The New Energy-industrial Revolution and International Agreement on Climate Change

At the heart of the analysis of, and progress on, action on climate change, at both country and international levels, must be an understanding of three sets of issues. The first concerns scale: of the risks from unmanaged climate change; of the necessary response; and of the great economic and social opportunities from the new low-carbon energy-industrial revolution. Low-carbon growth will be more dynamic, creative, cleaner and more bio-diverse; high-carbon growth will self-destruct. Second, in trying to work towards international action we must understand how key countries and blocs are moving: action in one country will be influenced by confidence in where others are going. Many have moved in positive directions in recent years. Third, action on the scale required will involve policy at the national level (“bottom-up”) and collective action at the international level (“top-down”): progress and agreement will depend on an understanding of how they support and encourage each other.