The Wall Street Journal-20080126-The Bush Plan for Climate Change
Return to: The_Wall_Street_Journal-20080126
The Bush Plan for Climate Change
The "Bali Roadmap" is a major achievement. It was adopted by all parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to guide negotiation of a new, post-2012 climate-change arrangement by 2009. The U.S. is committed to working with other nations to agree on a global outcome that is environmentally effective and economically sustainable. That is the only kind of agreement that can win public support.
To be environmentally effective, a new approach must involve measurable actions by the world's largest producers of greenhouse-gas emissions. Without substantial participation by developing economies, greenhouse-gas emissions will continue to rise rapidly over the next 50 years even if the U.S. and other developed economies cut emissions to zero.
To be economically sustainable, our actions must uphold the hopes of people everywhere for economic growth, energy security and improved quality of life. Lowering the cost of emissions reductions requires speeding up the development and deployment of technologies that will fundamentally improve the way we produce and consume energy. This includes the capture and storage of carbon emitted from coal-power plants.
In May, President Bush announced the U.S. would work closely with other major economies to contribute to a new global arrangement under the UNFCCC. This initiative has received support from G8 and Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders and the U.N. Secretary-General. The U.S. hosted the first meeting in late September, bringing together 17 major economies. These countries account for more than 80% of the world's economic output, energy use, and greenhouse-gas emissions.
The major economies plan to meet again at the end of January to discuss a work program that contributes to the Bali Roadmap. Such a program should include discussion of a long-term, global emissions- reduction goal as well as national plans with mid-term goals -- backed by a nationally appropriate mix of regulations, incentives and public- private partnerships. It would also include cooperative technology strategies and other actions in key sectors, especially fossil-power generation, personal transportation and sustainable forest management.
The program should cover innovative financing mechanisms and the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers for clean energy goods and services, improved emissions-accounting systems, and ways to help countries adapt to climate change and gain access to technology. It would be useful to discuss how to structure a post-2012 arrangement that would incorporate positive, not punitive, ways to ensure accountability and encourage participation by all major economies -- developed and developing alike. We hope these discussions can produce tangible outcomes that can be endorsed at a major economies leaders meeting later this year.
The U.S. is already working on significant new global and national actions to combat emissions. Last year, the U.S. and key developing countries helped forge a global, legally-binding agreement to accelerate the phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons under the Montreal Protocol, reducing greenhouse gases by at least 3 billion metric tons, and probably meeting or exceeding what the Kyoto Protocol might achieve by 2012.
At home, President Bush recently signed energy legislation that mandates substantial, mid-term requirements for vehicle fuel efficiency (40% improvement), renewable fuels (36 billion gallons annually), and efficiency of appliances, lighting systems, and government operations. This law will produce some of the largest emission cuts in our nation's history. Early estimates suggest more than 6 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases will be avoided through 2030.
The U.S. and EU have jointly proposed in the WTO to rapidly eliminate the tariff and non-tariff trade barriers that impede investment in clean technologies and services. This would lower the cost of cutting emissions and increase clean technology trade by up to 14% a year. Along with Japan, the U.S. will continue its massive investment -- nearly $18 billion since 2001 -- in researching, developing and deploying cleaner, more efficient technologies, and finding ways to share this technology with other nations. We are working with key donors on a new multilateral fund to accelerate the use of cleaner, lower-carbon technologies and infrastructure.
Deforestation accounts for roughly 20% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, so the U.S. is enhancing its efforts to conserve and expand the world's forests. The U.S. is also working on monitoring and adaptation tools, such as the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, a 72-nation collaboration that can help fragile communities prepare for the effects of climate change.
With the major economies and through the U.N. negotiations, the U.S. is striving for a successful climate-change arrangement that will attract broad international support. As Mr. Bush put it: "We've identified a problem, let's go solve it together."
---
Mr. Connaughton is chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Mr. Price is assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs.
