Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate – After the second of four meetings scheduled to take place among the world’s major economies – all major contributors to global warming – the participants announced progress on finance. The 2nd MEF meeting took place this week in Paris. (See my notes from April on the first meeting.) This article from AFP quotes French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo: “We made progress on a major subject, which is finance and financial architecture. It’s not final, but one feels that there is a real consensus.” Todd Stern, America’s top climate diplomat, was also enthusiastic. He said that there was interest in a “Green Fund” proposed by Mexico last year. In this Reuters article, Stern says that on policy “The United States is proposing to make a seismic change.” Next stop for the MEF? Mexico from June 22 to 23. The nations’ leaders will then gather together in Italy in July to further flesh out their views and seek some further consensus. (In the meantime, the UNFCCC will hold more preparatory meetings for Copenhagen starting next week in Bonn. See also the UNFCCC newsletter for May.)
Nobel Laureate Symposium – In London, a meeting took place this week of Nobelists and top climate change experts. The underlying theme was “the fierce urgency of now…” Participants included Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, head of the IPCC; Steven Chu, US Secretary of Energy; Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt movement; and Lord Nicholas Stern, leader of the UK’s seminal “Stern Review on the economics of climate change.” The release from the conference, hosted by Prince Charles and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said “…60 leading scientists from various disciplines, among them more than 20 Nobel Laureates, will discuss the dimensions of the climate crisis and innovative strategies for solutions.” The Potsdam Institute said “Major items of the agenda will be measures to counter deforestation, the development and implementation of new technologies, the options to establish a low-carbon energy infrastructure, as well as the role of global and national economic and political frameworks.” Secretary Chu had an op-ed in the “Times of London” detailing many of the Obama administration’s new initiatives. He wrote that “…Obama has a real and deep commitment to putting America on a sustainable energy path. Energy is a signature issue of his Administration, and, with his leadership, we have a great moment of possibility for meeting our global economic, energy and climate challenges.”
Chu also had some noteworthy remarks, reported by the “Independent,” prior to the conference that true with what I was discussing last week on the engineer’s axiom, KISS. Chu specifically says that we could get a huge bang for the buck in simply painting roofs and other surfaces white. “If that building is air-conditioned, it’s going to be a lot cooler, it can use 10 or 15 per cent less electricity. You also do something in that you change the albedo of the Earth – you make it more reflective. So the sunlight comes down and it actually goes back up – there is no greenhouse effect.” KISS, baby, KISS.
World Business Summit on Climate Change – Meanwhile, the Copenhagen Climate Council hosted this congregation of business leaders and climate change nabobs earlier this week. The UNSG, Ban Ki-moon, revved up the participants, urging them to action. In his speech, he told them “With your support, and through your example, we must harness the necessary political will to seal the deal on an ambitious new climate agreement in December here in Copenhagen.” Other high-profile speakers included Al Gore, Rajendra Pachauri, and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, as well as Tim Flannery, Chairman, Copenhagen Climate Council.
What’s the pitch? “The Copenhagen Call” which sets out the elements the global business community believes are necessary for an effective treaty to be finalized in December:
Great stuff! With all this activity – between the business leaders, the scientists and the government leaders, not to mention the driving force of the NGOs – we may yet get something with teeth coming out of Washington this fall, Copenhagen in December, and the rest of the world as we progress.
