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Environmental issues: Time to abandon blame-games and become proactive-Christina Figueres
-The Economic Times

The results of the UN climate-change conference that closed in Doha, Qatar, last Saturday show once again that the international negotiations are progressing, albeit slowly.

At the heart of these negotiations is the most challenging energy transformation the world has ever seen. Past energy transitions have taken a long time to unfold. Firewood was not displaced by coal until the 18th century. It took one century for oil to replace coal as the primary fuel. Climate change motivates a move towards more renewables and enhanced energy efficiency, and adds urgency to an otherwise normal evolution.

Time is not on our side. Science tells us that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak this decade and decrease rapidly thereafter. More importantly, peaking of global emissions must occur soon if we are to lessen human costs, such as from extreme weather events, in particular to the most vulnerable.

The UN is the only platform that grants all countries, large and small, access to global decision-making. The shift toward low carbon requires global participation. All the more, given the scale and pace of economic development. The low-emission economies of today, even on a per-capita basis, can and will become high-emission economies of tomorrow faster than was ever possible unless they are adequately supported and encouraged to engineer clean energy futures for themselves.

In Doha, 37 countries - all EU members, Australia, Belarus, Croatia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Switzerland and Ukraine - adopted legally-binding emission-reduction targets, bringing them collectively to a level 18 per cent below their 1990 baselines over the next eight years. The targets are underpinned by stricter accounting rules and are open to further strengthening by 2014.

Also, all countries confirmed their determination to reach an agreement applicable to all by December 2015. Governments are driving change, but have not yet proven their intent through a robust and immediate implementation of what has already been promised. Governments must and can accelerate climate-change action, not because of altruistic reasons but because it is in their national interest to do so.

The UN is the venue for global decision-making, but it is not the driver of domestic decisions. Domestic interests in resource sustainability, stability and competitiveness are the powerful drivers of action on climate change.

In response to the slow but steady progress in international negotiations, and to capitalise on the new low-carbon economy, 33 countries and 18 sub-national jurisdictions will have carbon pricing in place in 2013, covering 30 per cent of the global economy and 20 per cent of emissions. By 2011, 118 countries had climate change legislation or renewable energy targets, more than double the number in 2005.

There are increasing local, voluntary efforts to reduce deforestation and emissions not covered by the UN framework. In 2010, renewables accounted for 20.3 per cent of worldwide electricity, compared to 3.4 per cent in 2006. Investment in clean energy has surpassed $1 trillion and is expected to grow by almost $400 billion every year.

The signs of movement toward low-carbon are everywhere, but are still insufficient. Low-carbon must soon be the norm and not the novelty. Governments have charted the course, but they are moving slowly. None are at maximum potential. Neither is anyone else. The private sector can and should move more purposefully. The finance sector can and should invest more aggressively. Technology can and must advance more rapidly. No one is exempt from the responsibility, or from the opportunity, to contribute to the solution.

We need maximum effort from everyone. We need to move beyond the zero-sum mentality to cooperative action in pursuit of an urgent shared objective. We need mutually-reinforcing efforts to accelerate the momentum toward a low-emission economy. Together, we can migrate from the politics of blame to the politics of opportunity.

The 2015 agreement must ensure equitable participation of all nations and be responsive to the exigencies of science.

Above all, it must be a testament to the will of our generation to act. Ultimately, history will judge us on whether we have reduced greenhouse gases enough to avoid the worst climate change. The fact is that we can do this right now in ways that both boost the economic sustainability of everyone and, at the same time, safeguard those most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. And that is why a universal agreement is necessary and possible.