Stern seems to acknowledge that the technology price gap creates real problems for driving the deployment of clean and low carbon technologies both in America and abroad.
Last week, reporting on Hilary Clinton's appointment of Todd Stern as chief envoy on climate change, we raised questions about whether or not Stern, a former Clinton administration negotiator at the Kyoto Protocol climate talks, would be able to offer a fresh, new direction at the Copenhagen negotiations this December.
However, it seems that we missed an important piece that Stern last year published in the Washington Quarterly's Winter 08 edition. A picture in broad strokes of how Stern and his co-author William Antholis would construct an international framework for emissions reductions, the report shows how Stern's views have evolved since the Kyoto negotiations. He writes:
"This is no time to indulge in orthodoxies or in the kind of overextended discussion that marked too much of the six-year Kyoto Protocol negotiation."
The report also makes two recommendations that are consistent with the kind of approach to international climate policy Breakthrough has advocated. These recommendations were first proposed by Gwyn Prins in his essay, "The Wrong Trousers," and recognize the importance of accounting for disparities of both emissions and wealth between the developed and developing world. Stern, like Prins, advocates two key actions on the international climate front:
- Create a group of eight key developed and developing nations, including Brazil, China, the EU, India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, and the United States. Together, this "E-8" accounts for some 70 percent of global emissions. Negotiations should take place at a head-of-state level, rather than with technical-level bureaucrats.
- Partner with China, offering "environmental technology" and mobilizing investment while encouraging China to reform its regulatory system and incentive structure.
Stern still puts a lot of weight in targets and timetables for emissions reductions and it's unclear if he recognizes these targets and timetables are largely symbolic absent serious strategies to drive clean energy technology development and deployment. However, Stern's views seem to have evolved and become more nuanced, and he seems to acknowledge that the technology price gap creates real problems for driving the deployment of clean and low carbon technologies both in America and abroad. Recognizing this technology gap is the first step to creating a coherent framework for global emissions reductions. We look forward to watching Stern work to craft an international climate agreement that is both effective and politically manageable.
Ross Gelbspan has written a nice piece where he lays out a climate plan. Like TBI, he seems to understand that we need to invest in innovation. I think TBI readers would enjoy it. Read it here .
Posted by: schaefs at February 9, 2009 3:39 PM