“Making climate action cool”
Intervention at UNEP workshop on the
Trade and technology nexus to achieve
Agenda 2030 goals for developing countries
1.
As you may
know, the Earth spins on its axis at 1600 kilometers per hour. Its orbital
speed around the sun is of 108,000 kilometers per hour. Now, as some of you may
know, last July NASA achieved the remarkable goal of putting a spacecraft in
Jupiter’s orbit. By the name Juno, it launched from Earth on August 2011. In
October 2013, it encountered Earth’s orbit again and used it as a slingshot to
gain significant speed on its travel voyage towards Jupiter. Five years and 2.8
billion kilometers later, Juno slowed down to avoid crashing against Jupiter’s
gravity forces and enter into orbit, which was achieved successfully. A
remarkable fact is that the top speed it reached on this trajectory was 265,000
kilometers per hour, or more than twice the orbital speed of Earth around the
sun. Another remarkable fact is that it traveled all this distance and reached
this astounding speed using solar energy as predominant source. What NASA has
done is commendable indeed: they have made aerospace science and exploration
cool. If someone like me can share this story with you is because I was drawn
into NASA’s social media outlets and explanations for the non-technical public.
Bravo, NASA!
2.
I am from
Costa Rica, and it is a country that has a very cool brand. We are a
sought-after destination for ecological tourism, we generate 100% of our
electricity from renewable sources, our economy has tripled in the last 30
years and in that same period of time our forest coverage has doubled,
representing a unique case worldwide in the last 50 years. This can be
considered a good example of regenerative development, where growth is both in
financial and natural capital simultaneously. We have learned throughout the
decades that there is a virtuous spiral between renewable energies,
environmental conservation, forest coverage, biodiversity, ecological tourism,
services, jobs, and wellbeing. This is a recipe we believe can be considered by
countries with similar geographical location and climate, many of which face
considerable developmental challenges. May I remind you about the billion
people worldwide without access to electricity; the two billion people without
access to drinkable water; the three billion people without access to three
meals per day; and the four billion people without access to the Internet.
3.
Regarding Sustainable
Development Goal 13a., related to the creation of a Green Climate Fund that
hopes to raise US$100 billion/year to finance mitigation efforts in developing
countries, it is a fact that globally we are spending US$1.5 trillion/year in
military equipment. Only a 6% reduction in this expenditure would provide all
the cash required by the Fund. Let’s choose our battles wisely!
4.
One of the
most important lessons learned from the Paris Agreement is a successful mindset
that positively affected the attitudes and behaviors of key participants in the
process. This included optimism to always expect a brighter future; imagination
to create an innovative agreement; vision to have a broader, more long-term
approach; strategic thinking to prioritize actions with key stakeholders; and the
ability to design a critical path to take the necessary steps to make it work.
5.
Regarding
the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) currently under negotiation at the
World Trade Organization (WTO), it is an agreement whose aim is partially
assisting climate change mitigation and adaptation, partially improving
insertion into Global Value Chains (GVC), and also fostering innovation. Costa
Rica can share the success story of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA)
signed in 1996, which allowed the country to attract an important investment
like the manufacturing plant of INTEL, which at its peak of production was
exporting from Costa Rica 99% of all server microprocessors used worldwide.
This created a high-tech cluster that triggered the development of multiple small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) that engaged in GVCs through innovation and high
competitiveness. INTEL decided in 2014 to transfer its manufacturing plant from
Costa Rica to Asia and decided to leave in Costa Rica an innovation lab. This
means that Costa Rica has moved, in 20 years, from agricultural production to
high-tech manufacturing to high-tech innovation, creating enormous value for
the company, its suppliers and the world in general. The most important aspect
of this success story is that education has been at the core of it, from school
preparedness to the ability to develop public-private partnerships with higher
education institutions to adapt to the needs of foreign multinationals, to
being able to develop world-class talent to operate at the highest level of
performance.
6.
Another
important topic related to trade and climate action taking place at the WTO is
the leadership of the group of Friends of Fossil Fuels Subsidy Reform which
seeks the elimination of these subsidies that, according to the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund, amount to US$500 billion/year. Furthermore,
they have calculated the social cost of these subsidies at US$4 trillion/year.
Reducing them would immediately create incentives for renewable energies by
proving fossil energy not cost competitive without such subsidies.
7.
Clean
technology offers the possibility to address different needs through different
solutions. For example, geothermal energy should be prioritized wherever there
is an accessible volcano. Solutions should grow organically from there. Is it
towards clean tech manufacturing clusters or towards agriculture or towards
ecological tourism? It will depend on each case. It is important to consider a
different paradigm when thinking about clean tech. For example, an electric car
is a great solution to a particular problem of carbon emissions, but better
than an electric car is an electric bus that can provide massive, public and clean
transportation.
8.
Innovation
requires that we identify the constraints within which we must innovate. For
example, why do researchers work on the vaccine of a disease they are not
suffering? They have the constraints and they look for potential developments
that will advance the knowledge and science and technology frontiers
organically in a variety of directions depending on the findings and additional
constraints incorporated along the way.
9.
Humanity
has put a satellite on Jupiter’s orbit powered with renewable energy. We have
the challenge to make climate action cool. Millennials know what is cool, not
only because they are young and in every generation it is the youth who
determine what is cool and what is not, but because millennials are not
motivated by money or power or glory, but by purpose. We are not rocket
scientists but is this the best we can do to make climate action cool? If we
don’t do it, then who? And if we don’t do it now, then when? Thank you.
