our DAVID CAMERON GETTING BACK ON TRACK JOSÉ LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO TRANSFORMING ENERGY planet PATRICIA The magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme — December 2010 ESPINOSA CANTELLANO CHALLENGE AT CANCUN TULSI R TANTI SOLVING THE ENERGY PUZZLE CLEAN TECH Low carbon, high growth OUR PLANET LOW CARBON, HIGH GROWTH 1 Our Planet, the magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: (254 20) 762 1234 Fax: (254 20) 762 3927 e-mail: [email protected] To view current and past issues of this publication online, please visit www.unep.org/ourplanet ISSN 1013 - 7394 Director of Publication : Satinder Bindra Editor : Geoffrey Lean Coordinator : Geoff Thompson Special Contributor : Nick Nuttall Distribution Manager : Manyahleshal Kebede Design : Amina Darani Produced by : UNEP Division of Communications and Public Information Printed by : Progress Press Distributed by : SMI Books The contents of this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNEP or the editors, nor are they an official record. The designations employed and the presentation do not imply the expressions of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP concerning the legal status of any country, territory or city or its authority or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. * All dollar ($) amounts refer to US dollars. Cover Photo: © Corbis, iStockphoto UNEP promotes environmentally sound practices globally and in its own activities. This magazine is printed on 100% recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks and other eco-friendly practices. Our distribution policy aims to reduce UNEP’s carbon footprint. 2 OUR PLANET LOW CARBON, HIGH GROWTH DAVID CAMERON : Getting back on track page 6 Getting back on track towards a deal that brings low carbon high growth worldwide. JOSÉ LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO : Transforming energy page 10 A global green new deal is needed to combat climate change and produce sustainable economic growth. PATRICIA ESPINOSA CANTELLANO : Challenge at Cancun page 12 Governments must seize a unique opportunity to reverse a dangerous trend. CHRISTIANA FIGUERES : Catching the wind of change page 16 Outlining five areas for making progress in combating climate change at Cancun. ALSO TULSI R. TANTI : Solving the energy puzzle page 20 The path towards a greener tomorrow, though difficult, is not impossible. books page 4 reflections page 5 products page 9 awards and events page 15 PAGE 18 UNEP at work JONATHON COUNSELL : Flying clean away page 22 people page 24 How the aircraft industry is planning drastically to cut greenhouse gas emissions. www page 29 star PAGE 34 JIGAR SHAH : Seize the moment page 26 Climate change is a business opportunity masked as a crisis. BELÉN GALLEGO : Time to concentrate page 30 Concentrated solar power is ready to speed the transition to a brighter and cleaner future. ZHANG YUE : Visiting the future page 32 A solar city shows that a low carbon lifestyle brings joy and harmony. OUR PLANET LOW CARBON, HIGH GROWTH 3 books www.unep.org/publications GREEN e c o y Green Economy – Global Trends in TEEB for Local and Regional Policy Makers Developing Countries Success Stories Sustainable Energy Investment 2010 The latest from The Economics of Ecosystems and This collection of eight green economy initiatives from developing Biodiversity (TEEB) study, this report is an advisory countries around the world, illustrates the positive benefits Published by the Sustainable tool for local and regional policymakers, administrators from specific green investments and policies, which if scaled- Energy Finance Initiative (UNEP- and managers. It gives practical guidance on how to up and integrated into a comprehensive strategy, could offer a SEFI) and Bloomberg New deal with the challenge of biodiversity loss at local pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-poor development path. The report Energy Finance, this year’s and regional levels. It examines natural resource use underlines that a green economy strategy has established and Global Trends in Sustainable and management, what can be done to maintain and proven examples on which to build, and that there is a growing Energy Investment 2010 report support biodiversity, urban and spatial design, as well interest in seizing opportunities to move to a green economy. provides an overview of capital as market-based approaches, such as payment for flows and an analysis of the ecosystem services (PES). trends in sustainable energy Blue Harvest – investment activity. Inland Fisheries as an Ecosystem Service Marine Biodiversity Assessment and Outlook: Global Synthesis Published in collaboration with the World Fish Center, this book puts the spotlight on the significant contribution of inland fisheries to diet, health and economies. It draws attention to the fact that the future Based on scientific data and research across Europe, Africa, of these fisheries is intimately linked with the way humanity manages or mismanages its rivers and lakes North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, West and their surrounding basins. The book not only underlines the value of freshwater fisheries but provides Asia and Asia-Pacific regions, theGlobal Synthesis Report guidance on how the ecosystem approach can be applied in order to sustain future harvests. draws on supporting data from all 18 Regional Seas. The series, which was officially launched at the tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), is the first systematic assessment of marine biodiversity at a sub-global scale. The Clean Tech Revolution Renewables Global Status Report 2010 The Positive Deviant: Sustainability Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder, Harper Collins Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Leadership in a Perverse World Century (REN21) Sara Parkin, Earthscan 2010 This book identifies the major forces that have pushed clean tech to its current revolution among the inner This 2010 edition provides a unique overview of This book aims to inspire a generation of “positive deviants” circles of corporate boardrooms, on Wall Street trading renewable energy worldwide covering both current — sustainability-literate leaders who do the right thing floors and in Government offices around the globe. It status and key trends. It is the companion publication for sustainability. In addressing the problem that most highlights eight major clean-tech sectors — solar, wind, to the UNEP/SEFI report Global Trends in Sustainable people in leadership roles lack essential knowledge about biofuels and biomaterials, green buildings, personal Energy Investment 2010. The joint launch of sustainability,The Positive Deviant offers an opportunity for transportation, the smart grid, mobile applications these publications aims to draw attention to the anyone in or aspiring to a leadership role to get up to speed and water filtration — and uncovers how investors, inextricable link between policy and investment in on essential information very quickly and to design for entrepreneurs and individuals can profit from this next driving the renewable energy sector forward. themselves a journey to sustainability-literate leadership. wave of technological innovation. 4 OUR PLANET LOW CARBON, HIGH GROWTH including for reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) — must be made operational. UNEP, in partnership with leading climate modelling agencies has published an assessment on where we are and where we need to go. It emerges that the meeting in Copenhagen will have far from failed if all that was promised is delivered. Indeed the ambitions associated with the Copenhagen Accord could cut greenhouse gas emissions by a not insignificant 7 Gt of CO2- equivalent, leaving a gap of perhaps 5 Gt in 2020. There are huge opportunities for bridging that gap, accelerating reflections a response to climate change, and tackling a host of other environmental challenges. Over the past year, the science on so called non-CO2 pollutants — such as black carbon, methane from sources such as rubbish tips, low-level ozone and nitrogen ACHIM STEINER compounds from vehicles and farming — has become clearer, as has how some of these combine to aggravate their global UN Under-Secretary-General and warming potential. Executive Director, UNEP This suite of pollutants may, it is estimated, be responsible for up to 50 per cent of climate change and — since they are Twelve months after the high-profile United Nations short-lived in the atmosphere — rapid action on them could climate convention meeting in Copenhagen, bring reductions in global warming in days, months or just a Governments meet once more in the Mexican city few years. Important as this is, it does not preclude the need of Cancun to assess and to catalyse a response to for aggressive reduction of long-lived gases such as CO2, but the urgent challenge of climate change. should be a key complementary measure. Some have been managing expectations down, Cutting these short-lived pollutants also has other benefits but perhaps this is a moment to manage them up. as they are also responsible for a wide range of other impacts. This year has witnessed more than its fair share of Black carbon, for example, is a key component of the indoor extreme weather events — from the tragic floods and outdoor air pollution estimated to kill at least 1.6 million in Pakistan to the record-breaking temperatures, people a year — and damages agricultural productivity. Others smogs and peat bog fires in Russia — in line with also harm health and crops and help cause “dead zones” in the the latest assessment of the Intergovernmental seas. They need curbing anyway, even without climate change. Panel on Climate Change. Indeed there is every And many, if not all, can be addressed through national and indication that 2010 will join 1998 as the warmest regional health or air pollution agreements — or through year since records began. forward-looking partnerships such as the new Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves. So, the scientific data accumulates. But what about the international response? What will put us on Yet the window for action is narrowing fast.