Paris climate deal will not deliver global carbon price, says UN chief
Green policy news – by GreenWise staff
27th October 2015
UN climate chief, Christiana Figueres, confirmed today that a climate deal to be delivered in Paris, later this year, will not include a global carbon price.
Speaking to investors in London, Figueres said a global carbon price would be too complex to deliver because of the difficulty of bringing together different carbon schemes from different countries. Some major companies and investors have called for a global carbon price in order to drive investment in low carbon energy.
“I agree it would be more simple […] but it’s not quite what we will have,” Figueres is reported to have told investors.
“I agree it would be more simple […] but it’s not quite what we will have,” Figueres is reported to have told investors.
Earlier in the day, Figueres told a climate event that the mood was nevertheless positive ahead of the crucial COP21 negotiations “We’ve already done about 95 per cent of the job [to bring down the rate of emissions],” she said, referring to post-2020 climate actions, known as INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions), which countries have agreed to set out in Paris. “We already have about 155 national climate change plans from industrialised] countries and over a 100 developing countries that have already turned in their national climate change plans with their mitigation opportunities already identified.”
Figueres said the work already achieved equated to four gigatonnes of emissions reductions, probably enough to keep temperatures under 3 Degrees, but not far enough to keep them below 2 Degrees – the level above which scientists believe catastrophic climate change is inevitable.
Acknowledging this didn’t go far enough, the UN climate chief said “dramatic” changes were still required over the next five to 10 years and urged negotiators in Paris not to be “irresponsible”.
“This is not a political negotiation amongst countries,” she said. “Paris is absolutely critical, We have one more chance in Paris to make sure the direction is the one that we want and the pace accelerates.”
Figueres said the work already achieved equated to four gigatonnes of emissions reductions, probably enough to keep temperatures under 3 Degrees, but not far enough to keep them below 2 Degrees – the level above which scientists believe catastrophic climate change is inevitable.
Acknowledging this didn’t go far enough, the UN climate chief said “dramatic” changes were still required over the next five to 10 years and urged negotiators in Paris not to be “irresponsible”.
“This is not a political negotiation amongst countries,” she said. “Paris is absolutely critical, We have one more chance in Paris to make sure the direction is the one that we want and the pace accelerates.”
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