Greenhouse Gas Emissions Increased In 2007- Data
Statistics
from the UN Climate Change Secretariat has shown that greenhouse
gas emissions from industrialised countries increased in
2007, continuing the upward trend of the previous six years.
Data submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, UNFCCC show that greenhouse gas emissions of the
40 industrialised countries that have reporting
obligations under the Convention rose by 1% in 2007. The 2007
emissions of the countries are however, about 4% below 1990
levels.
According to the data, overall there was a 3% growth in
emissions in the period from 2000 to 2007.
For the smaller group of 37 industrialised countries that
have targets under the Kyoto Protocol, emissions in 2007 were
almost the same as in 2006, at +0.1%. This figure is around 16%
below the 1990 Kyoto baseline for industrialised countries with
targets.
Much of this reduction however comes from the economic decline
of economies in transition (countries in eastern and central
Europe) in the 1990s and since 2000; the emissions have also
been growing for this group by +3%.
Source of worry
Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Yvo de Boer, expressed
concern over the figure. In his words, “The continuing growth
of emissions from industrialised countries remains worrying,
despite the expectation of a momentary dip brought about by the
global recession…So the numbers for 2007 underscore, once again,
the urgent need to seal a
comprehensive, fair and effective climate change deal in
Copenhagen in December.”
Staggering facts
The UNFCCC secretariat has also released a report with summary
data on transactions conducted in 2008 by industrialized
countries in the course of implementing the market mechanisms
under the Kyoto Protocol. According to the data, industrialized
countries have 55 billion tonnes of Kyoto Protocol units in
their accounts.
Some of the units were already traded among countries in 2008,
and trading is expected to increase significantly in the coming
years.
“It is exciting to see how the carbon market evolved in
2008. I am sure that such data will become more conclusive as
we move closer to 2012, the final year of the first commitment
period under the Kyoto Protocol, and will show how policies and
measures of the countries that have ratified the Protocol bear
fruit,” Mr. de Boer said.
He
added though that, “The ultimate size of the carbon market
and its effectiveness to reduce global emissions will depend
critically on the level of ambition shown by industrialised
countries in Copenhagen.’’
About the Convention
With 192 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the
parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol has
been ratified by 189 of the UNFCCC Parties.
Under the Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly
industrialized
countries and countries undergoing the process of transition to
a market economy, have legally binding emission limitation and
reduction commitments.
The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize
greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that
will
prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
PR/Yinka
