COP 21 Can Become a Turning Point towards Sustainable Energy Systems
Wuppertal Paper advocates perception of "benefit sharing" instead of "burden sharing"
Wuppertal Paper advocates perception of "benefit sharing" instead of "burden sharing"
Th paper "COP 21 Can Become a Turning Point towards Sustainable Energy Systems" by Peter Hennicke, Manfred Fischedick, Katharina Knoop, Hans-Jochen Luhmann and Thomas Fink argues that staying below the global 2dt is no real objective both from a national as well as international perspective. The paper was written on behalf of the Secretariat of the Club of Rome preparing for the COP 21.
The 2 degree goal is a global guideline, scientifically developed for global negotiations, which should be broken down to national interests and actors. "Burden sharing" is according to the authors a misleading perception of the transformation process. A complex process of "benefit sharing" is rather the case, using the monetary benefits and co-benefits of climate mitigation (e.g. energy cost savings, revenues from CO2-tax or emission trading systems) to help vulnerable national and international actors to adapt to the unavoidable climate risks. It has to be demonstrated in system and scenario analyses on country level that the technologies and policy mix of strong climate mitigation and risk-minimising actions are indeed "benefit sharing" strategies which should be chosen anyhow, even if there was no climate change. For China and Germany this paper includes basic findings supporting this view.
This Wuppertal Paper no. 189 is available for download on the Wuppertal Institute's publication server.