DAVOS: Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman said, “Historic emitters responsible for majority of global GHG emissions need to move resources to allow developing and emerging economies to make energy transition to renewable without compromising development.” Minister is at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting being held in Davos.

Speaking at a panel discussion ‘Bending Emissions Curve’ where she was joined by Chairman of Board, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shunichi Miyanaga, Chief Executive Officer Heineken Dolf van den Brink and Chairman President and Chief Executive Officer Baker Hughes Lorenzo Simonelli. Panel was moderated by CNBC’s journalist and anchor, Steve Sedgwick.

Minister Rehman said that commitment towards net-zero by 2050 loses its meaning if 1.5C target was no longer achievable.

“We are on an ambitious track to net-zero but all of that takes huge pause if 1.5C target set under Paris Agreement is under threat, as we are struggling to keep it alive. If we continue business as usual, we are hurtling towards 3.0C world which will be race against time for many of us. We experience burn much faster and harder than anybody else and in kind of scale that nobody has seen.

We are in geographies of extreme vulnerability and our experience of climate change and global warming is very nonlinear,” she stated.

She highlighted that pledges and commitments toward clean energy transition are quickly abandoned when there is threat to world’s addiction to excess energy.

“A global reset is needed because addiction to energy and consumption is taking away futures of those that live in arc of vulnerability, and also of those living in developed world.

It will be too late to change our addictions and habits to energy consumption as we are speeding towards planet that’s burning up, with investment in renewable energy not where it needs to be to save planet. She remarked that in tackling climate change, we are still working in silos which is counterproductive.

“At moment, there is no standardisation of best practices for regulatory frameworks that could be shared across board through global governance frameworks and multilateralism.

For instance, if such framework was made available for carbon pricing mechanism, it will then become regulatory practice that governments will feel bound to work with. We are still in silos because multilateral system is not able to overcome nationalisms that rise up every time there is threat,” she said.

Minister Rehman said that moral imperative only is not enough and there is need for system with clear incentives and penalties as current system is not working. Senator Sherry met with CEO and co-founder of Planet Labs, Will Marshall.

They discussed role of space technologies, such as satellites can lead to several inventions that can benefit environment, as well as role of metrological satellites as early warning systems to predict extreme weather conditions like unprecedented rains, droughts and floods.

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 19 2023

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