The Times: Do not let the US stall progress on climate change, the world is told
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/environment/article2823681.ece
Ben Webster
Countries are being urged to team up to fight climate change
A “coalition of the willing” among the world’s major economies can break the deadlock in the international negotiations on cutting greenhouse gases, according to a former UN climate chief.
Yvo de Boer said that countries such as Britain, which were willing to adopt higher targets for cutting emissions, should not wait for the US to act but join forces with like-minded nations.
In an interview with The Times before the UN climate conference opening in Cancún, Mexico, on Monday, Mr de Boer said that Europe and China were already discussing linking their emissions trading schemes.
He said: “There is no need for us to sit and wait until the very last person has agreed. Groups of countries coming together and beginning to act is a fantastic way of moving the process forward.
“Coalitions of the willing can advance an agenda. It’s a good thing for countries to work together in parallel to negotiations on an international deal.”
The Dutchman, who stepped down in July as executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said that the US had fallen behind China in terms of enacting its pledge on emissions. “China is further in actually translating its commitment into national policy.”
Professor Michael Grubb, a member of the Government’s advisory body on emissions, the Committee on Climate Change, endorsed the idea of a coalition of the willing. He said that participating nations could reach agreement on sharing low-carbon technology and adopt common rules on tariffs to deter imports of carbon-intensive goods.
He said: “In carbon terms this would be a coalition of the progressive world. In addition to Europe, we would need China or India plus Brazil or South Africa and either South Korea or Japan.
“There has to be some glue to hold the coalition together. The glue would have to involve some form of cooperation on carbon pricing, trade and financial measures.” Professor Grubb said that a strong coalition of countries working together to build new lowcarbon industries would inspire other nations to act. “If you have a critical mass of countries going in that direction, the US and other leading countries would want to catch up. It could turn out to be strategically bad to be stuck with a high-carbon economy.”
Meg Hillier, the Shadow Energy Secretary, said: “Given that America is several years away from coming back to the climate change agenda, we can’t wait for them. If we are setting standards on trade among a coalition of the willing, others will find they are on the outside and markets could drive them to look twice at what we are doing.”
In July, Chris Huhne, the Climate Change Secretary, with his French and German counterparts, called on the EU to increase its emissions reduction target from 20 to 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. Business Europe, a body for employers’ organisations such as the CBI, says this would put European industry at a disadvantage.
