Carmen Bunzl - Universidad Pontificia Comillas

Chapter 2. Options for future climate change architectures 100
2) Further commitments for industrialized countries and developing
countries vs. only for industrialized countries
Even if the UNFCCC states the principle of “common but differentiated
responsibilities”, there are still two major positions. This conflicting issue is
essentially between the USA (and to a lesser extent the EU) and advanced
developing countries.
On the one hand, developing countries think industrialized countries have
not yet “taken the lead” and they will not commit to act until progress has been
proven. Industrialized countries should commit to further reductions because
they started emitting GHG many decades before and therefore carry most
historic responsibility.
On the other hand, some industrialized countries point to the fact that some
developing countries considerably contribute to GHG emissions and that even
if drastic mitigation actions were carried out by industrialized countries, these
alone can not ensure stabilization of GHG concentrations. In addition, if only
some countries have limits on GHG, these would provide the countries with no
limit a competitive advantage and distort the market.
3) Mitigation vs. adaptation
Some countries are more vulnerable than others to the impacts of climate
change, e.g. countries low lying coastal lanes. Many of these are developing
countries that do not have financial resources to cope with the effects; they
therefore need considerable financial assistance. They call for early adaptation
measures as part of their sustainable development.
Another group of countries argue that mitigation measures are the best
means to adapt to climate change. For them, attention on adaptation should not
distract from the need to reduce emissions. Even if adaptation is agreed to be a
crucial part of a future agreement, it has been far less explored to date than
mitigation.
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería ICAI Carmen Bunzl Boulet Junio 2008