Greenhouse gases - what's happening?

摘要

Despite an increasing number of catastrophic weather events, global climate change seems to have slipped from the headlines in recent times. Nonetheless, John Henry reports that a number of important developments are taking place in the field of greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement and the related standards. In 2002, both Australia and the USA decided not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol which, amongst other things, sets targets for national GHG emissions. One trigger to be met before the Protocol can come into force is that the countries that have ratified the Protocol must make up at least 55 per cent of global GHG emissions. With the world's largest emitter (the USA) not ratifying, it therefore requires all other significant emitters to sign on in order to achieve this goal. Although Australia has a relatively high per capita rate of GHG emissions, our contribution to overall global emissions is too small to tip the balance one way or the other. With that as background, attention turned to the recent COP (the Convention of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) meeting held recently in Milan where the Russian Federation was expected to sign on and bring the total above the required 55 per cent. However, Russia announced that it was not yet prepared to ratify. As a result, it is still uncertain whether the Kyoto Protocol and the associated mechanisms and targets will come into force.