London, 12 November:
International investors with assets of $6.4 trillion have sent a message to governments ahead of December's UN climate conference asking for a "strong and binding" agreement that will drive investments to address climate change. The financial crisis should not delay these efforts, they added.
"The climate crisis is a multi-generational challenge that requires strong national and international policies immediately. World leaders must shun the excuse that it is too expensive to act to curb global warming. It is too expensive not to act," said Mindy Lubber, director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR).
The December meeting, taking place in Poznań, Poland, will continue talks on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol that are intended to culminate in December 2009 with a new international agreement on climate change. The investors said such an agreement should send clear and long-term policy signals to investors - if they are to allocate the huge amounts of private capital required to fund the transition to a low-carbon economy.
In particular, the investors are looking for:
- A binding global target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, informed by the latest scientific advice, to 50-85% below 2000 levels by 2050;
- Long- and medium-term emission reduction targets for developed countries;
- 'Contributions from developing countries, initially on energy efficiency but with the ultimate aim of taking on absolute emission reduction targets;
- Continuity of the carbon markets and provisions for an expanded global carbon market;
- A review, reform and expansion of the Clean Development Mechanism;
- Clear measures to reverse deforestation and value forests as carbon sinks; and
- A commitment to adaptation, to prepare and respond to the physical impacts of climate change.
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