2. Energy Use, Economy, and Carbon Emissions
7. Environment and Energy Efficiency
7. Environment and Energy Efficiency
The Western Hemisphere and
Climate Change
Key
Details about the Kyoto Mechanisms
Addressing
Energy-Related Environmental Challenges of the Western Hemisphere: Air Pollution
Addressing
Energy-Related Environmental Challenges: Environmental Lead Pollution
Promotion
of Energy Efficiency and Clean Power: Alternatives in the Americas
The Western Hemisphere and Climate Change
Western Hemisphere Emissions as a Percentage of Total World Carbon Emissions -- 1997 Graph
- Through the Central American Regional
Environmental Initiative, the Clinton Administration plans to double the US commitment to
support regional environmental initiatives, while USAID plans to contribute $25 million
over five years for climate change mitigation, forest conservation, coastal zone
management and reduction of industrial pollution.
- Increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in
Latin America are only partially a result of increased energy consumption. About
two-thirds of carbon released from the region stems from the deforestation of 4-6 million
hectares of forests that are eliminated annually.
- Latin America and the Caribbean produce 8%
of the world’s GHG emissions. Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela,
Colombia and Chile rank among the largest emitters of carbon in Latin
America.
- With 4% of the world’s population, the United
States emits, by far, the most carbon in the Americas- more than 3 times the rest of
the Western Hemisphere combined.
- In the Kyoto Protocol, negotiated in 1997, Canada agreed to 6% emissions reductions below 1990 levels by 2008-2012, equivalent to a 37% reduction below a business-as-usual scenario. The United States agreed to a 7% reduction below its 1990 emissions levels. However, EIA’s business-as-usual scenarios, excluding allowance for emissions trading, suggests emissions nearly one-third above 1990 levels between 2008-2012.
Key Details about the Kyoto Mechanisms
- There are three “flexibility mechanisms” that signatory parties to the Kyoto Protocol can participate in: Emissions Trading, Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
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- Some positions of Western Hemispheric
negotiators regarding the Kyoto Mechanisms in the recently completed tenth session of the
Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Science and
Technological Advice (SBSTA), May 31-June 11, 1999.
- Canada and the United States
opposed placing a “cap” on the percentage of domestic reductions that can be
obtained through the Kyoto mechanisms.
- The G-77/China, a negotiating block
representing the developing countries, emphasized the significance of capacity building,
stating that it should be incorporated into all CDM projects.
- Venezuela further stressed the need
to establish clear rules for transparency regarding CDM project’s contributions
towards sustainable development in the respective countries. The G77/China group as a
whole indicated that the host country is best able to determine eligibility of projects.
- The United States underlined the need to ensure environmental “additionality” of JI projects. Planned projects and the subsequent greenhouse gas emissions reductions associated with these projects, must be additional to projects that would have been undertaken in the absence of such a regime.
A Snapshot of those Summit of the Americas countries that have signed the Kyoto Protocol (signatories in red) |
....and those that have ratified it! |
||
Antigua
& Barbuda |
Dominican
Republic |
Paraguay |
Antigua
& Barbuda (11/3/98) |
Note: The Protocol will enter into force when it is ratified by at least 55 nations, which are responsible for at least 55% of 1990 global greenhouse gas emissions. As of June 6, 1999, 84 countries have signed the Protocol and 9 have ratified it.
Addressing Energy-Related Environmental Challenges of the Western Hemisphere: Air Pollution
- Increased population and an overall trend of rising per capita incomes in the Western Hemisphere have led to increased emissions in the transportation, industrial and residential sectors. The result is higher levels of ozone, particulate matter and carbon monoxide, often exceeding World Health Organization standards by wide margins.
The Americas Address Pollution
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Las Americas Team (LAT) aids in implementation of agreements made in previous Summit of the Americas. One focus of their efforts is to demonstrate pollution prevention technologies.
- Canada has recognized smog as a
compelling health problem and is implementing Phase 3 of a program that aims to reduce
particulate matter and ozone. The initiatives are being led by the Canadian government.
- Clean Air Initiative in Latin American
Cities: This program, sponsored by the World Bank, unites city managers, development
agencies, public and private sector leaders and the NGO community to address air quality
problems.
- Increased emissions standards in and
around Mexico City: Fuel oil is now banned in Mexico City and along the
U.S.- Mexico border. Scrubbers are required for most heavy industry.
- Sulfur emissions in the United States have been successfully lowered under the U.S. EPA’s Clean Air Act. The emissions trading program resulted in 5.3 million tons of sulfur dioxide released in 1995, 50% less than emitted in1985 and well below the EPA’s 1995 goal of 8.7 million tons.
Addressing
Energy-Related Environmental Challenges:
Environmental Lead Pollution
- Motor vehicles account for up to 90% of lead
emissions into the atmosphere and, therefore, remain the single largest source of
environmental lead pollution. Lead emissions not only create a direct health risk,
but also can accumulate in the soil and drinking water over time, impairing the
development of children. In light of these risks, countries of the Western
Hemisphere are attempting to remove lead from gasoline.
- The phase-out of lead requires adjustments to be made in refineries, in order to produce gasoline with a higher octane rating or to add octane-enhancing additives. These investments may not be economical in small refineries, however, in larger, more technically- advanced refineries, the benefits attained from a cleaner environment and improved human health will, in the long run, outweigh the costs of the conversion. These benefits were determined to be ten times greater than the costs in the United States.
Promotion
of Energy Efficiency and Clean Power:
Alternatives in the Americas
- Reductions in carbon emissions and other
pollutants can be achieved through the conversion of coal-fired power plants to those
fueled by natural gas, increased use of renewable energy technologies and improvements in
energy efficiency.
- Promotion of energy efficiency in the Western Hemisphere focuses on the coordination and standardization of energy efficiency standards, elimination of barriers for adopting new technologies and establishment of a system for labeling equipment.
Activities Implemented Jointly
- A program endorsed by the designated authorities to the Parties of the Kyoto Protocol, in which developed countries invest in energy efficiency, renewable energy and forestry projects in developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is a pilot program that could potentially evolve into the Clean Development Mechanism.
Selected Energy-Related Projects in the Americas Under the Activities Implemented Jointly (AIJ) Program Table [Source]