Thought #41
October 2009
Author: Bill Thurston
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
UNFCCC
First , I would like to welcome the new members that subscribed after watching a
5 minute TV segment on The Thoughts Newsletter that aired here in Henderson,
Nevada.
This Thought is a little different in that it will address a topic that isn't a
current event now but will be in less than 30 days.
UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty sponsored by the United Nations.
Adopted in 1992, the UNFCCC sets out a framework for action aimed at stabilizing
atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at a level that would prevent
human-induced actions from leading to dangerous interference with the climate
system.
This
treaty sets a framework but has no teeth. There are no mandatory limits on
greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and there are no policing
mechanisms. The Parties to the
UNFCCC committed themselves to reducing their overall emissions of six
greenhouse gases by at least 5% below 1990 levels over the period between 2008
and 2012, with specific targets varying from country to country.
The treaty does provide for updates that would set mandatory emissions limits
and methods for enforcement. The principal update is the
Kyoto Protocol, which has become
much better known than the UNFCCC itself. In
Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, delegates that signed the treaty agreed to a
Protocol to the UNFCCC that commits developed countries and countries making the
transition to a market economy to achieve quantified targets for decreasing
their emissions of greenhouse gases.
The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the
Convention
encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize GHG emissions,
the Protocol
commits them to do
so.
So What is the Kyoto Protocol ?
Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national
measures. However, the Kyoto Protocol offers them additional means of meeting
their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms.
The Kyoto mechanisms are:
1. Emissions trading
Emissions trading allows countries that have emission units to spare (emissions
permitted them but not used) to sell this excess capacity to countries that are
over their targets. Thus, a new commodity was created in the form of emission
reductions or removals. Since carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas,
people speak simply of trading in carbon. Carbon is now tracked and traded like
any other commodity. This is known as the "carbon market."
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/mechanisms/emissions_trading/items/2731.php
2.
Clean development mechanism (CDM)
The Clean Development Mechanism allows a country with an emission-reduction or
emission-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol to implement an
emission-reduction project in developing countries. Such projects can earn
saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one ton
of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets.
Here is a map of these activities:
http://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/MapApp/index.html
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/mechanisms/clean_development_mechanism/items/2718.php
3.
Joint implementation (JI).
Joint implementation allows a country with an emission reduction or limitation
commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to earn emission reduction
units (ERUs) from an emission reduction or emission removal project in another
Annex B Party, each equivalent to one ton of CO2, which can be counted towards
meeting its Kyoto target. Joint implementation offers Parties a flexible and
cost efficient means of fulfilling a part of their Kyoto commitments, while the
host Party benefits from foreign investment and technology transfer.
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/mechanisms/joint_implementation/items/1674.php
The UNFCCC will meet in Copenhagen from 7 Dec. to 18 Dec. 2009.
The overall goal of the Copenhagen Meeting is to establish an ambitious global
climate agreement for the period from 2012 when the first commitment period
under the Kyoto Protocol expires. It is expected that ministers and officials
from 192 countries will take part. In addition, there will be participants from
a large number of organizations.
The UNFCCC Conference in December:
http://en.cop15.dk/
and
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
Thought #1
One might ask why this topic is important. There are two parts to the answer.
First, of course, is the overall topic of addressing greenhouse gases. The
second part is the ramifications of signing any UNFCCC document. This could be
the interesting one. The final documents that could be signed in December 2009
aren't completed so today we don't yet know the commitments associated with
signing the document.
The question seems to be if we sign the treaty, does the treaty supersede the
Constitution and that once Obama signs this treaty, is there no recourse against
the treaty other than agreement in partisan between all 50 states. The Supremacy
Clause of the Constitution, Article IV, paragraph 2, reads as follows:
“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States
which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall
be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of
the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the
Constitution or Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.”
We will hear more about this soon.
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