Edie weekly summaries 08/03/2002
Keeping you up to speed with news and events from around the world.
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Charging for use of global commons could save resources
Charging for the use of global commons, such as the sky and the
oceans, would reduce resource use, and cut climate change, according to a
new report to the German government produced in the run-up to the
International Conference on Financing for Development, in Monterrey this
month.
Ships achieving environmental standards would receive tax
rebate (courtesy NOAA)
The German Advisory council on Global Change (WBGU) suggests
that charges on the use of airspace by aviation, and charges on the use of
the oceans by shipping, would reduce the rapid growth in emissions from
international travel. Aviation, in particular, is responsible for up to 15%
of greenhouse gas emissions, and is predicted to grow so that 36% of the
global population chooses to fly by 2050 - up from 9% in 1990, with carbon
dioxide emissions trebling between 1992 and 2025. And yet, aviation is not
covered by the Kyoto Protocol.
The report also predicts that although reductions in fuel
consumption would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, such efficiency will
merely result in an increase in another unsavoury emission, that of NOx.
Instead, a charge based on the number of users, or on kerosene
consumption, or even in the form of tradable permits, would serve to limit
the amount of air travel. The report recommends to the German government
that the first option would be the best, as the auctioning of permits would
hit political resistance, and a tariff on kerosene could mean that aircraft
tend to refuel in countries not party to such a tax, also possibly
increasing the distance that aircraft travel.
As well as taxing aviation, the Council also recommends curbing
emissions from ocean travel. "Shipping is, over long distances, by far the
most environmentally sound form of transportation," says the report. "In
particular, it is much more energy-efficient than aviation, which gives rise
to up to 100 times higher CO2 emissions per tonne of freight." Nevertheless,
ocean transport is still a significant source of air and marine pollution,
says the Council. Such pollutants include oil, tributyl tin (TBT), and the
movement of alien species around the globe (see related story). On top of
this, shipping produces around 7% of all sulphur dioxide emissions and
11-12% of all nitrogen oxide emissions.
In the case of ocean travel, however, charges should not be
designed to reduce the amount of travel, due to its significance for world
trade, says the Council. "The aim is rather to create an incentive for
measures to be taken, particularly in the areas of technology and
environmental management, to reduce shipping-induced marine pollution," says
the report. The Council recommends an annual charge, with rebates granted
depending on the general and environmental qualities of each ship - and at
first, be levied only on ships from industrialised nations.
Finally, the two charging options, for air and sea travel,
should be combined with a third scheme - that of paying developing nations
for non-use of resources, known as non utilisation obligatory payments
(NUOPs). Under the scheme, funds would be spent on compensating those who
would have derived income from a degrading use, also assisting in
alleviating poverty-induced environmental problems.
One such scheme would be through the use of non-utilisation
commitment certificates (NUCCs). States would agree not to use a certain
minimum amount of valuable natural area, with those nations not possessing
sufficient of their own, having to purchase NUCCs from those who have
excess.
In the run-up to the international meeting on financing for
development, in Monterrey, World Bank President, James D Wolfensohn, has
called on wealthy donor nations to double their foreign aid over five years,
and to tear down the trade barriers that harm the world's poorest workers.
"The horrifying events of September 11th have made this a time
of reflection on how to make the world a better and safer place, and we will
not create that world with bombs or brigades alone," said Wolfensohn.
"Poverty is the war we must fight. I believe we have a greater chance today,
than perhaps at any other time in the last 50 years, to win that war and
forge that new partnership for peace."
Source:
edie newsroom
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