Go green and grow

Thursday, 26 March 2009 15:29

AT the approach of Earth Hour on Saturday, March 28, a top United Nations official has urged countries to use their energy resources more efficiently and to switch to clean technology as soon as possible.

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said world leaders should support recovery and green growth as part of a successful new climate-change treaty in Copenhagen in December this year, the proposed successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.

“The financial and economic crisis will have an impact on the negotiating process and on efforts to address climate change,” de Boer told international journalists through teleconferencing from London. “Clearly, this is not the best time in the world to go to finance ministries and ask for more money for international cooperation on climate change.”

He added that declining oil prices also make renewable energy less competitive than it was when oil was at its peak at $147. “This means there is less investment capital available and that a number of clean investment projects are being pushed back in time.”

He said, however, that in a number of countries, climate and energy policy is very much in the heart of economic-recovery packages, especially the US and China. “I think this is a sign that countries are also seeing this as opportunity to change the direction of the economic growth.” 

He added a number of developing and emerging economies, including the Philippines, Brazil, India, South Africa and Mexico, have indicated they are willing to take further action to combat climate change, but that they needed international financial and technical support.

De Boer said the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December this year may not yield a new global climate treaty should policymakers fail to resolve the four essential political essentials to be discussed in the Climate Change Talks scheduled next week in Bonn, Germany.

These essentials are clarity on ambitious emission-reduction targets for individual industrialized countries, clarity on what action the developing countries may take to limit their emissions, a significant, stable and predictable financial support for developing countries on both mitigation and on adaptation, and a management structure to handle the financial aid resources for the developing countries.

“There is a recognition on a need to address this prerequisites,” said de Boer. “We need a strong long-term goal for 2050.”

The Kyoto Protocol ratified by 184 parties—practically all countries on earth—of the UN Climate Convention had set binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions.

One notable exception is the United States, then led by President George W. Bush, who rejected the protocol. Now Yvo de Boer is “really happy” to see the US back in the international climate-change process and also engaging domestically in the process—as can be seen in the stimulus package of President Obama where funds for efforts on countering climate change, are included.

“President Barack Obama has come forward with a very encouraging position on climate change indicating that he wants to show leadership at the national level by putting a domestic carbon trade policy in place. He wants to re-engage in the negotiations and wants to work toward agreement in Copenhagen.” 

The first in a series of major UN negotiating sessions this year, designed to culminate in an ambitious and effective international climate- change deal in Copenhagen in December, is set to get under way on Sunday in Bonn.

The Bonn talks, which run until April 8, will be attended by more than 2,000 participants, including government delegates, representatives from business and industry, environmental organizations and research institutions.

The key document to be discussed involves exploring options for dealing with areas of divergence, and identifies any gaps that need to be filled in reaching an effective and ambitious climate-change deal.

“Following the first round of discussions in Bonn, we will have a much better sense of both where we already have a solid foundation for agreement, but also where input is still lacking for a workable agreed outcome in Copenhagen,” said de Boer.

(Source: Business Mirror)