Slovenia is to spend between SIT 5.5bn and 10bn (EUR 23m to 42m) annually on efforts aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with its commitments stemming from the Kyoto Protocol.
By acceding to the protocol, Slovenia - like the rest of the EU - committed itself to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 8 percent between 2008 and 2012.
The protocol, which has been ratified by 140 nations, will enter into force on Wednesday. To mark this event, a special session of the Slovenian Committee for Climate Change, a government body headed by the environment minister, will be held on Tuesday.
The document, a supplement to the 1992 UN Treaty on Climate Change, was named after the Japanese city where it was negotiated in 1997. Its goal is to control climate change by lowering industrial emissions of green houses gases, primarily carbon dioxide.
The measures aimed at lowering emissions apply to 35 industrialised countries, which must work to lower output of greenhouse gases compared to 1990 levels. In Slovenia's case, the base year for comparisons is 1986.
However, global progress in reducing emissions of these gases is expected to be limited given US refusal to sign up to the treaty. The US believes the implementation of its commitments would hurt its economy.
Slovenian officials have said the country's Kyoto commitments should not be difficult to achieve provided that the energy and industrial sectors are restructured as planned. Energy and industry are expected to bear the brunt of adapting to the Kyoto demands.
According to data for Slovenia, the amount of carbon dioxide equivalents emitted stood at 20.6 million tonnes in 1986 and dropped 1.1 percent by 2002 to 20.23 million tonnes. This means Slovenia was 6.9 percent off the Kyoto target at the end of 2002.
The energy sector was the greatest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in 2002 with a share of 78.9 percent, followed by agriculture with 10.2 percent, waste management with 5.4 percent and industry with 5.2 percent.
One of the mechanisms envisaged by the Kyoto Protocol is an emissions trading system. The EU as a whole has put into effect this mechanism as of this year. In line with the system, the Slovenian government has allocated carbon dioxide quotas to almost 100 industrial facilities.
These companies have been permitted to emit 26.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year between 2005 and 2007. If they emit less gas than allowed, they will be able to sell the unused "emission credits" to others that exceed their targets.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|