Cement Energy and Environment

Negotiations related to post– Kyoto, that is beyond 2012, priority of our country should be development. Equal duties and responsibilities should be given to all sectors, particularly energy and transport for the reduction of greenhouse gas. Unfair and heavy sanctions to be applied only to specific sectors should be avoided. Conslusion "Sustainable development" will be the main policy of the Turkish cement industry at our second 100 1 h anniversary. In our second century, as respecting the environment and playing a more active role in development, our works to use lower energy in production will be increased even more. The cement industry in its second century will see upgrade of "quality of life" as a priority. Because of these reasons, Turkish cement industry says sustainability at its 1 ooth anniversary. Courtesy: Cement and Concrete World, May-June 2011, Pp27-30. Climate Change & Global Warming "THE RICH COUNTRIES HAVE TO PROVIDE THE MONEY THAT WOULD ALLOW OTHERS TO BUILD A LOW– CARBON ECONOMY" In 1997, the world adopted the Kyoto Protocol, in which the developed nations agreed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. Now, with just one year to go, the world is debating the need for such a protocol and legally binding emission reduction targets for countries. In this regard , Suparna Mukherji spoke to Lord John Prescott, former Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State of the UK, who led the UK delegation at the Kyoto Protocol negotiations to ascertain his opinions on Kyoto 1 and the way ahead. What is your assessment of the present global scenario as far as sustainability is concerned? I am an eternal optimist. And , my experience from being a negotiator at Kyoto is to notice how the global scenario has been improving. But these are small steps for humankind. The trouble at Copenhagen [15 1 h Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP 15] was that the leaders got too caught up with the idea that there had to be a legal framework. That almost brought about a fall. But now, Cancun [COP 16] has brought it back on track and we have got a roadmap. The test will be whether countries can implement the promises that they are making by going in the right direction. What are your expectations from COP 17 to be held in Durbun, South Africa? I am very hopeful, because the Mexicans were quite successful in getting the climate change-related negotiations back on track Cancun, and this will continue to South Africa. But, my worry is that we have got such complicated things to negotiate. I just hope that if we do not get the "big formula" ready by 2011, people do not begin to blame South Africa like the way they did Copenhagen. The date set for Kyoto 2 is 2012, so we just have to concentrate on getting the details right and implementing the same. What is your opinion about Kyoto 2? Kyoto 2 is way different from Kyoto 1. While Kyoto 1 was for about 45 nations, rich and developed, we are now talking about 195 nations. Also, when you talk about greenhouse gas (GHG) cuts, targets, economic growth, you cannot have legal framework at this stage anyway. So, there are voluntary national plans, and these plans, if implemented, will be a huge step towards getting a sustainable framework. However, this may not happen by 2012. Also we have to realize that we might have to go without the US. We are in a new world - power, wealth, and resources are moving from the West to the East. We need to recognize thi s change because the majority of the people in this world live in poverty, while a few minorities have all the wealth. The wealthy minority has to change its style of living to help others lift themselves out of poverty. There are two big challenges - how do you reduce the world's mass poverty and how do you balance economic growth and prosperity with climate change. Accord ing to you, what are the key points that should be kept in mind for Kyoto 2. The biggest point is that we must not allow failure. It was threatened in Copenhagen; we did not fail , but we did not even get success. There are forces like steel and oil, which want to seen the end of Kyoto . So, the first and the most important things is to keep the show on track and not allow the skeptics to derail the most important global action. At the end of the day, we just need to be realistic and idealistic. A number of people believe that one cannot work 24 "' ,