Heat Goes On Developing Countries To Curb Emissions In Post-Kyoto Deal
December 12th, 2007
As politicians and officials from 190 countries grapple with how to tackle climate change beyond 2012, there’s a growing realisation developing countries must also be included in any future pact.
The UN climate change talks in Bali conclude tomorrow with a roadmap now starting to take shape for a possible new global deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
While the focus is still on rich countries, with a draft proposal calling on them to slash emissions by 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020, the document recognises developing countries must also put a brake on their rising emissions.
The Bali talks coincide with the release of a new report showing CO2 emissions from developing nations are growing so rapidly, they will overtake the rich industrialised countries within 20 years.
The report by the Centre for Global Development (CGD), an independent American think tank, concludes even if Europe, North America, the former Soviet Union, Japan, Aust and NZ eliminate all their emissions immediately, it would not be enough to stop severe climate change.
The CGD concludes it is a “dangerous fallacy” to believe the rich world is responsible for climate change and should dramatically cut its emissions, while the developing world should be given time to catch up, through economic expansion powered by fossil fuels.
It argues developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific must face their own “inconvenient truth” and immediately embark on a low-carbon development path.
David Wheeler, the lead author of the study, says, “The question is not if the (developing world) will commit to emissions reductions – under any scenario it eventually must for its own sake – but whether it will do so in time, and how the costs of the transition are to be shared.”
However, UN climate chief Yvo de Boer believes developing countries are not likely to accept binding targets. Instead, they will seek to use cleaner technology to limit emissions. De Boer adds, “If you take a country like India, where 400m people don’t even have access to electricity, to ask a country like that to reduce its emissions just doesn’t make any sense.”
Meanwhile, the EU is pushing hardest at Bali for deeper targets for rich countries and extending the global carbon market. But surprisingly, Japan is distancing itself from future binding cuts.
It is instead pushing for a voluntary approach where individual countries decide what action they take towards a long-term goal.
This is similar to the stance being taken by the US and Canada. A major shift in attitude in business circles is apparent at the Bali negotiations, with business leaders no longer sceptical about climate change but rather calling for certainty to enable long-term investment decisions.
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