Interview with Paulson Institute President Brillia Dai: U.S.-China climate cooperation should put aside commercial differences
Global temperatures have risen by 2.8°C since the industrial era, and if this trend continues, the planet will be in a dangerous situation.
Different from green topics in other fields, climate is a global public good, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions needs to be discussed, promoted and solved around the world.
At the same time, it is precisely because climate is a global public good that it often involves the cost and benefit division of countries, which has become a real problem hindering global cooperation.
So, how can we strengthen coordination between countries in the fight against climate change? During the 20th Anniversary Global Conference of the IFF International Finance Forum, CBN interviewed Deborah Lehr, Vice Chairman and President of the Paulson Institute.
Dai Qingli has long been committed to promoting green and sustainable development cooperation between China and the United States. She believes that in multilateral cooperation on climate change, the two major economies of China and the United States have broad prospects for cooperation.
U.S.-China climate cooperation should put aside commercial differences
The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) will be held in Dubai in November. When it comes to tackling climate change, China, the United States, and the European Union, the three largest economies, have high expectations.
Recently, Xia Yingxian, Director General of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, also made clear China's position: we look forward to working with all parties to ensure that COP28 continues and deepens the theme of "joint implementation", and takes the first global review as an opportunity to send a positive signal of focusing on actions and strengthening cooperation.
Due to the pandemic and other factors, China and the United States have suspended climate cooperation for a time. "I am very pleased to see that dialogue and cooperation between the two countries have resumed. ”
Dai Qingli believes that in multilateral cooperation on climate change, the two economies have broad prospects for cooperation, and hopes to reach an agreement during COP28 to jointly promote the realization of climate goals.
Previously, during the G20 summit in September, China and the United States were also working to promote green standards and related voluntary principles, which laid an important opportunity for COP28 climate negotiations.
China is also continuing to move towards the "dual carbon" goal. Dai Qingli said that the development and application of relevant high-end technologies in China are exciting, such as new energy batteries and new energy trams.
But she also said that there are also many challenges to the cooperation between the two countries in the field of climate, such as the resistance of Chinese PV products to overseas markets from the United States and Europe.
In any case, Dai believes that climate cooperation between the two countries should put aside commercial differences.
Zhou Xiaochuan, co-chair of IFF and vice chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said during the meeting that global coordination in terms of regulations and incentives is needed in terms of climate cooperation and carbon emission reduction, among which coordination between China and the United States is very important, and coordination should be strengthened by reducing mistrust.
Developing countries urgently need finance to combat climate change
Achieving the goals set out in the Paris Agreement will require a balance between the realities of developed and developing countries, especially those facing financial shortfalls.
Some climate experts estimate that developing countries outside China will need to mobilize about US$2.4 trillion a year by 2030 to achieve common climate and development goals.
“的确，Developing countries urgently need finance to combat climate change，在大多数情况下，这些发展中国家并不是碳排放的制造者，但它们却要经受碳排放的挑战，所以，我们需要更多资金，在更大范围去应对这个挑战，同时，也希望在COP28上，能够建立相关的平台支持发展中国家。”戴青丽说。
Laurent Fabius, chairman of the French Constitutional Council, former French prime minister and IFF director, also said at the IFF 20th anniversary global annual meeting held on the 28th that we must fulfill the commitment made at the 2009 Copenhagen conference to provide developing countries with $100 billion a year, and we must also accelerate the guarantee of financial support and green technology for developing countries.
In 2021, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) was established to drive global commitments to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
According to a recently released report, GFANZ currently has more than 550 financial institution members in more than 55 countries and territories, of which more than 365 are in EMEA (including three regions in EMEA), more than 120 in the Americas, and more than 65 in the Asia-Pacific region.
Leverage financial power to promote biodiversity conservation
In addition to climate cooperation, the conservation of biodiversity is also a global concern. Biodiversity is the foundation for human survival and development, and the blood and foundation of the community of life on earth.
"I hope China can become a pioneer in protecting biodiversity." Dai Qingli said that China plays a very important role in biodiversity conservation.
In October 2021, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) was held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, and the Kunming Declaration was adopted.
"I have noticed that China has made positive progress in the construction and protection of wetland parks and the protection of the water environment, and I also suggest that in the future, there needs to be a wider range of projects in the protection of biodiversity, such as the protection of agricultural planting, and the planting of the wrong crops in the wrong place is also a kind of destruction of biodiversity." She said.
However, the world also faces a funding gap for biodiversity conservation, with annual global funding needs for biodiversity ranging from $800 billion to $1.1 trillion. The Paulson Institute's report, Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity Conservation Gap, estimates that the global biodiversity financing gap will be about $700 billion per year over the next decade.
This requires the support of financial forces, and in recent years, biodiversity finance has become a hot topic in the industry. However, compared to the global awareness of climate change, the awareness of biodiversity in various countries is still at a low level, and there is a great lack of ecologically conscious investors in the market.
According to Dai, the question of how financial institutions can support biodiversity is a very complex one: "We have not yet found a consistent solution to price nature, because the services provided by nature are free products for us." Dai Qingli said.
"Of course, some financial institutions have already started to try, for example, some financial institutions have cooperated with multilateral development banks to issue bonds in the field of ecological protection such as forests, but these are only partial pilots and have not yet developed into mainstream financial products." Dai Qingli said.
"Biodiversity projects are cyclical, slow to produce results, and public welfare. Commercial banks should not only pay attention to social benefits, but also pay attention to economic benefits, so financial innovation is a very key element. A few days ago, Peng Ling, deputy director of the Green Finance Center of Huaxia Bank, said at the sub-forum on "Financial Support for Biodiversity Conservation" at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Green Finance Committee of the China Society for Finance and Banking.
"It is not enough to rely on social responsibility to support biodiversity through pure public goods, but more importantly, to bring the necessary profits to the parties involved." Dai Qingli also said.
