Comment on Helligendamm G8

Heiligendamm: Vague on emission targets...
and vaguer still on the principles and frameworks
needed to drive climate stabilisation

Dr Will Howard, Coordinator of the new British based Cap and Share campaign

Environmental NGO's around the world have rightly identified the shortcomings of the G8 on capping the level of greenhouse gas emissions: No temperature rise limit, no clear targets or timetables for emission cuts, and no targets or timetables for protecting carbon sinks.

If the G8 + 5 leaders are vague on emissions targets, they are vaguer still on the principles and frameworks needed to underpin an effective global deal at the UN climate negotiations in Bali this December.

Apart from passing references to "setting up emissions-trading systems", the importance of "carbon markets" and "complementary national, regional and global policy frameworks" there were no further words on designing the political and economic arrangements needed.

There was no talk of how to use caps on emissions to drive up the price of carbon to make low and non carbon technologies more competitive and carbon efficiency more attractive. Recent research has shown that this may be as high as $50 to $100 per tonne CO2 in industry and well over $200 per tonne CO2 for road and air transport.

There was no recognition of the mechanisms needed to protect the world's poor from high carbon prices if emissions-trading systems are extended in the way that UK PM Tony Blair was promoting before the summit modeled on the EU Emissions Trading Sceme.

There were no ideas about how to avoid the competition between nations that could hold up any agreement on climate change for years and that was evident in the sparring before the summit.

Cap and Share, a new British based campaign, is proposing a framework that could be built sector-by-sector, nation-by-nation and region-by-region into a global system. It is built on the twin principles of a safe contracting cap on emissions and an equal share out of the limited emissions so defined between all adults. People then sell these shares for money back to the fossil fuel companies who have to buy enough to cover the emissions from their fuels. The price of carbon gets driven up by the contracting cap, people get compensated for the rising price of carbon and annual flows of money move from the carbon extravagant to the carbon poor.

The cap and share approach would be attractive to China and India as it would help their poor and drive carbon efficiency in their developing economies. It would help the US with its food and high-tech exports and, with other economic measures, support the value of the dollar.

The key block to this was evident at Heiligendamm - the selfish protection of national interests. The talk of "resolute and concerted international action" and "strong leadership" will ring as hollow as the promises of aid to Africa in 2005 unless a new cooperative framework and roadmap is adopted to overcome these selfish interests.