The Hindu : Front Page : Kyoto Protocol comes into force

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 17, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

Kyoto Protocol comes into force

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 16. The Kyoto Protocol, which requires the industrialised countries to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs), came into force today. India ratified the protocol in 2002.

The industrialised countries would need to accelerate the introduction of renewables to meet these requirements, as well as reduce energy consumption by promoting efficiency of energy end use, and enhance the absorption of carbon dioxide through greater afforestation. Under the protocol, the developed countries are required to reduce emissions of GHGs by an average of 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.

This protocol was adopted in 1997 by the countries that ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The Convention seeks to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would minimise interference with the climate system.

One of the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol, known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), establishes a framework within which the industrialised countries can meet a part of their carbon dioxide emissions reduction requirements by purchasing Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) from India and other developing countries. These CERs are generated through an international process that continuously monitors and verifies that clean energy projects in developing countries are indeed leading to lower carbon dioxide emissions than would occur otherwise.

Potential CER supplier

According to officials in the Environment and Forests Ministry, the Indian private sector is fast emerging as the largest potential supplier of CERs in the world. The Government, through the Ministry of Environment and Forests, has established an inter-ministerial committee to process and approve CDM project proposals before they are sent to an international CDM Executive Board in Bonn. The inter-ministerial committee meets once a month, and has already approved 54 projects.

The price of the CERs is market determined, and is expected to rise as the demand for CERs increases with the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol. The current price of CERs is about $6 for a tonne of carbon dioxide emission reductions, which is about $1 more than it was one year ago.

Most assessments predict that this price would rise to about $8 to $10 in about three to five years.

This is because these projects collect the methane generated in landfills and burn it to produce electricity. By reducing emissions of methane, which is 20 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, the project secures significant additional source of revenue. This increase makes it profitable for private investors to collect garbage and manage landfills — which could have a major impact on the management of solid waste in our cities.

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