[extropy-chat] FWD (SK) Re: Today in Grist: Asia-Pacific climate pact short on substance

[Terry W. Colvin]

Barry Williams wrote:

I find it passing strange the readiness of critics to lambast this 
treaty without having many details about it. It proposes a technological 
approach to a problem and includes two countries that will very likely 
become the major producers of greenhouse gasses in the short-medium 
term.  Now the technofix may or may not work, but it certainly has far 
more going for it than the bureaucratic 'fix' that is Kyoto, one that 
excludes India and China and has next to zero chance of achieving anything.

The rationale for excluding India and China from limits under the Kyoto 
Protocol is that a) the industrialized nations are largely responsible 
for the increase in CO2 to date; b) the excluded nations produce far 
less CO2 per capita than in the industrialized nations.  It is only fair 
to allow them some increases in CO2 production as they try to increase 
their standards of living.  For example, from the "Position of India" 
section of the article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol:

"At the G-8 meeting in June 2005, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 
pointed out that the per-capita emission rates of the developing 
countries are a tiny fraction of those in the developed world. Following 
the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, India 
maintains that the major responsibility of curbing emission rests with 
the developed countries, which have accumulated emissions over a long 
period of time."

Concerning China, the article notes that "China emits 2,893 million 
metric tons of CO2 per year (2.3 tons per capita). This compares to 
5,410 million from the U.S. (20.1 tons per capita), and 3,171 million 
from the EU (8.5 tons per capita)."

Nevertheless, as this same passage points out, "Even though China is 
currently exempted, it has since ratified the Kyoto Protocol and is 
expected to declare itself an Annex I country within the next decade and 
make itself no longer be exempted. In fact, China's per capita emission 
is among the lowest ones in the world. The U.S. based NGO Natural 
Resources Defense Council stated in June 2001 that: 'By switching from 
coal to cleaner energy sources, initiating energy efficiency programs, 
and restructuring its economy, China has reduced its carbon dioxide 
emissions 17 percent since 1997'."

I believe that the Kyoto Protocol has already achieved a great deal.  It 
may not be perfect, but it is a start, and it will be revised as we get 
more information on the level of action that is needed and the ability 
of technology to reduce emissions.  It has made people and governments 
around the world much more aware of the problem, and many governments 
are taking action to reduce their emissions of CO2.

Tom Wheeler


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Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1 at mindspring.com >
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