Lima declaration and new climate regime

There are more than 2,700 glaciers, big and small, in Peru, which is situated right below the equator. Glaciers on top of the Andes Blanca Mountains, dubbed “the Alps of Latin America,” have retreated 20 meters every year since 1977, and now land surface has been revealed in extensive areas. A survey through satellites, conducted by the Peruvian government ahead of the conference of parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, suggested that glacier in high-land areas has shrunk more than 40 percent, with more than 1,000 small lakes having been created due to water from melting glacier.

At the conference of parties to the UNFCCC held on Dec. 1 in Lima, Peru, participants adopted the "Lima 2014 Declaration on Biodiversity and Climate Change" through endless debate that went beyond the conference’s official closing date by two days. In the declaration, the delegations of 196 countries decided to adopt at the Paris conference next year a "New Climate Regime" that will replace the Kyoto Protocol. Unlike the Kyoto Protocol that only obliges advanced countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the "New Climate Regime," which will take effect after 2020, obliges all countries including developing economies to cut emission.

Reaching agreement was a challenge again at this year’s conference due to strong opposition by developing countries. However, as revealed by the fact China is currently the largest emitter of greenhouse gas, the reasoning that only emphasizes advanced countries’ obligation can no longer be appealing. Recently, Europe decided to cut greenhouse gas emission by at least 40 percent by 2030, while the U.S. also presented a goal to cut emission by 26 to 28 percent from the level in 2005 by 2025. China also pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emission after peaking by 2030.

Korea, which has proactively responded to greenhouse gas reduction through green growth strategy, is entitled to have a bigger say when it comes to climate change conferences. At this year’s conference, the Seoul government reaffirmed its target to cut greenhouse gas by 30 percent from the 2020 level, and decided to expand its contribution to the Green Climate Fund to up to 100 million U.S. dollars. Despite opposition by the business community and controversy over alleged lack of preparations, Korea will implement an emission trading system from January next year for the first time in Asia. In the wake of agreement on the New Climate Regime, controversy over “Why Korea should take the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emission” will subside, but the nation will become an advanced country in the New Climate Regime only when it has the emission trading system successfully take root here.