The Industrialization Revolution - Essay Example

Jim Yong Kim President, World Bank Programme Planning Coordinator Greenpeace RE: Proposal for Policies that Can End Global Warming INTRODUCTION: The story of humanity’s use of energy started when they learned to use fire to cook their food. From there, they discovered coal to create fuel. The Industrialization Revolution accelerated economic growths for the world’s existing developed countries, but now, those nations that are developing believe they also have the right to walk on the same energy path. Tianyi Luo, Andrew Maddocks, and Betsy Otto reported that last July 2012, China’s government sought to establish 363 coal-fired power plants for construction all over China, with planned capacity of more than 557 gigawatts, a momentous 75% increase on generating capacity that can fit its rabid energy demand. The rest of the world fears that China is over-exerting itself on the global atmosphere. China asks: Why should it curb its own economic growth when first world countries before had no check and balance system on its energy use? The answer is because without global actions in reducing emission, the world is running faster toward a state of alarming global warming. Global warming is important to all of us because we all share the same atmosphere. Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, an American economist and a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the John Bates Clark Medal, asserts: “No issue is more global than global warming: everyone shares the same atmosphere” (7). Aside from a Nobel Prize economist who is certain that global warming is our issue, several scientists are also concerned of global warming- principally, its causes and effects on people. Those who say that global warming is not human-made and not based on carbon-dioxide emissions are facing increasing evidence that prove them otherwise. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body that is composed of hundred scientists that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, stated that though the rise of global temperature can be as low as 2.7 degrees, if carbon dioxide emissions double for the next few years, the rise will be higher. Justin Gillis of The New York Times reported the potential effects of higher global temperatures all over the world, based on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Warming the entire planet by 5 degrees Fahrenheit would add a stupendous amount of energy to the climate system. Scientists say the increase would be greater over land and might exceed 10 degrees at the poles. They add that such an increase would lead to widespread melting of land ice, extreme heat waves, difficulty growing food and massive changes in plant and animal life, probably including a wave of extinctions. In other words, global warming is a global issue because it will not only affect plant and animal life, it will affect human life as well. President Jim Yong Kim, you are in a unique position to help stop global warming because you hold a powerful position in one of the most dominant global institutions in the world. The World Bank has the primary functions of promoting world development, boosting productivity standards and standards of living in less developed countries, and assisting in-need countries’ reconstruction plans. You can support our proposal for financing changes that can curb global emissions. Furthermore, in your speech, “Within Our Grasp: A World Free of Poverty” delivered at Georgetown University last April 2, 2013, you showed awareness for the impact of global warming on poverty. You said: “The World Bank Group is now working on a revamped strategy to significantly strengthen our climate change interventions and help catalyze urgent action among global partners on the scale required.” Indeed, I agree that with the World Bank’s financial resources and global political and social power, it can do more to help address global warming. DISCUSSION OF GLOBAL WARMING AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS: Global warming is real. Richard A. Muller, a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former MacArthur Foundation fellow, once a global warming skeptic, now believes that global warming is real. He and his colleagues created the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project. They discovered that: The average temperature of the earth’s land has risen by two and a half degrees Fahrenheit over the past 250 years, including an increase of one and a half degrees over the most recent 50 years. Moreover, it appears likely that essentially all of this increase results from the human emission of greenhouse gases. Global warming is not an alarmist theory. It is real because it is happening right now. It is real because it is affecting people and the environment at present. Global warming means that the world temperature is increasing. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other scientists have produced several reports that provide evidence of a warming earth. Estimations vary from 2.7 degrees to a little higher than that (Gillis). Global warming is largely human-made. Some would say that the sun and other natural forces cause global warming. Many scientists know better. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated: “The level of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, is up 41 percent since the Industrial Revolution, and if present trends continue it could double in a matter of decades” (Gillis). Some current solutions and their weaknesses and strengths. If global warming is real and man-made, people can create solutions to end it. Some of the solutions are as follows: 1) Voluntary cutting of national carbon dioxide emissions. Gautier, Catherine asserted: “Almost all computations converge to a needed cut of 80% to 85% in CO2 emissions in highly emitting countries and 50% globally if we want to avoid dangerous climate change.” Why it will not work There are no incentives. Why should developing countries with high energy need sacrifice when richer countries have not? Economic growth is the primary motivation of using coal, so without economic incentives, merely asking nations to cut CO2 emissions will be pointless. Blame game. Developing countries blame developed countries for climate change and global warming and want the latter to pay for its effects, while the latter think that the former should control their energy uses. 2) Stop the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels have been used for the past hundred years, which is global warming exists nowadays. To forego it is to drastically reduce CO2 emissions (Biello 1). Why it will not work There are no incentives. Nations and organizations have different motivations for not using fossil fuels, but in reality, fossil fuels are still the main sources of energy. They have the infrastructure for production and dissemination and not many organizations are motivated to change them while oil is still available. 3) Adopt changes in personal levels. This solution is hinged on individual changes. Consuming less, eating local, and reducing children to one per family, are only some personal solutions to global warming (Biello 2-3). Why it will not work There are no policies guiding individual behavior. Without policies that guide and promote these behaviors, these individual actions do not have enough motivation. Ideological differences. People have different beliefs and ideas on global warming and what they should do about it. Differences can lead to lack of action on individual levels. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS: The World Bank can introduce a policy that mixes carbon tax and carbon trading schemes. The goal is to make all countries, especially high-carbon-dioxide emitting economies, accountable for their role in global warming through paying for higher CO2 emissions or receiving incentive for lower CO2 emissions. Policy for Setting Carbon Tax A carbon tax “imposes a tax on each unit of greenhouse gas emissions and gives firms (and households, depending on the scope) an incentive to reduce pollution whenever doing so would cost less than paying the tax” (Grantham Research Institute). It is important for the World Bank to set the right tax level that is optimal to society. Pros Helps countries become aware of their emissions Forces companies to reduce emissions Quantifies emissions for trading Cons Difficulty in setting tax level Consideration for low-income countries or small organizations that cannot pay the carbon tax Policy for creating the cap-and-trade system A cap-and-trade system “sets a maximum level of pollution, a cap, and distributes emissions permits among firms that produce emissions” (Grantham Research Institute). The World Bank will facilitate the creation of a global carbon trading system. Stiglitz provided an important recommendation that included providing incentives for those nations that preserve rainforests: “What is needed is simple: developing countries should be given incentives to maintain their forests” (9). He gave the example of Costa Rica: “Costa Rica, which pays its citizens for preserving their forests, has already shown that a system of reimbursement for providing environmental services can work in ways that preserve the environment, boost the economy, and benefit small landholders” (9). He noted that Costa Rica reduced deforestation, while earning from tourism through its rainforests. His recommendation showed the absence of a global trading system that provide incentives for those who reduce emissions. Pros Provides economic incentives for both developed and developing countries Motivates nations to earn through saving the environment Cons Lacks infrastructure and support Lacks guidelines and definite leaders and members Global warming requires the work of all nations through global institutions such as the World Bank, in curbing emissions. Even the proposed solution has its drawbacks, but it is clear that an active participation from World Bank can help resolve these limitations. The keys to forging unity are: Understanding the energy needs of developing nations and helping them reach it through using clean energy. Responding to the global concerns for taxation that affect the poorest and creating safety nets for them. President Jim Yong Kim, the world needs your support in addressing global warming through helping devise a policy that mixes carbon tax and carbon trading schemes. If you lead the formulation of this policy and help it be enacted at global levels through stimulating national counterparts, we can end global warming. The world needs clear solutions with incentives and you can be the leader who offers a solid road towards it. Works Cited Biello, David. “10 Solutions for Climate Change.” Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Gautier, Catherine. “Climate Change.” Print. Gillis, Justin. “Climate Panel Cites Near Certainty on Warming. The New York Times, 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Grantham Research Institute. “Carbon Tax V Cap-And-Trade: Which Is Better?” The Guardian, 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Kim, Jim Yong. “Within Our Grasp: A World Free of Poverty - World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim’s Speech at Georgetown University.” The World Bank, 2 Apr. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Luo, Tianyi, Maddocks, Andrew, and Betsy Otto. “Fire and Water: China's Looming Coal Problem.” Bloomberg, 26 Aug. 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Muller, Richard A. “The Conversion of a Climate-Change Skeptic.” The New York Times, 28 July 2012. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Stiglitz, Joseph. “The Most Global Issue.” Our Planet Magazine (Feb. 2007): 7-9. Print. “Warming Climate to Hit South Asia Hard with Extreme Heat, Floods & Disease, World Bank Report Says.” The World Bank, 19 June 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Read More