Sri Lanka proposes amendments to Kyoto Protocol
Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka
addressing the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change South Asian Sub
Regional Meeting in Colombo yesterday said Sri Lanka would propose three
amendments to the Kyoto Protocol because the present Carbon Emission cut
included in it was not enough to save humanity in future.
He proposed that the developed countries’ emissions cut be based on
the per capital carbon emission. Sri Lanka proposes to use the IPCC
Carbon budget. According to the IPCC Carbon budget the average
environmental permissable Carbon per capita level is 2170 kg. Developed
countries should cut their emission level by different proportions to
achieve this level.
Ranawaka said developed countries owed an environmental (Carbon) debt
to the other countries and should compensate them. Sri Lanka proposes to
trade off the amount of financial loans taken by developing countries
from the developed countries by giving a financial value to the
historical carbon space used by the developed countries.
Ranawaka added that climate change is the direct impact of emission
of the developed countries. Therefore, they have to pay for the
adaptation of the developing countries. Developed countries should
contribute to the adaptation fund according to their emission.
In Sri Lanka each person emits 660 kg carbon annually. In some
developed countries per capita emission is more than ten times the
permissible level of 2170 kg. The world average per capita carbon
emission is 4700 kg which is twice the permissable level.
That means low emitting countries like Sri Lanka could not emit more
because our space has already been exploited by developed or global
polluting countries without our consent. And more importantly they have
exploited future generations’ carbon space as well. Ranawaka said in the
global context our generation is living in an era where deteriorating
environmental trends have far reaching economic, social and health
implications.
A global change by making a paradigm shift away from the present
unsustainable production and consumption practices is the only way
forward to ensure the continued existence not only of humankind but also
of other living beings of the planet earth.
In this context it was essential to ensure that Asia-Pacific Network
focus research activities aiming at promoting the establishment of a new
global environmental governance system based on the polluter pays
principle in order to achieve the expected outcome of the desired global
change, Ranawaka said. |