Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
At the Rio Summit (1992) a new convention was set up where governments would report
on national GHG emission and climate change strategies, so that accurate monitoring could
take place. There were early commitments for stabilising GHG emissions at 1990 levels by
2000, and the developed countries would transfer funds and technology to allow developing
countries to take action on climate change (and facilitate continued emissions over target
levels by the rich countries). The developed countries are responsible for about 75 per cent
of current emissions and for 65 per cent of all past emissions, with the developing countries
having much low per capita emissions levels.
The Conference of Parties (COP) became the Convention's main authority from 1995, and
the IPCC's Second Assessment Report (1995) concluded that: 'The balance of evidence
suggests that there is a discernible human influence on climate change.' COP3 was held in
Kyoto (1997), where for the first time reduction targets were agreed, namely to reduce CO2
emissions by 5.2 per cent (1990-2012) in the thirty-seven developed countries (Annex 1
countries). It took over 7 years for the Kyoto Protocol to be ratified (February 2005) and the
countries have signed (August 2011). International aviation and maritime transport were both
excluded from the Protocol. Several mechanisms were introduced, such as emissions trading,
the clean development mechanism (CDM), and joint implementation to allow the thirty-seven
countries to meet their obligations, and there were also requirements for reporting progress,
both in terms of emissions and sinks. The first period emission reduction commitments were
due to expire at the end of 2012, but the Kyoto Protocol was extended to 2017 at the COP17
Climate Summit in Durban (2011).
Since Kyoto, little progress been made in reducing GHGs, and by 2005 energy related
emissions had grown by 24 per cent (World Bank, 2010c). Little had happened in terms of
the transfer of financial support to the developing countries, even though it is agreed that they
are more vulnerable to climate change (Liverman, 2008). Progress has been slow in meeting
the targets set and in moving global agreements forward, despite the regular meetings of COP.
The COP15 meeting in Copenhagen (2009) was an intense disappointment, as expectations
had been high that real progress would be made towards a new global agreement. There was
agreement that global temperature increases should be kept below 2°C, but there were no
supporting measures. Some progress was made on forests and biodiversity, and on pledges
for financial help (US$100 billion by 2020) to help poorer countries adapt to climate change,
but these were relatively minor issues. COP15 may have signified the end of trying to get
binding agreement through global consensus on climate change. Cancun (2010) and subsequent
meetings saw little significant further progress and many are now questioning the value of
international negotiations in reducing GHG emissions. The targets set for emission reductions
are very low, and the possibilities for international consensus are almost impossible. It is
looking like this is the wrong forum for progress to be made (Prins and Rayner, 2008). Pictures
of thousands of international delegates flying around the world (and emitting CO2) to discuss
the issues only add to the disappointment and irony.
Over time the IPCC has steadily become stronger in its views on the scientific evidence.
For example, the Third Assessment Report states that 'There is new and stronger evidence
that most of the observed warming of the past 50 years is attributable to human activities'
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001, p. 5). And the Fourth Assessment Report
confirms: 'Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th
century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concen-
trations' (Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change, 2007, p. 9).
