Dear Chief Speech Writer,
Being a speech writer for one of the busiest people on earth is stressful, isn’t it? Don’t worry, ECO is here to help with some advice that you may want to consider in your draft speech for the Chinese leader in the upcoming Climate Summit.
ECO recommends having “coal” as the key word in your writing. We’re aware of the recent regional coal caps introduced in China, intended to tackle air pollution. Your country is making impressive progress in deviating from the coal dependent path. Why not write about it? Even better, how about expanding existing coal caps to the entire country and announcing this decision in the speech? Not only would this help alleviate air pollution in China, it would also bring down emissions significantly. You recently wrote your Premier an impressive speech to declare “war on pollution”. We’re pacifists at ECO, but could definitely get behind those efforts.
You should consider reaffirming the intention to communicate China’s “intended nationally determined contributions” (INDC) for the 2015 climate deal by the first quarter of next year. Speech elements that touch on the scope and ambition level of the Chinese offer will certainly be welcomed.
Our final piece of advice is to elaborate on some of the upcoming climate policies. ECO encourages you to write about the climate change legislation that is currently in the pipeline. Some clarity on how the ETS will be developed after 2015 will also be helpful. And don’t forget to mention peaking – something ECO cares about dearly. Please do not let ECO down by saying China’s emissions would peak by as late as 2030. In light of the latest IPCC reports, another 15 years of emissions growth would be a climate disaster!
So good luck with drafting! No pressure, but you are compiling a speech that everyone around the world will be listening tocarefully. Make sure you adopt elements from ECO’s suggestions. That will for sure earn your boss applause for his climate moment.
Yours,
ECO