Fiona Wild, Vice President Environment and Climate Change at BHP Billiton, who described the Paris summit as “one step along a very, very long path”, said a number of recent environmental developments were weighing on financial markets.
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“In Paris, we need to press for a new climate change agreement that has a clearly measurable and verifiable framework for means of implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation”. The Obama administration, likewise, has established a strong agenda for climate change, provided incentives for clean energy, and released groundbreaking policies like the EPA Clean Power Plant Rule.
The United Nations climate change conference will continue to go on November 30, since after the November 13 terrorist attack in Paris, which killed 130 people.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Sky due to be broadcast later today, Prince Charles has warned that conflict over resources will increase in the future without tough worldwide action on climate change.
While uncertainties remain regarding the precise impact – in time and place – of climate change, the growing body of scientific evidence has demonstrated that climate change is happening, and that it is being caused by human activities – notably our addiction to fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas to provide our heating, transport and electricity needs.
We will actively manage climate risks and incorporate them in decision making - not least to realize growth opportunities.
While the Turnbull government has talked up its green credentials in the lead-up to Paris, including a commitment to lift electricity production from renewable source from 15 per cent to derive 23.5 per cent by 2020 – Australia will co-chair the global Green Climate Fund – it has also made it clear it will not tone down its support of the coal industry. California and Québec already have linked cap-and-trade programs via their agreement for “The Harmonization and Integration of Cap-and-Trade Programs for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions”, and Ontario is soon to join.
“If successfully implemented, these national plans bend the emission curve down to a projected global temperature rise of approximately 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century”, he said. In Paris all eyes will be on Australia, Canada, Russian Federation and Japan to curb their global warming pollution. Even by 2030, India’s per capita emit (3.1 tonnes) will be far less than those of all these countries. The USA and Canada also rank among the top countries globally for per capita carbon dioxide emissions.
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We hope that leaders and negotiators will still heed the voices of civil society who will gather and march in their towns and cities around the world now counting over 2000 to show support for climate action during the weekend of November 29th through peaceful mobilization, the Assistant Secretary-General stated. The pressure will be on industrialised nations to compensate for the past decades of emissions.
