GEO-6 Regional Assessment for Asia and the Pacific CO2 emission (thousand tonnes CO2 )


A rising trend in carbon dioxide emissions is a critical off-track indicator among the MDGs, both regionally and globally. Booming economic growth in the region and its identity as a global production house have been achieved through exploitation of the natural environment and at the cost of increased greenhouse gas emissions. The region is already the largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions, mainly from China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and other emerging economies (Figure 3.1.2). The upward emissions trend indicates the weak impact of existing policy processes such as UNFCCC and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at national, regional and international levels. The Kyoto Protocol signed in 2005 under UNFCCC, and the subsequent Conference of the Parties (COP), drew up a range of initiatives and agreements on reduction targets for developed countries based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility. The Kyoto Protocol was also credited for establishing a carbon market to promote the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which showed positive development at the beginning but failed to retain


the level of momentum required to scale up cleaner technologies, especially after the 2008 financial crisis. In the post-2008 scenario, the trading of carbon emission reduction credits came to a virtual halt or was replaced by other domestic or bilateral market mechanisms. The efficacy of the COP process has been affected by inadequate policy responses on the part of major emitters and a lack of strong commitment towards a legally binding agreement. The latest of these targets, agreed at COP 21, is to “keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels”.


As a major turning point in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement that came out of UNFCCC COP 21 are expected to result in stronger commitments leading to an ambitious agreement and implementation framework that might lead to the revival of a global carbon market and other legal and regulatory instruments, promote innovation in carbon


Figure 3.1.2 a and b: Asia and the Pacific, carbon dioxide emissions, 1990–2011 18 000 000 16 000 000


14 000 000 12 000 000


10 000 000 8 000 000 6 000 000 4 000 000 2 000 000 0


Asia and the Pacific: 15 609 003.4


China: 9 019 518.2


India: 2 074 344.9 Japan: 1 187 657


114


1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011


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