The world needs jobs, not disasters

The recent images of Metro Manila battling against rising water brought back shocking memories of the Elbe and Danube rivers flooding much of Central Europe last June. Floods destroyed thousands of homes and brought havoc in both parts of the world. Similarly, last December’s devastating Typhoon Bopha, the strongest tropical cyclone ever to hit the southern Philippines, was a stark reminder that severe climate-driven impacts are already becoming a reality. 

Heat waves, floods, droughts and rising oceans are the new reality of an ever warming world. And this should not come as a surprise. Scientists have been warning for years that as the planet heats up, we will have to deal with more severe, more changeable, more unpredictable weather.

We have a duty, both moral and economic, to avoid wrecking the planet.

This is not only because the Philippines is especially vulnerable to more severe and frequent extreme weather — the World Bank has warned how climate change is becoming a brake on development and an obstacle to eradicating poverty around the globe. Its recent report “Getting a grip on climate change in the Philippines” points out that the country is the third most vulnerable nation on Earth to weather-related extreme events and sea level rise.

It is also because the transition to a low-carbon global economy presents a huge opportunity to modernise our economies, stimulate growth and create jobs by building dynamic new industries based on innovative clean technologies and clean energy.

Emerging countries are already reaping a large share of the benefits offered by low carbon technologies. They accounted for about half of renewable energy installations in recent years and are expected to account for two-third of global market growth before the end of the decade. Millions of jobs are created in the renewable energy sector in emerging economies. Is that surprising? No. Recent studies indicate that renewable energy generates more jobs per unit of installed capacity than conventional fuel. Low carbon growth is also about creating jobs.

So, a strong global climate agreement is squarely in the Philippines’ own interest. At the Durban climate talks in 2011, it was agreed that such a deal would be finalized by 2015, to take effect by 2020. We don’t have time to lose.

But the world will not be able to prevent climate change from reaching dangerous proportions unless all major economies and emerging economies shoulder their fair share of the global effort required. And there are reasons to be optimistic. China, the world’s first emitter, is planning to introduce carbon reduction targets in the coming years, and it has launched carbon trading markets in the country, a move inspired by what exists in Europe. And finally, the United States seems also to be moving in the right direction.

In Europe, while our economy grew 40 percent since 1990, emissions are down more than 18 percent. We have proved wrong those who claim emissions can’t be cut without sacrificing the economy. And we are planning further emissions cuts.We also committed to a second commitment under the Kyoto protocol, and we maintain our ambition in the international climate talks.

Europe is the world’s leading provider of climate finance and, despite severe economic constraints, we succeeded in delivering just over €7.3 billion in ‘fast start’ funding to the most vulnerable developing countries in 2010-2012, slightly beating our own pledge. And for this year and 2014, several European countries and the European Commission have pledged to provide some €7 billion, an increase from the past two years.

Agreeing on an inclusive and far-reaching international agreement to stop climate change is one of our generation’s main challenges but also a fantastic opportunity. As I prepare for my first visit to the Philippines, it is my ambition to make the European Union and the Philippines partners in advancing the global climate change agenda. The Philippines can count on Europe’s climate cooperation and ambition. We count on the Philippines to help us bringing all other major economies on board of the future climate regime. There is no time to lose if we want to avoid that devastating floods become the new normal.

(Connie Hedegaard is European Commissioner for Climate Action.)