Billionaires think Americans should starve their kids to pay for 'climate reparations' such as paying Nigeria (and middlemen) to not cut down trees

"UN board could reign in $2.7 billion carbon market," AP, by John Heilprin, 8/21/10
"Firms abusing Kyoto carbon trading scheme: watchdog," Reuters, 6/13/10
''Tainted' credits cut US carbon price", Bloomberg,Business Week, by Matthew Carr, 5/19/10
"Cleaning up or cashing in? CDM's in focus" Climate Change Corp.,by Oliver Balch, 2/8/07
"Bank Tax, CO2 auctions recommended by Soros panel to help climate efforts," Bloomberg News, 11/5/10

• 11/20/10, "Keying Nigeria into $170 billion global carbon market," Daily Independent, Nigeria, Michael Simire

"He adds that Nigeria will rake in “millions of dollars” from sold REDD credits when the market becomes fully
operational.

• “In simple terms, it is payment for keeping your forest standing.”

"Global warming, an offshoot of the climate change phenomenon, is being gradually transformed from a threat of environmental doom to a promise of financial boom, thanks to the emerging universal trade in carbon credit,

• which analysts say is now worth a staggering $170 billion.

Observers are, however, worried that Nigeria is not doing enough towards positioning itself to adequately benefit from the largesse. Some believe that the nation has been schemed out of the lucrative business, which is meant to help promote reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission among the less-industrialised countries. The concept of carbon trading operates on the premise that developed countries with high GHG emission are desirable of paying for projects in developing countries with far lower gas emissions.

• Carbon emissions trading is one specifically for carbon dioxide (calculated in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or tCO2e) and currently makes up the bulk of emissions trading. It is one of the ways countries can meet their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon emissions and thereby mitigate global warming.

The carbon emission trading has been steadily increasing in recent years. According to the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Unit, 374 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) were exchanged through projects in 2005, a 240 per cent increase relative to 2004 (110 mtCO2e) which was itself a 41 per cent increase relative to 2003 (78 mtCO2e).

The World Bank estimated that the size of the carbon market was $11 billion in 2005, $30 billion in 2006 and $64 billion in 2007.

• Emissions trading (or cap and trade) is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. A central authority (usually a governmental body) sets a limit (or cap) on the amount of a pollutant that can be emitted.

The cap is allocated or sold to firms in the form of emissions permits which represent the right to emit or discharge a specific volume of the specified pollutant. “It is very painful that Nigerians are not participating in this trade, considering that Nigeria contributes only 0.03 per cent to global carbon emission,” chairman, Nigeria Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST),” Professor David Okali, said.

• But some others differ, saying that the prospects are bright, and that the country has a lot to offer in this regard. Indeed, the government has stated its intention to participate in carbon trading, and several oil companies are attempting to receive emissions credits.

One of the aims of the Kyoto Protocol is to create economic incentives for compliance with the provisions of the protocol. Under the terms of the protocol, when the equivalent of one metric tonne of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases is prevented from entering the atmosphere during a production process, carbon credits in the form of certificates are issued. These acquired carbon credit certificates may thereafter be traded at t

• the global carbon market which is similar to the Stock Exchange.

To help signatory countries achieve emission reductions and gain carbon credits at lower costs, the protocol established three flexible market mechanisms namely: International Emissions Trading (IET), Joint Implementation (JI), and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM allows countries to trade emissions credits between North and South to achieve overall reductions in GHG emissions as required by countries signatory to the Kyoto Protocol.

• The intent of the CDM is to provide finance for clean energy projects, such as solar, wind, energy efficiency and other clean renewable projects that would not otherwise obtain outside sources of finance. Nigeria, being a developing country and a signatory to the protocol, has a high potential for gaining carbon credits through the implementation of CDM projects, as the nation has a vast reserve of fossil fuel, oil and gas and solid minerals.
  
• In a recent World Bank study, over 750 CDM project opportunities were identified in Nigeria....

Some registered CDM activities in Nigeria include: the Kwale Recovery of Associated Gas Project, Ovade-Ogharefe Gas Capture and Processing Project, Save 80 Fuel Wood Stoves and Asuoku/Umutu Gas Recovery and Marketing Facility....

Indications are that Nigeria will, at the end of the day, be allocated some funds – $3 million to $4 million – to prepare a REDD Readiness Plan (RPP) within two years. National REDD+ Programme Coordinator, Salisu Dahiru, said: “The RPP shows the plan of action and how it will be implemented, cost and timelines as well as the role of agencies. It indicates the country’s readiness to participate in the REDD carbon market, which officially commences in 2013.”

• He adds that Nigeria will rake in “millions of dollars” from sold REDD credits when the market becomes fully operational. “In simple terms, it is payment for keeping your forest standing.”

Speaking a few weeks ago when the National Carbon Credit Train came to Lagos, Head of the Special Climate Change Unit (SCCU) in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr. Victor Fodeke, said some of the carbon credit units gained are in the oil and gas area, adding that the endeavour would rake in about 26 million euros for the country in the next 10 years. According to him, the main

• focus of the carbon credit train is to explain the concept of carbon credit in a non-technical manner and language that the ordinary man on the street can tap into the huge opportunities of this concept, which is targeted towards attracting investors for the projects in such a manner that will not contribute to the baseline GHGs and earn certified emission reduction units that can be traded for cash through the UNFCCC process and thereby enhance the benefit of the projects to the country therein. According to Fodeke,

the carbon credit train aims to effectively and widely disseminate information on carbon credit and climate change not only to vulnerable groups but also to local authorities, governments, business people, farmers, and other stakeholders who will inform the debate and response to Nigeria’s climate change challenge. Emission trading has, however, met with some challenges and criticisms, both locally and globally, for a variety of reasons....

• Bush made campaign promises in 2000 to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. However, in 2001, he pulled the U.S. out of the Kyoto accords as one of the first acts of his presidency. Bush dismissed Kyoto Protocol as too costly, describing it as “an unrealistic and ever-tightening straitjacket”. The Bush administration questioned the validity of the science behind global warming, as well as claims that millions of jobs will be lost if the U.S. joins in this world pact.

President Barack Obama was elected under widespread belief that shortly after arriving in office he would take swift and decisive action to join the world in reducing GHG emissions and therefore help battle global climate change. Backed by majorities in both houses of Congress, Obama was widely expected to quickly pass a Kyoto-style domestic cap-and-trade programme for GHGs, positioning America to take the moral high ground in Copenhagen, thus luring (or compelling) China and India to accept emissions targets....

• “The Obama administration’s proposals could undermine a new global treaty and weaken the world’s ability to stave off the worst effects of climate change,” an analyst said. Many people feel that the combination of the U.S. not signing the Kyoto Protocol (ensuring it will run out in 2012) and the U.S. attempt to change almost the entire architecture of the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen means the end of the Kyoto Protocol as we know it and perhaps a new global climate treaty.

“If Kyoto is scrapped, it could take several years to negotiate a replacement framework, a delay that could strike a terminal blow at efforts to prevent dangerous climate change. In Europe, we want to build on Kyoto, but the U.S. proposal would in effect kill it off. If we have to start from scratch, then it all takes time. It could be 2015 or 2016 before something is in place, who knows,” the source said."
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• (There is a fortune at stake in the global warming racket. It has been my experience that Google would prefer the truth not get out on this topic, even on a small blog such as this. I have no other explanation for the fact that parts of this post were just erased, requiring me to re-do the entire post. Parts may again disappear as has happened to similar posts of mine in the past.) ed.

via Tom Nelson
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