UN Climate Change Debate Coins New Jargon
Date: 25-Sep-07
Country: INTERNATIONAL
Author: Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent
Here are some terms likely to be heard this week at a trio
of US meetings on global warming.
Kyoto - Short for Kyoto Protocol, an international
agreement adopted in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, which sets binding
targets for emission of greenhouse gases that spur global
warming. Under this agreement, developed countries are to cut
their emissions by an average of 5.2 percent below what they
were in 1990. The United States rejects this agreement, arguing
that it unfairly exempts developing countries like China and
India. The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
Framework - The United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, a 1992 agreement that the United States and 191
other countries have signed. Like Kyoto, it seeks to keep
greenhouse gases from hitting a level that would interfere with
climate, but has no legally binding requirements.
Greenhouse gases - Chemicals that trap the sun's heat near
the Earth like a blanket. These substances include carbon
dioxide, which is emitted by humans and all other creatures
that breathe air. They are also emitted by coal-fired power
plants and petroleum-fueled vehicles. They are not the most
intense greenhouse gas -- methane is 10 times more powerful in
contributing to global warming -- but carbon dioxide from
fossil fuel consumption produces 82 percent of the world's
human-generated greenhouse gases.
Cap and trade - Policy tool that sets limits on harmful
emissions, giving allowances to affected industries and
countries within these limits, or caps. Those with emissions
above the cap can trade with those with emissions below it.
Also known as emissions trading.
Carbon footprint - A measure of the impact of human
activities on the environment in terms of the amount of
greenhouse gases they produce, measured in units of carbon
dioxide.
Carbon offsets - Paying to make up for carbon emissions.
One example is planting trees or contributing to a wind farm to
make up for the carbon dioxide emitted during air or car
travel.
UN climate panel - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, established in 1988 by the World Meteorological
Organization and the UN Environment Program, which has
produced a series of reports on climate change. Their fourth
assessment, released this year, said it is 90 percent probable
global warming is occurring and humans contribute to it.
Bali - Indonesian island where scientists and policy makers
are scheduled to gather in December to discuss how to cut
climate-warming emissions after the Kyoto Protocol expires in
2012. The aim is to come up with a plan by 2009 so all parties
have time to ratify it.
Major Economies - The world's biggest emitters of carbon
dioxide. They are: the United States, China, the 25 countries
of the European Union, Russia, India, Japan, Brazil, Canada,
Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Australia and South Africa.