Keynote Remarks at U.S. Climate Action Symposium
Todd Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change, U.S. Department of State

Do the following comments sound like they come from the deep green lobby?

"The day is not here yet, but is probably not all that distant, when carbon will need to have a world-wide price, which would accomplish two things: reverse the incentive to cling to cheaper, high-carbon sources of energy; and create the opportunity for the kind of large financial flows needed.

This task of new innovation and investment is so vast - literally the transformation of the energy base of the global economy - that it can become a key driver of economic growth in the 21^st century.

 

There is another key reason why we cannot postpone the low-carbon project until after the economy stabilizes.  The effort at stabilization itself will entail an enormous fiscal response by governments around the world and it is critical that this response push us in the right direction, not deepen the carbon hole we are already in."

 

Or perhaps the following thoughts echo the dreams of overseas aid advocates?

 

"As part of an international agreement, the United States and other developed countries will need to join together to establish mechanisms ensuring a significant flow of funds to developing countries, especially the most vulnerable ones. 

Such funds will assist them both with adaptation to the harmful effects of climate change, some of which are already locked into the system, and with mitigation efforts designed to set their economies on a low-carbon course.  Financing and technology will also need to be part of the package with regard to the major emerging economies, with flows linked to real actions that reduce emissions.

 

Developing countries need to leapfrog the fossil fuel stage as much as possible, while countries that have already built a fossil infrastructure will have to bend all efforts to phasing out that infrastructure."

 

Meet the new United States Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, not to be confused with his like-minded British namesake Sir Nicholas. Todd Stern works with the U.S. Department of State, and he is tied at the hip with his boss Hilary Clinton. Secretary of State Clinton has told every leader encountered that, "she was seeking to address a three-part agenda - the global economic crisis, global climate change, and security challenges like Afghanistan and North Korea."

 

Todd Stern believes that, "Recent science indicates that key climate impacts will happen more rapidly and be more severe than the IPCC assessments of only two years ago."  

He firmly believes that climate negotiations need to be guided by the science.

Read Todd Stern's Keynote Remarks at the U.S. Climate Action Symposium one week ago by downloading it from the Resources Section.

The US is back in the game.