Enigin Update - COP17 to Answer Alarm Bells?
RECENT studies and findings regarding climate change are “sounding alarm bells” for urgent action said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, ahead of COP17.
Speaking during a media briefing in Durban, South Africa, before the official opening of the UNFCCC COP17 conference, November 28 through December 9, Figueres referred to two very important backdrops to the conference:
“The first has to do with a growing momentum for action....The other is the new research and the findings that are sounding alarm bells for urgent action.”
Reports and studies we have recently covered recently on these pages have sounded the alarm, including the reports by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Figueres commented: “The World Meteorological Organisation has put out a report that the atmosphere has reached record levels of greenhouse gases. The IPCC just adopted its report on extreme weather events, and it has concluded that hot days are becoming hotter and will occur more often.”
One of the first items they will be discussing today is the future of the Kyoto Protocol, Figueres said governments had come to COP17 aware of the importance and the expiration of the current commitment at the end of next year.
“I believe that there will be a very serious effort here in Durban to move into a second commitment period,” she said.
To the question as to whether the Durban conference would defer a decision on a second commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, Figueres answered: “In principle they could do that, but I don’t see any interest in doing that.”
Scientists have been warning that any delay in adopting an updated treaty, will make restricting global warming to an average increase of 2°C, or less, very difficult if not impossible. But the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says that pledges currently fall far short of limiting global warming to 2°C over pre-industrial levels, a goal enshrined last year.
Experts warn that warming above this target will likely cause extreme changes to the globe's weather patterns - supporting Figueres’ view on the urgency of decisions being taken during COP17.
If Kyoto is not renewed, the only matrix for tackling greenhouse-gas emissions will be the voluntary pledges launched in 2009 in a face-saving deal at the stormy Copenhagen climate summit.
Energy efficiency is one of the quickest and wisest ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and hence combat climate change. The global network if Enigin Distributors are helping many businesses and organisations to reduce their CO2 emissions, reduce energy waste and energy costs through using solutions from Enigin.
Picture of Durban Beach by Pierre van Eck reproduced under CCL.
