We must have an ambitious deal in Copenhagen
Posted on : February 11, 2009
Author : Connie Hedegaard
In December all the countries of the world will be gathered in Copenhagen to reach a deal that must be ambitious enough to save the world from otherwise unmanageable climate change consequences as predicted by the IPCC. It must be an ambitious deal.
Action starts at home. With you and your country - with me and my country. We must not wait for others to take the first step. We must each take the necessary steps without waiting for others to move first. We must ALL be the first movers. Only then can we solve the global climate crisis and secure the world for the coming generations.
We all know that access to energy is one of the basic preconditions for development - everywhere. This needs to be addressed - but it can and must be done without drastic increases in the emissions of greenhouse gasses.
That requires a faster and better dissemination of the building blocks of the Bali Action Plan and recognition of the need for technology and technical innovation. That again will happen faster if we get ambitious reduction targets and a trading system that gives all the right incentives for private business to innovate, to give priority to energy effective solutions and to invest in renewable energy.
Of course we must also make a deal with truly additional financial resources and innovative financial mechanisms so that we do not have to wait for rich countries to pledge on annual basis.
In short, we must together deliver on the building blocks from Bali. And we must now move from an era of talks, speeches and conferences into an era of good will, mutual respect, trust, real negotiations and first and foremost results and action!
There is a window of opportunity now. We must take advantage of this and do what is necessary. Not just because of the climate crisis. But, because to take the climate challenge seriously also means taking the challenge of energy security, energy dependency, geopolitical security, stability, development worldwide and economic growth, seriously.
Only if we act will the world be able to provide sustainable growth to the billions of fellow citizens who have not yet received their fair share and to take this set of challenges seriously will not hamper growth. On the contrary, it is a prerequisite to growth - sustainable growth. The only kind of growth any of us can afford in the 21st century.
Action starts at home. With you and your country - with me and my country. We must not wait for others to take the first step. We must each take the necessary steps without waiting for others to move first. We must ALL be the first movers. Only then can we solve the global climate crisis and secure the world for the coming generations.
We all know that access to energy is one of the basic preconditions for development - everywhere. This needs to be addressed - but it can and must be done without drastic increases in the emissions of greenhouse gasses.
That requires a faster and better dissemination of the building blocks of the Bali Action Plan and recognition of the need for technology and technical innovation. That again will happen faster if we get ambitious reduction targets and a trading system that gives all the right incentives for private business to innovate, to give priority to energy effective solutions and to invest in renewable energy.
Of course we must also make a deal with truly additional financial resources and innovative financial mechanisms so that we do not have to wait for rich countries to pledge on annual basis.
In short, we must together deliver on the building blocks from Bali. And we must now move from an era of talks, speeches and conferences into an era of good will, mutual respect, trust, real negotiations and first and foremost results and action!
There is a window of opportunity now. We must take advantage of this and do what is necessary. Not just because of the climate crisis. But, because to take the climate challenge seriously also means taking the challenge of energy security, energy dependency, geopolitical security, stability, development worldwide and economic growth, seriously.
Only if we act will the world be able to provide sustainable growth to the billions of fellow citizens who have not yet received their fair share and to take this set of challenges seriously will not hamper growth. On the contrary, it is a prerequisite to growth - sustainable growth. The only kind of growth any of us can afford in the 21st century.
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