Carbon currency – the credits and debits of carbon emissions trading
Box 1 | International deliberations
The prospect of an enhanced greenhouse effect has generated plenty of heat between national governments. The development of international policies to address the enhanced greenhouse effect – and the responses of governments to these policies – is a fascinating subject in its own right.
In the 1980s the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme established an international panel of government representatives and scientists to review the science of climate change. Known as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it has published numerous extensive reports that have become the source for much of the material used in discussions and decision-making about the enhanced greenhouse effect.
At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Australia and about 150 other countries signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Australia ratified the convention in December 1992. As a party to the convention, Australia must report its greenhouse gas emissions and the strategies and measures it has adopted to reduce them.
The stated objective of the Framework Convention is to achieve
...stabilisation of the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.
The countries party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change met in Berlin in early 1995 in what is known as the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP1). They agreed to continue cooperating internationally on the enhanced greenhouse effect. But there was little agreement on what measures could be implemented. After much negotiation, delegates started work on a protocol.
COP2 was held in July 1996 in Geneva. There, the countries agreed that talks on reducing greenhouse gas emissions should be accelerated.
Earth Summit II in New York in June 1997 reviewed how successfully Earth Summit I commitments had been implemented in the 5 years since they were agreed to. Australia’s opposition to legally binding, uniform targets on greenhouse gas emissions received international criticism. The Australian Government argued that all nations start at a different base with respect to greenhouse gases. For example, some countries have copious supplies of hydroelectricity, others depend on inputs of energy-intensive methods, still others have economies that are less energy dependent. Within the European Union differential targets were allowed for these and other reasons. Thus, in this regard, Australia's approach was not that different.
COP3 took place in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, resulting in the Kyoto Protocol. This agreement sets the collective global target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 5 per cent of 1990 levels by 2012. Australia, which argued that it was a special case because of increasing population, dependence on fossil fuels and a decentralised economy, had its target set at 8 per cent above 1990 levels.
COP4 took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November 1998, where a 2-year plan of action was adopted to reduce the risk of global climate change.
COP5 was held in Bonn, Germany in October/November 1999. Progress was made on the following issues: accelerating the negotiation process; Kyoto mechanisms; land-use, land use change and forestry; and compliance. In November 2000, negotiations were suspended at COP6 when no agreement was reached on rules to make the Kyoto Protocol operational.
COP6 resumed in July 2001 in Bonn, Germany. Although the United States was not part of the talks, other industrialised nations reached partial agreement about how to begin addressing the problem of climate change.
At COP7, held in Marrakesh, Morocco in November 2001, extended discussions produced a rule book for the Kyoto Protocol, clearing the way for ratification.
COP8 was held in Delhi, India in October 2002, where participants urged that the Kyoto Protocol be brought into force as quickly as possible, and agreed on procedural rules related to documentation and reporting of emissions. Discussions on the obligations of developing countries to meet emissions targets were heated.
At COP9, held in Milan, Italy in December 2003, there was a call for Russia to ratify the protocol, discussion about technicalities relating to carbon sinks and the formation of two funds to assist developing countries.
COP10 was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in December 2004, and focused on preparation for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, after Russia agreed to ratify the protocol. There was discussion about bringing existing policies into force and the next phase of negotiations, without any new commitments being made beyond 2012.
The Kyoto Protocol came into force on 16 February 2005 at COP11. Meetings continue to be held annually with the attention of advocates of the protocol turned to strengthening the agreement for the years following the initial commitment period of 2008 to 2012. One of the challenges is to include all of the major emitting countries, both developed and developing. Another is to begin significant long term reductions in carbon emissions to prevent further climate change.
In 2007, COP13 in Bali, Indonesia culminated in the adoption of The Bali Road Map. This presented international strategies for tackling global climate change and an agenda for development of the successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
At COP 14 in Poznan, work programs were developed for negotiations in the lead up to forming an international response to climate change at COP 15. Issues such as adaptation, emissions from deforestation and finance – of particular importance to developing countries – were also addressed.
COP 15 was held in Copenhagen in 2009. In an international agreement to form the basis of a post-2012 framework when the Kyoto Protocol expires, the Copenhagen Accord set a cap on global temperature rise to below two degrees. This is to be achieved through commitment of countries to significant emission reductions. Countries also agreed to raise finance to support action in the developing world on climate change.
Box
Box 2. Australia’s policy response
Related site
Meetings archive (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)
Page updated January 2010.