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Events convened on Tuesday, 11 June |
The role of companies in the Kyoto mechanisms
Presented by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
Flannery explained that the ICC believes that: countries should recognize all valid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions credits and allowances without imposing selective criteria based on the national source or final owner of credits; nations should not impose import or export controls on exchanges of GHG emissions credits; internal transfers of credits between affiliated companies of multinational corporations should not be restricted; transparent procedures should be established for national allocations of credits and for project approval so that companies can undertake transactions confidently based on readily available information; and nations should not establish eligibility, compliance or liability procedures that retroactively affect transfers undertaken in good faith by companies.
Jonathan Pershing,
International Energy Agency, highlighted the implications of decisions
regarding the allocation of national emissions reduction targets for
competitiveness across sectors. He underscored that the global
community, including the US, must be engaged in the Kyoto mechanisms,
noting that non-Parties are implementing programmes and engaging in
trading to hedge against long-term commitments.
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Climate change activities in the US Presented by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change
This event provided
an overview of climate change activities by Congress, companies and states
in the US. Nikki Roy, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, discussed climate change activities in the US Congress. He noted that after President Bush announced opposition to the Kyoto Protocol and to limits on CO2 from power plants, climate change became a much larger political issue in Congress, with the introduction of more than 50 climate change bills and the enactment of a law promoting carbon sequestration research. He explained that the Senate-passed Energy Policy Act contains provisions to establish a national climate change policy office, institute a national climate change strategy with the goal of stabilizing atmospheric GHG concentrations, and propose interim mitigation measures. Lisa Jacobson, Sustainable Strategies, stated that despite the Bush Administration's position on climate change, many US companies are voluntarily reducing emissions and implementing emissions management strategies. She said the US' rejection of the Kyoto Protocol means that although US companies need not comply with its emissions reduction requirements, they may benefit from sales of climate-friendly products and services, but their ability to influence policy will be limited and their compliance costs higher in the event of future US ratification. She emphasized that voluntary programmes are not enough, and that Bush's climate change plan may be a disincentive for emissions reductions, although US companies are seeking to take advantage of market-based mechanisms.
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Clean Development Mechanism: British Petroleum's solar project in Brazil Presented by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Gylvan Meira, Brazil, highlighted the CDM as an important mechanism for addressing climate change, as it effectively engages developing countries in solutions. He said striking a balance between ensuring realistic emission reduction targets and maintaining low transaction costs poses a present challenge. As a member of the CDM Executive Board, Meira expressed confidence that a workable system for CDM project management will be in place when the Kyoto Protocol enters into force. He underscored the importance of private sector involvement in the CDM, and noted that Brazil will ratify the Kyoto Protocol in the near future.
Kristian Rajakaltio, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, explained that the project's aim is to use the funds from carbon credit sales to pay for the replacement of solar-powered batteries, thus making the project self-reliant. He emphasized the importance of adopting a bottom-up approach when addressing sustainability issues, and of closely involving local stakeholders before and during project implementation. He also noted the advantage of running CDM processes parallel to other projects in saving time and resources. Discussion: Participants discussed ways of defining CDM project sustainability, with one participant recalling that this is to be determined by countries hosting the project. Participants emphasized the importance of being able to quantify a project's contribution to sustainable development.
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Dealing with adaptation to climate change in the context of national sustainable development Presented by the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Sciences
Atiq Rahman, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, noted Bangladesh's need to develop and implement adaptation measures due to its vulnerability to climate change through natural disasters. He explained that physical, institutional and social adaptation to climate change must be considered, noting that steps to be taken include undertaking vulnerability analyses, identifying and engaging stakeholders, identifying adaptation options, and incorporating these into plans and strategies. Rahman explained that in Bangladesh, stakeholders are engaged in identifying, analyzing and prioritizing adaptation needs, and stressed the importance of incorporating adaptation measures into national policies.
Discussion: Participants highlighted the importance of increasing the resilience of human systems to disasters, and discussed the feasibility of establishing a disaster relief fund under the UNFCCC, noting that establishing it outside of the UNFCCC regime would de-politicize its management.
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The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) on the side is a special publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in cooperation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat. This issue has been written by Dagmar Lohan dagmar@iisd.org and Kira Schmidt kira@iisd.org. The Digital Editors are David Fernau david@iisd.org, Andrei Henry andrei@iisd.org, Leila Mead leila@iisd.org and Diego Noguera diego@iisd.org. Funding for publication of ENB on the side at UNFCCC SB-16 is provided by the UNFCCC Secretariat. The opinions expressed in ENB on the side are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funders. Excerpts from ENB on the side may be used in non-commercial publications only and only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Managing Editor at kimo@iisd.org. Electronic versions of issues of ENB on the side from UNFCCC SB-16 can be found on the Linkages website at http://enb.iisd.org/climate/sb16/enbots/. | |
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