Japan's plan to ax CO2 using forests is cut down
The Japan Times, Copyright 2000
November 25, 2000
THE HAGUE (Kyodo) Japan was driven into a corner Thursday when its target to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide through the use of forests was largely rejected during an ongoing international conference to address climate change.
A proposal made by Jan Pronk, chairman of the sixth Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, would allow up to 3 percent of a country's carbon dioxide reductions to come from "sinks" -- activities using ecosystems to absorb carbon dioxide.
The proposal was designed to forge a final consensus at international climate change negotiations here.
Japan had agreed to shoulder a 6 percent reduction in carbon dioxide but had hoped to realize 3.7 percent using its forests under a clause that recognizes sinks.
But under the accounting method proposed by Pronk, Japan will probably be able to secure only 0.5 percent from sinks, putting Japanese negotiators in a pinch heading into the home stretch.
The proposal comes as participants at COP6 struggle to find an acceptable middle ground in the last days of the gathering. The proposal will be the starting point for final negotiations.
Pronk also called for the foundering negotiations, which had been scheduled to conclude Friday, to go on an extra day.
According to Pronk's proposal, countries could attain a maximum 3 percent of their carbon dioxide cuts via sinks. But due to the uncertainty sinks entail, only 15 percent of the carbon dioxide uptake from forests would be allowed to be included as reductions, much less than Japan had hoped to achieve.
At COP3 in Kyoto in December 1997, Japan pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 6 percent of 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012, the first reduction period.
Pronk's plan also undercut a joint proposal submitted by the United States, Canada and Japan on how sinks should be included.
The proposal maintains that domestic measures should be the central means of reducing greenhouse gases, but would allow industrialized countries to cut emissions through greenhouse gas reduction projects in developing countries. Though no ceiling would be set on how much emissions reductions may be earned from such projects, the projects would face a review.
The paper would allow developing countries to choose which projects are implemented and calls on industrialized countries to abstain from promoting nuclear projects, and instead put priority on renewable energies and enhancing energy efficiency.
A fund would also be established to aid developing countries. Managed by the Global Environment Facility, overseen by the World Bank, it would dole out 110 billion yen annually to be used on global warming measures by developing nations.
Representatives from developing countries called for more aggressive action from industrialized nations. A Nigerian representative said that responsibility for global warming is largely up to the largest users of fossil fuels, and that they should come up with more aid money.
A representative from India said that if the climate change talks break down and countries fail to agree on how they will begin to cut greenhouse gases, countless people will suffer as a result.
For nations that fail to meet greenhouse gas reduction pledges, a compliance committee will review their situations and assign them additional reductions for the next reduction period.