Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
infant industries solely on the grounds of their being unable to compete with coal-
fuelled counterparts in the short term.
Critics lambast the WTO for preventing preferential treatment in the trade of
green technologies, which is necessary to speed up the transition to sustainable
energy. This line of thinking sees international organisations and Western govern-
ments as being still too dominated by a free market ideology that is entirely
unrealistic in presuming that mitigation and adaptation measures will be imple-
mented by an invisible hand. Many see the current framework as inadequate for
dealing with measures that promote the domestic production of green energy, as its
de
'
'
is too narrow.
Economic security is also related to investments in geo-engineering. Some fear
that European governments are not investing enough in geo-engineering coopera-
tion with international partners. Others believe they may be over-estimating the
bene
nition of
environmental protection
ts of hoped-for technological solutions, that critics say simply divert attention
from the underlying causes of global warming. There is real concern that there is
a lack of international rules governing this area and that tensions may rise
between states over the question of who controls the deployment of any massive
geo-engineering projects that have an impact across multiple borders. Indeed, a
nightmare scenario often conjured up is of states using their control over geo-
engineering
'
solutions
'
expressly to increase their power over other countries.
China
cation Centre has over 50,000 employees, and is
seen as being ahead of any other actor in planning such interventions.
'
s national Weather Modi
Interdependence as security?
European policies on these key questions have evolved notably. The geo-eco-
nomics of climate change have become a more palpable policy priority. At the
same time, however, positions remain ambivalent and divergent. Policy-makers
recognise the read across to security dynamics but acknowledge that the linkages
between the economics and politics of climate change are made in no more than
cursory fashion. Two opposing trends co-exist within European policies. The
rst
is a commitment to harness free markets as a means of assisting the development
and spread of renewables. The implied logic of this policy dynamic is that a
strategic model of cooperation and interdependence will be of most bene
tto
European governments in their attempt to manage the shift to low carbon.
Much of the European Commission
'
s rhetoric is favourable to free market
policies. It claims that:
The EU is always looking for ways to reinforce its climate change goals with
trade policies. Trade is how we will ensure the rapid spread of green goods,
