Immediate Action and Long-Term Collective Leadership to Solve the Climate Crisis

Prime Minister Stoltenberg, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for inviting me to address this conference and for your continued focus on one of the most serious global challenges. For as you recognise, climate change is not just an environmental issue. It is an all encompassing threat to health and security, stability and prosperity, and our global food supply system. No nation, rich or poor, will escape its impact. And, as is increasingly clear, this impact is already being felt.

Just as the experts predicted, climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of droughts, floods and other extreme weather events. We will have to get used to the horrific scenes of devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to the United States and Caribbean nations. Rising temperatures and changes to rainfall patterns are reducing harvests and increasing food and nutrition insecurity. As always, this is felt most by the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.

Climate change endangers coastal areas, where nearly half the world’s population live, as well as many island countries. Sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean fell this year to the lowest level since satellite recording began. The thawing of carbon-rich permafrost soils, which will dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions, is also deeply worrying. Climate change will speed up the destruction of vital ecosystems and accelerate the contamination of freshwater supplies through saltwater intrusion.

Climate change will also have enormous implications for global peace and development. Deteriorating environmental conditions will increase displacement and heighten competition for resources, raise tensions and trigger instability. We also know that climate change is having major economic impacts. According to a recent study, climate change is already costing the world more than $1.2 trillion a year – 1.6% of the global GDP. But these threats and costs, disturbing as they are, may just be a fraction of the potential dangers we will face in the future.

For there is alarming evidence that we are close to reaching a tipping point beyond which the effects of climate change will be irreversible. Global greenhouse gas emissions reached a new record high in 2011. In a report released today, the World Bank highlights the possibility of a 4°C rise in global temperatures this century if we continue to fail to act on climate change. This would have potentially catastrophic effects on our planet and way of life. Experts say we need a six-fold improvement in our rate of decarbonisation if we are to have more than a 50% chance of keeping the temperature rise below 2°C.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are close to a point of no return. So how can we avert disaster? Just as the threat is urgent and comprehensive, so must be our response. First, we need a revolution in how we generate and use energy. From the green light-bulb to smart national grids, governments must adopt the right policies to reduce energy consumption while extending electricity to the 1.3 billion people who still live without it. Efficient use of energy is where we must begin.

Much more of our energy must also come from clean and renewable sources. Renewable energies, such as solar power, wind energy and biomass, have a growing presence on the global scene. But worryingly, investment in clean energy is showing signs of slowing. Much more needs to be done if we are to stimulate further expansion of clean energy sources. This includes the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies, which currently total more than $400 billion per year. This is far greater than the total annual support for renewable energy sources.

Making this switch requires us to radically rethink the relationship between economic growth and environmental protection. For too long, they have wrongly been seen as competing aims rather than goals which reinforce each other. Tackling the threat of climate change, as Norway is showing, offers real opportunities to increase growth and advance development. A transformation to a greener economy could generate between 15 and 60 million additional jobs globally over the next two decades.

Ladies and gentlemen, these are long-term opportunities. But we must also focus on the people who are suffering from the effects of climate change now. They need immediate support. Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia last year endured the worst food crisis of the 21st century, partially due to the devastating effects of climate change. In many parts of the world, prolonged drought is affecting once fertile areas for grazing and cultivation, threatening smallholder farmers who rely on farming for their livelihoods.

So while seeking to cut emissions, we must adapt to the impacts of climate change at the same time. This requires us to invest in climate-smart agriculture, including the increased use of improved seeds with drought and water-logging tolerance, and the sustainable intensification of farming systems. Increasing farmers’ productivity and resilience to climate change are key aims of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) – the organization which I have the honour of chairing.

There will be a double dividend if we get this right. For agriculture, of course, not only suffers from climate change but is also responsible for almost a seventh of all global greenhouse gas emissions. We can reduce this amount by using renewable energy in farming and more clean and energy-efficient technologies. Scaling-up investment in research, development and innovation is crucial for improving the productivity, profitability and sustainability of agriculture.

So is investment in another area where Norway is a world leader – aquaculture. This has enormous potential to provide good quality protein at lower cost and with a lighter carbon footprint than agriculture. But any expansion must be delivered in a genuinely sustainable way. We must find ways to minimise the damaging impacts of aquaculture, including the depletion of scarce water resources, wild fish stocks and biodiversity.

We need to focus similar attention on our forests. They are not only central to the livelihoods of over 1 billion people, but are crucial for regulating our climate through the carbon cycle. Yet deforestation and forest degradation due to agricultural expansion and unregulated logging account for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This, for comparison, is more than the global emissions of the entire transport sector. Governments must give a higher priority to the conservation of forest ecosystems, and improve the sustainable management of forests. The UN-REDD programme is promising as it is creating a value for the environmental services provided by forests. Policy-makers must ensure the programme’s activities are properly planned and implemented.

Strengthening land rights and introducing standards for land acquisition will help to stop the land grabs that all too often lead to deforestation. We must send a strong signal to international land speculators and biofuel producers involved in such activities. Ladies and Gentlemen, time is fast running out on our ability to tackle the damage we are causing to our planet and to humankind. We know that those who are least responsible for climate change are paying the highest price. And that the costs of tackling the challenge will be far outweighed by the price of inaction.

Yet so far we have simply failed to find the vision, courage or leadership needed. So what must be done? We need to put aside narrow national interests and work together for a global, fair and legally-binding climate treaty that commits all countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Concrete progress has to be made at the Climate Change Conference in Doha this month. Based on equity and common but differentiated responsibilities, industrialized countries, who are largely responsible for the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, must take the lead in reducing emissions.

Fast-emerging economies also need to engage meaningfully, by reducing their own carbon emissions, but in a way which does not prevent them from improving standards of living. While a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol is a crucial step forward, there remains a frightening lack of leadership to make this happen. Fairness demands that richer countries support mitigation and adaptation measures in developing countries through financial assistance, and technology transfer. The truth, however, is that we remain a long way from mobilizing the resources that will provide developing countries with adequate and predictable levels of resourcing.

Developed countries must provide predictable and sustainable levels of resourcing after the ‘Fast Start Finance’ for the period 2010-2012. They must also deliver on the commitments made at successive climate change summits to mobilize $100 billion by 2020 for the Green Climate Fund. It is also important that governments increase transparency of climate finance by establishing rules for monitoring, reporting and verifying (MRV). If they do, emerging economies will find it easier to accept that their carbon emissions cannot continue to grow uncontrolled.

We urgently need governments, corporations, universities and research centres to increase investment in research and development into environmentally sound technology and infrastructure. The private sector has a vital role to play in developing innovative solutions to climate change adaptation and mitigation. We need all companies to embrace environmental sustainability, as those represented at this conference have already done, as a core business strategy. The academic and research world must step up their efforts to identify and develop effective and affordable solutions to combat the climate threat. Scientists have to continue to improve the information and evidence they provide for decision-making.

Civil society organizations must also bring their expertise to bear and galvanise support. By working closely with local communities, they are ideally placed to ensure environmental policies meet local priorities. Through support for eco-labels, they can make it easier for consumers to reduce their consumption and to minimise their impact on the environment.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe each of us can make a difference. It is in individual action that I find the greatest cause for optimism – particularly in the determination of the younger generation to tackle climate change. It is this generation, the leaders of the 21st century, who understand the enormity of the threat to their futures. They have the vision to look beyond narrow national and sectional interests, which my generation has failed to find. Through grass-roots organizations young people are launching worldwide campaigns for climate justice and putting pressure on businesses and governments to meet their responsibilities.

Throughout my life I have been driven by a belief in our shared values and the need for collective action to put them into practice. There is no clearer example of why this is needed than the threat to our planet and survival due to climate change. None of us can afford to walk away or leave it to others. We need determined leadership across the board.

I urge all of you to take forward the findings of this conference within the organisations and communities you lead. It is all our responsibility to ensure our children and grandchildren inherit a sustainable world – a world that allows mankind to live in peace and harmony with nature. We have to find the strength and determination to solve the climate crisis and to change the world for the better.

Thank you.