learn more: summary of pages

The development of the Global Response to Climate Change:

On the 16th of February 2005 the Kyoto Protocol came into force. This protocol represents the culmination of a process that can be traced back to 1896 when Svante Arrhenius first proposed that increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide could lead to a warming of the climate. LEARN MORE

The development of the Kyoto Protocol

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established in 1988 to provide a coordinating body for scientific research, has become the pre-eminent global scientific body behind the formulation of the Kyoto Protocol. It has very successfully assessed, compared and synthesised the available evidence into a risk assessment, underpinning the formation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992. LEARN MORE

The Aussie approach

Australia currently claims to be on track to meeting its Kyoto commitments, despite non-ratification. The inclusion of the ‘Australia Clause’ to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 is responsible for the dip in reported emissions after 1990. This clause requires Australia and the United Kingdom to include LULUCF sinks and sources in their calculations. This requirement creates a ‘free’ 37 million tonne per annum reduction in land clearing emissions for Australia due to changes in land clearing laws, and almost halves the required reductions from other sources. LEARN MORE

The NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme

The NSW state government has taken the opposite view and has implemented an industry wide greenhouse emissions penalty for the electricity production sector [26] following difficulty in achieving voluntary reductions. LEARN MORE

Carbon Sequestration in NSW

The NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme is one of the first mandatory greenhouse gas trading schemes anywhere in the world. The carbon sequestration component of this scheme requires a forest to be established on previously non-forested land and that any sequestration claims be verified in a transparent manner for the subsequent 100 years. LEARN MORE

Author: Tim Murphy
Date:  2005
Title: Systems for creating NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Certificates                        Masters Thesis – Pre-submission version – Southern Cross University