PROTECTING ATMOSPHERE PRECONDITION FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, COMMITTEE ON NEW AND RENEWABLE SOURCES OF ENERGY TOLD
Press Release
EN/234
PROTECTING ATMOSPHERE PRECONDITION FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, COMMITTEE ON NEW AND RENEWABLE SOURCES OF ENERGY TOLD
19960215 An official of the United Nations Energy and Natural Resources Branch this afternoon urged world-wide policy instrument measures and new institutional arrangements to deal with the environmental impact of energy production and use.Introducing a Secretariat paper at a meeting of the expert Committee on New and Renewable Sources of Energy and on Energy for Development, Shem Arungu-Olende said protection of the atmosphere was one of the preconditions for ensuring sustainable economic development. Also this afternoon, a representative of the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as a representative of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), addressed the Committee.
The Secretariat paper addresses issues concerning the protection of the atmosphere from energy-related sources of human interference. It analyses the relationship between energy and development, prevailing trends in energy use throughout the world and possible future developments. It also looks at the possible impact on the atmosphere and strategies for mitigating and avoiding adverse impacts of possible climate change. The paper concludes with an assessment of the available policy measures for the protection of the atmosphere within the context of sustainable human development.
The paper also states that protection of the atmosphere faces a number of competing social and economic policy concerns, such as poverty eradication, the provision of adequate health care and employment opportunities. No single mitigation option was likely to become the unique and universally adopted solution for drastically reducing emissions from industrial, energy and consumption activities. Likewise, no single policy instrument would be sufficient for the timely development, adoption and diffusion of mitigation options. All options, it states, should be evaluated in their different regional, national or sectoral contexts and on the basis of full life-cycle analyses.
In his statement, Mr. Arungu-Olende said three classes of environmental problems were associated with poverty, industrialization and affluence. Those
resulting from poverty included inadequate sanitation, lack of clean drinking water and high levels of indoor and outdoor air pollution. Environmental problems related to industrialization included high ambient concentrations of sulphur dioxide and high levels of hazardous industrial wastes. Some examples of environmental problems associated with affluence were increasing volumes of municipal wastes and energy-related emission of greenhouse gases, mostly carbon dioxide. He said each type of problem had different environmental impacts and thus required different policy strategies.
Mr. Arungu-Olende said there were a number of policy instrument measures that could be applied. High priority should be given to efficiency improvements. There were also other instruments, such as taxes, fees, tax exemptions, subsidies, tradable permits, polluter pays principles, education, information, legal and institutional regulations, bans and controls. There was also a need for reliable, impartial information on available technologies, he added, since much of the information about mitigation options and implementation instruments was tailored to the needs and situations in the industrialized countries and, hence, of limited use in developing States.
During a wide-ranging discussion of the report, an expert said that developing countries faced difficult choices in their requirements for electricity and the negative environmental effects of power plants, including atmospheric pollution, and creation of toxic substances in the soil and the water. Another said that carbon outputs had been relatively stable recently as a result of the slowing of production in eastern Europe. However, output would likely increase as developing countries expanded their economies and the economies in transition returned to previous levels of production.
The Secretariat report had only stated that greenhouse gases were "possibly" causing climate change, one expert noted. He added that scientists were now in agreement that anthropogenic activities were definitely causing climate change. Projecting carbon output in the next century, an expert said that six gigatons of carbon dioxide were now being released, and that amount should be halved to three gigatons by the end of the next century to stabilize global warming. If developing countries were going to increase their energy and carbon outputs, he added, developed countries would have to reduce their output by some 80 per cent by the end of the next century, or 1.5 per cent per year after the year 2000 -- an unlikely scenario given present systems.
Nuclear energy was not a feasible option for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, an expert said, adding that it created problems greater than those caused by greenhouse gases. Only efficiency combined with achieving the unrealized potential of renewable energy could feasibly meet those targets. The Committee should focus on shorter-term problems, as opposed to developing scenarios for energy use a century from now, another expert said.
Energy Committee - 3 - Press Release EN/234 7th Meeting (PM) 15 February 1996
Lars E. Olsson, of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that climate and energy were major determinants in planning development activities. His agency's activities in those areas were implemented through work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and with national governments. The first meeting of a new coordinating committee of the World Climate Programme would take place in March with a view to planning future climate-related activities, such as: new frontiers in climate services and predictions; climate services for sustainable development; studies of climate impact assessment and response strategies; and dedicated observations of the climate system.
Salvano Briceno, of the Secretariat, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said that a third round of negotiations were under way on the "Berlin Mandate", which would strengthen the commitments of the developed countries under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. Public information and educational projects were under way in the form of publications produced in cooperation with the WMO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The financial mechanism envisioned by the Convention had been the Global Environmental Facility, which was entering its second phase with $2 billion in funding focused on global climate change, biodiversity, preservation of the ozone layer, and protection of international waters, he said.
Experts from India, Austria, Netherlands and the Russian Federation participated in this afternoon's discussion.
When it meets again at 10 a.m. Friday, 16 February, the Committee will discuss energy activities in the United Nations system.
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