12 Jun 2012

IMF / RIO +20

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that the IMF is exploring how government spending and taxes can be used to address climate change. IMF

Posted at: June 12, 2012 4:46 pm

Duration: 02:32

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: IMF/ RIO + 20
TRT: 2.32
SOURCE: IMF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, DC 12 JUNE, 2012

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde walks on-stage
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director:
"So we need a strategy that is good for stability and good for growth—where stability is conducive to growth and growth facilitates stability. This must start with the advanced economies, and clearly, at the epicenter of where the crisis lies, which is the Euro-zone."
3. Cutaway reporters
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director:
"Right now, less than 10 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are covered by formal pricing programs. Only a handful of cities charge for the use of gridlocked roads, and farmers in rich countries are undercharged—if charged at all—for increasingly scarce water resources."
5. Wide shot Lagarde
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director:
"It means setting fiscal policies to make sure that the harm we do is also reflected in the price we pay. I am thinking about environmental taxes, emission trading systems under which governments issue—and preferably sell—issuing has had its time, but actually sell pollution rights. It is basically a variation of the old mantra: "you break it, you buy it".
7. Pan audience to Lagarde
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director:
"Many countries continue to subsidized polluting energy systems. These subsidies are costly for the budget and costly for the planet. Countries should reduce them. That's another area where the IMF can help out because we are in a privileged position to actually see the effect on fiscal positions, on budgets of those subsidy-schemes that are being used in many countries."
Wide shot Lagarde
SOUNDBITE: (English) Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director:
"I have asked my staff, in collaboration with others, to put principle into practice—by coming up with actionable guidance for both developed and developing countries on precisely how to get these prices right, or at least better."
9. Wide shot, Lagarde

STORYLINE:

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Tuesday that the IMF is offering concrete guidance on how government spending and taxes can be used to address climate change.

She warned that the global economy faces a triple crisis – an economic crisis, an environmental crisis, and a social crisis. Lagarde added that to support sustainable, green economies, it is critical to jump-start global growth.
 
"So we need a strategy that is good for stability and good for growth—where stability is conducive to growth and growth facilitates stability. This must start with the advanced economies, and clearly, at the epicenter of where the crisis lies, which is the Euro-zone," Lagarde said.

The Managing Director said that countries should tax carbon-dioxide emissions as a measure to curtail greenhouse gases and generate revenues for countries facing budget crises. She said that making polluters responsible for the cost of their emissions is the best incentive to limit them.

"Right now, less than 10 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are covered by formal pricing programs. Only a handful of cities charge for the use of gridlocked roads, and farmers in rich countries are undercharged—if charged at all—for increasingly scarce water resources," Lagarde said.

Lagarde added that taxes on the airline industry for their emissions could be directed to helping developing countries mitigate the effects of climate change. She said that many wealthy countries are undercharged for their greenhouse gas emissions.

"It means setting fiscal policies to make sure that the harm we do is also reflected in the price we pay. I am thinking about environmental taxes, emission trading systems under which governments issue—and preferably sell—issuing has had its time, but actually sell pollution rights. It is basically a variation of the old mantra: "you break it, you buy it", Lagarde said.

Lagarde added that it's important that growth benefit all sectors of society. She said economies with inclusive growth also feature the most enduring and sustainable growth.

She pointed to energy subsidies as a potential area of reform, saying that better targeted aid to the most vulnerable works better than across-the-board energy subsidies that benefit the wealthy and the poor.

"Many countries continue to subsidized polluting energy systems. These subsidies are costly for the budget and costly for the planet. Countries should reduce them. That's another area where the IMF can help out because we are in a privileged position to actually see the effect on fiscal positions, on budgets of those subsidy-schemes that are being used in many countries," Lagarde said.

Lagarde said that although the IMF is not an environmental organization, she hopes that its research and expertise will play a positive role in climate change discussions.

"I have asked my staff, in collaboration with others, to put principle into practice—by coming up with actionable guidance for both developed and developing countries on precisely how to get these prices right, or at least better," Lagarde said.

Lagarde and the IMF will participate in the Rio + 20 talks from June 20-22.