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UAE to host Kyoto workshop

Article 3.14 of the Kyoto Protocol requires industrialised countries and those with economies in transition, to implement their emission targets in such a way so as to minimise the negative social, environmental and economic impact on developing countries including the oil-producing nations.

This Article also calls for the consideration of the actions necessary to minimise these effects and identifies the host of issues to be considered to include "the establishment of funding, insurance and transfer of technology."

The workshop is being organised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat and will be hosted by the EAD at the Le Royal Méridien.

Those expected to attend the workshop are representatives from UK, France, Scandinavian countries, Japan, Germany and developing countries such as India and Brazil. Moreover, representatives from the relevant organisations in the UAE are also expected to attend and participate.

Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General of EAD, said that the UAE plays a significant role in the deliberations on the Protocol and Convention and chaired the working group regarding Article 4 of the Framework Convention.

The UAE was the Asian representative in the Kyoto Protocol Executive Board. With the follow up of the Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Environment and Water, it is very important that the Article be implemented.

The UAE and Denmark will be co-chairing the workshop. Some industrial countries have tried to avoid implementing Article 3.14 by using excuses such as not having enough information or evidence that emissions have negative impact or that reducing emissions harms the economy, while developing countries are still seeking to have this Article implemented. It is worthwhile to note that the only two developed countries that haven't ratified the Kyoto Protocol are the United States and Australia.

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol obliges a list of nations, including the most industrialised countries, to cut overall emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide by 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by 2008-12 by curbing use of coal, oil and natural gas and shifting to cleaner energies like solar or wind power.

It lays down targets for the reduction of atmospheric emissions that may contribute to climate change. To come into force, the pact needed to be ratified by countries accounting for at least 55 per cent of developed nations' greenhouse gas emissions.

Seven years after it was negotiated, the Kyoto Protocol finally came into effect in February 2005 after it received the backing of more than 55 countries, including the UAE where the President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a Federal Decree ratifying it.

On the other hand, ironically, the United States, which is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has refused to ratify the agreement, citing reasons such as its adverse impact on the economy. This has resulted in the US coming under severe criticism, this time from leading international environmental groups and experts.

By ratifying the agreement, the UAE clearly indicated its support for international law and the various international agencies. It became one of the first major oil-producing countries to do so. In line with its commitment to protection of the environment, the UAE is determined to do all that it can to implement the terms of the protocol.

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