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CLIMATE SCIENCE
France, US lead alarm at climate report
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Nov 02, 2014


Action on climate can boost economy, wellbeing: Ban
Copenhagen (AFP) Nov 02, 2014 - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday threw his weight behind a massive report on climate change, saying that putting the brakes on carbon emissions would help economic growth and health.

"Human influence on the climate system is clear, and clearly growing," Ban said at a press conference marking the final chapter in a major report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"I am really adding my political voice to what scientists have been working very, very hard (on)," he said.

"Action on climate change can contribute to economic prosperity, better health and more liveable cities."

Ban has made climate change a hallmark of his tenure at the United Nations.

On September 23, he hosted a special summit to pique top-level interest in negotiations under the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

World talks have been troubled for years over which countries must shoulder the burden for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions -- the heat-trapping fossil-fuel gases driving global warming.

After years of preparation, the negotiations are heading for a climax in Paris in December 2015, where the hope is to seal a global pact that will take effect from 2020.

An important stepping stone in the process will be a new round taking place in Lima from December 1-12.

UNFCCC chief Christiana Figueres said the IPCC report -- issued in volumes over the last 13 months -- was a powerful contribution.

"There is a strong head of positive steam building towards Lima and Paris," Figueres said in a statement.

"The IPCC has and will continue to play a crucial role in bringing forward the science upon which the transformational policies needed to realise a low-carbon, and ultimately climate-neutral world in the second half of the century, can be forged."

Kerry: Ignoring climate science puts 'kids, grandkids' at risk
Washington (AFP) Nov 02, 2014 - US Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that those who ignore climate science do so at a risk to future generations, as UN experts unveiled the final chapter of a landmark climate report.

"Those who choose to ignore or dispute the science so clearly laid out in this report do so at great risk for all of us and for our kids and grandkids," Kerry said.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said Sunday that time is running out to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and that current trends in carbon emissions heralded disaster.

Crowning a landmark review, the climate experts warned that emissions of three key greenhouse gases were at their highest in more than 800,000 years.

Kerry said the report issued in Copenhagen was a fresh warning, "another canary in the coal mine".

"The longer we are stuck in a debate over ideology and politics, the more the costs of inaction grow and grow," he said.

The report -- the first overview by the Nobel-winning organization since 2007 -- comes ahead of UN talks in Lima next month to pave the way to a 2015 pact in Paris to limit warming to a safer two degrees Celsius.

But the negotiations have been hung up for years over which countries should shoulder the cost for reducing carbon emissions, derived mainly from oil, gas and coal -- the backbone of the world's energy supply today.

"The bottom line is that our planet is warming due to human actions, the damage is already visible, and the challenge requires ambitious, decisive and immediate action," Kerry said.

"We're seeing more and more extreme weather and climate events, whether it's storm surges, devastating heat waves, and torrential rain, across the globe," Kerry said. "It's not a coincidence."

France and the United States headed a chorus of alarm on Sunday after a major UN report on climate change warned that the Earth was on track for potentially disastrous global warming.

France, which is hosting a UN conference in December 2015 that is supposed to seal cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions, said the report required "immediate, all-round mobilisation".

"The message from this report is clear," the foreign ministry and environment ministry said in a joint statement.

"The 2015 Paris agreement has to provide a political response that is in line with the science."

In Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the report was a fresh warning -- "another canary in the coal mine".

"Those who choose to ignore or dispute the science clearly laid out in this report do so at great risk for all of us and for our kids and grandkids."

The report, published in Copenhagen, is the final chapter in an overview on global warming and its impacts by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The first such assessment since 2007, the overview has been published in a trio of volumes over the past 13 months.

The report issued on Sunday was an encapsulation of what they said.

But it carried special weight, given its language and timing, coming ahead of the Paris talks and a preparatory session taking place in Lima from December 1-12.

"With every IPCC assessment, those risks have become clearer and more sobering, as have the likely impacts on lives, livelihoods and the health of our world now and for generations to come," said Christiana Figueres, heading the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UN talks aim at limiting warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

But, on current trends, said the IPCC, the Earth's average surface temperature is likely to exceed 4 C by 2100, worsening the peril of flood, drought and land lost to rising seas and storm surge.

- Fossil fuels -

Reaching the 2 C limit safely would mean cutting annual greenhouse-gas emissions by 40-70 percent by 2050 compared with 2010, and to near zero or even below by 2100.

"Renewables and the smart use of energy are the quickest and cleanest ways to cut emissions," said Greenpeace's Kaisa Kosonen.

"Any technology that 'handles' emissions rather than replaces fossil fuels is like smoking crack to solve an alcohol addiction."

"The risks are clear," said Alden Meyer of the US group the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

"Thankfully, many leaders are finally waking up to the costs of dealing with runaway climate change that scientists have been warning about for years.

"Now they must move quickly to take action at home, and work together to reach an ambitious and equitable climate agreement in Paris."

British economist Nicholas Stern, author of a 2006 report that unveiled many of the options for tackling greenhouse-gas emissions, said the moment was ideal for a carbon transition.

"Now is the time, with very low interest rates and unemployed resources, to invest in the growth story of (the) future, and manage the great transformations in energy systems, urban planning and land use."

But some business voices also said governments had to end uncertainty and inequality in their policies.

"If we are to unlock the scale of change that we need, we must have a level of policy clarity equal to this scientific clarity," said Philippe Joubert of the Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group, gathering European business chiefs and policymakers.


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CLIMATE SCIENCE
Time running out to reach 2 C target: UN climate panel
Copenhagen (AFP) Nov 02, 2014
Time is running out to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the UN's climate experts warned Sunday, saying current carbon emissions were a potential path to disaster. Crowning a landmark review, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said emissions of three key greenhouse gases were at their highest since more than 800,000 years ago, when mammot ... read more


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