Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, in Abuja on Thursday, June 29, 2017, received the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, United Nations Nigeria & United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nigeria Resident Representative, Edward Kallon, and his team.
Discussions centered on areas of cooperation as well as numerous topical issues related to the environment and the many climate change challenges faced in Nigeria.
The Ogun State Government has revealed plans to begin tree planting within cities towards mitigating the effects of climate change, as well as beautifying the scenery of areas through its Urban Forestry Programme (UFP).
Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal, made this known at the flag-off of the tree-planting exercise at Federal University of Agriculture, International School, Abeokuta.
Chief Lawal said the programme was aimed at transforming the landscape of the state, especially those of cities, affirming that the ministry was partnering with Green Mobilisation Initiative (GMI), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), to plant trees in secondary schools across the state. He added that the ministry would soon embark on tree planting in public places within urban centres.
“Apart from secondary schools, we also want to take tree planting to hospitals, houses and around the towns. We just have to see that people embrace tree planting,” he said.
Coordinator of GMI, Gabriel Aborell, said the initiative, apart from the aesthetic purpose, would also educate young ones especially secondary school students on the importance of tree planting while they would also be trained on the technical knowhow of tree planting.
The 12 nations of the Sahel and West Africa Programme in Support of the Great Green Wall Initiative (SAWAP) a couple of months ago converged on the Ghanaian capital city of Accra on the occasion of the project’s 4th Conference.
Each nation presented the success stories of their projects, as well as the lessons learnt from their experiences.
Afterwards, participants moved to the northern part of the country on tour of implementation sites of the Ghana Sustainable Land and Water Management Project (SLWMP), which aims to support farmers in the Northern Savannah Zone to adopt sustainable land management practices to help reverse land degradation and desertification in that part of the country.
It appears the Cross Rivers State Government (CRSG) has a high mountain to climb in its bid to build its much-vaunted but controversial six-lane, 275km long Superhighway.
Designed to link Calabar, the state capital, to the neighboring Benue State, the $3.5 billion highway will pass through biodiversity rich forests in the Ekuri community as well as the Cross River National Park (CRNP), a development observers feel will have far reaching implications for thousands of families and their livelihoods.
But this route may now be jettisoned for another, going by fresh conditions given by the federal government to the state government.
According to one of the 23 conditions to be met by Cross River before the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is approved and work can fully commence on site, the CRSG is to ensure that the updated maps in the new EIA must show that the “re-routed road corridor cognisance of the boundary of Cross River National Park and Ekuri Community Forest as well as conform to international best practices on setbacks for highways in critical ecosystems such as the proposed corridor.” In other words, state authorities were told that the road should neither cut through Ekuri nor the CRNP.
The Federal Ministry of Environment on Thursday, June 29, 2017 in Abuja handed the conditionally-approved EIA report (along with the conditions) to the Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ivara Esu.
Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, said that all conditions must be met before a final approval is given to the EIA report to signal commencement of work. He added that there would be a review within the next two or three weeks.
Besides demanding that the report/plan be revised and resubmitted within two weeks, the Ministry also stated that the EIA approval shall cover only the construction of a 275km long by 70m width Superhighway of six lanes including setbacks and other associated infrastructures such as eco-friendly bridges, culverts, drainages from Calabar to Katsina-Ala junction in Cross River State.
Government also demanded that the CRSG shall ensure that the diverse management plans, which include Environmental Management Plan (EMP); Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP); Resettlement Action Plan (RAP); Livelihood Restoration Plan (LRP); Greenhouse Gas Management Plan (GHGMP); Public Consultation Plan (PCP); Waste Management Plan (WMP); Traffic Management Plan (TMP) as well as Labour and Human Resources Plan (LHRP) put in place for the road project are strictly adhered to as required throughout the project lifecycle.
Besides engaging a group of accredited consultants to effectively manage the diverse management plans for the proposed road project, the CRSG was likewise asked to ensure the realignment of the 275.344km road corridor from the boundary of the Cross River National Park is in line with the National Park Service (NPS) Act CAP LFN 2016.
The CRSG is also to gazette the reversal of revocation order on the acquisition of 10km on either side to the 70km span of the road corridor as well as the gazetting of the boundary of Cross River National Park within two weeks.
Furthermore, it should ensure that the initial land clearing of the road corridor that was carried out without due inventory of the third party properties/farmlands is revisited to adequately compensate the project affected persons (PAPS) in line with national and international standards of practice on resettlement and restoration plans. This shall be done prior to project commencement.
Some other conditions were identified to include:
Reacting to the development, Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), said: “The lesson of the conditional approval of the EIA for the superhighway is that it took four attempts at EIA submission before the proponents of this project could come up with something close to passable. Stakeholders note that the CRSG took many decisions without adequate prior informed consultations.
“At a recent Community Dialogue at Akpabuyo, the community people all said they just woke up one day to see bulldozers destroying their crops, land and properties. In other words, they were not consulted. And they were not compensated. One of the conditions given before the EIA would be fully approved is that this anomaly must be corrected. Moreover, the Superhighway is to re-routed away from protected and community forests.
“We are also pleased to note that CRSG is to ensure that the updated maps in the new EIA must show that the ‘re-routed road corridor cognisance of the boundary of Cross River National Park and Ekuri Community Forest as well as conform to international best practices on setbacks for highways in critical ecosystems such as the proposed corridor.’
“Another point in favour of the communities who were badly shaken by the move to grab 10km on either side of the superhighway is that the CRSG must ‘gazette the reversal of revocation order on the acquisition of 10km on either side to the 70km span of the road corridor as well as the gazetting of the boundary of Cross River National Park within two weeks of receipt of this letter.’
“The entire Superhighway episode is a superstory on the vital need for citizens to be remain alert and fight for their rights irrespective of how powerful the forces ranged against them may be.”
The newly launched Endangered Species Rescue (ESR) has said that its priority area of focus is to save cheetahs, the African painted dogs, pink dolphins, and the climate change-threatened coral.
The New York-based not-for-profit outfit says it partners with leading conservation scientists to raise money for urgent projects that protect endangered animals and help local people economically.
“After a year of hard work with the world’s greatest scientists, we are proud to announce our launch,” says founder, Peter Gottesman, in a statement.
He adds: “The Endangered Species Revenge makes people laugh while teaching them about animal biology and behaviour. Our scientists lead small to medium-sized grassroots non-profits, which spend nearly all their money on fieldwork, with little overhead. This ensures donations are working efficiently. A Board of scientific advisors vets each project.”
Expressing concern over the fauna and flora under focus, he laments: “While 90% of the world’s cheetahs have vanished in the last 100 years and pink river dolphins across Bolivia are becoming stranded and are dying each year due to shallower river levels, 75% of the world’s coral reefs are already dead or damaged due to climate change. Also, African poachers hide deadly snares to catch antelope, but these snares are killing the last 4,500 painted dogs.”
According to Gottesman, ESR works with scientists like Dr. Greg Rasmussen (who has reportedly designed a cutting edge collar to save painted dogs), Dr. Laurie Marker (devised a way for dogs to protect cheetahs), Dr. Ruth Gates (seeking to discover “super corals” which will regenerate the world’s coral reefs), and Dr. Enzo Aliaga Rossel (creating an emergency rescue fund to save the freshwater dolphins).
Speaking at the Roundtable on Food Security in the Niger Delta on Thursday, July 29, 2017 in Abuja as part of the EU Climate Diplomacy Week, Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), says that food is a human right, hunger arises due to a complex of socio-political realities
We are approaching this conversation on Food security in the Niger Delta from the premise that we must own our food narrative. We shouldn’t be adjudged malnourished or hungry simply because we do not eat certain prescribed foods, in what manner and in what quantities. This requires that we consider the crucial need to approach food security in the context of food sovereignty.
The implication is that we have to focus on food that is produced by the people and that are culturally appropriate. This is vital, because food availability does not necessarily address the issue of food security if the people end up eating junk or are force-fed on foods they don’t really want. In the Niger Delta, as in the overall national situation, while we have spots where few citizens battle with mountains of food, the majority are drowning in the ocean of hunger.
Hunger arises due to a complex of socio-political realities
Food is a human right. A good way to look at food security is to approach it in terms of agriculture, property rights and environmental management. The deep link to agriculture is inescapable, as the majority of our people are engaged in the production of food in one form or the other. And the story of the despoiled Niger Delta environment is well told.
In 1996, SERAC filed a case against the Federal Government of Nigeria at the African Commission Human and Peoples’ Rights, denouncing “the widespread contamination of soil, water and air; the destruction of homes; the burning of crops and killing of farm animals; and the climate of terror the Ogoni communities had been suffering of, in violation of their rights to health, a healthy environment, housing and food. In terms of the African Charter, these allegations included violations of Articles 2 (non-discriminatory enjoyment of rights), 4 (right to life), 14 (right to property), 16 (right to health), 18 (family rights), 21 (right of peoples to freely dispose of their wealth and natural resources) and 24 (right of peoples to a satisfactory environment)”.
When the Commission reached a decision in 2011, the FG was found culpable, violating the people’s right to food. Thus, when we consider the food security in the Niger Delta, we must keep in mind that there is a continued failure of the governments to uphold the right of the people to safe and satisfactory food and by extension, all the other rights.
Absence of food is a major threat to human security.
Food is available when food producers are able to invest their time, energy, resources and skills in farming, herding or fishing and attain good harvests for subsistence or for commercial purposes. Food is accessible when it can be found within reach of the hungry, and critically so when they have the purchasing power to acquire it. Food availability is also anchored on the appropriateness of the items within the cultural context.
Production and consumption of food depend not just on current realities, but also on the collective and cultural memories of the people. These include how seeds are acquired and from whom, as well as how they are sown and by whom. Are the seeds purchased or do farmers get them from what they had saved? Is planting solely individual effort or does it include the cooperation of neighbours and other communal configurations?
For farmers to supply food in quantities that cover their needs and leave surpluses for the market, they have to sow sufficient seeds of good quality and on good quality soil. The impoverishment of farmers could lead to reduction in the scope of their productive ability – including farm size, quality and quantity of seeds, as well as their capacity to work.
Soil and Seeds
When soils are of poor quality, the best efforts of the farmers would be largely futile and unproductive. When the soils are bad, the harvests would be bad and seeds saved to be planted would be of poor quality and are bound to yield poorer harvests. In situations of this nature, farmers engage in farming as a routine, on automaton, expecting little and getting nothing. With the depth of pollution in the Niger Delta, farming is often mere tradition.
Over the years, local food varieties have been lost or abandoned. Massive deforestation due to logging, land use conversion, infrastructure development and industrial activities threaten vital food sources.
What Changed?
Oil exploration and extraction have brought about major changes in food production and access in the Niger Delta. The impacts come through the entire chain: from seismic activities of the exploration stage to the production, transportation and eventual usage stages. Seismic activities in the seas have direct impact on aquatic life forms and drilling wastes impact both land and water bodies.
Dumping hundreds of millions of barrels of produced water into the environment adds to the deadly pollution. Oil spills from equipment failure and from third party interferences add to the tragic situation. Gas flares diminish agricultural productivity and the use of the furnaces to process foods contaminate and poison the people.
Indiscriminate harvesting of fish by international fleets raise unique security issues and wreaks havoc on fisheries, further impoverishing local fishers.
Canalisations for oil sector operations have also damaged fresh water systems by bringing in salt water from the sea. This has marked implications for fish and agricultural productivity.
Coastal erosion is driving less of farmland and infrastructure.
The overall situation is so bad that fishermen and women depend on imported fish for sustenance.
When Security Breeds Insecurity
Paradoxically, the presence of security forces in the Niger Delta to some extent promotes insecurity in the region. This happens in the sense that the citizens are insecure in the presence of these officials. Curtailment of certain undesirable activities may also become impossible if those charged with halting them do nothing or get compromised in the process. Collective shaming and punishment as evidenced in the many checkpoints in the creeks and have been seen in the cases of Ogoni, Odi, Odioma, Gbaramatu and many others attest to this.
Military shields around oil and gas facilities reduce the fishing zones and keep fishers away from customary or known fishing zones. Fisher folks now have to go to international waters, at great cost and risks, if they hope to make any reasonable catch.
Dumping of industrial waste at sea further hampers the productivity of the efforts of the fishers. This has raised concerns for fisher folks in the Niger Delta and in nations with offshore extractive activities.
Biodiversity
The most assured way of ensuring food security in Niger Delta is the protection/management of the environment and the enhancement of her agricultural biodiversity. Agro-biodiversity is one of the basic productive assets of family farmers. This will require a halt of the pollutions, including gas flaring going on in the Niger Delta. On a national scale, it would necessitate the repeal of the National Biosafety Management Act 2015 and the enacting of a National Biodiversity Management Act that would not only protect and ensure the preservation of our agricultural biodiversity but would also help kick start a bio-economy based on nature’s gifts to the nation.
Working the Future
African countries must work closer together when implementing national climate action plans under the Paris Climate Change Agreement and mobilising climate finance, whilst better integrating climate action into sustainable development planning. This was the key conclusion of ministers and key delegates who convened for the Africa Carbon Forum which ended on Friday, June 30, 2017 in Cotonou, Benin.
Over 600 practitioners, experts and policy makers, including ministers from governments across Africa and other high level participants, met in Cotonou to take stock and align strategies on how financial resources should be mobilised to ensure sustainable development and emissions reduction on a continent-wide scale.
“Africa is the continent most affected by climate change. Two thirds of Africans make their living off the land, consequently, it is critical that the continent secures a climate-resilient economic and development path. Hosting this Africa Carbon Forum on the topic of collaborative climate actions for sustainable development demonstrates Benin’s own commitment to the national climate action plans and the broader concern of Africa to promote collective actions for the climate,” said Abdoulaye Bio Tchane, Senior Minister in charge of Planning and Development of Benin.
With ambitious commitments already made by countries under the Paris Agreement, and with more commitments expected, African ministers and other leaders stressed the importance of building momentum that will enable the transformational shift towards low carbon and greater resilience to climate change. They also highlighted the need for new partnerships to develop and further spur sustainable development.
Speaking to delegates in Cotonou, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, said: “Africa will see explosive growth through to the middle of the century. Not only that – Africa is one of the most important engines for growth worldwide in the coming years. African people are at the core of this growth. But the growth needs to be shaped on the basis of related climate and sustainable development criteria.
“Africa’s nationally determined contributions to the agreement are blueprints for attracting private sector investment and pushing forward. Implementation of the Paris Agreement is the foundation for stability, for security and prosperity as the population grows to nine billion people or more by 2050. It is food and water and energy for everyone. It is good jobs. It is the foundation for building sustainable, resilient communities powered by clean, renewable energy.”
Moving forward, the Africa Carbon Forum is developing into the regional climate action event supporting, in conjunction with Global Climate Action events, non-government (“non-Party”) stakeholder action in the run-up to the annual UNFCCC Conference of the Parties.
Delegates at this year’s Africa Carbon Forum confirmed that non-Party stakeholders, including private sector and cities, stand ready to enhance ambition on climate action and welcomed the event as a unique regional event, which facilitates knowledge and new partnerships which are key to allowing Africa to realise its potential and meet the ambitions goals set in the Paris agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Delegates discussed crucial themes ranging from climate policy options to the future of the existing and widely use mechanisms that are suitable to the different domestic context and can be scaled up at regional level in Africa. Many discussions centered on how to strengthen cooperation between Parties and non-Party stakeholders in key sectors for Africa – notably energy, agriculture and human settlements – including the role of future carbon markets in boosting climate action for sustainable development.
“The private sector is vital in bringing climate finance to Africa,” says Dirk Forrister, IETA’s CEO and President. “Markets are the most efficient way of driving that investment, which in turn aids African nations to grow in a cleaner, more sustainable way.”
“This meeting shows that many countries in the region are advancing on the domestic policy front and a number are finding new innovative ways of engaging their local private sector in project development and finance,” said Miriam Hinostroza from UNEP DTU.
The Forum was organised under the umbrella of the Nairobi Framework Partnership and partners and cooperating organisations involved in this year’s Africa Carbon Forum include the UNFCCC, World Bank, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), UNEP DTU Partnership, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Africa Development Bank Group, Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS Partnership) and Climate Markets and Investment Association (CMIA). The event was supported by the West African Development Bank (BOAD).
The Nairobi Framework Partnership was launched in 2006 by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to assist developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, to improve their level of participation in the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism.
Illegal fishing, logging and poaching are impacting two-thirds of the 57 natural World Heritage sites monitored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) this year, putting some of the world’s most precious and unique ecosystems and species at risk.
Ahead of the 41st session of the World Heritage Committee, starting on Sunday, July 2, 2017 in Kraków, Poland, IUCN has recommended listing Mexico’s Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to illegal gillnet fishing, which threatens the vaquita with imminent extinction.
The IUCN is also concerned over continued impacts of illegal activities, including logging and poaching, on the unique biodiversity of Madagascar’s Rainforests of the Atsinanana and on Białowieża Forest – one of Europe’s last remaining primeval forests located in Poland and Belarus.
“It is alarming that even our planet’s greatest natural treasures are under pressure from illegal activities,” says IUCN Director General Inger Andersen. “World Heritage sites are recognised as the planet’s most unique and valuable places, for nature and for people. If destroyed, they are lost forever.
“World Heritage status is designed to grant these places the highest level of protection, and we as the international community are responsible for the effectiveness of this protection. Only through strong international cooperation can we eliminate the illegal and unsustainable practices that are having such a devastating impact on these extraordinary places.”
Illegal wildlife trade is threatening the vaquita – the world’s smallest porpoise – with extinction. The Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California became a World Heritage site in 2005 due to its unique marine biodiversity. It hosts a third of the world’s cetacean species. The vaquita is a victim of by-catch from illegal fishing of a Critically Endangered fish, the totoaba, whose swim bladder fetches high prices in Asian markets.
Despite Mexico’s extensive efforts to combat the illegal gillnet fishing, the vaquita’s survival remains at severe risk, with a crash in the population leaving only about 30 individuals in the wild. IUCN recommends placing the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger to mobilise urgent action to protect the site. It calls for a permanent ban on gillnets, as well as strengthened international cooperation to address threats to the site.
Madagascar’s Rainforests of the Atsinanana acquired ‘in danger’ status in 2010 – only three years after being listed as a World Heritage site – due to illegal logging of ebony and rosewood. The site is a key habitat for endangered lemurs, which are also the target of poaching. Despite Madagascar’s ongoing efforts to address the threats, in 2016 there was a marked increase in illegal logging. IUCN recommends that the site should remain on the List of World Heritage in Danger and calls for stronger efforts to address the threats, including increased cooperation between countries along trading routes.
If Poland continues to undertake wood extraction and logging in old-growth areas of Białowieża Forest, intact habitats will be lost. The European Commission recently expressed concern over the removal of ancient trees from the forest, which is also a Natura 2000 site. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979 as one of the first World Heritage sites, and extended in 1992 and 2014, the site is shared between Poland and Belarus and covers a total area of 141,885 hectares. Białowieża is one of the few remaining primeval forests on the European continent. It is home to the iconic European Bison and hosts more than 250 bird and over 12,000 invertebrate species.
The IUCN recommends a monitoring mission to the site so that the situation can be fully assessed, and actions agreed. Should danger to the site’s Outstanding Universal Value be confirmed, Białowieża will be considered for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2018.
International cooperation is starting to demonstrate results in addressing illegal activities in Thailand’s Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex. IUCN’s mission to the site noted that that cooperation between Thailand, Cambodia, China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Viet Nam, in addition to strengthened coordination of efforts within Thailand, resulted in a decrease in illegal logging of Siamese rosewood, which had been on the rise in recent years.
More resources are now invested into the site, with an action plan aiming to intensify patrol efforts using space technology. The forest complex is internationally important for the survival and conservation of globally threatened mammals, birds and reptiles. It also serves as one of Thailand’s most important watersheds.
The IUCN is the official advisory body on nature to the World Heritage Committee, recommending new sites to be included on the World Heritage list, and proposing actions to protect World Heritage sites facing threats.
Achim Steiner, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, has said that the Maldives will benefit from the current transfer of Green Climate Funds (GCF) funds to an adaptation project run by the UNDP.
While surrounded by water, many people in the outer islands of the Maldives suffer from recurring water supply emergencies. Variable rainfall patterns and increasing salinisation caused by rising sea levels have led to a dearth of drinking water.
GCF’s disbursement of funds to the project will bolster an integrated water supply system based on rainwater, groundwater and desalinated water to provide a low-cost supply to vulnerable households. The project will also provide an uninterrupted supply of water to 49 islands that currently rely on emergency deliveries for three months of each year.
GCF’s transfer of $3 million marks the start of GCF’s total contribution of $23.6 million. Other contributors to this five-year grant project, totaling $28.2 million, are the Maldives Ministry of Environment and Energy and the UNDP, which GCF has accredited to implement the project.
“We are delighted that the Green Climate Fund’s first disbursement to UNDP will help realise this exciting project, which will see almost a third of the population of the Maldives becoming freshwater self-sufficient over the next five years,” Steiner said.
“Projects such as this can have enormous impact in countries like the Maldives, which is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion and more frequent droughts, storms and flooding,” explained Mr Steiner. “This new, integrated approach to climate-induced water scarcity will help build a more sustainable, climate-resilient future for the people of the Maldives.”
The geographic characteristic of the Maldives – consisting of 1,190 small, low-lying coral islands spread over 90,000 square kilometres – puts this South Asian nation at the forefront of climate change. High poverty levels in the Maldives’ outer islands exacerbate drinking water shortages during its dry season, leading to environmental and social impacts.
Howard Bamsey, GCF Executive Director, said this project matches neatly with a GCF priority to reduce the climate vulnerability of societies in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
“The Maldives have identified water shortages caused by climate change as a key developmental challenge,” Mr Bamsey said. “GCF climate finance will help to alleviate a near-term emergency and build the long-term strategies needed to deal with a changing climate.”
The Maldives’ Minister of Environment and Energy, Thoriq Ibrahim, wrote in an online publication last year that plans by GCF and UNPD to work together in addressing the Maldives’ climate challenges fits well with his country’s long-term adaptation plan. This consists, he wrote, of introducing strict zoning regulations for coastal communities and strengthening infrastructure against erosion, rising seas and other climate impacts.
Mr Ibrahim indicated common perceptions about SIDS’ vulnerabilities meant concerns over scant water supplies were often overlooked. “Ironically, with all the attention given to our low-lying islands’ vulnerability to sea level rise, water shortages represent an even more urgent threat,” he wrote.
In order to stay below the 2 °C guardrail set in the Paris Agreement, climate policy should be integrated with the G20 finance ministers’ agenda. Finance ministers should consider the merits of carbon pricing for sound fiscal policy and thereby stimulate investments in carbon-free infrastructure.
“It is rational for G20 finance ministers to embrace climate policy, even if climate change is not their primary concern,” writes a team of authors led by the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) in an article published in the new issue of the journal Nature Climate Change.
In their article titled: “Aligning climate policy with finance ministers’ G20 agenda”, Ottmar Edenhofer, Chief Economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Director of MCC, together with MCC Secretary General Brigitte Knopf and colleagues from other institutions argue that investments in fossil fuels have become more risky in the post-Paris world.
Most of the fossil fuel reserves have to remain unburnt in order to stay below a 2 °C temperature increase. “Financial markets have to deal with the risk that climate regulation may devalue assets — they must do so without destabilising international capital markets”, the authors, who chaired the Think20 Task Force on Climate Policy and Finance, write.
The scientists from the MCC, the Brookings Institution in the US and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) from Canada contextualise this problem with the ever more urgent need to build new infrastructure around the globe while the world is facing declining tax revenues.
“Carbon pricing could become particularly important for the developing countries due to rapid urbanisation and economic growth,” says Amar Bhattacharya, senior fellow at the Global Economy and Development Programme at Brookings Institution. “In the next 15 years they will have to finance more than $80 trillion of infrastructure in energy, transport infrastructure, potable water supply and sanitation and telecommunications.”
The US administration is facing the same challenge as many other G20 countries. “Additional funding sources are crucial in the face of the rising need to rebuild American infrastructure,” says MCC Director Edenhofer. “Business leaders and international organizations have already understood that despite the announced withdrawal from the Paris Agreement by Donald Trump, in a globalised economy there is no longer a choice between climate and non-climate policy but between smart and costly regulation. Furthermore, there has even been some support by fiscal conservatives in the United States for a budget-neutral carbon tax.”
Financing such infrastructure in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement would require a reallocation of resources towards a climate-friendly infrastructure. However, the current fiscal system in many countries will not provide the necessary resources. Furthermore, because low-income households consume a higher share of carbon-intensive goods in their household budgets, the burden of carbon pricing on those households is relatively high compared with high-income households. The article in Nature Climate Change therefore calls for a well-designed progressive recycling of carbon pricing revenues.
Carbon pricing is already increasingly being taken up by business leaders and investors as an efficient way to reduce emissions. “The agenda of the global business community becomes ever more consistent with civil society’s agenda,” says Céline Bak, a senior fellow with CIGI’s Global Economy Programme.
“For example, in preparation for the G20 summit in Hamburg, German industry representatives call for an ambitious timeline for phasing out fossil-fuel subsidies, effective and globally converging carbon pricing mechanisms, as well as to implement international disclosure and reporting standards for environmental and climate-related financial risks.”
Meanwhile, China will implement a nationwide trading scheme this year, which has the potential to become much larger than the European carbon market. Carbon taxes have also been successfully implemented in British Columbia, Canada. The overall resistance within the business community to carbon taxes or emission trading schemes is weakening. A carbon pricing landscape is already emerging, with about 17 percent of emissions in the G20 covered by pricing schemes. The G20 countries are heavyweights in the arena of climate policy. They are responsible for roughly 80 percent of global energy use and CO2 emissions.
