Carbon credit
The End is Nigh Ö for the Kyoto Protocol
IPN Opinion article
At last week's climate change meeting in Buenos Aires, European governments
appeared finally to have woken up to the fact that the Kyoto Protocol sums
don't add up. Meanwhile, Brazil, China, India and the US ñ together
representing the majority of global emissions of greenhouse gases ñ seem
opposed the imposition of binding restrictions on emissions of greenhouse
gases after 2012, when Kyoto comes to an end. As a result, the Kyoto
Protocol itself may unwind. This would be good news for everyone, especially
the poorest.
Union must reconsider its carbon emissions policy
IPN Opinion article
IT HAS been a tumultuous year for Europe's climate policy. In May, European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrˆm announced that ten EU countries are not meeting their targets for emissions reduction under the Kyoto Protocol.
With both Australia and the US having chosen not to ratify Kyoto, the fate of the treaty now depends solely on Russia. And with the Russian announcement in October that it will not ratify, Kyoto's future looks bleak. Next month, at the 9th Conference of Parties (COP-9) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Milan, the Protocol may see the final nails in its coffin.
The European Union should let Kyoto ërest in peace', using its demise as an opportunity to reconsider its strategy towards climate change.
