Dr Pachauri was addressing a live audience in a lecture “Reflections
from COP15” organized by the Asia Pacific Initiative for Sustainable
Development. The lecture was video telecast live at the Milton E.
Bender Jr. Auditorium at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).
Regretting that the Copenhagen conference was not able to arrive at a
binding agreement, the Chairperson of IPCC hoped that the situation
would be much better at Mexico due to a number of factors. “First of
all, there is a much deeper understanding and quantification of the
issue of climate change with greater scientific evidence and new data,”
he said. Secondly there has been substantial activity in generating
knowledge in this area. Combined with this, is a greater political
momentum, increasing public pressure as well as mobilization in the
business community. He identified
3C initiative of 66 of the world’s largest corporations along with
Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP) as two such
examples.
Increase in public pressure is illustrated by the 100,000 who marched
in Copenhagen, the 14 million who signed a petition for a deal and the
over 3000 events organized on climate change in almost 140 countries.
All these are positive signs which can help the world arrive at an
agreement in Mexico, he added.
Dr. Pachauri identified three positive outcomes from Copenhagen. There
was a commitment to keep average rise in temperature below two degree
Celsius, which was regarded as a step forward by the IPCC Chair. “For
the first time, we have been able to arrive at a temperature increase
limit, something that had earlier deluded negotiators”. However the two
degree rise implies that the emissions should peak no later than 2015,
he added. If that is delayed, then the impact of climate change and
cost of reducing emissions would be significantly higher. Secondly,
there is now an emphasis placed on the global community to measure and
verify emissions. Finally there is a provision of 30 billion USD fund
for 2010-2012 and for a 100 billion dollar fund by 2020 to tackle
climate change.
Unfortunately the world was not able to develop enough momentum so as
to be able to define deep cuts in global emissions. He viewed China as
a future leader in renewable energy technologies. China has invested
huge amounts in renewable energy and this was complemented by the IPCC
Chairman who pointed out that the green stimulus package in China was
worth 216 billion US dollars in 2009, much above the US which pumped in
216 billion USD, South Korea (31 billion), Germany (14 billion), and
Japan (12 billion).
Apart from China, the Dr. Pachauri pointed out that India too has
embarked upon an ambitious target of solar energy generation of 20,000
MW in 11 years. India offers other opportunities as well since out of
the 1.6 billion people in world who have no access to electricity,
nearly 400 million are in India. The candles, kerosene lamps and other
forms of oil used for lighting are not only polluting but but also
increase morbidity and mortality. 90 per cent of rural India still uses
biomass for cooking and the biomass is of a very poor quality.
Similarly the transport system is a great pollution, he added. All
these represent great opportunities for renewable energy sector, he
said. The IPCC chair also complimented Japanese Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama for taking the lead on the issue of tackling climate
change.
The lecture was a part of the “Climate change, Energy and Food
Security course” which is being followed by students at AIT as credit
course. According to Dr. Rajendra Prasad Shrestha, Associate Professor,
School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD) at AIT, the
lecture was coordinated by UNU-Tokyo and was telecast live in all
partner universities. The lecture and discussions was moderated by
Prof. Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Vice Rector, United Nations University (UNU).
Screenshot of live video lecture by Dr. Rajendra Pachauri which was
telecast live at the Asian Institute of Technology.