ChE664 - Environmental

Management

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Environmental Legislation

collection of many laws and

regulations aimed at protecting the
environment from harmful actions

A common law for all states???

Sovereignty of states

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Environmental Legislation

Sovereignty of states

full right and power of a governing body

to govern itself without any interference
from outside sources or bodies.

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 Sovereign equality of states

This implies:
• states are sovereign actors, which can not be forced to accept
new rules and regulations against their own will (either implicit
or explicit)

• the competence of a third party to resolve conflicts between

states has to be explicitly accepted by the states involved

• environmental measures addressing transboundary or global

environmental problems should, as far as possible, be based on
an international agreement (Principle 12, RIO)

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International Environmental laws

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Common but differentiated responsibility
Rio 1992

"States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership

to conserve, protect and restore the health and
integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. In view of the
different contributions to global environmental
degradation, States have common but differentiated
responsibilities. The developed countries
acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the
international pursuit of sustainable development in
view of the pressures their societies place on the
global environment and of the technologies and
financial resources they command.” (Principle 7).
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Common but differentiated responsibility
Application in:

Ozone Protocol (Montreal – 1987)

Article 5 (developing countries) and non-Article 5 (developed

countries) parties

Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC 1992)

Annex I and non- Annex I (developing countries) parties

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 Understanding and attributing climate change
AR4: IPCC, 2007:

Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the

mid-20th century is very likely due to observed increases in anthropogenic
greenhouse gas concentrations

Analysis of climate models together with constraints from observations

enables an assessed likely range to be given for climate sensitivity and
provides increased confidence in the understanding of climate system
response to radiative forcing

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 Climate change policy
History of the climate policy
• 1987 - Our Common Future (Brundtland-report)
• 1992 – UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change) adopted in Rio de Janeiro
• 1994 - UNFCCC entered into force
• 1995 - Start of CoP (conference of the parties) meetings (CoP1 in Berlin)
• 1997 - CoP3 Kyoto - Kyoto Protocol
• 1998 - CoP4 Buenos Aires - action plan
•…
• 2000 – 2004: CoP5 – CoP9: little progress
• February 16, 2005: adoption of the Kyoto Protocol
• An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore
• Al Gore and IPCC win the Noble Price for peace in 2007
• Post-Kyoto negotiations started end of 2007 (CoP13) in Bali
• 2009: CoP15 Copenhagen

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 Kyoto protocol 1997

• Stabilization of GHG concentration in the atmosphere at a level that would

prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system

• Such a level should be achieved in 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 growth to proceed in
a sustainable manner

• Developed countries take the lead

• 5 % reduction of 6 GHG (CO2) in period 2008-2012, based on emissions in

1990
• Annex I and non-Annex I countries

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 Kyoto protocol 1997
• The Protocol’s first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012.

• A second commitment period was agreed on in 2012, known as the Doha

Amendment to the protocol, in which 37 countries have binding targets:
Australia, the European Union (and its 28 member states), Belarus, Iceland,
Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, 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 (which has
not ratified the Protocol).

• As of November 2015, 59 states have accepted the Doha Amendment.

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 How to achieve this reduction ?

• Domestic measures: reduce emissions & increase absorption by

sinks
• Emissions Trading
• Joint Implementation
• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

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 What is the Assigned Amount ?
• Maximum amount of greenhouse gas emissions that a Party is allowed to emit
during the first commitment period (2008-2012).
• Assigned Amount = [ base year emissions x 5 ] – reduction target

e.g. reduction target for Belgium 8%

=-8% Assigned Amount =
total of AAUs issued
base year is 1990
by a Party
x5

base year Emissions

A party issues a quantity of Assigned Amount Units (AAU) into its national registry that
corresponds to its established Assigned Amount

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Options for a Party to reach compliance
The Party is in non-compliance

Assigned Amount Emissions in the commitment period

2008-2012
• Reduce its emissions domestically before the end of the commitment period
• Increase the absorption of greenhouse gases by sinks
• Acquire units from other Parties through project based mechanisms and
emission trading

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 Increase the absorption of greenhouse gases by
sinks
• For every tonne of CO2 -eq. absorbed by sinks during the
commitment period, a Party can issue a “removal unit” or
“RMU”
• But sinks can also be net emittors of CO2 -eq.
For every tonne of CO2 -eq. emitted by sinks, a Party shall
cancel one unit.
• There are two categories of sinks eligible:
– human-induced afforestation, reforestation
– human-induced revegetation, forest management, cropland
management, and grazing land management.

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 Example: using sinks credits to reach
compliance
non-compliance
Issued RMUs because the
Party’s can account for
net sinks

Issued AAUs =
Assigned Amount

Emissions during the

commitment period 2008-
2012

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Acquire units from other Parties through project based
mechanisms and emission trading

• What type of units can a Party acquire from other Parties

(Emission Trading):

– AAUs: AAUs are issued by Parties when they establish their

Assigned amount.
– RMUs : RMUs are issued by Parties that can account for net sinks.
– Emission Reduction Units or “ERUs”: (Joint Implementation)
– Certified Emission Redutions or “CERs”: (Clean Development
Mechanism)

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 ERUs from Art. 6. Joint Implementation
• Annex I Parties (those with reduction targets) can invest in projects
in other Annex I Parties in order to:
– Reduce emissions further in those “host” Parties
– Increase absorption by sinks in those “host” Parties
• For every tonne of emissions reduced in the host Party, starting
from the year 2008, this host Party will convert an AAU into an
ERU. This ERU will be transferred to the investing Party.
• For every tonne of increased absorption by sinks in the host Party,
starting from the year 2008, this host Party will issue a RMU and
convert this RMU into an ERU. This ERU will be transferred to the
investing Party.
• Joint Implementation projects that reduce the emissions do not
increase the total allowed emissions by Annex I Parties.
• Joint Implementation projects that increase absorption by
sinks do increase the total allowed emissions by Annex I Parties
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 CERs from Clean Development Mechanism
• Parties can invest in projects in non-Annex I Parties (those with no
reduction target) in order to:
– Reduce emissions in those non-Annex I Parties
– Increase absorption by sinks in those non-Annex I Parties
• For every tonne of emissions reduced in the non-Annex I Party, starting
from the year 2000, the CDM executive board will issue a CER. This CER
will be transferred to the investing Party.
• For every tonne of increased absorption by sinks in the non-Annex I Party,
the CDM executive board will issue a CER. This CER will be transferred
to the investing Party.
• There is a cap on the acquisition by an Annex I Party of CERs generated
through sinks projects. This cap is set at 1 % of the base year emissions
times 5.
• CDM projects increase the total allowed emissions by Annex I Parties.

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 Example of a Party in compliance
• It first issues RMUs generated by domestic sinks
• It acquires and transfers AAUs, ERUs, CERs and RMUs. At the end of the
commitment period it demonstrates that it acquired more units than it
transferred.
Acquired minus transfered
AAUs, ERUs, CERs and RMUs

Issued RMUs
Compliance is
fulfilled
Issued AAUs =
Assigned Amount

Emissions in the commitment

period 2008-2012 22
 Requirements to be fulfilled to participate in
ET, JI & CDM
a. Be a Party to the Kyoto Protocol (ratification)
b. To have established its assigned amount
c. To have in place a national system for monitoring of emissions by sources
and absorption by sinks
d. To have in place a national registry to account for the issuance, transfer
and/or cancellation of AAUs, ERUs, RMUs and CERs
e. To have submitted annually to the UNFCCC its inventory and other
required information

• For Joint Implementation projects, special provisions allow Parties, under the
control of the JI Supervirory comittee, to issue ERUs before fulfilling all
eligibility requirements.
Under this procedure, requirements c and e do not have to be fulfilled.

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 Other major provisions
Commitment Period Reserve:
• Parties shall not transfer units if this transfer would decrease the
total amount of units in its national registry below the commitment
period reserve level.
• The required level of the commitment period reserve is 90 % of the
Party’s assigned amount or 100 % of five times its most recently
reviewed inventory, whichever is lowest.
• This should prevent overselling on purpose by Parties (so called
rogue trading)

Restoration Rate:
• When a Party is not in compliance with its reductions target in the
1st commitment period its reduction target for the second
commitment period will be increased by 1.3 times the amount it
was in non-compliance.
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 Banking of AAUs, ERUs, CERs and RMUs?

• Banking is the carry over of units to the next commitment

period.
• There are no limitations on the banking of AAUs
• A Party can only bank ERUs up to 2.5 % of its assigned
amount.
• A Party can only bank CERs up to 2.5 % of its assigned
amount.
• Parties cannot bank RMUs, neither ERUs converted from
RMUs

• In practice, these limitations should have no “real”

impact.

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Example: a Party is over-compliant. To demonstrate compliance a Party shall retire
AAUs, ERUs, CERs and RMUs into a retirement account.

AAUs that can be banked

Net acquired AAUs

Net acquired CERs

Net acquired ERUs
Net acquired RMUs
Issued RMUs
Emissions in the
commitment
period 2008-2012
Issued AAUs

Credits retired into the

retirement account 26
Protection of the Ozone Layer

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 Scientific Background

1839 Ozone: discovered by C. F. Schönbein when

observing electrical discharges.
1850s Ozone shown to be a natural atmospheric
constituent.
1880 Experiments show that Ozone strongly absorbs Solar
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
1913 Proved that most of the atmosphere's ozone is
located in the lower stratosphere.
1920 G. M. B. Dobson (an Oxford Scientist) perfected an
instrument to monitor quantitatively total
atmospheric ozone
1921 Dobson Unit (100 DU = 1 mm)

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 Ozone Distribution in the
Atmosphere
80 MESOSPHERE

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STRATOSPHERE

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TROPOSPHERE
20
km Ozone Partial
0 50 100 150 Pressure (b)

In the stratosphere, near the peak of the ozone layer, there are up to 12 ozone
molecules for every million air molecules.

In the troposphere near Earth’s surface, ozone is even less abundant, with a
typical range of 0.02 to 0.1 ozone molecules for each million air molecules.
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 Ozone Distribution in the
Atmosphere

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 Ozone Depletion
Natural Mechanism

• Ozone is destroyed naturally in the upper

stratosphere by the UV radiation from the sun.

• For each ozone molecule that is destroyed an oxygen

atom and an oxygen molecule are formed.

• Some of these recombine to produce ozone again.

• These naturally occurring reactions of destruction

and production of ozone are balanced.

• So that the ozone amount in the stratosphere

remains constant.

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 Ozone Depletion
Non-Natural Mechanism
•Involve halogen atoms.

•Emissions from human activities and natural processes

include large sources of
Chlorine (Cl)
Bromine (Br)
Fluorine (F)
containing gases that eventually reach
the stratosphere.

•When exposed to UV radiation from the sun, these

halogen-containing gases are converted to more reactive
gases, also containing chlorine and bromine, for example,
chlorine monoxide (ClO) and bromine monoxide (BrO).

•These reactive gases participate in “catalytic” reaction

cycles that efficiently destroy ozone in the stratosphere.
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 Ozone Depletion

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 Why Protect the Ozone Layer?
• Ozone Depletion leads to excessive UV-B radiation.
• Excessive UV-B radiation leads to:
– More skin cancers and eye cataracts.
– Less productivity of plants.
– Loss of immunity to diseases.
– Adverse effects on plastics.

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 Ozone Depleting Substances
1928 CFCs invented;
1950-70s Consumption and use of CFCs rises rapidly during this period.
Early 1970s Paul Crutzen, Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina established a
linkage between the breaking apart of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
in the atmosphere and the destruction of the ozone layer.

- Of all ozone-depleting substances, CFCs are the most extensively used by industry,
finding applications in refrigeration, air conditioning, solvents, aerosols, foam blowing
agents and sterilants.

- Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are used to replace CFCs in refrigeration, air

conditioning and foam blowing.

- Other ODS include carbon tetrachloride, a solvent used in electronics and chemical
industries, methyl chloroform, also a solvent, halons and hydrobromofluorocarbons
(HBFCs) used in fire fighting agents, and methyl bromide used in pesticides.

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 Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP)

Ozone Depleting Potential is a common benchmark against which each

ozone-depleting substance can be measured. The benchmark used is CFC
-11 and CFC-12, both of which have a reference level of 1.

Other substances are assigned values in relation to how much more or less
a comparable weight would deplete the ozone layer. For example, methyl
chloroform has an ODP of only 0.1: that means 10 tonnes of it would
have the same impact on the ozone layer as 1 tonne of CFC-11 or CFC-12.

The use of ODP as a standard measure makes it possible to compare how

different projects focused on different chemicals will affect the ozone
layer.

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 Scientific Activity on Ozone
1971 CFCs measured in the atmosphere.
1974 Rowland and Molina link CFCs with Ozone Depletion.
1977 Plan of Action on Ozone Layer established by UNEP in collaboration
with World Meteorological Organization (WMO). UNEP sets up Co-
ordinating Committee on Ozone Layer (CCOL).
1985 Findings on "The Ozone Hole" over the Antarctic (during spring)
published by the British Antarctic Survey.
1987 Observations prove that the more the Chlorine in the Atmosphere, the
less the amount of Ozone.
1995 Nobel prize received by 3 scientists for pioneering research on Ozone
Depletion.

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 International Commitments
1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer calls for
voluntary measures to reduce emissions of ozone-depleting
substances (ODS).

1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

establishes a schedule to reduce the production and consumption of
CFCs and Halons.

1990-’99 At meetings in London, Copenhagen, Montreal and Beijing Parties

approve amendments to the Montreal Protocol to stipulate/accelerate
the phase-out schedules and add additional ozone-depleting
substances to the list.

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 Montreal Protocol
Adjustments (London, 1990; Copenhagen 1992; Vienna, 1995; Montreal 1997
& Beijin, 1999) and

Amendments to the Montreal Protocol:

• London Amendment to the Montreal Protocol (1990)
• Copenhagen Amendment to the Montreal Protocol (1992)
• Montreal Amendment to the Montreal Protocol (1997)
• Beijing Amendment to the Montreal Protocol (1999)

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 Financial Mechanisms

1991 The Multilateral Fund established, with UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO and
World Bank as the implementing agencies to provide financial and
technical assistance to developing countries (Article 5) to enable
them comply with the control measures.

1994 Eastern Europe: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is assisting

the Russian Federation and other countries of the region.

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 http://ozone.unep.org/article-5-parties-status

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 Achievements
• Production and Consumption of CFCs fell by 86% between 1986 and
1997, while it fell by about 70% for Halons
• Atmospheric Concentration of Chlorine peaked in 1994 and is now
declining.
• Millions of cases of Eye Cataracts and Skin Cancer averted
• Recovery of the Ozone Layer expected by the year 2050, if the protocol is
fully implemented by all Parties.

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 Annual
Annual Deaths
Deaths fromfrom Melanoma
Melanoma and Non-Melanoma
and Non-Melanoma Skin
Skin Cancer
Cancer Averted
Averted Due toDue to Montreal
Montreal Protocols Protocols (Mean Estimate)
(Mean Estimate)
(Source: Global
(Source: GlobalBenefits and
Benefits and Costs
Costs of the Protocol)
of the Montreal Montreal Protocol)
20,000
Total
18,000 Melanoma Deaths
16,000 Non-Melanoma Deaths

14,000
Deaths Averted

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0
1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070
Year
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 Challenges

• Not all parties have ratified the Amendments to the Protocol.

• Illegal flow of CFCs to the industrialised countries.
• Russian Federation and other countries of former USSR are yet to implement
their obligations.
• Potential for spread of Methyl Bromide to more countries and more
applications is of concern. Now it is used only in some countries for a small
number of crops.

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 Challenges (continued)
• The developing countries, some of whom have increased their consumption
so far, as allowed by the Protocol, have to begin their phase out with a freeze
from 1 July 1999.
• Developing countries are concerned about increasing flow of CFC products,
for example, refrigerators, to their countries from countries who have
adopted Ozone safe products. This will increase their demand for CFCs for
maintenance of these products.
• Global warming could increase ozone depletion. Also, HFCs, used as
alternatives for CFCs in some applications, have global warming potential
and are controlled by the Kyoto Protocol. The interconnections need to be
studied.

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