THE CARBON WAR

186
The Winning of The Carbon War
We are focussing on energy efficiency, storage, rooftop solar and such
things, he tells me. Utilities generally have faced a perfect storm over the last
few years, and lessons have been learned, believe you me. But let me tell you,
we face huge challenges in how to actually execute the transition.
I can well imagine.
I return to the sessions, and multitask, scanning the news of the day. In
Berlin, I discover that Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande have both
pledged to decarbonisation this century. In a joint statement they say they have
“firmly decided” that the Paris summit must produce a binding agreement.
Fantastic.
In the lunch break, Anthony Hobley comes up to me, his face flushed
with excitement. I have been invited to lunch with President Hollande and
some cabinet ministers on Thursday, he says.
Now we really are in the big league. Very clearly, the French government
sees finance as crucial to success in December.
Elsewhere in the news, Shell vows at its AGM to explore the Arctic notwithstanding
the Seattle protests. The company has the legal right to use the
port, says CEO Ben van Beurden. As for carbon-bubble campaigners, they
“ignore reality”. He warns that lack of investment in oil production now could
result in a 70 million barrel per day shortfall in crude supply by 2040.
Rome, 27 th –29 th May 2015
I am in a building that began life nearly 2,000 years ago. Today, The Temple
of Hadrian is a modern municipal office built on and around what remains of
antiquity. It is a place of wonder.
I have been invited here as part of an international group of 12 experts
on climate change by the unlikely combination of Michael Gorbachev, the
European Space Agency and the Italiani Foundation. The task of these experts
is to craft a summary statement on climate change and world development,
in consultation with the Vatican, in the shape of the Pontifical Council for
Justice and Peace. Our work over the next two days will build on the outcome
of a conference organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, “Protect the
Earth: Dignify Humanity” on 28 th April, and draw on the action proposals
in the report by the High Level Task Force on Climate Change convened by
President Gorbachev with the support of Green Cross International: “Action
to Face the Urgent Realities of Climate Change.”