Towards a Working Climate Regime after Copenhagen

This FAW/n report is also available as a german language version.
 
The present text develops a perspective for the further international climate talks as an outcome of the results of the Copenhagen conference on the basis of an FAW/n analysis. The central basis for a proper perspective is what we call the “Copenhagen Miracle”, which is publicly not perceived as such. The miracle actually is that high-population newly-industrializing nations, especially China and India, have offered to limit their further increase, in CO2-emissions below their respective increase in GDP. These nations have thus abandoned great financial claims which they could have articulated under aspects of climate justice. They have thus given the global community a chance to reach a sustainable climate regime by the end of 2012. The present text shows, amongst others, the following components in this regard:

• Contractual framework for a World Climate Treaty (15 sections)
• Identification of the central role of an international reforestation program
• Costs and funding of an ambitious international forest regime
• Bonus system for newly-industrializing countries
• Comprehensive cap-and-trade system between the individual nations
• Optional climate neutrality for organizations, companies and private people
• Integration of international water and air traffic
• Connection of climate regime and WTO (World Trade Organization)
• Dimensioning of WTO-compatible border tax adjustments
• Notices on the issues of implementability and compliance
• Capitalization of remaining rights to emissions increase
• Assessment of costs for such a capitalization (100 - 125 billion US $)
• Consideration of the WBGU’s budget restriction until 2050
• Embedding the proposals into the vision of a double-factor 10
• Vision for Rio+20
• Orientation for the pending climate talks

It is necessary to concentrate on the mentioned major questions and measures during the pending talks. If we do this, it may still be possible to decrease the global total CO2 emissions from fossil energy sources to below 13 billion tons per year by 2050 and at the same time comply with the WBGU’s budget restriction of a cumulated amount of 750 billion tons of CO2 emissions from fossil energy sources, which are much stricter in terms of implementation, for the period between 2010 and 2050. This especially requires the use of the one-time potential which is inherent to a labored international reforestation program. This shall be done in a manner which supports global growth which is compatible with sustainability and is embedded into the vision of a doublefactor 10 as well as into a Rio+20 perspective.