Group 3

Lamoste, Jeneses Grace L.

Llesol, Ace Bryan-Niño T.
Magaway, Rolan Sean U.
Mananquil, Hannah C.

Question 3: Carbon Emissions

Global Warming and Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Global warming is the rising of the earth's overall temperature due to greenhouse gas
emissions, generally caused by humans.
Greenhouse gases are composed of nitrous oxide, methane, fluorinated gases, and
carbon dioxide. According to the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, the
total greenhouse gas emitted is about 76% carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide started having a
record-breaking level in 1950, the start of the industrial revolution, and this situation has never
improved since. Transportation, burning of fossil fuels, farming, and manufacturing are said to be
the main culprits. Consequently, the greenhouse gases (GHG) present in the atmosphere trap
some of the sun's heat, causing the greenhouse effect. As a result, the earth experiences
different phenomena such as rising sea levels, drought, water shortages, and extreme weather
conditions.
As stated in the World Population Review, the top 5 largest emitters of carbon dioxide are
China, United States, India, Russia, and Japan. The highly industrialized countries cause most of
the carbon footprint.

The Kyoto Protocol and Carbon Trading

The Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty, was formulated in 1997 and took effect in
2005. Its purpose is to limit and reduce GHG emissions among the well-developed countries,
known as the Annex I countries. As of today, it has 192 parties involved.
The Kyoto Protocol has implemented three main market mechanisms. First is the
international trading of carbon units among the participating Annex I countries in the carbon
market. The countries with carbon emissions lower than their allocation can sell their carbon units
to Annex I countries that are over their carbon emission quota. The second is the Joint
Implementation. Annex I countries may invest in projects that will reduce the GHG of other Annex
I countries. The credits generated by those projects are accounted for in their emissions reduction
commitment. The third one is the Clean Development Mechanism. It permits Annex I countries to
invest in emission-reduction projects for developing nations, with the credits earned counting
toward their Kyoto Protocol commitments.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Carbon Trading

One of the advantages of carbon trading is the creation of a new economic resource for
industries. The two main goals of the cap trade are to encourage countries to reduce their carbon
emissions and help countries generate profit by selling their carbon emission credits. In addition,
the profit can also fund research that focuses on alternative energy resources which can reduce
the burning of fossil fuels.
 Moreover, the cap trade makes it easier to monitor the carbon emission level of countries
as there is a predetermined maximum emission level. Gauging the greenhouse gases level can
give us data for research and projects to help reduce carbon emissions.
Although small developing energy-exporting countries may be affected by the carbon
quota set by the Kyoto Protocol due to a possible demand decrease of their commodities, they
may still benefit from the Clean Development Mechanism.
However, one of the disadvantages of carbon trading is that it is usually the highly
developed countries that buy the carbon credits sold in the auction. Therefore, the countries that
avail them expand their carbon emissions for free. This practice is harmful to the local economy
and the environment as well.
Also, the offsets, penalties, and emission credits are way cheaper than the cost of
converting to renewable resources. Thus, the participating countries don't see any economic
incentives if they opt to improve their practices. They would rather pay the affordable fines than
start converting their methods, which can be more expensive. Furthermore, most industries don't
have monitoring devices installed to determine the level of carbon emission, making it easy to
manipulate and cheat the system.
As it turns out, emissions trading schemes may fail to reduce carbon emissions due to the
lenient rules set by the authorities. In addition, the carbon trading system is more beneficial to
developed countries as they can pay for the carbon unit transactions and penalties. It is also
possible that countries or industries will not use their carbon trading profit to finance technology
development and research that will help reduce emissions.
Thus, to address the most urgent challenge of global warming, three points may help
reduce the discharge of greenhouse gases. First, the implementation of Carbon Emission
Reduction Technology must be mandatory to Annex I countries or those that majorly contribute to
GHG emissions. Second, all countries, especially the more developed ones, must have adequate
monitoring facilities and technology to track carbon emissions. Third, to give justice to small and
developing countries that are more affected by the destructive effects of global warming and
climate change, there should be a globally agreed-upon principle on how polluters should pay for
the damages in countries least capable of dealing with them.

To diversify and conserve the earth’s assets must be a long-term goal. Moreover, all
countries should wisely use renewable resources as even these can be depleted when not used
efficiently.

Conclusion
The carbon trading system may be helping in carbon emission reduction. However, it
should be noted that carbon trading is just an alternative to the more developed countries' carbon
emission practices. Thus, carbon trading doesn't reduce carbon emission, but only transfer
ownership or authority to more industrialized countries.
Global warming is one of the greatest environmental threats today. Therefore,
governments from all over the world must commit to innovating more efficient, inexpensive, and
ethical solutions to combat this threat.

References:
https://www.cepal.org/sites/default/files/publication/files/39607/RVI116_Ludenaetal.pdf?
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