UN warns of climate 'catastrophe', urges urgent action

Nov 17, 2007, 20:53 GMT

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon (C), delivers a speech as UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)\'s Chairman, Rajendra Pachauri (L), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)\'s Executive Director, Achim Steiner (R), look on during a press conference of 27th Session of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 17 November 2007 at Prince Felipe Museum, in Valencia, eastern Spain. EPA/Kai Foersterling

Valencia, Spain - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Saturday challenged world leaders to take urgent action on climate change as the UN released its grimmest report to date on climate change.

'Now I believe we are on the verge of a catastrophe if we do not act,' Ban said, adding that the worst-case scenario envisaged by the report was as frightening as a science fiction film.

Global 'sweeping, concerted action' was now needed on climate change, he said, as he presented the report in Valencia, Spain.

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) backed by a UN panel of scientists warned that climate change was 'unequivocal' and could bring 'abrupt and irreversible' impacts.

Ban urged politicians to respond at a UN climate change conference in Bali in December.

'Today the world's scientists have spoken clearly and with one voice,' he said. 'In Bali I expect the world's policymakers to do the same.'

The report says emissions of carbon, which come primarily from fossil fuels, must stabilize by 2015 and go down after that.

Otherwise the consequences could be 'disastrous,' according to IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri.

'We need a new ethic by which every human being realises the importance of the challenge we are facing and starts to take action through changes in lifestyle and attitude,' said Pachauri.

'Every country in the world has to be committed to a shared vision and a set of common goals and actions that will help us move toward a much lower level of emissions.

The US and EU welcomed the report which warnings included the fast melting of glaciers and species extinctions.

Jim Connaughton, Chairman of White House's Council on Environmental Quality, said that urgent action was warranted but did not provide any figures or data with in connection with tackling global warming.

EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas called the report 'a milestone in our scientific knowledge about climate change and the grave threats global warming poses to the planet.'

'The report's findings amount to a stark warning that the world must act fast to slash greenhouse gas emissions if we are to prevent climate change from reaching devastating levels,' he said.

'The good news is that it also shows that deep emission cuts are both technologically feasible and economically affordable,' the commissioner said in a statement released in Brussels.

The final 'synthesis' report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is essentially a summary of three reports compiled by more than 2,000 scientists and issued by the IPCC earlier this year.

Governments haggled for five days over the wording of this final IPCC document, which environmentalists say will serve as a manual on how to tackle global warming and set the tone for a crucial UN climate conference in Bali, Indonesia next month.

The 'synthesis' report makes clear that global warming is a man- made phenomenon and is already taking place.

It warns of catastrophic and unavoidable consequences if the atmosphere warms by more than 2 degrees Celsius. Global temperatures have already risen about 0.7 degrees Celsius over the last 100 years.

To prevent that, the level of carbon dioxide in the world's atmosphere must start dropping by 2020. By 2050, global emissions must be 50 to 65 per cent below 2000 levels.

The IPCC already says global warming cannot be stopped, only slowed.

Some of the newer elements of the report include one combined graphic that at a glance lays out specifically what levels of greenhouse gases lead to what rises in temperatures - and what consequences each temperature rise could have on society.

Possible threats include flooding, droughts, the loss of coastlines and thousands of animal and plant species, as well as more infectious diseases and the destruction of coral reefs.

The IPCC was last month awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with former US vice president Al Gore, for raising awareness of the threat of climate change.