Blog post by Karen Bell, Bristol School for Policy Studies
The
All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group (APPCCG) is a coalition of 150 MPs
from all parties, as well as almost 200 representatives of a variety of businesses,
NGOs, academic institutions, and embassies.
Its registered aim is ‘To raise awareness of the threat of climate
change and to promote policies to counter that threat’ (Register of All Party
Groups, 2012). This involves discussing
the practical strategies, at national and international level, for enabling the
UK and the rest of the world to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The current Chair of the Committee is the
Labour parliamentarian, Joan Walley MP, who also heads the Environmental Audit
Committee. The Secretariat of the APPCCG is the Carbon Neutral Company, a
business which has ‘…pioneered the carbon offset industry’ (Carbon Neutral
Company, 2012).
On
11th September 2011, I attended an important meeting of this group
on behalf of the Cabot Institute. The meeting began with Joan Walley MP
explaining the importance of the meeting, in terms of contributing to the
upcoming 18th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change) at Doha.
She said that, in the past, the APPCCG had identified disconnects
between policy, business and government and that it was necessary to look at
how to close these gaps. She asked us to
consider how the aspiration to be ‘the greenest government ever’ was reflected
in our policies. Following this, she
introduced the panel: Gregory Barker MP,
DECC Minister; Mark Simmonds MP, newly appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary
of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office; Ruth Davis, Senior Policy
Advisor to Greenpeace UK;
Pete Betts, Director, International
Climate Change, DECC; and Mark Kenber, Chief Executive Officer of the
Climate Group, a non-profit organisation.
Ruth Davis of Greenpeace, the first speaker, emphasised that
climate change has structural causes and so international climate change
negotiations are complex and need to be carried out over a long time
period. She spoke of the necessity for
cross party consensus so that policy remains consistent over time.
DECC Minister, Gregory Barker MP, said that, despite the difficulties in previous climate change negotiations, there was still a glimmer of hope for the upcoming Doha talks. He said he considered the UNFCCC process was our best chance to deliver a global agreement by working towards a single, legally binding instrument to control climate change. Praising Pete Bett’s negotiating skills, he remarked how difficult these meetings were, not only because of the influence of geo-politics, but also individual egos. However, he felt that the UK was held in very high esteem because of its role in the negotiations and was hopeful because, at the last major UNFCCC talks in Durban we ‘agreed to agree’ that there should be a global treaty by 2015. However, he was concerned about the rift between developed and developing countries on these issues. He spoke of the 100 billion dollars promised for adaptation and mitigation, stating that this should not be seen as a grant since some of this money would be a result of developing countries mobilising private sector capital. Further, he considered that the transition to a low carbon economy should be seen as an opportunity and a spur to growth and innovation.
DECC Minister, Gregory Barker MP, said that, despite the difficulties in previous climate change negotiations, there was still a glimmer of hope for the upcoming Doha talks. He said he considered the UNFCCC process was our best chance to deliver a global agreement by working towards a single, legally binding instrument to control climate change. Praising Pete Bett’s negotiating skills, he remarked how difficult these meetings were, not only because of the influence of geo-politics, but also individual egos. However, he felt that the UK was held in very high esteem because of its role in the negotiations and was hopeful because, at the last major UNFCCC talks in Durban we ‘agreed to agree’ that there should be a global treaty by 2015. However, he was concerned about the rift between developed and developing countries on these issues. He spoke of the 100 billion dollars promised for adaptation and mitigation, stating that this should not be seen as a grant since some of this money would be a result of developing countries mobilising private sector capital. Further, he considered that the transition to a low carbon economy should be seen as an opportunity and a spur to growth and innovation.
Mark Simmonds, MP, then went on to say that the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office was a significant player in bringing forward the
climate change agenda around the world.
He considered that it was important to explain to developing countries
that a low carbon economy can go alongside economic growth. Supporting Greg Barker, MP’s view, he stated
that the need to reduce emissions was an opportunity for UK business to help
developing countries to transition, by exporting innovation, expertise and
finance. He said that the UK had been
leaders in inspiring other countries. For
example the Mexican government had put in place a climate change act modelled
on that of the UK and South Korea’s emissions trading scheme is a result of
significant UK input.
Peter Betts emphasised that the window of opportunity to ensure global warming is kept to below 2 degrees
(2C) is getting smaller. This
target was agreed at the 2010 Copenhagen UNFCCC talks in order to avoid runaway,
and potentially devastating, climate change.
Peter Betts considered that the 2C goal was a ‘sensitive issue’ for
China and ‘China is doing a lot but the numbers suggest they would need to
almost do more than anyone else to meet that goal’. He also stated that it was proving a
challenge to mobilise private finance to help reduce climate change.
Mark Kenber said there was huge
enthusiasm about what could be achieved at the COP meetings but that
negotiations continue to focus on cost.
The situation must be seen as an opportunity for business.
After the panel had spoken, there was little time left for contributions
from the other seventy or more attendees.
Four comments/questions made were in the remaining time:
·
Whether or not we are meeting our emissions targets
depends if we are working on production or consumption based accounting. Our emissions are moving elsewhere.
·
We need to monitor all sustainability issues and
bring in across the board sustainability reporting. There is an emphasis on carbon to the
exclusion of other environmental issues and this risks policy responses
creating problems in other environmental domains.
·
One of the negotiating blocks was that developing
countries were asking for historic emissions to be taken into account.
·
Its very important to talk about the science in the
negotiations, because we now may be looking at 4 degrees warming (I think this
meant we are headed for 4 degrees, not that the target should be 3 degrees).
The panel replied to these comments by saying it would not be practical
to introduce consumption based accounting; that we ‘want to get into emissions
trading’; and that we need to persuade developing societies that growth economic and environmental protection
were mutually reinforcing.
I did not contribute to the discussion, partly
because there was so little time for comments from the floor, but mainly
because my own opinions about the practical solutions to climate change are so
completely different to those expressed that I could not see how I could begin
to make a case within the one or two sentences that appeared permissible. I found the emphasis on market solutions;
‘persuading’ developing countries; the dependence on private enterprise to find
emissions reduction a profitable enterprise; and the insistence on the need to
continue to pursue growth, ideas that are both disturbing and difficult to
confront (being the dominant discourse in the UK). Continuing growth is not
sensible, or even possible, because resources,
in particular fossil fuels, are unlikely to last another 100 years and the
capacity of the environment to cope with our waste is also reaching its limits. Most of the panel members seemed intent on
promoting climate catastrophe as a business opportunity, so increasing the
focus on technical and market-based solutions.
Many of these ‘solutions’ have proved ineffective and/or potentially
very harmful e.g. emissions trading, geo-engineering and nuclear power The kind of policies that might actually help
in the current situation where not mentioned or dismissed outright e.g. reduced consumption by the world’s wealthy; large financial
transfers from North to South in order to finance adaptation and mitigation
costs; safe, clean and community-led renewable energy; resource conservation
that enforces Indigenous land rights; organic and sustainable agriculture; free
public transport; and food sovereignty. Further elaboration of these points can be found in my articles and conference
papers, e.g. http://montreal.degrowth.org/downloads/papers/S018_Bell.pdf
Though frustrating, it is important for those of us
who are interested in socially and environmentally just solutions to the
problem of climate change to continue to engage in these events. We need to increase awareness of how damaging bogus strategies can be, and continue
to propose a genuine project to increase the well-being of all.