Kyoto and Beyond

By Eric Beresford

We don't hear much about acid rain any longer, and that is a problem. The truth of the matter is that the damage to lakes and forests caused by atmospheric sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions continues. Indeed, here in Ontario, Canada, it has likely become worse over recent years with the reintroduction of coal fired power generators. There is a lesson in this story for those of us who continue to work on other environmental issues, such as global warming, and who have been committed to the ratification of the Kyoto accord.

In the early 1980s it became clear that substantial damage was being done to lakes and forests due to the increased acidity of ground and surface water. The cause turned out to be primarily a result of SO 2 emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels. The gas reacts with water vapour in the atmosphere to form sulphuric acid. This acid is then found as a contaminant in rainfall, often at a great distance from where the SO 2 emissions took place.

In 1985 Canada mandated goals for emissions reductions that were in line with the UN and European Economic Community standards. This meant a 40% reduction over 1980 levels to be in place by the mid-1990s. This goal was a compromise between the goals that seemed to be indicated by the scientific information then available, and the capacity of major polluters to respond in a timely manner without massive economic dislocation. By linking the goal to UN and EEC standards, it also gave leverage to the Canadian government in the negotiation of the Canada – U.S. Air Quality Agreement. That agreement called on U.S. producers to meet similar targets by 2010. The targets were intended to provide a first round in a multi-step process.

Needless to say, the targets are significantly below what would be required for ecological sustainability. Current estimates suggest that we would need to achieve a further 75% reduction of atmospheric SO 2 emissions. Sadly, it seems that the political will was exhausted by the initial reductions, and it has proved difficult to generate the motivation for further work to address SO 2 emissions. Part of the problem is that very little public attention is now given to acid rain. In the minds of many, this was a problem that we solved years ago. In the meantime, acid rain continues to be a significant environmental problem, and many lakes and forests in eastern Canada and the eastern U.S. are still being damaged.

Kyoto is not an answer to the problem of global climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The targets set by Kyoto represent reductions of around 6% on global greenhouse gas emissions compared with 1990 levels. It is widely agreed that reductions of this magnitude will not reverse global climate change; they will simply slow it down.

Enter Kyoto. Kyoto is not an answer to the problem of global climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The targets set by Kyoto represent reductions of around 6% on global greenhouse gas emissions compared with 1990 levels. It is widely agreed that reductions of this magnitude will not reverse global climate change; they will simply slow it down. Most commentators believe that a cut of around 50% from 1990 levels of global greenhouse gas emissions is going to be necessary to prevent human induced change to the earth's climate system. Meantime, many countries are already seeing the effects of climate change with rising sea levels, increasingly severe weather conditions and changes to both the temperatures and the precipitation levels associated with the yearly cycle of seasons. Kyoto is intended to be a first step in a longer process of change, but given the fact that Russia still has not ratified the Kyoto accord despite significant international pressure, the question about whether the next steps will ever be taken is a serious one.

Climate change is a global problem, one that cannot be solved without significant international cooperation. It is a problem that affects all of us. While the worst effects will be experienced, at least in the short term, by nations of the Global South, none of us can escape the serious environmental, social, and financial impacts of global climate change.

It is also a problem that cannot be solved without local effort. The pressure to ratify and implement climate change protocols needs to take place in each country, if all governments are to be brought on board. It is also precisely in the face of such a problem that, more than ever, we need the international cooperation of the ecologically minded. With this in mind, the Anglican Communion Environmental Network is working to encourage the production and adoption of an Anglican Communion statement on climate change. It is our hope that many provinces within the Communion will adopt the statement providing the policy basis for local activism, and international cooperation. We hope that such a statement will help in a number of ways.

In particular, we hope:

•  It will help Anglicans to become more aware of the causes and impacts of global climate change, particularly on the world's most vulnerable peoples.

•  It will provide a framework within which Anglicans can join in with other environmentally concerned individuals and groups in common cause for a more sustainable relationship to the earth.

•  It will motivate Anglicans to engage in advocacy to ensure that their own governments take climate change seriously and work to implement real and significant reductions in greenhouse gas production.

•  It will encourage Anglicans to look at their own practices and seek to live, both as individuals and as church communities in ways that are more sustainable.

It is through actions such as this that we will be able to play our part, not only in seeing that Kyoto is implemented, but also in keeping international attention focused as we move beyond Kyoto to the much deeper changes that are so urgently needed.

The Rev. Canon Eric B. Beresford is coordinator of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, and also serves as an ethicist for the Anglican Consultative Council (the decision-making body for the worldwide church). He works in Toronto, Ontario, at the office of the Anglican Church of Canada, and may be reached by email at eberesford@national.anglican.ca .