‘Too late’ for world if no climate deal in Paris

In a joint announcement by Xi Jinping and Barack Obama in Washington DC, China and U.S. promised to take further joint action in a “common vision” aimed at delivering a meaningful climate deal in Paris at the end of this year.

German sporting goods brand Adidas and United Kingdom retailer Marks & Spencer are among the companies that have joined the new UN initiative, Climate Neutral Now, which aims to help more individuals and organisations measure, reduce and offset greenhouse gas emissions through an online platform.

In November, the country pledged to reach its peak of carbon dioxide emissions no later than 2030. Without going into the pros and cons of climate change, or pandering to, or ignoring the climate change deniers, if we look at the world’s past history, we can all agree there has been climate change in the past.

“It would be perverse for a country to use their development finance to invest in things that are not moving toward a lower-carbon trajectory”. Obama said that “when the world’s two largest economies, energy consumers and carbon emitters come together like this, there’s no reason” for other countries not to follow.

U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern declined to discuss the issue yesterday as he emerged from a brief speech to business leaders and climate change activists in New York. Both countries have also agreed to step up their work to reduce super-polluting hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

“Given the differences we observed within industries and across provinces in China, many opportunities would involve creating incentives to promote the adoption of Chinese best practices”, said lead author Zhu Liu, from the Harvard University and California Institute of Technology. Getting China on board is critical, not just to show “leadership” at the Paris climate summit, but to (Obama thinks) pull the rug out from under opponents of his agenda. Other countries must not kick back and assume a G2 (China and US) deal will keep us firmly on track for a safe climate.

“The stars are more aligned now for an historic universal agreement [in Paris] than they have ever been”, he said. China’s climate finance pledge of $3.1 billion is a watershed moment, raising the country to a new level on this issue. Deforestation is a major source of Brazil’s carbon emissions. That means coal-fired power plants like the Huntley Station in Tonawanda are on the way out while renewable energy is growing.

As Jamaica, prepares to take its case as part of the Alliance of Small Island States to the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Paris, France, Robert Pickersgill, Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, has indicated that several consultations will be taking place islandwide to sensitise citizens about the significance of the conference. More ambitious goals from these relatively large emitters could bring the world closer to the 2°C goal.

A few emerging nations do not want to commit themselves until they are assured that developing nations will receive $100 billion per year from 2020 to adapt to the impact of climate change.