Kirk Hamilton, lead economist
of the World Bank |
By Noh Joon-hun
Staff Reporter
"There are real opportunities to shape our climate future for an inclusive and sustainable globalization, but we need a new momentum for concerted action on climate issues before it is too late," Robert B. Zoellick, World Bank Group president, said in a report.
It is the basic message from the World Bank: "Act now, act together and act differently." Or basically suffer the consequences.
According to Kirk Hamilton, lead economist of the World Bank based in Washington, D.C., the message cannot be clearer.
"If we leave the carbon footprint, we will be locked in for decades and perhaps a century. We have to find solutions through research and development on energy," said Hamilton, one of the key authors of the World Development Report 2010.
Hamilton spoke with The Korea Times during an international seminar co-hosted by the World Bank and the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements at the Millennium Seoul Hilton in downtown Seoul.
"Developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but this depends on financial and technical assistance from high-income countries.
"High-income countries also need to act quickly to reduce their carbon footprints and boost development of alternative energy sources to help tackle the problem of climate change," Hamilton said.
Advanced countries that produced most of the greenhouse gas emissions in the past must act to shape our climate future. If developed countries act now, a climate-smart world is feasible, and the costs for getting there will be high but still manageable. A key way to do this is by ramping up funding for mitigation in developing countries, where most future growth in emissions will occur.
"The countries of the world must act now, act together and act differently on climate change. Developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate change - a crisis that is not of their making and for which they are the least prepared. For that reason, an equitable deal in Copenhagen is vitally important," Hamilton said.
Emphasizing further, the environmental economist said countries need to act now because today's decisions determine both the climate of tomorrow and the choices that shape the future.
"Countries need to act together because no one nation can take on the interconnected challenges posed by climate change, and global cooperation is needed to improve energy efficiencies and develop new technologies," he said.
jakenho@koreatimes.co.kr
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