Transcript Kågeson Slides - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The CBDR Principle and GHG emissions
from International Shipping
Per Kågeson
GHG emissions from maritime transport
•1,046 Mt CO2 from shipping in 2007
•Approximately 3.3 % of overall global CO2
emissions
•870 Mt CO2 from international shipping that are
not domestic and not part of the national inventories
•Large potential for efficiency improvement
•Slow replacement of ships
Market-based measures
• IMO has discussed different types of market-based
measures for curbing CO2 emissions, among them:
1. Emissions trading under a global cap
2. A levy on bunker fuel for financing purchase of
emission credits to offset any emissions of CO2
above a baseline
Common but Differentiated Responsibility
• Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration and Article 3.1
of UNFCCC
• Legitimizes asymmetry of commitments by putting
most of the burden on the rich
• Conflicts with the obligation of States not to
damage the environment beyond their own territory
• Does not define the border-line between developed
and developing countries
The CBDR and equal treatment of ships
• China and India (among others) interpret CBDR to mean
that ships registered in developing countries should be
exempt from any MBM or be fully compensated for the
impact on their economies (no net incidence)
• Existing IMO treaties are based on equal treatment of
ships
• ¾ of all ships belong to Annex I companies but most of
them carry flags of developing countries
Global application
• For full compensation of all non-Annex I countries
1/3 – 1/2 of the revenues from a global CO2 levy or
from auctioning emission allowances would have to be
allocated to the developing countries
• This may be difficult to achieve in the case of the levy
as its main objective is to fund the purchase of
emission credits to offset any emissions above the cap
A stepwise regional solution
• A scheme endorsed by IMO and UNFCCC that is
open to voluntary participation by states and ports
• An IMO/UNFCCC scheme covering all traffic to
ports in Annex 1 countries
• An IMO/UNFCCC scheme that gradually expands
to include traffic to countries when their income
per capita exceeds a certain pre-defined level
CBDR when application is limited to Annex I
• Only a minor part of arriving ships would come from
developing countries and they would typically carry
goods intended for use in the industrialized countries
• Journeys to developing countries would not be covered
• A small part of the proceeds could be used for
compensating, in particular, LDCs.
Differentiation of responsibility
• All developing states are not equally poor
• Some non-Annex I countries have higher GDP per
capita (at PPP) than the “poorest” among Annex I
countries had in 1997 (when signing the Kyoto
Protocol)
• Saudi Arabia, Korea and Singapore are rich countries.
China has a higher GDP/capita than Ukraine
Taking account of accumulated emissions?
• The exact relevance of historic emissions is unclear
• Part of these emissions occurred when the risk of
climate change was not yet known
• Some occurred due to mismanagement and lack of
democracy in the former communist countries
• Leapfrogging allows developing countries to advance
fast (and at comparatively low GHG emissions)
Need for sustainable compensation criteria
• The exact grounds for compensation should be
clarified.
• The basic choice is between distinct categories
(Annex I or non-Annex I) and parametric values
such as CO2/capita and GDP/capita.
• Another main issue is the duration of the
compensation.
Thanks for your attention!
Per Kågeson
[email protected]