1 4 NEWS / HABERLER Carbon Trading M arket rides to rescue of environment Clashes between environmental groups and big business, from Greenpeace activists chaining themselves to the production lines of fuel-guzzling sports utility vehicles, to protestors outside meetings of the Group of Eight industrialised nations, are a common sight. . But a subtle change has taken place to bring business and the 'greens' closer together than ever: safeguarding the environment now requires using the tools of business. Klaus Töpfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, exemplified the change last month. "To fight poverty we need three kinds of capital- financial, human and environmental. When we damage natural capital we not only undermine our life support systems but the economic basis for current and future generations", he said. "Targeted investment in this natural capital has a high rate of return in terms of development. Restoring them to health after they have been damaged is a costly and often time consuming affair. Better to keep them intact than undermine them in the first place." Mr. Töpfer was acknowledging the importance of placing environmental goods in an economic context, thus translating the arguments of environmentalists into a language that businesses can understand. The best example of this is carbon trading. From January 1 this year, a price was put on carbon dioxide for the first time. in the European Union, businesses that emit large amounts of the gas were forced to begin to monitor their emissions of carbon dioxide, and will have to pay for producing too much. Companies that produce more than their allowance of carbon dioxide must buy additional allowances from companies that have successfully cut lıeir, output. ENERJi & KOJENERASYON DÜNYASI The intention is to encourage companies to find ways of reducing their -carbon dioxide emissions at the lowest possible cost. Businesses seem to be adapting to the scheme. The price of carbon dioxide has risen to more than 29 Euro a tonne from about 8 Euro in the first days of the scheme. Margaret Beckett, UK environment secretary, says: "We see this as a very important step. Emissions trading guarantees environmental benefits". The most ringing endorsement for the idea of carbon trading came from the leaders of 24 of the world's biggest businesses who met Tony Blair in June to ask for more regulation of their industries. They urged G8 leaders who, under Mr Blair's chairmanship, will discuss climate change at their meeting in Scotland starting today, to take action on the problem by instituting a carbon trading scheme around the world. The leaders of businesses including BP, Ford, British Airways, Rio Tinto and Toyota called for a worldwide carbon trading system that would define emissions rights and set limits on how much carbon dioxide businesses could produce to produce a level playing field for companies operating in different countries. The start of the EU's trading scheme marked the first real attempt to apply market forces to what most scientists see as the most important environmental issue of our timeclimate change. The climate changes naturally all the time but in recent decades scientists have perceived new forces at work. Burning the fossil fuels on which modern economies depend releases carbon dioxide into the air. Since the 19th century scientists have theorised that this would �ave an effect on the earth's climate as carbon dioxid and a few similar gases tenU 10 llJP in Karbon Ticareti Piyasası, çevrenin kurtarılmasına çabalıyor Greenpeace eylemcilerinin petrol yutan spor araçları üretim hatlarına zincirlerle bağlamalarından sanayileşmiş uluslar toplantısı olan GB toplantı mekanlarının önünde gösteri yapan protestoculara kadar çevreci gruplarla büyük ticari şirketler arasındaki fikir anlaşmazlık/arı, sıklıkla rastlanan görüntülere dönüştü. Ancak ticari şirketlerle 'yeşilleri' bir araya getirmek için incelikli bir değişiklik yapıldı: çevrenin korunabilmesi için artık ticari yolların kullanılması gerekecek. Birleşmiş Milletler Çevre Programı İdari Müdürü Klaus Töpfer geçen ay yaşanan değişimi bir örnekle açıkladı. "Yoksullukla savaşabilmek için üç tür sermayeye gereksinim duyuyoruz- finansal, insan ve çevre sermayesi. Doğal sermayeye zarar verdiğimizde, sadece yaşamsal destek veren sistemleri göz ardı etmekle kalmış olmuyoruz, aynı zamanda da mevcut ve gelecek nesiller için gerekli ekonomik temeli tehlikeye atmış oluyoruz" dedi. "Doğal sermayeye yapılması hedeflenen yatırımların kalkınma açısından bakıldığında yüksek geri dönüş oranına sahip olduğu biliniyor. Bu tür yatırımlar zarar gördükten sonra iyileştirilmesi maliyeti çok yüksek ve genellikle de zaman kaybettiren bir girişim olmaktadır. İlk adımda bu tür kaynakları göz ardı etmektense sağlam halde korumaya çalışmak daha doğrudur." Töpfer, çevresel malların ekonomik bir çerçeve içinde ne kadar önemli olduğunu belirtirken böylece çevrecilerin geliştirdik/eri söylemi ticaretle uğraşanların anlayabileceği bir dile çevirerek aktarmış oldu. Bu hususa ilişkin en güzel örnek karbon ticaretidir. Bu yıl 1 Ocak'tan itibaren ilk kez karbondioksit için
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