16:01 Gulf News: Are carbon emission limits fair, especially on developing countries?
16:01 Dr Jaime Samour: I think it is not fair to make developing countries pay the price because carbon emissions from developed countries are high.
16:03 Prakarti Lakhwani: Carbon emission cuts are both fair and necessary. The reason that some countries had a head start in the industrial revolution can no longer be used. Developing countries and developed countries alike should be subject to the same limits.
16:06 Arushi Madan: Practical challenges facing the world that aims to reduce carbon footprint are the booming population growth and high levels of industrial activity.
16:06 Prakarti Lakhwani: Developing countries in the race to grow have surpassed many necessary standards. Carbon emission limits are fair to act as a regulator of these efforts. In fact, I believe them to be helpful, the BASIC countries [Brazil, South Africa, India and China] have pledged and begun cutting their carbon emissions.
16:07 Dr Jaime Samour: China and the United States followed closely by the European Union are the countries with the highest carbon emissions. This is mainly from fossil fuels and the cement manufacturing industry. These three countries account for just above 60 per cent of the total global emissions. These countries should cut emissions at a higher rate than those of developing countries. This does not mean developing countries should not have the need to reduce emission, but they should cut at a different rate than the largest producers of greenhouse gases.
16:08 Arushi Madan: The need for so much new urban infrastructure provides a significant opportunity to implement low-carbon, sustainable urban design approaches. If this opportunity is missed now, the resulting inefficient, higher-carbon development will be locked in for decades. It is high time that countries start enforcing mandates to cut carbon emission or pay for excess emission.
16:10 Prakarti Lakhwani: Also, a carbon emission limit benefits the country in the long run by enabling it to develop in the industry and energy sector on an environmentally-forward standard.
16:11 Arushi Madan: Less developed countries produce far less greenhouse gases than the developed countries, so developing countries should not be required to limit their carbon emissions till they develop their economies more.
16:11 Dr Jaime Samour: The problem in the US, for instance, is the number of cars on the road. More effort should be made to reduce the number of cars by providing extra mass transportation and replacing cars run on fossil fuel and start looking into alternative energy sources.
16:12 Arushi Madan: Many sceptics argue that putting a price on carbon emissions will cripple the economy. Such arguments generally focus solely on the costs associated with pricing carbon while wholly ignoring the benefits. When a price is put on carbon emissions, it creates a revenue stream. The funds, which are generated from the carbon price can be distributed in any number of ways – usually through reductions in other taxes, investment in research and development of ‘green’ technologies and funding of energy efficiency programs.
16:14 Prakarti Lakhwani: Firstly, progress that doesn’t last in the long run cannot be truly called progress. Looking at the other side, if we propose that due to a higher emissions standard a developed country should face higher limits, this will result in heavy outsourcing, just changing the concentration from developed to developing. The emissions don’t change, just the players.
16:15 Gulf News: Should aid to promote environmentally friendly innovation be recognised and favoured?
16:16 Arushi Madan: Yes, countries should encourage environmentally friendly operations and processes by giving them subsidies.
16:19 Prakarti Lakhwani: Yes, efforts can be made to constantly provide aid and encouragement to people who can develop industrial processes and agricultural innovation to be environmentally effective and sound.
16:22 Jaime Samour: I agree, we have to develop more efficient batteries that can accumulate much more energy and we could run vehicles using solar power.
16:24 Gulf News: What is the practical, most effective solution to the issue of carbon emissions?
16:25 Arushi Madan: There are many more ways to reduce carbon emissions. Solar or wind energy, there should be consultant organisations to advise companies on carbon management strategy and treaties like Kyoto for carbon trading.
16:25 Dr Jaime Samour: The Middle Eastern countries could help develop more efficient batteries and/or look for different technology to utilise solar energy. I heard the government is asking the different ministries to change a percentage of vehicles to run on methane gas. This is a positive step. What could be next - taxis, urban buses? This would be a positive first step.
16:26 Prakarti Lakhwani: The Kyoto Protocol is important. It is not the best solution, but I feel it is the best game in town. A stringent carbon emission standard is required and not one based on “if I can’t do it, I’ll just pass it on to someone else”.
16:26 Arushi Madan: Industries to implement carbon effective processes, better implementation of carbon trade are necessary. Countries should be committed to reducing their carbon dioxide intensity (CO2 per unit of GDP). We should have a way to check the carbon intensity per capita or energy consumption per square footage in various sectors so that we get to see indicator values per city and know where to focus, to implement carbon reduction.
- Compiled by Huda Tabrez/
Community Web Editor
