The right to development in a climate constrained world? A presentation of the Greenhouse Development Rights Framework

Sponsor: Heinrich Boell Foundation North America

Panel: Tom Athanasiou (EcoEquity), Amar Bhattacharya (G24 Secretariat), Kseniya Lvovsky (World Bank), Liane Schalatek (Heinrich Boell Foundation North America - Moderator)

At this session, Tom Anathasiou presented the Greenhouse Development Rights Framework, developed by EcoEquity and the Stockholm Environment Institute. This is a climate protection framework designed to "break the impasse by expanding the climate protection agenda while safeguarding the right to a dignified level of sustainable human development".

The framework is based on the scientific premise that we have "pushed beyond anthropogenic interference with the climate system". It argues for an international emergency programme to come up with a mitigation pathway to keep global warming below 2 degrees centigrade. With this global emissions would peak in 2015 and drop by 6 per cent per year to reach a level below 80 per cent below 1990 levels in 2050.

The framework tackles the intersection of the development crisis and the climate change crisis and the current international political impasse. It is based on the UNFCCC's broad principle of "common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities". It would require drastically cutting the emissions of the already wealthy whilst preventing unbounded emissions growth of those rising out of poverty without stifling their development aspirations. As part of this it suggests a development threshold set at $9000 per year (Purchasing Power Parity).

It states that a viable climate regime must: 1) ensure mitigation; 2) Enable the depth and extent of adaptation; and 3) Safeguard the right to development. It points to the need to define the development threshold, assign national obligations "progressively" and oblige people (in the north and south) with incomes and emissions above this threshold to pay the global costs. People with incomes and emissions below the threshold should prioritise development. In quantifying obligations it defines national obligation, capacity and responsibility.

The presentation pointed out that only a very small percentage of Chinese are above the development threshold when compared to Americans. In addition, most of China's emissions correspond to consumption below the development threshold. In terms of global responsibility, the framework finds that the US holds 36 per cent, the EU 30 per cent and China just 2.3 per cent.

Climate change presents the international community with a true emergency; but thus far its response has been profoundly inadequate. The international policy response by nation states and international organisations is at an impasse, arising from a simultaneous development and climate crises. International organisations, including the World Bank need to tackle this double crisis more effectively, if global climate mitigation and adaptation efforts as well as developmental equity efforts are to be successfully achieved.

Amar Bhattacharya from the G24 secretariat:

• Welcomed the approach and endorsed the urgency of coming up with an immediate agreement.
• Responded positively to the paper for highlighting the inequity of the legacy and solutions, as well as the notion of shared and common responsibility for cumulative emissions. He also pointed to the validity of the notion of "subsistence emissions". They considered this paper at the G24 meeting. The science is frightening. The impact of climate change is disproportionate and though we have an excess of emissions and massive energy poverty, if we start with dirty energy the costs of development will go up immediately.
• The financial crisis underscores the difficulty of collective action.
• National obligations mean the collating and adding up of costs of adaptation and mitigation across countries. It will be a monumental challenge to get agreement on this.
• The transfer mechanism will be absolutely crucial (see IMF on climate change in latest WEO which shows recognition on this, though equity dimensions are lacking). This will be a huge challenge. For instance in 2005 as part of MDG financing it was agreed to raise aid by $50 billion. However, this hasn't happened. How can we generate urgency on this? It is hard to get finance ministers to take an interest in the climate change agenda.
• Have to get economic ministers to lead this discussion.

Kseniya Lvovsky:

• Stated her agreement with what she had heard and stressed the need to organise its dissemination within the Bank more broadly. She believes that the basic principles of the World Bank's strategic framework on climate change are close to those in the framework.
• She agreed that adaptation should be additional and that equity issues need to be considered.
• However, she also stated that there is no way a country like India will turn around their GHG trajectory by 2020. It takes time to roll out new technologies on a large scale. There are problems with new stock, for instance now there is a waiting list for wind turbines. A new generation of engineers is needed to serve India and China. It all "takes time".
• WDR 2010 will be on climate change.
• They are looking at innovative financing mechanisms.
• The Bank's mandate places restrictions on what it can do.

During the ensuing discussion Tom emphasised that the Bank could play a transformational role in the climate emergency. Moreover the countries it works with need to stop asking it to support dirty technologies. There is no solution that doesn't involve community participation.

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Published: 15 April 2008 , last edited: 15 April 2008

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