Could climate change talks affect poorer oil-producing countries?

Jodie Humphries

As climate change talks approach ever closer, questions are being raised over whether poorer oil-producing countries should be compensated for loss revenues if talks agree to cut the use of oil.

The concerns have been expressed by OPEC Secretary-General Abdallah al-Badri in an interview with The Times on Saturday. The Secretary-General of OPEC said he would support Saudi's claims for compensation if climate change talks at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, end with commitments to reduce oil consumption in developed countries, Jerusalem Post states.

He said that according to the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries should provide financial assistance to poorer countries, adding that failure to comply could be fatal for the upcoming talks in the Danish capital.

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 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.These amount to an average of five percent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.

"We are not emitting. Historically, it is the developed countries. The responsibility is on their shoulders," he said. "If we want to keep temperatures from rising by more than two degrees [centigrade] we need a comprehensive and sophisticated approach."

What is the Copenhagen climate change summit?

The UN meeting is the deadline for thrashing out a successor to the Kyoto protocol, with the aim of preventing dangerous global warming.

At least 193 countries are expected to take part in the conference as signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty signed a decade ago, which some viewed as a critical turning point in global climate talks.

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, tackling climate change is key to ensuring sustainable development, poverty eradication and safeguarding economic growth.

Dr Mohammed Aly Raouf, Program Manager of Environmental Research at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, told The Media Line such a claim would set a problematic precedent.

"Sooner or later the world will switch to another source of energy and if they say they want to be compensated then the coal producing countries can also say they want to be compensated," Dr Raouf said.

"We are not looking at the interests of individual countries, we are looking at the interest of the whole world to save the planet."

Dependence

Pressure to secure compensation for loss of oil revenue is mounting due to OPEC's increased dependence on oil revenue, and a growing international support for green energy.

Saudi Arabia first proposed a program for compensation in 1992, during the United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro.

Oil in the region is currently being traded at US$80 a barrel. Last year prices fell to US$47 and a number of development projects across the region were either put on hold or cancelled.

Over the last 20 years, Gulf States have attempted to diversify their economies away from a dependence on oil income. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has been most successful with expansion into the financial services industry and real estate.

When the global economic crisis hit the region last year, the countries least affected were those most able to fall back on oil revenue. Abu Dhabi bailed Dubai's state-owned companies at a cost of US$10 billion, raising concerns that despite attempts at diversification, oil underscores the region's economy stability.

Abu Dhabi is the world's fourth largest oil producer and is estimated to control 10 percent of the world's known oil reserves.

Watchdog

Badri suggested the creation of a watchdog to monitor excessive speculation in the oil market, PressTV stated. He accused speculators of causing a recent surge in oil prices by holding 130 million barrels in tankers at sea, waiting for prices to increase.

"Extreme speculation causes extreme volatility in the market," he was quoted as saying. "There must be a watchdog to make sure speculation is not excessive. It is really too much." Badri added that he did not see a peak in oil production "now or for the foreseeable future."

Meanwhile, whistleblowers at the International Energy Agency (IEA) claimed earlier this month that the world is closer to a peak in crude oil supply than what the world agency announces.

Badri said richer oil-consuming countries such as Britain and the US should acknowledge that they have created most carbon dioxide emissions to date and that they should not block poorer countries from raising living standards for their own people, that they need to take responsibility for their actions.