Singapore Says Kyoto Obligations Should Not Be Based On Wealth
As more nations fall under increasing pressure to reduce their carbon emissions, Singapore’s climate envoy said Saturday that small, affluent island nations should not be judged solely on their wealth and emissions.
Under the United Nation’s main climate treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, just 37 industrialized nations pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions between 2008-2012.
However, the Kyoto’s definition of rich and developing nations was created in 1992, and many wealthy nations such as Singapore, Argentina, Malta and South Korea are still considered developing states by the old criteria.
And while developing nations are exempt from binding emissions reductions under Kyoto, recent studies indicate poorer states now contribute more than half of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions.
Australia and the European Union argue that the 1992 list should be updated since it no longer reflects the reality. They say wealthy nations outside of Kyoto must commit to the binding curbs as part of a broader climate treaty likely to be established in Copenhagen in December.
Chew Tai Soo, Singapore’s chief climate change negotiator, said the nation was responsible for 0.3 percent of total global greenhouse emissions, but was falling under pressure to reduce its emissions simply because it is rich and had high per-capita carbon pollution.
"This approach is flawed as it does not take into account the unique considerations and capabilities of different countries,” a Reuters report quoted him as saying.
"It penalizes small countries with small populations without taking into account their limitations.”
Singapore is one of the world’s wealthiest countries, with 2007 per-capita gross domestic product of $35,163, according to government data. Â
Its carbon emissions are about 11 tons per person, the same as many European nations. By comparison, the United Stats emits roughly 20 tons per person, while China emits about 4 tons per person.
In a statement to the United Nations last November, Australia said the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto’s parent pact, allowed many developed economies off the hook with respect to their carbon reduction obligations.
"Since the Convention was adopted in 1992 no work has been done to better differentiate the responsibilities of Parties," the submission said.
Australia argued that two annex lists of countries in the Kyoto Protocol are now out of date.
Chew said Singapore’s area was just 20 percent the size of Long Island in New York, was densely populated and without natural resources. Furthermore, the country’s agricultural sector was basically non-existent, he said.
"With such economic restraints, we have no food security and are heavily dependent on trade and commerce for survival,” adding that Singapore was investing in research and development of solar and other clean-energy areas. Also, its decision to utilize natural gas in its power stations had cut carbon emissions, he said.
However, some criticize Singapore’s surging automobile sales, rapid population growth, large petro-chemical industry and its shipping and aviation sectors, saying they counterbalance some of the country’s carbon reductions.Â
According to government figures, 98 percent of the country’s energy requirements derive from fossil fuels, and carbon emissions are rising 2.8 percent a year notwithstanding its energy efficiency programs.
Singapore’s climate change strategy doesn’t mention a government role in reducing the city-state’s absolute emissions, according to professor Natasha Hamilton-Hart of the National University of Singapore.
She told the conference that Singapore had to stop presenting itself as a developing nation or it risked hurting its credibility in U.N. climate discussions by asking others to make emissions cuts that it was unwilling to make itself.
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