Fwd: [graffis-l] WORLD MUST FIX CLIMATE IN LESS THAN TEN YEARS- UNDP

[Guest guest]

World Must Fix Climate in Less Than 10 Years -

UNDP

Posted by: " Mark Graffis "

mgraffis

mgraffis

 

Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:48 am (PST)

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45567/story.htm

World Must Fix Climate in Less Than 10 Years - UNDP -------------------------

BRASILIA - Unless the international community agrees to cut carbon

emissions by half over the next generation, climate change is likely to

cause large-scale human and economic setbacks and irreversible ecological

catastrophes, a United Nations report says on Tuesday. The UN Human Development Report issues one of the strongest warnings

yet of the lasting impact of climate change on living standards and a

strong call for urgent collective action. " We could be on the verge of seeing human development reverse

for the first time in 30 years, " Kevin Watkins, lead author of the

report, told Reuters. The report, to be presented in Brasilia on Tuesday, sets targets and

a road map to reduce carbon emissions before a UN climate summit next

month in Bali, Indonesia. Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the

atmosphere help trap heat and lead to global warming. " The message for Bali is the world cannot afford to wait, it has

less than a decade to change course, " said Watkins, a senior

research fellow at Britain's Oxford University. Dangerous climate change will be unavoidable if in the next 15 years

emissions follow the same trend as the past 15 years, the report says. To avoid catastrophic impact, the rise in global temperature must be

limited to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius). But carbon

emissions from cars, power plants and deforestation in Brazil, Indonesia

and elsewhere, are twice the level needed to meet that target, the UN

authors say. Climate change threatens to condemn millions of people to poverty,

the UNDP says. Climate disasters between 2000 and 2004 affected 262

million people, 98 percent of them in the developing world. The poor are

often forced to sell productive assets or save on food, health, and

education, creating " life-long cycles of disadvantage. " A temperature rise of between 5.4 and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (3 and 4

degrees Celsius) would displace 340 million people through flooding,

droughts would diminish farm output, and retreating glaciers would cut

off drinking water from as many as 1.8 billion people, the report says. In Kenya, children 5 or younger are 50 percent more likely to be

malnourished if they were born during a drought year, affecting their

life-long health and productivity. Countries have the technical ability and financial resources but lack

the political will to act, the report says. It singles out the United

States and Australia as the only major Western economies not to sign the

Kyoto Protocol, an agreement signed by 172 countries to reduce emissions.

It expires in 2012.

Ethiopia emits 0.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita, compared to

20 tonnes in Canada. US per capita emissions are over 15 times those of

India's. PROPOSED ROAD MAP The world needs to spend 1.6 percent of global economic output

annually through 2030 to stabilize the carbon stock and meet the

3.6-degree Fahrenheit temperature target. Rich countries, the biggest

carbon emitters, should lead the way and cut emissions at least 30

percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Developing nations should cut

emissions 20 percent by 2050, the UNDP says. " When people in an American city turn on their air-conditioning

or people in Europe drive their cars, their actions have consequences ...

linking them to rural communities in Bangladesh, farmers in Ethiopia and

slum dwellers in Haiti, " the report says. The UNDP recommends a series of measures including improved energy

efficiency for appliances and cars, taxes or caps on emissions, and the

ability to trade allowances to emit more. It said an experimental

technology to store carbon emissions underground was promising for the

coal industry, and suggested technology transfer to coal-dependent

developing countries like China. An international fund should invest between US$25 billion and US$50

billion annually in low-carbon energy in developing countries. Asked whether the report was alarmist, Watkins said it was based on

science and evidence: " I defy anybody to speak to the victims of

droughts and floods, like we did, and challenge our conclusions on the

long-term impact of climate disasters. " (Editing by Mohammad

Zargham) Story by Raymond Colitt Story 28/11/2007 iAt 01:16 PM 11/28/07, you wrote:

World Must Fix Climate in Less Than

10 Years - UNDP

Posted by: " Mark Graffis " mgraffis

mgraffis

Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:48 am (PST)

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/45567/story.htm

World Must Fix Climate in Less Than 10 Years - UNDP

-------------------------

BRASILIA - Unless the international community agrees to cut carbon

emissions by half over the next generation, climate change is likely to

cause large-scale human and economic setbacks and irreversible ecological

catastrophes, a United Nations report says on Tuesday.

The UN Human Development Report issues one of the strongest warnings yet

of the lasting impact of climate change on living standards and a strong

call for urgent collective action.

" We could be on the verge of seeing human development reverse for

the first time in 30 years, " Kevin Watkins, lead author of the

report, told Reuters.

The report, to be presented in Brasilia on Tuesday, sets targets and a

road map to reduce carbon emissions before a UN climate summit next month

in Bali, Indonesia.

Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the

atmosphere help trap heat and lead to global warming.

" The message for Bali is the world cannot afford to wait, it has

less than a decade to change course, " said Watkins, a senior

research fellow at Britain's Oxford University.

Dangerous climate change will be unavoidable if in the next 15 years

emissions follow the same trend as the past 15 years, the report says.

 

To avoid catastrophic impact, the rise in global temperature must be

limited to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius). But carbon

emissions from cars, power plants and deforestation in Brazil, Indonesia

and elsewhere, are twice the level needed to meet that target, the UN

authors say.

Climate change threatens to condemn millions of people to poverty, the

UNDP says. Climate disasters between 2000 and 2004 affected 262 million

people, 98 percent of them in the developing world. The poor are often

forced to sell productive assets or save on food, health, and education,

creating " life-long cycles of disadvantage. "

A temperature rise of between 5.4 and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (3 and 4

degrees Celsius) would displace 340 million people through flooding,

droughts would diminish farm output, and retreating glaciers would cut

off drinking water from as many as 1.8 billion people, the report says.

 

In Kenya, children 5 or younger are 50 percent more likely to be

malnourished if they were born during a drought year, affecting their

life-long health and productivity.

Countries have the technical ability and financial resources but lack the

political will to act, the report says. It singles out the United States

and Australia as the only major Western economies not to sign the Kyoto

Protocol, an agreement signed by 172 countries to reduce emissions. It

expires in 2012.

Ethiopia emits 0.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita, compared to 20

tonnes in Canada. US per capita emissions are over 15 times those of

India's.

PROPOSED ROAD MAP

The world needs to spend 1.6 percent of global economic output annually

through 2030 to stabilize the carbon stock and meet the 3.6-degree

Fahrenheit temperature target. Rich countries, the biggest carbon

emitters, should lead the way and cut emissions at least 30 percent by

2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Developing nations should cut emissions 20

percent by 2050, the UNDP says.

" When people in an American city turn on their air-conditioning or

people in Europe drive their cars, their actions have consequences ...

linking them to rural communities in Bangladesh, farmers in Ethiopia and

slum dwellers in Haiti, " the report says.

The UNDP recommends a series of measures including improved energy

efficiency for appliances and cars, taxes or caps on emissions, and the

ability to trade allowances to emit more. It said an experimental

technology to store carbon emissions underground was promising for the

coal industry, and suggested technology transfer to coal-dependent

developing countries like China.

An international fund should invest between US$25 billion and US$50

billion annually in low-carbon energy in developing countries.

Asked whether the report was alarmist, Watkins said it was based on

science and evidence: " I defy anybody to speak to the victims of

droughts and floods, like we did, and challenge our conclusions on the

long-term impact of climate disasters. " (Editing by Mohammad

Zargham)

Story by Raymond Colitt

Story 28/11/2007

 

******

Kraig and Shirley Carroll ... in the woods of SE Kentucky

http://www.thehavens.com/

thehavens

606-376-3363

 

 

 

---

Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).

Version: 6.0.859 / Virus Database: 585 - Release 2/14/05