by Wang Kai

 

BEIJING, Nov 5 (China Economic Net) - "In a historical context, the majority of carbon emissions were generated by the developed world. Therefore, they have a responsibility, a global responsibility, to help solve this problem," Ede Ljjasz, Senior Fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution said in an interview with China Economic Net at the Beijing Forum 2024 held on November 2-3.

 

Highlighting the pressing financial needs of developing countries, he noted that they currently need about USD 212 billion per year in adaptation finance up to 2030, but only USD 56 billion were tracked for adaptation in 2021-2022, indicating a significant shortfall.

 

“That is not enough,” he said, adding that the fulfillment of the responsibilities lies not only in grants and donations but also in technologies.

 

While acknowledging the downward trajectory of most climate technologies, he underscored the critical role of trade in reducing mitigation costs and speeding up the low-carbon transition.

 

“The more technologies and the more providers, the better,” Ede Ljjasz said, adding that while most high-potential climate technologies, from wind, solar, hydrogen, biofuels, etc. are at advanced maturity levels, but only 10 percent are commercially competitive. It indicates further support such as subsidies is needed to cut down their costs. 

 

According to the WTO World Trade Report, trade and value chains have been major factors in the dramatic fall in the cost of generating solar and wind energy. Eliminating tariffs and reducing non-tariff measures on a subset of energy-related environmental goods could boost exports by 5% by 2030. 

 

“It requires serious cooperation from the governments of high and middle-income countries,” Ljjasz said.

 

Taking electric vehicles as an example, he said the tariffs on EVs are “nasty” ways of attacking industries and are not going to help climate actions. “The electric vehicle sales in the US have gone down despite massive subsidies for their companies, and this isn’t benefiting society,” he said. 

 

“The Global South sees EVs from China as an opportunity to reduce local air pollution and therefore improve the health of their citizens while contributing to solving the global problem,” he said.

 

Ljjasz proposed that a more effective response to emerging technologies would be for countries to build the capacity to adapt these innovations to local contexts. "At the same time, nations should focus on supporting the research and development capabilities of their industries, potentially leveraging this to contribute further to global value chains,” he concluded.