Halve global-warming pollution by 2050, Europe tells UN summit
European countries hurled down a challenge at a UN summit on climate change here Monday, calling for the world to set a goal of halving global greenhouse-gas pollution by 2050.
The one-day summit gathered 150 nations, some 80 of them at the level of head of state or government, making it the seniormost meeting on climate change ever hosted by the UN.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon declared no-one could now question the evidence for climate change and warned the condemnation of history awaited those who did nothing.
"The time for doubt has passed," he said. "What we do about it will define us, our era, and ultimately the global legacy we leave for future generations."
Ban demanded "a real breakthrough" at a key conference taking place in Bali, Indonesia, from December 3-14.
That meeting is tasked with setting a roadmap for negotiations to deepen action against climate change after the first phase of the UN's Kyoto Protocol runs out at the end of 2012.
British Environment Minister Hilary Benn said the Bali talks should agree to reduce global emissions to "at least 50 percent" below 1990 levels by 2050.
Agreement in Bali "will have to be ambitious," he told a breakfast meeting with journalists.
"There is no point in negotiating a deal that will not take us towards (greenhouse-gas) stabilization and so avoid dangerous climate change," he added.
Benn also called on the United States to end its opposition to making binding pledges on cutting its emissions.
These commitments, which only apply to industrialized countries that are parties to the Kyoto Protocol, were a key argument for President George W. Bush's decision to abandon the landmark UN treaty in 2001.
"All of us, including the largest economy in the world -- the United States -- (have to be) taking on binding reduction targets. It is inconceivable that dangerous climate change can be avoided without this happening," said Benn.
The European Union (EU), Canada and Japan all favour the 50-percent reduction by 2050 with the aim of pegging global warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) above pre-industrial times.
In addition, the EU this year unilaterally decided to cut its greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and by 30 percent if other industrialized partners follow suit.
"All the developed countries and the major emitting countries must commit to the objective of reducing emissions by at least 50 percent between now and 2050," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said, speaking on behalf of the EU.
"Collective action is imperative. The fate of each is linked with that of all. Solidarity is imperative. The poor would be the first victims of our selfishness."
The chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Pachauri, summarized the IPCC's 4th assessment report, issued earlier this year.
Glaciers and Arctic sea ice were retreating rapidly and "major precipitation changes" -- droughts and floods -- were occurring.
On present trends, hundreds of millions of people faced worsening water scarcity as a result of glacier loss in the Himalayas, which fed key rivers in China and South Asia. Water scarcity would affect the growing of key crops.
"Climate change is accelerating," Pachauri said.
Tackling the problem swiftly though would keep the bill to a manageable level, but the cost will rise in line with the global temperature, he said.
To keep within range of the 2.0 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) goal would cost less than three percent of the gross domestic product by 2030, he said.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, the world's seventh largest economy, spelled out the possibilities for tackling greenhouse gases at the local level and with the help of business.
In California, "something remarkable is beginning to stir -- something revolutionary, something historic and transformative," he said.
"Last year alone, California received more than 1.1 billion dollars in clean tech investment," said Schwarzenegger. "This amount is expected to grow 20-30 percent a year for a decade."
Former US Vice President Al Gore, whose docu-movie on climate change has raised consciousness in the United States, reeled off a string of worrying statistics.
"We are facing a planetary emergency, one that faces all human civilisation," said Gore.
On Thursday and Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host a meeting in Washington of the world's 16 biggest polluters.
AFP
