ABSTRACT
This overview of the existing
political analysis of carbon markets
identifies three broad strands in the literature. The first is concerned
with the processes by which particular carbon market schemes
are established. The second focuses on the role of
particular actors in the creation of carbon markets. The third strand
assesses carbon markets
on efficiency, legitimacy or justice grounds. This
existing literature is contrasted with
the framework developed by
the contributions to this volume. Broadly drawing on constructivist and
poststructuralist approaches, the carbon economy is deconstructed, its history
scrutinised and the practices and technologies that have been used to bring
these markets into being are highlighted. Thus it
is demonstrated that politics is not limited
to the policy process leading up to the decision to implement an
emissions trading scheme or offset mechanism, but is also present in the forms
of knowledge claims that underpin these markets, as well as the various
daily practices that
constitute them.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Forest Conservation is the
maintenance of the worlds‟ tree cover in forest area. Forest area is defined as
land under natural or planted stands of trees at least 5M SQ whether productive
or not and excludes tree stands in agricultural productive systems (Fruit
plantations and agro forestry system) and trees in urban parks and gardens(Nigeria
Forest Act 2013). Forests play a crucial role in the lives of the communities
and various Nations, such as: Source for timber/Firewood, traditional herbs
among Other Cultural importance. It is also important in: nutrient Cycling,
Soil formation, oxygen production, home for wildlife, soil erosion barriers,
and Water reservoir for other forms of diversity. Forest Conservation therefore
employs various strategies to achieve its targets amid various societal,
political and Cultural affiliations that are largely dependent on the forests. Historicaly,
Conservation strategies has been dominated by attempts to fence off or reserve
areas by excluding people from the reserved areas(Adams and Holme 2001) ,a
model called fortress conservation. It involved creation of Parks, forest
reserves, and prevention and exclusion of people as residents and minimize consumptive
use (Brown, 2002).
Over
the past 15 years carbon markets have become a dominant part of the policy
approach to address greenhouse gas mitigation in many countries. Carbon markets
constitute the central elements of the Kyoto Protocol – specifically the
intergovernmental emissions trading scheme (ETS), the Joint Implementation (JI)
and Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) – and the EU ETS is at the heart of the European
Union’s climate policy. Furthermore an
emissions trading system is currently the only economy-wide climate policy that
has any chance of being implemented in the United States – even though so far,
this has only happened on a regional level (in the north-eastern states via the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative). Trading schemes have also been implemented in Japan, New Zealand and
New South Wales (Betsill and Hofmann 2011). Beyond that, there has been a
smaller voluntary carbon market, which provides companies, organisations and
individuals with offsets for their emissions in the absence of any reduction
requirements (as well as, via the no longer operational Chicago Climate
Exchange, a voluntary cap and trade system).
While
carbon markets have been the dominant policy response, the carbon economy
currently looks bleak. In the absence of a post-Kyoto agreement and no binding
global targets beyond 2012, it is unclear whether there will be an enduring
demand for CERs, ERUs or AAUs – the emissions reduction commodities created
through the Kyoto Protocol.1 The Durban Platform has given a temporary
lifeline to the CDM, but its longer-term future is far from certain. This
uncertainty about the future of the markets, in combination with recurrent
fears about over-allocation within the EU ETS as well as the impact of the
recession on emissions themselves, have kept carbon prices at relatively low levels.
Even though
the current situation looks gloomy, it seems rather unlikely that this will
result in an abandoning of carbon markets. Quite the contrary: a number of
developments point to further expansion, despite the absence of a binding
international agreement. Several initiatives are currently underway that will in the near- or mid-term
future result in the creation of new domestic markets: California has approved
its emissions trading scheme scheduled to come online in 2013, and other
members of the Western Climate Initiative, notably Que´ bec, Ontario and British Columbia, may well join it at that point or shortly afterwards. Australia’s scheme came into effect
on 1 July 2012. Eight developing and emerging economies –
Chile, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand, and Turkey –
have been allocated grants through the World Bank’s Partnership for Market
Readiness to devise domestic trading schemes (World Bank 2011), while South
Korea is an advanced state of planning for a scheme due to be implemented in
2015. In addition, the efforts to device a mechanism for Reducing Emissions
from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD
) will possibly result in a new carbon offset mechanism of significant size (see Stephan this issue).
Statement of the problem
There
is now a substantial literature on carbon markets. Interestingly, however, there has been surprisingly little
published within the pages of Environmental Politics. All we have is two
articles on the Kyoto mechanisms (Schmitz and Michaelowa 2005, Shin 2010), one
on the EU ETS (Damro and Luaces Me´ ndez
2003), one on the role of carbon trading in the 2010 Australian election (Rootes 2011), and one on intergenerational
justice implications of cap and trade systems (Schuppert 2011). Beyond that,
there are occasional mentions in the context of more general articles on the
Kyoto Protocol, European climate policy,
or similar. So in one sense, the aim of this volume Is
to engage carbon markets strictly in relation to debates of interest to those
in the field of environmental politics, in order to fill this rather surprising
gap (especially given the number of articles in closely related journals, on
which more below).
Of
course there is plenty within the field on which the focus on carbon market
politics can draw. Closely related debates about ecological modernisa- tion
(e.g. Mol 1996, Christoff 1996, Warner 2010) and new
environmental policy instruments (NEPI) (Jordan et al. 2003) are particularly
relevant. Carbon markets can clearly be
seen as part of such novel instruments (alongside voluntary agreements,
public–private partnerships, and so on), or what Albert Weale (1992) 20 years
ago called ‘the new politics of pollution’, in that they reflect the search to
go beyond end-of-pipe regulatory measures and operate via economic incentives
to achieve environmental goals. They can also be seen as part of a broader
ecological modernisation process, notably because they reflect the broad
discursive shift which rejects a strict opposition between economic growth and
sustainability, and because they directly entail the generation of growth
sectors (specifically carbon market financial instruments but also carbon offset
projects) that are designed (at least rhetorically) to be organised around the
decarbonisation of the (global) economy, Decentralization/Organisational
participation in international carbon trading through formation of CFA in
Kaberua and other regions so as to involve people in the conservation of the
forest, but the fundamental causes of encroachment of the forest are not clear.
It is against this ground that the study will focus on investigating factors
influencing conservation of Enugu Forest.
The purpose of this study was to
investigate The politics of conservation using international carbon trading to
protect forest and biodiversity
The following objectives were used to
guide the study.
1.
To
determine how Decentralization of forest management practices influence
conservation of Mt Elgon forest.
2.
To
determine the extent in which organisational participation in international
carbon trading influence conservation of Enugu
forest.
3.
To
determine how awareness of international carbon trading influence conservation
of Enugu forest.
4.
To establish how international
carbon trading system‟ influence conservation of Enugu forest.
The study sought to answer the
following questions:
1.
To
what extent does decentralization of forest management practices influence
conservation of Enugu forest?
2.
How
does organisational participation in international carbon trading influence
conservation of Enugu Forest?
3.
To
what extent does awareness of international carbon trading influence conservation of Mt Elgon forest?
4.
How
does‟international carbon trading system‟ influence conservation of Enugu forest?
The study is significant in various
ways:
The Ministry of forestry and Natural
resources may use this study finding to be able to find out the causal factors
that works against conservation of the forest. Alongside that, the Ministry
through EFD shall be able to strengthen the CFA through formulation of a proper
working structure and policy to ensure proper organisational participation in international
carbon trading in Conservation of the Forest alongside carrying out civic
education on the relevance of conserving the forest.
The Government of Nigeria may use the
research findings to make substantive budgetary allocation geared towards forest
conservation alongside partnering with bilateral and multilateral organization
like World Bank and IMF to support the forest conservation programs in the
country. The GOK may use the findings also to shape up the curriculum on
environmental conservation in light with the conditions of our forests. This
shall result into skilled practitioners on forest conservation.
The NGO‟S dealing with the forest
conservation may use the findings to engage in activities geared towards
enforcing the conservation policy alongside carrying out further Civic
education.
To the researchers, these findings
shall aid them in Carrying out further research on forest conservation. In
addition to, the researchers shall further their knowledge on the nature of our
forests alongside the conservation programs.
Limitations
This research was carried out in
Enugu District whose geography is rugged and the nature of the land topography
makes other areas inaccessible. The social-economic culture and subsequent
notion of the forest being a hide out of the militia groups such as: SLDF makes
the area unique from other Districts in Nigeria. This makes the researcher to
caution that the research findings were cautiously generalized
Secondly, the factors that are being
investigated as per the objectives such as: Decentralization Management
practices, organisational participation in international carbon trading,
awareness of international carbon trading and „international carbon trading
system‟ are only handful causal factors influencing conservation of Enugu
Forest. Others may include: the medicinal value of the trees, poverty, Cultural
practices and other illicit agricultural practices that have not been included
in the study.
Delimitation of the study
This study was only undertaken in 6
Sub-Location in the respective Locations totaling to 6 in Enugu District. The
reasons for the above are as follows: The Areas borders the forest and human
activities have adverse impacts on the forest than other areas that are away
from the forest, Secondly, there are other activities such as „International
carbon trading system‟ do exist in Kamuneru and Kaboywo.CFA have been formed in
Kaberua ;activities which influence forest conservation
.This is not to mean these are the
only factors that influence conservation of the forest ,there could be other factors
in other locations which could adversely affect the study findings.
================================================================
Item Type: Project Material | Attribute: 62 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment