The Kyoto Protocol and the Carbon Debate

The problem of human-induced climate change will only be solved by a change in energy policies and policies on natural resources. As long as renewable resources are regarded only in quantitative terms based on carbon accounting, including them in the measures designed to implement the Kyoto Protocol will merely lead to a situation whereby symptoms are combated in a superficial manner and the problem of global warming is prolonged. The present paper therefore argues that any strategy concerned with sustainable development should be based on sustainable management of renewable resources. The costs of producing goods made from sustainably managed renewable resources should be taken as the overall frame of reference for environmental accounting measures, rather than mere fragmentary approaches based on internalisation of specific ecological and social costs. These production costs would thus become a benchmark for assessing sustainable development, thereby constituting a clear and salient model for use in related political processes. Resource policies that focus on meeting current needs largely on the basis of easy access to non-renewable resources lead to eventual exhaustion of resource stocks and damage to renewable resources through pollution and exploitation. The present paper proposes ways of seeking political consensus on policies that are conducive to sustainable development.