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HOW CAN BEHAVIOUR AND ECONOMICS BE MADE MORE CLIMATE-FRIENDLY?

inimizing greenhouse gas emissions will require policy makers to take some tough deci­sions. They need to design policies that fully engage the energies of civil society, particu­larly industry. Given the right incentives and pressures, the business sector will roll out low-emissions technologies and services faster than many now believe possible. One need only look at developments in the automobile industry.

Schools, community groups, the media, families and consumers also have a crucial role to play. Individuals can make a real difference by changing their habits and making thoughtful purchases. If consumers are convinced that the rules of the game are chang­ing, they will start taking the myriad small decisions that, when added together, can have a dramatic impact on emissions.

If large segments of society are willing to make these changes, we can expect an early transition to more energy-efficient, technologically innovative and environmentally sus­tainable societies. The trick is getting started.

The Protocol responds by highlighting effective domestic policies and measures for reducing emissions, such as:

ü The phase-out of counter productive subsidies on carbon-intensive activities;

ü The introduction of energy-efficiency and other regulatory standards that promote the best current and future technologies.

Local and urban governments – which often have direct responsibility for transport, housing and other greenhouse gas-emitting sectors of the economy –can also play a role by:

¨ designing and building better public transport systems;

¨ creating incentives for people to use them rather than private automobiles;

¨tightening construction codes so that new houses and office buildings will be heated or cooled with less fuel.

Meanwhile, industrial companies need to start shifting to new technologies that use fossil fuels and raw materials more efficiently. Wherever possible they should switch to renewable energy sources such, as wind and solar power. They should also redesign such products as refrigerators, automobiles, cement mixes and fertilizers so that they produce lower greenhouse gas emissions. Farmers should look to technologies and methods that reduce the methane emitted by livestock and rice fields. Individual citizens, too, must cut their use of fossil fuels – take public transport more often, switch off the lights in empty rooms and be less wasteful of all natural resources.