WHAT IS NECESSARY TO STABILIZE CLIMATE

Several broad measures must be enacted quickly, to prevent runaway climate destabilization. An increasing price must be placed on carbon, with rebates to the public. This would both spur research and allow non-carbon energy to become competitive. This plan must start in the US, followed by worldwide enactment of similar policies. A carbon phase-out plan that limits warming to 2°C and is fair among nations is necessary. The industrialized world must assist the developing nations with clean energy alternatives, or they will follow a carbon-intensive path to relieve grinding poverty. Coal must be phased out; most coal and unconventional fuels, like tar sands, must remain in the ground.

Consider Bill Gates’ TED talk in February 2010, “Bill Gates on Energy: Innovating to Zero.” In it, he stated that industrialized nations need to get to zero emissions by 2050, and that innovation miracles are needed to meet this target and to keep energy affordable. He outlined several necessary things:

• More basic research funding
• Market incentives to reduce CO2—price signals required
• Entrepreneurial opportunity
• Rational regulatory framework
• Get the message out—more rational dialogue

For any of this to happen, a continually rising price on carbon is required. The world's leading climate scientist, James Hansen, has proposed a detailed Carbon Fee and Dividend approach. The plan attaches a continually increasing fee to CO2 emissions at the fuel source; all the fees are equally distributed to the public. See CARBON PRICING for more details. It is essential that the US quickly enacts an increasing price on carbon and takes the lead in embracing the 2°C limit.

Moreover, the industrial world must also help the poorer nations with the technological, financial and human resources required for low-carbon development. Otherwise, they will take the traditional carbon path to raise themselves from destitution, thus catalyzing climate chaos. This UNIVERSAL SOCIAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE is not merely a charitable act; it is necessary for the survival of us all. We need an overall climate plan that allows for this transition from poverty, while also reducing carbon equitably among nations. The think tank EcoEquity's Greenhouse Development Rights framework does this, and presents a fair, viable and straightforward structure for implementing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).