Obama and Hollande Call for Climate Action

The French and American Presidents have called for an ambitious global climate agreement. The French President, Francois Hollande has joined forced with US President Barack Obama to ask the world to increase clean energy, create jobs and help developing countries transition to a low carbon economy.

President Hollande arrived in the US on Monday, the same day that the leaders issued an op-ed that was published in the Washington Post and Le Monde newspapers.

Obama and Hollande are setting their sights on the 2015 deadline for a global climate agreement which is scheduled to be signed at the end of the year in Paris. This is welcome news as the rest of Europe has scaled back its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets due to ongoing economic woes. In addition to Europe, the US, Japan, Australia and Canada have all reneged on their original climate commitments.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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G20 Disagreements and Global Economic Reforms

There are a number of disagreements between G20 member nations. Although the passage of a US financial reform bill was an important step for the recovering world economy, diverging national assessments threaten a coordinated global strategy.

The UN would like to see the developed world assume a greater share of its responsibilities for the green economy. Americans and Europeans disagree on whether to maintain or withdraw stimulus. The US warns against choking off nascent growth, while European countries are imposing austerity measures to manage rising levels of debt.

Canada disagrees with key European nations on taxing banks. Canada has argued against taxing banks to guard against future financial crises, while Britain, France and Germany want to see a tax on the banking sector.

China's recent announcement of renewed flexibility in its currency, the yuan, will probably succeed in deflecting attention away from new protectionist measures.

There appears to be agreement that the global system is under-capitalized and a there is a broad consensus on the need to invest more capital. Although there is agreement on the broader issue, there is disagreement on implementation time frames. Europe wants to move slowly to give its banks time to adjust, while the U.S. would prefer to see a faster pace.

The G20 has a pivotal role to play, decisions made by economic leaders in Toronto will not only determine the future of the economy, they will decide the future of our environment. While there seems to be agreement on the need for sustainable growth, charting a strategy to get there is proving difficult.

We need international economic reforms that will help maintain stability. We also need a strategy that positions green as the engine that will drive the global economy.
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Curbing Banker's Bonuses and Climate Change

Heads of state are responding to the widespread public outcry over the perception of excessive compensation in the banking industry. The French president Nicolas Sarkozy is leading the way with strict new bonus rules.

In Australia bank executives stand to lose more than $50 million in annual bonuses if the current government bans short-term incentive payments in the financial services sector. This is a reiteration of the G20 meeting in April, where leaders called for curbs on bonuses.

However, if restrictions on bonuses in the financial services sector are to mean anything they will have to be agreed upon internationally and this is very unlikely.

Politicians are trying to win political favor by taking advantage of prevailing anti-banking sentiments. They know full well that their feigned indignation will not forge an international agreement to curb bankers pay. To illustrate the point, Sarkozy's promise of tough regulations comes with the all important caveat that they not be enforced without global agreement.

Dutch banks have also introduced a new code of conduct that includes capping executive bonuses. However, this new Dutch approach does not force banks to curb bonuses nor does it come with legal sanctions as banks need only explain why they have chosen not to comply.

As British finance minister Alstair Darling said last Thursday, "Banks need to be responsible about pay and bonuses and one of the things that is concerning me is that when you tackle banks about this they say that if you do something here, the Americans, the Swiss, or the French ... will poach our people."

Even in the unlikely event that legislation is passed in both the EU, and the US, there will always be nations without such stringent sanctions and these countries will claim the most talented people.

"Government has got a legitimate interest in making sure that you don't encourage behaviour that is damaging, but I think that is just one part of what we need to do to get the banking system going again," Darling said. "There is a generalised concern. What we need to do is make sure that we introduce legislation that actually works, that actually helps and strengthen our banking system," he concluded.

Regulation is required to limit excessively risky lending, and many see merit in employing other regulatory channels beyond legislation. Last week in Britain the financial regulator known as the Financial Services Authority (FSA) published a bankers' pay code and according to the British finance minister, the FSA is "the obvious vehicle to use."

These kinds of capital rules will hurt banks' profits and restrict their lending ability. Efforts to curb banker bonuses are a ruse. As Lord Turner pointed out, “insisting that someone ‘does something’ about bonuses is a populist diversion.”

COP 15 is now only 3 months away, and while political rhetoric scores points with a disgruntled public, it siphons energy away from the tremendous efforts required to find consensus on climate change. Instead of pandering to voters by pretending to curb bankers pay, world leaders should be working towards real consensus on climate change.
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