that will stabilize GHG emissions, and provides the essential architecture for any future international agreement on climate change. By the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, a new international framework needs to have been negotiated and ratified that can deliver the stringent emission reductions the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has clearly indicated are needed. Still waiting…. Mock Environmental Summit We will divide the class into several groups, each representing one country. See the following slides… Mock Environmental Summit Country 1: Germany Group A Members: Boecker, Kenny Spencer, Sheila Polydoros, Anastasios Farrell, Bridget Fantz, Matthew Mock Environmental Summit Country 2: Saudi Arabia Group B Members: Denman, Nancy Giordan, Katelynne Rush Jr., Richard Tims, Marion Mock Environmental Summit Country 3: Belize Group C Members: Walker, Heidi Wright, Carrie Runion, Valerie Forster, Nickolas Mock Environmental Summit Country 4: Ethiopia Group D Members: Cardon, Brittany Flattes, Marc Gonzalez, Jessica Thompson, Nathaniel A. Mock Environmental Summit You can meet with your group by going to the Chat tab at the top of your EM410 classroom. Find the chat room for your group and you can begin working together. If your group decides you want to meet again before the Unit 7 Seminar, you can agree on a time and you will be able to use the group chat room. Mock Environmental Summit • • Students within each group will be assigned the role of government ministers. Each minister will need to examine a particular feature of that country. You will choose someone to be: – – – – – • Minister of Minister of Minister of Minister of Minister of Economy Natural Resources and Environment Energy Foreign Affairs and Trade Agriculture (for group A’s 5th member) In addition, you will need to select one person from each group to be the climate change delegate. This person will have to compile some information at the end of Unit 7, so please make sure the person you select can handle the additional duties [if you cannot agree, I will assign someone at random] Mock Environmental Summit Example: The economic minister's report would gather information about the real and potential impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the country's economy, and industry as well as the impacts of measures to control emissions, and recommendations as to emissions reductions goals. (For example, would the minister advocate for allowing the country's emissions to continue to increase? Keeping its emissions stagnant at their current level? Reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2050? Halving current emissions by 2050? Etc.) Be sure to examine any relevant effects of climate change (such as the effect of rising sea levels on a country with large coastal regions). Mock Environmental Summit DUE: SUNDAY September 25 at midnight (before the Unit 8 Seminar) In preparation for the Summit (Unit 8 Seminar), each student in the role of a "minister" will research, write, and post to the wiki 1-2 pages that comments on that minister's assigned feature. In particular, the report should provide concise comments on how that feature would likely impact the country's long- and short-term decisions on emissions and on participation in global treaties such as the UNFCCC/Kyoto Protocol. In other words, an economic minister would prepare a report examining and discussing his/her assigned country's economic situation: Is it a developed country? Is it a developing country? Is the country dependent on a particular trade or industry? Mock Environmental Summit Instructions: Length should be 1 - 2 pages Viewpoint and purpose should be clearly established and sustained Assignment should follow the conventions of Standard American English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.) Writing should be well ordered, logical and unified, as well as original and insightful Your work should display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics Appropriate citation style should be followed Submit Papers: The ministers should submit their papers to the Dropbox before Unit 8 Seminar (Sunday night!) Mock Environmental Summit Questions? I know this is an involved assignment, so please do email, etc., if questions come up along the way. Chat rooms are open…