Climate Panel Pushes Lower Emissions Goals

Third U.N. Report Completed Despite China’s Efforts To Water Down Language On Greenhouse Gas Emissions

(AP)  International delegates reached an agreement early Friday on the best ways to combat climate change despite efforts by China to water down language on cutting destructive greenhouse gas emissions.

The closed-door debate over everything from nuclear power to the cost of cleaner energy ran into the early morning hours with quibbling over wording. But consensus was eventually reached on a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. network of 2,000 scientists and delegates from more than 120 nations.

“It's all done,” said Peter Lukey, a member of the South Africa delegation. “Everything we wanted to see was there and more. The message is: We have to do something now.”

China, the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after the United States, took a strong stance during the four-day meeting in Thailand, pushing to raise the lowest target for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, delegates said.

A draft of the report proposed the world limit concentrations of greenhouse gases to between 445 parts per million and 650 parts per million, but China sought to strike the lower range over fears it would hinder its booming economy, Michael Muller, Germany's vice-minister for the environment, told reporters before the agreement was reached.

“The Chinese are resisting a lot, and a lot of countries are hiding behind the Chinese position,” Muller said.

He did not specify who had supported China, but the United States also said the targets were too stringent. Another rapidly developing country, India, shared concerns that the world's rush to cut down emissions would slow its economic growth.

The report is the third segment of an overall IPCC blueprint that will shape the way the world tackles global warming. The final version was not made available when the meeting broke around 4:30 a.m. Friday, but delegates said it largely resembled a draft version that said emissions can be cut below current levels if the world shifts away from carbon-heavy fuels like coal, embraces energy efficiency and significantly reduces deforestation.

“The strong message (from the report) is that it's possible to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at the level where severe climatic change can be avoided,” said Lars Nilsson, a delegate from Sweden.

Two previous IPCC reports this year warned that unabated greenhouse gas emissions could drive global temperatures up as much as 11 degrees by 2100. Even a 3.6-degree rise could subject up to 2 billion people to water shortages by 2050 and threaten extinction for 20 percent to 30 percent of the world's species, the IPCC said.

The third report, which was expected to be formally announced later in the morning, makes clear the world must quickly embrace a basket of technological options — both already available and developing — just to keep the temperature rise to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

Much of this week's debate has centered around how much it will cost to adopt greener policies.

China is facing increasing international pressure as its economy expands — it posted 11.1 percent growth in the first quarter — and it pumps increasing amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

At this week's meeting, Beijing campaigned for wording that would clearly blame the top industrialized countries in North America and Europe for global warming and give them the responsibility for solving it, rather than latecomers like China and India, delegates said.

Chinese delegates did not discuss their positions publicly, but environmental activists suggested Thursday that China was being unfairly targeted, saying it was making strong efforts to improve energy efficiency and rein in emissions.

Stephan Singer, of the conservation group WWF International, said China had a worthy target of increasing energy efficiency by 20 percent from 2006 to 2010.

“It's a very ambitious target and I would wish many industrialized countries would have the same target,” Singer told reporters.

The U.S. remained surprisingly quiet on most issues at the meeting, but some delegates said it appeared to be content letting China take the lead. However, the U.S. delegation was vocal over the role nuclear power could play in efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses. European nations reminded policymakers not to forget the security risks that could be associated with that.

Some participants said most of the objections from India and China had been overcome, as scientists provided evidence on how mitigation measures corresponded to various emission levels.

“China and India were the governments having more questions and requesting changes in the existing text,” said Michel Petit, a French delegate. “But up to now, every time we were able to overcome their concerns and come to an agreement.”

India raised objections to language in the report saying significant emission cuts could be made in developing countries, delegates said. It argued that development needs of those nations must come ahead of caps on emissions.

[micma-2009]

The National Academy of Sciences studied every published, peer-reviewed study done on global warming in the last ten years. Every one of them agreed on three fundamental issues:



1. Global warming is real.

2. Global warming is caused by man.

3. The consequences of global warming are catastrophic.


The scientific debate ended long ago. There is an overwhelming consensus amoung the worlds climate scientists.

And yet the political debate rages on because some fossil fuels companies dump millions into a disinformation campaign.

This is not a political issue. It's a survival issue.




For more information about the scientific consensus on global warming:

http://www.logicalscience.co

m/consensus/consensus.htm