The Effectiveness of Carbon Emission Reductions - Essay Example

Carbon Emission Abstract This work evaluates the effectiveness of carbon emission reductions, with respect to Australia and Saudi Arabia. In the introduction part, some of the important issues relating to the present topic have been discussed. Thereafter, an analysis of the strategies relating to carbon emission reduction in Australia and Saudi Arabia has been made. In this regard, various international conventions and legislation pertaining to these countries have been perused. As the Kyoto Protocol is an important convention pertaining to environmental sustainability, it has been discussed in detail. In addition, strategies such as fuel tax enhancement, reducing transportation trips, recycling of plastic substances have been discussed. After this, the role of lawyers in maintaining the decisions of an entity in compliance with the provisions of the law has been examined. Finally, a detailed analysis of the strategies mentioned in the work have been taken up as the conclusion of this work. Introduction The entire world is at risk of having to face dangerous consequences, due to climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the chief instrument that regulates the emission of greenhouse gases and effects an international response to climate change. This Convention has established the framework and principles that bring about the allocation of responsibility to the individual nations with regard to the limiting of greenhouse gases emission (National Treasury Republic of South Africa, 2010). With its inception in the year 1992, the UNFCCC has continued to design international action on climate change. As of the year 2012, there were 194 nations that were signatories to this Convention. In the year 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was conducted. It established legally binding emission targets for the developed countries, with respect to the period from 2005 to 2012. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates have been classified by the Kyoto Protocol as developing countries, and are not subject to any formal obligations. Moreover, the Kyoto Protocol established the Clean Development Mechanism, with the express objective of promoting emissions projects in the developing nations. Many of these projects are ongoing in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and some more have been envisaged. The Long – Term Cooperative Action is an initiative under the UNFCCC, and countries have entered into negotiations under the Bali Action Plan to develop further measures under this initiative. The latter has been conjoined with the Kyoto Protocol, in order to impose further targets, after the year 2012, upon the developed countries (Emirates News Agency (WAM), 2012). Furthermore, during the Kyoto Protocol, Australia had demanded and was permitted to increase its greenhouse gases emissions by 8% over the 1990 amounts, by the year 2012. This target has not been reduced and it would be in the interest of all for Australia to ensure that its greenhouse gases emissions start to reduce (Pincock, 2007). Moreover, Australia should strive to generate new electricity in its baseload grid from renewable sources of energy. Carbon Emissions in Australia and Saudi Arabia Climate change activity in Australia is supported by the Australian Local Government Association and Municipal Association of Victoria. The surveys conducted by Lyon et al. and Rogers et al. have shown that there is an increasing involvement of local governments. The councils have realised the significance of these changes, and have attached the utmost importance to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In the words of Bulkeley, local governments have gradually become very important entities in the development and implementation of greenhouse policy (Thomas, 2010, p. 131). Thus, the Kyoto Protocol, which is an agreement between the member nations to diminish greenhouse gases emissions, categorises countries on the basis of their degree of industrialisation. It has also specified the limitations with regard to the emission of greenhouse gases in a specific nation. Most of the industrial nations have been classified as annex 1. These countries have to adhere to emission reduction commitments that conform to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. In addition, these nations have to acknowledge the extent to which they have harmed the environment and brought about climate change (National Treasury Republic of South Africa, 2010). However, the UNFCCC, as well as the Kyoto Protocol have not been finalised and are still in the negotiation stage. Australia has taken several measures that are aimed at protecting the reducing climate change, by protecting the environment. This is illustrated by the enactment of the National Greenhouse and Energy Act 2007, by this forward looking nation. This Act established a single national framework, with regard to assurance and reporting of greenhouse gases emissions and energy consumption, energy production and projects (National Treasury Republic of South Africa, 2010). As such, there is scant regard for the environment or the preservation of natural assets. Those who promote the sustainability of the environment, inevitably come to loggerheads with the entities that are financially focused. It has even been suggested that a high growth strategy cannot be environmentally sustainable (Brennan, et al., 2011, p. 54). Moreover, the chief regulatory programme of the Department of Environment and Heritage was the consolidation and incorporation of the extant legislation into the composite Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The frontier agencies, such as the Australian Greenhouse Office and the National Oceans Office were formed with the express aim of discharging functions that necessitated a cross portfolio reach (Hezri & Dovers, 2009, p. 304). Furthermore, the support of the United Nations Development Programme has been instrumental in encouraging public – private partnerships to support protection of the environment. Some of the measures adopted by the latter are providing support to clean energy technologies, low – emission technologies, and novel initiatives for improving energy efficiency (United Nations Development Programme, 2009). As such, there is considerable activity at the global level, to implement a novel global climate regime. This endeavour has been viewed favourably by Saudi Arabia, which has adopted a more active role to implement local policies aimed at engendering a lower carbon economy. With a view to the future, many entities in Saudi Arabia are advocating the development and adoption of clean energy technologies (United Nations Development Programme, 2009). This is an initiative that will reduce the dependence of its economy upon oil consumption. However, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Saudi Arabia is 118 million metric tons of carbon. As of the year 2008, this country was 14th among the nations with fossil fuel CO2 emissions. It is the largest producer and exporter of oil in the world, and the bulk of its fossil fuel CO2 emissions are due to the consumption of petroleum products (Boden, et al., 2011). A conservative estimate has declared that more than 67% of the greenhouse gases emissions of the future can be prevented by adopting energy efficiency measures. Consequently, any major development in this area is certain to provide substantial and significant outcomes at the international and national levels, with respect to the resolution of the issues resulting from climate change and energy security (United Nations Development Programme, 2009) Strategies for Reducing Carbon Emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from personal vehicles can be reduced by travelling less in vehicles, increasing fuel economy, and changing to fuels that have a lower life cycle carbon content (D. Federal Highway Administration (Fhwa), 2012, p. 29). As such, vehicle travel reduction is a strategy that aims to limit greenhouse gas emissions, by reducing the number of miles travelled in personal motor vehicles (D. Federal Highway Administration (Fhwa), 2012, p. 31). In addition, it is possible to restrict greenhouse gas emissions by increasing taxation on fuel. The success of this strategy is determined by the degree to which the tax on fuel is increased; and the response, over time, to the consequent increase in fuel price, such as increase in vehicle fuel economy and reduced travel (D. Federal Highway Administration (Fhwa), 2012, p. 37). Furthermore, some of the techniques that can be adopted for reducing fuel consumption are; reduction in the length of trips, elimination of trips, substitution of vehicle trips by means of alternative modes of transportation that consume a lesser amount of energy. The fuel economy of the motor vehicles plying on the road is improved, when the total number of vehicles on the road is reduced, as this reduces traffic congestion. The majority of these strategies are classified as Transportation Control Measures or Transportation Demand Management (D. Federal Highway Administration (Fhwa), 2012, p. 31). The Role of the Law in Reducing Carbon Emission A legal framework constitutes another source that can be employed for taking decisions. When such a framework is adopted, the implication is that organisations are incapable of taking ethical and moral decisions, with respect to their numerous stakeholders. In such situations, businesses would be legally required to comply with the ordered doctrines of environmental stewardship. This would ensure a code of conduct that is externally applied to the conduct of business. The outcome would be that business decisions would have to comply with the law (Brennan, et al., 2011, p. 53). Moreover, such compliance would be mandatory with penalties for infringements. As such, a lawyer can be an important stakeholder in interpreting environmental sustainability that is compatible with the law. Moreover, recycling is an important intervention that makes it possible to reduce the use of oil, carbon dioxide emissions and the quantity of waste material that has to be disposed. Some of the strategies for reducing waste are reducing the material by resorting to product reuse or down gauging, the use of alternative biodegradable material, and the recovery of energy as a source of fuel (Hopewell, et al., 2009, p. 2115). Furthermore, plastics have been subjected to recovery, since the 1970s, and the extent of their recycling varies across the globe, depending upon the type of plastic and the application of that variety of plastic. However, when it comes to packaging material, there has been a rapid increase in the reuse of such material, in several countries (Hopewell, et al., 2009, p. 2115). Analysis The biosphere has to support and bear actions, business, and products, if these are to be sustainable. Therefore, it is essential to protect the biosphere in the longer term. The chief objective of most of the firms is growth, which creates several problems for the sustainability of the environment. These firms are seized with achieving growth at any cost. With respect to the recycling of plastics, technology and systems have undergone unprecedented advances in the recent past. These beneficial developments have resulted in better methods of collecting, sorting and reprocessing of plastics that can be recycled. The day is not far off, when the combined efforts of the government, public and industry will make it possible to reuse plastic waste. This would be beneficial in reducing carbon emissions. Transportation Control Measures or Transportation Demand Management can be adopted for reducing the plying of motor vehicles on the road. Increase in fuel tax also helps in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Some of the long-term effects of changing the fuel tax price are described below. An increase in the fuel price results in an increase in the cost of travel per mile. This induces consumers to restrict their number of miles they travel by a motor vehicle. Furthermore, there is a linear correlation between the cost of fuel and the amount of fuel consumed. When the cost of fuel increases, the consumer finds an incentive to purchase a motor vehicle that is fuel efficient. This reduces the emission of greenhouse gases. All these strategies can be implemented successfully by an organisation, in order to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. Annotated Bibliography The informative article, ‘Environmental policy and local government in Australia’, by the eminent environmentalist I.G. Thomas, evaluates the extent of involvement of the Australian Government in promoting environmental sustainability. It chiefly focuses on evaluating the policies of the Australian Government in reducing carbon emissions. Linda Brennan et al., have published an article, ‘Implementation of environmental sustainability in business: Suggestions for improvement’, which provides information regarding the various options available for implementing environmental business strategies by the stakeholders. As such, this article enables us to realise the importance of the law in maintaining organisational strategies for promoting environmental sustainability. This article stresses that organisational decisions should be compliant with the environmental laws. The Emirates News Agency article, ‘Four GCC countries pledge to bring forward climate – smart economic diversification plans’, discloses the initiatives undertaken by the UNFCCC in designing international action aimed at containing climate change. It also describes the mechanisms adopted by the Kyoto Protocol with respect to the developing countries, with a special focus on the GCC countries. A perusal of this article provides information regarding the measures adopted by nations to mitigate environmental problems. The article, ‘Saudi Arabia: National Energy Efficiency Programme in Saudi Arabia’, provides information regarding the measures adopted by the UNDP, such as the clean energy technologies and energy efficiency policies. These initiatives facilitate public and private partnerships that attempt to resolve the climate change issues. In addition, this article describes the measures adopted by Saudi Arabia to develop clean energy technologies. References Boden, T. A., Marland, G. & Andres, R. J., 2011. Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions. [online] Available at: [Accessed 5 June 2013]. Brennan, L., Binney, W., McCrohan, J. & Lancaster, N., 2011. Implementation of environmental sustainability in business: Suggestions for improvement. Australasian Marketing Journal, 19(1), pp. 52 – 57. D. Federal Highway Administration (Fhwa), 2012. Transportation and Global Climate Change. BiblioBazaar. Emirates News Agency (WAM), 2012. Four GCC countries pledge to bring forward climate-smart economic diversification plans. [online] Available at: [Accessed 4 June 2013]. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act , 1999. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Hezri, A. A. & Dovers, S. R., 2009. Australia's Indicator-Based Sustainability Assessments and Public Policy. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 68(3), pp. 303 – 318. Hopewell, J., Dvorak, R. & Kosior, E., 2009. Plastics Recycling: Challenges and Opportunities. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, 364(1526), pp. 2115 – 2126. Kyoto Protocol, 1997. Kyoto, Japan: Secretary – General of the United Nations. National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act (Cth), 2007. Commonwealth of Australia. National Treasury Republic of South Africa, 2010. Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Carbon Tax Option. [online] Available at: [Accessed 4 June 2013]. Pincock, S., 2007. Australia set to ratify Kyoto Protocol. [online] Available at: [Accessed 4 June 2013]. Thomas, I. G., 2010. Environmental policy and local government in Australia. Local Environment, 15(2), pp. 121 – 136. United Nations Development Programme, 2009. Saudi Arabia: National Energy Efficiency Programme in Saudi Arabia. [online] Available at: [Accessed 5 June 2013]. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992. New York, US: Secretary – General of the United Nations. Read More