Diplomatic step toward cleaner world

This year the fate of our planet may be determined in many ways. Either the state leaders, who will gather on Dec. 7–18, 2009, for the UN Conference on Climate Changes in Copenhagen, will un­der­ta­ke the legal commitments to re­du­ce carbon dioxide emissions, or the countries, both well-developed and developing, will together reap the catastrophic harvest of climate warming.

I should note that this will be the 15th conference on climate chan­ges. Not accidentally, it will ta­ke place in Denmark, which is regar­ded as an environment-friendly coun­try and is the world’s leading user of renewable resources, primarily the wind.

It is known that the pace in the issue of reducing carbon dioxide emissions is set by the European Union, which has undertaken to reduce carbon emissions by 25–40 percent before 2020. Japan has agreed to cut its emissions by 25 percent, whereas the US, arguably the greatest emitter, has yet to make a pledge on emission reduction.

The problem also concerns the instruments one needs to implement in order to make countries reduce the emissions. On the one hand, the US and many other countries apply the reduce-or-sell principle to emissions at the moment. On the other hand, some countries propose implementing a carbon tax, which, economists believe, can be a more efficient instrument. But the thing is that the subject of taxes is quite unpopular in the US, so one can hardly expect the White House administration to agree to introduce a new one.

The Europeans had prepared well for the UN conference. This may be concluded from the propositions aired by Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen of Denmark and Head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso at the 7th Global Editors’ Forum “From Kyoto to Copenhagen” on Oct. 9–11, 2009, in Copenhagen at the initiative of the Danish government and Project Syndicate.

According to the Danish prime minister, the conference should approve an ambitious binding agreement based on five elements. First, well-developed countries should agree to make considerable reductions in the short- and long-term perspective and thus take the lead and assume historical responsibility. Second, the main developing countries also should undertake some softer commitments concerning emission reduction. Third, well-developed countries should help the most vulnerable countries in their attempts to adapt to the inevitable impact of the climate changes. Fourth, it is necessary to strengthen the carbon market and involve the private sector through measures that create the necessary incentives for environment-friendly investments. Finally, a system for control, reporting, and verification needs to be put in place in order to be able to constantly check the countries’ efforts to fulfill their commitments.

On his part, Barroso noted that low-carbon economy will bring about innovations, investments, and more jobs in clean technologies and products. In his words, by bringing the share of renewable energy on the market to 20 percent, the sector will attract an additional €90 billion in investments and create 700,000 jobs, while oil and gas import bills will drop by €45 billion by 2020. The head of the European Commission stressed that the climate changes are not only an environmental problem but also a development priority.

Meanwhile, Connie Hedegaard, the Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, clearly stated that the one who follows the path of emission reduction and reorients to clean energy production will win the competition.

Speaking before the editors of periodicals, former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan underlined what an important role is played by the mass media, which help “put climate changes to the political agenda.” At the same time, he urged the mass media to step up their efforts and mobilize the calls to action. In particular, Annan stressed that they should exert more efforts to inform and educate people about the recent achievements, more efficient and cheaper energy technologies, and ways to cut emissions.

It would be good if, in addition to the US and heavy-polluting countries, this appeal was heard by Ukraine’s mass media and political leaders. The global warming will also effect Ukraine, although today we can afford to even sell the unused quotas of emissions that we have.

Although many experts refrained from open optimism concerning the results of the Copenhagen climate summit, the leader of German environmentalists Joschka Fischer, who moderated one of the boards of the editors’ forum, surmised that the Copenhagen conference may become a great diplomatic step toward the clean world.

Meanwhile, the renowned American financier George Soros in his speech before more than 300 editors of international periodicals in the Copenhagen City Council announced the creation of the Climate Policy Initiative Fund and promised to donate USD 10 million annually to the fund for the next decade. Furthermore, Soros stated that he intends to invest up to one billion dollars in clean energy technologies.

We only have to wait until mid-December and see whether the leaders of the world’s biggest powers will come to an agreement in order to make the world cleaner and greener. Barroso said: “It is difficult to reach this aim, but we cannot divert our attention to plan B, because we risk ending with plan C, a collapse, all the more so that we don’t have any plan B, because we don’t have planet B.”