Hemantha Withanage,
Executive Director, Centre for Environmental Justice/ Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka
The United States is undeniably the largest emitter of the green house gases (GHG) historically and now the second largest. Also, the US was the major stumbling bloke against bringing target emission cuts globally. It is my pleasure to hear that President Obama is taking a new initiative to control emission of the US and calling the Congress to develop a comprehensive clean energy legislation to cut emissions 14 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.
According to the article appeared in the Island[Sri Lankan Newspaper] on 24th September 2009 by Ms. Patricia Butenis - US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, entitled “Sri Lanka and the United States: Partners in Addressing Climate Change”, a bill has been passed by the House of Representatives and is making its way through Congress for emissions cut. The article also indicates President’s economic stimulus package which provides over $80 billion for clean energy.
Interestingly, the US didn’t sign the Kyoto Protocol which agreed in 1997 at Kyoto during 3rd Conference of Parties (CoP).. Under the Kyoto Protocol countries agreed to reduce 5.2 percent of their emissions on an average from 1990 baseline levels which none of them honored as of now. It is scientifically proved that the present level of GHGs is already making unexpected climatic changes all over the world. It is estimated that over 200 million people become climate refugees at the end of the century due to impacts of climate change. In a conservative estimate, it is calculated that the inaction of cutting emission drastically by developed countries would cost the climate impacts around 40-70 billion annually.
As the Honorable Ambassador rightly pointed out all annex I countries (industrial countries) to the Kyoto protocol including the US has a responsibility as the world’s largest historic emitter of GHGs. Also she added that no solutions can be possible without drastically reducing the US emissions.
However, we have seen many false climate change solutions such as agro fuel, clean coal initiative, clean development mechanisms, Reduction of Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), carbon trading which are bringing more and more businesses to save the world from climate change. The private sector is once again using the opportunity to make money instead paying their climate debt.
I think it is important for the US to bring the emission cuts based on the 1990 levels. However, I don’t understand why the US set its targets based on the 2005 levels. If the United State is truly has a plan to reduce its emissions and genuine effort to combat climate change, it should also start paying its “climate debt” which is part of the ecological debt they owe to the global south.
As we believe, the climate debt is owed for the historical overproduction of GHG emissions by developed countries that saturated the atmosphere – considered to be a ‘global common’ – thereby reducing the environmental/survival space available for developing countries. The climate debt is also owed for the impacts of climate change that is suffered in past and present in developing countries, and for future generations.
As we believe, ecological debt asserts that wealthy nations have generated a huge debt through centuries of exploitation of the natural resources of poorer nations. The ecological debt, including the climate debt must be paid not only in terms of financial means. This has to include the unconditional cancellation of all the unfair debts that the impoverished countries have – generated through the implementation of colonial and neoliberal policies. Liberalization practices imposed through the international financial institutions causes the degradation of environment; local social and economic system thus exacerbates vulnerability to climate change. Liberalization creates unequal access to natural goods which reducing opportunities for the poor to build resilience to climate change.
As we think this climate debt has to be paid through a range of actions in developed countries which includes rapid and immediate emissions reduction to enable adequate environmental space within ecological limits for developing countries, through finance and sharing of appropriate technology to enable developing countries to adopt low carbon societies, providing reparations for damages and building resilience of communities to the impacts of climate change.
According to Bank Information Centre (BIC), from 2007 to 2008 the World Bank increased its fossil fuel project lending by 102% compared with just 11% for “new renewables.” The US being a major shareholder of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other IFIs, must ensure in reducing the fossil fuel portfolio of these institutions.
I don’t believe that people have right to pollute whether they are living in the global north or global south. However, people in the global south have been denied their right to development for decades due to the already plundered resources and inequitable access. The developing countries therefore deserve to build their life to a sustainable level. They should have the right to emit within their ecological limits. However, the rapidly growing economies such as China, India and Brazil have to control their emissions to a sustainable level.
It is also welcome that China and India is producing own national targets for reducing emissions. However, we see that China and India is producing more and more coal power plants within the region and distributing pollution all over the region. Producing and spreading polluting factories around the region is not an acceptable paradigm which was the practice of the Japan three decades ago. This will not reduce emissions in globally at all.
According to the US Ambassador, about 97 percent of the future emission will come from the developing countries. We know that the carbon emission has both survival emissions as well as luxury emissions. Future emissions from the developing countries [including China and India] will include survival emissions in order to build their life to a sustainable level. We believe that none of the climate interventions and financing mechanism should block their right to bring the life into the sustainable limits, rights to control own goods and manage own resources in the process to convert the southern societies which already living in low carbon economies.
Sri Lanka is already going in the high carbon emitting path. It has increased its emission by 230 percent since the Kyoto protocol. Its new coal power plants will emit nearly 2 tones per capita at the end of the next decade which is the world agreed sustainable emission for the 6 billion people. However, Sri Lanka has very high potential to increase its alternative energy sources like wind, solar, wave and dendro power. Yet, renewable have not been touched by the government planners. .
The ongoing climate negotiations under the UNFCCC till Copenhagen in December 2009 will only be the beginning of the solution. We expect that the US and other Annex I countries to prove their real commitment in mitigation, technology and knowledge sharing and supporting adaptation.
The southern government has the responsibility to provide the better leadership to their communities and respect the rights of the local communities to survive, adapt in facing the climate change and govern own resources without getting trapped into the false solutions that has been floating around many climate deals.
We welcome the US to the real climate deal although it’s too late!
Executive Director, Centre for Environmental Justice/ Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka
The United States is undeniably the largest emitter of the green house gases (GHG) historically and now the second largest. Also, the US was the major stumbling bloke against bringing target emission cuts globally. It is my pleasure to hear that President Obama is taking a new initiative to control emission of the US and calling the Congress to develop a comprehensive clean energy legislation to cut emissions 14 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.
According to the article appeared in the Island[Sri Lankan Newspaper] on 24th September 2009 by Ms. Patricia Butenis - US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, entitled “Sri Lanka and the United States: Partners in Addressing Climate Change”, a bill has been passed by the House of Representatives and is making its way through Congress for emissions cut. The article also indicates President’s economic stimulus package which provides over $80 billion for clean energy.
Interestingly, the US didn’t sign the Kyoto Protocol which agreed in 1997 at Kyoto during 3rd Conference of Parties (CoP).. Under the Kyoto Protocol countries agreed to reduce 5.2 percent of their emissions on an average from 1990 baseline levels which none of them honored as of now. It is scientifically proved that the present level of GHGs is already making unexpected climatic changes all over the world. It is estimated that over 200 million people become climate refugees at the end of the century due to impacts of climate change. In a conservative estimate, it is calculated that the inaction of cutting emission drastically by developed countries would cost the climate impacts around 40-70 billion annually.
As the Honorable Ambassador rightly pointed out all annex I countries (industrial countries) to the Kyoto protocol including the US has a responsibility as the world’s largest historic emitter of GHGs. Also she added that no solutions can be possible without drastically reducing the US emissions.
However, we have seen many false climate change solutions such as agro fuel, clean coal initiative, clean development mechanisms, Reduction of Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), carbon trading which are bringing more and more businesses to save the world from climate change. The private sector is once again using the opportunity to make money instead paying their climate debt.
I think it is important for the US to bring the emission cuts based on the 1990 levels. However, I don’t understand why the US set its targets based on the 2005 levels. If the United State is truly has a plan to reduce its emissions and genuine effort to combat climate change, it should also start paying its “climate debt” which is part of the ecological debt they owe to the global south.
As we believe, the climate debt is owed for the historical overproduction of GHG emissions by developed countries that saturated the atmosphere – considered to be a ‘global common’ – thereby reducing the environmental/survival space available for developing countries. The climate debt is also owed for the impacts of climate change that is suffered in past and present in developing countries, and for future generations.
As we believe, ecological debt asserts that wealthy nations have generated a huge debt through centuries of exploitation of the natural resources of poorer nations. The ecological debt, including the climate debt must be paid not only in terms of financial means. This has to include the unconditional cancellation of all the unfair debts that the impoverished countries have – generated through the implementation of colonial and neoliberal policies. Liberalization practices imposed through the international financial institutions causes the degradation of environment; local social and economic system thus exacerbates vulnerability to climate change. Liberalization creates unequal access to natural goods which reducing opportunities for the poor to build resilience to climate change.
As we think this climate debt has to be paid through a range of actions in developed countries which includes rapid and immediate emissions reduction to enable adequate environmental space within ecological limits for developing countries, through finance and sharing of appropriate technology to enable developing countries to adopt low carbon societies, providing reparations for damages and building resilience of communities to the impacts of climate change.
According to Bank Information Centre (BIC), from 2007 to 2008 the World Bank increased its fossil fuel project lending by 102% compared with just 11% for “new renewables.” The US being a major shareholder of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other IFIs, must ensure in reducing the fossil fuel portfolio of these institutions.
I don’t believe that people have right to pollute whether they are living in the global north or global south. However, people in the global south have been denied their right to development for decades due to the already plundered resources and inequitable access. The developing countries therefore deserve to build their life to a sustainable level. They should have the right to emit within their ecological limits. However, the rapidly growing economies such as China, India and Brazil have to control their emissions to a sustainable level.
It is also welcome that China and India is producing own national targets for reducing emissions. However, we see that China and India is producing more and more coal power plants within the region and distributing pollution all over the region. Producing and spreading polluting factories around the region is not an acceptable paradigm which was the practice of the Japan three decades ago. This will not reduce emissions in globally at all.
According to the US Ambassador, about 97 percent of the future emission will come from the developing countries. We know that the carbon emission has both survival emissions as well as luxury emissions. Future emissions from the developing countries [including China and India] will include survival emissions in order to build their life to a sustainable level. We believe that none of the climate interventions and financing mechanism should block their right to bring the life into the sustainable limits, rights to control own goods and manage own resources in the process to convert the southern societies which already living in low carbon economies.
Sri Lanka is already going in the high carbon emitting path. It has increased its emission by 230 percent since the Kyoto protocol. Its new coal power plants will emit nearly 2 tones per capita at the end of the next decade which is the world agreed sustainable emission for the 6 billion people. However, Sri Lanka has very high potential to increase its alternative energy sources like wind, solar, wave and dendro power. Yet, renewable have not been touched by the government planners. .
The ongoing climate negotiations under the UNFCCC till Copenhagen in December 2009 will only be the beginning of the solution. We expect that the US and other Annex I countries to prove their real commitment in mitigation, technology and knowledge sharing and supporting adaptation.
The southern government has the responsibility to provide the better leadership to their communities and respect the rights of the local communities to survive, adapt in facing the climate change and govern own resources without getting trapped into the false solutions that has been floating around many climate deals.
We welcome the US to the real climate deal although it’s too late!
