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Greenhouse gas emissions rise
30/10/2006 12:36 - (SA)
Bonn - The industrial world's emissions of greenhouse gases are growing again, despite efforts under the Kyoto Protocol to cap them and stave off global warming, the United Nations reported on Monday.
Emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases declined in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the shutdown of old polluting factories and power plants in eastern Europe.
These economies are now rebounding, contributing to a 2.4% rise in emissions by 41 industrial nations between 2000 and 2004.
"This means that industrialised countries will need to intensify their efforts to implement strong policies which reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Yvo de Boer, head of the UN climate treaty secretariat, referring to taxes on carbon-based fuels, energy-efficiency regulations and other such steps.
Rise in global temperatures
Scientists attribute a 0.6-degree-Celsius (1-degree-Fahrenheit) rise in global temperatures in the last century at least in part to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, a trend they say will lead to climate disruptions.
Under the 1997 Kyoto accord, 35 industrial nations have committed to reducing emissions by an average five percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The United States, the biggest emitter, rejects the agreement.
Between 1990 and 2004, emissions of all industrialised countries decreased by 3.3%, mostly because of a 36.8% decrease in the former Soviet bloc, the UN reported. Since 2000, however, those "economies in transition" have increased emissions by 4.1%.
Of the 41 industrial nations, 34 increased emissions between 2000 and 2004, the UN reported.
In the United States, source of two-fifths of the industrial world's greenhouse gases, emissions grew by 1.3% in that period, and by almost 16% during the full 1990-2004 period.
Among countries bound by Kyoto, Germany's emissions dropped 17% between 1990 and 2004, Britain's by 14% and France's by almost one percent, the UN reported.
China, India not included
But Kyoto signatories such as Japan, Italy and Spain have registered emissions increases since 1990. De Boer said such countries will have to make extensive use of Kyoto's market-based programmes, such as the Clean Development Mechanism, whereby northern nations can buy credits from emission-reduction projects in the developing world, which is not bound by Kyoto quotas.
The 41 nations defined as industrialised by the 1992 UN climate treaty do not include such fast-developing third world countries as China and India.
On a positive note, the UN said the industrial world is growing more energy-efficient. Between 2000 and 2004, it said, it took seven percent less greenhouse gas to produce a dollar of gross domestic product.
- AP
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