Wednesday 18 July, 2001
Bonn: The Climate Change Challenge
This week, politicians from more than 180 countries meet in the German city of Bonn for The United Nations summit on climate change.
They face an uphill struggle to salvage the Kyoto Protocol, the treaty aimed at curbing levels of industrial emissions considered responsible for global warming.
The document was designed to cut pollution by making nations accountable for their emissions of greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide produced by human activity. But the treaty faces powerful opposition.
Opposition
The summit's biggest challenge has been, so far, convincing the United States to endorse the treaty. The US, the world's biggest polluter, is responsible for roughly 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
But the US opposition to the global warming protocol is clear. President George W Bush said recently, “People shouldn't doubt where the United States stands.”
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Mr Bush explained his position:
| 'We believe we ought to all work together to reduce the greenhouse gases. However, the Protocol that I inherited – condemned by the US Senate on a 95 to nothing vote – is not the proper way to proceed.' | |
Asked if there was any chance Europeans at the Bonn conference would be able to get the US back on board the Kyoto Protocol, he answered:
| 'No. They succeeded in getting my endorsement of reducing greenhouse gases. We will lay out a strategy, over time…We got an energy crisis in America as well…We're kind'a short on energy.' | |
'What we need to do is develop an energy strategy combined with an environmental strategy that will reduce greenhouse gases and at the same time allow our economy to grow.'
Apart from being the biggest polluter, the US is also the world's largest economy.
Texas, Mr Bush's home state, is also home to the US oil industry. According to a recent BBC online report, Texas accounts for 20% of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions.
Japan's Crucial Role
For the Kyoto Protocol to become law, 55 countries have to ratify it. However only 34 of the 84 signatories have so far agreed to do this.
An additional requirement is that the signatories must account for a 55% quota of the world's emissions, at 1990 levels.
The US opposition to the treaty has put Japan, which produces 8.6% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, in a pivotal role.
The European Union, Russia and eastern Europe, produce just under 50% of the world's emissions. If Japan were to unite with them, the required quota of 55% would be reached. The document could then become legally binding.
Japan appears to be willing to take on that responsibility.
In Bonn, the Japanese Environment Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi offered a strong indication of her country's intentions to salvage the Kyoto agreement.
In a recent interview with British newspaper, The Independent, Ms Kawaguchi said:
| 'It is important that all countries participate, and it is important that we do not spend too much time waiting for the US to come in…Japan will do its utmost to come to an agreement aiming at the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol by 2002.' | |
Key Issues
During the talks, politicians will be discussing a wide-ranging agenda. Most topics have been discussed at previous meetings.
The four main areas of negotiations are:
carbon sequestration: ways of soaking up carbon dioxide,
funding and aid for developing countries,
carbon trading: a system for buying and selling emissions rights, and
compliance and enforcement of the treaty.
Different methods have been tabled for carbon sequestration. They are: planting forests to soak up the CO2, also called “sinks”; pumping the CO2 into underground reservoirs; and a farming method called conservation tillage.
After harvesting, plant residue is left to rot instead of being burned. The carbon is then absorbed into the soil instead of being released into the atmosphere.
However conservation tillage is also not free from debate. There are concerns that the soil could eventually become saturated, releasing carbon back into the air. And rotting plant residue could also produce other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide, which also impact on global warming.
Another area of debate is carbon trading. Trading would allow industrialised countries to reduce their emissions by investing in reductions in other countries, but not in their own. With this system, a rich country could conceivably fund the installation of renewable energy equipment in a poor country.
Political Wrangling
Scientists say that while the politicians negotiate, the levels of pollution are on the increase.
In early 2001, scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report highlighting the scientific evidence which points to climate change produced by human activities.
The report predicts temperatures will rise to as much as 5.8C by the end of this century. It also specifies that industrial pollution is responsible.
|
 |
 |
|
| International Action |
 |
|
|
July 2001 - COP 6. The Conference of the Parties of the Climate Change Convention. Bonn, Germany.
Nov 2000 - COP 6. Also known as The Hague Climate Conference. The Netherlands.
1997 – COP. Governments adopt The Kyoto Protocol, a treaty which aims to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by industrialised nations. Japan.
1992 - Earth Summit. World leaders acknowledge the negative effect of human activity on the earth’s climate. Brazil.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is opened for signature.
1988 - The World Meteorological Organisation and the UN create the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
THe IPCC assesses the threats of global warming.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| The Protocol |
 |
|
|
The Kyoto Protocol is a work in progress.
Drawn up in Japan in 1997, it was heralded as a landmark treaty in environmental policy.
At last governments worldwide could plan an international strategy to reduce global warming. But since its creation, attempts to implement it have failed.
The agreement sets out goals for making countries reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, which are thought to be responsible for global warming.
But the treaty has met with resistance. The US, the most vocal of the idustrialised countries, says its implementation would reduce industrial growth.
|
|
|
|
|
