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Tuesday, June 2, 2020

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
UNFCCC
UNFCCC logo.svg
TypeMultilateral environmental agreement
ContextEnvironmentalism
Drafted9 May 1992
Signed4–14 June 1992
20 June 1992 – 19 June 1993
LocationRio de Janeiro, Brazil
New York, United States
Effective21 March 1994
ConditionRatification by 50 states
Signatories165
Parties197
DepositarySecretary-General of the United Nations
Languages
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at Wikisource

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty adopted on 9 May 1992 and opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. It then entered into force on 21 March 1994, after a sufficient number of countries had ratified it. The UNFCCC objective is to "stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system". The framework sets non-binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms. Instead, the framework outlines how specific international treaties (called "protocols" or "Agreements") may be negotiated to specify further action towards the objective of the UNFCCC.

Initially, an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) produced the text of the Framework Convention during its meeting in New York from 30 April to 9 May 1992. The UNFCCC was adopted on 9 May 1992 and opened for signature on 4 June 1992. The UNFCCC has 197 parties as of December 2015. The convention enjoys broad legitimacy, largely due to its nearly universal membership.

The parties to the convention have met annually from 1995 in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was concluded and established legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the period 2008–2012. The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference produced an agreement stating that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0 °C (3.6 °F) relative to the pre-industrial level. The Protocol was amended in 2012 to encompass the period 2013–2020 in the Doha Amendment, which as of December 2015 had not entered into force. In 2015 the Paris Agreement was adopted, governing emission reductions from 2020 on through commitments of countries in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), with a view of lowering the target to 1.5 °C. The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016.

One of the first tasks set by the UNFCCC was for signatory nations to establish national greenhouse gas inventories of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals, which were used to create the 1990 benchmark levels for accession of Annex I countries to the Kyoto Protocol and for the commitment of those countries to GHG reductions. Updated inventories must be submitted annually by Annex I countries.

"UNFCCC" is also the name of the United Nations Secretariat charged with supporting the operation of the Convention, with offices in Haus Carstanjen, and the UN Campus (known as Langer Eugen) in Bonn, Germany. From 2010 to 2016 the head of the secretariat was Christiana Figueres. In July 2016, Patricia Espinosa succeeded Figueres. The Secretariat, augmented through the parallel efforts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), aims to gain consensus through meetings and the discussion of various strategies.

Treaty

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was opened for signature at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro (known by its popular title, the Earth Summit). On 12 June 1992, 154 nations signed the UNFCCC, which upon ratification committed signatories' governments to reduce atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases with the goal of "preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with Earth's climate system". This commitment would require substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (see the later section, "Stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations"

Article 3(1) of the Convention states that Parties should act to protect the climate system on the basis of "common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities", and that developed country Parties should "take the lead" in addressing climate change. Under Article 4, all Parties make general commitments to address climate change through, for example, climate change mitigation and adapting to the eventual impacts of climate change. Article 4(7) states:[9]
The extent to which developing country Parties will effectively implement their commitments under the Convention will depend on the effective implementation by developed country Parties of their commitments under the Convention related to financial resources and transfer of technology and will take fully into account that economic and social development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities of the developing country Parties.
The Framework Convention specifies the aim of Annex I Parties stabilizing their greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide and other anthropogenic greenhouse gases not regulated under the Montreal Protocol) at 1990 levels, by the year 2000.

Kyoto Protocol

After the signing of the UNFCCC treaty, Parties to the UNFCCC have met at conferences ("Conferences of the Parties" – COPs) to discuss how to achieve the treaty's aims. At the 1st Conference of the Parties (COP-1), Parties decided that the aim of Annex I Parties stabilizing their emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000 was "not adequate", and further discussions at later conferences led to the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol sets emissions targets for developed countries which are binding under international law.

The Kyoto Protocol has had two commitment periods, the first of which lasted from 2008–2012. The second one runs from 2013-2020 and is based on the Doha Amendment to the Protocol, which has not entered into force. 

The US has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, while Canada denounced it in 2012. The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by all the other Annex I Parties.

All Annex I Parties, excluding the US, have participated in the 1st Kyoto commitment period. 37 Annex I countries and the EU have agreed to second-round Kyoto targets. These countries are Australia, all members of the European Union, Belarus, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have stated that they may withdraw from the Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets. Japan, New Zealand, and Russia have participated in Kyoto's first-round but have not taken on new targets in the second commitment period. Other developed countries without second-round targets are Canada (which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012) and the United States.

All countries that remained parties to the Kyoto Protocol are in full compliance with their first commitment period targets.

Paris Agreement

In 2011, parties adopted the "Durban Platform for Enhanced Action". As part of the Durban Platform, parties have agreed to "develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties". At Durban and Doha, parties noted "with grave concern" that current efforts to hold global warming to below 2 or 1.5 °C relative to the pre-industrial level appear inadequate.

In 2015, all (then) 196 parties to the convention came together for the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris 30 November - 12 December and adopted by consensus the Paris Agreement, aimed at limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius, and pursue efforts to limit the rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016.

Intended Nationally Determined Contributions

At the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties in Warsaw in 2013, the UNFCCC created a mechanism for Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to be submitted in the run up to the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties in Paris (COP21) in 2015. Countries were given freedom and flexibility to ensure these climate change mitigation and adaptation plans were nationally appropriate; this flexibility, especially regarding the types of actions to be undertook, allowed for developing countries to tailor their plans to their specific adaptation and mitigation needs, as well as towards other needs. 

A "family photo" organized by Greenpeace, at the entrance to the United Nations, with a banner reading "We Will Move Ahead"
 
In the aftermath of COP21, these INDCs became Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) when a country ratified the Paris Agreement, unless a new NDC was submitted to the UNFCCC at the same time. The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) in Marrakesh focused on these Nationally Determined Contributions and their implementation, after the Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016.

The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) created a guide for NDC implementation, for the use of decision makers in Less Developed Countries. In this guide, CDKN identified a series of common challenges countries face in NDC implementation, including how to:
  • build awareness of the need for, and benefits of, action among stakeholders, including key government ministries
  • mainstream and integrate climate change into national planning and development processes
  • strengthen the links between subnational and national government plans on climate change
  • build capacity to analyse, develop and implement climate policy
  • establish a mandate for coordinating actions around NDCs and driving their implementation
  • address resource constraints for developing and implementing climate change policy.

Other decisions

In addition to the Kyoto Protocol (and its amendment) and the Paris Agreement, parties to the Convention have agreed to further commitments during UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties. These include the Bali Action Plan (2007), the Copenhagen Accord (2009), the Cancún agreements (2010), and the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (2012).
Bali Action Plan
As part of the Bali Action Plan, adopted in 2007, all developed country Parties have agreed to "quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives, while ensuring the comparability of efforts among them, taking into account differences in their national circumstances." Developing country Parties agreed to "[nationally] appropriate mitigation actions [NAMAs] context of sustainable development, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, in a measurable, reportable and verifiable manner." 42 developed countries have submitted mitigation targets to the UNFCCC secretariat, as have 57 developing countries and the African Group (a group of countries within the UN).
Copenhagen Accord and Cancún agreements
As part of the 2009 Copenhagen negotiations, a number of countries produced the Copenhagen Accord. The Accord states that global warming should be limited to below 2.0 °C (3.6 °F). This may be strengthened in 2015 with a target to limit warming to below 1.5 °C. The Accord does not specify what the baseline is for these temperature targets (e.g., relative to pre-industrial or 1990 temperatures). According to the UNFCCC, these targets are relative to pre-industrial temperatures.

114 countries agreed to the Accord. The UNFCCC secretariat notes that "Some Parties ... stated in their communications to the secretariat specific understandings on the nature of the Accord and related matters, based on which they have agreed to [the Accord]." The Accord was not formally adopted by the Conference of the Parties. Instead, the COP "took note of the Copenhagen Accord."
As part of the Accord, 17 developed country Parties and the EU-27 have submitted mitigation targets, as have 45 developing country Parties. Some developing country Parties have noted the need for international support in their plans.




As part of the Cancún agreements, developed and developing countries have submitted mitigation plans to the UNFCCC. These plans are compiled with those made as part of the Bali Action Plan.

Developing countries
At Berlin, Cancún, and Durban, the development needs of developing country parties were reiterated. For example, the Durban Platform reaffirms that:
[...] social and economic development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities of developing country Parties, and that a low-emission development strategy is central to sustainable development, and that the share of global emissions originating in developing countries will grow to meet their social and development needs.

Interpreting article 2

The ultimate objective of the Framework Convention is to "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic [i.e., human-caused] interference with the climate system". As is stated in the article 2 of the Convention, this "should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner".
To stabilize atmospheric GHG concentrations, global anthropogenic GHG emissions would need to peak then decline. Lower stabilization levels would require emissions to peak and decline earlier compared to higher stabilization levels. The graph above shows projected changes in annual global GHG emissions (measured in CO2-equivalents) for various stabilization scenarios. The other two graphs show the associated changes in atmospheric GHG concentrations (in CO2-equivalents) and global mean temperature for these scenarios. Lower stabilization levels are associated with lower magnitudes of global warming compared to higher stabilization levels.

Refer to caption and image description
Projected global warming in 2100 for a range of emission scenarios

There is uncertainty over how GHG concentrations and global temperatures will change in response to anthropogenic emissions (see climate change feedback and climate sensitivity). The graph opposite shows global temperature changes in the year 2100 for a range of emission scenarios, including uncertainty estimates.
Dangerous anthropogenic interference
There are a range of views over what level of climate change is dangerous. Scientific analysis can provide information on the risks of climate change, but deciding which risks are dangerous requires value judgements.

The global warming that has already occurred poses a risk to some human and natural systems (e.g., coral reefs). Higher magnitudes of global warming will generally increase the risk of negative impacts. According to Field et al. (2014), climate change risks are "considerable" with 1 to 2 °C of global warming, relative to pre-industrial levels. 4 °C warming would lead to significantly increased risks, with potential impacts including widespread loss of biodiversity and reduced global and regional food security.

Climate change policies may lead to costs that are relevant to the article 2. For example, more stringent policies to control GHG emissions may reduce the risk of more severe climate change, but may also be more expensive to implement.
Projections
There is considerable uncertainty over future changes in anthropogenic GHG emissions, atmospheric GHG concentrations, and associated climate change. Without mitigation policies, increased energy demand and extensive use of fossil fuels could lead to global warming (in 2100) of 3.7 to 4.8 °C relative to pre-industrial levels (2.5 to 7.8 °C including climate uncertainty).

To have a likely chance of limiting global warming (in 2100) to below 2 °C, GHG concentrations would need to be limited to around 450 ppm CO2-eq. The current trajectory of global emissions does not appear to be consistent with limiting global warming to below 1.5 or 2 °C.

Precautionary principle

In decision making, the precautionary principle is considered when possibly dangerous, irreversible, or catastrophic events are identified, but scientific evaluation of the potential damage is not sufficiently certain (Toth et al., 2001, pp. 655–656). The precautionary principle implies an emphasis on the need to prevent such adverse effects.

Uncertainty is associated with each link of the causal chain of climate change. For example, future GHG emissions are uncertain, as are climate change damages. However, following the precautionary principle, uncertainty is not a reason for inaction, and this is acknowledged in Article 3.3 of the UNFCCC (Toth et al., 2001, p. 656).

Parties

Parties to the UNFCCC
  Annex I and II parties
  Annex I parties
  Non-annex parties
  Observer states

As of 2015, the UNFCCC has 197 parties including all United Nations member states, United Nations General Assembly observer State of Palestine, UN non-member states Niue and the Cook Islands and the supranational union European Union. The Holy See is not a member state, but is an observer.

Classification of Parties and their commitments

Parties to the UNFCCC are classified as:
  • Annex I: There are 43 Parties to the UNFCCC listed in Annex I of the Convention, including the European Union. These Parties are classified as industrialized (developed) countries and "economies in transition" (EITs). The 14 EITs are the former centrally-planned (Soviet) economies of Russia and Eastern Europe.
  • Annex II: Of the Parties listed in Annex I of the Convention, 24 are also listed in Annex II of the Convention, including the European Union. These Parties are made up of members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Annex II Parties are required to provide financial and technical support to the EITs and developing countries to assist them in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions (climate change mitigation) and manage the impacts of climate change (climate change adaptation).
  • Annex B: Parties listed in Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol are Annex I Parties with first- or second-round Kyoto greenhouse gas emissions targets. The first-round targets apply over the years 2008–2012. As part of the 2012 Doha climate change talks, an amendment to Annex B was agreed upon containing with a list of Annex I Parties who have second-round Kyoto targets, which apply from 2013–2020. The amendments have not entered into force.
  • Least-developed countries (LDCs): 47 Parties are LDCs, and are given special status under the treaty in view of their limited capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change.
  • Non-Annex I: Parties to the UNFCCC not listed in Annex I of the Convention are mostly low-income developing countries. Developing countries may volunteer to become Annex I countries when they are sufficiently developed.

List of parties

Annex I countries

There are 43 Annex I Parties including the European Union. These countries are classified as industrialized countries and economies in transition. Of these, 24 are Annex II Parties, including the European Union, and 14 are Economies in Transition.

Parties: Annexes, EU, OECD, EITs.

Conferences of the Parties

The United Nations Climate Change Conference are yearly conferences held in the framework of the UNFCCC. They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC Parties (Conferences of the Parties) (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change, and beginning in the mid-1990s, to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. From 2005 the Conferences have also served as the Meetings of Parties of the Kyoto Protocol (CMP). Also parties to the Convention that are not parties to the Protocol can participate in Protocol-related meetings as observers. The first conference (COP1) was held in 1995 in Berlin. The 3rd conference (COP3) was held in Kyoto and resulted in the Kyoto protocol, which was amended during the 2012 Doha Conference (COP18, CMP 8). The COP21 (CMP11) conference was held in Paris and resulted in adoption of the Paris Agreement. Negotiations for the Paris Agreement took place during COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco. The twenty-third COP ("COP23") was led by Fiji and took place in Bonn, Germany. COP24 was held in Katowice, Poland.

Subsidiary bodies

A subsidiary body is a committee that assists the Conference of the Parties. Subsidiary bodies include:
  • Permanents:
    • The Subsidiary Body of Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) is established by Article 9 of the Convention to provide the Conference of the Parties and, as appropriate, its other subsidiary bodies with timely information and advice on scientific and technological matters relating to the Convention. It serves as a link between information and assessments provided by expert sources (such as the IPCC) and the COP, which focuses on setting policy.
    • The Subsidiary Body of Implementation (SBI) is established by Article 10 of the Convention to assist the Conference of the Parties in the assessment and review of the effective implementation of the Convention. It makes recommendations on policy and implementation issues to the COP and, if requested, to other bodies.
  • Temporary:

Secretariat

Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, UN Campus, Bonn, seat of the secretariat
 
artwork: outdoor thermometer, symbolizing measurement of global temperature

The work under the UNFCCC is facilitated by a secretariat in Bonn, Germany. The secretariat is established under Article 8 of the Convention. It is headed by the Executive Secretary. The current Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa, was appointed on 18 May 2016 by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and took office on 18 July 2016. She succeeded Christiana Figueres who held the office since 2010. Former Executive Secretaries have been Yvo de Boer (2006-2010), Joke Waller-Hunter (2002-2005) and Michael Zammit Cutajar (1995-2002).

Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE)

Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) is a term adopted by the UNFCCC in 2015 to have a better name for this topic than "Article 6". It refers to Article 6 of the Convention's original text (1992), focusing on six priority areas: education, training, public awareness, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation on these issues. The implementation of all six areas has been identified as the pivotal factor for everyone to understand and participate in solving the complex challenges presented by climate change. ACE calls on governments to develop and implement educational and public awareness programmes, train scientific, technical and managerial personnel, foster access to information, and promote public participation in addressing climate change and its effects. It also urges countries to cooperate in this process, by exchanging good practices and lessons learned, and strengthening national institutions. This wide scope of activities is guided by specific objectives that, together, are seen as crucial for effectively implementing climate adaptation and mitigation actions, and for achieving the ultimate objective of the UNFCCC.

Available information about the commitments

In 2014, The UN with Peru and France created the Global Climate Action Portal NAZCA for writing and checking all the climate commitments

Commentaries and analysis

Criticisms of the UNFCCC process

The overall umbrella and processes of the UNFCCC and the adopted Kyoto Protocol have been criticized by some as not having achieved their stated goals of reducing the emission of carbon dioxide (the primary culprit blamed for rising global temperatures of the 21st century). At a speech given at his alma mater, Todd Stern — the US Climate Change envoy — has expressed the challenges with the UNFCCC process as follows: "Climate change is not a conventional environmental issue ... It implicates virtually every aspect of a state's economy, so it makes countries nervous about growth and development. This is an economic issue every bit as it is an environmental one." He went on to explain that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is a multilateral body concerned with climate change and can be an inefficient system for enacting international policy. Because the framework system includes over 190 countries and because negotiations are governed by consensus, small groups of countries can often block progress.

The failure to achieve meaningful progress and reach effective CO2-reducing policy treaties among the parties over the past eighteen years has driven some countries like the United States to hold back from ratifying the UNFCCC's most important agreement — the Kyoto Protocol — in large part because the treaty did not cover developing countries which now include the largest CO2 emitters. However, this failed to take into account both the historical responsibility for climate change since industrialisation, which is a contentious issue in the talks, and also responsibility for emissions from consumption and importation of goods. It has also led Canada to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol in 2011 out of a wish not to make its citizens pay penalties that would result in wealth transfers out of Canada. Both the US and Canada are looking at internal Voluntary Emissions Reduction schemes to curb carbon dioxide emissions outside the Kyoto Protocol.

The perceived lack of progress has also led some countries to seek and focus on alternative high-value activities like the creation of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants which seeks to regulate short-lived pollutants such as methane, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which together are believed to account for up to 1/3 of current global warming but whose regulation is not as fraught with wide economic impacts and opposition.

In 2010, Japan stated that it will not sign up to a second Kyoto term, because it would impose restrictions on it not faced by its main economic competitors, China, India and Indonesia. A similar indication was given by the Prime Minister of New Zealand in November 2012. At the 2012 conference, last-minute objections at the conference by Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan were ignored by the governing officials, and they have indicated that they will likely withdraw or not ratify the treaty. These defections place additional pressures on the UNFCCC process that is seen by some as cumbersome and expensive: in the UK alone, the climate change department has taken over 3,000 flights in two years at a cost of over £1,300,000 (British pounds sterling).

Before the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, National Geographic Magazine added to the criticism, writing: "Since 1992, when the world's nations agreed at Rio de Janeiro to avoid 'dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system,' they've met 20 times without moving the needle on carbon emissions. In that interval we've added almost as much carbon to the atmosphere as we did in the previous century."

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is the setting of a policy target based on some frame of reference. An example of benchmarking is the UNFCCC's original target of Annex I Parties limiting their greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. Goldemberg et al. (1996) commented on the economic implications of this target. Although the target applies equally to all Annex I Parties, the economic costs of meeting the target would likely vary between Parties. For example, countries with initially high levels of energy efficiency might find it more costly to meet the target than countries with lower levels of energy efficiency. From this perspective, the UNFCCC target could be viewed as inequitable, i.e., unfair.

Benchmarking has also been discussed in relation to the first-round emissions targets specified in the Kyoto Protocol.

International trade

Academics and environmentalists criticise the article 3(5) of the convention, which states that any climate measures that would restrict international trade should be avoided.

2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

United Nations Climate Change Conference
COP16/CMP6
COP16 Logo.jpg
Date(s)29 November 2010–
10 December 2010
Location(s)Cancún, Mexico
Previous event2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference
Next event2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference
ParticipantsUNFCCC member countries
Websitecc2010.mx
unfccc.int/6266.php

The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Cancún, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010. The conference is officially referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 6th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (CMP 6) to the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, the two permanent subsidiary bodies of the UNFCCC — the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) — held their 33rd sessions. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference extended the mandates of the two temporary subsidiary bodies, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA), and they met as well.

Background

Following the non-binding Copenhagen Accord put forth in 2009, international expectations for the COP16 conference were reduced. Four preparatory rounds of negotiations (i.e. sessions of the AWG-KP and the AWG-LCA) were held during 2010. The first three of these were in Bonn, Germany, from 9 to 11 April, 1 to 11 June (in conjunction with the 32nd sessions of SBSTA and SBI), and 2 to 6 August. The Bonn talks were reported as ending in failure. The fourth round of talks in Tianjin, China, made minimal progress and was marked by a clash between the US and China. The Ambo declaration was adopted at the Tarawa Climate Change Conference on 10 November 2010 by Australia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Fiji, Japan, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Solomon Islands and Tonga. It calls for more and immediate action, and was slated to be presented at COP 16.

Expectations

Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon addresses the hall

In August 2010, Ban Ki-moon stated that he doubted whether member states would reach a "globally agreed, comprehensive deal," suggesting instead that incremental steps might come.

After the Tianjin talks in October Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said, "This week has got us closer to a structured set of decisions that can be agreed in Cancun ... This is the greatest societal and economic transformation that the world has ever seen."
 
Other commentators spoke of a positive spirit of negotiation and of paving the way for agreement in Cancun.

Outcome

The outcome of the summit was an agreement adopted by the states' parties that called for a large "Green Climate Fund", and a "Climate Technology Centre" and network. It looked forward to a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol.

The agreement recognizes that climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet, which needs to be urgently addressed by all parties. It affirms that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and that all parties must share a vision for long-term cooperative action in order to achieve the objective of the Convention, including the achievement of a global goal. It recognizes that warming of the climate system is scientifically verified and that most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid twentieth century are very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations, as assessed by the IPCC in its Fourth Assessment Report.

The agreement further recognizes that deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions are required, with a view to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions so as to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, and that parties should take urgent action to meet this long-term goal, consistent with science and on the basis of equity; and recognizes the need to consider, in the context of the first review, strengthening in relation to a global average temperature rise of 1.5 °C. The agreement also notes that addressing climate change requires a paradigm shift towards building a low-carbon society.

The agreement calls on rich countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as pledged in the Copenhagen Accord, and for developing countries to plan to reduce their emissions. 

A 40-nation "transition committee" was to meet by the end of March 2011, but it was deferred until late April amid squabbles among Latin American countries and the Asia bloc about who should be on the committee. The committee is due to present a complete plan for the fund by the next climate conference in South Africa starting in November, 2011.

Adaptation

The conference established the Cancun Adaptation Framework and the Adaptation Committee, and it invited Parties to strengthen and, where necessary, establish regional adaptation centres and networks.

Mitigation

Developed countries should submit annual greenhouse gas inventories and inventory reports and biennial reports on their progress. It agrees that developing country parties will take nationally appropriate mitigation actions in the context of sustainable development, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, aimed at achieving a deviation in emissions relative to "business as usual" emissions in 2020. It decides to set up a registry to record Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions seeking international support and to facilitate matching of finance, technology and capacity-building support to these actions. Once support has been provided they are called internationally supported mitigation actions (ISMAs), that will be subject to international measurement, reporting and verification.

Finance

It takes note of the collective commitment by developed countries to provide new and additional resources, including forestry and investments through international institutions, approaching US$30 billion for the period 2010–-2012 and recognizes that developed country parties commit, in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, to a goal of mobilizing jointly US$100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries.

It decides to establish a Green Climate Fund, to be designated as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention. Also decides that the Fund shall be governed by a board of 24 members; the trustee shall administer the assets of the Green Climate Fund only for the purpose of, and in accordance with, the relevant decisions of the Green Climate Fund Board.

The conference establishes a Standing Committee under the Conference of the Parties to assist the Conference of the Parties in exercising its functions with respect to the financial mechanism

Technology

In technology development and transfer, decides to establish a Technology Mechanism, which will consist of a Technology Executive Committee and a Climate Technology Centre and Network. The Climate Technology Centre and Network and the Technology Executive Committee shall relate so as to promote coherence and synergy. The Technology Executive Committee shall further implement the framework of the Convention (technology transfer framework) and Committee shall comprise 20 expert members. The Climate Technology Centre shall facilitate a Network of national, regional, sectoral and international technology networks, organizations and initiatives

Capacity-building

It reaffirms that capacity-building is essential to enable developing country parties to participate fully in addressing the climate change challenges, and to implement effectively their commitments under the Convention.

Kyoto Protocol

The Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol at its fifteenth session:
  • Recognizes that the contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, to achieving the lowest levels would require Annex I Parties as a group to reduce emissions in a range of 25-40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 (close to the 51% reduction in a low-carbon society).
  • Urges Annex I Parties to raise the level of ambition of the emission reductions to be achieved.
  • In the second commitment period, the base year shall be 1990.
  • The global warming potentials shall be those provided by the IPCC.

Reactions

The agreement includes a "Green Climate Fund," proposed to be worth $100 billion a year by 2020, to assist poorer countries in financing emission reductions and adaptation. There was no agreement on how to extend the Kyoto Protocol, or how the $100 billion a year for the Green Climate Fund will be raised, or whether developing countries should have binding emissions reductions or whether rich countries would have to reduce emissions first. Reuters Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle reported that to most delegates, though they approved it, the agreement "fell woefully short of action needed."

The New York Times described the agreement as being both a "major step forward" given that international negotiations had stumbled in recent years, and as being "fairly modest" as it did not require the changes that scientists say are needed to avoid dangerous climate change. John Vidal, writing in The Guardian, criticised the Cancun agreements for not providing leadership, for not specifying how the proposed climate fund will be financed, and for not stating that countries had to "peak" their emissions within 10 years and then rapidly reduce them for there to be any chance to avert warming. Also criticised were the deferral of decisions on the legal form of and level of emission reductions required. Professor Kevin Anderson described the Cancun accord as "astrology" and stated that the science was suggesting a 4 °C rise in global mean temperature, possibly as early as the 2060s.

Energy in Indonesia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Ignasius Jonan, Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources

Energy in Indonesia describes energy and electricity production, consumption, import and export in Indonesia. In 2009 Indonesia produced oil, coal, natural gas and palm oil, utilised also as energy raw material in 2010. Renewable energy potential in Indonesia is high: solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy. Tropical rain forests and peat land areas have extensive coal storage. Indonesia is a geologically unstable country. According to IEA Indonesia was the 10th top natural gas producer in 2009: 76 billion cubics (bcm) 2.5% of world production of which 36 bcm was exported. In 2009 Indonesia was the 5th top coal producer: 263 million tonnes hard coal and 38 million tonnes brown. The majority of this, 230 Mt of hard coal, was exported. Indonesia has significant energy resources, starting with oil – it has 22 billion barrels of conventional oil and gas reserves, of which about 4 billion are recoverable. That's the equivalent of about 10 years of oil production and 50 years of gas. It has about 8 billion barrels of oil-equivalent of coal-based methane (CBM) resources. It has 28 billion tonnes of recoverable coal and has 28 gigawatts (GW) of geothermal potential.

Overview

Energy in Indonesia

Population
(million)
Primary energy
(TWh)
Production
(TWh)
Export
(TWh)
Electricity
(TWh)
CO2-emission
(Mt)
2004 217.6 2,024 3,001 973 104 336
2007 225.6 2,217 3,851 1,623 127 377
2008 228.3 2,311 4,035 1,714 134 385
2009 230.0 2,349 4,092 1,787 140 376
2010 239.9 2,417 4,436 2,007 154 411
2012 242.3 2,431 4,589 2,149 166 426
2012R 246.9 2,484 5,120 2,631 181 435
2013 250.0 2,485 5,350 2,858 198 425
Change 2004-10 10.2% 19.4% 48% 106% 48% 22%
Mtoe = 11.63 TWh 2012R = CO2 calculation criteria changed, numbers updated
According to IEA energy production increased 34% and export 76% from 2004 to 2008 in Indonesia.

Energy by sources

Fossil Fuel Energy Sources

Coal

Indonesia is well-supplied with medium and low-quality thermal coal. At current rates of production, Indonesia's coal reserves are expected to last for over 80 years. In 2009 Indonesia was the world's second top coal exporter sending coal to, for example, China, India, Japan and Italy. Kalimantan (Borneo) and South Sumatra are the centres of Indonesia’s coal mining. In recent years, production in Indonesia has been rising rapidly, from just over 200 mill tons in 2007 to over 400 mill tons in 2013. Recently (December 2013), the chair of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association said the production in 2014 may reach 450 mill tons.

The Indonesian coal industry is rather fragmented. Output is supplied by a few large producers and a large number of small firms. Large firms in the industry include the following:
  • PT Bumi Resources (the controlling shareholder of large coal firms PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Arutmin Indonesia)
  • PT Adaro Energy
  • PT Kideco Jaya Agung
  • PT Indo Tambangraya Megah
  • PT Berau Coal
  • PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (state-owned)
Coal production poses risks for deforestation in Kalimantan. According to one Greenpeace report, a coal plant in Indonesia has decreased the fishing catches and increased the respiratory-related diseases,

Oil

Indonesia used to be a net oil exporter.

Oil is a major sector in the Indonesian economy. During the 1980s, Indonesia was a significant oil-exporting country. Since 2000, domestic consumption has continued to rise while production has been falling, so in recent years Indonesia has begun importing increasing amounts of oil. Within Indonesia, there are considerable amounts of oil in Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and West Papua Province. There are said to be around 60 basins across the country, only 22 of which have been explored and exploited. Main oil fields in Indonesia include the following:
  • Minas. The Minas field, in Riau in Sumatra, operated by the US-based firm Chevron Pacific Indonesia, is the largest oil block in Indonesia. Output from the field is around 20-25% of current annual oil production in Indonesia.
  • Duri. The Duri field, in Bengkalis Regency in Riau in Sumatra, is operated by the US-based firm Chevron Pacific Indonesia.
  • Rokan. The Rokan field, in Riau in Sumatra, operated by Chevron Pacific Indonesia, is a recently developed large field in the Rokan Hilir Regency.
  • Cepu. The Cepu field, operated by Mobil Cepu Ltd which is a subsidiary of US-based Exxon Mobil, is on the border of Central and East Java near the town of Tuban. The field was discovered in March 2001 and is estimated to have proven reserves of 600 million barrels of oil and 1.7 trillion cu feet of gas. Development of the field has been subject to on-going discussions between the operators and the Indonesian government. Output is forecast to rise from around 20,000 bpd in early 2012 to around 165,000 bpd in late 2014.

Gas

Indonesia's gas balance

There is growing recognition in Indonesia that the gas sector has considerable development potential. In principle, the Indonesian government is supporting moves to give increasing priority to investment in natural gas. In practice, private sector investors, especially foreign investors, have been reluctant to invest because many of the problems that are holding back investment in the oil sector also affect investment in gas. At present (mid 2013), main potential gas fields in Indonesia are believed to include the following:
  • Mahakam. The Mahakam block in East Kalimantan, under the management of Total E&P Indonesie with participation from the Japanese oil and gas firm Inpex, provides around 30% of Indonesia's natural gas output. In mid 2013 the field was reported to be producing around 1.7 billion cu ft (48 million m3) per day of gas as well as 67,000 barrels (10,700 m3) of condensate. At the time discussions were underway about the details of the future management of the block involving a proposal that Pertamina take over all or part of the management of the block. In October 2013 it was reported that Total E&P Indonesie had announced that it would stop exploration for new projects at the field. In 2015 the Energy and Resources Minister issued a regulation stipulating that the management of the block would be transferred from Total E&P Indonesie and Inpex, which had managed the field for over 50 years since 1966, to Pertamina. In late 2017, it was announced that Pertamina Hulu Indonesia, a subsidiary of Pertamina, would take over management of the block on 1 January 2018.
  • Tangguh. The Tangguh field in Bintuni Bay in West Papua Province operated by BP (British Petroleum) is estimated to have proven gas reserves of 4.4 trillion cu ft (120 billion m3). It is hoped that annual output of the field in the near future might reach 7.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas.
  • Arun. The Arun field in Aceh has been operated by ExxonMobil since the 1970s. The reserves at the field are now largely depleted so production is now slowly being phased out. At the peak, the Arun field produced around 3.4 million cu ft (96 thousand m3) of gas per day (1994) and about 130,000 of condensate per day (1989). ExxonMobil affiliates also operate the nearby South Lhoksukon A and D fields as well as the North Sumatra offshore gas field. In September 2015, ExxonMobil Indonesia sold its assets in Aceh to Pertamina. The sale included the divestment by ExxonMobil of its assets (100%) in the North Sumatra Offshore block, its interests (100%) in B block, and its stake (30%) in the PT Arun Natural Gas Liquefaction (NGL) plant. Following the completion of the deal, Pertamina will have an 85% stake in the Arun NGL plant.
  • East Natuna. The East Natuna gas field (formerly known as Natuna D-Alpha) in the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea is believed to be one of the biggest gas reserves in Southeast Asia. It is estimated to have proven reserves of 46 trillion cu ft (1.3 trillion m3) of gas. The aim is to begin expanded production in 2020 with production rising to 4,000 million cu ft/d (110 million m3/d) sustained for perhaps 20 years.
  • Banyu Urip. The Banyu Urip field, a major field for Indonesia, is in the Cepu block in Bojonegoro Regency in East Java. Interests in the block are held by Pertamina (45%) through its subsidiary PT Pertamina EP Cepu and ExxonMobil Cepu Limited (45%) which is a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corporation. ExxonMobil is the operator of the block.
  • Masela. The Masela field, currently (early 2016) under consideration for development by the Indonesian Government, is situated to the east of Timor Island, roughly halfway between Timor and Darwin in Australia. The main investors in the field are currently (early 2016) Inpex and Shell who hold stakes of 65% and 35% respectively. The field, if developed, is likely to become the biggest deepwater gas project in Indonesia, involving an estimated investment of between $14–19 billion. Over 10 trillion cu ft (280 billion m3) of gas are said to exist in the block. However, development of the field is being delayed over uncertainty as to whether the field might be operated through an offshore or onshore processing facility. In March 2016, after a row between his ministers, President Jokowi decreed that the processing facility should be onshore. This change of plans will involve the investors in greatly increased costs and will delay the start of the project. It was proposed that they submit revised Plans of Development (POD) to the Indonesian Government.

Shale

There is potential for tight oil and shale gas in northern Sumatra and eastern Kalimantan. There are estimated to be 46 trillion cu ft (1.3 trillion m3) of shale gas and 7.9 billion barrels (1.26×109 m3) of shale oil which could be recovered with existing technologies. Pertamina has taken the lead in using hydraulic fracturing to explore for shale gas in northern Sumatra. Chevron Pacific Indonesia and NuEnergy Gas are also pioneers in using fracking in existing oil fields and in new exploration. Environmental concerns and a government-imposed cap on oil prices present barriers to full development of the substantial shale deposits in the country. Sulawesi, Seram, Buru, Irian Jaya in eastern Indonesia have shales that were deposited in marine environments which may be more brittle and thus more suitable for fracking than the source rocks in western Indonesia which have higher clay content.

Coal Bed Methane

With 453 trillion cu ft (12.8 trillion m3) of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) reserve mainly in Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia has potential to redraft its energy charts as United States with its Shale Gas. With low enthusiasm to develop CBM project, partly in relation to environmental concern regarding emissions of greenhouse gases and contamination of water in the extraction process, the government targeted 8.9 million cu ft (250 thousand m3) per day at standard pressure for 2015.[27]

Renewable energy sources

The contribution of renewable sources of energy to energy supply as a percentage of total primary energy (potential) supply in 2010 was 34.5%. Renewable generation sources supplied 5% to 6% of Indonesia's electricity in 2015. Indonesia has set a target of 23% of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2025.  By November 2018, Indonesia had announced it was unlikely to meet the 23% renewable energy by 2025 target set in the Paris Accords.

In February 2020, it was announced that the People's Consultative Assembly is preparing its first renewable energy bill.

Biomass

An estimated 55% of Indonesia's population, i.e. 128 million people primarily rely upon traditional biomass (mainly wood) for cooking. Reliance on this source of energy has the disadvantage that poor people in rural areas have little alternative but to collect timber from forests, and often cut down trees, to collect wood for cooking.

A pilot project of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) Power Generator with capacity of 1 Megawatt has been inaugurated in September 2014. Indonesia has many Palm Oil Mills.

Hydroelectricity

Indonesia has set a target of 2 GW installed capacity in hydroelectricity, including 0.43 GW micro hydro, by 2025.

Geothermal energy

Indonesia uses some geothermal energy. According to the Renewable Energy Policy Network's Renewables 2013 Global Status Report, Indonesia has the third largest installed generating capacity in the world. With 1.3 GW installed capacity, Indonesia trails only the United States (3.4 GW) and the Philippines (1.9 GW). However it leads Mexico (1.0 GW), Italy (0.9 GW), New Zealand (0.8 GW), Iceland (0.7 GW), and Japan (0.5 GW). Current official policy is to encourage the increasing use of geothermal energy for electricity production. Geothermal sites in Indonesia include the Wayang Windu Geothermal Power Station and the Kamojang plant, both in West Java.

The development of the sector has been proceeding rather more slowly than hoped. Expansion appears to be held up by a range of technical, economic, and policy issues which have attracted considerable comment in Indonesia. However, it has proved difficult to formulate policies to respond to the problems.

Wind power

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. For example, a small plant was established at Pandanmino, a small village on the south coast of Java in Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta Province, in 2011. However it was established as experimental plant and it is not clear whether funding for long-term maintenance will be available.

Indonesia’s first wind farm opened in 2018, the 75MW Sidrap Wind Farm in Sindereng Rappang regency, South Sulawesi.

Solar power

The Indonesian solar PV sector is relatively underdeveloped but has significant potential. However, for a range of reasons, it is unlikely that it will be practical to expand electricity output from solar sources in Indonesia quickly. A range of technical, financial, economic and social constraints are likely to be constraints on the rapid installation of solar power in Indonesia, including in rural areas.




Output from the solar photovoltaic sector is almost exclusively set aside for decentralised rural electrification. In 2011 the sector produced a relatively small amount of electricity—only 22 MWh.

Use of energy

Transport sector

Much energy in Indonesia is used for domestic transportation. The dominance of private vehicles - mostly cars and motorbikes - in Indonesia has led to an enormous demand for fuel. Energy consumption in the transport sector is growing by about 4.5% every year. There is therefore an urgent need for policy reform and infrastructure investment to enhance the energy efficiency of transport, particularly in urban areas.

There are large opportunities to reduce both the energy consumption from the transport sector, for example through the adoption of higher energy efficiency standards for private cars/motorbikes and expanding mass transit networks. Many of these measures would be more cost-effective than the current transport systems. There is also scope to reduce the carbon intensity of transport energy, particularly through replacing diesel with biodiesel or through electrification. Both would require comprehensive supply chain analysis to ensure that the biofuels and power plants are not having wider environmental impacts such as deforestation or air pollution.

Electricity sector

Access to electricity
 
Over 50% of households in 2011 had an electricity connection. An estimated 63 million people in 2011 did not have direct access to electricity.

Organisations
 
The electricity sector, dominated by the state-owned electricity utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara, is another major consumer of primary energy.

Major energy companies in Indonesia

The logo of Pertamina
Indonesian firms
Foreign firms
  • US-based firm PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia is the largest producer of crude oil in Indonesia; Chevron produces (2014) around 40% of the crude oil in Indonesia
  • Total E&P Indonesie which operates the East Mahakam field in Kalimantan and other fields
  • ExxonMobil is one of the main foreign operators in Indonesia
  • Statoil, a Norwegian multinational firm, which has been operating in Indonesia since 2007, especially in Eastern Indonesia
  • BP which is a major LNG operator in the Tangguh gas field in West Papua.
  • ConocoPhilips which currently operates four production-sharing contracts including at Natuna and in Sumatra.
  • Inpex, a Japanese firm established in 1966 as North Sumatra Offshore Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd.

Global warming

The CO2 emissions of Indonesia in total were over Italy in 2009. However, in all greenhouse gas emissions including construction and deforestation in 2005 Indonesia was top-4 after China, US and Brazil.

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