Dr. Assaf Rosenthal
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/rosental201005.html
We owe our existence to carbon dioxide that was emitted over millions of years and made possible the creation of the atmosphere we know by stabilizing the temperature to a level that allows life. Stabilization created as a result of what is known today as the greenhouse effect (for gas abstraction = all greenhouse gases).
The sun heats our globe, the globe radiates the heat back into space, greenhouse gases: water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide, and others found in the atmosphere, radiate the heat returned from the earth in all directions and, among other things, also back to the globe and thus caused the temperature to rise in the distant past to For the (geological) period when the temperature stabilized at a global average of about 25 degrees.
For millions of years an equilibrium was maintained: the gases that were emitted were absorbed by trees and the sea. When there were excessive emissions (gaseous eruptions, huge fires, etc.), this caused vigorous growth of forests, an increase in the amount of plankton and an increase in the acidity of the oceans, which restored the balance.
As long as the process is natural there is an equilibrium between the emission of the gas by the earth (volcanic activity, natural fires, decomposition of organic materials) and the absorption of the gas (absorption by plants, the melting in the oceans) when the burning of fuel from fossil sources was added to the balanced equation , (which caused the release of gas that had accumulated over millions of years), and at the same time the destruction of forests on a huge scale, the natural equilibrium is violated, the amount of haz in the atmosphere increases and the greenhouse effect increases, the heat on the surface of our globe increases in a way that causes damage.
In order to stop the cumulative damage caused by humans through the emission of greenhouse gases, scientists and heads of state came together and decided on a treaty that should result in a reduction of the amount of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere, to the level it was before 1990. Not at all.
The Kyoto Convention is the convention according to which the countries committed to it are supposed to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. When the reference is primarily to carbon dioxide. At the same time as the Kyoto Convention, according to the resolution of the "UN Convention to Establish a Framework for Climate Change" established for the purpose of determining an emission index
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
In order to give an incentive to entities and countries to reduce the emission of pollutants, a market will be "opened" where the excess emissions of the polluting gas are traded, when according to the convention there is a monetary value to the atmosphere and each "user" is obliged or credited
According to the amount of gas added or subtracted from the atmosphere.
The emission is measured in "emission-units" that are traded in the market. In a "natural" way, developed countries with industry and factories emit more "units" than less developed countries or whose economy is based on agriculture and thus they are given the opportunity to take advantage of their "poor" situation to earn and improve the situation of their population
How does the market work? Each country has a quota that it will be obliged to reach by 2012. Countries, factories, industries will be obliged not to exceed the quota. The quota was determined by a formula according to which a country is not allowed to emit more gas than its land is able to absorb, that is: a forested country will be allowed to emit more since the forest absorbs gas. Or alternately, a country that is spread over a large sea area will be allowed to emit an amount equal to what the sea absorbs, so basically the industrialized countries' commitment to low emissions by improvements to the clean operation of factories and mainly by switching to the production of "clean" energy: sun, wind, sea waves and so'. Those who exceed the quota must purchase credit that will allow continued activity - that is, pay for the excess emissions
And of course those who produce less than their quota can sell the excess.
Let's say that a farmer wants to plant trees in some of his fields, to improve the water balance in the soil, to prevent erosion, to provide shade for certain crops or to make money from planting trees that, in the course of conventional agriculture, would "pay for themselves" only after many years. The farmer has no means of financing and therefore he is unable to fulfill his wish, the one who will help him will be for the sake of explanation the one we will define as a "carbon broker" the broker will finance the planting of the trees for the farmer with an advance payment. The middleman is interested in planting the trees as gas absorbers (carbon dioxide). The financing comes from industries and factories whose pollutant emissions are above what is allowed and is agreed upon in the Kyoto Convention, that is, a factory that emits carbon pays the farmer who plants trees that absorb carbon, this trade will be carried out all over the world between bodies, Institutions, farmers and industrialists, when (for the purpose of implementing the agreement) a state is also considered a commercial entity that is obligated to meet an emission level and to that end purchase (or sell) carbon emission credits
from other countries.
A plant that emits less gas than permitted, through technological improvements, switching to clean fuel, etc., can sell the remaining emissions to a (neighboring) plant that emits more than permitted, and thus the polluters pay "fines" for excess emissions, while the "clean" receive a benefit for positive activity.
When a positive activity, in addition to the use of "clean" energy, is mainly the renewal of the natural forest cover that was destroyed in the last century, this is under the limitation of checking the types of trees planted and the types of soil in which the plantings are established, since it is not always correct to cover an open area in the forest (see list on trees and water)
Trade is already taking place in various countries: Australian farmers plant trees in the areas they have created and receive compensation from industrial plants. There are large coal deposits in DRAP, mining of which is considered to contribute to gas emissions and therefore the company that mines coal in DRAP needs "emission credits" which it purchases from a European "carbon broker".
The good example is Uganda, a country that was forested and many of its forests were destroyed, Uganda is an agricultural country and therefore meets the emission levels set for it and below them. On the other hand, the industrialized European countries are looking for a "market" where they can sell the excess emissions. The solution - Ugandan farmers plant forests (in the areas where they were destroyed) and in return receive a lot of money that enables development and improvement of their living conditions.
According to the Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST), farmers in two villages have received $100.000 to date for planting trees on their land.
The money was paid by the European Union and the profit is doubled and multiplied. The villagers benefit their natural environment, improve the absorption of water in the soil, improve the soil, return the natural plants to their area, and in exchange for all this they earn money which, for them, is capital that enables the improvement of the general standard of living.
Sounds simple and good, provided of course that all the big polluters are bound by the convention, and it is not, since two huge countries are not bound by the convention, India and China, both of which are developing rapidly (mainly China) and are developing polluting industries that often add to them, or actually stand in front of them (marking the way and the direction) the polluter The largest of all that is not a signatory to the Kyoto Convention, which causes a quarter of all pollution emissions in the world, i.e. is directly responsible for 25% of the "greenhouse effect" and all the immediate and future damages that warming causes and will cause, aka the USA.
A collection of Assaf Rosenthal's articles on the Hidan website
Dr. Assaf Rosenthal is a leading geographer tour guide in Africa and South America. For details, phone 0505640309 / 086372298
or by email
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~297561222~~~218&SiteName=hayadan
