Factory smokestacks and automobile exhaust pipes spewed more carbon in 2006 than any other year in history. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says these emissions cause the greenhouse effect and predicts that the average global temperature will increase from 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius by 2100, which would lead to rising sea levels as ice caps melt. As global warming receives increasing media coverage and becomes part of mainstream politics for many countries, delegates in the General Assembly’s Second Committee could not reach consensus on a resolution that reiterates support for United Nations efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. On a more positive note, important steps were taken at a meeting in Nairobi to ensure that African countries can benefit from efforts to introduce green technologies and that developing countries around the world can adapt to climate change.

Born out of the 1992 “Earth Summit” held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took effect in 1994. Some 189 countries have ratified this treaty, which aims to prevent global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, placing most of the burden on industrialized countries since they are the main source of most greenhouse gases. The UNFCCC oversees the Kyoto Protocol, which sets specific targets for industrialized countries that add up to a 5 per cent reduction in 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Established in 1997, the Protocol went into effect in December 2005, following the Russian Federation’s ratification, for the commitment period 2008-2012.

The resolution on the "protection of global climate for present and future generations of mankind" was intended to reflect international concern for global warming, said Sufaya Ebrahim Zia of the Permanent Mission of South Africa to the United Nations, whose delegation presented the resolution to the General Assembly on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries. The text mentions various efforts undertaken by UN bodies to address climate change, such as the Kyoto Protocol and its "flexible mechanisms", which include the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Under the CDM, an industrialized country can gain carbon credits which can go toward reducing its own obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, by investing in a project in a developing country that will lead to lower carbon emissions. For example, the City Council of Cape Town in South Africa installed solar water heaters, efficient lamps and insulated ceilings in 2,300 existing low-cost housing units. By increasing energy-efficiency, the project reduces carbon emissions and improves the health of residents because insulated roofs reduce the amount of dust in the house as well as indoor air-quality by reducing the need for paraffin (kerosene) stoves. The project generates jobs for local workers, who install and maintain the lamps, ceilings and heaters, and the solar water heaters are produced by local manufacturers. The first 10,000 carbon credits generated by the project were sold to the United Kingdom Government in 2005 at the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, United Kingdom, for 15 Euros (about $22.50) each.

The Kuyasa SouthSouthNorth Low Cost Housing Gold Standard CDM Project. Photo/SouthSouthNorth

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, said there has been "explosive growth" in the CDM, with over 1,000 projects in the approval pipeline, which will lead to an estimated $75 billion investment in developing countries. While delegates discussed global warming in New York, CDM projects got a boost at a meeting in Nairobi. Under the Nairobi Framework, an initiative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented at the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC meeting in November 2006, African countries would get assistance to develop CDM projects. Mr. de Boer called that meeting a "big success", because it helped build developing countries' confidence in UN efforts to mitigate climate change. He said that another success of the Nairobi meeting was the "adaptation fund", which will provide monies for projects, such as building walls to protect coastal cities from rising seas and restoring wetlands to protect coastal areas from storms as countries cope with the effects of climate change. The fund is particularly interesting, he said, because it does not rely on donors, rather it finances itself through a levy on CDM projects.

Despite these positive developments in the fight against climate change, negotiations in the Second Committee for the resolution broke down as countries could not agree on common language. The European Union, represented by Finland, called for a vote and then abstained from that vote. For Ms. Zia of South Africa, who represented the Group of 77 developing countries and China, the vote was a disappointment. "Right up to the last minute, we tried very hard to get a consensus document", she said.

In a statement sent to the UN Chronicle from Finland's Permanent Mission to the UN, the European Union said that the resolution was "not an adequate response by the General Assembly to the serious threat posed by climate change, nor does it reflect the actions that we must all take to tackle it". The resolution was "a step backwards after the achievements made at the Nairobi conference organized by the UNFCCC in November", the European Union said, adding that it wanted to emphasize the importance of the forward-looking process to tackle climate change, but that was not possible in the context of this resolution of the General Assembly. Nonetheless, the Union underlined the urgency of the climate change issue and the central role of the United Nations, saying, "climate change threatens peace, development and economic prosperity, not in the future, but now. The UN must be at the centre of our efforts to tackle climate change".

For Mr. de Boer, the lack of consensus in the Committee reflects "increasing nervousness in the international community on what the next step in climate change is going to be". He pointed out that negotiations for the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012 must begin soon, considering that negotiations and ratifications can take several years. The key to a successful Kyoto Protocol is assuring industrialized countries that they can meet their obligations in a cost-effective way and ensuring that a new framework would support poverty eradication and help "green the economies" of developing countries, he said. For this, Mr. de Boer called on leadership from Heads of State, in addition to a continuing effort by the United Nations. "I hope the new Secretary-General makes global warming a top priority", he said.