TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Climate Summit Heats Up In Bali

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2007

We have read the science. Global warming is real, and we are a prime cause.

We have heard the warnings. Unless we act, now, we face serious consequences. Polar ice will melt. Sea levels will rise. A third of our plant and animal species could vanish. There will be famine in Africa and Central Asia.

Largely lost in the debate is the good news: We can do something - more easily, and at far less cost, than most of us imagine.

These are the conclusions of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the scientific body that recently shared the Nobel Peace Prize. It is sobering reading. But let's remember its optimistic bottom line as world leaders meet in Bali this week, seeking an agreement on climate change that all nations can embrace.

We do not yet know what such an accord might look like. Should it urge governments to tax greenhouse gas emissions or endorse a global carbon-trading system? Should it provide mechanisms for preventing deforestation?

The answer, of course, is some variation on all these things - and much, much more. But at Bali, the goal is simpler and more immediate. We must set an agenda - create a road map to a better future, coupled with a timeline that produces a deal by 2009.

In this, it helps to have a vision of how the future might look if we succeed. That is not merely a cleaner, healthier, more secure world for all. Handled correctly, our fight against global warming could set the stage for an eco-friendly transformation of the global economy - one that spurs growth and development.

Visiting South America recently, I saw how Brazil has become one of the biggest players in green economics, drawing some 44 percent of its energy needs from renewable fuels. The world average is 13 percent. In Europe: 6.1 percent.

Much is made of the fact that China is poised to surpass the United States as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Less well known, however, are its more recent efforts to confront grave environmental problems. China is on track to invest $10 billion in renewable energy this year, second only to Germany. Some estimates show that growth in global energy demand could be cut in half over the next 15 years simply by deploying existing technologies yielding a return on investment of 10 percent or more.

Growth need not suffer and, in fact, may accelerate. Research by the University of California at Berkeley indicates that the United States could create 300,000 jobs if 20 percent of electricity needs were met by renewables.

The scientists have done their job. Now it's up to the politicians.

Ban Ki-Moon is secretary general of the United Nations.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT