The battle over airlines emissions

By: Christopher Castro

One of the most contested global environmental initiatives ever undertaken is scheduled to get under way on New Year’s Day, when the European Union plans to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions from airlines.

The initiative involves folding aviation into the Union’s six-year-old Emissions Trading System, in which polluters can buy and sell a limited quantity of permits, each representing a ton of carbon dioxide.

The goal is to speed up the adoption of greener technologies at a time when air traffic, which represents about 3 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, is growing much faster than gains in efficiency.

Even so, many airlines are furious, partly because the cost of compliance could rise sharply in coming years if governments decide airlines must buy a larger proportion of their permits and if demand for the permits and their value rises.

China and the United States were among two dozen countries calling on Europe to modify or scrap its plans with just weeks to go before the system goes into force.

The parties argued that the law conflicted with existing aviation treaties and a swath of other agreements and principles. The British court then referred the case to the European court, the Union’s highest tribunal, for a preliminary ruling.

Canada withdraws from Kyoto protocol

By: Jay Alvin Co

After almost four years of rumors, Canada formally withdrew from the world's only existing legal treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the Kyoto protocol on December 12, 2011.

Despite criticism from environmentalists and the international community, Canada’s stunning move is within its legal rights. Article 27 of the Kyoto protocol allows any country to withdraw three years after the protocol is in force. The protocol was ratified in 2005, but came into force on 1 January 2008, the start of the so-called first commitment period for countries to cut their emissions, which finishes at the end of 2012.  One of the criticisms was from China wherein the country has called the move “irresponsible.” In a statement, the environment minister of Canda, Peter Kent, said: "We are invoking our legal right to formally withdraw from Kyoto."

Canada also says the Kyoto protocol on climate change did not represent the way forward for Canada or the world.

Kent also claimed that Canada would have to pay billions to meet its Kyoto protocol target. Canada was meant to cut emissions by 6% by 2012 on 1990 levels, but instead they have risen by around a third. "To meet the targets under Kyoto for 2012 would be the equivalent of ... the transfer of $14bn (£8.7bn) from Canadian taxpayers to other countries – the equivalent of $1,600 from every Canadian family – with no impact on emissions or the environment," he said.

The $14bn figure appears to refer to the cost of Canada buying carbon emission permits from other Kyoto protocol countries so that Canada could – under the treaty's rules – meet its target. By withdrawing now, Canada would not have to spend that much cost.

If Canada had remained in the protocol, it could have avoided this cost another way: by simply not meeting its targets. If that happened, the protocol's compliance committee would begin a quasi-judicial procedure that would declare Canada "non-compliant". The committee would also give Canada a harder target for a second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol, taking into account how far it had missed the first period.

Canada's withdrawal is also a timely reminder that, while negotiators at the Durban climate conference burned the midnight oil over the weekend to agree on a form of words that should lead to a legally binding deal to cut emissions after 2020, there is no guarantee countries won't walk away from their commitments later down the line.

Kyoto Protocol : Video

To know more about the Kyoto Protocol,

Here is a video About the protocol:

The Kyoto Protocol - Part three

          V. The Article of Kyoto Protocol

        The Article of Kyoto Protocol are too long to discuss and hard to understand. We will just give the summary or highlights of each Article:

• Article 1 of the Kyoto Protocol just highlights some terms and its definitions.
• Articles 4 and 11 discuss about assistance financially to developing countries.
• Articles 2, 3, 5, and 7 discuss the obligations of Annex I State Parties.
• Article 10 of the Kyoto Protocol tells about the basic United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change commitments to all parties.
• Articles 4, 6, 12, and 17 tell about the usage of mechanisms in the market that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Articles 9, 13, 14, 15, and 16 discuss the roles of Conference of Parties, its subsidiary bodies and Secretariat and processes in the Kyoto Protocol.
• Article 18 and 19 innovates the procedures on compliance.
• Annex I of the Kyoto Protocol gives list of obligations on parties that are already developed and parties that are in the process of transition about emissions reductions in the economy of the market.
• While the list of greenhouse gases that are covered by the Kyoto protocol can be found on Annex A.
• Also the list of the emissions targets for Annex I countries are found on Annex B.

                 The Full article of the Kyoto Protocol can be found HERE.
 

VI. Participation of the Philippines

Philippines today is one of the countries that are experiencing the greenhouse effect on global warming. Increased in sea level, precipitation, and temperature are some evidence in global warming to our country.

Last July 31, 2008 the institute of International and legal studies of the University of the Philippines college of Law conducted a seminar or a talk about Philippine Climate Change Policy: Mitigation and Adaption Measures which is about global warming.

The Kyoto Protocol - Part Two

IV. The Kyoto Mechanism 

1. Emissions Trading

The main objective of emissions trading is to minimize the cost of meeting the country’s target set of emissions. The Article 17 and the paragraphs 3.10 and 3.11 of the Kyoto Protocol discuss about the emissions trading.

Article 17:

"The Conference of the Parties shall define the relevant principles, modalities, rules and guidelines, in particular for verification, reporting and accountability for emissions trading. The Parties included in Annex B may participate in emissions trading for the purposes of fulfilling the commitments under Article 3. Any such trading shall be supplemental to domestic actions for the purpose of meeting quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments under that article." 

The Kyoto Protocol - Part One

I. Overview

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol that was made by UNFCCC or what we call United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change so that global warming will be lessened and to fight global warming. The UNFCCC is an environmental treaty produced at UNCED or Earth Summit that aims to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations and to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. Countries that sign this protocol commit to lessen or reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone and also stop engaging on emissions trading.