Date: 23-Jan-09
Country: BELGIUM/UK
Author: Pete Harrison and Gerard Wynn
BRUSSELS/LONDON - Rich nations could raise $200 billion in climate funds through a levy on their greenhouse gases from 2013-2020 to help poor countries prepare for global warming, the European Union will say next week.
The government has opposed moves to impose carbon tax on the aviation sector as well as the shipping industry that would make the consumer bear the burden. Global transport accounts for about 14% of the total emissions worldwide. But the world is still undecided about whom to blame for them.
The challenge of climate change demands a response from all sectors of the economy. Importantly, action on the part of individuals will be required if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are to be cut to the levels necessary to avoid the worst
With companies cutting production globally, carbon emissions are down, and so is the demand for certified emission reductions (CERs) or carbon credits. This has led to the price of carbon credits crashing from E25 in September to E15 last week.
The climate policy debate has advanced from science to economics, with a growing focus on creating carbon markets and getting the prices right. This is necessary but far from sufficient for an effective and equitable response to the climate challenge.
The global financial gloom will make citizens of rich nations reluctant to use their taxes to fight global warming and any plan to help poor nations should make the polluters pay, a top UN climate official said.
His warning cast doubt on a Chinese proposal to ask the world's rich nations to devote up to 1 percent of their total economic worth to pay for cleaner expansion in the poor world.
A way forward is needed for the post-2012 period to address the threat of global climate change. The Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements is an international, multi-year, multi-disciplinary effort to help identify the key design elements of a scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically pragmatic post-2012 international policy architecture.
Climate taxes, not cap and trade markets alone, will lead to the vast technological changes the world's energy system needs to fight global warming, a top US economist said on Thursday.
When the economy falters, environmental issues tend to take a back seat. But looking beyond the current downturn, businesses are braced for an acceleration of the move to a carbon-constrained world.
