The world confronts many environmental issues - Anthony Cox

17 May, 2019 14:07

In the exclusive interview, Anthony Cox, Deputy Director of the Environmental Directorate, OECD, talked about the current environmental issues the world faces. After underscoring Kazakhstan’s ambitious goals to deal with such issues, Anthony Cox named the countries which Kazakhstan should follow in a bid to combat such environmental issues. He also underlined the OECD’s role, that is to pull experiences through leaning from the lessons of other countries.

- What are the main environmental issues the world faces now?

- There are many environmental issues the world is confronting; climate is obviously one of the ones that has been on top of the agenda for a long time. But, one that has really come to the top of the international agenda is biodiversity. We had a recent report from the international panel on biological and ecological systems (IPBS), detailing how many species we are losing, placing a millions species at risk, we have destroyed a huge amount of forest land, we are degrading lands, we are losing vertical species, insect species. I think that biodiversity is one of the emerging challenges for us. And that has gone to the top of the agenda. Other environmental challenges in addition to climate and biodiversity, obviously marine plastic pollution is critical, chemical pollution, deforestation. The world has to understand, governments have to understand that the environment is interconnected systems that need careful nurturing and we are not doing that very effectively now.

- How the world deals with such environmental issues?

- The world is not dealing with them very well. I think that it is the bottom line. Much more needs to be done. In climate, for example, emissions are on the rise again after having stabilized for a couple of years. They are starting to increase. With climate we know the technologies to deploy. Renewable energy costs are going down so fast, battery costs are going down so fast, we know what to do, we just have to strengthen the political will to implement what we need, what we know needs to be done. Other issues, like biodiversity loss, are more challenging, they require greater government cooperation, and the re-negotiation of the Convention on biological diversity targets next year at the CBD top 15 in China, it is going to be a critical time for us, for the world to re-set its targets, re-set its vision, re-start its actions on biodiversity.

- Is it a matter of time?

- We do not have time. We have to act now. That is the thing. The UN IPCC put a 1.5-degree report last year showing us that we have 10 years to pick emissions, and turn emissions around of CO2. Otherwise we are going to be locked into a high emissions world, a 3, 4, 5 degree world. It is going to be absolutely catastrophic for large portions of the world’s population. We’re running out of time to act.

- How do you evaluate the world’s, and especially Kazakhstan’s efforts in developing alternative energy sources?

- Renewable energy costs have declined dramatically in the last decade. Solar panels are now a fraction of the costs they were ten years ago. Wind power is over the costs of coal and fossil fuels. There is no longer an economic case to invest in coal-fired power stations. The technologies, the batteries, storage capability and cost are coming down all the time. What the world needs to do is to continue to innovate, continue to scale up and implement these new systems and to get greater connectivity between countries to keep dragging down costs. I think there is a lot that has been done on technology side, now we need to make sure that the policy frame works and finance follows that technological change.

- What about Kazakhstan’s efforts?

- Kazakhstan has got ambitious targets, it is working to diversify its economy. I think the biggest challenge Kazakhstan is implementing its ambitious targets, making sure that it continues to invest in innovations, in developing the financial systems that can support investment in renewable energy sources, and helping to manage the transition away from a dominant coal power sector. Kazakhstan is not alone in this; a lot of OECD countries are going through the same process. There are lessons to be learnt, and that is one of the roles of the OECD to pull experiences, and help Kazakhstan learn from the lessons of the other countries, that are going through the similar transitions.

- What are the leading countries that successfully overcame environmental issues and should Kazakhstan follow them?

- There are a lot of good examples out there. And, Kazakhstan should follow all of them. For example, in terms of the way in which countries are implementing carbon prices, Sweden is a good example. They have had a carbon price in place for the last two decades and it does not hurt the economy. The Sweden economy is grown and prospers. And there is a good example there with the carbon process. The United Kingdom has a legislative basis for carbon reductions after 2050 as it moves towards a net-zero emission economy. There are good examples there. Germany is handling the transition to away from coal and they are helping the communities and regions adjust. On other issues like biodiversity, there are examples where countries are putting in place local programs to finance biodiversity protection that Kazakhstan can learn from. But, I think the main message here is that there is a great opportunity for Kazakhstan to learn from the experiences.

- In your opinion, does the world on the right track when coping with energy issues?

- The world is not on the right track; emissions have gone up. The last two years after stabilizing for a few years there, we have to see stronger adoption, a faster pace of adoption to renewable energy sources, shift the finance, re-set our financial system to make sure that is conducive to investing in low-emissions future. Let make sure that public finance is supporting low emission future. There is much to be done. One of the things that the OECD is focusing on is the need for a transformative approach; governments have been too much focused around marginal changes, around shifting things in little steps, we need bigger thinking, we need more transformative approaches. So, we released the report last year called “Financing Climate Future”, which identifies 20 actions across six transformative areas, around planning, innovation, public finance, private finance, cities. And this sets out a menu for what the governments need to do. The possibilities there, the opportunities there, governments need to grasp them.

- Thank you for the interview!

Adlet Seilkhanov

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