Kyoto2: How to Manage the Global Greenhouse [Paperback]

This is a short, intense and very readable book, with a clear and direct exposition of the Kyoto 2 proposal for saving the world. Nothing less.

If you're hoping for deep exposition of the numbers which Tickell uses to make his case, you'll have to dig into his extensive bibliography. Kyoto 2 critics should make sure they do that before opening fire.

All engineers will find something to annoy them - Tickell cites the Severn Barrage, wind power, nuclear fusion, hydrogen, carbon capture and fuel cells as parts of the solution, and every engineer is deeply opposed to at least one of those ideas (take your pick).

But so what? Tickell has a succinct and robust set of propositions. You could take away any dozen of the specific technologies and policies he cites, and Kyoto 2 would still look like the only game in town. It's inherently strong, not at all dependent on any particular technology, and a prisoner to absolutely no ideology.

There are several dozen doctoral theses to be had on "the best" way to implement Kyoto 2. Several of them have no doubt already been written. May the detail be done, in good time. Right now, I just want to get my shoulder behind the wheel.

So when the next election comes, I'll have a note pinned to my front door thus: "Election canvassers: if your candidate supports Kyoto 2, ring the bell and tell me. Otherwise, go away."

Finally, if you avoid climate change books because the whole subject is such a downer (and is there any deeper downer to be had?), you will find this one a refreshing change. Tickell isn't going to be gentle with you - this book is more like a walk in the Outer Hebrides in a winter gale - challenging, invigorating, and a great hangover cure. Moping ends and action starts.

Do you agree with the G8 that at least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is required by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change?
Do you worry that it will not be possible to achieve this?
If you do then read this book. It is a well written, convincing argument for a `Kyoto2' solution which will work after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Kyoto2 has three legs:
1. Put a price on most carbon emissions by requiring producers of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas producing industrial process to buy tradable carbon emission credits. (Chapter 4)
2. Regulate to promote energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions - for example energy star labelling and building codes (Chapter 5)
3. Use money from auctioning carbon credits to pay for research on low carbon technology, on reducing land-use emissions and on adapting to climate change (Chapter 6)

While putting a price on carbon is the `main mechanism' of the proposal, regulating for energy efficiency and funding of new technology play a major role in reducing emissions. Their contribution reduces the amount of change which must be driven by the price on greenhouse gas emissions and thus allows this price to be moderate - perhaps US$30/tonne. This US$30/tonne provides US$1,000 billion/annum funding for technology research and makes low carbon technologies more attractive but doesn't inflict severe stress on the economy.

In support of its proposal, the book notes the ozone fighting Montreal Protocol as a very effective demonstration of the merits of regulating emissions and funding research. Did you know the Montreal Protocol has reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than the Kyoto Protocol, and has done so at substantially less cost per tonne than Kyoto?

The book has two significant omissions:
1. Little coverage of how its `Kyoto2' proposal might be implemented. In particular how a phased implementation might work. But don't dispair. Most of the elements of Kyoto2 are already part of policy proposals under discussion but the proportions are wrong. As Kyoto2 explains we need more action on regulation and direct funding and a simplification of the market mechanisms.
2. Not considering how revenue and competitive advantage issues drive businesses to adopt energy inefficient practices. These issues greatly increase the strength of the argument for the regulatory controls proposed in Chapter 5.

The book lives up to its title `How to Manage the Global Greenhouse'. It is an important proposal for a solution which anyone concerned with preventing dangerous climate change should read.

The holistic approach outlined in Kyoto 2 appears to be a credible way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time whilst adapting old technologies associated with the production of fossil fuels, developing and expanding alternative clean and renewable energy options, putting systems in place to help countries that are now suffering from the effects of climate change as well as protecting them from future effects and looking at and developing geo - engineering solutions should they be needed in the future - all to be funded by the sale of permits to those most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions upstream close to the source.

What has particularly interested me, though, is that Kyoto2 has addressed the problem of protecting existing natural tropical forest, and of regenerating degraded forest, by attaching a monetary value to doing so and has achieved this without the conflicts that can arise when generated as an offset against CO2 emmissions.

It is extremely difficult to convince tropical forest resource owners/ managers to manage their forests in a sustainable way, ie reduce the amount of trees they cut per hectare, without compensating them financially just because it's the right thing to do for the long term. Many logging companies are only interested in generating revenue over the short term and are not convinced that the extra premium, or market access, that products from certification schemes such as FSC can attract outweigh the diminished revenue created by reduced allowable cuts and the perceived extra costs associated with reduced impact logging techniques that they would have to employ to meet certification standards. Furthermore, as quite rightly stated in Kyoto 2, developing countries do not take too kindly to developed nations telling them to stop cutting down their forests when the developed nations have, more often than not, already cleared most of their own natural forests.

Kyoto 2 suggests a viable way of dealing with this by paying forest owners / managers / local communities for not cutting down trees, or reducing the number of trees they cut, as well as for regenerating natural forest to store carbon and replace lost biodiversity.

This type of approach could not only help to protect and regenerate the earths tropical forests but also adds in an extra revenue stream that makes sustainable forest management a much more attractive option to those who presently are not convinced of the economic viability of it.