The Atmospheric Equity Group
Equity is not a word that comes up often in the climate change debate. And yet, one of the unsaid principles of the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol seems to be that any action to mitigate climate change will take place only if it does not threaten the supremacy of industrialised countries, or compromise their pace of development - while developing countries are arm-twisted into selling their present and future rights to the atmosphere dirt cheap.

If you believe in equity, and believe that developing countries should not sign away their rights to the atmosphere in the same way that citizens in colonised nations were forced to sell their land for a pittance, join the Atmosphere Equity Group and send us information/statements on equity in atmospheric rights for posting on this page. The Centre for Science and Environment will do joint statements and interventions with members of the Group in future.

CSE brought together representatives from some developing countries in New Delhi on October 24, 1998, to protest against inequity in the climate change negotiations, and signed the following Statement of Concern, which will be circulated at the fourth meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP-4) to the UNFCCC, to be held in Buenos Aires from November 2 -13, 1998.

You may join AEG by signing your name on the statement reproduced below and sending it to us by email to webadmin@cseindia.org

South Asia Statement
A Statement of Shared Concern by the South Asian Atmospheric Equity Group
New Delhi, October 24, 1998

We, the South Asian Atmospheric Equity Group, considering the seriousness of the threat of global warming and the contentious issues facing the forthcoming Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Buenos Aires, from November 2-14, 1998, affirm the following:

The challenge
Climate change is the biggest environmental disaster facing humanity.

Industrialised countries have been the largest producers of greenhouse gases that are the cause of climate change. Climate change is likely to affect countries in South Asia adversely because they are totally dependent on a highly sensitive and poorly studied climatic phenomenon called the monsoon. These adverse changes could lead to major socio-economic impacts, enhance existing vulnerabilities and contribute to serious political destabilisation.

In December 1997, the Kyoto Protocol set the first targets for industrialised countries to reduce their emissions by the year 2010. The Kyoto Protocol does not set any targets for developing countries, as expected under the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

However, inequities are being built into the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol through the well-thought out political strategy put into place by the US to get the ‘meaningful participation’ of developing countries, even though international agreements do not require them to do so. These interventions are premised on the promotion of market mechanisms without associated property rights or entitlements. This is clearly inequitous and mortgages the future interests of the South.

As inequities currently stand, the average greenhouse gas emissions of one US citizen are equal to 25 Indians, 33 Pakistanis, 42 Maldivians, 85 Sri Lankans, those of 125 Bangladeshis, 250 Bhutanese or 500 Nepalis.

Developing countries cannot forsake the right of their current and future generations to grow economically by accepting undue constraints on the use of energy. If developing countries have to accept certain constraints to save the world from global warming, then it is obvious that all nations and peoples on Earth and should share those constraints equitably.

It is, therefore, imperative that our delegations go to Buenos Aires well prepared and with a clear brief to protect the current and future economic rights of their peoples and at the same time present a strategy that protects the global ecology.

Agenda for change
All countries have to work together to solve the global warming problem. But the South which has almost all the poor people of the world needs maximum environmental space for its economic development.

Taking the above into account, we believe that the countries of South Asia and other developing countries must insist on equal per capita entitlements. The South Asian countries along with all other countries of the South have the maximum stake in ensuring equity in sharing the burden of commitments to reduce emissions.

It must be noted that under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialised countries have ingeniously allocated the right to trade emissions amongst themselves — without the assignment of any entitlements on the basis of equity. It is, therefore, imperative that our governments reject the notion that trading in emissions can be allowed without a clear enunciation of rights and entitlements of developed and developing countries to the common atmosphere.

The Kyoto Protocol did not define the principles for trading emissions and left it for further negotiations. We are delighted that the G-77 has taken cognizance of this issue and has argued that it is "important to examine how the emission rights and entitlements of developed countries will be determined and created for trading emissions. Will this be consistent with the principle of equity keeping in view the historical and current responsibility of developed countries to climate change and the ultimate objective of the convention?" Also, the Communique adopted at the NAM Ministerial Conference, held in South Africa earlier this year, strongly endorsed this position. The Communique reads, "Emissions trading for implementation of such commitments can only commence after issues relating to the principles, modalities etc of such trading, including the initial allocation of emission entitlements on an equitable basis has been agreed upon by the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change." The European Parliament has also endorsed the principle of convergence in a recent resolution.

The principle of entitlements and the principle of convergence to those entitlements are critical for developing a just framework for global cooperation to avert climate change. The entire objective of this cooperation should be to move as fast as possible to a non-carbon renewable energy economy and, thus, avoid economic and political damage which poor countries can least afford.

We should reject mechanisms like Joint Implementation, Emissions Trading and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), until equal per capita entitlements are accepted. This is critical because the CDM, in its current form, takes away all the cheaper options to reduce emissions. And as global warming will continue to be a problem because industrialised countries have not taken adequate domestic action, developing countries will be left only with high-cost options, which could be as much as 20 times higher.

It is vital that there is space created for people’s participation in addressing climate change problems and in developing a global consensus on equity and sustainability in securing our common future. For this purpose, free flow of information and regular dialogues and consultations are essential. The danger of limited debate and consciousness is that they can be easily captured by vested interests. Climate change is too serious a business to be left only to governments. It affects every person on Earth.

New Delhi, October 24, 1998