Where to find $100 billion…
Posted by Bronwen Smith-Thomas on 01/09/10 14:20 PM
Tackling climate change will need cash, everyone agrees. But how do you find an extra $100 billion in times like these? We need Chris Huhne to come up with some good ideas…
You can’t open a newspaper or turn on the news these days without some politician telling us we need to cut public spending. So it may seem a bad time to call on government to raise billions to tackle climate change. But that’s just what we’re asking you to do in our latest campaign action. Because if we don’t start now, the costs will be far higher – not just economic, but environmental and social costs too.
Last year in Copenhagen, rich countries pledged to provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer countries adapt to climate change and develop as ‘clean’ low-carbon economies. What they didn’t decide is exactly where this money will come from.
Even if we all stopped using fossil fuels tomorrow, climate change would still have impacts around the world, because carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for decades. So we need to prepare for inevitable effects, and help vulnerable communities become more resilient – for instance with early warning systems for extreme weather events, and developing crop varieties to survive drought or flooding. This all needs up-front investment, but will save money – and lives – in the longer term.
We urgently need to reduce carbon emissions too. Developed and developing countries need to be transformed from relying on fossil fuels to a clean energy future. And deforestation, especially in the tropics, is another big source of emissions that needs to be urgently addressed Again, this will require up-front investment to reduce future costs.
How to raise the cash to tackle climate change
To provide the necessary $100 billion – and potentially twice that amount – we’ll have to find ways to raise money without dipping into existing public funds.
One option is through controlling emissions from aviation and shipping (currently not included in global climate agreements) and raising money at the same time. Another is a very small tax on financial transactions made by banks – this could raise up to $1,000 billion a year. A third idea is to divert the billions currently subsidising fossil fuels into clean energy instead.
Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, is the UK’s representative on the UN body set up to investigate and recommend the options.
Let’s make sure Chris Huhne doesn’t miss this great chance. With new climate talks coming up in Mexico later this year, rich countries have to start delivering on their promises.
You can…
Ask Chris Huhne to push for new climate funding
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