Meeting The Climate Challenge: Recommendations Of The Climate Change Taskforce

MEETING THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE TASKFORCE JANUARY 2005 The International Climate Change Taskforce Rt Hon. Stephen Byers MP (United Kingdom) Co-Chair Sen. Olympia Snowe (United States) Co-Chair Hon. Bob Carr MP (Australia) Professor John P Holdren (United States) Dr Martin Khor Kok-Peng (Malaysia) Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet MP (France) Dr Claude Martin (Switzerland) Professor Tony McMichael (Australia) Jonathon Porritt CBE (United Kingdom) Adair Turner (United Kingdom) Dr Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker MdB (Germany) Professor Ni Weidou (People’s Republic of China) Hon. Timothy E Wirth (United States) Cathy Zoi (Australia) Scientific Advisor to the Taskforce Dr Rajendra K Pachauri (India) © International Climate Change Taskforce, 2005 International Climate Change Taskforce Meeting the Climate Challenge Recommendations of the International Climate Change Taskforce ISBN 1 86030 264 5 First published January 2005 by The Institute for Public Policy Research 30–32 Southampton Street London, WC2E 7RA www.ippr.org The Center for American Progress 1333 H Street, NW 10th Floor Washington, D.C. 20005 www.americanprogress.org The Australia Institute Level 1, Innovations Building # 124 Eggleston Road Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 www.tai.org.au Contents Foreword vii Summary of main recommendations ix Introduction 1 1. A long-term climate objective 3 2. A global framework for post-2012 commitments 5 3. Technology and trading partnerships 7 4. Driving a low-carbon energy future worldwide 10 5. Facilitating adaptation to climate change 12 6. Communicating climate change 14 Appendix A: Terms of reference 18 Appendix B: Taskforce members 19 Appendix C: Taskforce secretariat 23 Acknowledgements 27 Foreword The vast majority of international scientists and peer-reviewed reports affirm that climate change is a serious and growing threat, leaving no country, however wealthy, immune from the extreme weather events and rising sea levels that scientists predict will occur, unless action is taken. By reducing anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are currently being emitted into the atmosphere, we can mitigate climate change as well as have a real opportunity to enhance energy security and drive technological modernisation in both an economical and environmentally friendly way. The development of clean, climate-friendly energy technologies will provide new business opportunities and new avenues of prosperity for both developed and developing countries alike. As the causes of climate change are global, however, the challenge can only be met with all the countries of the world working together. The politics involved are difficult, but we believe progress can be made. To develop solutions as to how to move forward, the International Climate Change Taskforce was established by three leading think tanks – the Institute for Public Policy Research in the United Kingdom (UK), the Center for American Progress in the United States (US), and The Australia Institute. It is a unique international cross-party, cross-sector collaboration, including leaders from public service, science, business, and civil society in both developed and developing countries. The Taskforce's recommendations are to all governments and policymakers worldwide. They are published in the year when the UK holds the presidencies of the G8 and EU, during which the UK's Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged to make climate change an agenda priority as one of the most serious and far-reaching challenges of