A touch of reality creeping into the COP round of talks? Dare one hope?
A) 2 degrees is not safe
B) We have no chance of getting anywhere near the emissions targets for 2
degrees anyway. More like 4 degrees.
Lets just hope they dont come up with another fudge like the Copenhagen
Accord.
john gorman
----- Original Message -----
From: "Emily" <[email protected]>
To: "geo-engineering grp" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2011 8:44 PM
Subject: [geo] UNFCCC's Figueres interview to Guardian..targets too low, CO2
removal from atmosphere may be essential..
hi
hope this is of interest.
best wishes,
Emily.
Global climate talks
Global warming crisis may mean world has to suck greenhouse gases from air
As Bonn talks begin, UN climate chief warns of temperature goals set too low
and clock ticking on climate change action
Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent guardian.co.uk, Sunday 5 June 2011
18.10 BST
The world may have to resort to technology that sucks greenhouse gases from
the air to stave off the worst effects of global warming, the UN climate
change chief has said before talks on the issue beginning on Monday.
"We are putting ourselves in a scenario where we will have to develop more
powerful technologies to capture emissions out of the atmosphere," said
Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change. "We are getting into very risky territory," she added,
stressing that time was running out.
The UN climate talks starting on Monday in Bonn, which run for the next two
weeks, will try to revive the negotiations before the next climate
conference, taking place in Durban, South Africa, in December. But little
progress is expected, as the negotiating time is likely to be taken up with
details such as rules on monitoring emissions.
Figueres tried to inject a greater sense of urgency into the proceedings by
pointing to research from the International Energy Agency that found that
emissions had soared last year by a record amount. The strong rise means it
will take more effort by governments to curb emissions.
Figueres told the Guardian in an interview that governments should act now
to save money: "We add $1 trillion to the cost [of tackling climate change]
with every year of delay."
However, as the latest talks begin, the world's leading climate change
official has upset governments by insisting that the aim of the negotiations
ought to be to hold warming to less than 1.5C. That would be a much tougher
goal than that set by governments last year, which seeks to limit the
temperature rise to no more than 2C – the safety threshold, scientists say,
beyond which warming becomes catastrophic and irreversible.
"In my book, there is no way we can stick to the goal that we know is
completely unacceptable to the most exposed [countries]," Figueres said.
The difference between the two goals may not seem great, but since it has
taken more than 20 years of talks for countries to agree on the 2C limit,
many are unwilling to reopen the debate. Delegates are conscious that
wrangling over whether to stick to 1.5C or 2C was one of the main sources of
conflict at the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009; the hope has been that
talks can move on to other issues such as how to pay for emissions curbs in
poorer countries.
The UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change said: "Countries agreed in
Copenhagen they would revisit the adequacy of the 2C goal in 2015. With the
climate change negotiations seemingly stagnant, the focus now needs to be on
doing what has already been agreed."
Other parties agreed. "This is an extraordinary intervention," said one
official, who could not be named.
Figueres said that she had the support of the world's least developed
countries, most of Africa, and small island states.
Another factor casting a pall over this year's talks, which are intended to
forge a new global treaty on climate change, is criticism of the South
African government, which will host the Durban talks. No interim meetings
have yet been set up, and countries have complained of disorganisation and a
lack of enthusiasm. But Figueres said: "South Africa has been very carefully
listening, trying to understand where there are commonalities and where the
weaknesses are."
She also predicted the US would play a strong role in the talks, despite the
Obama administration facing Republican opposition in Congress to action on
emissions. "It's very evident that the legislative body in the US has
disengaged, but … the administration continues to be engaged." she said.
But Todd Stern, chief negotiator for the US, called for participants in the
talks to "roll up their sleeves and be constructive."
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