GLOBAL VOICES029Below: Connie HedegaardKorea and China are all applying or preparing their ownemission trading systems.The EU's emissions trading system (EU ETS) is a "capand trade" system covering the emissions of more than11,000 heavy power and industrial installations. Anannually decreasing emission cap applies to the wholeof these installations. Within this cap, companiesreceive emission allowances which they can sell to orbuy from one another as needed. Every year, allinstallations covered have to surrender one allowance forevery tonne of CO2 emitted. If a company reduces itsemissions, it can keep the spare allowances to cover itsfuture needs or else sell them to another company thatis short of allowances. The flexibility that trading bringsensures that emissions are cut where it costs least to doso. Since 2005, annual average emissions perinstallation have gone down by more than 8 per cent.As of next year, the EU ETS will also include aviationemissions from all flights to and from European airports.As much as the EU prefers global action, we cannotdefend that aviation is exempted from contributingbecause they cannot agree internationally. This is whythe EU decided to take this step forward in 2008 whilewe will continue to fight for global regulation of aviationlike at the next UN climate negotiations in Durban.Energy efficiency is another important tool for reducingemissions, which is increasingly applied across theworld. Energy-related emissions account for two thirdsof global emissions. In the EU, the 27 member stateshave committed to improving the EU's overall energyefficiency by 20 per cent. The EU's partners in China, India and the US are alsotaking measures to reduce energy consumption. Energyefficiency is about cutting high energy costs; it is aboutsecuring energy supply; but it also greatly contributes totackling global warming. Meanwhile, investments inclean energy rose globally in 2010 to set a new record ofUS$243 billion, a 30 per cent increase over 2009 -mainly in Europe and Asia. In its authoritative reportabout renewable energy, the IPCC recently showed thatthe world sits on an enormous untapped reserve ofrenewable energy, which could meet as much as 80 percent of the world's energy supplies and reduce theworld's greenhouse gas emissions by up to one third. Itis an excellent example of how climate action iscontributing to securing economic growth and jobs. Theclean energy race is on, and this is good for climate. Letus build on these positive actions across the world tomake the Durban talks a success. Again, reaching an ambitious global agreement onclimate action which bridges the gap between thecurrent pledges and the agreed goal of keeping globalwarming below 2°C unfortunately does not seem to beon the cards for Durban. Neither is it realistic to expectindustrialised countries to commit to a secondcommitment under the Kyoto protocol, as many callfor. Japan, Canada and Russia have now made clearthat they do not intend to be part of the secondcommitment period under the Kyoto protocol. As forthe EU, we are willing to consider a new Kyotocommitment, but only as part of a broader packagewhere important Kyoto rules are improved; new marketmechanisms are created; and other major emitters alsocommit to doing their fair share. Let us be clear on this: a second Kyoto period with avery limited number of Parties participating is clearlyinsufficient to solve the problem of global warming,still less if only the EU, representing barely 11 per centof global emissions, was to sign up for it. Let us insteadtry to get all major emitters on board for a futurelegally-binding global agreement on climate change. InDurban, we should be able to agree on a clear roadmapand timeline which will help us to achieve acomprehensive, robust and legally-binding frameworkfor climate action over the coming years. If we can achieve this, the COP in Durban will serve asa reference point for future climate negotiations. n

he challenge of climate change wouldneed to be met essentially throughcoordination between variousstakeholders which would includegovernments, NGOs, business and civil society. The forthcoming 17th Conference of the Parties(COP17) to be held in Durban would be an importantoccasion for all these stakeholders to evaluate optionsthat are available in mobilising finance, facilitating thedevelopment and dissemination of clean technologies,and taking in hand a set of actions including bothadaptation to the impacts of climate change andmitigating the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)in different parts of the globe. The Fourth AssessmentReport (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) projected different scenarios ofclimate change including an assessment of impacts onseveral sectors of the economy. Actions to deal with the challenge of climate changewould need to be based on scientific knowledge whichis provided through the collective efforts of thousandsof scientists working under the umbrella of the IPCC.In its 23 years of existence, the IPCC has brought outfour comprehensive assessment reports as well asseveral special reports and technical papers focusingon specific subjects. Currently the IPCC is engaged in the preparation of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), having recently completed a special report on "RenewableEnergy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation". By the time COP17 is held, the IPCC would also havecompleted a Special Report on "Managing the Risks ofExtreme Events and Disasters to Advance ClimateChange Adaptation".The writing process of the IPCC's Fifth AssessmentReport (AR5) is well under way to produce a strong,robust and comprehensive report which advances ourknowledge and understanding of climate changesignificantly beyond what we already know; thoughwhat we know already on the basis of the AR4 isenough for us to justify adequate, timely andpurposeful action to deal with the growing challenge ofclimate change.Indeed, the fact that the climate of the Earth ischanging is now accepted as a scientific reality whichhas major implications for the structure and process ofdevelopment. The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) ofthe IPCC clearly states that "Warming of the climatesystem is unequivocal, as is now evident fromobservations of increases in global average air andocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow andice and rising global average sea level". The AR4 alsostates that "most of the observed increase on globalaverage temperatures since the mid-twentieth centuryis very likely due to the observed increase inanthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations".In light of this, societies can respond to climatechange by adapting to its impacts and by reducingGHG emissions through mitigation measures,thereby reducing the rate and magnitude of change.The capacity to adapt and mitigate is dependent onsocio-economic and environmental circumstances,and the availability of information and technology.Neither adaptation nor mitigation alone can avoid allclimate change impacts; however, they cancomplement each other and significantly reduce therisks of climate change. Adaptation can reduce vulnerability to climate changein the short and long-term, while many studies showCLIMATE SCIENCE ANDINTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS030GLOBAL VOICESDR R.K. PACHAURI, CHAIRMAN, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) DIRECTOR-GENERAL, THE ENERGY & RESOURCES INSTITUTE (TERI)DIRECTOR, YALE CLIMATE AND ENERGY INSTITUTE (YCEI)T