(Madan Menon Thottasseri / Email: tmadan.menon@gmail.com)
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Climate change was high on agenda where U.N Chief Ban Ki- Moon, French President Nicholas Sarkoyzy and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen were also attended the 60th anniversary of the Common Wealth Heads of States at Port of Spains.
Around half of Common Wealth members are island nations. Out of 53 nations, there inhibit a total of around 2 billion people, in other words around one-third of the planet’s population. The leaders of these nations met after the pledges by U,S and China to limit their greenhouse gas emissions in the midst of concerns that the Copenhagen summit could fail to agree substantial cuts.
Commonwealth leaders in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting’s (CHOGM) special session on climate change in Trinidad and Tobago used their summit to bolster a diplomatic offensive seeking wide consensus on how to fight global warming before December 7-18 U.N. climate talks at Copenhagen, the Danish capital city.
"The clock is ticking to Copenhagen ... we believe that the political goodwill and resolve exists to secure a comprehensive agreement at Copenhagen," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told a news conference in Port of Spain.
The Commonwealth Climate Change Declaration pledged the group's backing for Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen in his efforts to secure wide attendance and commitment from world leaders at the Copenhagen climate talks.
"We pledge our continued support to the leaders-driven process ... to deliver a comprehensive, substantial and operationally binding agreement in Copenhagen leading toward a full legally binding outcome no later than 2010," the Port of Spain declaration said.
The common wealth summit also discussed the Francophone nation Ruwanda’s re-entry into the group with the support of many member states, following the disagreements with France over events leading up to the 1994 genocide. Upon admitting the African nation the major powers in the Common Wealth can reach out to improve the lives of people there.
Only few days are left for the crucial Copenhagen climate talks, there was a divide between developed and developing nations while the British P.M Gorden Brown put forth a proposal to mobilize $100 billion by 2020 need for developing countries to adapt to climate change. India’s tone was set early on by the Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh.
He said . “It is unfortunate that the global discourse on climate change has become enmeshed with arguments about maintaining economic competitiveness or level-playing fields,” India is of opinion that the Climate change should not be clamped on the pretext for pursuing protectionist policies under a green label. Then it will become contrary to the UN Framework Convention (UNFC) on Climate Change and a violation of the WTO as well. India will lead a group of developing countries who share India’s stand .‘This finace is market-based and hence subject to unpredictability’. He dismissed the attempt to link climate change with arguments on maintaining economic parameters.
"Right now, there is no commitment of the magnitude that is required. ... We need close to 1 percent of global GDP, $300 billion, to address this problem," Guyana's president, Bharrat Jagdeo, who heads the economic task force of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, or Caricom, told reporters.
Developed countries in the Commonwealth led by Britain backed an initiative to establish a Copenhagen Launch Fund, starting in 2010 and building to $10 billion annually by 2012 arguing that such financing should be made available as early as next year, well before any new climate deal takes effect. The idea was backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also attended the Commonwealth summit as a guest. Jagdeo welcomed what he called the $10 billion offer of "interim financing."
While December first week’s U.N. talks are not expected to result in the immediate approval of a detailed climate treaty, the wording of the Commonwealth climate declaration made clear its leaders expected any deal reached in Copenhagen would be "operationally binding" and lead fast to a definitive treaty.U.N Chief Ban Ki-Moon has said an agreement to lay the foundation for such a legally binding accord is now "within reach."
The deal the United Nations is aiming for Copenhagen to offer cover for tougher emissions targets, climate financing for poorer nations and transfer of clean-energy technology. The climate treaty, expected to be adopted as a final text next year, will replace the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012.
Leaders of developing nations under the initiative of India, in the Commonwealth have suggested that 10 percent of the proposed $10 billion-a-year Copenhagen Launch Fund should be channeled to small island states prone to rising sea levels caused by global warming.
Nearly half of the Commonwealth's members are small island states and the group put at the forefront of the climate debate the cases of nations like the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Tuvalu and Kiribati in the Pacific, whose existence would be threatened by swelling ocean levels.
Earlier, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed welcomed the backing of the Commonwealth's developed countries -- Britain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand -- for the proposed "fast- start funding" seen as essential for any climate deal. "I believe the Commonwealth understands our predicament more than the others ... they have put concrete things on the table"
Earlier, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed welcomed the backing of the Commonwealth's developed countries -- Britain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand -- for the proposed "fast- start funding" seen as essential for any climate deal. "I believe the Commonwealth understands our predicament more than the others ... they have put concrete things on the table"
There is blooming prospects for achieving a broad political framework pact in Copenhagen next month by public promises of greenhouse gas curbs by China and the United States, the world's the world's biggest emitters.
Indian P.M reiterated that there is no justification to club the developed nations with developing nations like India as historically industrial nations were responsible for the present crises on climate change affairs. It will not be acceptable to India to stunt the economic development or the considerably reduce the competitiveness by imposing legally binding emission reduction guidelines at par with that of the developed nations.
India is cautious of measures construed to bracket developing countries like India and China as per the 2007 Bali Action Plan to implement the UNFC Convention on Climate Change. Man Mohan Singh said that the Bali Action Plan required enhanced implementation of climate change requirements like mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology. It is important that finance and technology should be made available to developing nations. Access to finance has to be concessional for developing countries and not to be dictated by market considerations.
When India came forward to put forth a tough position and immediately became vigilant against insatiable attempts in disguise to inhibit the pace of economic development of the nation, developing nations suspect India that it will downgrade participation in Copenhagen. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been specially invited to attend the CHOGM climate change session, made an appeal to Man Mohan Singh to attend the summit. Clarifying India’s perceptions, P.M Man Mohan Singh said: “India is willing to sign on to an ambitious global target for emission reductions or limiting temperature increase but this must be accompanied by an equitable burden sharing paradigm…Climate Change action based on the perpetuation of poverty will simply not be sustainable.” As of now Man Mohan Sing is not slated to attend the December 05- 07 summit.
India is cautious of measures construed to bracket developing countries like India and China as per the 2007 Bali Action Plan to implement the UNFC Convention on Climate Change. Man Mohan Singh said that the Bali Action Plan required enhanced implementation of climate change requirements like mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology. It is important that finance and technology should be made available to developing nations. Access to finance has to be concessional for developing countries and not to be dictated by market considerations.
When India came forward to put forth a tough position and immediately became vigilant against insatiable attempts in disguise to inhibit the pace of economic development of the nation, developing nations suspect India that it will downgrade participation in Copenhagen. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been specially invited to attend the CHOGM climate change session, made an appeal to Man Mohan Singh to attend the summit. Clarifying India’s perceptions, P.M Man Mohan Singh said: “India is willing to sign on to an ambitious global target for emission reductions or limiting temperature increase but this must be accompanied by an equitable burden sharing paradigm…Climate Change action based on the perpetuation of poverty will simply not be sustainable.” As of now Man Mohan Sing is not slated to attend the December 05- 07 summit.
India may be willing to sign on to an ambitious global target for emissions reduction, while it must be accompanied by “an equitable burden sharing paradigm.” P.M man Mohan Singh explained reiterated India’s view that the Copenhagen outcome must be “comprehensive, balanced and, above all, equitable.” At a very critical intervention during the special session on climate change at the CHOGM summit Man Mohan Singh also pointed out that India cannot be in favour of the suggestion being pushed by developed countries that were aired at the recently held APEC conference at Singapore that if there was a failure to evolve a legally binding outcome, the Copenhagen conference could settle for a political outcome. Then the very purpose of a global consensus on the issue will be lost
Noting that “we should avoid any lowering of sights,” the Prime Minister said India’s view will be that “we should not pre-empt the Copenhagen negotiating process. Whatever time is still available to us before the High Level segment meets from 16th December, 2009 should be used to achieve as much convergence as possible.” However, if the consensus is that only a political document is feasible, Dr. Singh said, “then we must make certain that the post-Copenhagen process continues to work on the Bali mandate and the UNFCC continues to be the international template for global climate action.”
US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have already expressed their intention to attend the 15th conference of signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change scheduled to kick
On 5th December,2009. As per the latest information, Obama will be there only for a day, on 9th December,2009.
On 5th December,2009. As per the latest information, Obama will be there only for a day, on 9th December,2009.
An upbeat Rasmussen said: "A strong deal -- sealed at the leaders level -- will serve as a clear and detailed guidance for negotiators to quickly finalize a legal framework.". "Copenhagen is capable of delivering the turning point we all want ... From here on it's a matter of political will".
U.N Chief Ban – Ki Moon dismissed suggestions that the Copenhagen meeting would be merely another "talk shop". "It will be a very substantive and concrete negotiating process," he told reporters.
Asked about reservations recently expressed by Canada about whether a binding detailed climate treaty was possible, Rasmussen said: "I don't think there is any contradiction between wishful thinking and realistic thinking.
The Commonwealth group is unique with wealthy nations like Britain, Canada and Australia and also with some of the world's smallest states really launched a diplomatic push to drum up momentum for a comprehensive climate agreement. "On this, the eve of the U.N. Copenhagen summit on climate change, the Common Wealth has an opportunity to lead once more," Britain's Queen Elizabeth, who heads the group comprising mostly former British colonies, said at the summit opening.
Rasmussen said 89 heads of state and government had confirmed on attending the summit in Copenhagen. The Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister and the Commonwealth summit's host, Patrick Manning had already announced that he too will be ld be there too, bringing the total expected number to 90.
The common wealth summit had discussed the Francophone nation Rwanda’s re- entry into the group with the support of many member states, following the disagreements with France over events leading up to the 1994 genocide. Upon admitting the African nation the major powers in the Common Wealth can reach out to improve the lives of people there.
British Prime Minister Gorden Brown has stated that he will lobby for support for his plan to make banks pay for any future bail-out at a Commonwealth summit this week.
He also wants Commonwealth leaders meeting in Trinidad and Tobago from Friday to give a push to climate change negotiations and to send a signal that Zimbabwe could be re-admitted to the 53-nation organization if it goes through with reforms.
Gorden Brown, whose government spent billions bailing out British banks, pressed the ‘Group of 20’ economies this month to come up with a plan to make banks pay for any future rescues.
The ‘global financial transactions tax’ as opinioned by him was immediately shot down by the United States. Brown indicated he was not discouraged by the initially cool reception given to his proposal and would continue to push it at the Commonwealth meeting, which includes big economies such as Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa.
"You've got to look at this at a global level. I will be raising this with my Commonwealth partners," he said in a pre-summit briefing for reporters on Wednesday. Brown's office asked that his remarks not be published until Friday.
"You can look at an insurance scheme…… creation of resolution funds………….. asking banks to hold contingent capital. Or you can look at a transactions or a global levy of some sort," he said."I think I will find a great deal of support from a large number of countries around the world ... I think ... there will be gradually more support for the proposals I am putting forward," he said.
There could be 200 million of climate refugees by 2050, according to a new policy paper by the International Organisation for Migration, depending on the complexity of climate displacements. Apart from the South Pacific, low-lying areas likely to be worn out first include Bangladesh and nations in the Indian Ocean, where the leader of the Maldives has begun seeking a safe heaven for his 300,000 people. Landlocked areas may also be affected; some experts call the Darfur region of Sudan, where nomads battle with villagers in a war over shrinking natural resources, the first significant conflict linked to climate change.
In the coming days, the United Nations General Assembly is expected to adopt the first resolution linking climate change to international peace and security. The hard-fought resolution, brought by 12 Pacific island states, says that climate change warrants greater attention from the United Nations as a possible source of upheaval worldwide and calls for more intense efforts to combat it. While all Pacific island states are expected to lose land, some made up entirely of atolls, like Tuvalu and Kiribati, face possible extinction.
“For the first time in history, you could actually lose countries off the face of the globe,” said Stuart Beck, the permanent representative for Palau at the United Nations. “It is a security threat to them and their populations, which will have to be relocated, which is the security threat to the places where they go, among other consequences.”
The issue has inspired intense wrangling, with some nations accusing the islanders of both exaggerating the still murky consequences of climate change and trying to expand the mandate of the Security Council by asking it to take action.
“We don’t consider climate change is an issue of security that properly belongs in the Security Council; rather it is a development issue that has some security aspects,” said Maged A. Abdelaziz, the Egyptian ambassador. “It is an issue of how to prevent certain lands, or certain countries, from being flooded.”The island states are seeking a response akin to the effort against terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Climate change threat will be real. There is drastic reduction if crop yields in through-out the world, ranging from 20 – 40 percent when more and more areas of land becomes less fertile and more prone to diseases .New varieties of crops are to be developed which can get adept to extremes of weather. Otherwise the world has to encounter serious issues to feed the population. Shortage of water resources will be one of the intensive problem the world is going to face due to climate change, as commented by Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the U.N International Fund for Agricultural Development.
If not a legal agreement, at least some political agreement will be achieved at Copenhagen. Few of the frontline developing countries like India will be in a position to contribute more to mitigation and help less privileged nations in adaptation mechanisms.
Since U.S and China, the biggest emitters of the planet have already promised for a deal of greenhouse gas curbs, India will be put on pressure to quantify the actions that will be taken to reduce global warming, remarked R.K.Pachauri, Chief of the Panel on Climate Change (PCC). He highlighted the importance of Prime Minister to attend the final days of the summit, Dec 05- 07 to at a time India’s presence and presentation will be widely acknowledged as a deal maker and not a deal breaker.
Pachauri predicted that US President Barack Obama's announcement that his country would cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 17 percent by 2020, compared to 2005, and China's announcement that it would reduce the GHG-intensity of its economy by 40-45 percent by 2020, compared to 2005, would put more pressure on India to come up with similar quantitative commitments.
"The Copenhagen summit will help us to an opportunity to position India's long-term plan for combating global warming, R.K. Pachauri who is also the head of the IPCC -- the group of over 2,500 scientists worldwide that brings out the benchmark assessment reports on climate change.
Making a strong pitch for the country to shift towards renewable energy sources from fossil fuels, Pachauri said "India must bargain at Copenhagen for large-scale resources to finance its solar mission". India being a tropical nation can consider the optimum utilization of scorching sun-light available for a period of 6 to 10 months through-out the nation at various levels, right from the peninsular tip of Kanyakumari to Northern boarder states of Rajastan and Punjab. The technology has to be made less costly prompting entrepreneurs to venture for Solar Projects at large industrial establishments, universities, Airports, Railway terminals, big hospitals, Pilgrim centres, tourist locations etc.
He laid down three criteria for success at Copenhagen -- first, a collective emission reduction target by industrialised countries by 2020, which he said would be "good if it was 20 percent"; second, financial assistance to developing countries to cope with climate change effects; and third, transfer of green technologies cheap, perhaps through a technology fund. "If this happens there will be enormous pressure on India to make commitments," Pachauri predicted. "India should then lay its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) on the table. The cabinet has already cleared the solar mission (one of the eight missions under NAPCC), that should be a part of it."
"The NAPCC can be a binding commitment on the part of India as a back-up of other commitments (from industrialised countries) fall in place," he added. He agreed that other NAPCC mission plans had not been firmed up yet, but said if this was done, the reduction in India's GHG intensity could be worked out as an offshoot of NAPCC. "It's simple arithmetic."
While saying "no country will reveal its cards upfront" at the start of the Copenhagen summit, Pachauri repeatedly pointed out that moving towards a greener economy will be good for India in the long run.
GHG emissions -- mainly carbon dioxide -- is causing climate change, which is already reducing farm output, making droughts, floods and storms more frequent and more severe, and raising the sea-level.
Rasmussen said 89 heads of state and government had confirmed on attending the summit in Copenhagen. The Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister and the Commonwealth summit's host, Patrick Manning had already announced that he too will be ld be there too, bringing the total expected number to 90.
The common wealth summit had discussed the Francophone nation Rwanda’s re- entry into the group with the support of many member states, following the disagreements with France over events leading up to the 1994 genocide. Upon admitting the African nation the major powers in the Common Wealth can reach out to improve the lives of people there.
British Prime Minister Gorden Brown has stated that he will lobby for support for his plan to make banks pay for any future bail-out at a Commonwealth summit this week.
He also wants Commonwealth leaders meeting in Trinidad and Tobago from Friday to give a push to climate change negotiations and to send a signal that Zimbabwe could be re-admitted to the 53-nation organization if it goes through with reforms.
Gorden Brown, whose government spent billions bailing out British banks, pressed the ‘Group of 20’ economies this month to come up with a plan to make banks pay for any future rescues.
The ‘global financial transactions tax’ as opinioned by him was immediately shot down by the United States. Brown indicated he was not discouraged by the initially cool reception given to his proposal and would continue to push it at the Commonwealth meeting, which includes big economies such as Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa.
"You've got to look at this at a global level. I will be raising this with my Commonwealth partners," he said in a pre-summit briefing for reporters on Wednesday. Brown's office asked that his remarks not be published until Friday.
"You can look at an insurance scheme…… creation of resolution funds………….. asking banks to hold contingent capital. Or you can look at a transactions or a global levy of some sort," he said."I think I will find a great deal of support from a large number of countries around the world ... I think ... there will be gradually more support for the proposals I am putting forward," he said.
There could be 200 million of climate refugees by 2050, according to a new policy paper by the International Organisation for Migration, depending on the complexity of climate displacements. Apart from the South Pacific, low-lying areas likely to be worn out first include Bangladesh and nations in the Indian Ocean, where the leader of the Maldives has begun seeking a safe heaven for his 300,000 people. Landlocked areas may also be affected; some experts call the Darfur region of Sudan, where nomads battle with villagers in a war over shrinking natural resources, the first significant conflict linked to climate change.
In the coming days, the United Nations General Assembly is expected to adopt the first resolution linking climate change to international peace and security. The hard-fought resolution, brought by 12 Pacific island states, says that climate change warrants greater attention from the United Nations as a possible source of upheaval worldwide and calls for more intense efforts to combat it. While all Pacific island states are expected to lose land, some made up entirely of atolls, like Tuvalu and Kiribati, face possible extinction.
“For the first time in history, you could actually lose countries off the face of the globe,” said Stuart Beck, the permanent representative for Palau at the United Nations. “It is a security threat to them and their populations, which will have to be relocated, which is the security threat to the places where they go, among other consequences.”
The issue has inspired intense wrangling, with some nations accusing the islanders of both exaggerating the still murky consequences of climate change and trying to expand the mandate of the Security Council by asking it to take action.
“We don’t consider climate change is an issue of security that properly belongs in the Security Council; rather it is a development issue that has some security aspects,” said Maged A. Abdelaziz, the Egyptian ambassador. “It is an issue of how to prevent certain lands, or certain countries, from being flooded.”The island states are seeking a response akin to the effort against terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Climate change threat will be real. There is drastic reduction if crop yields in through-out the world, ranging from 20 – 40 percent when more and more areas of land becomes less fertile and more prone to diseases .New varieties of crops are to be developed which can get adept to extremes of weather. Otherwise the world has to encounter serious issues to feed the population. Shortage of water resources will be one of the intensive problem the world is going to face due to climate change, as commented by Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the U.N International Fund for Agricultural Development.
If not a legal agreement, at least some political agreement will be achieved at Copenhagen. Few of the frontline developing countries like India will be in a position to contribute more to mitigation and help less privileged nations in adaptation mechanisms.
Since U.S and China, the biggest emitters of the planet have already promised for a deal of greenhouse gas curbs, India will be put on pressure to quantify the actions that will be taken to reduce global warming, remarked R.K.Pachauri, Chief of the Panel on Climate Change (PCC). He highlighted the importance of Prime Minister to attend the final days of the summit, Dec 05- 07 to at a time India’s presence and presentation will be widely acknowledged as a deal maker and not a deal breaker.
Pachauri predicted that US President Barack Obama's announcement that his country would cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 17 percent by 2020, compared to 2005, and China's announcement that it would reduce the GHG-intensity of its economy by 40-45 percent by 2020, compared to 2005, would put more pressure on India to come up with similar quantitative commitments.
"The Copenhagen summit will help us to an opportunity to position India's long-term plan for combating global warming, R.K. Pachauri who is also the head of the IPCC -- the group of over 2,500 scientists worldwide that brings out the benchmark assessment reports on climate change.
Making a strong pitch for the country to shift towards renewable energy sources from fossil fuels, Pachauri said "India must bargain at Copenhagen for large-scale resources to finance its solar mission". India being a tropical nation can consider the optimum utilization of scorching sun-light available for a period of 6 to 10 months through-out the nation at various levels, right from the peninsular tip of Kanyakumari to Northern boarder states of Rajastan and Punjab. The technology has to be made less costly prompting entrepreneurs to venture for Solar Projects at large industrial establishments, universities, Airports, Railway terminals, big hospitals, Pilgrim centres, tourist locations etc.
He laid down three criteria for success at Copenhagen -- first, a collective emission reduction target by industrialised countries by 2020, which he said would be "good if it was 20 percent"; second, financial assistance to developing countries to cope with climate change effects; and third, transfer of green technologies cheap, perhaps through a technology fund. "If this happens there will be enormous pressure on India to make commitments," Pachauri predicted. "India should then lay its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) on the table. The cabinet has already cleared the solar mission (one of the eight missions under NAPCC), that should be a part of it."
"The NAPCC can be a binding commitment on the part of India as a back-up of other commitments (from industrialised countries) fall in place," he added. He agreed that other NAPCC mission plans had not been firmed up yet, but said if this was done, the reduction in India's GHG intensity could be worked out as an offshoot of NAPCC. "It's simple arithmetic."
While saying "no country will reveal its cards upfront" at the start of the Copenhagen summit, Pachauri repeatedly pointed out that moving towards a greener economy will be good for India in the long run.
GHG emissions -- mainly carbon dioxide -- is causing climate change, which is already reducing farm output, making droughts, floods and storms more frequent and more severe, and raising the sea-level.
The Times had reported that the U.N summit on Climate Changes will be a ‘farce’ as commented by the leading Scientist James Hansen , the Director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, acclaimed as the grandfather of Global Warming. He was one of the first voices to raise the alarm about rising global temperatures in the early 1980s, forecasting correctly that the planet would warm in the coming decades.
He said “that the developed nations want to continue basically business as usual so they are expected to purchase indulgencies to give some small amount of money to developing countries. They do that in the form of offsets and adaptation funds” . He has planned to boycott the summit as it is seeking a counter-productive agreement to limit emissions through a “cap and trade” system.
He decried that the ‘cap and trade’ system envisaged by governments trying to “seal the deal” at Copenhagen will be ineffective in stemming carbon emissions. Under such systems, governments set limits on overall emissions and polluters trade quotas among themselves.
He dismissed the announcements of targets for greenhouse gas emissions by nations as promises will be just promises and never be kept, noting that even Japan missed its goals under the Kyoto Protocol. He remarked “this is analogous to slavery faced by Abraham Lincoln or the issue of Nazism faced by Winston Churchill”. Next week he publishes his first book, entitled Storms of my Grandchildren, warning that “our planet, with its remarkable array of life, is in imminent danger of crashing” and declaring, “It is our last chance”.
He said “that the developed nations want to continue basically business as usual so they are expected to purchase indulgencies to give some small amount of money to developing countries. They do that in the form of offsets and adaptation funds” . He has planned to boycott the summit as it is seeking a counter-productive agreement to limit emissions through a “cap and trade” system.
He decried that the ‘cap and trade’ system envisaged by governments trying to “seal the deal” at Copenhagen will be ineffective in stemming carbon emissions. Under such systems, governments set limits on overall emissions and polluters trade quotas among themselves.
He dismissed the announcements of targets for greenhouse gas emissions by nations as promises will be just promises and never be kept, noting that even Japan missed its goals under the Kyoto Protocol. He remarked “this is analogous to slavery faced by Abraham Lincoln or the issue of Nazism faced by Winston Churchill”. Next week he publishes his first book, entitled Storms of my Grandchildren, warning that “our planet, with its remarkable array of life, is in imminent danger of crashing” and declaring, “It is our last chance”.
Dr Hansen, an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute in New York, argued that the only effective way to control global warming was to institute an increasing “carbon tax”, not “cap and trade”. According to him, there should be no compromise, comparing the need to stand firm with Churchill’s stance against Nazis and Abraham Lincoln’s opposition to slavery.
“We are going to have to move beyond fossil fuels at some point. Why continue to stretch it out longer?” he said. “The only way we can do that is by putting a price on carbon emissions. The business community and the public need to understand that there will be a gradually increasing price on carbon emissions.”
“We are going to have to move beyond fossil fuels at some point. Why continue to stretch it out longer?” he said. “The only way we can do that is by putting a price on carbon emissions. The business community and the public need to understand that there will be a gradually increasing price on carbon emissions.”
He opinioned that the “carbon tax” starts at the equivalent of about $1 per gallon of petrol will rise in future years. The tax revenues should be returned directly to the public in the form a dividend, he said. In fact he is vehemently opposed to the carbon market scheme proposed, where permits to pollute are bought and sold!
He added that the world must be prepared to abandon coal unless its emissions are captured and embrace a new generation of nuclear power.
By the time this Article is getting ready to conclude, on 03 December, 2009 just four days ahead of the Climate summit, Union Minister for Environment Jairam Ramesh announced in The Parliament that India will voluntarily reduce emission intensity by 20-25 percent by 2020. Of course, while presenting India’s stand in the Parliament, he remained unwavering that India will never agree for any legally binding emission cuts or peaking year for emissions. Further India’s voluntary actions will not be open to any kind of outside scrutiny. The Minster had unveiled a five-step action plan o achieve the reduction Plan. The measures primarily include mandatory fuel efficiency for vehicles by 2011 through legislation.
The Times had reported that the U.N summit on Climate Changes will be a ‘farce’ as commented by the leading Scientist James Hansen , the Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, acclaimed as the grandfather of Global Warming. He was one of the first voices to raise the alarm about rising global temperatures in the early 1980s, forecasting correctly that the planet would warm in the coming decades.
He said “that the developed nations want to continue basically business as usual so they are expected to purchase indulgencies to give some small amount of money to developing countries. They do that in the form of offsets and adaptation funds” . He has planned to boycott the summit as it is seeking a counter-productive agreement to limit emissions through a “cap and trade” system.
He decried that the ‘cap and trade’ system envisaged by governments trying to “seal the deal” at Copenhagen will be ineffective in stemming carbon emissions. Under such systems, governments set limits on overall emissions and polluters trade quotas among themselves.
He dismissed the announcements of targets for greenhouse gas emissions by nations as promises will be just promises and never be kept, noting that even Japan missed its goals under the Kyoto Protocol. Next week he publishes his first book, entitled Storms of my Grandchildren, warning that “our planet, with its remarkable array of life, is in imminent danger of crashing” and declaring, “It is our last chance”.
Dr Hansen, an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute in New York, argued that the only effective way to control global warming was to institute an increasing “carbon tax”, not “cap and trade”.
“We are going to have to move beyond fossil fuels at some point. Why continue to stretch it out longer?” he said. “The only way we can do that is by putting a price on carbon emissions. The business community and the public need to understand that there will be a gradually increasing price on carbon emissions.”
He proposes that the “carbon tax” start at the equivalent of about $1 per gallon of petrol but rise in future years. The tax revenues should be returned directly to the public in the form a dividend, he said.
He added that the world must be prepared to abandon coal unless its emissions are captured and embrace a new generation of nuclear power.
Until yesterday December 04, 2009 Prime Minister Mohan Singh was not programmed to attend the Climate Change summit. I am delighted to see the TV news in the night today December 05, 2009 which stated that Prime Minister is going to Copenhagen on December 17, 2009 to attend the final day of the summit. The U.S President Barack Obama who had slated to be there only on December 09,2009 en-route to Oslo for getting his Nobel Peace Prize on December 10,2009 has amended the itinerary and he too will be at the summit only on the last day, December 18,2009.
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