Wales must continue to take lead role as UN climate talks offer fragile lifeline

11 December 2010

Wales must drive forward an ambitious set of policies to tackle climate change following the fragile agreement reached at the UN talks at Cancun, according to Friends of the Earth Cymru.

Commenting on the outcome of the UN climate change talks at Cancun, which finished today (Saturday 11th December 2010), the Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gordon James, said:

"We welcome the fact that an agreement has been reached but regret that it falls well short of what is required to tackle climate change.

"The scientific evidence shows that we need strong and determined measures to quickly cut emissions of climate-changing gases [1]. Some countries, most notably Japan, Russia and the USA, ensured that this was not achieved at Cancun. As a result, the agreement could still lead to global temperatures rising to dangerous levels this century.

"Cancun has provided a fragile lifeline of voluntary measures that we must build on ahead of the next climate summit in South Africa next year. Individual nations and regions must show the way by cutting emissions and reaping the benefits of the green economy [2].

"The government in Wales has gained considerable respect for its ambitious green policies, such as aiming to cut climate-changing emissions by 40 per cent within ten years and generating all of Wales' electricity from renewable sources by 2025. We urge it to ensure that these targets are delivered so that Wales makes a fair contribution to tackling climate change and creates much needed jobs from the rapidly growing green economy."

NOTES

1. The climate change adviser to the Welsh Assembly Government, Professor Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at Manchester University, warned recently that we are on track for a global temperature rise of over 2C which "represents the threshold of extremely dangerous climate change": Climate Change Scientists Warn of 4C Global Temperature Rise

2. A report by HSBC Bank in September predicted that the low-carbon economy could treble to £2.2 trillion a year by 2020.

 For further information, please contact Friends of the Earth Cymru on 029 2022 9577