Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the Toronto Conference, a “perfect storm” of events that launched the issue of climate change onto the global policy agenda. The impacts of climate on our economy and ecology keep increasing, and the negotiations for an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change have stalled. So what is the way forward?

It is increasingly clear that our past greenhouse gas emissions and the energy infrastructure we have installed commit the planet to ever increasing temperatures, on the order of 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade for the next few decades and at least 2.5 degrees Celsius for the rest of the century – even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases now. With continued emissions, the destabilizing of the global climate could worsen to reach a “point of no return.” The conditions on planet Earth could, as the 1988 Toronto conference statement suggested, place the survival of human civilization in doubt. Despite clear evidence of the urgency of determinedly tackling the threat of climate change, global international diplomacy has so far failed to meet the challenge.

So what can we do?

There are lessons to be learned in the last 25 years of collective failure to address the threat. The way forward must be radically different than the approaches of the last lost 25 years.

• Under the present international climate negotiations, countries are setting targets and schedules for emissions – a ‘stick’ approach. Implementation of carbon dioxide emission targets requires more efficient use of fossil fuels or innovative alternatives. We need to develop agreements to promote efficiency and innovations technology directly. This provides a ‘carrot’ approach whereby industries seek to have their patented technologies adopted worldwide. Some favourites are the new USA automobile standards (mileage standards that were unthinkable just a few years ago), LEED standards for building (internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings), solar water heating, public transit and induction lighting. Cheap, sophisticated computer control technology is readily available to ‘manage’ all kinds of options on appliances. The private sector seems to be far ahead of the Kyoto Protocol process in adopting efficiencies and innovations and would likely respond quite favourably to the carrot approach being proposed.

• Putting a price on carbon is fundamental. If consumers and businesses do not bear the cost of their carbon pollution, they won’t do much about it. But how? The simplest measure is a carbon fee on greenhouse gas emissions from cars, power plants, factories, refineries and other major sources. The idea of a carbon tax has long been favoured by many economists as the most straightforward way of deterring climate pollution. Such a carbon price should not discriminate between locations – global warming is global. If one country does not put a price on carbon, while others do, then it will effectively receive a huge export subsidy. Carbon pricing must be consistent world-wide.

• The good news is that many new energy technologies are arriving as alternatives to our carbon-based economy – next-generation solar, geothermal, nuclear technologies and methods to harness the energy from the ocean’s tides. There have been major breakthroughs in solar energy. Work is also underway to develop better energy-storing batteries, smart grids and electric cars. All of these advancements will need public support.

A group of scientists and policy observers gathered in Toronto last week for a discussion on climate change in the 25 years since the issue gained global attention. The original Toronto Conference director Howard Ferguson, former Assistant Deputy Minister of Canada’s Meteorological Service Gordon McBean, and Liberal Environment Critic Kirsty Duncan presented their take on the climate change issue over the past 25 years. Their conclusions have helped shape the text of my editorials over the past few days. The time for innovative action is now.

Questions? Contact Adam Fenech at afenech@upei.ca or (902) 620-5220