GLOBE-Net, January 13, 2011 - The main focus of
media attention given over to recent United Nations (UN)
deliberations on climate change has been the progress (or lack
thereof) of an international consensus on a viable emissions
reduction regime to replace the Kyoto Protocol after it expires in
2012.
Some gains were made at the recent Cancun Summit, in particular,
the deal between developed and developing countries that the
post-2012 climate change system would include emissions reduction
commitments and international monitoring for all major economies.
However, it is still unclear whether these commitments will be part
of a legally binding protocol. (See GLOBE-Net article Cancun - another step on the long road
to Rio).
More UN meetings are planned in the months ahead, but it is
unlikely that this issue will be resolved until at least the Earth
Summit in 2012, also known as Rio+20, taking place twenty years
after the inaugural landmark summit in Rio de Janeiro in
1992.
But the Rio Summit will go far beyond the issue of emissions
reduction. UN event planners are hoping it will lead to a
political document to guide action on sustainable development
policy for decades to come and will give birth to a new World
Environment Organization.
Recent Meetings
A UN planning meeting held this week saw a mixed group of
stakeholders voice their expectations for the Rio+20 Summit.
Contributions to the summit's discussions were submitted
by UN member states, major stakeholders, and international organizations ahead of the
meeting.
A report summarizing their submissions
suggests that the green economy will rely on "rigorously enforced
environmental laws, taxation based on environmental impact", and
"personal carbon quotas".
Canada's official submission to this meeting placed considerable
emphasis on the 2010 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy,
which dealt with limitations of Canada's previous approaches by
formulating an integrated, whole-of-government approach to
achieve environmental sustainability.
The concept of personal carbon quotas or "carbon credit cards"
has generally been regarded as an idea ahead of its time in terms
of public acceptability and the technology needed to implement it,
though a variant concept that might gain traction is the idea of a
"Robin Hood tax" on currency conversions or customs duties to
prevent unfair competition from exporting countries which have
lower environmental regulations.
Green Governance Issues
With respect to international environmental law and green
governance, many of the stakeholders backed the idea of a World
Environment Organization (WEO) by significantly upgrading UNEP and
possibly even setting up an International Court for the Environment
(ICE) as a way to deal with disputes related to international
environmental law.
Enforcement of international sustainable development
commitments, even with the threat of an International Court with
jurisdiction on such matters, in all likelihood will take years to
unfold. Even then, making recalcitrant industries or nations change
their behaviour could be equally problematic.
It's in the area of transitioning to a 'greener' economy that
Rio +20 could generate the most lasting benefit. While the concept
of the green economy is not well understood and is variously
interpreted (see GLOBE-net article Greening the Economy - A Discussion
Paper) research conducted by the GLOBE
Foundation confirms that continued job growth, improved global
competitiveness, and energy security are the primary benefits of
reorienting the economy toward the realities of a lower carbon
future.
The stakeholders assembled at the UN planning session appeared
to believe that the transition to a green economy will involve some
winners and some losers and that there was no guarantee that a
green-based economy will provide sufficient replacement jobs.
On the contrary, the GLOBE research has shown that while some
jobs may be lost in traditional economic sectors as they phase out
carbon-intensive practices, many new jobs will be created and many
new skills and knowledge requirements will emerge that will
stimulate education and trades training activities.
Greening the Economy
To realize the full benefits of the transition to a greener
economy, governments must provide incentives (not necessarily
artificial subsidies) so businesses in all sectors will see the
practical benefits of adopting lower carbon-intensive practices. At
the same time, policies must be put in place that set market-based
prices on carbon, particularly for high carbon emitters.
Canada is more fortunate than many other economies for the
abundance of its natural energy resources. But the basic fact
remains, greening the economy is the key to economic and social
survival in the carbon-constrained world of tomorrow.
That being the case, one might ask why is this transition is not
proceeding at a faster pace around the globe?
The reasons are many, not the least of which are a lack of
urgency and understanding on the need for transitioning to more
sustainable economies; the lack of a clear vision of what the
future will hold; deeply embedded structural, social, and political
systems which make accepting the new energy and economy paradigms
difficult; and a lack of finance and capital needed to invest in a
greener economy and transition away from our traditional
economy.
Fear of the future was a common theme running through the
concerns expressed by the stakeholders at the UN meeting,
particularly fears that inaction on climate change would lead to
increased conflicts related to food and water insecurity, or more
frequent occurrences of natural disasters may make parts of the
world uninhabitable, fueling rising levels of migration, which in turn was seen as a threat to national
security.
These negative impacts could very well transpire as changing
climatic conditions impact on established agricultural and
industrial bases of many economies. These impacts are inevitable;
but that does not mean we cannot be better prepared to deal with
them. That, in fact, is one of the prime motivating factors for
accelerating the transition to a greener economy.
What Priorities?
In terms of the priorities that should be pursued at preparatory
meetings for the 2012 Rio+20 Summit, specifically as these may
relate to greening economies worldwide, the following points are
relevant:
- The post-Kyoto regulatory regime must not be simply a wealth
transfer mechanism designed solely to alleviate poverty or
compensate developing world countries for climate change impacts
that may or may not have been caused by them.
- What the Rio+20 Summit must provide are practical incentives
for on-the-ground changes that create opportunities for all to
improve their standards of living and to halt environmentally
damaging practices that in many cases are sanctioned by the very
governments now seeking compensation.
- The business community must be empowered through the post-Kyoto
regulatory regime to put in place emission reducing technologies
and solutions that create jobs, that raise standards of living, and
that address major environmental problems that are being
exacerbated by climate change.
- Governments must provide stable and predictable policy
climates that foster private sector engagement and investment,
where companies large and small can plan for the investments needed
to implement lower-carbon practices.
- These policies must stimulate the more efficient use of all
available energy resources and minimize the wasteful use of other
critical natural resources such as water, forests, minerals,
agricultural lands, and air.
- Governments must also stimulate the development and deployment
of innovative technologies which could provide the basis for
product development for export or import substitution
purposes.
- Lastly, governments must stimulate a greater awareness of the
need to adopt lower carbon-intensive lifestyles in both the present
and future generations of consumers and workers and engage them to
take action and to set the stage for higher education and skills
training programs needed to better prepare future generations of
workers for a lowcarbon economy.
The UN is currently preparing a study on the benefits and
challenges of a green economy, but more than just another study is
needed. The most significant possible outcome of the 2012 Rio+20
Summit could be providing an international framework that
accelerates the transition to greener, more sustainable economies
worldwide.
In all respects, this is the most important priority for the
21st Century, and its resolution would be a fitting
milestone for the 20th anniversary of the first Earth
Summit. It will also be the guiding premise for the Conference
sessions at GLOBE 2012 (find out more by visiting http://www.globeseries.com/).
John D Wiebe
President & CEO