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A Primer on Climate Change and Carbon Trading |
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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Nov. 9 -/E-Wire/--
Climate change is one of the most important global issues of our time and also one of the most controversial. Amidst the global debate, vital facts on this matter are often lost. Despite extensive coverage on climate change, many still are not clear on its full implications, or are confused by the acronyms, the players involved, and the contradictory studies and reports.
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Fact number one is that the earth’s atmosphere is warming and that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to this trend. Global warming is real, it’s here and it will continue for some time with consequences that will affect every species on the planet.
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Fact number two is that if we don’t do something about it now, the problem will simply become worse and the price tag for inaction will increase accordingly.
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Fact number three is that much can be done to lessen the impacts of climate change and to slow down the rate of temperature growth by reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by human actions. But whatever we do, all nations have to work together to make the necessary changes.
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Thus the main issues before political, business and societal leaders today are how to deal with the inevitable impacts of climate change, and how to slow down further global warming by reducing man made greenhouse gas emissions.
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The first major international effort to develop such a climate change strategy was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an agreement signed by 189 countries in 1992. The Framework eventually led to the formation of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The Kyoto Protocol, which has been ratified by 164 countries, including Canada, the European Union, China, and India, establishes specific targets for emissions reductions for industrialized countries.
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One of the main features of the Kyoto Protocol was the establishment of market-based mechanisms to stimulate the development and deployment of technologies that could help reduce carbon-based greenhouse gas emissions and conserve energy.
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In broad terms, countries can meet their emissions reduction targets by lowering their own emissions by purchasing carbon credits (which are essentially permits to emit greenhouse gases) or by investing in projects that would reduce emissions in other countries. First deployed in the European Union, it is estimated that the worldwide market for carbon credits is now worth more than $22 billion.
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Renewable energy technologies that harness wind, solar and geothermal energy sources have been the prime beneficiaries of carbon credit investments. Biofuels are also an emerging area of interest.
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Energy from fossil fuel sources will continue to dominate the world’s energy supply system for some time. Thus it is important that ways are found to use coal, oil, and gas more efficiently and to generate fewer greenhouse gas emissions in the process. Energy conservation is also an opportunity area for immediate gains in emissions reductions, both for developing and industrialized nations,as is reducing deforestation, which also helps preserve the earth’s natural carbon storage capacity.
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It is clear that governments world wide have accepted the realities of climate change, and that the private sector has awakened to the opportunities and risks involved.
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With these general thoughts in mind, the GLOBE-Net Primer on Climate Change and Carbon Trading sets out the basic facts on both the science and the business of climate change. Readers will be better able to sift through the very complex and often confusing array of facts and choices before us as we come to grips with what clearly is the most critical challenge facing mankind today.
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Read the primer online. Contact Info:
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Crosby MacDonald
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The GLOBE Foundation of Canada
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Tel : 604-775-5822 Website : the GLOBE Foundation of Canada
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