The problem is such that no multilateral agreement is ever likely and the son of Kyoto is doomed to fail unless one side changes their current stance.
At least China is now putting a price on their cooperation. The plan to "spread green technologies" is also an excellent one and links back to my recent work on environmental spillovers where we argue that MNCs have an incentive to spread good environmental practices. The issue is whether more encouragement is required to speed up this process.
Obviously the idea of rich countries giving 1% of GDP to poor countries is a none starter I am sure but there is no doubt that it would work (certainly help). This is at least somewhere to start from. It is these sorts of amounts that are required to really make a difference.
China Sets Price For Cooperation On Climate Change[PlanetArk]
BEIJING - China wants rich countries to commit 1 percent of their economic worth to help poor nations fight global warming, and will press for a new international mechanism to spread "green" technology worldwide.
Unveiling the demands on Tuesday, a senior Chinese official for climate change policy, Gao Guangsheng, said the financial turmoil rattling the global economy should not deter a big increase in funds and technology to poor nations.
"Developing countries should take action, but a prerequisite for this action is that developed countries provide funds and transfer technology," Gao told a news conference.
"Developed countries' funding to support developing countries response to climate change should reach 1 percent of the developed countries' GDP."
Gao said current funds to help fight climate change were "virtually nothing". China will detail its proposal at a conference next week that will assemble representatives from the United States, Europe and many rich and poor countries, he said.
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3 comments:
Unfortunately the typical pattern for developing countries is that most of that "1%" contribution would go to anything but environmental remediation/protection. More likely that big leaders would have more cash to blow and some new weapons systems would be bought.
And China would suddenly try to play the "poor" role even though they are only the third country on the planet to have a manned space program. Having manned spaceships should automatically disqualify any nation from being called "developing".
Then, Is it right? If that reaction taken by developing country become valid, what could be happened to South Korea? I wonder if the view point of other countries on South Korea is developing country or not.
Anyway, the government of South Korea is preparing for 2nd Kyoto protocol. According to the president, we will get ready for it until 2013.
IT would be hard to hold back China in the beginning stage of its great industrial revolution like the rest of the world already has been through a century ago. Their priority is industrial growth and a powerful nations at all costs. Even for the environmental costs. Their government gives them all kinds of exceptions just for the industrial growth priority.
As China grows it will take the world a step back in the progress of preventing global warming.
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