Towards a new environmental governance

The following is the speech delivered by Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka at the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change South Asia Sub Regional Meeting on July 27 and 28 in Colombo

Vehicle emissions pose a huge threat to environment

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 the other living beings of the planet Earth.

The Asia and the Pacific Region is of special importance in understanding the nature and dimensions of global environmental problems. This region has a population of nearly three billion - nearly half of the World’s total population. Its economic growth rate is the highest of any region in the world.

At the same time, it should be noted that 14 countries in the region are under the category of the least developed, including Nepal and Bangladesh.

It is necessary to move forward by first looking back to understand the complex nature of the global, regional and local environmental problems we are faced with and their impacts on human health and ecosystems. By doing so we get an idea of the nature and magnitude of the environmental changes brought about by manmade activities. As we all are aware, over the last century, human activities have contributed on a massive scale to global environmental change. Therefore conducting research activities on long-term global changes in climate, ocean and terrestrial systems and on related physical, chemical, biological and socio-economic processes is of vital importance.

Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka

In this context, the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), as an inter-governmental network, has the potential for promoting research that would lead to the strengthening of links between science and policy making in the Asia-Pacific Region. In the context of the Asia and the Pacific Region in particular, focusing on securing the stability of ecological systems while promoting socio-economic development is a special need.

In this context, it is essential to ensure that APN would focus research activities aiming at promoting the establishment of a new global environmental governance system based on the polluter pays principle to achieve the expected outcome of the desired global change. This should be the kind of global change that all of us focus on.

Humanity is overstepping the limits of sustainability and overuses the ecological resources to meet the unlimited needs of the small portion of the population in the world. Developed countries energy consumption patterns are running up vast ecological debt that will be inherited by developing countries and by future generations. According to the IPCC scenarios 21st Century carbon budget is estimated as 1456 Gt. If developed countries continue this current emission trajectory the carbon budget for the 21st Century will expire in the 2030s which drastically enhance the effects of global warming.

It has to be noted that proposed emission cut include in Kyoto Protocol is not enough to save humanity in future. There should be objective criteria to save our planet.

According to IPCC’s Carbon Budget, the environmental permissible carbon space per person for 2009 is 2,170 kg. In Sri Lanka, each person emits 660 kg annually. In some developed countries per capita carbon emission is more than 10 times the permissible level. The world average per capita carbon emission is 4,700 kg, which is twice the permissible level.

That means low emitting countries like us 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.

Considering the common carbon space which belongs to present and future generations, Sri Lanka proposes three amendments to the Kyoto Protocol.

Air pollution leads to climate change

1. Developed countries emission cut should be based on the per capita carbon emission. Sri Lanka proposes to use the IPCC carbon budget. According to the IPCC carbon budget, average environmental permissible carbon per capita level is 2,170 kg. Developed countries should cut their emission level by different proportions to achieve this amount.

2. Developed countries owe environmental debt/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 the financial value to the historical carbon space used by the developed countries.

3. 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 adaptation fund according to their emission.

Research activities for the global change have to be focused on these global realities linking ecosystem degradation with the diversified socio economic activists and provide directions to the global community to make concerted efforts and take timely action to follow a new form of development which preserve the dynamic equilibrium of the planet Earth, while preserving the right of all living beings to equally share the resources of the planet earth maintaining its carrying capacity.

I hope this message would go out from this sub regional gathering, transforming present global realities through research to a sustainable future for all of us and for generations to come.

Timely attention and collaboration at global and regional level is essential to achieve the expected results to ensure long term sustainability of our common future.