Mon, Jun 08, 2009
Money Collected Would Fund Climate Change "Fight"
192 countries meeting at the UN
climate talks in Bonn, Germany, have proposed a fee to be levied on
international flight tickets as well as shipping that would be
earmarked for fighting climate change. It's estimated the fee,
proposed by the 50 wealthiest countries, could raise as much as $10
billion a year while raising ticket prices less than 1%, according
to the attendees.
In a report in "The Guardian", Connie Hedegaard, the Danish
environment and energy minister who will host the final UN climate
summit in December, said the airline fee would be matched by a
mandatory surcharge on fuel used for international shipping.
"People are beginning to understand that innovative ideas could
generate a lot of money. The Danish shipping industry, which is one
of the world's largest, has said a that truly global system would
work well. Denmark would endorse it," said Hedegaard.
The negotiations are apparently stalled over how to raise money
for climate change funds designed to assist developing nations, who
say they need billions of dollars to assist them in adapting to
things like crop losses and sea level change. Their assertions are
backed by the United Nations. "Developing countries will no longer
let themselves be sidelined. In the past, they have been brought on
board [climate negotiations] by promises of financial support. But
all they got was the creation of a couple of funds that stayed
empty." said Benito Müller, director of Oxford
University's institute for energy studies.
US negotiator Jonathan Pershin, said last week that the US had
budgeted $400m to help poor countries adapt to climate change as an
interim measure. Philippine representative Bernarditas Muller
dismissed that amount as "inadequate". Muller is the
coordinator of the G77 and China group of countries.
Back in April, a European group of international airlines
including Air France/KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and
Virgin Atlantic suggested that airlines adopt a "cap and trade"
plan to offset the industry's CO2 emissions.
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