Climate change arena moves to Brussels 1 April, 2007
Posted by Willy De Backer in Climate change, sustainable development.trackback
In the week from 2-6 April, the European Commission will be the centre of attention for anyone monitoring climate change policies, as the IPCC’s second 2007 Assessment Report will be presented to the press at the end of this week.
But before that, government delegates will make sure all the hard-hitting edges of the report will be planed down to make it politically acceptable for all. This “reticence” of the IPCC reports has had climate change expert James Hansen criticising the first 2007 IPCC report for underestimating the potential sea level rise caused by global warming.
Nonetheless, the new report which deals with global warming impacts might still make frightening reading. Here are a few of the main conclusions that have already been mentioned in some media articles:
- As ecosystems are being disrupted, one third of all species on Earth will be lost;
- More than 200 million people will be environmental refugees as there lands will have become inhabitable;
- Poor nations will be hit harder and some of the rich industrial nations which caused global warming in the first place might actually profit (New York Times and Financial Times).
Another story in the news last week (the UK’s rising greenhouse gas emissions) demonstrated that, although politicians are turning up their rhetoric, they have a much more difficult time delivering results.
Read the Policymakers’ Summary of Working Group I of the 2007 Assessment.
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