GLOBAL WARMING: Carbon criminals' greenhouse gabfest

"The only solution I can see is to hold a series of long and costly
negotiations in exotic locations, in order to put off finding a solution",
reads the caption of a Climate Action Network (CAN) cartoon lampooning
the 12th session of the subsidiary bodies of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, held in Bonn, Germany, from June 12-16. One
meeting at the conference spent 45 minutes debating whether to take a 15-minute
break.

After years of procrastination, a major climate change conference in
November is expected to finalise rules governing implementation of the
Kyoto Protocol. Even if some sort of deal is stitched up then, it will
not come into force if too few countries ratify the protocol.

The protocol, an agreement reached in Kyoto in 1997, calls for the major
industrialised powers to reduce greenhouse emissions by an average of 5.2%
from 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. Under the protocol, the US must
reduce emissions by 7%.

The rich industrialised countries trying to undermine international
efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions are aiming to turn the Kyoto Protocol
into a farce by exploiting loopholes which will make it far easier to meet
emission targets without reducing emissions.

Rather than an environmental protection initiative, the Kyoto Protocol
is becoming an trading agreement for a new commodity, carbon. Countries
exceeding their carbon emission targets will be able to buy the emissions
of those countries that have already achieved their targets in the international
carbon market to off-set excess emissions. An open-ended international
carbon trading system would act as a disincentive to reducing greenhouse
emissions.

The use of carbon "sinks", such as plantations, to off-set greenhouse
gas emissions is shaping up as another huge loophole. All sorts of phony
reductions might be allowed.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report in May
which warns that the Kyoto Protocol could:

• 
  include incentives for clear-cutting old-growth forests by allowing
  countries to cut down old growth forests with no carbon cost and then claiming
  carbon credits for tree plantations or reforestation;

• 
  encourage the clearance of native forests for fast growing monoculture
  plantations or genetically engineered trees; and

• 
  allow sinks credits to take over the reduction target of the
  Kyoto Protocol, providing no incentives for real pollution reduction.

'Chernobyl Deployment Mechanism'

Another rort in the greenhouse negotiations is the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM), which gives developed countries greenhouse credits for funding projects
which reduce emissions in developing countries. The CDM risks becoming
the "Chernobyl Deployment Mechanism" by providing subsidies for Western
nuclear suppliers to export nuclear power to the Third World.

Nuclear suppliers — in particular the US, Japan, France, UK and Canada
— are desperate for orders for new reactors. Australia and New Zealand
also support the inclusion of nuclear power in the CDM.

Industrialised countries are supposed to reduce greenhouse emissions
by over the next decade, but loopholes could allow an increase of 15-20%.
Consequently, big business is warming to the Kyoto Protocol, if unevenly.

In the US, a number of multinationals have defected from the Global
Climate Coalition, the US front group for climate skeptics. Defectors include
BP, Texaco, Shell, Daimler Chrysler, Ford and General Motors.

Non-government organisations and environment groups pointed to the US,
Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand as the worst "carbon criminals"
among more than 120 nations at the Bonn conference.

According to Bill Hare, Greenpeace International's climate policy director,
"These governments are trying to create the impression that they are moving
ahead on climate policies while in reality they are systematically attempting
to shred every last bit of environmental integrity from the Kyoto Protocol."

The CAN awarded the World Bank the "Greenwashing Award" for its "Prototype
Carbon Fund" for renewable energy projects. Not all prototype carbon funds
will be spent on renewable energy; the most the World Bank will say is
that the fund will have an "emphasis" on renewable energy.

The $150 million fund has been created alongside the World Bank's usual
pollution-for-profit programs. Since 1992, the World Bank Group has spent
$13.6 billion on fossil fuel projects which will, over their lifetimes,
release 37.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

'Down-under duo's dirty deals'

CAN observers at the Bonn gabfest were scathing in their criticisms of
Australia and New Zealand, saying that the "down-under duo's dirty dealings"
included working diligently to limit information to the public, opposing
meaningful consequences for countries failing to meet emissions targets,
and opening wide loopholes for sinks.

A June 10 CAN paper said, "Both Australia and New Zealand seem quite
willing to include perverse incentives to cut down old growth forests and
replace them with fast growing plantations. So, will the marriage last?
Will others take the risk of associating themselves with the positions
of the duo? And finally, how many more 'fossil of the day' awards must
the two get before they see the light?".

The Australian government is also pushing for a scheme in which countries
exceeding their emission targets could simply "borrow" emissions from future
commitment periods, thus balancing their greenhouse accounts.

BY JIM GREEN

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