Address at the conference on "The Politics of climate change"

Session two: Seeking global frameworks to reinforce business and national action
The Minister based his address on the following talking points
Check against delivery.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

• Anthony Giddens’ book The Politics of Climate Change is fascinating – in that it treats climate change as a political problem, rather than a moral or technological problem. Solutions to the climate crisis will have to include a major role for governments and the return of planning. The more closely climate policies are integrated with other policies, the more likely they are to succeed and to command public support.
• Norway’s main contribution to a successful outcome in Copenhagen will – we hope – be within the fields of:
  (I) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)
  (II) Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
  (III) Financing
  (IV) Emissions from international shipping
  (V) Climate change in the Arctic.
• Within these five areas, I believe we have comparative advantages, can make a difference, and – if I may be so bold to say so – be a significant player in terms of shaping the Copenhagen outcome. I’ll concentrate my address on three of these five topics:
• First: On REDD, we have taken a clear financial lead in the donor community and mobilised significant intellectual capacities to help shape a brand new multilateral architecture, hopefully to be included as an integral part of the Copenhagen framework agreement.
• Second: On CCS, we feel a particular responsibility for easing the transition from the era of fossil fuels to the future low-carbon global economy, given our role as (1) the second largest gas exporter in the world, (2) the fifth largest oil exporter worldwide, and thus (3) a major player in ensuring that Europe and indeed the world has a secure and sustainable future energy supply.
• Third: As regards climate change in the Arctic, we are, by virtue of our geographical proximity and long-standing research efforts, among the foremost providers of scientific findings on the dramatic and escalating climate change in the High North, which is taking place as we speak. In a global perspective, the Arctic resembles the “canary in the coalmine”. We Norwegians – in close collaboration with fellow Arctic nations – see it as our special responsibility to show the rest of the world what is happening in the High North.
• Allow me to dwell in particular on the issues of climate change in the Arctic and CCS:

 I.

• Climate change in the Arctic – the Tromsø-meeting: In April, Norway hosted the Arctic Council’s ministerial meeting in Tromsø, back-to-back with a conference on the melting of ice world-wide.
• Research clearly shows that melting ice – in the Arctic, Antarctica and high altitude areas elsewhere in the world, such as the Himalayas and the Andes – is a global challenge. This research formed the backdrop to the conference.
• Data presented at the conference showed that climate change in the Arctic – the region with the highest rise in temperature world-wide – is occurring at an even more rapid rate than had been indicated by the most pessimistic scenarios presented by the IPCC and others. Hence the title of the conference was: “Regional dramas – Global wake-up call”, which, in retrospect, was even more fitting than we had anticipated.
• The volume of scientific findings on melting ice and snow globally underlines the urgent need for strengthened action to curb global emissions of greenhouse gases. Reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gases need to form the backbone of any meaningful effort to reduce warming in the polar region and globally. It underscores the need for an ambitious, robust and comprehensive global agreement in Copenhagen in December.
• Scientists have shown that short-lived carbon forcers (non-CO2 drivers), such as black carbon and ozone, have a huge effect on ice melting. Reductions in these pollutants could constitute an early climate response, and could give regions of ice and snow a chance to survive long enough for other emissions reductions to have an impact. Some of these pollutants also cause great harm to human health, for example through indoor pollution that leads to respiratory disease, and should be reduced for this reason alone.
• One of the outcomes of the conference on melting ice was the establishment of a task force to produce a fully up-to-date report on melting ice globally, to be presented in Copenhagen by me and (Nobel Peace Price Laureate) Al Gore, my co-host at the conference in Tromsø. I trust that the report will send a clear and unambiguous message to Copenhagen on the urgency of establishing a robust and potent new global regime to combat climate change.
• The Arctic Council ministerial decided to establish a special task force to examine ways to address and combat non-CO2 drivers – most of which are not covered by the Climate Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, and will therefore have to be addressed outside the purview of Copenhagen. I have taken a keen personal interest in this issue, as has the Obama administration, and others.

II.

• The CCS conference, Bergen. A week ago Norway hosted the High-Level Conference on Fighting Climate Change with Carbon Capture and Storage in Bergen, chaired by Prime Minister Stoltenberg.
• Our explicit purpose was to advance knowledge and common understanding of CCS. Our bold ambition was to make Bergen a part of the road to Copenhagen. I believe we succeeded in doing so.
• Many high-level policymakers, including heads of governments and government ministers, as well as representatives of the research community, international organisations and industry took part. High-level participants visited Norway’s Sleipner CCS facility in the North Sea, which has been operating successfully, without leakage of any kind, since 1996, and stores one million tonnes of CO2 annually, under the seabed.
• We agreed that CCS has an enormous potential for bringing about global emission reductions, as stated by Dr Pachauri to the Conference. CCS is indeed one of the key technologies to mitigate CO2 emissions, as stated by IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka.
• Eight key messages from the conference:

1. A comprehensive approach to reducing CO2 emissions must include CCS.
2. Sustainable economic growth is possible, and CCS is a key step in the transition to a low-emission society.
3. More full-scale demonstration plants, more R&D, and a major scaling up of present CCS efforts are needed.
4. The right framework conditions must be put in place to stimulate widespread CCS deployment.
5. Transport and storage projects must minimise the risks of negative impacts on the environment and human health and safety.
6. Private sector companies have a special role to play in making CCS commercially viable.
7. CCS must be accessible for developing countries.
8. The UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 is a golden opportunity for explicitly including CCS as a key climate mitigation technology. 

• The World Bank and other multilateral institutions have emphasised their interest in providing financial support for CCS. Many delegates expressed their support for establishing financial mechanisms for capacity-building and investment.
• The Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) will follow up on messages from the Bergen conference at its ministerial meeting in the UK in October 2009. This will be a good opportunity to launch the IEA international CCS roadmap, the new CSLF strategic plan and new technology roadmap, which will provide key messages, policy directions and milestones for CCS.
• As Dr Pachauri stated in Bergen, we share an enormous sense of urgency with regard to climate change. The Bergen conference was a broad political manifestation of the need to speed up the development and deployment of CCS as a key part of our response. A key part that I believe must be included in the Copenhagen outcome. 

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