Climate change is a serious challenge to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is under tremendous pressure as a result of the hyper aridity of the climate, severe shortage in water resources, rapidly growing population and reliance on fossil fuels, the latter of which is viewed globally as a major source of GHGE.
In 2005 Saudi Arabia ratified de Kyoto protocol and therefore it has by law to abide to its legal requirements.
- The Kyoto protocol major feature is that it has mandatory targets on greenhouse-gas emissions for the world's leading economies which have accepted it. These targets range from -8 per cent to +10 per cent of the countries' individual 1990 emissions levels "with a view to reducing their overall emissions of such gases by at least 5 per cent below existing 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to 2012." In almost all cases -- even those set at +10 per cent of 1990 levels -- the limits call for significant reductions in currently projected emissions.
- The agreement offers flexibility in how countries may meet their targets. For example, they may partially compensate for their emissions by increasing "sinks" -- forests, which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. That may be accomplished either on their own territories or in other countries. Or they may pay for foreign projects that result in greenhouse-gas cuts. Several mechanisms have been set up for this purpose.
- Some mechanisms of the Protocol had enough support that they were set up in advance of the Protocol's entry into force. The Clean Development Mechanism, for example -- through which industrialized countries can partly meet their binding emissions targets through "credits" earned by sponsoring greenhouse-gas-reducing projects in developing countries -- already had an executive board before the Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005.
The clean development mechanism (getting developing countries involved)
- The Kyoto Protocol does not set limits on the greenhouse-gas emissions of developing nations. Yet the greenhouse-gas emissions of developing countries are growing, especially in the case of enormously populous states such as China and India, which are rapidly expanding their industrial output.
- Because the atmosphere is equally damaged by greenhouse-gas emissions wherever they occur and equally helped by emissions cuts wherever they are made, the Protocol includes an arrangement for reductions to be "sponsored" in countries not bound by emissions targets.
- The so-called Clean Development Mechanism in simplified form works this way: Industrialized countries pay for projects that cut or avoid emissions in poorer nations -- and are awarded credits that can be applied to meeting their own emissions targets. The recipient countries benefit from free infusions of advanced technology that allow their factories or electrical generating plants to operate more efficiently -- and hence at lower costs and higher profits. And the atmosphere benefits because future emissions are lower than they would have been otherwise.
- The mechanism has drawn extensive interest from rich and poor countries alike, and steps have been taken to put it into operation even before the Protocol takes effect. In particular, it is cost-effective and offers a degree of flexibility to industrialized countries trying to meet their targets. It can be more efficient for them to carry out environmentally useful work in developing countries than at home, where land, technology, and labor are generally more costly. The benefits to the climate are the same.
- The system also appeals to private companies and investors. The mechanism is meant to work bottom-up -- to proceed from individual proposals to approval by donor and recipient governments to the allocation of "certified emissions reduction" credits. Countries earning the credits may apply them to meeting their emissions limits, may "bank" them for use later, or may sell them to other industrialized countries under the Protocol's emissions-trading system. Private firms are interested in the mechanism because they may earn profits from proposing and carrying out such work and because they may develop good reputations for their technology which will lead to further sales. A possible benefit for everyone is that the potential for profits may lead these businesses to develop even more useful technologies.
- The Clean Development Mechanism is overseen by an Executive Board. To be certified, by the Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board, a project must be approved by all involved parties, demonstrate a measurable and long-term ability to reduce emissions, and promise reductions that would be additional to any that would otherwise occur.
Resorting to published literature or other media resources Investigate and explain in a short essay, how is the Kyoto protocol being addressed and implemented in practice in the KSA, name the designated national authority for the Clean Development Mechanism in KSA, discuss the tasks of the national agencies dealing with the Kyoto protocol and the kind of services offered by it.
As part of the discussion provide also examples of projects or efforts undertaken in the KSA to mitigate climate change under the umbrella of the Kyoto protocol and digress about the success of its implementation.
Your essay should not be shorter than 250 words or longer than 500 words and should be typed using MS Word. A hard copy should be attached to this cover page and a copy of the word file should be sent to your instructor for review and evaluation.