Talks on global warming
In 1995, the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 1) was held in Berlin. The meeting was chaired by Angela Merkel, then Germany's environment minister. We remember how hard Merkel worked around the clock behind closed doors to coordinate the agendas of the participating nations, but the meeting failed to agree on specific measures against global warming.
Twelve years have passed since, and Merkel, now the chancellor of Germany, is hosting this year's Group of Eight summit in Heilingendamm. The main topic of this meeting, starting on Wednesday, is global warming. We can well imagine how much Merkel must want this summit to succeed.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which required industrialized nations to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by 2012, will enter its first period next year. But what happens after that? It will be G-8's task to take the first step toward creating a new framework for 2013 and beyond.
This year, there is support from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The latest assessment report from the IPCC's working groups states that, in order to prevent negative effects of global warming around the world, emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)--the most prominent among greenhouse gases--should be slashed roughly by half by the middle of this century.
In terms of global climate security, the urgent task today is to aim for "decarbonizing." It was natural that Japan, Europe and the United States have indicated their greenhouse gas emissions reduction projections beyond 2013 ahead of the Heilingendamm summit.
The European Union intends to reduce its emissions by more than 20 percent of the 1990 level by 2020. And on condition that other key nations will follow suit, the EU has also indicated a much higher reduction target of 30 percent. U.S. President George W. Bush, who walked out on the Kyoto Protocol, says his administration will set a world-class long-term reduction target by the end of next year. Bush stresses that the United States will lead a series of meetings of the world's major greenhouse gas producers, including China and India.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's hope is to see worldwide emissions reduced by 50 percent by 2050. But Abe is also calling for a "framework that takes the circumstances of each nation into consideration."
It appears that Japan and the United States are exploring some not-so-stringent formulas that will help to bring China and India into their camp. On Monday, however, China indicated its refusal to be bound by any emissions reduction target, even though it acknowledged its share of responsibility.
For any post-2013 framework to be effective, we need to think decades ahead and devise some arrangement by which to make industry and people's lifestyle more energy-efficient and decarbonizing-oriented.
One such approach is the introduction of the emissions credit trading program. Companies that have cut emissions can sell their remaining credit to others that haven't been able to do so. It serves as an economic incentive for corporations, showing that not emitting CO2 is beneficial to business.
The program is already in practice in Europe, and some U.S. states have decided to carry out the system. Recently, the Tokyo metropolitan government also announced its decision to introduce this program.
China and India need to be encouraged to pursue decarbonizing industrialization. Reducing carbon emissions through energy-saving measures will not only cut costs, but also enhance economic competitiveness.
As future economic giants, China and India should be urged to accept certain responsibilities and participate in the emissions credit trading program. If this is a too heavy burden, we can help by offering technological cooperation and economic aid.
Once this direction is set, further discussions can be carried over to the G-8 summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, next year.
