The good that can come from Paris

IN RECENT years, the increasingly severe impact of climate change has focused minds on the need to manage global warming. Yet, at the same time, weaknesses in the global economy have demanded policymakers' attention: the US unemployment rate still stands above 5 per cent; the European debt crisis has yet to be resolved; and China is experiencing a slowdown in economic growth. The competing priorities beg the question: "What can we expect from the Paris Accord?" This is of great significance since this round of negotiations is supposed to produce the first ever universal and legally binding agreement on combating climate change.

However, as in past multilateral treaties (eg the Kyoto Protocol, the Copenhagen Accord, the Bonn meeting, the Durban meeting), there will be many complex challenges arising from the differences in the stages of development across countries. Developed countries may have stronger preference for a higher quality of life that includes a better environment while many developing nations still struggle to provide higher standards of living in economic terms. For the latter group, income and employment come first. Moreover, developed and developing nations alike would rather lie low and have others bear the brunt of emissions reduction while enjoying the benefits of averted climate change.

The concept of inter-generational equity poses another challenge to decision-making. Decisions made today affect future generations. While protecting the environment clearly bequeaths future generations with a better living environment, there is also the argument that slowing down economic growth in order to reduce global warming would mean that our future generations would have lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP). This gives rise to the question concerning the future generations' demands for material and non-material goods - How do we know that future generations prefer more non-material goods to material goods?