Kyoto protocol

[ballaratocker]

This is more a question thread than anything else. Recently, with global warming becoming an issue, I have been researching the Kyoto Protocol. I get the basic gist of it but I do wonder why countries such as China and India have been excluded from it. Currently living in China and noticing the huge amount of material waste that occurs here (though per capita it is not as large as many industrialized countries) and the emerging middle class coming to the fore, I could see why others may feel slighted that they are not held to emissions caps. I feel that China is a developing country and that a potential crackdown on emissions may stunt it's economic growth. However, I also feel there should be a provision in the protocol that would state that if China were to meet a certain standard of living amongst it's citizens (I am not sure what the official measure would be), then it would be held accountable to the emissions standards rather than merely dealing in carbon credits.
What do others feel about this suggestion? Can anyone shed further light on this? (I am not all knowing on the subject)

[wtmusic]

1. All countries can deal in carbon credits

and there is actually a very simple method of determining when emissions caps kick in: a per-capita carbon quota (shhh -- don't say anything about it here--energy will become astronomically expensive).

Most people in this country cringe at the though of being on the same quota as someone in China who currently uses 1/20 or 1/50 the carbon they do. But it's not only fair, it is the only way the world can work together to solve this crisis. It is up to us, and absolutely no one else in the world, to lead the way on global warming.

[arenean]

2. Developing countries....

Developing countries were just given non-binding targets during the first implementation phase (which is not far from completion). Plus they were given help to lower their emissions via technology transfer. It was recognised that as a country's economy grows into 'developed' status, the emissions will always increase to a maximum, then slowly reduce. This was observed first in the UK during the Industrial Revolution, followed by USA, the rest of Europe etc. What was interesting though was that the peak in emissions lowered as each country went through this phase, as more efficient processes and new technology helped to do the same job with fewer emissions.

I think Kyoto recognises that China, India etc, all have to go through this phase, so legally binding targets won't help, but transfer of the most efficient technology from the West will.