MoreThanWaste.com - Climate panel boffins urge global action (17/11/2007)

"No government can ignore the IPCC's work on the risks of climate change. It's a clear call to action that when we meet in Bali next month, we must launch formal negotiations on an international climate agreement that will include every major country on earth"

Phil Woolas, Environment Minister

London: The world must face up to the challenge and act urgently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or deal with serious consequences, according to the UK Government.

Environment Minister Phil Woolas said today, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has produced the most comprehensive and authoritative work to date on the state of global climate change, and its message to governments around the world was stark.

The report is adamant that urgent action is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or climate change will intensify and have a dramatic effect on the natural world and human society. The panel are concerned that unless sufficient steps are taken soon the effects on the Earth’s climate may be irreversible.

Defra (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) says that the six years since the last IPCC's Third Assessment Report have seen significant progress in understanding. There have been important advances built on new data and on improvements in the understanding and simulation of physical processes in climate models. The Department considers that increased confidence in climate science provided by these developments comes out of this IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report.

The report is explicitly targeted at policymakers, and is the final step in integrating and presenting the comprehensive scientific information contained in the three IPCC reports released earlier this year. The previous reports examined the themes of science, impacts and adaptation, and mitigation.

Nobel Prize

The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President of the United States Al Gore 'for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change'. The award will be presented to the winners in Oslo, Norway, on 10 December 2007.

The IPCC has effectively provided global knowledge about man-made climate change and laid the foundations to combat it.

The organisation is sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Critical issues

It is difficult to constantly urge action as there is a danger that the message will fall on deaf ears. However, it is important that people and Governments realise that, although climate change is already having effect, the effect will increase significantly with time and be much greater on our children, grandchildren and future generations.

There are a number of critical issues that come out of the report:

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal and the role of human activities in the observed changes is now clearer than ever and much greater than any natural factors.
In the absence of effective international agreement and further efforts to reduce emissions, GHG concentrations will continue to grow rapidly over the coming decades resulting in an increase of temperature of between 1.7 C and 4.0 C by 2100.
Some risks are projected to be larger or likely to occur at lower increases in temperature than in the previous IPCC report.
As warming proceeds, other climate changes and rising sea levels will adversely affect food and water resources, human health, infrastructure, biodiversity and economies throughout the world.
Climate change will increasingly threaten vulnerable systems, and increase the risk of abrupt or irreversible climate change, such as ice sheet melt and sea-level rise.
A range of adaptation and mitigation measures can reduce the overall risks associated with climate change. Whilst adaptation is the only means to respond to the impacts in the near term, mitigation is the only way to curb global climate change in the long term.
In order to limit the adverse impact of climate change, including risks to vulnerable ecosystems and populations, global emissions need to peak soon and decline rapidly.
It is economically and technically feasible to make significant reductions in emissions. In effect the extent of mitigation efforts over the next two decades will largely determine how far risks are reduced, avoided or delayed.
Postponing action to cut GHG will increase the costs of damage and will increase the costs of action.

The Synthesis Report

The Synthesis Report (SYR) came out of intensive week long discussions. It is considered to provide a definitive conclusion to the climate change debate, the complete view of the climate change issue and draws on the knowledge of more than 1200 experts globally.

The UK Government sees the paper as a landmark reference document for governments attempting to tackle climate change as they head for Bali.

Mr Woolas said:

"The agreement this week in the United States by the Midwest Governors' Association to cut emissions and introduce carbon trading has also given a tremendous boost going into the Bali talks.

"We must not squander the political will and momentum that the IPCC's work has generated this year. Instead, we must take this chance to start serious work on a new UN climate framework that can be agreed by the end of 2009."

Further information

The Report covers six topics in addition to the Summary for Policy Makers. These are observed changes and effect, causes of changes, climate change and its impacts in the near and long term, adaptation and mitigation options and responses and the inter-relationship with sustainable development, long-term perspective, robust findings, key uncertainties.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up in 1988 to assess the scientific and technical aspects of climate change. IPCC has produced a series of publications, which have become standard works of reference. The reports and technical summaries are prepared wholly by the scientists from all regions of the world.

The IPCC bases its assessment mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific/technical literature.

All four reports can be found at http://www.ipcc.ch as can further information on the IPCC itself.

Information on the Nobel Prize awarded can be found at
(http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/press.html).

Defra says that the UK provides financial support to Professor Martin Parry, who co-chairs the IPCC Working Group II (WGII) on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, and the WGII Technical Unit, which supports Prof. Parry in this role. The UK government also supports the head of the technical unit responsible for production of the Synthesis Report. Defra also supports UK lead authors and review editors to participate in IPCC writing groups.


	Climate panel boffins urge global action (17/11/2007) "No government can ignore the IPCC's work on the risks of climate change. It's a clear call to action that when we meet in Bali next month, we must launch formal negotiations on an international climate agreement that will include every major country on earth" Phil Woolas, Environment Minister London: The world must face up to the challenge and act urgently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or deal with serious consequences, according to the UK Government. Environment Minister Phil Woolas said today, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has produced the most comprehensive and authoritative work to date on the state of global climate change, and its message to governments around the world was stark. The report is adamant that urgent action is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or climate change will intensify and have a dramatic effect on the natural world and human society. The panel are concerned that unless sufficient steps are taken soon the effects on the Earth’s climate may be irreversible. Defra (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) says that the six years since the last IPCC's Third Assessment Report have seen significant progress in understanding. There have been important advances built on new data and on improvements in the understanding and simulation of physical processes in climate models. The Department considers that increased confidence in climate science provided by these developments comes out of this IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report. The report is explicitly targeted at policymakers, and is the final step in integrating and presenting the comprehensive scientific information contained in the three IPCC reports released earlier this year. The previous reports examined the themes of science, impacts and adaptation, and mitigation. Nobel Prize The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President of the United States Al Gore 'for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change'. The award will be presented to the winners in Oslo, Norway, on 10 December 2007. The IPCC has effectively provided global knowledge about man-made climate change and laid the foundations to combat it. The organisation is sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Critical issues It is difficult to constantly urge action as there is a danger that the message will fall on deaf ears. However, it is important that people and Governments realise that, although climate change is already having effect, the effect will increase significantly with time and be much greater on our children, grandchildren and future generations. There are a number of critical issues that come out of the report: Warming of the climate system is unequivocal and the role of human activities in the observed changes is now clearer than ever and much greater than any natural factors. In the absence of effective international agreement and further efforts to reduce emissions, GHG concentrations will continue to grow rapidly over the coming decades resulting in an increase of temperature of between 1.7 C and 4.0 C by 2100. Some risks are projected to be larger or likely to occur at lower increases in temperature than in the previous IPCC report. As warming proceeds, other climate changes and rising sea levels will adversely affect food and water resources, human health, infrastructure, biodiversity and economies throughout the world. Climate change will increasingly threaten vulnerable systems, and increase the risk of abrupt or irreversible climate change, such as ice sheet melt and sea-level rise. A range of adaptation and mitigation measures can reduce the overall risks associated with climate change. Whilst adaptation is the only means to respond to the impacts in the near term, mitigation is the only way to curb global climate change in the long term. In order to limit the adverse impact of climate change, including risks to vulnerable ecosystems and populations, global emissions need to peak soon and decline rapidly. It is economically and technically feasible to make significant reductions in emissions. In effect the extent of mitigation efforts over the next two decades will largely determine how far risks are reduced, avoided or delayed. Postponing action to cut GHG will increase the costs of damage and will increase the costs of action. The Synthesis Report The Synthesis Report (SYR) came out of intensive week long discussions. It is considered to provide a definitive conclusion to the climate change debate, the complete view of the climate change issue and draws on the knowledge of more than 1200 experts globally. The UK Government sees the paper as a landmark reference document for governments attempting to tackle climate change as they head for Bali. Mr Woolas said: "No government can ignore the IPCC's work on the risks of climate change. It's a clear call to action that when we meet in Bali next month, we must launch formal negotiations on an international climate agreement that will include every major country on earth. "The agreement this week in the United States by the Midwest Governors' Association to cut emissions and introduce carbon trading has also given a tremendous boost going into the Bali talks. "We must not squander the political will and momentum that the IPCC's work has generated this year. Instead, we must take this chance to start serious work on a new UN climate framework that can be agreed by the end of 2009." Further information The Report covers six topics in addition to the Summary for Policy Makers. These are observed changes and effect, causes of changes, climate change and its impacts in the near and long term, adaptation and mitigation options and responses and the inter-relationship with sustainable development, long-term perspective, robust findings, key uncertainties. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up in 1988 to assess the scientific and technical aspects of climate change. IPCC has produced a series of publications, which have become standard works of reference. The reports and technical summaries are prepared wholly by the scientists from all regions of the world. The IPCC bases its assessment mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific/technical literature. All four reports can be found at http://www.ipcc.ch as can further information on the IPCC itself. Information on the Nobel Prize awarded can be found at (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/press.html). Defra says that the UK provides financial support to Professor Martin Parry, who co-chairs the IPCC Working Group II (WGII) on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, and the WGII Technical Unit, which supports Prof. Parry in this role. The UK government also supports the head of the technical unit responsible for production of the Synthesis Report. Defra also supports UK lead authors and review editors to participate in IPCC writing groups.