MERCREDI 2 OCTOBRE 2013 EDITION 149 | CAPITAL
GREEN BUSINESS
INSTRUMENT OF ACCEPTANCE TO KYOTO PROTOCOL AMENDMENT :
ABOUT DR ROBERT FALKNER... Dr Robert Falkner is a Reader in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he started as lecturer in 2002. He received his MA in Politics and his MSC in Economics from Munich University, and his DPhil in International Relations from Oxford University. Dr Falkner is at present the Academic Director of TRIUM Global MBA. He is also Associate of the LSE Grantham Institute on Climate Change and Environment, a research centre that brings together international expertise on issues including economics, policy and political economy. Dr Falkner is equally Associate, since 1999, of the Energy, Environment and Development Programme of Chatham House. Besides his work as an academic, Dr Falkner is engaged in consultancy and advisory work for both public and private sector organisations, such as the European Environment Agency. His main research interests are international political economy and global environment politics, with emphasis on climate policy and global governance among others. He also has several publications on topics regarding environment politics and climate policy. His most recent book is “Business, Power and Conflict in International Environmental Politics”.
lem involves many different and often complex adjustments to energy systems, transport, urban infrastructure, trade, agriculture, etc., which is why it has proved difficult to find a single institutional solution in the form of a legally binding treaty,” he explains. It has so far proved impossible to bring together the many diverse interests of States to find a treaty solution that would make them converge. Instead, international climate policy has been fragmented, incoherent and operating at different levels of ambition. “For reasons which have to do with the climate change problem structure itself, the international political response to climate change will inevitably be characterised by some degree of fragmentation and decentralisation,” adds Dr Falkner. ENSURING GREEN GROWTH While the European Union remains a global leader on climate change, if other polluters do not agree to a treaty, domestic support, even in Europe itself, may be undermined. As for Mauritius, Dr Falkner points out that we have long argued for ambitious international action on climate change: “As a small island State, it is acutely aware of the damaging effects of rising sea levels and more extreme weather patterns, and has campaigned with other small island developing countries for a comprehensive climate treaty. It needs to keep up the fight, putting moral pressure on the major polluters”, he says. According to the expert, governments have a major role to play in tackling the problem of climate change so as to ensure green growth. He states that investing in green technologies,
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MAURITIUS LEADS THE WAY
PANEL DISCUSSION. Minister Deva Virahsawmy was thankful to Dr Robert Falkner and Baroness Kishwer Falkner of Margravine for sharing their knowledge
which help save energy and reduce pollution, is in the interest of both climate protection and economic growth. “The green technology sector has produced impressive growth in employment where governments and companies have invested in it. Ultimately, it will be in the economy's interest to produce the kind of technological change that will reduce damaging emissions,” he adds. However, this does not mean that the problem should be left in the hands of governments, as the private sector can play a key role in the fight against climate change. “Without private sector investment, the battle against runaway climate change will be extremely difficult,” states Dr Falkner. He is indeed of the opinion that companies themselves will be affected by the environmental damage that global warming is causing. They may need to adapt and protect themselves (e.g. tourism industry) by investing in flood defenses or reducing exposure to extreme weather. He also states that agricultural producers may need to change farming practices to adapt to changing water availability. Companies emitting greenhouse gases will also come under growing pressure to reduce their emissions and adopt greener production processes. Dr Falkner also differentiates between adaptation and mitigation, terms which often lead to confusion: “Adaptation means making changes to human activities and economic infrastructure so as to minimize the negative consequences of climate change. Mitigation, in contrast, involves the reduction of emissions, especially of carbon from fossil fuels.” If reducing carbon emissions is expensive and is more painful to major emitters, developing countries usually face higher adaptation costs. One thing is certain: climate change is no myth. According to the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Friday 27th September, which reviewed the best available scientific data,
Solving the climate change problem involves many different and often complex adjustments to energy systems, transport, urban infrastructure, trade, agriculture, etc., which is why it has proved difficult to find a single institutional solution in the form of a legally binding treaty Dr Robert Falkner
human activities are unequivocally responsible for climate change. “We have enough scientific understanding of the devastating consequences of global warming that we should no longer hesitate to act against further climate change,” concludes Dr Falkner.
Dr Robert Falkner was invited to Mauritius as resource person for the panel discussion titled ‘Climate Change as a Public Policy Challenge’. Organised by the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Trade, under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, in collaboration with the Mauritius (LSE) Society Trust Fund, the event brought together some 80 participants from different Ministries and departments, the private sector, as well as Resident Diplomatic Missions in Mauritius and United Nation bodies. The objective was to enable fruitful exchange of ideas with the participants and enrich the ongoing national debate on climate change. Baroness Kishwer Falkner of Margravine, Member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, was also invited to share her knowledge in this field. Present at the event, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Deva Virahsawmy, announced that on the 5th of September this year, Mauritius had submitted its instrument of Acceptance to the amendment to the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, making it the third country in the world to do so after the United Arab Emirates and Barbados. The amendment is expected to take effect after three quarters of the Parties to the Protocol submit their instruments of acceptance. The Minister further stated that tackling the problem of climate change is a huge challenge because of the complexity of the issue, its cross-boundary nature, the unequal responsibilities of States in the creation of climate changerelated problems and the tough political and financial choices which go hand in hand with addressing mitigation and adaptation processes. “The impacts of climate change can even affect the capacity of developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals when it comes to poverty reduction,” he added. Deva Virahsawmy also pointed out that our country, like other Small Island Developing States (SIDS), remains dependent on expensive financing from international financial institutions, thus increasing its vulnerability. In this respect, he said, we need greater political engagement and commitment on the climate change issue from our international partners. The United Nation Secretary-General's 2014 Summit on climate change, he added, “must result in scaled up mitigation for the pre2020 period, with developed countries taking the lead to enhance their mitigation ambition in order to close the pre2020 ambition gap and bring forward mitigation action where they are yet to do so.”