On November 28th, another round of climate negotiations started and so far, the prospects are bleak. Canada, has received international attention for rejecting Kyoto and refusing to sign onto another commitment period. On the first day of the negotiations, Canada earned the First Place Fossil of the Day for failing to support a Second Commitment Period for the Kyoto Protocol, and abandoning its current participation in Kyoto. It also took Second Place Fossil due to Environment Minister Peter Kent's open refusal to make a 'guilt payment' to poorer countries, despite the role of Canadian tar sands oil in rising greenhouse gas pollution. The United Kingdom received Third Place for helping to move tar sands oil into Europe.
Kyoto Protocol
International Trade and the Export of Emissions
This week the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo released a new report on how international trade skews the emissions levels reported by developed countries. Unsurprisingly, China is the largest exporter of emissions and accounts for 75 percent of the developed world’s outsourced emissions. The report also finds that while some developed countries report lower emissions levels, their overall carbon footprints are increasing when emission exports are accounted for. Read the study at: http://www.cicero.uio.no/webnews/index_e.aspx?id=11540
