Can Cancun redeem Copenhagen? This is not a trivial question; the implications are far reaching, the challenges daunting and the price of failure, in human terms, morally unacceptable.
YES. I believe Cancun CAN redeem Copenhagen, but for this to happen, we need to be painfully honest with ourselves, with our negotiating partners and with the history of mankind’s use of the full range of resources on this planet.
We need firstly to be honest about the science of climate change. There is more than enough scientific evidence to show that this phenomenon is real. The few mistakes that have made in reporting and representing the data have been put in the correct perspective and both the scientific community and society at large remain convinced by the larger body of scientific evidence that had been accumulated and cross checked by independent and reputable international organisations.
We also need to be honest about the history of our reliance on fossil fuels for energy and the resulting pattern of differential global development that has influenced societies and shaped lives all around the globe. In doing so, we note that the countries that have had the historical opportunities to harness the power of fossil fuels now find themselves in a financially and technologically advanced state. With these and other resources at their disposal, they are capable of generating more than USD 2000 worth of GDP for each metric ton of GHGs emitted.
Indeed it was with the most lucid understanding of this situation that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was so carefully crafted and its objectives and principles so clearly enunciated. To achieve the objectives of the convention, the international community reached a consensus that legally binding commitments and targets to reduce greenhouse gases emissions were needed. In 1997 the Kyoto Protocol became the instrument through which developed countries agreed to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 5% compared to the year 1990 with each country’s emissions target to be achieved by the first commitment period, 2008-2012. This was followed by the Bali climate talks in December 2007 which yielded the Bali Roadmap including the Bali Action Plan. These negotiations in Bali were aimed at agreeing to deeper emissions targets in the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and acknowledged that “deep cuts in global emissions will be required to achieve the ultimate objective" of avoiding dangerous climate change. The Bali event was followed by the Poznan conference in December 2008 to once again reiterate the need and urgency to take concrete measures including providing sufficient funds to vulnerable poor and developing countries to tackle the climate change issue. The 15th Conference of Parties in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 was agreed as the deadline to finalise what we set out to accomplish in Bali 2 years earlier.
We need to be honest about what happened in Copenhagen. The developing world went to Copenhagen with the hope that the developed countries, led by a revitalised United States under the Obama Administration, would take a leadership role and spearhead global efforts to combat the issue of climate change. However, to the great disappointment of the developing countries, the developed countries would not commit to deeper aggregate emission cuts but instead, made individual bottom-up pledges based on more recent and more lenient baseline years.
Nevertheless, a document called the Copenhagen Accord was hammered out by a select group of countries in meetings which were held in secret. It is not surprising that the Copenhagen Accord was only noted at COP15. It was not adopted by the Conference of Parties, and does not hold any legal implications to those countries that have signed up in support of it. There are nevertheless, some useful elements in the Accord. Among them is a call to keep the global increase in temperature at or below two degrees Centigrade.
The Accord included significant funding for mitigation and adaptation activities through 2012, but only funding for mitigation activities thereafter through 2030. Additionally, the Accord made specific mention of the REDD+ initiative as a means of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation together with other associated forestry activities. Under the terms of the Accord, the funding and technology transfer, long promised under the terms of the Convention, and which have been so sorely needed by developing and vulnerable countries to finance adaptation programmes to Climate Change, are only just beginning to materialise.
Notwithstanding the above developments, Malaysia has to be honest about the rapid pace of development in the country, our growing appetite for fossil fuel energy and its resulting emissions. Climate Change is an issue which is high on the agenda of the Malaysian government. Together with Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, we have formed the Green Technology and Climate Change Council which is chaired by the Prime Minister to formulate policies and measures on climate change. I am also glad to inform all of you that our National Policy on Climate Change has already been approved by the Cabinet and will be launched officially soon.
This policy contains 5 principles, 10 strategic thrusts and 43 key actions with a focus on mitigation and adaptation measures as well as capacity building. As the issue of climate change is cross-sectoral in nature, a number of Ministries including the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will be directly involved in implementing strategies and programmes aimed at tackling the issue.
The implementation of the Climate Change Policy will drive efforts to reduce emissions and contribute to the larger agenda of resolving the issue of climate change. As a sign of our ongoing commitment to this policy our Prime Minister YAB Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak made a voluntary pledge to reduce emissions intensity of GDP by up to 40% compared to 2005 levels by 2020 when he attended the Copenhagen negotiations last year.
We have begun by formulating a Road Map to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet the above pledge by our Prime Minister in Copenhagen. As an initial strategy to achieve this target, we are focusing on three major programmes namely, Energy Efficiency (EE), Renewable Energy (RE) and Solid Waste Management. The Government will also be formulating a comprehensive and detailed Road Map to address the climate change issue in the long term. This will include sectors such transportation, industrial processes, agriculture and forestry.
Apart from that, we are also emphasising and encouraging the use of clean and energy efficient technologies. In this regard, the recent redesignation of Pusat Tenaga Malaysia (PTM) to Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (MGTC) by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technologies and Water is a further testimony to our efforts to combat climate change. We are also progressing well in the implementation of environmentally sound projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). We have so far successfully registered 81 projects with the CDM Secretariat in Bonn Germany and these projects can contribute to the reduction of more than 5.04 million tonnes CO2 equivalent. I am proud to say we currently rank 5th among the countries in the world, which have registered their CDM projects with the CDM Secretariat.
To further stimulate the development and use of Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) activities and technologies, the government has introduced several fiscal incentives such as pioneer status for corporations, investment tax allowance and import duty and sales tax exemption for equipment used in energy conservation. Amongst the specific incentives provided include:
• exemption of 100 % import duty and 50 % excise duty on new hybrid CBU cars until the end of 2010;
• tax exemption on companies’ income earned through trading of Carbon Emission Reduction (CER) certificates obtained from the implementation of environmentally sound projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); and
• Investment Tax Allowance on expenditures for energy conservation and energy saving initiatives such as the development and use of solar, wind bio fuel using palm oil.
Because forests play an important role as carbon sinks in combating global warming and in mitigating climate change, I would like to reiterate our commitment that at least 50 % of the total land area of the country will be under forest cover. In fact currently about 56% of our land area is covered by forests and we have been able to achieve this through our policy of sustainable forest management (SFM). To further strengthen protection of our forests and to mainstream forest management-based emissions reductions into sustainable development, Malaysia has joined the REDD+ Partnership on Climate and Forests. This partnership, which was agreed in Oslo on the 27th of May this year will enable developed and developing country partners to cooperate on readiness and piloting activities even as REDD+ continues to be negotiated in the UNFCCC.
The Climate Change negotiations are an ongoing process. For most developed and even some developing countries, actions to address climate change are being implemented and there is no turning back. I wish to re-emphasize our Government's stand that the developed countries should continue to take the lead in addressing climate change. Developed countries have a historical responsibility to address this issue of Climate Change as they were the ones who first occupied the environmental space in the process of developing their economies. They also have financial and technological resources and capabilities to address this issue.
For our part, developing countries including Malaysia have been taking national actions to address climate change. While we envision that Cancun can, and indeed should, culminate in a legally binding agreement for the two-track process, We nevertheless do not support proposals aimed at imposing legal obligations on developing countries to address climate change. However, we fully understand the need for developing countries to voluntarily take nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs). With the support and enabled by technology, financing and capacity building from developed countries, developing countries will be able to enhance implementation of NAMAs and further reduce GHG emissions.
Climate Change presents us with many challenges. Agreeing on how to work cooperatively to reduce GHG emissions is only the first, and by far the simplest challenge we will face. Time wise, we find ourselves less than half a year from Cancun and COP16. Cancun can redeem Copenhagen. But only if we are ready and willing to make the difficult choices and meet the daunting challenges that lie ahead. The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is “Many Species. One Planet. One Future. The human race has a sacred role as the steward of creation. It has been our privilege to prosper from the Earth's natural resources and it is therefore our duty to ensure that the planet remains habitable not only for humankind, but also for all species that reside on this place we call Earth.
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment