"Seven Years to Act"– Climate Change as a Security Threat
"We have seven years to act!" proclaimed Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He could not have been any clearer in his opening statement to the “Climate Change as a Security Threat” conference in November. Numerous experts and an interested public attended this two-day event in the city of Freiburg, Germany. Along with the IPCC chair the list of distinguished guests included the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and other prominent speakers. They discussed security implications of climate change, its challenges to international relations, technological solutions and the growing importance of cities in fighting climate change.
Towards the end of his initial presentation, Pachauri stressed that while rising sea levels, droughts and floods might be hard to address with contemporary policy instruments, this would not make them less real. Politics, however, has been slow with adapting to these new challenges. While Steinmeier called the election of Obama an important signal, giving international climate consultations a new dynamic, it is evident that a few opposing countries are enough to stop real progress at this level. But even beyond the international sphere, states are often lagging behind. Already available technological solutions are widely ignored. Eicke Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), called on the German government to consistently move towards a sustainable energy transformation. Many innovations do not fail from the lack of technical know-how, but because of low political commitment.
Nevertheless, the overall message from Freiburg is optimistic. For example, Dieter Salomon, the city’s mayor, stressed the importance of cities in fighting climate change effectively. New energy efficient houses and the refurbishment of existing living spaces can significantly reduce energy needs and emissions. Even pioneering cities like Freiburg, however, have yet to realize their full potentials. Grameen Shatki’s director, Dipal Barua, showed that the private sector can greatly contribute to the fight against climate change, even in a politically difficult environment. His company provides micro-credits that spread renewable energy sources in Bangladesh and has had a considerable impact over the last years. These examples show that despite due critique, there are signs of hope. Climate consultations do not have to start from zero, but should build on a strong and diverse base of actors with innovative ideas to prevent the worst consequences of climate change from happening. (Joeran Altenberg and Irina Comardicea)
An extensive conference report, as well as the presentations of the panellists can be found at http://www.freiburg-konferenz.de/
Published in:ECC-Newsletter, December 2008
Towards the end of his initial presentation, Pachauri stressed that while rising sea levels, droughts and floods might be hard to address with contemporary policy instruments, this would not make them less real. Politics, however, has been slow with adapting to these new challenges. While Steinmeier called the election of Obama an important signal, giving international climate consultations a new dynamic, it is evident that a few opposing countries are enough to stop real progress at this level. But even beyond the international sphere, states are often lagging behind. Already available technological solutions are widely ignored. Eicke Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), called on the German government to consistently move towards a sustainable energy transformation. Many innovations do not fail from the lack of technical know-how, but because of low political commitment.
Nevertheless, the overall message from Freiburg is optimistic. For example, Dieter Salomon, the city’s mayor, stressed the importance of cities in fighting climate change effectively. New energy efficient houses and the refurbishment of existing living spaces can significantly reduce energy needs and emissions. Even pioneering cities like Freiburg, however, have yet to realize their full potentials. Grameen Shatki’s director, Dipal Barua, showed that the private sector can greatly contribute to the fight against climate change, even in a politically difficult environment. His company provides micro-credits that spread renewable energy sources in Bangladesh and has had a considerable impact over the last years. These examples show that despite due critique, there are signs of hope. Climate consultations do not have to start from zero, but should build on a strong and diverse base of actors with innovative ideas to prevent the worst consequences of climate change from happening. (Joeran Altenberg and Irina Comardicea)
An extensive conference report, as well as the presentations of the panellists can be found at http://www.freiburg-konferenz.de/
Published in:ECC-Newsletter, December 2008