LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Autumn 2009

by Sylvie Motard

Sir,

Connie Hedegaard is right to stress that the transition towards a green economy is an essential part of our efforts to combat climate change. Our whole economic and social system needs to be reviewed from an environmental angle, not just a few sectors and technologies.

The European Union has over many years developed a body of common policies to assist such a transition, and that is why the EU should uphold its strong international commitments on climate change. The Union, however, must also recognise its limitations. Member states lack coherence and the EU is struggling to position itself in the new world order. It cannot yet match its leadership ambitions with real influence, nor fulfil its potential as a global player.

The EU therefore needs to clarify its position ahead of the world climate talks in Copenhagen in December. In particular, it should agree an unequivocal stand on developing countries. Climate change is more than an environmental threat; it is a development issue. So developing countries need to feel confident that they will benefit from international climate measures. That will require a holistic approach, taking into account schemes to help countries adapt to climate change as well as those designed to mitigate its impact. Both sets of issues must be addressed simultaneously, and investment needs to take into account the long time-frames involved.

Developed nations also need to take clearer action to mitigate their own contribution to climate change. The recent G8 declaration fell short of expectations, preventing constructive agreement with emerging nations. Developed countries should commit themselves now to cut their greenhouse gas emissions between 25% and 40% from 1990 levels by 2020, and to shift away from fossil fuels. This action must begin within the next ten years.

As for adaptation, everyone agrees that developing countries will need help but we are still waiting for a financial deal. Adaptation is not simply a matter of transferring green technologies from North to South. It also touches upon more basic issues about what we are doing and how.

Copenhagen should also allow for an agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Even if global temperatures rise by less than 2oC, some ecosystems will be lost for ever and will no longer be able to act as carbon sinks. Investment in such ecosystems would harness nature’s ability to provide solutions to climate change. It is an undervalued area which needs to be taken more seriously.

Climate change can be seen as an opportunity, rather than our doomed destiny. Twenty years ago, the German Bundestag reported on the “extraordinary need for action, and detailed and long-term action strategies.” Was anyone listening then – and are they really today?