Blog
16.February 2005 - 05:29
In its current form, the Kyoto Protocol will not advance climate targets in a sustainable way
The Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force today is not necessarily able to fulfil the set climate targets at all, says Eija-Riitta Korhola, a member of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament.
– The agreement is valuable as an expression of political will, but, as a matter of fact, there is a risk that the Kyoto Protocol will increase greenhouse emissions if, as a result of the agreement, industrial production is transfered to countries to which less strict emission norms apply. The global economy has led to the fact that it seems as if the world has slipped away from the ranges of the Kyoto Protocol. The carbon leakage threat should now be taken seriously and in regard to the continuation period, it is of vital importance that corrective measures will be implemented as rapidly as possible, Korhola says.
The rapidly growing emissions of China and India, and the US decision to remain outside the Kyoto Protocol have rendered particularly the discussions on future climate policy measures very difficult. Two-thirds of the anticipated increase in emissions by 2030 will be generated in developing countries. The emissions restrictions of the present protocol do not concern these countries.
According to Korhola, the EU’s one-sided struggle may weaken the competitiveness of Union-based companies and therefore also worsen the state of the environment globally.
– Finland is an example of this: our country is the world’s cleanest steel and paper producer, but due to our strict national target Finnish enterprises are really put through the wringer against their expectations, says Korhola.
The emitters gain a competitive edge in the world market, as the price of environmental investments and emission allowances cannot be included in the market price. In case production transfers to countries to which less strict emission norms apply, the total volume of emissions will increase. The principle of, “the emitter pays”, threatens to change to a practice of “the emitters will be paid”.
According to Korhola, the EU’s internal emissions trade demonstrates the same trend, as the largest seller of emission allowances will be Poland.
Climate change is the most severe problem in the entire history of mankind, and measures to curb it are needed immediately in Korhola’s mind. – We may now justifiably ask whether the Kyoto Protocol really is the right step towards efficient climate measures. Therefore it is necessary to analyse the weak points of the Kyoto Protocol and declare this agreement to be in part an inefficient way to solve the problem of climate warming.
According to Korhola, instead of setting country-specific targets, a world-wide, industry-specific system should be drawn up. This should be based on energy efficiency by defining the theoretical minimum of emissions per production tonne. In this way, for instance, all the steel industries in the world would be assessed in the same way, and plants, which have the lowest possible emissions per production tonne, would be permitted to sell emission allowances. This system would be a motivation to truly reduce emissions, as its intention is to reward the least emitting actors. It would also guarantee that emissions trading does not distort competition nor provides a competitive edge to the emitters.
The focus of the UN’s post-2012 emission reduction model should be put on energy saving and ecological efficiency, as well as on low emissions technology and its development. The individual consumer should be involved in emission reductions by developing the emissions trading system in the field of transport, in which emissions are increasing most rapidly.
– If we were made aware that low emissions were also the starting point for developing countries during the next Kyoto term, it would immediately affect the investments made to these countries. Developing countries deserve their economic growth, but by means of clean technology, states Korhola
Published: February 16, 2005
The Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force today is not necessarily able to fulfil the set climate targets at all, says Eija-Riitta Korhola, a member of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament.
– The agreement is valuable as an expression of political will, but, as a matter of fact, there is a risk that the Kyoto Protocol will increase greenhouse emissions if, as a result of the agreement, industrial production is transfered to countries to which less strict emission norms apply. The global economy has led to the fact that it seems as if the world has slipped away from the ranges of the Kyoto Protocol. The carbon leakage threat should now be taken seriously and in regard to the continuation period, it is of vital importance that corrective measures will be implemented as rapidly as possible, Korhola says.
The rapidly growing emissions of China and India, and the US decision to remain outside the Kyoto Protocol have rendered particularly the discussions on future climate policy measures very difficult. Two-thirds of the anticipated increase in emissions by 2030 will be generated in developing countries. The emissions restrictions of the present protocol do not concern these countries.
According to Korhola, the EU’s one-sided struggle may weaken the competitiveness of Union-based companies and therefore also worsen the state of the environment globally.
– Finland is an example of this: our country is the world’s cleanest steel and paper producer, but due to our strict national target Finnish enterprises are really put through the wringer against their expectations, says Korhola.
The emitters gain a competitive edge in the world market, as the price of environmental investments and emission allowances cannot be included in the market price. In case production transfers to countries to which less strict emission norms apply, the total volume of emissions will increase. The principle of, “the emitter pays”, threatens to change to a practice of “the emitters will be paid”.
According to Korhola, the EU’s internal emissions trade demonstrates the same trend, as the largest seller of emission allowances will be Poland.
Climate change is the most severe problem in the entire history of mankind, and measures to curb it are needed immediately in Korhola’s mind. – We may now justifiably ask whether the Kyoto Protocol really is the right step towards efficient climate measures. Therefore it is necessary to analyse the weak points of the Kyoto Protocol and declare this agreement to be in part an inefficient way to solve the problem of climate warming.
According to Korhola, instead of setting country-specific targets, a world-wide, industry-specific system should be drawn up. This should be based on energy efficiency by defining the theoretical minimum of emissions per production tonne. In this way, for instance, all the steel industries in the world would be assessed in the same way, and plants, which have the lowest possible emissions per production tonne, would be permitted to sell emission allowances. This system would be a motivation to truly reduce emissions, as its intention is to reward the least emitting actors. It would also guarantee that emissions trading does not distort competition nor provides a competitive edge to the emitters.
The focus of the UN’s post-2012 emission reduction model should be put on energy saving and ecological efficiency, as well as on low emissions technology and its development. The individual consumer should be involved in emission reductions by developing the emissions trading system in the field of transport, in which emissions are increasing most rapidly.
– If we were made aware that low emissions were also the starting point for developing countries during the next Kyoto term, it would immediately affect the investments made to these countries. Developing countries deserve their economic growth, but by means of clean technology, states Korhola
Published: February 16, 2005