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Rt Hon. Stephen Byers MP Sen. Olympia J Snowe

(United Kingdom) (United States)

Hon. Bob Carr MP (Australia)

Professor John P Holdren (United States)

Dr Martin Khor Kok-Peng (Malaysia)

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet MP (France)

Dr Claude Martin (Switzerland)

Professor Tony McMichael (Australia)

Jonathon Porritt CBE (United Kingdom)

Adair Turner (United Kingdom)

Dr Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker MdB (Germany)

Professor Ni Weidou (People’s Republic of China)

Hon. Timothy E Wirth (United States)

Cathy Zoi (Australia)

Scientific Advisor to the Taskforce

Dr Rajendra K Pachauri (India)

© International Climate Change Taskforce, 2005

International Climate Change Taskforce

Meeting the Climate Challenge

Recommendations of the International Climate Change Taskforce

ISBN 1 86030 264 5

First published January 2005 by

The Institute for Public Policy Research

30–32 Southampton Street

London, WC2E 7RA

www.ippr.org

The Center for American Progress

1333 H Street, NW

10th Floor

Washington, D.C. 20005

www.americanprogress.org

The Australia Institute

Level 1, Innovations Building # 124

Eggleston Road

Australian National University

Canberra ACT 0200

www.tai.org.au

The vast majority of international scientists and peer-reviewed reports affirm that climate change

is a serious and growing threat, leaving no country, however wealthy, immune from the extreme

weather events and rising sea levels that scientists predict will occur, unless action is taken.

By reducing anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are

currently being emitted into the atmosphere, we can mitigate climate change as well as have a

real opportunity to enhance energy security and drive technological modernisation in both an

economical and environmentally friendly way. The development of clean, climate-friendly energy

technologies will provide new business opportunities and new avenues of prosperity for both

developed and developing countries alike.

As the causes of climate change are global, however, the challenge can only be met with all the

countries of the world working together. The politics involved are difficult, but we believe progress

can be made.

To develop solutions as to how to move forward, the International Climate Change Taskforce was

established by three leading think tanks – the Institute for Public Policy Research in the United

Kingdom (UK), the Center for American Progress in the United States (US), and The Australia

Institute. It is a unique international cross-party, cross-sector collaboration, including leaders from

public service, science, business, and civil society in both developed and developing countries.

The Taskforce's recommendations are to all governments and policymakers worldwide. They are

published in the year when the UK holds the presidencies of the G8 and EU, during which the

UK's Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged to make climate change an agenda priority as one of

the most serious and far-reaching challenges of the twenty-first century. It is also the year in which

the Kyoto Protocol comes into force and nations start discussions on future global action on climate

change.

The strength of our recommendations is that we have been able to find common ground. We have

set out a pathway to engage all countries in concerted action on climate change, including those

not bound by the Kyoto Protocol and major developing countries. We have not been able to consider

every aspect of this complex problem, but this is not our final word. Later this year, we plan

to publish a report that will further elaborate on our recommendations.

We believe that our proposals can become the foundation for action and a blueprint for moving

forward. The prize is precious – to bequeath to all our children a world as rich in life and

battle against climate change.

Rt Hon. Stephen Byers MP Senator Olympia J. Snowe

Co-Chair Co-Chair

A long-term objective be established to prevent global average temperature from rising more than 2°C

(3.6°F) above the pre-industrial level, to limit the extent and magnitude of climate-change impacts.

A global framework be adopted that builds on the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, and enables all

countries to be part of concerted action on climate change at the global level in the post-2012 period,

on the basis of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities.

G8 governments establish national renewable portfolio standards to generate at least 25% of

electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025, with higher targets needed for some G8

governments.

G8 governments increase their spending on research, development, and demonstration of advanced

technologies for energy-efficient and low- and zero-carbon energy supply by two-fold or more by 2010,

at the same time as adopting near-term strategies for the large-scale deployment of existing low- and

no-carbon technologies.

The G8 and other major economies, including from the developing world, form a G8+ Climate Group,

to pursue technology agreements and related initiatives that will lead to large emissions reductions.

The G8+ Climate Group agree to shift their agricultural subsidies from food crops to biofuels, especially

those derived from cellulosic materials, while implementing appropriate safeguards to ensure sustainable

farming methods are encouraged, culturally and ecologically sensitive land preserved, and

biodiversity protected.

All developed countries introduce national mandatory cap-and-trade systems for carbon emissions,

and construct them to allow for their future integration into a single global market.

Governments remove barriers to and increase investment in renewable energy and energy efficient

technologies and practices through such measures as the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies and

requiring Export Credit Agencies and Multilateral Development Banks to adopt minimum efficiency or

carbon intensity standards for projects they support.

Developed countries honour existing commitments to provide greater financial and technical assistance

to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change, including the commitments made at the

seventh conference of the parties to the UNFCCC in 2001, and pursue the establishment of an international

compensation fund to support disaster mitigation and preparedness.

Governments committed to action on climate change raise public awareness of the problem and build

public support for climate policies by pledging to provide substantial long-term investment in effective

climate communication activities.

Climate change represents one of the most serious and far-reaching challenges facing humankind

in the twenty-first Century. The international consensus of scientific opinion, led by the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is agreed that global temperature is increasing and

that the main cause is the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the

The cost of failing to mobilise in the face of this threat is likely to be

extremely high. The economic costs alone will be very large: as extreme

weather events such as droughts and floods become more destructive and

frequent; communities, cities, and island nations are damaged or inundated

human costs are likely to be even greater, encompassing mass loss of life,

the spread or exacerbation of diseases, dislocation of populations, geopolitical

Preventing dangerous climate change, therefore, must be seen as a

precondition for prosperity and a public good, like national security and

public health.

By contrast, the cost of taking smart, effective action to meet the challenge

of climate change should be entirely manageable. Such action need not

developing a long-term climate policy regime we can ensure that the

benefits of climate protection are achieved at least cost.

Climate change, energy security, and the urgent need to increase access to

modern energy services for the world’s poor create an enormous need for

more efficient low-carbon and no-carbon energy-supply options. We need a

transformative technological revolution in the twenty-first century involving the development and

rapid deployment of cleaner energy and transportation technologies. By reducing greenhouse emissions

and deploying new climate-friendly technologies, companies can create jobs and launch a new

era of economic prosperity.

The political and economic effort required is both large and achievable. Many of the technologies

we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – technologies that use energy more efficiently and

generate it from renewable sources – already exist. They are here, they are affordable, and their

use could make an enormous contribution right now, while simultaneously promoting energy

security and stimulating innovation. Other technologies require longer-term development, but for

those nations and companies that choose to move quickly, there is a real opportunity to get ahead

of the technological curve. Likewise, governments and companies that fail to realize these

opportunities will soon fall far behind competitors already honing their strategies to compete in a

carbon-constrained world.

Meeting the Climate Challenge

Governments have already begun to work together to address the threat of climate change under

the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto

Protocol, which enters into legal force in February 2005. Yet the scale of international action taken

or pledged to date represents only a beginning. The UK’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas

emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 is the leading example of governmental commitment and illustrates

the scale of change that must be achieved.

To avoid foreclosing climate stabilisation options and to prevent dangerous climate change,

vigorous action to reduce global emissions must start now. Securing adequate and equitable

future commitments to act from all developed and developing countries is essential, on the basis

of their common but differentiated responsibilities. And as developing countries are the least

responsible for climate change to date and the most vulnerable to it, developed countries have a

duty to assist them in action to address it.

To chart a way forward, an International Climate Change Taskforce, composed of leading

scientists, public officials, and representatives of business and non-governmental organisations,

was established at the invitation of three leading public policy institutes – the Institute for Public

Policy Research, the Center for American Progress and The Australia Institute. The Taskforce’s

aim has been to develop proposals to consolidate and build on the gains achieved under the

UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol to ensure that climate change is addressed effectively over the

long term. In doing so, the Taskforce has met twice, in Windsor, United Kingdom and Sydney,

Australia, where we reviewed and debated detailed research papers prepared by the Taskforce

Secretariat, provided by the three founding organisations.

The Taskforce’s recommendations are to all governments and policy-makers worldwide. However,

particular emphasis is placed on providing independent advice to the governments of the Group of

Eight (G8) and the European Union (EU) in the context of the UK’s presidencies of both

organisations in 2005, during which Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged to make addressing

climate change a priority. The recommendations are also made in the context of the start of

international negotiations in 2005 on future collective action on climate change, and the need to

engage the governments of those industrialised countries that have not ratified the

Kyoto Protocol.

The Taskforce’s recommendations are presented in the following pages.

2

The UNFCCC remains the fundamental basis for international action to address climate change.

Its ultimate objective, agreed to by 189 nations, including all major developed and developing

countries, is to achieve “stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a

years after the UNFCCC came into force, that objective remains undefined.

The Taskforce is agreed that establishing a long-term climate objective is necessary to ensure the

adequacy of the next round of commitments under the UN global climate negotiations, as well as

that of domestic climate policies and the decisions of businesses and institutional investors.

Therefore, the Taskforce recommends that governments at the very least initiate a domestic

process to reach agreement on a national long-term objective. They should also pledge to support

the initiation of political negotiations on setting a global long-term

objective, which would logically take place under the auspices of the UN

process, once sufficient backing is achieved. In both cases, a vigorous

and equitable program to attain the objective will be essential.

In the hope that such processes are undertaken, we have looked into

which long-term climate objective would best fulfil the criterion set out by

the UNFCCC. While no amount of climate change is safe and many

communities, such as those in Arctic regions and low-lying island states,

that there is a threshold of temperature increase above which the extent

one can say with certainty what that threshold is, but it is important that

we make an educated judgment at this time based on the best available

science.

On the basis of an extensive review of the relevant scientific literature, we

propose a long-term objective of preventing average global surface

temperature from rising by more than 2°C (3.6°F) above its pre-industrial

Beyond the 2°C level, the risks to human societies and ecosystems grow

significantly. It is likely, for example, that average temperature increases larger than this will entail

substantial agricultural losses, greatly increased numbers of people at risk of water shortages, and

could also imperil a very high proportion of the world’s coral reefs and cause irreversible damage

Above the 2°C level, the risks of abrupt, accelerated, or runaway climate change also increase.

The possibilities include reaching climatic tipping points leading, for example, to the loss of the

West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets (which, between them, could raise sea levels more than

Meeting the Climate Challenge

ten meters over the space of a few centuries), the shutdown of the thermohaline ocean circulation

(and, with it, the Gulf Stream), and the transformation of the planet’s forests and soils from a net

Climate science is not yet able to specify the trajectory of atmospheric concentrations of

greenhouse gases that corresponds precisely to any particular global temperature rise. Based on

current knowledge, however, it appears that achieving a high probability of limiting global average

temperature rise to 2°C will require that the increase in greenhouse-gas concentrations as well as

all the other warming and cooling influences on global climate in the year 2100, as compared with

under a business-as-usual scenario. At the same time, atmospheric levels of reflecting and

cloud-forming particles, which are partly offsetting greenhouse gas warming today, will continue to

go down. Action is therefore required that includes immediate measures to reduce emissions of all

greenhouse gases and soot (a heat-trapping form of particulate matter), as well as a commitment

In the light of evolving scientific evidence, the Taskforce recommends that emissions reductions

should aim to achieve greenhouse-gas concentration levels by the end of the century compatible

with limiting global average temperature rise to 2°C, and to limit the period of time during which

those concentrations are above levels compatible with that goal.

4

To achieve the long-term objective of limiting global average temperature rise to 2°C, the

Taskforce recommends that all countries agree to processes leading to limits on their greenhouse

gas emissions “on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated

We recommend the development of a global framework for the post-2012 period that builds on the

UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol, and brings all countries into action on climate change at the

international level over the coming decades. It would be developed as part of the ongoing UN

The proposed global framework for the post-2012 period would

enable all countries to contribute to solving the problem of climate

change in an equitable manner by allocating countries to stages

that reflect their national circumstances. In the proposed global

framework, developed countries remain in the two stages defined

in the UNFCCC: those already industrialised (listed in Annex II of

the UNFCCC) and economies in transition (listed in Annex I but not

in Annex II). As a transitional arrangement, the US and Australia

(assuming they do not change their positions on ratifying Kyoto)

are placed on a parallel track with the aim of integrating them with

the global framework as soon as possible after 2012. Developing

countries progress through a three-stage process that initially

aligns climate and development objectives and subsequently

ensures limits on their greenhouse gas emissions, and they move

from stage to stage at a rate reflecting changes in their national

circumstances.

effort post-2012 would require making commitments to domestic

action under binding domestic emissions caps and adopting

domestic cap-and-trade schemes for emissions. These schemes

would be harmonised with the EU or Kyoto trading system provided

there is parity in the level of caps or a system of discounting for

credits from schemes with substantially weaker caps. Trading between the systems could begin

during or immediately after the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period. Such trading schemes are

discussed in more detail in the section on technology and trading partnerships below.

In addition to meeting their domestic caps, the United States and Australia are urged to participate

in UNFCCC and Kyoto mechanisms for assisting developing countries to limit their emissions and

adapt to climate change. Cooperation with developing countries on technological and financial

transfer, particularly through established mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism

(CDM), will be particularly important.

Meeting the Climate Challenge

With other parties, the United States and Australia would need to negotiate terms under which the

transitional parallel track is integrated fully into the global framework, under the auspices of the

UN global climate negotiations.

reduction commitments, that extend beyond 2012, and which would be periodically negotiated.

They further participate by transferring greater technology and financial resources for mitigation

and adaptation to developing countries through the mechanisms defined under the UNFCCC, the

Kyoto Protocol and associated agreements. In each case, Annex II countries would take on more

ambitious commitments.

ensuring their right to economic development. The three stages are:

1. Initially, countries are encouraged and enabled to align development and climate

goals through confidence building measures and incentives. They adopt policies

and measures that decouple economic growth from emissions growth and, where

necessary, are adequately supported by resources provided by developed

2. Subsequently, countries commit to reducing the carbon intensity of select sectors

of their economies, particularly the energy and transport sectors, and move

3. Ultimately, countries take on binding emission targets, as is the case in Annex I

countries now.

All developing countries would progress through the stages, and they would do so as their

national circumstances permit. The consideration of national circumstances could be guided by

several criteria, including capability to mitigate (for example GDP per capita) and potential to

mitigate (for example degree of energy efficiency, emissions per unit GDP, emissions per capita).

Some countries have already achieved a level of industrialisation that has moved them beyond

the initial stage. Moreover, countries experiencing higher rates of industrialisation would make a

more rapid transition through the stages.

The global framework would continue to develop in accordance with three further

considerations:

the need to meet the long-term climate objective, by ensuring that short-term

targets are linked to and consistent with the long-term goal;

the gradual transition over the long-term towards a system of equal per capita

rights to use the absorptive capacity of the atmosphere; and

developments in climate science and technological innovations.

6

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The objective of preventing average global temperature from rising by more than 2°C requires

that constructive action be taken in the near-term to begin reducing emissions in key emitting

countries, including those such as the United States and Australia, which have not ratified Kyoto,

and large developing economies that are not required by Kyoto to reduce emissions. These

actions would involve voluntary partnerships designed to find “win–win” solutions. The overall

strategy should be focused on developing low-carbon or no-carbon energy sources, including

renewable energy, and increasing energy efficiency. As part of that strategy, agreements at the

sub-global level among significant emitters can address specific emissions and technology

development challenges that complement existing climate change regimes.

The Taskforce recommends that the G8 could play a vital role in

pursuing technology and trading agreements, by establishing a G8+

Climate Group that includes other large developed and developing

country economies.

Consistent with the objectives of such a G8+ Climate Group, G8

governments should take two important steps:

Firstly, they should aim to increase their spending on

research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of

advanced technologies for energy-end-use efficiency and

low-carbon and no-carbon energy supply by two-fold or

more by 2010. This should be done in conjunction with

adopting strategies to ensure the near-term and large-scale

deployment of existing low- and no-carbon technologies.

Secondly, G8 countries should establish national renewable

portfolio standards to generate at least 25 per cent of electricity

from renewable energy sources by 2025, following

models established by a growing number of developed and

developing countries. Higher targets will be needed for

The Taskforce also recommends that the G8+ Climate Group adopt

the initiatives presented below, which provide innovative examples of

how to engage countries in confidence building mitigation strategies. They highlight immediate

opportunities to reduce emissions in the transport and stationary energy sectors, focusing on

areas where insufficient progress has been made, where opportunities for technology leapfrogging

are available, and where countries are facing critical near-term investment decisions.

.

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Meeting the Climate Challenge

While increased investment in public transportation systems is one important strategy to reduce

emissions in this sector, these emissions can also be greatly reduced through improvements in

Taskforce recommends that a technology partnership be created in which the G8+ Climate Group

agrees to promote accelerated market penetration of hybrids and other highly efficient vehicles

(HEVs).

This should be achieved through enhanced fuel efficiency standards and/or tax incentives or

grants for the purchase of HEVs, sustained over a substantial period. Governments could also

commit to providing tax incentives for retooling manufacturing plants, and to replacing their own

fleet vehicles with HEVs, thus boosting demand and reducing the costs of production and the

price gap between HEVs and conventional vehicles. These measures are also relevant in rapidly

industrialising countries such as China where car ownership is increasing quickly and the

Government has already begun to set fuel economy standards for cars.

Transport-related emissions can also be reduced by switching away from fossil fuels and towards

renewable energy sources such as biofuels, especially those derived from cellulosic materials,

which can be blended with petroleum based fuels. The Taskforce recommends that the G8+

Climate Group agree to divert their agricultural subsidies to biofuels instead of food crops –

subsidies that currently create artificially low food prices and accordingly undermine agriculture in

developing countries. Governments should seek to promote production of traditional ethanol, such

as that in Brazil, which derives one third of its transport fuel from ethanol produced from sugar

Climate Group governments should support measures to increase the market penetration of

biofuels in developing and developed countries. Appropriate safeguards would need to be adopted

to ensure that increased subsidies for biofuels encourage sustainable farming methods, preserve

culturally and ecologically sensitive land, and protect biodiversity.

The Taskforce recommends that subsidies to fossil-fuel projects be reduced over time and priority

given to support for renewable energy and energy efficiency, including through performance-based

subsidies. But coal is expected to retain for some time a major role in the power sector in several

important parts of the world. Prominent among these are China and India, which are planning to

add large amounts of coal-fired power capacity over coming decades. For these countries,

addressing climate change is unlikely to be possible without a strategy for dealing with emissions

from coal, even as the primary long-term objective must be the transition to low or no-carbon

sources of energy.

In practice, that means deploying the coal-fired electricity-generating technologies that offer the

best prospects for capturing carbon in a cost-effective manner for sequestration away from the

atmosphere in the event that such sequestration proves technologically feasible and economically

the best available technology in this respect.

8

In addition, although currently more expensive than conventional coal-fired plants, IGCC plants

offer the possibility of improving their economics through ‘polygeneration’ – the production of

chemicals (including liquid fuels and hydrogen) in parallel with electricity generation. IGCC plants

also provide immediate health benefits by reducing emissions of toxic air pollutants that cause

respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, which are responsible for thousands of deaths each year

In the absence of measures that internalise the environmental damage caused by conventional

coal-fired power plants, there is currently a cost gap between power produced by IGCC and

conventional plants. Therefore, an incentive is needed to promote IGCC plants designed to

accommodate carbon capture and storage as the technology of choice for coal-fuelled power

plants being built in the years immediately ahead.

The G8+ Climate Group could agree to support the construction of such IGCC plants through loan

guarantees from its industrialized members’ export credit agencies (ECAs). Such a program of

loan guarantees for IGCC construction in developing countries, including China and India, would

help to make IGCC cost-competitive with conventional coal-fired power stations. Of course, this

should not occur at the expense of providing additional support for renewables and energy

efficiency projects.

Domestic emissions trading programs in different parts of the world could be tailored to allow for

their progressive integration into a common international emissions trading regime. The EU’s

emissions trading scheme is now operational, and there are current proposals for domestic

emissions trading in the U.S. and Australia. Successful integration of these programmes will

depend on parity in the levels of the caps, or instituting a system of discounting for credits from a

programme with substantially weaker caps.

Integration offers several benefits:

creating a deeper, unified market is likely to reduce price volatility;

multinational firms operating in different markets can benefit by playing under the same

set of rules;

giving all firms a vested interest in multilateral climate policy engages them in the

development of a new global framework; and

creating an avenue for more active US and Australian participation with the rest of the

developed world serves as a stepping stone to their full integration into the post-2012

global framework.

The Taskforce recommends that the G8+ Climate Group: (1) urge the adoption in all industrialised

countries of national cap-and-trade programs, and (2) promote the development of common

standards for measuring and reporting emissions reductions, as well as clear and compelling

domestic compliance mechanisms, to facilitate the future integration of trading systems. Common

standards should also be developed for project-based offsets, providing additional incentives for

engaging developing countries.

. .

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Meeting the Climate Challenge

Helping countries to reduce the carbon intensity of their economies will enable them to adopt

robust climate commitments at the international level in forthcoming negotiations. Reducing the

carbon intensity of economies, and achieving sustainable levels of energy consumption, based on

increased energy end-use efficiency and low- and zero-carbon energy-supply technologies, should

become the driving force behind technological modernisation.

Increasing the efficiency of energy end-use in homes, offices,

vehicles, and industry offers the largest, fastest, cheapest, and

easiest reductions in carbon intensity available, but cannot

achieve as much reduction as is required. Large contributions will

also be needed from greatly expanded use of low-carbon and nocarbon

energy-supply options. Leading contenders for a large role

in this lower-carbon energy supply mix include fuels derived from

biomass materials that are renewably grown and electricity from

The process of reducing the carbon intensity of the energy

system needs to involve the public and private sectors at all

levels. In particular, the Taskforce recommends that

governments accelerate the process by creating a leadership

coalition of developed and developing countries that are

committed to action on climate change. This coalition should

take action beyond multilateral climate diplomacy by focusing on

synergies between climate and development policies and fully

integrating low- and no-carbon strategies with national

programmes for sustainable development. In particular, the

Taskforce recommends that leadership coalition governments

undertake reforms to increase energy efficiency and reduce the

carbon intensity of energy generation by removing barriers to

and increasing investment in low- and no-carbon technologies

and practices that are commercially viable or close to market.

Levelling the playing field between renewables and fossil fuels, and internalising the

latter’s costs by phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and adopting cap and trade systems as

well as encouraging ecological tax reform and performance based efficiency incentives.

Use of innovative government-supported financial mechanisms, such as clean energy

funds and government-guaranteed investment securities (‘global development bonds’)

that would promote investment in sustainable low- or no-carbon technology

deployment.

Providing new support for low- or no-carbon technology transfer to developing

countries in addition to existing bilateral and multilateral programmes, including by

increasing the provision of concessional finance.

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...

Requiring individual Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) to adopt minimum efficiency

standards for the projects they support, or portfolio-wide carbon intensity standards.

Tying local economic development with decarbonisation by relaxing local content

restrictions for ECA-backed projects to encourage the deployment of locally appropriate

low-carbon technologies and the involvement of local partners.

Ensuring the disclosure of climate change related risks by companies and that

institutional investors take account of long-term risks in their investments as part of their

fiduciary duty.

Reviewing and significantly increasing the World Bank target to increase its investment in

renewable energy, arising from the Extractive Industries Review.

Reforming the OECD Arrangement for ECAs to improve the terms offered by ECAs for

renewable energy and energy efficiency projects so that they are at least as favourable

as those for fossil fuel and nuclear energy.

Requiring multilateral banks to take the climate impact of their project financing into

account by conducting energy audits on energy-intensive projects and financing

energy-saving measures, following the lead of the European Bank for Reconstruction and

Development, and to adopt minimum efficiency standards for the projects they support or

portfolio-wide carbon intensity standards.

...

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Meeting the Climate Challenge

Developing countries are already experiencing adverse impacts from climate change and, given

the inertia in the global climate system, some increased level of future impact is inevitable,

Change has concluded that developing countries also stand to experience the most serious

thus threatens to undermine many of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, including that of

eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, with severe consequences for the world’s poorest

Developed countries should accept greater responsibility for

assisting developing countries to adapt to climate change, while

ensuring climate policy directly contributes to poverty eradication.

To this end, developed countries need to achieve a step-change in

their effort. The Taskforce therefore recommends that:

Existing funding commitments on adaptation be honoured.

The EU and other developed countries made a “political

declaration” at the seventh conference of the parties to the

UNFCCC in Marrakech in 2001, to provide $450 million (US)

a year, mostly for adaptation. To date only about $20 million

(US) has been provided.

New and additional funding is provided to guarantee

revenue for adaptation, with contributions linked, in part at

least, to current and historical responsibility for emissions.

This should be done using robust scientific methodology,

such as that being developed under the modelling and

assessment of contributions to climate change (MATCH)

initiative. The long-term future of existing adaptation funding

bodies also needs to be secured by leading industrialised

countries making firm, regular and long-term commitments

of funds to the already-established ‘Marrakech Funds’.

Governments accept accountability for climate change impacts by initiating the

development of an international compensation fund to support disaster mitigation and

preparedness, disaster relief, and relocation in consultation with affected countries and

communities.

Adaptation issues are integrated into development assistance. Aid that is invested in

infrastructure with relatively long life spans should be ‘climate proofed’ by taking projected

impacts into account in design and construction.

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Policy makers in vulnerable countries become aware of the implications of climate

change for their citizens and economies. They should apply vulnerability or impact

assessments to all new policies, to exclude anything that puts vulnerable communities at

greater risk, and integrate adaptation policies and measures into development strategies.

Further research is carried out urgently into expected impacts for different regions so that

the most vulnerable communities can be identified. Research is also needed into

best-practice policies and technologies, as well as livelihood strategies to cope with

expected climatic risks.

Assistance is provided to build the capacity of national policy-makers from vulnerable

countries so they can take part in international climate negotiations, undertake policy

implementation domestically, and make appropriate judgements to avoid inappropriate,

maladaptive policies.

...

Meeting the Climate Challenge

There is a clear need for governments to build public support for climate policies that will enable

the world to meet the objective of limiting global average temperature rise to 2°C above

Consequently, in accordance with Article 6 of the UNFCCC, the Taskforce recommends that a

leadership coalition of governments from developed and developing countries pledge to increase

public awareness and build public support for action to mitigate climate change.

Increasing public awareness and building support will require these governments to make

communicating information about climate change to the public a priority, and to take steps to

increase the effectiveness of climate change communication activities. These activities should

have sufficient funding and a consistent message, including the case for the 2°C objective,

sustained over the long-term. Such activities should also be combined with supportive policy

measures which enable the public to take action.

14

Cambridge University Press.

Chapter 4.

for at least the next hundred years, and the global average surface temperature in 1850

was probably a bit cooler than in 1750. But thermometer measurements – which first became

widespread enough to directly determine the global average temperature only around 1860 –

show that between then and 2004 the temperature has risen by about 0.8°C or 1.4°F, and is

expected to rise further still due to climatic inertia. See UK Meteorological Office, ‘2004: Another

Warm Year’, Press release and web posting, December 2004,

http://www.meto.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/20041216.html.

Nicholls R, and Rosenzweig C (2001) ‘Millions at risk: defining critical climate change threats and

Laxenburg, Austria.

S A, Cox P M, Betts R A, Ettwein V J, Jones C D, Maslin M A and Spall S A (2004) ‘Contrasting

simulated past and future responses of the Amazon rainforest to atmospheric change’

Cambridge University Press: pp.419–20, 642; and, Cox P, Betts R, Jones C, Spall S and Totterdell

I (2000) ‘Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate

December 2004, San Francisco. The author’s analysis shows, taking into account current uncer-

Meeting the Climate Challenge

tainties in the relevant parameters, that stabilising the net warming and cooling influences on climate

value of 280ppm yields an 80 per cent chance of limiting global average temperature

rise to 2ºC above pre-industrial levels. By contrast, he estimates that stabilising net warming and

oxides and halocarbons) and of atmospheric soot. Cooling influences include increases in the

atmospheric concentrations of aerosols (i.e. reflecting and cloud-forming particles), as well as

increases in Earth’s surface reflectivity. See also Paul Baer and Tom Athanasiou, “Honesty About

Dangerous Climate Change”, 2004, at www.ecoequity.org/ceo/ceo_8_2.htm.

728001023/2003, Bilthoven, Netherlands www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/728001023.html; and,

Framework.pdf.

Energy Research Centre. Financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation

and Development (BMZ) www.wupperinst.org/download/1085_proposal.pdf.

countries to build climate change policy into sustainable development pathways. This is a relatively

easy way for developing countries to take the first steps towards long-term action on climate

change. For example climate change considerations could be built into national energy sector

pathways, through a focus on delivering sustainable energy services. For more information on SD

PAMs see, for example, H Winkler, R Spalding-Fecher, S Mwakasonda and O Davidson,

‘Sustainable development policies and measures: Starting from development to tackle climate

applies the policies and measures approach to a particular sector (such as the energy sector)

through the current avenue for developing country participation in the Kyoto Protocol, the Clean

Development Mechanism. Sectoral CDM applies the CDM to sectors rather than just to projects.

Reducing the carbon intensity of the energy and transport sectors could be delivered through a

sectoral CDM approach, creating a strong focus on sustainable energy sector development and

reform. For more information on sectoral CDM see, for example, J Samaniego and C Figueres,

of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010. It may therefore be more appropriate for them

to adopt higher targets for 2025 than the minimum 25 per cent target recommended for other G8

countries.

16

fossil-fuel technologies which can capture and sequester carbon dioxide may also be important. It

has not taken a position on nuclear energy.

Press, chapter 7.

Meeting the Climate Challenge

The International Climate Change Taskforce has been established by the Institute for

Public Policy Research, The Australia Institute and the Center for American Progress to

develop and promote proposals aimed at consolidating and building on the gains

achieved by the Kyoto Protocol at the international level, in order to help ensure that

climate change is addressed effectively over the long term.

To this end the taskforce will review:

Evidence on the economic costs of failing to reduce global emissions of green house

gases and on the technical and economic feasibility of deep emissions reductions by

developed countries, and limits on emissions from developing countries, in the long

term.

Actions necessary for consolidating and building on the gains made by the Kyoto

Protocol, towards achieving the fundamental objective of the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change to stabilise the concentration of

greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous

anthropogenic interference with the climate system.

Options for securing future commitments on greenhouse gases from all

developed countries, as well as from developing ones.

The taskforce will prepare a final report to be published early in 2005 making

recommendations to policy makers and governments in developed and developing

nations. This report will be widely disseminated but particularly aimed at providing independent

advice to the UK government about how to make progress on international climate

change policy during its presidencies of the G8 nations and the European Union in

2005.

18

.

.

.

Recommendations of the International Climate Change Taskforce

Stephen Byers is a Labour Member of Parliament for North Tyneside and a former

Cabinet Minister in the Blair Government. In 1997 he was made Minister of State for

School Standards. In July 1998 he entered the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury

and in December 1998 he was appointed as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. He

held this post until the 2001 General Election after which he was made Secretary of State

for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. He resigned from the government in

May 2002.

Olympia J. Snowe is a two-term Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Maine.

Olympia chairs the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee and is on the

Senate Finance Committee; the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; and

the Select Committee on Intelligence. She is an active cosponsor of the McCain-Leiberman

Climate Stewardship Act for mandatory emissions reductions and a market cap and trade

system, and a leader for abrupt climate change research. Olympia was a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives from 1978 to 1994.

Bob Carr is the Premier of New South Wales. During his premiership he has introduced

strict greenhouse emission benchmark laws in NSW and a new state Greenhouse Office.

He has created 345 new national parks, receiving the 1998 World Conservation Union

International Parks Merit Award.

Dr John Holdren is a Professor of Environmental Policy and Director of the Program on

Science, Technology, and Public Policy in the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

John also holds professorial chairs at Harvard University and the University of California.

He received the 1999 Kaul Foundation Award in Science and Environmental Policy, the

2000 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, and the 2001 Heinz Prize in Public

Policy.

19

Martin Khor is director of Third World Network. He has been a Member of the Board of the

South Centre, and Vice Chairman of the Expert Group on the Right to Development of the

UN Commission on Human Rights. He has conducted studies and written papers for the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Development

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet is a Member of the French National Assembly for the

governing party, the Union pour un Mouvement Populiare (UMP). She is President of the

Committee on health and environment for the UMP and Executive Secretary of the

Dr Claude Martin is Director General of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) International. As

Director General of WWF International, Claude has initiated new approaches, including

partnerships with the World Bank and business and industry groups. He is a member of

the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED),

a high level advisory body to the Chinese Government.

Tony McMichael is Director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, at

The Australian National University, Canberra. Previously he had been Professor of

Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has chaired the

working-group assessment of health risks for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change, and is now undertaking the international Millennium Ecosystem Assessment project.

Jonathon Porritt is Programme Director and co-founder of Forum for the Future and

Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission. In addition he is Co-Director

of The Prince of Wales’s Business and Environment Programme, Trustee of WWF UK and

Vice-President of the Socialist Environment Resources Association. He was formerly

Director of Friends of the Earth. Jonathon received a CBE in January 2000 for services to

environmental protection.

Adair Turner is Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe. From 1995 to 1999 he was

Director General of the Confederation of British Industry. He is currently a director of

United Business Media plc, Chair of the UK Low Pay Commission and Chair of the UK

Pensions Commission. He is also a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics

and a trustee of WWF UK.

Dr Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker is a member of the German Bundestag for the Social

Democratic Party (SPD). Since 2002, he has been the Chair of the Parliamentary

Committee on Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He was Director of

the Institute for European Environmental Policy in Bonn, London and Paris from 1984-

1991, and President of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy from

1991-2000.

Professor Ni Weidou is Director of the Clean Energy Centre at Tsinghua University. As the

member of the Consultant Group of State Fundamental Research and Planning and the

Co-chairman of Energy Group of CCICED, he gives advice on state energy policies.

He is in close cooperation with the University Committee of Environment of Harvard

University and the Centre for Energy and Environment Studies of Princeton University.

Timothy Wirth is the President of the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund.

He has been a member of the US House of Representatives and US Senate where he

focussed on environmental issues, especially global climate change and population

stabilisation. He served in the US Department of State as the first Undersecretary for

Global Affairs from 1993 to 1997.

Cathy Zoi is Group Executive Director of Bayard Capital, an environment and sustainable

energy company. She co-chairs the New South Wales (NSW) Government’s Sustainability

Advisory Council. Previously, Cathy was Assistant Director General of the NSW

Environmental Protection Agency, the founding CEO of the Sustainable Energy

Development Authority, and Chief of Staff of Environmental Policy in the Clinton White

House. She has been a company director for a number of start-up renewable energy

enterprises.

Dr R K Pachauri supported the taskforce in the capacity of Scientific Adviser.

Dr Pachauri is Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute, and chair of the

UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. His wide ranging expertise has

resulted in his membership of various international and national committees and boards,

including chairing the Committee on Developing Countries from 1989 to 1990. He has

also authored 21 books and many papers and articles.

Meeting the Climate Challenge

www.ippr.org.uk

The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) is the UK’s leading progressive think tank

and was established in 1988. Its role is to bridge the political divide between social

democratic and liberal traditions, the intellectual divide between academia and the policy

making establishment, and the cultural divide between government and civil society. It is

first and foremost a research institute aiming to provide innovative and credible policy

solutions. Its work, the questions its research poses and the methods it uses are driven

by the belief that a journey to a good society is one that places social justice, democratic

participation and environmental sustainability at its core.

Nick Pearce is Director of ippr. He was previously Special Adviser to David Blunkett MP

when he was Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Education & Employment. He

has also been an adviser to the Prime Minister’s Social Exclusion Unit.

Tony Grayling is an Associate Director and head of the Sustainability Team at ippr. Tony

has previously been a special adviser to the UK Minister for Transport, and the

environmental policy officer for the Labour Party.

Simon Retallack is a Research Fellow at ippr, specialising in international climate change

policy. Simon is also co-director of the Climate Initiatives Fund, a grant-making foundation,

www.americanprogress.org

The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a non-partisan research and educational

institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity

for all Americans. It believes that Americans are bound together by a common

commitment to these values and it aspires to ensure that national policies reflect these

values. It works to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and

international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is

“of all the people, by all the people, and for all the people.”

22

John Podesta is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American

Progress. He served as Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton from October 1998 to

January 2001 and previously was an Assistant to the President then Deputy Chief of Staff.

Podesta is currently a Visiting Professor of Law on the faculty of the Georgetown

University Law Center.

Todd Stern is a Partner of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering. He served in the Clinton

Administration in various capacities, including Assistant to the President for Special

Projects and Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury. Between 1997 and 1999, he

served as the senior White House negotiator at the Kyoto and Buenos Aires negotiations.

Ana Unruh Cohen is the associate director for environmental policy at the Center for

American Progress. Prior to joining American Progress, she was an aide to Congressman

Edward J Markey (D-MA) for three years, handling energy and environmental issues

pending before the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Resources Committee.

Ken Gude is the Director of Research on the International Rights and Responsibilities

Project at the Center for American Progress. Prior to joining American Progress, Gude

was a Policy Analyst at the Center for National Security Studies. He previously worked at

the Council on Foreign Relations.

www.tai.org.au

The Australia Institute is an independent public policy research centre funded by grants

from philanthropic trusts, memberships and commissioned research. It was launched in

1994 to develop and conduct research and policy analysis and to participate forcefully in

public debates. In addition, the Institute undertakes research and analysis commissioned

and paid for by government, business, unions and community organisations.

Unconstrained by ideologies of the past, the purpose of the Institute is to help create a

vision of a more just, sustainable and peaceful Australian society and to develop and

promote that vision in a pragmatic and effective way.

Dr Clive Hamilton is Executive Director of The Australia Institute. He has held visiting

academic positions at the Universities of Cambridge, Sydney and the Australian National

University. Previous positions include Head of Research at the Federal Government’s

Resource Assessment Commission. Dr Hamilton has published on climate change policy

Alan Tate has been involved in national and international climate policy for more than a

decade. He is the recipient of Australia’s most prestigious journalism award – the Gold

Walkey – when National Environment Correspondent to the Australian Broadcasting

Corporation. Alan became a founding partner in Cambiar in 2001,

Justin Sherrard co-founded Cambiar with Alan Tate, a Sydney-based strategy consultancy

that works with progressive businesses and Governments on gaining competitive

advantage and public support by focussing on Sustainability. He has 15 years of global

experience of environmental issues and their solutions.

We would like to thank the following organisations and individuals for their generous financial

support: Ashden Trust, BAA, CE Electric, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Lord Kumar

Bhattacharya, Greenpeace Trust, Poola Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Shell

International.

Many people have helped with this project. We would particularly like to thank Ginny

Worrest (Office of Senator Olympia Snowe), Professor Liu Deshun (Tsinghua University,

Beijing), Duncan Marsh (UN Foundation) Jennifer Morgan (WWF International), and Pippa

Clarke (Office of Rt Hon. Stephen Byers MP) who ably provided advice and represented

the Taskforce members with whom they work. We are also grateful to Dr. Rajendra K

Pachauri (IPCC and TERI, India) who attended both Taskforce meetings and gave generously

of his time and expert advice, to retired Ambassador Chandrashekhar Dasgupta

(India) whose advice we greatly valued and to José Miguez (Inter-ministerial Commission

on Climate Change, Brazil), who participated in the first Taskforce meeting in Windsor.

In addition to those prepared by the secretariat, excellent working papers were prepared

for the Taskforce by Kate Hampton (Green Globe Network, UK), Fanny Calder (Chatham

House, UK), Saleemul Huq (IEED, UK and Bangladesh), Jonathan Pershing and Rob

Bradley (World Resources Institute, USA) and Joseph Aldy (Harvard University, USA).

Thanks also to David Griggs (Hadley Centre, UK) for presenting the Taskforce at Windsor.

Thanks to Paul Baer (University of California at Berkeley, USA) who provided probability

analysis on climate change scenarios and to Nathan Sansom, Tim Gibbs, Chris Moss and

Tatyana Eatwell who provided first-rate research and administrative assistance at ippr.

Also thanks to Matt Brown of the Center for American Progress and John Schwartz of

ippr for work beyond the call of duty to design and produce this report to a high quality at

a moment's notice.

In the course of our research we consulted many people who provided valuable advice

and information, who, in addition to those people cited above, include: John Ashton

(E3G, UK); Vicki Bakhshi (No 10 Policy Unit, UK); Richard Betts (Hadley Centre, UK);

Deb Callahan (LCV, USA); Morag Carter (David Suzuki Foundation, Canada); Amée

Christiansen (Environment 2004, USA); Eileen Claussen (Pew Center on Global Climate

Change, USA); Catherine Day (DG Environment, European Commission); Henry Derwent

(DEFRA, UK); Elliot Diringer (Pew Center on Global Climate Change, USA); Alex Evans

(DFID, UK); Jeff Fiedler (NRDC, USA); The Honorable Wayne Gilchrest (House of

Representatives, USA); James Greene (Senator Biden’s office, USA); Stephen Hale

(DEFRA, UK); Bill Hare (Greenpeace International); Sarah Hendry (DEFRA, UK); Geoff

Jenkins (Hadley Centre, UK); Yasuko Kameyama (National Institute for Environmental

Studies, Japan); Radhika Khosla (TERI, India); Alexey Kokorin (WWF, Russia); Charlie

Kronick (Greenpeace, UK); John Lanchbery (RSPB, UK); Laurie Lee (No 10 Policy Unit,

UK); Chee Yoke Ling (Third World Network, Malaysia); Frank Loy (Environment 2004,

USA); Betsy Loyless (LCV, USA); Abbie Meador (Representative Olver’s office, USA);

Youssef Nassef (UNFCCC); Catherine Pearce (FoE International); Nigel Purvis (Brookings

Institute, USA); Hannah Reid (IIED, UK); James D Reilly (Senator Carper’s office, USA);

Nick Rowley (No 10 Policy Unit, UK); David Sandalow (Brookings Institute, USA); Andrew

Simms (NEF, UK); Youba Sokona (Observatory of the Sahara & Sahel, Tunisia); Edith

Thompson (Represenative Gilchrest’s office, USA); Halldor Thorgeirsson (UNFCCC);

Dennis Tirpak (UNFCCC); Christian Turner (British Embassy, Washington DC); Hans

Verolme (British Embassy, Washington DC); Jos Wheatley (DFID, UK); Yoke Waller-

Hunter (UNFCCC); Harald Winkler (Energy Research Centre, South Africa); Bryony

Worthington (FoE, UK); Henning Wuester (UNFCCC); Farhana Yamin (Institute of

Development Studies, UK).

There can be few greater challenges in the twenty-first century than addressing the threat of climate

change. Left unmitigated, the impacts are expected to be devastating. Urgent action is needed.

As a global problem, it requires global solutions. In this report, a high level taskforce, brought together

from across the globe by three of the world’s leading think tanks, set out their

conclusions on how to move forward. The recommendations of the International Climate Change

Taskforce are a blueprint for action and offer a strong foundation for

meeting the climate challenge.

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