Climate Change, Energy Resources and Technology Sharing
Conveners: Arthur Petersen and Tatsu Suzuki
Rapporteur: Mary Beth Mills-Curran
The focus of Working Group 5 was to discuss strategies for combating climate change within the context of the Pugwash mission of promoting communication on issues of science and world affairs that may be too controversial for open honest debate under normal conditions.
Discussion fell into three main categories: I. Questions of technology choice; II. Discussion of the merits of various policy and market measures; and III. The underlying tension between development and climate change mitigation.
I. Technology Choice
The first step in facing the challenge of climate change is through analysis of the immediate technological choices for mitigation and adaptation. This debate focuses on scientific questions of what will work and what is feasible. There is a large menu of options for climate change mitigation, any combination of which can be applied to the issue of climate change. The working group emphasized the importance of prior mitigation of climate change, rather than adaptation after the fact, while recognizing that due to past and current greenhouse gas emissions already a significant adaptation effort is necessary. Adaptation will likely resemble a constellation of independent projects from the bottom up, rather than a unified global top-down program like a “green new deal.”
Some participants emphasized the importance of considering all options. We cannot merely focus on the financially beneficial “efficiency” strategies. Real sacrifices will be required. According to them, a comprehensive climate change solution must also consider some controversial options. Nuclear power may be part of the solution, as the risk of climate change seems more threatening to them than the issues which have kept nuclear power from being popular in recent years, including the nearly unsolvable risk of nuclear weapons proliferation. Carbon Capture and Sequestration is a new and unproven technology but it too will have to be part of a climate change strategy. Even advanced technologies, like geo-engineering, which are so far untested, need to be considered. Other participants disagreed with considering either the nuclear or the geo-engineering options, or both. They preferred to first seriously try to meet the challenge with the large-scale introduction of renewable energy sources (such as solar, wind, biomass).
II. Policy and Market Measures
Choosing technological solutions to climate change is only a small part of taking steps to actually mitigate climate change. It seemed clear to the working group that the largest challenges facing climate change mitigation are political and economic, not technological. The need for financial and political support for the different technological solutions is critical. Large amounts of money are needed, much beyond the amounts involved in the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. Appropriate price signals, like carbon taxes or trading, will also be necessary to promote the innovation required for climate change mitigation.
Private investment cannot be the only source of financial support for climate change mitigation; national governments must also be called upon to provide public financing. National action on the part of individual governments will be key to implementing policies to spur innovation and investment in climate change solutions. Without legislative support, many policies may fail. The working group suggests that individual national plans for climate mitigation will be important in the new climate regime to be agreed in Copenhagen. National governments will also be the main funder of climate change adaptation measures. Both for mitigation and adaption actions in developing countries, large-scale funding will need to come from developed countries (see III.).
III. Development Issues
The final challenge facing climate change mitigation is deciding how to best reduce carbon emissions in a way that is just for both developed and developing nations. For some developing nations, climate change mitigation is a lower priority than meeting basic needs and there is a certain amount of resentment that developing nations are being asked to solve a problem caused by the developed world. The working group agreed that we must choose policies that do not hurt the developing world.
We identify the need to come up with a global solution for climate change that does not discriminate against either developed or developing nations. We need a comprehensive joint global solution between developed and developing nations. This is especially important for countries that are rapidly expanding and may face “lock-in” with technologies that do not conform to a vision of low carbon emissions. The working group called for a “low-carbon” development model formed through bilateral and multilateral talks.
In sum, we recognize that the climate change is an urgent global security threat and urge leaders of both developed and developing countries to work together to meet these challenges, while at the same time meet the special needs of developing countries. We welcome the positive attitude of the new US administration that indicates it understands the urgency to act immediately on this threat. The upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting at Copenhagen must secure the commitment of all nations to undertake major changes, which will result in a global society that satisfies its energy needs from low-carbon sources. We must undertake large-scale effective technology transfer and diffusion of “low-carbon technologies.” This will require measures such as increased funding, better financing, management of intellectual properties, and trust-building that satisfy needs of both developing and developed countries.
