Re-think advocated for Copenhagen talks

"KYOTO2" PROPOSALS CAN PROVIDE A WAY ROUND THE ROADBLOCKS

"We hope that the 'Copenhagen' negotiations on climate change will succeed, but the signs are not promising." So says John Gilbert of K2S, a campaigning group working to raise awareness of the "Kyoto2" proposals for cutting worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases.

"We think that many of the problems are the result of the existing framework for negotiations in which cutting emissions is perceived mainly as a 'burden', countries are worried about national competitiveness and the potential costs to taxpayers, the sheer complexity of the negotiations creates resistance to change and progress, and there is no mechanism to fund adaptation in poorer countries in a fair way, on the scale that is required." added Gilbert.

K2S says that the "Kyoto2" proposals provide a way round these roadblocks.

There would be a single global cap on emissions, without any need to assign emissions targets to individual countries. This creates a fair, simple, effective framework for cutting emissions says K2S.

Greenhouse gases would be controlled "upstream", near to their origins. This simplifies administration, reduces opportunities for fraud, automatically includes international aviation and shipping, avoids the complex problem of accounting for fossil carbon embodied in traded products, and dispels the problems associated with carbon offsets.

The sale by global auction of Permits to pollute would raise about $1 trillion every year, to be spent on measures to help adaptation and mitigation, mainly in poorer countries. This solves the problem of how to finance climate solutions.

Oliver Tickell, who is the author of the "Kyoto2" proposals, said "People are assuming that each country will have its own targets for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases, but that assumption leads to many complications. By replacing national targets with a single global cap on emissions, and by raising funds via the sale of Permits, the Kyoto2 proposals cut through several tangles and allow the focus of negotiations to shift on to how to share the benefits and opportunities of decarbonising the world's economy."