Political Economy of Climate Change
International Conflict for Post-Kyoto: Which countries will benefit and lose national interests from the regulation of CO2?
Over the last several years, the issue of CO2 emissions has been increasingly brought to the forefront. This is because a number of studies are continuing to show how the release of these gases from cars, factories, refineries, power plants and homes are contributing to global warming. To prevent this different conventions and agreements have been signed (such as: the Kyoto Protocol). This was the first concentrated effort in directly controlling CO2 emissions through a cap and trade system. The way it worked is different nations could trade pollution credits with each other in order to remain in compliance with the treaty. The basic idea was to create a marketplace where these caps can be exchanged (in a transparent format). (United Nations Environmental Program, 2008) (Anzar, 2005)
This created contention between developing and developed nations. As the developed countries felt that these guidelines were too restrictive and could hurt future economic growth. While, many developing countries believed that the wealthier nations should carry their share of the burden for contributing to the problem originally (during the Industrial Revolution). This resulted in the United States withdrawing from Kyoto. Over the course of time, their non-participation made enforcing these standards nearly impossible. (United Nations Environmental Program, 2008) (Anzar, 2005)
This has led to many countries abandoning the Kyoto Agreement. However, there is consensus that something needs to be done to address CO2 emissions. To fully understand how this can be accomplished requires examining the benefits and drawbacks for different nations. Together, these elements will highlight the areas of potential conflict and how they can be addressed in the post Kyoto environment. (United Nations Environmental Program, 2008) (Anzar, 2005)
Kyoto and its Impact on the Environment
The Kyoto Protocol was designed to deal with the challenges of CO2 emission by creating binding standards for all nations to follow. This meant that countries such as the U.S. agreed to reduce their CO2 production by 5.2% a year between 2008 and 2012. While the developing countries, were provided with greater amounts of flexibility in setting their emissions rates. Those countries that must reduce their CO2 emissions could purchase credits from the developing nations in an international marketplace. These credits can help the developed countries to reduce their total amounts of pollution. At the same time, this is providing added financial incentives for developing nations. As these extra funds could be used to create clean technology and invest in projects that are environmentally friendly. This would refocus everyone's thinking on finding ways to build sustainable lifestyle practices. (United Nations Environmental Program, 2008) (Anzar, 2005)
These provisions led to tremendous amounts of contention about the standards and how they are applied. This forced countries such as the United States to withdraw from the treaty after it had not been ratified by the Senate and there were concerns about its impact on future economic growth. This weakened these provisions by allowing the world's largest economy to be exempt from CO2 regulation. When this happened, a number of countries only partially complied with these guidelines. (United Nations Environmental Program, 2008) (Anzar, 2005)
For example, in the case of Canada, they withdrew from the treaty in 2011 (citing the inability to address environmental challenges). This follows Russia and Japan who said they will not abide by new provisions of the agreement. These factors are showing how Kyoto and its restriction of CO2 emissions created an atmosphere of divisiveness. As a result, the post Kyoto world must focus on establishing regulations in a format that is acceptable to all countries. This means understanding which nations will benefit and those that will face challenges from the implementation of new guidelines. (Giles, 2011)
Those Countries that will benefit from the Regulation of CO2
Like what was stated previously, the developing countries are the primary benefactors in the regulation of CO2 over the short to medium term. This is because they have lower standards for limiting the output of CO2. The reason why is: they are less dependent upon fossil fuels and are not as industrialized. This automatically will cause them to be under these guidelines. (Chen, 2009)
However, as they continue to grow, these amounts will increase. This is because the standards are so low and there was a lack of regulation inside many...
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