reegle Blog

Mr. James Evans of the World Bank, began the second session of the final Gleneagles Dialogue meeting by explaining that since G8 Summit at Gleneagles in 2005, the percentage of energy finance for low-carbon technologies has increased from 25%, to 40%, and is expected to rise to 45% in 2008. He said that Climate Change is not just an environmental problem, but also a development issue. Mr. Alden Meyer, from The Union of Concerned Scientists, said he felt that governments should focus on implementing known technologies, which are currently available, such as renewable and energy efficiency technologies. He echoed the findings of REEEP’s Regional Policy Analysis Report for WIREC (Washington International Renewable Energy Conference), by calling for a level-playing field between low-carbon power generation and the current carbon intensive means, he argued that the subsidies currently paid to the exploration of oil fields need to be removed, and the money invested in alternative low-carbon fuels/forms of generation.

The delegation from Mexico explained how there needed to a financial bridge for developing countries, so that they can scale-up from the project level to national implementation.

There were calls from the delegations from Indonesia and Spain to scale-up and improve the CDM process.

Richard Samans, World Economic Forum, called for G8 countries to work in collaboration with each other, rather than bilaterally, when funding a transition to a low-carbon economy.

Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary, US Department of State, called for a removal of tariffs on low-carbon goods. She explained that with the UK and Japan, the USA had set up the Clean Technology Fund with the World Bank. The USA had invested $2 Billion in this fund, which was designed to help countries implement regulatory frameworks that encourage the development of low-carbon regimes.

Bjorn Stigson, The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, reminded attendees that 86% of investment for a low-carbon economy would come from the private sector, and to maximize this all governments need to understand the background to business makes investments, and show they had stable economies, with well-formulated favorable long-term policies for low-carbon technologies.

Prof. Maciej Norwicki, Minister of the Environment, Poland, closed the meeting by encouraging delegates to be well prepared for the next UNFCCC meeting in Poznañ, Poland, in December 2008. He said at the event there would be a special exhibition of global best practice technologies to help stimulate the debate.