Rich nations failing to meet climate targets, UN official says

Science News

Jun 8, 2009, 13:17 GMT

Bonn - Climate change talks being held in Bonn have failed to elicit commitments from industrial nations to drastically curtail their greenhouse gas emissions, a senior UN official indicated Monday. Yvo de Boer said the pledges made so far were well below the target for emissions reduction laid down by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The proposals from representatives of more than 30 of the world's richest nations meeting in the former West German capital amount to a reduction in the range of 17 to 26 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020. 'This is not enough to address climate change,' said de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The IPCC proposals, made in a 2007 report, call for a 25 to 40 per cent reduction in order to reduce the risk of climate change caused by human activity. The Bonn meeting, which is due to end on Friday, is discussing new emission targets to be put in place after 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions expires. The talks are designed to prepare the ground for The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from December 7-18, which is intended to sign off on a successor to the Kyoto accord. Some 192 nations are taking part in the Bonn talks, which are proving difficult because national interests and the competitiveness of various industrial sectors are at stake. The European Union has offered a cut by 2020 of 20 per cent compared to its emissions in 1990. The United States has proposed a cut of 17 per cent compared to its emissions in 2005, which translates to about 4 per cent by comparison to 1990. Scientists have urged diplomats to adopt policies that would limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, saying any more might prove disastrous for life on earth.

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Mr MeltdownJun 10th, 2009 - 12:37:47

Co2 emissions have increased since Kyoto and they have increased by the largest margin ever recorded. Kyoto was a failure and any subsequent agreements will also fail.
Co2 is without doubt a greenhouse gas and the Co2 in the worlds atmosphere will still be active in 100 years time. The greenhouse effect is now unstopable so we might as well enjoy it whilst we can because the future looks uncertain.
Forget rising sea levels, the acidification of the worlds oceans and crop failures due to heat will be our main worry. Add to that a world population that is spinning out of control and actively encouraged by people who believe that God wishes it so and we have a real problem on our hands.

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