| Climate solutions: China tackling climate change challenges with dynamic approach | ||||
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A new high-speed magnetic-levitation train covers the 120 kilometers between Beijing and Tianjin in just 25 minutes. But workers in the Beijing office of The Nature Conservancy took a more satisfying, if slightly slower, means to get to the United Nations climate talks last week in Tianjin. Their bicycle ride, along highways and through many tree-lined avenues, took six hours. Much like that impressive and eco-friendly effort, Chinese non-profit organizations held exceptional public awareness-raising activities, using this early-October preparatory meeting to bring attention back to the crucial issue of climate change, in anticipation of the big UN climate conference held each year in December, this year in Cancun, Mexico. The UN negotiations stood in stark contrast to the dynamism in the sustainable development industries that one feels in China. As negotiators inside the conference center argued over minute details of the decision text, hundreds of entrepreneurs gathered elsewhere in Tianjin to consider clean energy opportunities that can emerge under the carbon markets being contemplated by the Chinese government. While China, now the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, faces enormous challenges in reducing emissions, this entrepreneurial spirit — combined with aggressive policies to promote clean energy and transportation, and protect and restore forests that capture carbon dioxide — will be essential to meeting the challenges. Tianjin has one of the most dazzling, intelligently designed conference centers ever to host the global climate talks. The conference center was christened last month when it hosted the World Economic Forum, and the climate negotiations were its second major event. Built in just eight months, it is a symbol of both the pace of change in China and the modernism in this northeast city, one of China’s model cities of the “green economy”. There is much entrepreneurial dynamism in products and services that tap into the Chinese peoples’ interest in low-carbon development. Tianjin Municipality, for example, recently introduced a program allowing commuters to purchase one ton of carbon emissions reductions when they buy their electronic swipe cards for buses and subways. In its first week the program has issued 5,000 of these cards for only 50 RMB (US$ 7.50) each. China’s role in hosting this meeting is significant. Now the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, China is implementing major initiatives in renewable energy and energy efficiency and has become the world’s leading producer and consumer of many of these technologies. And on October 10, communities around the world, from Indonesia and Brazil (where responsibly managing forests can play a major role in fighting global warming) to the US and China joined in “10/10/10.” This was a globally linked set of events joining thousands of climate-change awareness actions in 183 countries. One hopes this kind of built-up energy and optimism will permeate through the rest of the year and into the Cancun negotiations. While last year’s Copenhagen Accord contained a number of meaningful advances in terms of pollution-reducing pledges, financing, transparency, and monitoring, it was a let-down after expectations had been so high before the conference that a major, comprehensive agreement would be signed by most of the world’s leaders. And the Accord did not contain the legally binding agreement and detailed rules that the world needs to have a full system of cooperative action on climate change. Unfortunately, some of the differences between countries seem just as strong as they were before their leaders agreed to the Copenhagen Accord. There is concern that a collapse of talks in two months in Cancun could further erode faith in the UN’s role in alleviating the ills of global warming. One hopes this concern, which was being openly acknowledged by negotiators in Tianjin, may in fact galvanize delegations to bridge their differences and work even harder to position an agreement in Cancun that keeps the world moving toward stronger action on climate change and a major increase in adaptation efforts worldwide to provide us all with a safer, healthier, and less risky place to live. As a starting point for the Cancun outcome, it is essential that governments participating in the Copenhagen Accord honor what has already been agreed upon last year. Following through on financing to developing countries and a commitment to transparency by all countries, as well as taking decisions in Cancun that are consistent with the Accord, are crucial to building international goodwill and trust. In rapidly growing China, and in many of the most ecologically valuable places around the world, we are already observing the real and disturbing impacts of climate change. The urgency to deal with the climate change threat is clear. At the same time, we know that nature-based solutions, including the protection of the world’s tropical forests, can help significantly reduce global emissions. Adapting to climate change will also rely on the safeguards provided by healthy ecosystems, which must be enhanced through an increase in protection of coastlines, watersheds and mountainous forests. Action on climate change must protect — and use — these ecosystems for the valuable services they provide. (Duncan Marsh, International Climate Policy) Source: The Jakarta Post Some rights for the image is reserved under Creative Commons license
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