EU Representative Warns of Climate Change

European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard warned of the impending effects of climate change and lauded the benefits of clean energy at a panel on the European perspective on international climate policy yesterday.

"The past few months have brought tragic and shocking reminders of the messy human, economic, and environmental costs the world faces from climate change," said Hedergaard, the Danish government official responsible for the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

Hedergaard cited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s projections that inaction will most likely lead to a 1.8 to 4 degree Celsius increase in average temperature this century, though she said the increase could potentially be as high as 6.4 degrees Celsius.

Despite these sobering predictions, Hedergaard said the economic changes needed to combat climate change could prove beneficial for countries willing to invest in clean energy.

"As I see it—and as most people in EU see it—it is also a huge opportunity to reinvigorate our economies," Hedergaard said. "Technologies such as energy efficiency and renewable energy promise to generate new sources of economic growth and to strengthen our economies and energy security."

She also cited a study conducted by University of California, Berkeley Professor Daniel M. Kammen that found that every dollar invested in renewable sources of energy generates three to five times more jobs than a dollar invested in fossil fuel energies.

In light of these potential incentives for investing in clean energies, Hedergaard expressed frustration with the U.S.' inability to pass legislation on the matter.

"It’s not for lack of information," Hedergaard said. "America leads the world in so many fields of research related to climate change."

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Robert N. Stavins, director of the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, which hosted the panel, said that Harvard’s role in the issue is to educate, carry out outreach, and share results of research with people in positions of authority.

Stavins said that the biggest hurdle currently preventing the passage of climate change legislation is a lack of political agreement.

"This is a problem that is important, a problem that technologically and economically can be addressed, but a problem that, politically, we are not at this point capable of addressing," Stavins said.

He added that global climate change is a long-term issue, and he is optimistic that the United States will ultimately be a leader in addressing the issue.

"[There are] already policies in place in states and regions that appear to be moving forward, but centralized action from Congress will have to wait for the solution of fundamentally political problems," Stavins said.

—Staff writer Victoria L. Venegas can be reached at vvenegas@college.harvard.edu.