The rich nations also have a responsibility to fulfil the universally agreed target under the Millennium Development Goals to reduce global poverty by half by 2015. Second, energy conservation and efficiency needs to be in sharp focus in Copenhagen. The less the energy used, the lower will be the emissions. This is because a large portion of the energy generated is fossil fuel based and the situation will not change in the near future. To achieve this, cleaner technologies are required for industrial/business activities, which have to be provided by the rich nations to the poor nations at affordable cost.
For adaptation to climate change, a fund of, say, $50 billion is needed annually; it is only $80 million at present.
Third, the proportion of cleaner and renewable energies (wind, solar, bio-mass, biofuel and nuclear) in the total energy mix for each country has to be increased. Currently, the proportion of fossil-fuel-based energy is very high, varying from 60-90 per cent for different countries.
For example, Poland and other East European countries meet 90 per cent of their energy requirement from coal and oil.
It is suggested that realistic targets be fixed for producing renewable energy by every country keeping in view the state of their technical capabilities, financial resources, geographical and meteorological conditions, etc.
For example, sophisticated technology and heavy investment are required for producing nuclear energy, whereas countries with sunshine through the year can produce more solar energy, at far less cost.
If an overall global target of about 60 per cent of energy from gas, coal etc., and 40 per cent from renewable resources (including hydropower and nuclear) is achieved by 2020-25, climate change can be reasonably controlled.
Replacing 20,000 MW of fossil-fuel-based energy by the same volume of renewable energy would bring down emissions by a whopping 150 million tonnes.
Fourth, reduce deforestation and increase afforestation because forests act as carbon sinks and absorb about 15 per cent of carbon emissions.
That is why it was recommended at the recent UN Conference at Accra (Ghana) that deforestation should be a key element in the negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
Fifth, the wetlands (occupying 6 per cent of the earth’s surface, including marshes, peat bogs, river deltas, mangroves, tundras, lagoons and river flood plains) are under threat of being destroyed because of construction activities the world over.
They have to be preserved because they hold about 770 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide — 20 per cent of the CO{-2} on the earth.
This was highlighted at the 8th Wetlands Conference at Brazil organised by the International Association of Ecology last year.
Rich nations’ role
The Copenhagen meet is just nine months away, a short period considering that so far there has hardly been any meeting ground between the developed and developing nations.
If the rich industrialised nations are serious about controlling global warming, they should reduce their own emissions and provide clean technologies to the poor nations at reasonable cost.
This small sacrifice on their part, while they still remain rich, would mean wealth creation for the poor. This is what ‘fighting climate change globally’ means in its truest sense.
(The author, a former UN consultant, is now a consultant on environment, poverty alleviation and development planning. blfeedback@thehindu.co.in)
