Precautionary climate policy and the somewhat flawed protocol: linking sinks to biofuel and the CDM to the convention

Abstract

Flaws in the Kyoto Protocol are obscured by claims of unfairness, with Annex 1 Parties committed to taking the lead—and precautionary measures required—by the Rio Convention, ratified by the US Senate, nem con. Such measures should be cost-effective, invalidating use of KP supplementarity to enforce a narrow concept of domestic action that neglects low cost preparedness to respond quickly to bad scientific news, e.g. regarding thresholds for runaway climate change processes. Carbon capture and sequestration, along with bio-energy, enable a low, possibly negative, emmissions carbon fuel system, avoiding the costly premature obsolescence of existing infrastructure. Linking low-cost sinks, particularly energy plantations, to biofuel utilisation can drive uptake of renewable liquid fuel technology, cutting net emissions fast, reducing dependence on mid-East oil, stimulating development in many land rich but otherwise impoverished economies, and hopefully providing a basis, through broadening of the CDM, for convergence after 2012 between Kyoto Parties and non-Kyoto Annex 1 Parties.