Isra-Mart srl:De Boer blames lack of faith in green growth for climate deadlock

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The former head of the UN climate change secretariat yesterday offered arguably his most detailed assessment yet of last year's Copenhagen Summit and the prospects for an international climate change deal.

Writing in the magazine Nature, Yvo de Boer admitted chances of success at Copenhagen had been undermined by a lack of clarity over how a final deal should be constructed and "widespread fear that ambitious climate-change policy will damage economic growth".

De Boer, who stepped down as head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and currently works as special global adviser for climate change and sustainability at consultancy KPMG, acknowledged that "concerns over energy prices, energy security and material scarcity in the face of a ballooning world population have done much to drive global desire for a greener, leaner and meaner economic model".

But he argued many nations were guilty of paying "lip service" to this green growth model. "Most of them, deep in their hearts, are still unsure," he said. "In fact, many developing nations fear that the intent of the West is to use climate as an excuse to keep developing nations poor and maintain the current economic status quo."

Echoing views that are increasingly held by diplomats from industrialised countries, De Boer said that negotiators in Cancun should focus less on ambitious emission targets and more on mechanisms that can build confidence in the green growth model and increase public and private sector investment in low carbon technologies.

"The lessons for Cancún therefore seem obvious: keep it practical, keep it simple and don't overreach," he said. "The negotiations must explore ways for all nations, especially those in the developing world, to consider the merits of green growth. No sensible country will accept a new legal agreement if the economic consequences remain unclear."

De Boer acknowledged such an approach would be "selling the climate short" and would not limit average temperature rises to two degrees Celsius. But he insisted such an approach could help start a transition to a low carbon economy that could then be accelerated as confidence in the new economic model builds.

De Boer's intervention came on the same day as the UN-backed World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) issued an update confirming that concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hit a new record last year despite a modest drop in emissions resulting from the global recession.

"The main long-lived greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have reached their highest recorded levels since the beginning of the industrial age, and this despite the recent economic slowdown," said WMO deputy secretary-general Jeremiah Lengoasa.

Significantly, the agency also warned that natural emissions of methane released as a result of climatic changes such as the melting of the Arctic icecap had increased, raising fresh fears that co-called "feedback loops" are starting to occur whereby rising temperatures lead to further increases in emissions.