INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL INTELLIGENCE BRIEF

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005284815
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 16
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: May 27, 2011
• Case Number: F-2008-00831
• Publication Date: June 23, 1998

(b)(1)
(b)(3)
International Environmental Intelligence Brief
Contents
Articles
China's Stealthy Kyoto Protocol Move
France: Jospin Maintains Shaky Alliance With Greens
Page
Central America Fires Affecting Economy and Health
Biodiversity Conference Leaves Key Issues Unresolved
Calendar
APPROVED FOR RELEASEL
DATE: 17-May-2011
 The negotiations earlier this month in Bonn
suggest G-77 developing countries will stall
implementation of the Kyoto Protocol's
flexibility mechanisms--international emissions
trading, joint implementation, and the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM)--until they
learn more about them. Their delegates
prevented forward movement but submitted a
list of questions about the mechanisms and
crowded into seminars offered by the US EPA,
Indian
(listened to
EPA explain how emissions trading
works.
The Alliance of Small Island States
and some African states now say they
understand the concept, and
Argentina--host of the next round of
climate talks in November--went so far
as to call for early implementation of
emissions trading and the CDM,
according to press reports
Financial and technical assistance may be key to
bringing the G-77 on board. The G-77 in Bonn
renewed demands for resource transfers as the
implicit bargaining chip for cooperation on
flexibility mechanisms.
- China proposed a technology transfer
mechanism--parallel to the flexibility
mechanisms for developed countries,
Meanwhile, the so-called umbrella group of
non-EU developed countries continued to
discuss the modalities of emissions trading
among themselves. Russia and Ukraine helped
further the talks
EU Left Following Rather Than Leading
The UK presidency took note of developing.
countries' interest in emissions trading by
opposing "tropical hot air"--emissions
reductions that those countries would make by
trading rather than by making reductions at
home. Germany anchors the EU position by
insisting emissions reductions be made at home
with a cap for all three flexibility mechanisms,
OPEC revived its demand for compensation
from the potential effects of emissions
reductions on oil imports. The Saudis, however,
said emissions trading will lessen the impact on
US oil imports as emissions reductions are made
elsewhere.
Concrete decisions were lacking at Bonn in part
because of the absence of Argentine
Ambassador Estrada, who was a leading
architect of the Kyoto consensus, in the chair to
push the negotiations forward. Argentina did not
find a position in the government for him after
Kyoto; he attended the Bonn talks as an NGO
representative
EU environment ministers last week
compromised on their national targets to meet
the EU's overall Kyoto target of an 3 -percent
reduction by 2008-2012 from 1990 or 1995
levels for six greenhouse gases, according to
press reports. The Netherlands?under strong
economic pressure--achieved its objective of
weakening its reduction target to 6 percent from
10 percent. The targets for most other members
were weakened slightly, while those for the UK
and Sweden were tightened.
 Proposed UK
Emission Target
Reallocation,
June 19981 Percentage aggregate
emission change by 2008
to 2012 from 1990 for
carbon dioxide, methane.
and nitrous oxide, and
from 1990 or 1995 for
hydrofluorocarbons,
pertluorocarbons, and
sulfur hexafluoride.
Percent
increase
Percent
decrease
Spain
r'I Ireland
Old
target
UK
Proposal,
May 1998
EU
Compromise,
June 1998
Austria
-25
-20.5
-13.0
Belgium
-9
-10
-7.5
Denmark
-22.5
-25
-21.0
Finland
0
0
0
France
0
0
0
Germany
-25
-22.5
-21.0
Greece
30
23
25.0
Ireland
15
11
13.0
Italy
-7
-7
-6.5
Luxembourg
-30
-30
-28.0
Netherlands
-10
-8
-6.0
Portugal
40
24
27.0
Spain
15
15
15.0
Sweden
5
5
4.0
UK
-10
-12
-12.5
Finland France
(0) (0)
H L u
Italy Belgium
Netherlands
Denmark
Germany
Unc ' ed 363491 PM 6.96
 China's Stealthy Kyoto Protocol Move
- The signing is consistent with recent
indications that China's policy on the
environment is softening.
... Quietly Executed
The Chinese may have kept the signing low-key
to avoid recrimination from other G-77
hardliners, who may interpret it as a betrayal of
past pledges to support the G-77 against any
efforts to impose restrictions on the emissions
of developing countries. The move may increase
the pressure on India to sin, butt
voluntary commitments by developing
countries.
Chinese signing from other capitals.
The Chinese leadership may have decided to
sign now to smooth the way for participation in
the Bonn meeting that began yesterday, which is
to help set the stage for the Buenos Aires
Conference of Convention Parties this fall. In
addition, the Chinese may have signed as a
gesture to Washington in advance of the visit of
the US National Security Adviser to discuss the
Summit.
The signature lets China declare that it is taking
climate change seriously while not actually
committing itself to limit greenhouse emissions.
When China's National People's Congress
Standing Committee ratifies the protocol, as a
developing country it will be exempt from
setting emission reduction targets or cataloging
potentially harmful emissions.
Ratification would make China
eligible for additional financial and
technological assistance and would let
it help elaborate the Clean
Development Mechanism.
Mexico, Panama, and El Salvador signed
the Kyoto Protocol in mid-June, bringing
the number of signatories to 40. The
Protocol will enter into force 90 days after
55 countries--including those accounting
for at least 55 percent of the emissions of
developed countries--have formally ratified
the Protocol.
Sep
 France: Jospin Maintains Shaky Alliance
With Greens
The electoral alliance Jospin forged with the
Green Party last year still holds with Dominique
Voynet of the Greens remaining as Minister of
Regional Development and Environment with
her agenda for advancing France's
environmental policy. Jospin, however, does not
always agree with her recommendations.
Voynet advocates an "eco tax" on private auto
emissions with the revenue earmarked for
expanding public transport. Jospin's views on
this tax will not be known until August, when he
reviews the budget for next year, but Finance
Minister Strauss-Kahn last week suggested that
new environmental taxes will be in his budget
proposals to Jospin, according to press reports.
Voynet continues her verbal war with the
French nuclear industry, accusing it last month
of concealing leaks of radioactive contaminants
en route from German and Swiss power stations
to the La Hague reprocessing facility. She has
demanded guarantees that the government's
planned geological storage of nuclear waste be
leak proof and irreversible
- Jospin is not as antinuclear as Voynet
and agreed with the Industry Ministry
and the nuclear energy community to
restart the Phoenix fast-neutron
demonstration reactor for research on
spent nuclear fuel, according to press
reports.
French diplomacy suggests Voynet is losing the
battle against international emissions trading for
implementing the Kyoto Protocol. She was
among the G-8 environment ministers who
insisted in April on a trading cap to ensure that
most reductions are made domestically.
Voynet has lost the policy debate over France's
role in EU burden sharing to reach the EU's
Kyoto target France has
continued to insist on zero emissions reductions
from its 1990 baseline--despite Voynet's
advocating further reductions--suggesting
Jospin was persuaded by the Foreign and
Industry Ministries rather than by Voynet.
- France's dependence on nuclear
reactors for nearly 80 percent of its
power generation means it has little
room for maior emissions reductions
at home
 Central America Fires Affecting
Economy and Health
Fires in Guatemala this year have damaged
more than 150,000 hectares, mostly in the north
around Central America's largest remaining rain
forest. More than 60,000 hectares of Honduran
forests have burned
El Salvador, the hemisphere's second-
most deforested country, this year has
reported some 1,130 fires--25 percent
more than all of last year; the fires
have damaged more than 100 nature
preserves
Nicaragua since December has
reported 13,400 fires that have ravaged
800,000 hectares, including 470,000
hectares of forest
Prolonged drought and higher temperatures
induced by El Nino created the climatic
conditions favorable for fires. Slash and burn
agricultural practices, the extensive use of wood
fires for cooking, and unregulated land
clearance for commercial agriculture, ranching,
and logging are responsible for starting many of
- Regional governments have sought US
and other international assistance, but
they lack the money, equipment, and
trained personnel for large-scale
firefighting.
et
Most major airports have been closed for
extended periods because of poor visibility.
These closings have cost Honduras millions of
dollars in air freight delays and lost service fees
and have damaged tourism in Guatemala,
- The deterioration in air quality has led
to an upsurge in respiratory ailments;
Honduras, for example, reports a 25-
percent increase in such problems,
The prevalence and persistence of the fires
demonstrate the inability of regional
governments to carry out long-range
environmental management programs. The
inability to cope with the emergency may bring
political consequences.
- Guatemalan President Arzu in early
June dismissed the head of his
environmental oversight agency.
- Environmental and medical groups in
Guatemala have criticized local
governments for their lack of
preventive measures, inadequate
responses, and failure to develop
effective forest management plans,
according to press reports
 Biodiversity Conference Leaves Some
Issues Unresolved
The Fourth Conference of Parties to the
Convention on Biodiversity that ended last
month in Bratislava adopted an ambitious plan
of work for the conservation and sustainable use
of biodiversity in marine and coastal areas,
according to press reports and international
environmental groups. Delegates, however, left
for further debate the promotion of intellectual
property rights and ensuring access to genetic
resources for research
The conference launched a working group to
assess the role of indigenous or traditional
knowledge in conserving and using natural
resources and to propose legal protection for
this knowledge. Representatives of firms in
developed countries will caution that treating
indigenous knowledge as "trade secrets" would
limit investment in pharmaceuticals,
biotechnology, and agricultural research; they
will insist that commercial benefits and patents
go to those who research and develop genetic
materials.
- Brazil, China, India, and African
countries will reiterate demands that
they receive compensation for
allowing multinational firms from rich
nations to exploit their genetic
resources.
- At the conference, several developing
countries proposed that such firms buy
"exploration" licenses or conclude
agreements with host countries for
equitable profit sharing.
Biosafety Protocol Still Contentious
The proposed biosafety protocol regulating the
production, use, and shipment of genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) generated major
debate in Bratislava. The Convention's working
group on biosafety this year will prepare a final
draft to present at a special sessions next
February to consider formal adoption of the
protocol.
More than $60 million in US trade in
pharmaceuticals, agricultural products,
and other materials derived from
biotechnology would be affected by a
strict protocol.
-- Differences remain over whether a
protocol would control movement of
GMOs among Convention parties only
or include nonparties; moreover,
parties must define notification and
prior informed consent
responsibilities.
More than 170 countries are parties to the
1992 Convention on Biological Diversity.
The US has signed but not ratified the
convention. The next full conference of
parties will take place in Nairobi in 2000.
 Se
9
S
 Environmental Threat Groups and
Incidents
On 6 April 1998, a communique
allegedly issued by the Puerto Rican-
based terrorist group EPG-Macheteros
claimed responsibility for the bombing
of the north coast super aqueduct
construction site in Arecibo, Puerto
Rico which the group believes violates
environmental laws.
In 1996, clandestine groups closely
associated with the Pan-Africanist
Congress Party (PAC) in the eastern
cape province of Dwesa, South Africa
deliberately contaminated a resource-
rich coastal forest reserve with toxic
chemicals because they opposed rival
African National Contress (ANC)
policies on local control of resources;
PAC indicated after the incident that
when people who deserve the benefit
of the resources do not benefit, than no
one shall benefit.
- According to press reports, in
December 1995 members of the
Revolutionary Armed Force of
Colombia (FARC), Colombia's largest
guerrilla group, blew up a pesticide
warehouse in Une, Colombia causing
the release of large volumes of toxic
materials into the air and the
evacuation of approximately 9,000
people living near the warehouse
Environmental Cause Groups and
Incidents
- In December 1997, the Turkish
Workers and Peasants Liberation
Army (TIKKO) claimed responsibility
for bombing the Parliamentary
Constituency Office of Development
to protest the environmental effects of
gold mining operations of TVX Hellas
(the Greek subsidiary of Canada's
TVX Gold) located on Turkey's
Halkidiki peninsula.
According to press reports, in
September 1997 militant
environmentalists opposed to
genetically-modified operational
experiments on Irish soil destroyed a
one-acre experimental sugarbeet crop
in Ireland owned by Monsanto, a US
biotechnology company.
Chechen Greens in 1996 threatened
violence against the Russian
Government if Azeri oil is transported
to the West through Chechnya,
according to press reports.
Since the early 1990s, an assortment of
environmentalist groups and the
Basque terrorist group ETA have
conducted arson, letter-bomb and
rocket attacks on construction
companies and workers involved in the
Guipuzcoa-Navarra Highway project
in Spain because the groups oppose the
project's potential damage to the local
ecology
 13
 The Role of the Russian Boreal Forest in
Carbon Exchange
The boreal forest region worldwide is one of the
largest single reservoirs of terrestrial carbon,
storing--particularly in the soil--about one-third
of the carbon found in all terrestrial biomass,
and forming a pool 35 percent larger that that of
temperate and tropical forests combined. Two-
thirds of the world's boreal forests are in Russia,
which accordingly maintains a terrestrial carbon
reservoir larger than any other nation
Opinions vary, however, on whether the Russian
boreal forests are a net source or sink of
atmospheric carbon, or whether they will remain
so in light of projected climate change. Recent
Russian Government studies conclude their
forests are absorbing atmospheric carbon at a
rate of 160 megatons per year, offsetting a
significant amount of manmade emissions, and
that the forests will remain an important sink
beyond 2040.
US scientists, however, claim that
natural and man-induced disturbances
such as logging, forest fires, and insect
infestations--which send carbon into
the atmosphere--have not adequately
been addressed; they contend that the
impact of these is as large or larger
than the estimated sink rates.
These scientists also contend that
warming projected for the boreal
region will yield more such
disturbances and that increased soil
respiration resulting from the drying of
soils and a reduction in permafrost will
further increase carbon transmission to
the atmosphere
Proper management of Russia's boreal forests--
and accurate calculation of carbon sequestration
and transmission--has both economic
consequences for Russia and implications for
the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The
protocol specifies, for example, that a net
reduction in greenhouse gas emissions resulting
from afforestation or reforestation can be used
to meet a country's emission target, provided
that "the greenhouse gas emissions from sources
and removals by sinks associated with those
activities (are] reported in a transparent and
verifiable manner."
- Under the protocol's joint
implementation provision, other
developed countries can receive
emission credits for afforestation
activities in Siberia]
 Selected International Environment-Related Meetings
1998 Lisbon World Exposition (EXPO 198)
Theme: The Oceans, a Heritage for
the Future.
23-25 June
29 June-3 July
16-17 July
17-28 August
24 August-4 September
24 August-4 September
1-3 September
November
Fourth Environment For Europe Ministerial
First Intergovernmental Negotiating
Session on Persistent Organic Pollutants
Experts Meeting on the Proposed
Global Disaster Infomation Network (GDIN)
Negotiating Session on the
Biosafety Protocol
Second Conference of Parties to the
Convention to Combat Desertification
Montreal
Washington
Montreal
Geneva
Dakar
Tenth Conference of Parties to the
Montreal Protocol
Fourth Conference of Parties to the
Climate Change Change Convention
Global Environmental Facility
Council Meeting
Cairo
Buenos Aires
Washington