The UN General Assembly held its first-ever thematic debate on climate change from 31 July to 2 August 2007. The debate focused on the latest scientific assessments of climate change, as well as the two components of the response to the phenomenon: adaptation and mitigation.

In her opening speech at the start of the event, President of the General Assembly Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa said that "how we protect our environment, secure our planet and safeguard our future, for our children and generations to come, is one of the greatest challenges of our time", adding that political action is needed. "We cannot go this way for long. We cannot continue with business as usual. The time has come for decisive action on a global scale," emphasized Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his opening remarks, adding that his personal priority is to work with Member States to ensure the United Nations plays its role to the fullest.

In the panel discussion on Mitigation Strategies in the Context of Sustainable Development, experts shared insightful perspectives on climate change mitigation. Panelists reached the consensus that we need a global emission cut by the mid-century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report's finding pointed out that the warming of the climate system is unequivocal and is due to human activities. Mohamed El-Ashry of the United Nations Foundation, who moderated the panel, said that the causes of climate change and its adverse impacts were closely linked to economic development, poverty alleviation and energy security. He suggested that a comprehensive agreement, negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations, was needed to "stabilize the concentration greenhouse gases (GHGs) at the level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system". This agreement should include all countries and sectors, all carbon sinks and sources, as well as adaptation and mitigation. "While developed countries should take the lead in emission reduction, meaningful engagement of developing countries, especially rapidly industrializing economies, was essential", Mr. El-Ashry added.

Robert Socolow, professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, outlined ways that nations could cut their use of fossil fuels and therefore reduce carbon emissions. Compared to 50 years ago, when there was less than 2 billion tons of carbon entering the atmosphere each year, "today we are taking about 7 billion tons of carbon out of the ground every year-roughly half was from countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the other half from non-OECD countries", he said. Neither part of the world has a "free pass" when it comes to cutting carbon emissions, Mr. Socolow noted, and a comprehensive globally agreed policy and technology framework that address "ways of life" is much needed. With so many poor people in the world, their situation and the Governments' ability to contribute to a solution to cutting emissions should also be taken into account. "Common but differentiated responsibility, which is based on lifestyles, takes on a new meaning-it is not about countries, it is about ways of life", he emphasized.

Wind mill photo courtesy of UNEP

Providing his expertise on energy systems planning, Professor Anthony Olusegun Adegbulugbe of Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria said the increasingly empirical evidence showed that developing countries were the most vulnerable to risks associated with climate change. Highlighting the complex relationship between sustainable development and climate change mitigation, he stated that development paths were largely determined by various elements, such as economic advancement and activity in sectors, such as energy, transportation, agriculture and forestry, which decide the levels of emissions. About "70 per cent of 85 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions are energy related", he commented, adding that policies which pursue sustainable development in all its dimensions-social, economic and environmental-would have an effect on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Greener development path actually created conditions in which mitigation can be effectively pursued, he said. There was a need for regional cooperation and partnership, as well as a multilateral partnership at a global level, Mr. Adegbulugbe stressed. Developing countries were in need of assistance in terms of funding, capacity-building and technology transfer to confront the challenges and opportunities of climate change mitigation.

Another panelist, Bjorn Stigson, President of World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a coalition of 200 leading international companies representing $6 trillion on the stock exchange, spoke of the concerns of the business community regarding climate change mitigation. He said that issues around energy security and climate change are fundamental for competitiveness and successes of business. Global companies had a common interest with Governments to seek solutions to problems relating to climate change, as well as have a global framework, because it would level the economic playing field. Mr. Stigson suggested that the private sector be allowed to act as equal partners with Governments in elaborating a post-Kyoto Protocol framework, adding that business was given a "side event to participate" when it came to global climate change negotiations.

On the post-Kyoto regime and beyond, Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said that the Protocol was clearly not enough to deliver what scientists were saying was needed to tackle climate change. "To get the emissions down is the whole issue of mitigation", said Mr. de Boer, "we have to stop the emissions growth in the next 15 years to avoid the problem getting out of control". Thus, a major energy system is highly required. "When it comes to emission reduction, industrialized countries have to take the lead because of their historical responsibility through national action", said Mr. de Boer, adding, however, that developing countries still needed to limit the growth of their emissions.

Yvo de Boer UN photo Devra Berkowitz

Energy efficiency is central to climate change mitigation. In an interview with the UN Chronicle, Mr. Yvo de Boer said that the funding to the energy sector was critical. "If you look at all of the investments going into the energy sector around the world, only 1 per cent is public money and 99 per cent is private money", he noted. He went on to say that it is crucial for Governments to drive private investments towards addressing climate change.

According to the IPCC, there is significant potential for mitigation, including the use of clean technologies. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)-an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol-allows industrialized countries with a GHG reduction commitment to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries. "You can never solve the problem of climate change through official development assistance; you have to change private investment flows", said Mr. de Boer, adding that the CDM can be much more useful to serve government development goals. There is only a small group of countries that are benefiting from the CDM in a meaningful way, he noted, saying that many of the smaller developing countries do not have the capacity to develop CDM project proposals. He explained that the Nairobi Framework, launched in November 2006 by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, would help many of the smaller developing countries that needed the capacity to develop CDM projects. "In some African countries, access to energy is the main issue", which also links to the question of deforestation, Mr.de Boer noted.

Many developing countries like India and China have recognized the importance of climate change, but their challenge is to find a way to both eradicate poverty and act on climate change. International cooperation is essential to help these countries, whose future is to find how to develop clean coal technology and move to carbon capture in storage. For countries like China and India, Mr. de Boer said, the main challenge of mitigation now is to integrate climate change policies and national development policies, and make sure investments contribute to economic growth and lowering emissions.

When asked about the UN Secretary-General's high-level event on climate change in September, Mr. de Boer noted that though it was not an official summit, the meeting would bring together a large number of Heads of States and Governments, providing momentum to the negotiations for the Bali conference in December 2007. The challenge in Bali, he said, would be putting in place and negotiating a road map, which over the next two years allowed the international community to develop a post-2012 climate policy. "At the moment it looks promising, but it is always dangerous to be optimistic", Mr. de Boer added.