Extract from The Guardian
Yvo de Boer, who headed the UN framework convention on climate
change, says ‘we must respect that each shoulder is not able to shoulder
the same amount’
Australians’ biggest fear in tackling climate change is that they are
doing the “lifting” while other countries do the “leaning”, the former
head of the United Nations agency tasked with leading the global response to climate change has said.
Yvo de Boer, who headed the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC), told Guardian Australia that the country’s political leaders must help people understand that all countries are doing what they can to cut emissions.
“[Leaders must] give people confidence that we’re all lifters, but that we must respect that each shoulder is not able to shoulder the same amount,” de Boer said, referring to former prime minister Robert Menzies’s description of “lifters and leaners”, often cited by current prime minister Tony Abbott.
“It is essential to give people confidence that everyone is doing their fair share,” de Boer said.
De Boer, who now heads up the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), said developing countries will “leapfrog” richer nations when it comes to the use of renewable energy.
He points to countries like India which are addressing shortfalls in energy infrastructure in poorer communities by providing self-sufficient green energy like rooftop solar panels.
That is in contrast to Abbott’s statements last year that coal is “good for humanity” because it is “vital for the energy needs of the world”.
De Boer said: “It is very important to think about the demands of the future and not the demands of the past.”
“You can say that windmills are ugly, but at the end of the day, it is the validity of that argument that wins people,” he said, referring to Australian frontbenchers saying turbines are an eyesore. “I’m not sure that it really changes people’s minds.”
De Boer has warned that constantly changing domestic policies on clean energy makes it difficult for the clean energy industry to flourish.
“The biggest barrier around the world is inconsistency in government policy,” he said. “It makes it very difficult for an investor to assess risk properly.”
That risk is posing an “uphill struggle” for renewable energy projects to get funding in the current marketplace, a problem that the GGGI hopes to help redress through a focus on getting bankable green energy projects up and running in developing nations.
De Boer’s comments come just ahead of an expected announcement by opposition leader Bill Shorten that Labor will increase the target for renewable energy to 50%, setting up a point of difference with the government, which insists increased renewables will drive up consumers’ energy costs.
De Boer said that arguments that renewables are expensive and fossil fuels are cheap are false because they fail to take into account the health costs of burning fossil fuels, and the cost of maintaining ageing infrastructure.
The use of renewables in cutting carbon emissions is likely to be a hot topic at the Paris climate conference later this year. Australia has yet to announce what post-202o commitment it will put forward at the high-profile UN meeting.
De Boer was executive secretary of the UNFCCC for nearly four years until 2010, but resigned shortly after the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, an event heavily criticised for its failure to set strong targets.
Yvo de Boer, who headed the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC), told Guardian Australia that the country’s political leaders must help people understand that all countries are doing what they can to cut emissions.
“[Leaders must] give people confidence that we’re all lifters, but that we must respect that each shoulder is not able to shoulder the same amount,” de Boer said, referring to former prime minister Robert Menzies’s description of “lifters and leaners”, often cited by current prime minister Tony Abbott.
“It is essential to give people confidence that everyone is doing their fair share,” de Boer said.
De Boer, who now heads up the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), said developing countries will “leapfrog” richer nations when it comes to the use of renewable energy.
He points to countries like India which are addressing shortfalls in energy infrastructure in poorer communities by providing self-sufficient green energy like rooftop solar panels.
That is in contrast to Abbott’s statements last year that coal is “good for humanity” because it is “vital for the energy needs of the world”.
De Boer said: “It is very important to think about the demands of the future and not the demands of the past.”
“You can say that windmills are ugly, but at the end of the day, it is the validity of that argument that wins people,” he said, referring to Australian frontbenchers saying turbines are an eyesore. “I’m not sure that it really changes people’s minds.”
De Boer has warned that constantly changing domestic policies on clean energy makes it difficult for the clean energy industry to flourish.
“The biggest barrier around the world is inconsistency in government policy,” he said. “It makes it very difficult for an investor to assess risk properly.”
That risk is posing an “uphill struggle” for renewable energy projects to get funding in the current marketplace, a problem that the GGGI hopes to help redress through a focus on getting bankable green energy projects up and running in developing nations.
De Boer’s comments come just ahead of an expected announcement by opposition leader Bill Shorten that Labor will increase the target for renewable energy to 50%, setting up a point of difference with the government, which insists increased renewables will drive up consumers’ energy costs.
De Boer said that arguments that renewables are expensive and fossil fuels are cheap are false because they fail to take into account the health costs of burning fossil fuels, and the cost of maintaining ageing infrastructure.
The use of renewables in cutting carbon emissions is likely to be a hot topic at the Paris climate conference later this year. Australia has yet to announce what post-202o commitment it will put forward at the high-profile UN meeting.
De Boer was executive secretary of the UNFCCC for nearly four years until 2010, but resigned shortly after the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, an event heavily criticised for its failure to set strong targets.
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