Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy released startling statistics. Not only did last year’s global levels of greenhouse gases jump by the biggest amount on record, but the output was also higher than the worst case scenario outlined by experts just four years ago. The world pumped about 564 million more tons of carbon dioxide into the air in 2010 than it did in 2009. That is a 6% increase.
Against this backdrop, November’s Conference of Parties 17 (COP17) in Durban – the last round of international negotiations ahead of the Rio +20 earth summit next year – could not come at a better time. South Africa’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, this year’s rotating president of the COP series, has stressed that COP17 will be a challenging meeting and seeks to focus the conference on two primary issues: first, how to finance the costs of combating climate change; and second, how to get 194 countries to agree to a second period of the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
To accomplish these goals, we must acknowledge that we need a more comprehensive solution to the mid- to long-term energy problems that we face. We need a clear work plan, commitment, and action.
COP17 needs to facilitate tangible solutions. These solutions require deep cooperation among nations, innovators, and corporations, and must seek to bridge the gap between developed and developing countries. Fostering these relationships can pay dividends not only in the form of greener energy and significant profits, but in greater international security as well. Interdependence defines the emerging, low-carbon energy era.
The world has changed and we must realize that the future of our global society is at risk.
Energy policy is a key driver of nearly every stable government’s strategy: to grow and diversify the economy, create jobs for their young people, enhance national security, safeguard the environment, and build sustainable institutions. A successful and sustainable energy policy will require five key elements: financing, efficiency, demonstration projects, education, and integration.
First, we need a global answer to generate innovation in institutional financing, to create targeted utility bonds, and public and private partnerships. There are hundreds of potential breakthroughs that are receiving support from private equity and venture capital and they are flourishing. To extend these successes – we need innovation in finance to equal that in technology. The UNFCCC can support this type of innovation by swiftly putting in place its new technology mechanism. The UAE is a member of the Technology Executive Committee and is committed to supporting this new mechanism and enhancing technology cooperation.
Global participation in a thriving carbon market would help level the playing field for renewable energy. While the total market value is expected to reach $142 billion in 2011, growth has stalled. The lack of post-2012 regulatory clarity has brought the value of the primary Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) market down by double-digits for the third year in a row, to a level lower than it was in 2005, the first year of the Kyoto Protocol. This uncertainty and decreased value hinders energy investment and innovation. A thriving carbon market will generate financial incentive and make emission reductions a priority. If Durban can produce a clear agreement to continue the Kyoto Protocol, the carbon market can once again play a central role in driving clean energy.
A second key is improving energy efficiency — through better infrastructure planning, smart grids, and green construction standards and other measures. This year the UAE adopted efficiency standards for cooling that will remove the least efficient 25% of units from the market, which will both save energy and help us deal with summer peaks in demand. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have both adopted efficient building codes, and more policies are in the works.
Third, to capture the world’s imagination and understanding, we need major demonstration projects to show the urgency and benefits of such work to communities and industries. Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy initiative, is currently building Masdar City as a test bed for such projects. We are also investing in projects further afield. Gemasolar, the world’s first solar power plant to supply uninterrupted power 24 hours a day, is one such example. Gemasolar was created by Torresol Energy, a partnership between SENER and Masdar, and was inaugurated last month in Spain. It serves as an example of the viability and benefits of international collaboration.
The fourth element for success is education. There is no more valuable resource than knowledge capital. Developing and nurturing the leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs of the future will give us the greatest hope in creating and implementing clean technology solutions. This is why leading academic institutions around the world are now offering degrees, master’s degrees and PhD’s in these fields. The Masdar Institute, established in collaboration with MIT, is one such institution.
Finally, we need to integrate all of these elements for the greatest effect and impact. Across the globe, the energy infrastructure, networks, markets and systems of the future must be much more interrelated than they are today. Smart grids, distributed generation, intermittent generation and electric vehicles will create new kinds of linkages between power production and consumption, in a manner unimaginable only a few years ago. This emerging system is of such complexity and encompasses so many diverse elements that it requires a new and fundamentally holistic approach by countries and companies.
COP17 may be the only venue to win global commitments towards implementing these strategies. We must finally wake up and harness the world’s capacity for innovation and problem-solving, and tackle the issue of climate change in a truly meaningful manner.
Dr. Sultan A. Al Jaber is UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change and CEO of the UAE’s Masdar, a commercially driven enterprise operating across the full spectrum of the renewable energy and sustainable technology industry. In 2009, Dr. Al Jaber was invited by the United Nations’ Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, to serve as a member of the Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC).
