Copenhagen-eclipping

Carbon

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FACTBOX - Carbon trading schemes around the world
by Reuters News on 11 February 2010, 09:57 AM 0 comments , 184 views
Categories: Reuters News, Factboxes
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Companies and governments are turning to emissions trading as a weapon to fight climate change and join a carbon market worth $136 billion last year.
Carbon markets trade rights to emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and are often seen as more politically acceptable than carbon taxes, though some governments struggle to pass enabling laws.
Under cap-and-trade schemes, companies or countries face a carbon limit. If they exceed the limit they can buy allowances from others.
They can also buy carbon offsets from outside projects which avoid greenhouse gas emissions, often from developing countries.
Following is a list of established and proposed schemes:
ESTABLISHED SCHEMES
1. Kyoto Protocol:
Launched 2005.
Mandatory for 37 developed nations, excluding the United States which never ratified the pact.
Covers: All six main greenhouse gases.
Target: 5 percent average reduction in 1990 emissions during 2008-2012 first phase.
How it works: Rich countries cut greenhouse gases at home or buy emissions rights from each other -- if one country stays within its target it can sell the difference to another emitting too much. Alternatively, they can buy carbon offsets from projects in developing countries under Kyoto's clean development mechanism.
The present round of Kyoto expires in 2012 and it remains unclear if nations will commit to a second and tougher commitment period from 2013 to cut emissions after December's Copenhagen climate talks failed to seal a new legally binding deal.
2. European Union Emissions Trading Scheme:
Launched 2005.
Mandatory for all 27 EU member states.
Covers: Nearly half of all EU carbon emissions
Target: 21 percent cut below 2005 levels by 2020
How it works: Member states allocate a quota of carbon emissions allowances to 11,000 industrial installations. Companies get most permits free now but many electricity generators will have to pay for all these from 2013.
Companies can buy carbon offsets from developing countries if that works out cheaper than cutting their own emissions.
3. New Zealand emissions trading scheme
Launch: July 1, 2010
Mandatory
Covers: Forestry started first. From July 1, 2010, electricity, industrial process emissions and transport pollution also included. Agriculture to start Jan 1, 2015. About half of New Zealand's emissions come from agriculture, mostly methane.
Target: The government has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions between 10 and 20 percent by 2020 on 1990 levels.
How it works: Emissions units will be allocated based on an average of production across each industry.
From July 1, 2010, to January 1, 2013, emitters have the option of paying a fixed price of NZ$25 ($18.25) per tonne of carbon, and will only have to surrender 1 unit for every 2 units of emissions. Such assistance will be gradually phased out.
4. Northeast U.S. states' Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) cap and trade scheme
Launched: January 2009
Covers: carbon from power plants in 10 northeast states. Allows offsets from five different types of clean energy projects including capturing methane from landfills and livestock manure.
Target: 10 percent cut below 2009 levels by 2018
5. Japan: Tokyo metropolitan trading scheme
Launch: April 2010
How it works: Tokyo city proper will set emission limits for 1,400 large factories and offices to meet by using technology like solar panels and advanced fuel-saving devices starting in April.
Beating the targets earns credits that can be sold locally to those that fall short. Scheme is seen as a step towards national emissions trading.
Government is drafting a climate bill to be submitted to parliament by March with possible start of emissions trading next year, though fierce industry opposition could derail that timing.
PROPOSED
1. Australia: Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
Launch: Planned for mid-2011 but stalled in parliament. Laws twice revised last year but also twice rejected by Senate. Currently before parliament for a third time.
Covers: 75 pct of all Australia's greenhouse gas emissions
Target: Australia's national target is to cut greenhouse gases by 5-25 percent below 2000 levels by 2020, depending on what other countries commit to.
How it will work: Australia will auction most of its permits. The scheme plans to curb competitiveness impacts by making permits free for companies that depend on exports, and by having a carbon price cap of A$10 per tonne for the first year.
2. U.S. federal climate change bill
The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved in June legislation covering cap-and-trade of carbon emissions but it does not have enough support in the Senate. [ID:nN04139576]
Senators hope to have a compromise bill ready for debate by April, but it is not clear whether that will happen. Some options avoid inclusion of emissions cap-and-trade.
Launch: 2012 under the House version
Target: Cut 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020
How it would work: Industry would get most allowances for free initially. Companies could offset up to 2 billion tons of their emissions annually by paying for "green" projects. The bill would pre-empt any similar scheme from U.S. states from 2012-17 but leaves them the option to resume trade after that.
3. Western Climate Initiative
Launch: 2012
Covers: Six greenhouse gases across seven U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. Six other U.S. states, six Mexican states and two other Canadian provinces are observers.
Target: 15 pct cut below 2005 levels by 2020
How it works: Phased introduction from 2012. Initially covers emissions from electricity and parts of industry. Expands to include transport fuels and residential, commercial and industrial fuels not otherwise covered by phase two in 2015. Aim is to cover nearly 90 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in WCI members.
4. California's Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32)
Launch: 2012
Covers: Statewide emissions reduction targets of 1990 levels by 2020, and cutting that by 80 percent by 2050. Covers 85 percent of the state's emissions. Would also link to the Western Climate Initiative.
How it will work: Initially covers electricity generation and imports, as well as emissions from large industrial sources. Phase II from 2015 also covers smaller industrial sources, residential and commercial combustion of natural gas and propane, and transportation fuels.
Target: Meeting the 2020 target would need cuts of around 11 percent from 2008 and almost 30 percent from the projected 2020 level under business as usual.
5. South Korea emission trading scheme
Launch: 2012
Covers: Not yet decided. Details on how much to cover, how to and where to trade the emission and will be prepared by August in a related bill, which will be submitted to the parliament. Parliament to decide if it will approve the bill by end-Dec.
Target: Government has set a 2020 emissions reduction target of 30 percent below forecast "business as usual" levels.
Public institutions started to reduce emissions in line with targets from January. The difference between their actual emissions and targets will be traded online
(Sources: Reuters
California Air Resources Board http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/facts/facts.htm
Western Climate Initiative http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org/
(Compiled by Gerard Wynn in London; David Fogarty in Singapore, Cho Mee-young in Seoul; Timothy Gardner in New York; Risa Maeda in Tokyo; Editing by Ed Lane) ((david.fogarty@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6403 5662; Reuters Messaging: david.fogarty.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: CARBON SCHEMES/

Carbon

+1 1 vote
FACTBOX - Climate talks in 2010 on road to Mexico
by Reuters News on 11 February 2010, 15:16 PM 0 comments , 90 views
Categories: Reuters News, Factboxes
Feb 11 (Reuters) - The U.N. Climate Change Secretariat has asked countries for views by Feb. 16 about how many U.N. meetings should be held in 2010 to work on a deal to fight global warming after the low-ambition Copenhagen Accord.
Following are planned meetings in 2010
UNITED NATIONS
The 194-nation U.N. climate change convention will host a meeting of senior officials in Bonn, Germany, from May 31-June 11 to prepare for a main annual meeting from Nov. 29-Dec. 10, in Cancun, Mexico. The Cancun talks are likely to group environment ministers, a downgrade from world leaders at the Copenhagen summit in December 2009. Last year there were five preparatory sessions of officials before Copenhagen and the United Nations also staged a climate summit in New York on Sept. 22.
CHINA, INDIA, SOUTH AFRICA, BRAZIL (the BASIC group)
Environment ministers from the four countries met in New Delhi on Jan. 24 and agreed to meet quarterly, with the next meeting in South Africa in April. They called for five U.N. sessions before Mexico, with the first in March.
MAJOR ECONOMIES FORUM (MEF)
A U.S.-led group of 17 major economies, accounting for about 80 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions. It met six times in 2009, including at a Group of Eight summit in Italy. The MEF calendar for 2009 is so far blank.
GROUP OF 20
Same members as the MEF -- but adds Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The G20 has focused most on reviving the economy, including promoting green growth. A G20 summit will be held in Canada alongside a G8 summit from June 25-27. South Korea will also host a G20 summit in November.
GROUP OF EIGHT
The G8 meets in Canada on June 25-27. Last year it agreed to set a goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F) above pre-industrial times -- a goal adopted by many nations in the Copenhagen Accord.
GREENLAND DIALOGUE
A Danish-led set of informal talks, between up to about 40 environment ministers from around the world, that started in 2005 and had a last session in Barcelona in November 2009. Related talks have been dubbed the "Southern Lights dialogue" in Argentina or the "Midnight Sun Dialogue" in Sweden.
FORESTS
France plans a meeting on March 11 to discuss projects to slow deforestation; Norway will host a follow-up in May. Trees soak up greenhouse gases as they grow. Australia, Britain, France, Japan, Norway and the United States agreed to a $3.5 billion plan in Copenhagen to slow deforestation.
((alister.doyle@thomsonreuters.com; +47 900 87 663; Reuters Messaging: rm://alister.doyle.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: CLIMATE/TALKS






Carbon

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UK, Ethiopia to head climate funding effort
by Reuters News on 12 February 2010, 17:50 PM 0 comments , 101 views
Categories: Reuters News
* Panel to tap private and public sectors for climate funds
* $100 billion a year needed by 2020 to help poor nations
LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Britain and Ethiopia will head a new United Nations panel that aims to secure $100 billion every year by 2020 to help developing nations cut emissions and adapt to climate change, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday.
He told a news conference the group would work with governments, central bankers and finance experts to find ways to cooperate with public and private companies in raising money pledged at climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
Although the summit ended without a legal treaty to curb carbon dioxide emissions, leaders of developed countries agreed to support a goal of jointly finding $100 billion a year to help poorer nations.
The money is intended to help them cut emissions, switch to renewable energy and adapt to the impact of global warming, by building new flood defences and other projects.
The panel will be jointly led by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Ethiopian counterpart Meles Zenawi and will include Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo.
The U.N. chief said the panel must urgently find innovative sources of finance to fill the gap between the money currently available and the amount pledged by 2020.
"Developing countries need to move as quickly as possible toward a future of low-emissions growth and prosperity," he told a joint news conference with Brown and Meles. "Millions of people in Africa and around the globe are suffering from the effects of climate change."
The U.N. body must implement one of the most important tasks set out in the Copenhagen accord and, if successful, could help ensure emissions peak by 2020, Brown said.
"This cannot all be done from existing taxpayer revenues," he said in a statement. "So we must examine new sources of finance, both public and private."
Charity Oxfam said the group must be about action not just words.
"Poor communities on the front lines desperately need funds to begin to cope with a changing climate and reduce their emissions," said David Waskow, Climate Change Program Director at Oxfam America.
The panel will have members from developed and developing countries who will be appointed for 10 months. The full list of representatives will be announced soon.
They are expected to produce a mid-term report in May and a final report containing recommendations before the next U.N. climate summit in Mexico in December.
(Reporting by Peter Griffiths in London and Timothy Gardner in Washington; editing by Ralph Boulton)
((peter.griffiths@reuters.com; + 44 207 542 6701; Reuters Messaging: peter.griffiths.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: CLIMATE UN/