Greenpeace proposes to extend the Kyoto Protocol for 2013-2017
These offers global environmental organization voiced in Doha (Qatar) during the 18th UN Conference on Climate Change. Will countries agree to extend the Kyoto Protocol? Are they willing to commit to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the sake of the climate?
Will participate in this process, Russia?
The main issues on the agenda of the conference - this extension of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires this year, and the adoption of new, more effective global climate agreement that will replace it.
As in past climate summits, Greenpeace believes that developed countries should help developing countries, which are the first to suffer from the effects of global climate change. Developed countries must approve funding for climate fund (Green Climate Fund), which was established to support the implementation of green technologies in developing countries. In 2013, its volume should be at least $ 20 billion a year by 2020 - $ 100 billion a year.
Also, each member country must commit to reduce emissions to such an extent that in 2050 they decreased on average by an average of 80% (compared to 1990), and the peak emission was passed in 2015. These measures will be able to keep global warming within 2 ˚ C.
Greenpeace recognizes that the Kyoto Protocol is far from perfect. His main problem is that the specific commitments made only developed countries, despite the fact that the developing countries (especially China and other Asian states) already exceed the scale of their emissions. But for now, the Kyoto Protocol - the only real and effective climate agreement and its most important task - to provide a transition period to the time when the country will be able to agree on a more effective instrument.
Russia, which in Doha is presidential adviser on climate change, Alexander Bedritskiy ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2004, with the condition do not exceed the level of emissions in 1990. In the past year, leaders Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev expressed doubts about the usefulness of the document for the country. Greenpeace experts are convinced that participation in an international climate agreement can give our country a strong incentive to develop new technologies and improve the efficiency of the economy.
The head of the energy program Greenpeace Russia Vladimir Chuprov considers unreasonable belief that the limitation of greenhouse gas emissions can somehow hamper the growth of the economy: #39;If our country is to establish the goal of 2020 to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40%, this will be a powerful incentive to the very modernization, which is so fond of saying. Russian businesses will be able to raise funds at the expense of emission trading in joint projects (in this case, we have an investment in exchange for the implementation of green technologies). This is our chance to finally get off the oil needle `` get stimulus for the development of alternative energy and fuel efficiency of the complex.
No matter what the officials, the Kyoto Protocol is profitable business. Until the end of 2012 it will provide mechanisms for Russian companies to an investment of about $ 1 billion. And this is in fact contrary to the position of the state.
The funds were invested primarily in improved energy efficiency. In particular, the utilization of associated petroleum gas, which is most often simply burned #39;.
The report of the Energy Revolution, released by Greenpeace Russia in 2009, describes the specific mechanisms by which a country can reduce the amount of harmful emissions in half by 2030. From the point of view of the authors of the report, it is necessary to increase the energy efficiency of buildings, improve the insulation of heating, to stop the flaring of associated gas, to develop public transport and recycling of waste, optimize the system of forestry.
If the international community fails to agree on measures to climate protection, to the end of the century the Earth will warm by an average of 4 ˚ C. This will lead to the flooding of many coastal cities, periods of drought and extreme heat, lack of food and water in some regions. On the threats posed by climate change, recent reports have warned the International Energy Agency, the World Bank and the UN.
`Climate change - this is our reality, in which the world lives today. And natural disasters happening more and more often - part of that reality - says Ruth Davis, an expert on politics Greenpeace International. - Remember the hurricanes in the United States, the recent floods in India, China and the Philippines. Question about a new climate agreement - this is not just a question of ecology and economy, it is a safety issue #39;.
