International Agreements on Climate Change - Essay Example

Reaching agreements especially in climate change is still a difficult area not only because of the immensity of the matter but also because it is extremely hard to bring all the players in the international community together to discuss the same. The Kyoto protocol covers the six topmost GHG which are carbon dioxide, nitrous-oxide, hydro-fluorocarbons, methane, sulphur-hexafluoride and per-fluorocarbons, but their emission has gone up by 70%.

As a result, global temperatures have continued to increase which in turn affects biodiversity, food security, human health and even international peace and security. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol augment the commitments agreed upon under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In trying to get the international community to stabilize GHG emissions, the Kyoto Protocol has outlined specific conditions which are binding on 37 developed countries: they are required to reduce their GHG emissions by 5% which should be done through cost-effective methods.

Now, plans are underway to conclude another protocol after the expiry of the current one in 2012. The Conference under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Bali, December 2007 was convened to commence negotiations on a post-Kyoto agreement since the first commitment period for the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012. The new negotiations are aimed at organizing the international community to undertake additional measures in their efforts to control climate change.

During the conference, the Bali roadmap was adopted and contains a plan on the mitigation, technology to be used, the adaptation and financing of climate change measures as well as a new process to conduct negotiations on the same. An Ad Hoc Working Group was also constituted at the same time to carry out the action plan outlined and which has held several meetings since then. In 2009, over 60% of the world’s merchant fleet was not registered in the Kyoto Annex I countries. Further the Common but differentiated United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, hereafter UNCTAD held a February 2009 meeting on maritime transport and climate change largely because greenhouse gas emissions are not covered under the UNFCC framework, (UNCTAD, pg. 3). What is lacking in the sector are initiatives with an environmental perspective.

For over five decades the regulatory framework for the shipping industry has been provided by the United Nations International Maritime Organizations (IMO). Already its Environmental Protection Committee has developed a raft of measures designed to mitigate the effects of carbon emissions, (Walton, 17) including a system of energy efficiency design indexing for new ships similar to a car and electrical appliance rating systems, a template for a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for use by all ships, economic measure ingredients could be applied globally as incentives for emission reduction.

Nations at the IMO have agreed to key principles that will facilitate this agenda. MARPOL MARPOL 73/78 is an acronym for International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978 as well as an IMO initiative. It contains mandatory measures for international shipping to reduce their emission of greenhouse gases and was adopted by parties who are members of the MARPOL Annex VI. It made it mandatory for these countries to adopt the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for the regulation of new ships as well as the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) to regulate all the other ships.

Ship Energy Efficient Management Plan (SEEMP) SEEMP is the incorporation of best practices for ships’ fuel-efficient operation. It helps to ship in its efforts to minimize fuel consumption and energy efficiency. It does this through the use of technical and design-based processes that can achieve significant reductions in fuel consumption and subsequently, CO2 emissions. Some of these methods include: “speed management; weather routing; optimizing engine power, use of rudders and propellers; hull maintenance and use of different fuel types; improved voyage planning,” (International Chamber of Shipping, pg. 3) The Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) EEDI was developed during discussions at IMO and it protects the interests of governments, industry associations and other organizations which fight for the rights of civil societies.

It goes a step further than the SEEMP and requires the least energy efficiency levels to be achieved by new ships. It does this by enhancing continuous technical developments in ship components that influence the fuel efficiency of a ship. It also separates methods that are technical and design-based from those which are merely commercial and operational. The method is currently being used to enable energy efficiency comparisons between individual ships and similar ships with the same capacity to transport the same cargo, (Warriors, 18).