Instructions: Read over this background, and go to the cited websites for more information, preferably before going to recitation! After recitation provide written answers to the four exercise questions below.

In recitation you will discuss the geo-political aspects of policies to reduce carbon dioxide build-up in the atmosphere and thus the risk of global warming. As with other trans-boundary environmental problems, this one has led to an international agreement, the so-called "UN Framework Convention on Climate Change" and the "Kyoto Protocol," in which the nations of the world agree to limit their emissions according to targets and timetables that are designed at least to slow the build-up and resulting warming, and eventually stabilize atmospheric CO2. The Kyoto agreement contains provisions that recognize some important geographical (geo-political) elements of the problem: the most developed countries are asked to cut emissions in the first round of targets because they have caused most of the problem in the first place, and technological solutions are to be made available in ways that recognize that developing countries may not have the wealth or expertise to implement energy efficiency. You can read about its provisions at:

and

and

For maps on greenhouse gas emissions, see:

The main geopolitical issues include:

• Differential obligations to reduce emissions by the industrial countries (the Most developed Countries, or MDCs) compared to developing countries (the Least Developed Countries, or LDCs—often referred to as "the South" in the lingo of international development), based on the simple equity of those who caused most of the problem having the obligation to fix most of the problem.

• Arguments by LDCs for favorable terms of trade, and technology transfer from MDCs to LDCs in order to speed up their development of efficient industrial/energy systems; this is part of the LDCs have a "right to develop," either by following the carbon-based path of the MDCs or by getting help to leapfrog to post-carbon energy systems. If they use similar energy paths as the MDCs, then as the economies of the developing countries grow, they will become big (maybe even larger) contributors in the future

• Arguments that the impacts of global warming will not be evenly distributed, and that less developed countries have more to lose (their resource-based economies are more sensitive to climate) and some are in more vulnerable settings (coastal zones like Bangladesh, island states). Also, they have fewer financial resources to devote to adapting to climate change.

• Foot-dragging by some key countries with large stakes in the carbon-based economy (e.g., OPEC countries; Russia, and the US)

• Arguments that countries that championed Kyoto and signed on fast (e.g., much of Western Europe) don’t really mean to fulfill their obligations.

• There are also questions raised about the science, and just what targets should be set: do we try to stabilize atmospheric CO2, or the projected climate change? At what level? Some countries, like the USA under the Bush Administration, doubt the need for firm emission reduction targets right now, arguing that the threat remains uncertain (we need more science) and/or that the reductions threaten economic well-being.

For the U.S. administration position, read President Bush’s views and his arguments for withdrawing (that is, not moving to ratify) from the Kyoto agreement:

For a wide range of skeptical views of global warming and the Kyoto accord, see:

Student name:___________________________

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TA name:___________________________

Instructions: After you have discussed the international agreement on climate change in recitation, answer these four questions with short, pertinent answers. Give each question a YES or a NO, then explain briefly WHY.

1. Is an international treaty in which each signatory agrees to immediately start to limit greenhouse gas emissions the right response to the threat of global warming? Yes or No, and Why?

Now, assuming there will be an international treaty:

2. Should the LDCs be included in the first round of greenhouse gas emission reduction targets" Yes or No, and Why?
3. Should LDCs be given preferential terms of trade for technologies that allow them to develop along a less carbon-rich path? Yes or No, and Why?
4. Should vulnerability to climate change, including a country’s ability to adapt to global warming, be used as a factor in allocating limits on emissions and/or terms of development assistance? Yes or No, and Why?