IPCC report calls for immediate action on climate change
While the worst effects of climate change may not hit for many years we must prepare now.
EEA Executive Director Prof. Jacqueline McGlade
The report, the fourth in a series this year, was presented in
Valencia, Spain after a week of intense negotiations. It pulls no
punches in terms of the possibly catastrophic impacts of climate
change, underlining in particular the impacts on poorer nations, who
are wholly unprepared.
'While the worst effects of climate change may not hit for many years
we must prepare now. Climate change will have profound effects on our
natural resources and will also change the way we go about our daily
lives. We will not only lose biodiversity but also large parts of our
territory, for example low-lying coastal areas and river basins as sea
levels rise and the number of river floods increase,' Professor McGlade
said.
This report provides an integrated view of climate change, its causes,
its effects, as well as adaptation and mitigation options, focusing on
issues particularly relevant for policymakers. The report provides a
more systematic understanding of the timing and magnitude of the
impacts of climate change and clearly points out that greenhouse gas
emissions from human activities are the main cause.
The IPCC report says that:
- observations of climate change, its impacts and causes, are alarming;
- without additional mitigation (by reducing greenhouse gas emissions) climate change will lead to significant risks;
- adaptation to climate change must start now;
- reducing the risks of climate change is urgent, possible and affordable.
The latest IPCC report is seen as the main input for a key United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in
Bali this December. The meeting will discuss a follow-up to the Kyoto
Protocol to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, which was agreed by the
UNFCCC in 1997 and came into force in 2005.
'This report further underlines the importance of agreeing on a next
step, a post-Kyoto global emission reduction scheme. The Bali meeting
should be a watershed — if we don't achieve a global agreement to cut
future emissions there — it may be too late, Professor McGlade
said.
For more information:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
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