DUSHANBE, October 22, 2008, Asia-Plus — An international conference, formally titled “Clean Energy: New Opportunities of Development of Renewable and Alternative Energy Resources in Tajikistan,” opened in the governmental residence Pugus in the Varzob district today morning.
The conference, staged by Tajik Aluminum Company (Talco) and open joint-stock company Somon-Capital, has brought some 80 representatives of the government, parliament, known experts and researchers as well as international organizations to discuss issues related to Tajikistan’s joining the Kyoto Protocol, which is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov inaugurated the conference.
Ratification by Tajikistan of agreements provided for by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and implementation of market mechanisms of these agreements as well as problems of development of the renewable and ecologically clean energy resources in Tajikistan are among the major topics of the conference
The following papers are being at conference: “Kyoto Protocol and Renewable Energy Resources: Legal Framework”; “Clean Development Mechanism and Emission-Quota Trading Market”; “Hydropower in Tajikistan under Climate Change Conditions” and others.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Ms. Sayohat Qodirova, a spokeswoman for Talco, said that the Tajik aluminum industry attached significance to increasing efficiency of use of energy “both in its own production and other branches of the national economy.”
Talco has repeatedly announced its readiness to observe international environmental protection requirements, including the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol, and make its contribution to development of the alternative energy resources in the country,” Qodirova said.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012. The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so.
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. 182 Parties of the Convention have ratified its Protocol to date.
Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Kyoto Protocol offers them an additional means of meeting their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms: emissions trading – known as “the carbon market;” the clean development mechanism (CDM); and joint implementation (JI). The mechanisms help stimulate green investment and help Parties meet their emission targets in a cost-effective way.
