World given deadline on climate change
Pastor Dale Morgan
World given deadline on climate change*
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor, and Sebastien Berger in Bangkok
Last Updated: 1:58am BST 05/05/2007
World leaders will have to agree the shape of a "son of Kyoto" treaty
before the end of the year if the most catastrophic effects of climate
change are to be averted, UN officials said yesterday.
Power station; World given deadline on climate change
Could harmful emissions from power plants really be a thing of the past?
UN officials believe the world is ready to change
They were speaking after scientists and officials from 120 countries
agreed in Bangkok that the world has the technology and can afford to
tackle the effects of climate change - provided it begins immediately.
Envoys sent out by the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, have begun
seeking advance agreement from heads of state on the principles of a
post-2012 climate change treaty, negotiations for which begin at a
meeting in Indonesia in December.
The secretary-general's latest initiative comes after a new consensus on
what could be done was agreed by scientists and officials, including
those from the US, China and the European Union.
The prompt adoption of biofuels, renewable energy sources, greater
energy efficiency and nuclear power can slow down what would otherwise
be a worldwide disaster, said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change's working group.
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Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the 2,000-strong network of UN scientists
and energy experts, said of the final summary of its report: "It's
stunning in its brilliance and relevance. It's a remarkable step forward."
He said the report would have a "profound" effect on ministers attending
the negotiations in Indonesia later this year - which will include the
US even though it is not a member of the Kyoto treaty.
David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, said after the report was
published: "Without a new global deal on climate change, emissions of
greenhouse gases will continue to increase. That's why we're pushing
hard for negotiations to start on a new global climate deal this year
and are working through the G8 group of nations and the UN climate
change conference."
Ogunlade Davidson, co-chairman of the group that wrote the report, said:
"If we continue what we are doing now, we are in deep trouble."
Coming out of the meeting early yesterday, delegates said science
appeared to have trumped politics - especially opposition from China,
which wanted to condone a greater build-up of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere before action would be taken.
Beijing and its supporters had argued that moves to make deep cuts in
carbon dioxide emissions risked stifling its spectacular economic
growth, delegates said.
China failed to remove mention of a stringent emission target. The
Chinese delegation could not be reached for comment.
Yvo de Boer, the UN's most senior climate change official, said: "One of
the key sectors in terms of mitigation is the energy supply sector. More
than two thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions come from this sector.
"The way in which the future energy needs are met will determine whether
the efforts to address climate change will remain manageable."
The head of the US delegation, Harlan Watson said: "The US leads the
world in deploying a range of technologies that scientific and economic
experts have now agreed can provide a global solution to reduce
emissions and sustain economic growth."