UNEP, CO2 Emissions
I. Background
By means of the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide has always circulated naturally and made its way through Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, lands, and living beings.
However, humans have played an increasingly active role in contributing to carbon dioxide emissions and influencing the natural cycle since the Industrial Revolution, which was a major precursor of the world’s significant consumption of coal and other fossil fuels today to power our infrastructure and industries. Since 1850, carbon dioxide emissions have increased 145-fold globally and are estimated to rise over 50 percent by 2030.
Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun and help maintain ideal, habitable temperatures on Earth’s surface, but the drastic increase of greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, over the last few centuries as the world has industrialized has severe implications. An excess of such gases has caused too much heat to be trapped in Earth’s atmosphere and not enough to escape. As a result, global temperatures are on an overall rising trend, contributing to climate change and global warming.
The top six producers of greenhouse gases in 2005 – the United States, China, the
European Union, Russia, India, and Japan – collectively contributed over sixty percent of the world’s total emissions. Some nations and regions clearly contribute more to the problem, but ultimately, carbon dioxide emissions are an issue that involves the entire international community. Thus, the United Nations, particular the UNEP, recognizing a matter of global significance, saw fit to facilitate worldwide discussion and cooperation to address the matter. Climate change knows no borders, and if allowed to continue at the pace it is currently going, it will permanently alter the way people live by changing the ecosystem and environment around them.
II. UN Involvement
The United Nations Environment Programme has actively worked to address the ongoing worldwide increase of carbon dioxide emissions since its establishment in
1972. In 1988, it partnered with the World Meteorological Association to create the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which conducts research and obtains data to compile assessments regarding climate change. Beyond scientific evidence, the panel’s publications also take into consideration socioeconomic factors that affect carbon dioxide emissions and other contributors to climate change and provide potential methods to respond and adapt to the issue at hand. Furthermore, the United Nations Framework on Climate Change, a global environmental treaty made effective in 1994, established guidelines to create international treaties to greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol is a resulting treaty that was adopted in 1997 and made effective in 2005. The protocol binds agreeing parties to specific greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. Participating nations are responsible

for monitoring and limiting their gas emissions, but a compliance system set up through the treaty can provide aid if necessary.
III. Possible Solutions
Devise ways to spread greater awareness about the need to limit carbon dioxide emissions and prevent drastic climate change. Address countries that may not be financially-equipped to take action on their own and make effective changes. Also take into consideration countries whose economies are deeply entrenched in carbon dioxide-emitting industries and may not be willing to make an effort to cut back on their emissions. Explore the technologies and innovations available to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the like in areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, conservation, and transportation.
IV. Bloc Positions
1. Asian Bloc: China and Japan are major carbon dioxide emitters in the region and the world, but both have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
2. Latin American Bloc: Large-scale deforestation in some Latin American countries has reduced the plant life available to absorb excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
3. African Bloc: A few more industrialized countries in Africa produce a sizable amount of carbon emissions, but most countries have relatively low rates.
4. Middle Eastern Bloc: The Middle East provides a significant portion of the world’s fossil fuels but collectively contributes less than ten percent of the total carbon dioxide emissions produced from the burning of fuels.
5. Western Bloc: Many countries in the western block have taken the initiative in reducing their own carbon dioxide emissions. Many member of the European
Union have joined the Kyoto Protocol and set their own emission targets.
V. Guiding Questions and Helpful Links
1.
2.
Is your country a party of the Kyoto Protocol?
To what extent does your country contribute to overall carbon dioxide emissions? Does it have any legislature or programs in place to limit them?
3. What resources does your country have to decrease its carbon emissions and combat climate change?
4. How can carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions be best prevented in the first place to limit the effects they have on the Earth through climate change? http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.KT http://www.thecarbonaccount.com/carbonexplained/