G20 china_web

Climate change and green finance
Explicit naming and
shaming is often
needed to make
progress towards
shared goals
Share of global
greenhouse gas emissions
China
21.7%
in carbon-intensive industries. G20
leaders cannot leave these discussions to
environmental venues. Substantial policy
action, not more rhetoric, is required.
The coal sector – the most emissionsintensive
sector – is an obvious place to
start. Given its enormous role in generating
electricity, transitioning away from coal will
be laborious and lengthy. This cannot be
ignored if the Paris Agreement is to shape
global trends. The G20 can be a forum
where global leaders assess progress on
reducing emissions from coal consumption.
The price of carbon
One important economic, energy and
environmental policy instrument is a
carbon price. There are different ways to
price carbon. G20 states and societies will
likely choose different paths and different
prices. They may also opt not to price
carbon, but instead to install emissions
performance standards. G20 leaders should
agree that polluting the global atmosphere
and damaging the future can no longer
occur without cost.
Furthermore, all pricing options are
not equally successful. Emissions trading,
adopted early in the European Union, has
not led to substantial reductions in carbon
emissions, low regulatory costs or reduced
coal consumption. Pricing alone will not
produce a magical invisible hand. Revenue
spending and other policies must drive
aggressive investment in energy efficiency
gains, renewable energy generation, and
energy research and development.
In the long term, carbon capture
and sequestration (CCS) practices and
technologies may be needed to mitigate
carbon emissions. Current investments in
research and demonstration projects may
seem insufficient to drastically reduce
the costs. New national and international
carbon markets would be needed to store
massive amounts of carbon or use that
carbon for new purposes. At a minimum,
G20 members would be wise to pledge funds
and share research efforts for CCS practices
and technologies.
Within the G20, China and Germany
depend heavily on coal for electricity
generation. Starting in Hangzhou this year,
all G20 meetings and each G20 member
should explicitly address coal consumption,
coal production, progress made on carbon
pricing and investments in mitigation
technologies of all types. Each G20 summit
should take stock, publicly, of promises
made. In world politics, explicit naming and
shaming is often needed to make progress
towards shared goals. G20 members must
raise the stakes on coal, if the 2015 Paris
Agreement is to be as historic as its closing
ceremony claimed.
The G20 includes diverse economies,
emissions and energy profiles, and stated
climate goals. Countries such as the United
States, Korea, India and China will not take
on the same commitments. The unyielding
maths of increasing global greenhouse gas
emissions mandates that each must act now
to curb its future emissions more than the
current goals suggest.
G20 members’ goals should be different
in the years to come. The climate is warming
today, and the world cannot afford any large
emitters getting a free pass. G20 members
have at least one thing in common: they
must do more. G20
US
13.5%
EU
10.0%
India 5.7%
Russia 5.0%
Indonesia 3.8%
Brazil 3.2%
Japan 2.7%
Germany 1.9%
Canada 1.5%
Korea 1.3%
Mexico 1.3%
Australia 1.2%
UK 1.2%
France 1.0%
Italy 1.0%
Saudi Arabia 1.0%
South Africa 1.0%
Turkey 0.8%
Argentina 0.7%
G7G20.com September 2016 • G20 China: The Hangzhou Summit 193