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The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen – In Brief
power-generation history,” said Hal Harvey, trading in Zhejiang province before the US was nations to seek assistance – some say
President of ClimateWorks, the federation of able to pass any legislation of its own. An end to compensation – to cope with a warming
high-emission industries. coal is a pipe dream, especially as developed climate. First, financial aid may be sought to
countries have failed to lead by example. More help poor countries meet the cost of
However, China is fond of coal. The ‘dirtiest’ of likely is a pledged investment in cleaner coal adaptation, estimated to reach around
fossil fuels, coal is cheap and abundant and technologies that, while unproven on a large US$150bn per year. At a recent UN
therefore vital to power generation in scale, look to be the closest China – or anyone conference in Poznan, Poland, Mexican
developing countries. China’s coal consumption else – will come to restraint. delegates recommended the formation of an
rose by 6.8% last year, representing 85% of International Monetary Fund (IMF)-style facility
global growth, and China is responsible for Aid, Compensation and that could be drawn on by countries in need,
42.6% of total coal consumption, using more Technology Packages funded by quotas calculated in proportion to
than the US, Europe and Japan combined. Global warming is hitting developing national emissions, GDP, population and other
“Solving coal in China is a lynchpin of countries first, and hardest. Many are located indicators. Norway calls for a global carbon
addressing global warming,” says Jake Schmidt, in arid or tropical environments subject to market in which an agreed portion of each
International Climate Policy Director of the desertification or extreme storms, which will country’s credits is auctioned internationally
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the increase in reach and regularity. Agriculture and the proceeds are delivered to countries in
environmental advocacy group. However, generally accounts for a larger fraction of the need. Technical aid will also be sought, with
‘solving’ coal will require unrealistically steep output of these countries, aggravating the technology transfer to improve agricultural
restrictions on energy consumption. An April economic impact of changes in temperature yield, climate modelling tools and water
report by McKinsey & Company, the corporate and precipitation (and with less technology harvesting systems, for example. “Adaptation
consultants, estimated that even with a available to manipulate growing conditions). is easier when people have more resources
17–18% reduction in China’s energy intensity Global warming could halve the agricultural and operate in a flexible economic
per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) every yield in Africa, for example, according to the environment,” said Gerald C Nelson, Senior
five years, it will be consuming 4.4 billion tons of UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Research Fellow at the International Food
coal by 2030. China believes it is developing Change. Public health systems could buckle as Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
coal responsibly, decommissioning old plants malarial zones expand and emergency
and investing in efficient new ones replete with response systems struggle with the anticipated Developing countries also require assistance to
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) increase in storms, flooding and cyclones. scale down their environmental impact. Half
technologies. China also imposed carbon Copenhagen is an opportunity for these of agriculture-related emissions, including
methane and nitrous oxide, are produced in
Figure 1: Top Five Nations by Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Energy Use per Annum developing regions, coal remains a staple
power source and the clearing of forestry –
7,000 25
which could ‘hold in’ up to 20% of global
GHGs – is rampant. “On our own, we could
6,000
2 20
probably deviate 10% from ‘business as
5,000
T
o
nnes per capita
usual’ in our emissions trajectory,” said South
4,000
15
African Minister of Environmental Affairs and
3,000
10
Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwy. “We need
2,000
international support to push it up to
Million metric tonnes CO 5
30–35%.” One option is to make nuclear
1,000
power stations eligible for carbon credits
0
0
China US Russia India Japan
under the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM), whereby industries in the developed
Figure 2: Top Five Nations by Total Installed Wind Capacity (A) and New Wind Capacity (B)
world offset their emissions by funding
AB‘clean’ energy schemes in developing
countries. A second is the institutional
Rest of world US Rest of world US
27% 21% 27% 31% development of the Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation in
Developing Countries (REDD) Programme
that provide financial incentives to forest-
dwellers and managers to keep forests
India
Spain
8%
Germany
6%
standing. However, these require enormous
20%
Germany investment, making developed countries
China 6%
more averse to constraints on their own
10%
Spain
India
China
14%
7%
23%
economies from steep emissions limits. n
Sources: Bloomberg, Energy Tribune, China Daily, Financial Times, The Guardian, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), International Energy Agency (IEA), International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Reuters, UK Department for International Development (DfID), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCC) and Washington Post.
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