PwC: UN Climate Summit, Doha – PwC comment

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

The UN Climate Summit in Doha has agreed the Doha Climate Gateway, including the agreement of a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol which commits Europe, Australia and several other developed nations to emissions reduction to 2020.

PwC specialists comment below on the outcomes.

“Governments in Doha achieved little more than was expected – the really contentious issues of financing and ambitious action were postponed. The UN climate negotiations are still on the rails, but it will only get harder as we get closer to 2015. Doha sends a clear signal that it will be very difficult to agree a meaningful climate treaty in 2015,” said Jonathan Grant, Director, PwC sustainability & climate change . “The PwC Low Carbon Economy Index shows the levels of reductions required by all major developed and developing economies. To keep to 2 degrees the increase in ambition has to come before 2020.”

Celine Herweijer, partner, PwC sustainability & climate change said countries have been called on to submit plans on how they plan to reach the 100Bn/yr target by 2020.  She said that while that didn’t feel ambitious enough to developing nations, it was enough to prevent a de-railing.

“Next year we can expect developing countries to demand more. There needs to be a concrete plan to increase funding over the next 8 years or the financing gap risks becoming much too high,” she said.