Climate, carbon, and market finance
Seema Singh -
Sunday, November 09, 2008 1:07 PM
Steep cuts in carbon emissions have already been proposed, but it seems the world needs a backup plan to stave off catastrophic warming. Testifying before the British Parliament on November 10, climate scientist Ken Caldeira, a faculty member of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology in Stanford, California, said geo-engineering solutions such as injecting dust into the atmosphere, though risky, may become necessary in future.
Caldeira is asking for more research to evaluate pros and cons of climate engineering. "Science is needed to address critical questions, among them: How effective would various climate engineering proposals be at achieving their climate goals? What unintended outcomes might result? How might these unintended outcomes affect both human and natural systems?" His full statement can be read here (page 99)
Scientists have debated such solutions before (metioned in an earlier blog), which range from wacky to wonderful, but in reality climate change is a true interplay of policy, private markets and technology. A new report , Carbon Finance: Environmental Market Solutions to Climate Change by the Yale Centre for Business and the Enviornment discusses this at length.
According to a 2007 United Nations report, 85 % of the multi-billion dollar investment to address climate change now comes from the private sector, not government. The global carbon market was worth $64 billion in trades in 2007 and is on track to top $100 billion this year. "One recent forecast predicted that the trade would reach $1 trillion annually by 2020, assuming that the United States joins the market with the passage of a cap-and-trade system now being discussed in Congress."
And staying on carbon, did you know that besides Electoral College and popular votes, Obama defeated McCain in carbon footprints as well - emitted 77,894 tons of carbon while McCain trailed at 58,786 tons. Read more about it here.