'Warmest year on record' call for action

21 January 2011

Politicians should put tackling climate change and reaping the benefits of the green economy at the top of their agenda, according to Friends of the Earth Cymru. The call comes following today's report from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) that last year was the warmest on record, confirming a long-term trend in global warming. [1]

The WMO report, which bases its conclusions on a broad set of US and British collected data, ranked last year as slightly warmer than the two previous warmest years of 2005 and 1998.  The year was also marked by a high number of extreme weather events including Russia's summer heat-wave and the devastating monsoon floods in Pakistan.

The Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gordon James, stated:

"Trudging through snow in Wales this winter has given a false impression of the real situation globally. While some parts of Europe have been colder than average, other parts of the world have experienced far warmer temperatures [2]. These results should act as a wake-up call for all of us, even those who try to claim that global warming is a myth.

"We are urging politicians to give tackling climate change top priority. The government in Wales has set a welcome target of cutting emissions of climate-changing gases by three per cent a year from this year but they must now make sure that these cuts are delivered by means of strong and ambitious policies.

"By doing this, Wales will also be able to reap the benefits of the rapidly expanding green economy. A report by HSBC Bank has predicted that the low-carbon market could treble, reaching over two trillion dollars a year, by 2020 [3]. If we fail to act, the economic consequences of climate change will dwarf our present financial difficulties."

Friends of the Earth Cymru is also sending leading politicians a report they have produced with the backing of the Welsh government's adviser on climate change, Professor Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change at Manchester University [4].The report, 'Reckless Gamblers: How Politicians' Inaction is Ramping Up the Risk of Dangerous Climate Change', concludes that developed countries need to aim to reduce their emissions by up to 15 per cent a year.

NOTES

1. WMO news
2. 2010 turned out to be "an exceptionally warm year" in much of Africa and southern and western Asia, as well as in Greenland and Arctic Canada, but there were big variations worldwide.
3. HSBC Report : 'Sizing the climate economy' 
4. 'Reckless Gamblers: How Politicians' Inaction is Ramping Up the Risk of Dangerous Climate Change'  

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