JOINT IMPLEMENTATION AND THE ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE OF THE UNITED-NATIONSFRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE-CHANGE

This paper critically assesses the potential role of joint implementat ion (JI) in contributing to the achievement of the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, namely, the stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at leve ls which are nonthreatening to human societies and ecosystems. This re quires, among other actions, a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions within t he next few decades, which in turn requires limitation of population g rowth, dramatic reductions in industrialized country per capita emissi ons , and sharply constrained growth in per capita emissions from the developing world. We examine the potential role of JI in assisting dev elopment aimed at meeting basic human needs - a pre-requisite for popu lation stabilization - and conclude that JI has little to offer and ma y indeed be counterproductive. We also examine JI as a vehicle for tec hnology transfer, and conclude that, if JI is to play a useful role he re, it must be accompanied by fundamental reform in the nature of curr ent technology transfer and official development assistance. Furthermo re, for JI to be effective in limiting the growth of developing countr y emissions through technology transfer, accelerated development of ad vanced and renewably based energy technologies by the industrialized w orld is required, which is unlikely unless these countries commit to m aking strong emissions reductions of their own. (C) 1997, Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. Ail rights reserved.