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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Remarks by J. Brady Anderson,
Congressional Economic Leadership Institute
USAID Administrator
June 22, 2000
[as prepared]
Thank you for that kind introduction, Congressman Farr.
Before I begin, I'd like to thank the Members of Congress who played such a big part in putting this event together: Congressmen Ehlers and Farr, of course, vice-chairs of the Congressional Competitiveness Caucus, as well as Congressman Sherrod Brown-who is also here today-and other members who have shown such leadership on the issue of climate change.
And let me also thank John Weinfurter and the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute for making events like this possible.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Our focus today is on good business and the economic opportunity associated with climate change.
Let me start with the bottom line.
This year, the market for climate change mitigation technologies in developing countries is $30 billion. By 2010, just assuming business as usual, the market will be well in excess of $50 billion.
The report we're releasing today provides an analysis of market opportunities for climate-friendly technologies and services in developing countries, but the headline is: 'Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions is Good Business.'
An important goal of USAID's environmental programs is to build the market for clean, efficient, and economically sound technologies in developing countries-and to increase the access that U.S. businesses have to that market.
Today, our share of this market is about 18 percent, which translates to about $5 billion this year.
That's pretty good, but we can do better.
Climate change looms as one of the most serious challenges of this new century to wise and lasting development. Inherent in that challenge is opportunity. At USAID, we know that strengthening our partnerships with the private sector is essential to grasping that opportunity.
We are very good at emphasizing the importance of markets, and at helping developing countries create a stable and predictable environment for investment. USAID is also pretty good at helping focus that investment in ways that promote lasting economic and social development while protecting the natural environment.
For example, the US-Asia Environmental Partnership, in which we play a leading role, has seen some impressive results over the past eight years: the Partnership has helped broker the sale of more than $1.2 billion in equipment and services for better environmental management in Asia-including climate-friendly technology and practices.
But we too can do better, and I hope you'll be free with your suggestions in that regard as this afternoon goes forward. I know that David Hales and our environment teams are looking forward to taking all the good suggestions they hear today and incorporating them into our programs.
As you all know, we at USAID believe that the science underlying climate change is a strong call for action. And we believe that there is no aspect of development that is not made more challenging by the prospect of rising global temperatures.
But we also believe that any action we take to address this issue has to be based on US interests and its benefits to developing countries.
In this instance, as in so many others, good business and smart development go hand in hand.
At USAID, we work to protect the environment-and therefore combat climate change-in many different ways. But one of the most important ways we do so is by promoting the efficient use of energy, and I'd like to say just a few words about these programs.
Dependable and affordable energy is one of the fundamental keys to development. In fact, no country has or ever will be able to develop beyond a subsistence economy if its people do not have access to safe and reliable energy.
At USAID we think not just in terms of abundant energy, but also in terms of energy that is safe and efficient. In too many places, we have fueled economic growth in ways that have added to health risks for our children because of the pollution associated with some forms of energy production.
Since our task at USAID is to promote lasting economic and social development, we must help countries meet growing needs for energy in ways that protect the environment.
Just this spring, I traveled with President Clinton to India. There are few places on earth as challenged by the demands placed on their environment and economy by a growing population and urban pollution.
We had the opportunity to visit the Taj Mahal where we saw that pollution has managed to do what 350 years of natural disasters, invasions and wars had failed to do-tarnish the marble of that magnificent building.
This kind of environmental degradation is not unique to India and the Taj. We see it in most parts of the developing world, just as we saw it in Pittsburgh in the last half of the last century.
Fortunately, we now have real choices, just as Pittsburgh did.
For example, there is a mustard husk briquette found in the Indian state of Rajasthan, a place where they produce over 3.5 million tons of mustard annually. Normally this agro-waste would be used to feed cattle. However, because of the bitter taste cattle would not eat it, so it was simply left to be burnt in the fields.
The state of Rajasthan is in the process of transforming mustard husk into energy. This has many benefits. For example:
- Briquette is cheaper than coal;
- The low ash content of 2-3 percent (as compared to the 30-40 percent of the coal used in India) burns cleaner;
- The briquettes do not emit sulfur or phosphorus fumes. This eliminates the need for expensive pollution control measures;
- And using mustard husk briquettes can save India's scarcest natural resource-forests.
On that same trip to India, I also saw the success of the National Thermal Power Corporation, which generates one-fourth of India's power. USAID is helping NTPC invest in energy efficiency, and by doing so, invest more wisely in the future of India.
These investments have already reduced pollution, including two million tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Building the market for climate friendly technology is an important component of our overall strategy for accessing the global energy market, which, over the next 20 years, will be valued at $4 to $5 trillion.
President Clinton's International Clean Energy Initiative is targeted at precisely that market, in a way that we believe will be good for developing countries as well as American business.
By funding this Initiative, Congress has an opportunity to make a wise investment-one that is good for the environment, good for American business, and could help to fuel economic growth in the developing world.
Like our climate technology efforts, the International Clean Energy Initiative is a public-private partnership that will increase people's access to energy for economic development, while opening up markets for U.S. technologies.
The President's Initiative is an important example of how social and economic development, environmental protection, and a growing global economy are all mutually supportive.
But before I go, let me say one more thing:
To continue our work in promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, in combating climate change, in promoting democracy, and children's health and the other critical challenges we face, USAID need resources.
This summer Congress will vote on the International Affairs account, which includes funding for USAID.
I think you've heard the numbers: in a time of unprecedented prosperity and economic growth, America is dead last among developed countries in the proportion of our wealth that we devote to overseas development.
If we want to continue to help developing countries become more energy efficient, if we want to preserve the world's environment, and if we want to help American businesses access new energy markets, we have a shared responsibility to educate the American people about the value of foreign assistance.
Because foreign assistance is really an investment in America.
Thank you.
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
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Last Updated on: July 12, 2001 |
