Event Title
Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons
Location
AM 308, Lingnan University
Start Date
18-6-2009 9:45 AM
End Date
18-6-2009 10:30 AM
Language
English
Description
The basic assumptions of global environmental sustainability around international cooperation that were laid out fifty years ago no longer hold. This common understanding was based on the fact of the historical responsibility of developed countries for causing the pollution – developed countries would do whatever has to be done and support developing countries through provision of financial resources and technology. Therefore, to ensure global sustainability, we have to seriously consider whether adopting a defensive posture in the ongoing climate negotiations is the best policy or, with the balance of economic power shifting out of the United States and Europe to Asia, the time has come for countries like China to design a different paradigm for sustainable development.
Achieving a global consensus to meet the challenge of climate change is an issue that is currently being debated. The lack of progress relates to the design and implementation of the rules that have been established to reflect the historical responsibility of industrialised countries for global pollution. The gap between concern for the environment and the nature and scope of the design and implementation of the actions – the way the problem has been defined, arrangements for multilateral cooperation designed and implementation sought through the market – has led to a situation where international cooperation is seen in terms of burden sharing. Consequently, the basic assumptions of global environmental sustainability that developed countries will do whatever has to be done and international cooperation will support actions in developing countries, laid out fifty years ago, no longer hold. In fact, by framing the issue in terms of responses to international commitments, such negotiations not only lead to inconclusive debate but also serve to stifle innovative solutions based on national circumstances.
This paper analyses the implications of the historical responsibility of developed countries in causing the global problem of climate change and its adverse effects in the context of the current impasse in finding a global consensus to deal with the challenge of climate change. The paper is in three parts. Part I highlights the gap between the rhetoric of developed countries in their concern for the global environment and the reality of their actions in designing the rules, establishing institutions and implementing actions. Part II of the paper suggests policy drivers for global sustainability, based on current emission trends that focus on modifying consumption patterns and recognising ecological services as key elements of global sustainability. In this framework international cooperation would be based on designing new institutions to support technology development and transfer to respond to the scale and speed required to meet the challenge, instead of the current focus on international trade. In the last part of the paper a new paradigm is proposed for a global consensus where patterns of resource use will have to be common for all countries.
Document Type
Presentation
Recommended Citation
Sanwal, M. (2009). Global sustainability, climate change and China: The need for a new paradigm for international cooperation. In China and global climate change: Proceedings of the conference held at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, 18-19 June 2009 (pp. 3-19). Centre for Asian Pacific Studies and the Environmental Studies Programme, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
Included in
Global sustainability, climate change and China : the need for a new paradigm for international cooperation
AM 308, Lingnan University
The basic assumptions of global environmental sustainability around international cooperation that were laid out fifty years ago no longer hold. This common understanding was based on the fact of the historical responsibility of developed countries for causing the pollution – developed countries would do whatever has to be done and support developing countries through provision of financial resources and technology. Therefore, to ensure global sustainability, we have to seriously consider whether adopting a defensive posture in the ongoing climate negotiations is the best policy or, with the balance of economic power shifting out of the United States and Europe to Asia, the time has come for countries like China to design a different paradigm for sustainable development.
Achieving a global consensus to meet the challenge of climate change is an issue that is currently being debated. The lack of progress relates to the design and implementation of the rules that have been established to reflect the historical responsibility of industrialised countries for global pollution. The gap between concern for the environment and the nature and scope of the design and implementation of the actions – the way the problem has been defined, arrangements for multilateral cooperation designed and implementation sought through the market – has led to a situation where international cooperation is seen in terms of burden sharing. Consequently, the basic assumptions of global environmental sustainability that developed countries will do whatever has to be done and international cooperation will support actions in developing countries, laid out fifty years ago, no longer hold. In fact, by framing the issue in terms of responses to international commitments, such negotiations not only lead to inconclusive debate but also serve to stifle innovative solutions based on national circumstances.
This paper analyses the implications of the historical responsibility of developed countries in causing the global problem of climate change and its adverse effects in the context of the current impasse in finding a global consensus to deal with the challenge of climate change. The paper is in three parts. Part I highlights the gap between the rhetoric of developed countries in their concern for the global environment and the reality of their actions in designing the rules, establishing institutions and implementing actions. Part II of the paper suggests policy drivers for global sustainability, based on current emission trends that focus on modifying consumption patterns and recognising ecological services as key elements of global sustainability. In this framework international cooperation would be based on designing new institutions to support technology development and transfer to respond to the scale and speed required to meet the challenge, instead of the current focus on international trade. In the last part of the paper a new paradigm is proposed for a global consensus where patterns of resource use will have to be common for all countries.