Volume 1
Global climate change and sustainable development : third report of Session 2001-02 / International Development Committee.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. International Development Committee
- Date:
- 2002
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: Global climate change and sustainable development : third report of Session 2001-02 / International Development Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![energy (firewood and other organic matter used to produce energy) to ensure that access to energy is possible in as environmentally friendly and affordable a way as possible.” There should be a focus on local production in developing solutions especially in the development of simple measures such as improved stoves, briquetting of sawdust and other indigenous solutions.” International negotiations on climate change The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol 65. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed by more than 150 countries at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Its ultimate aim is the “...stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”.””” It acre that: climate change was a serious problem; ¢ action could not wait upon the resolution of remaining scientific uncertainties; ¢ developed countries should take the lead; and, ¢ developed countries should compensate developing countries for additional costs incurred in taking measures under the Convention. 66. The UNFCCC requires that developed countries help vulnerable developing countries to meet the costs of adaptation, assist with technology transfer and support capacity building.** Developing countries are seeking an equitable framework for achieving the stabilisation of atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. They need a clear indication of their current and future obligations based on their current and future emissions. They want to enhance their ability to combat and respond to climate change, particularly by developing adaptive capacity.*™ 67. The Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC was adopted in 1997 and contained additional legally-binding commitments; countries agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to at least five per cent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. Although the Protocol has yet to come into force, it represents a small but important first step towards tackling climate change.” Developing countries have not taken on any specific emissions targets, but they do have other obligations under the UNFCCC and Kyoto.” While the EU and Japan have made progress in ratifying the Protocol, the US, Canada and Australia are reluctant to do so.*”’ Although it is likely that enough countries will ratify the Protocol to see it enter into force, many believe that without the participation of the US the Protocol would be severely undermined. We hope that our colleagues in Congress will reconsider this issue. However, others feel that without the US the Protocol could actually be more effective as the ‘price’ of carbon would remain high (there would be more value in trading carbon emissions if the market was not flooded with all of the US emissions) making the various Kyoto mechanisms more attractive. While the US has now accepted that climate change is caused by human activity, they still show no sign of softening their position on 200 130 [para 5.4] a EV 144 [para 15] *United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 2 (See http://unfcce. int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf) 203Fy 13 [para 4.2] Vis ip oettua et al, 2002, IED Opinion: Climate Change and Sustainable Development Beyond Kyoto °SUNEP, 2001, UNEP Pel Initiatives Climate Change Working Group Position Paper. OEY 13 [para 4.5] °The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has produced two papers on implementing and ratifying the Kyoto Protocol that will provide greater detail on the mechanisms in the Protocol and the ratification process. Post Note Number 147 October 2000 and Post Note Number 176, April 2002.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32221356_0001_0045.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
