–U.S. has no “current plans” to do so: state department spokesperson
–Palm-oil replacement seen helping save forests around the world

By Mathew Carr

May 11-14, 2021 — LONDON: UBS, the Swiss bank with a well-regarded team of analysts, sees the U.S. joining China-EU collaboration on climate, creating a global solution to a worldwide problem.

“I see, for example, the new joint platform of the EU and China as an open arrangement between two major jurisdictions that the Americans should, and in my view will, join,” said Axel Weber, chairman of the bank, speaking Tuesday at an online UBS climate seminar.

Regional solutions won’t do because the climate problem is global, Weber said. “It needs to be collaboration” between America and China rather than competition, he said.

“The U.S. government has no current plans to join the EU-China emissions trading system,” a spokesperson for the U.S. state department said by email in response to questions.

The lack of complete agreement around the world on how to approach the climate transition need not prevent substantial progress, UBS said.

There will be “a lot more” momentum leading up to the global climate talks to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, November, Weber said. “We have the chance in a market that’s still nascent to develop joint standards and move things forward.”

Sometimes it’s better for the biggest economies to spend money on climate solutions in emerging and least developed countries, because that’s better value for money, Weber signalled.

The key problem for policymakers is that they’ve left effective lawmaking so late, they now need to cut emissions by about half in the next 10 years — that’s about 3 billion tons a year to 22 billion tons at the end of the century.

After 30 years of global climate talks, they are still bickering about accounting and carbon trading rules.

“I think it’s time for the Europeans and Americans to work together, also with China and other major emerging market economies,” Weber said.

The UBS seminar featured Shara Ticku, CEO and co-founder of C16 Biosciences, who’s helping build a business that provides an alternative to palm oil, and so cutting the associated deforestation and CO2 emissions.

Ticku said she was working at a huge bank on health care, then realised that work was going to be super challenging unless the climate was saved first, so she switched to an industry where she was using her time to scale emission reductions by helping save forests (see link at the bottom).

(Updates with U.S. state department comment; earlier adds headline translation from Google translate; earlier updates with palm-oil example, Weber comments; more to come)

NOTES:

Weber didn’t specify the EU-China platform he was referring to; here’s one: https://www.eu-chinaets.org/

Link — Capitalism to merge with a type of sustainable social capitalism?: http://carrzee.org/2021/04/21/chinas-xi-to-attend-leaders-summit-on-climate-xinhua/

It’s been a fraught few months of China-U.S. tension: http://carrzee.org/2021/04/18/u-s-and-china-issue-joint-climate-statement-without-mentioning-timing-of-glasgow-negotiations/

EU’s climate gambit paying off:
http://carrzee.org/2021/01/20/as-trump-wanes-the-eus-gambit-to-link-trade-and-climate-action-pays-off/

Strange post-U.S.-election foxtrot:
http://carrzee.org/2021/01/29/the-stage-is-set-for-a-single-deal-to-tackle-half-of-the-worlds-emissions-actors/

China criticism:
http://carrzee.org/2020/11/14/big-beast-climate-fight-chinas-criticism-of-u-s-to-ease-as-trump-term-ends/

There’s money in palm oil alternative:
https://www.c16bio.com/c16-biosciences-raises-20-million-series-a-to-produce-bio-based-palm-oil-alternative-for-consumer-products