The Rural Voice, 2002-04, Page 126
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THE RURAL VOICE
Robert Mercer
Kyoto — winning without the U.S.
Robert
Mercer was
editor of the
Broadwater
Market Letter
and
commentator
for 25 years.
The U.S. is hedging its bets on the
Kyoto Climate Change Protocol with
talk about cutting greenhouse gas
intensity over the next 10 years, but
not emissions. Canada is waffling
with no overall policy or plans to
meet any greenhouse gas emission
cuts. The EU has agreed to ratify the
Protocol as of March 4. The
grassroots NGOs and greens
worldwide are pushing hard for
ratification of the Kyoto Protocol
prior to the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg in September 2002.
The debate is heating up, and here
is some of the background on this
complex and diverse issue. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (2,500 scientists) stated in
their 2001 Third Assessment report
"most of the warming of the past 50
years is attributable to human
activities."
The same panel said also that the
1990s were likely the warmest
decade, and 1998 the warmest year
since instrumental recordings began
in 1860s.
Also at the. World Economic
Summit in Davos two years ago, the
members voted "climate change the
most serious global problem facing
companies in the coming decades".
So where is Canada's plan to face
off against Prairie drought, loss of ice
fields, shifting fish stocks, pine beetle
infestations, and the loss of the polar
bear habitats in the Hudson Bay area.
We have federal clean air policy —
no direction — no leadership and no
idea how our government is going to
address this choking reality of carbon
dioxide overdose. It is now four
wasted years since the Kyoto ,
Protocol was signed and business
groups (even provinces) are getting
nervous over the lack of direction.
Some are even suggesting that
Canada, much like the Toxic Texan -
led U.S., should go it alone with an
independent made -in -Canada plan.
The 1997 Kyoto accord negotiated
by some 150 countries, required
greenhouse gas emissions to be cut
by about six to eight per cent from
the 1990 level by the end of 2012. As
emissions jiave continued to climb
since 1990, most developed nation
members now have to meet reduction
targets closer to cuts of 20 - 30 per
cent.
As the European Union has said it
will now ratify the Protocol, there is a
real possibility that with or without
the U.S., final agreement can be
reached ... with the U.S. sitting on
the sidelines! If that is so then the
potential for trading emission permits
gets a whole new spin. Without the
U.S. the estimated cost of permits per
ton of carbon now falls to $23 per ton
from $69. Thus compliance is now
cheaper.
There are those who feel it might
be better to go ahead without the U.S.
and thus seek for themselves the
benefits of innovative technology,
energy savings and new efficiencies.
The Kyoto Protocol is not all bad
news for business or agriculture. It is
a place to start with a workable
agreement that can be improved over
time. The Montreal Protocol on the
ozone layer has been revised five
times since 1987 due to its flexibility
towards a common goal.
Surely the common good is more
important over time than corporate
results over the next quarter.0
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