How would you "incentivize" investment in geoengineering?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0812/S00286.htm
Coalition Warns Governments Against Emissions Cap
Friday, 12 December 2008, 3:33 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Business Roundtable
EMBARGOED UNTIL 1:00PM FRIDAY 12 DECEMBER
Climate Change Coalition Warns Governments Against Global Cap on Emissions
As the eleven thousand participants in the United Nations Climate Change
Conference descend on Poznan, Poland, this week, a coalition of 50 civil
society organisations from 38 countries is warning governments against opting
for strategies that would “do little to protect humanity against the threat of
climate change but would drastically increase the threat of global economic
catastrophe.”
The Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change (www.csccc.info) of which the New
Zealand Business Roundtable is a member, has today released a new report with a
stark message to governments about the economic flow-on effect, particularly on
poorer countries, of adopting a global cap on emissions.
Describing the idea as “economic lunacy”, the report’s author, Professor Julian
Morris, said a global cap would divert resources into “low carbon” technologies
and away from more productive uses.
“This would slow economic growth and harm the ability of the poor to address
the real problems they face every day, such as diseases, water scarcity, and
inadequate nutrition”, said Professor Morris.
The report canvases policy options available to governments and concludes that
adaptation, coupled with improving the institutions that enable economic
growth, is likely to be the best response to gradual warming. It further
suggests that one approach to addressing the remote but possible threat of
catastrophic warming would be to incentivise investment in geoengineering, and
advises governments ‘hell bent’ on limiting carbon emissions to consider a tax
on emissions rather than a cap and trade scheme.
Business Roundtable executive director Roger Kerr said the report, titled Which
Policy to Address Climate Change? was a timely and valuable addition to the
debate on what constitutes an appropriate response to climate change.
“We have long held the view, as set out in the attached submission, that a cap
and trade scheme of the type being considered in New Zealand would impose heavy
costs on households, businesses and the economy. It is also likely to
discourage investment and lead to losses in business confidence and jobs.
“It is to be hoped that common sense will prevail in Poznan and that a few
European ministers will not succeed in imposing further pain on countries
already struggling with much more serious problems”, said Mr Kerr.
ENDS
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