Michael Klein at New Values Community has just posted on the end-of-year prospects for climate change. On the positive side, we have the fact that the Kyoto Treaty came into force, and that an effective carbon emissions trading regime is now up and running in Europe. On the negative side, he quotes a couple of press reports which note the absence of the USA and Australia from the Treaty, and the fact that India and China are large emitters and that there seem to be “slim chances” of involving them in the Kyoto Treaty (according to UPI).

However, according to an article by Don Henry, the Director of the Australian Conservation Foundation, in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, China is very committed to dealing with climate change:

“China takes its participation in the Kyoto Protocol seriously. It has embarked on a renewable energy program that has stunned many analysts. China is the global market leader in solar hot water use and accounts for 60 per cent of the globally installed capacity. In the past three years, China has created access to electricity for a million people in remote regions through renewable energy. Also, China recently announced it has set a target to ensure 15 per cent of its energy comes from renewable energy by 2020, and has set the goal of halving the energy intensity of its economy over the same period.”

As an example of what such energy targets can achieve, Henry relates the Australian experience:

“Australia’s mandatory renewable energy target was initially successful in stimulating the use of renewable energy here [in Australia]- its renewable energy industry now accounts for $5.7 billion in annual sales, including more than $400 million in exports, and directly employs more than 20,000 people.”

So, perhaps there is reason for more optimism than we think.

Source: Don Henry [2006]: “A second chance for the odd two out to address climate change”. Sydney Morning Herald, 2006-01-10.

This entry was posted on January 10th, 2006 at 10:02 (GMT) and is filed under Policy . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.