Kim Won-soo
The man-made climate crisis is worsening at an exponential rate, threatening the very survival of humanity. Despite the growing number of voices calling for immediate and united global action, the latest string of reports from the scientific and policy community only indicates the opposite. United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell recently warned that we are headed for about 2.7 degrees Celsius of global heating, well above the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold set by the Paris climate accord. Accordingly, he urged swifter climate action. But unfortunately, nations are falling far short of the goal set at the U.N. climate talks last year to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency.
At a meeting with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute earlier this week, climate and environmental unsustainability was identified as the most serious existential threat, since the solution requires truly transformative action. Short of such action, humanity is on an irreversible path to collective suicide. Nuclear winter also poses a grave threat, but we have a reasonable chance of avoiding it if rational judgment prevails.
The most crucial area of climate action is climate financing. Two renowned economists, Dani Rodrik and Joseph Stiglitz, argue in a recent co-authored piece that emerging structural issues such as climate change and digitalization have rendered export-oriented industrialization (EOI) obsolete as a growth strategy for developing nations. Instead, they propose green growth as a preferred alternative. For example, developed nations compensate developing ones financially for the vast natural carbon sinks—such as forests and oceans — that they leave untouched. The funds from the developed nations can then be reinvested to preserving the environmental assets possessed and managed by the developing ones.
The reality is, however, that the international institutions charged with addressing climate issues do not have funds to support their work. Even the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) lacks more than half of the amount needed — about $165 million — for member states’ climate activities for the next two years. As such, the UNFCCC executive secretary called for a "quantum leap in climate finance" to fulfil the requirement.
Back in 2022, John Kerry, former U.S. top diplomat on climate change, said, “We desperately need money” and “No government is ready to put trillions” into climate action. Many climate leaders are now turning to the private sector to make up for the shortfall as a result. Private actors and private money have and will continue to make important contributions to climate financing. But it will not be enough, unless the governments take the lead through public-private partnership. The governments have a responsibility to not only regulate, but also encourage both the public and private sectors to undertake climate action.
The governments of developed nations must pursue two tracks simultaneously. First, they must accelerate their timelines to transition toward carbon neutrality and propose more ambitious national climate commitments by early 2025. Many of the world’s most advanced economies are also the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters. Considering they are responsible for many of the current problems, it is imperative that they prioritize their commitment to accelerate energy transition toward renewable sources. Second, they must step up their support to help developing countries’ green growth strategy. Traditional development strategies such as EOI turn out to be ineffective in the face of the climate crisis. Investment in the green transition of developing nations offers them a cleaner way to develop while preserving the benefits of natural environmental assets.
For these two track efforts to bear fruit, the United States and China, the two largest economies and carbon emitters, must work together to lead the world. They need to set the tone for the rest of the world, including emerging economies whose emissions are rising fastest. In particular, India is now the fifth- largest economy and the third- largest carbon emitter. India’s economy will likely continue to bloom, and its energy consumption and carbon emissions will rise steeply as well. Washington and Beijing share an interest in identifying mutually agreeable climate solutions and providing New Delhi and other emerging economies with a greener growth model. Both sides must share in the responsibility to reverse the current suicidal course and embark on a new one safer for all.
Korea, for its part, must cease to be one of the climate villains. Korea must become a pioneer both in energy transition and green growth. As a first step, it needs to revamp and reprioritize its industrial and environmental policies. This comprehensive task requires all stakeholders — government, business, and civil society — to go on a journey together in search of a new socio-economic contract. The journey for greener energy transition and a more sustainable future will be tough and painful. But the sooner it starts, the better. We must act right here and right now. We owe it to ourselves and to the world.
Kim Won-soo is the former Under Secretary-General and the High Representative for Disarmament of the United Nations. He is now the Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Taejae Future Consensus Institute and the Chair Professor of the Kyung Hee University. He is a guest editorial writer of The Korea Times.
Climate crisis is top security threat
45
0
06.06.2024
Kim Won-soo
The man-made climate crisis is worsening at an exponential rate, threatening the very survival of humanity. Despite the growing number of voices calling for immediate and united global action, the latest string of reports from the scientific and policy community only indicates the opposite. United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell recently warned that we are headed for about 2.7 degrees Celsius of global heating, well above the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold set by the Paris climate accord. Accordingly, he urged swifter climate action. But unfortunately, nations are falling far short of the goal set at the U.N. climate talks last year to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency.
At a meeting with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute earlier this week, climate and environmental unsustainability was identified as the most serious existential threat, since the solution requires truly transformative action. Short of such action, humanity is on an irreversible path to collective suicide. Nuclear winter also poses a grave threat, but we have a reasonable chance of avoiding it if rational judgment prevails.
The most crucial area of climate action is climate financing. Two renowned economists, Dani Rodrik and Joseph Stiglitz, argue in a recent co-authored piece that emerging........
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