The Current Approach to Climate Politics Is Not Working

[Nederland]

Kyoto failed, it is time to try something different.

http://artsandsciences.colorado.edu/magazine/2010/10/a-new-take-on-the-climate-fix/

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Pielke is fine with that, believing that diverse views are as beneficial to science as to politics. When the science and policy meet, as they did in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Pielke measures the policies with a simple metric: did they work?

Under Kyoto, many of the world’s nations agreed to set targets for emissions reductions. Nations that ratified the protocol committed to reducing their emissions of six greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2 percent under 1990 levels by 2012.

Carbon dioxide is viewed by most climate scientists as the most important (though not the most potent) greenhouse gas. By this measure alone, Kyoto’s efficacy is plain. In 1990, worldwide atmospheric concentration of CO2 was 354 parts per million. By last year, the concentration had risen almost 9 percent, to 388 ppm.

Pielke says this is no surprise, given that the Kyoto Protocol sets targets but only a few ineffective mechanisms for hitting them. "Saying we’re going to reduce emissions is still a step removed from the things you need to do to reduce emissions," Pielke intones.

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Pielke suggests reframing the climate issue as an energy issue. Much time is spent arguing about whether the world should strive to stabilize CO2 concentrations at 350, 450 or 550 ppm (based on uncertain projections of climate under each scenario). But according to Pielke’s analysis, the policy options under any of these targets are virtually the same.

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