Carmen Bunzl - Universidad Pontificia Comillas

Chapter 5. Conclusions 236
and make side payments. For example, if the United States does not want to
take on an ambitious emissions target, there will be much less demand and thus
lower prices for the permits developing countries would aspire to export.
Creating the incentive for some countries to participate should not
simultaneously create the disincentive for others to do so. The challenge lies in
whether governments of developed countries would be willing to finance
substantial transfers to developing countries. The alternative would probably
be a weak regime with little chance of preventing catastrophic climate change.
One potential first step would be to recognize the steps that developing countries
are already taking, such as China’s goal to reduce emissions intensity by 20
percent. Another idea would be to look at domestic policies – such as
eliminating energy subsidies – rather than caps on emissions. Particularly in
developing countries there is a need to link climate policies to sustainable
development, identifying and assessing Sustainable Development Policies and
Measures (SD-PAMs) (Section 2.7, Chapter 2) already in place, and a careful
monitoring of their evolution and potential inter-play with climate policies. SD
PAMs could incorporate climate change efforts into development priorities.
In the interim period when developing countries do not yet have binding
emission targets, they could use baseline-and-credit schemes such as the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM). Countries would not be penalized for
remaining above the emissions threshold, but could earn credits by moving
below baseline emissions. However, the current CDM structure is not able to
generate the financial and technological flows needed.
The CDM needs to move from a project-based approach to a programmatic
approach – perhaps based on sector-specific efficiency targets or on
technology benchmarks –, which would facilitate scaling-up. Sectors where
this approach might work include most emissions- and energy-intensive
industries – these include electric power, refining, pulp and paper, metals and
cement. Sector benchmarks may also be a good way of incorporating
international transport emissions (airlines, shipping) into the future climate
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería ICAI Carmen Bunzl Boulet Junio 2008