GHG EMISSIONS

GHG Emissions

GHG Emissions

Introduction

Environmental Challenges for the Next Century from Urban Pollution to Global Change; Human beings started altering the surface of the planet a long time ago, at least since they began to establish settled communities and developed an agriculture that required ploughing, irrigation and the clearing of forests.

Serious consideration of these issues can proceed only on the basis of good information on per capita emissions, yet to date only data on energy-related emissions per capita have been available. When measured on this partial basis Australia's per capita emissions are high, but are exceeded by some other industrialized countries, including the USA.

Comparison of UK and USA

The United States and other developed countries are effectively "outsourcing" their greenhouse gas pollution to developing countries. One-third of carbon dioxide emissions associated with the goods and services consumed in First World countries is actually being emitted outside the borders of those nations, mostly in the developing world, a new study finds.

The UK adopted a Directive introducing a scheme for GHG emission allowance trading within the Community. Emissions trading (ET) in some sectors have started in 2005; the first 3-year trading period is limited only to CO2. The scheme is supposed to cover about 46% of the EU-15's total CO2 emissions in 2010 [8]. The Directive is a key element of the Community's climate change policy and its objective is to promote reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective and economically efficient manner. It is therefore important to ensure that the emissions trading scheme has a positive environmental outcome. The national allocation plans are the means to achieve this goal.

In 2004, 23 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions - or 6.8 billion tons (6.2 billion metric tonnes) of carbon dioxide - were traded internationally, mostly exported from emerging markets and ...