Transcript Unit 6

UNIT 6: GLOBAL CLIMATE
CHANGE
Limor Weizmann, Esq.
What is Climate Change
Kyoto Protocol
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The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
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The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37
industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions
These amount to an average of 5% against 1990 levels over the five-year
period 2008-2012.
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.
Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the
current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more
than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden
on developed nations under the principle of “common but differentiated
responsibilities.”
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997
and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the
implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh in
2001, and are called the “Marrakesh Accords.”
The Kyoto mechanisms
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Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets
primarily through national measures. However, the
Kyoto Protocol offers them an additional means of
meeting their targets by way of three market-based
mechanisms.
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Emissions trading – known as “the carbon market"
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Clean development mechanism (CDM)
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Between a developed and developing country
Joint implementation (JI)
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1 credit = 1 unit of emissions
Between two developed countries
The mechanisms help stimulate green investment and
help Parties meet their emission targets in a costeffective way.
Kyoto Protocol
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Monitoring emission targets
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Under the Protocol, countries' actual emissions have to be monitored and precise
records have to be kept of the trades carried out.
Registry systems track and record transactions by Parties under the mechanisms.
The UN Climate Change Secretariat, based in Bonn, Germany, keeps an
international transaction log to verify that transactions are consistent with the
rules of the Protocol.
Reporting is done by Parties by way of submitting annual emission inventories
and national reports under the Protocol at regular intervals.
A compliance system ensures that Parties are meeting their commitments and
helps them to meet their commitments if they have problems doing so.
Adaptation
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The Kyoto Protocol, like the Convention, is also designed to assist countries in
adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. It facilitates the development
and deployment of techniques that can help increase resilience to the impacts of
climate change.
The Adaptation Fund was established to finance adaptation projects and
programs in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The
Fund is financed mainly with a share of proceeds from CDM project activities.
The Road Ahead After Kyoto
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The Kyoto Protocol is generally seen as an important
first step towards a truly global emission reduction
regime that will stabilize GHG emissions, and provides
the essential architecture for any future international
agreement on climate change.
By the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto
Protocol in 2012, a new international framework needs
to have been negotiated and ratified that can deliver
the stringent emission reductions the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has clearly indicated
are needed.
Still waiting….
Mock Environmental Summit
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We will divide the class into several groups, each
representing one country.
See the following slides…
Mock Environmental Summit
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Country 1: Germany
Group A Members:
 Boecker,
Kenny
 Spencer, Sheila
 Polydoros, Anastasios
 Farrell, Bridget
 Fantz, Matthew
Mock Environmental Summit
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Country 2: Saudi Arabia
Group B Members:
 Denman,
Nancy
 Giordan, Katelynne
 Rush Jr., Richard
 Tims, Marion
Mock Environmental Summit
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Country 3: Belize
Group C Members:
 Walker,
Heidi
 Wright, Carrie
 Runion, Valerie
 Forster, Nickolas
Mock Environmental Summit
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Country 4: Ethiopia
Group D Members:
 Cardon,
Brittany
 Flattes, Marc
 Gonzalez, Jessica
 Thompson, Nathaniel A.
Mock Environmental Summit
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You can meet with your group by going to the Chat
tab at the top of your EM410 classroom. Find the
chat room for your group and you can begin
working together.
If your group decides you want to meet again
before the Unit 7 Seminar, you can agree on a time
and you will be able to use the group chat room.
Mock Environmental Summit
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Students within each group will be assigned the role of
government ministers.
Each minister will need to examine a particular feature of
that country. You will choose someone to be:
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Minister of
Minister of
Minister of
Minister of
Minister of
Economy
Natural Resources and Environment
Energy
Foreign Affairs and Trade
Agriculture (for group A’s 5th member)
In addition, you will need to select one person from each
group to be the climate change delegate. This person will
have to compile some information at the end of Unit 7, so
please make sure the person you select can handle the
additional duties [if you cannot agree, I will assign someone
at random]
Mock Environmental Summit
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Example:
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The economic minister's report would gather information about the
real and potential impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the
country's economy, and industry as well as the impacts of
measures to control emissions, and recommendations as to
emissions reductions goals. (For example, would the minister
advocate for allowing the country's emissions to continue to
increase? Keeping its emissions stagnant at their current level?
Reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2050? Halving current
emissions by 2050? Etc.)
Be sure to examine any relevant effects of climate change
(such as the effect of rising sea levels on a country with
large coastal regions).
Mock Environmental Summit
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DUE: SUNDAY September 25 at midnight (before the Unit 8
Seminar)
In preparation for the Summit (Unit 8 Seminar), each student in the
role of a "minister" will research, write, and post to the wiki 1-2
pages that comments on that minister's assigned feature.
In particular, the report should provide concise comments on how that
feature would likely impact the country's long- and short-term
decisions on emissions and on participation in global treaties such as
the UNFCCC/Kyoto Protocol. In other words, an economic minister
would prepare a report examining and discussing his/her assigned
country's economic situation:
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Is it a developed country?
Is it a developing country?
Is the country dependent on a particular trade or industry?
Mock Environmental Summit
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Instructions:
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Length should be 1 - 2 pages
Viewpoint and purpose should be clearly established and
sustained
Assignment should follow the conventions of Standard American
English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.)
Writing should be well ordered, logical and unified, as well as
original and insightful
Your work should display superior content, organization, style,
and mechanics
Appropriate citation style should be followed
Submit Papers:
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The ministers should submit their papers to the Dropbox before
Unit 8 Seminar (Sunday night!)
Mock Environmental Summit
Questions?
 I know this is an involved assignment, so please do
email, etc., if questions come up along the way.
Chat rooms are open…