Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
mate warming than does CO
2
. Afforestation in developing countries would also
qualify.
The 2009 Copenhagen meeting of the parties of the Climate Convention saw a
step backward in environmental governance. No decision was taken to extend the
Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012, and the Protocol's mandatory commitments were re-
placed by voluntary pledges that in practice equalize actions by Annex I and non-
Annex I countries. However, industrialized countries announced the establishment
of a new fund to be administered by the Conference of the Parties for adaptation
and to help developing countries implement measures to reduce their emissions.
The fund should reach a value of $US100 billion per year in 2020.
A new effort was made at the Cancun Conference of the Parties in 2010 to
extend the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012, but it did not succeed. It did, however,
take steps to operationalize the fund proposed in Copenhagen. The Conference re-
cognized avoided deforestation as a valid instrument for the prevention of climate
change and to reduce deforestation that contributes approximately 18% to the glob-
al CO
2
emission. The Conference decided that developing countries with tropical
forests that succeed in reducing deforestation (and resulting CO
2
emissions) could
receive international compensation for the avoided emissions. Such a mechanism
is similar to CDM and is called REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation). Norway has contributed US$100 million for REDD pro-
jects in Brazil.
In Durban, South Africa, in 2011 a second commitment period of the Kyoto Pro-
tocol was adopted while a new Protocol is negotiated. It was agreed that such ne-
gotiations will be concluded by 2015 to enter into force in 2020 establishing man-
datory emission reductions for all countries.
Cap and trade is a policy tool used to promote reductions in the amount of pol-
lutants emitted by countries. It was originally used in the United States to reduce
SO
2
emissions, which is the main contributor to acid rain. The policy operates in
the following way: an overall mandatory cap is set by government on the amount
of emissions that can be tolerated, and the industries responsible for the emissions
receive quotas they cannot exceed. There is flexibility as to how to achieve these
quotas, as industries might make changes to their production process or trade cred-
its with other industries, since it is easier for some of them than for others to meet
