Press release

Beyond dangerous climate change

6 February 2013

A keynote lecture "Beyond dangerous climate change: the role for Northern Ireland" will be delivered today by Professor Kevin Anderson at 2pm, in the Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Stormont.

The address will be delivered by one of the world's leading climate scientists [1] who will argue that even to limit global temperature rise to 4 degrees will require significant action to cut emissions.  His work establishes that there is now little chance in stabilising the planet's temperature at a 2 degree temperature increase, the level at which the vast majority of scientists have said is the maximum tolerable level of temperature increase above pre industrial levels.

The event has been organised by Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland and is being hosted by Minister of the Environment, Alex Attwood.

The Minister of the Environment commented:

"We must play our part and live up to our ethical and political responsibilities to help tackle the climatic changes that are affecting us all. The message from Professor Anderson confirms where we need to go.

"Bold steps to significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and put in place the necessary measures to adapt to the effects of the changing climate are needed. In doing so, we will create the environment to encourage innovation, to plan effectively for investment in new technologies, to provide jobs and thereby help grow the economy while at the same time contributing fully to our national and international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Northern Ireland should have the ambition to make renewables our biggest industry, be a world class leader in carbon reduction, protect and positively develop our heritage. This should be the measure of what we should do - Climate Change is part of the driver."

Professor Anderson said:

"There is now little chance of maintaining the rise in global temperature at below 2°C, despite repeated high-level statements to the contrary. At every level the greatest obstacle to transforming the world is that we lack the clarity and imagination to conceive that it could be different. We face a fundamental transition, a profound paradigm shift, triggered ostensibly by climate change, but with repercussions across all facets of contemporary society."

James Orr, Director Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland said:

"If ever there was a wake-up call to what we are doing to the planet this should be it. The truth and urgency behind Professor Anderson's message may be uncomfortable listening.  At most it requires us to rethink the future in very different terms but at the least it requires us to drive down emissions through strong climate legislation."

Notes

[1] Kevin Anderson is Professor of Energy and Climate Change in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester. He is Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and is research active with recent publications in Royal Society journals and Nature. He engages widely across all tiers of government; from reporting on aviation-related emission to the EU Parliament, advising the Prime Minister's office on Carbon Trading and having contributed to the development of the UK's Climate Change Act. 

With his colleague Alice Bows, Kevin's work on carbon budgets has been pivotal in revealing the widening gulf between political rhetoric on climate change and the reality of rapidly escalating emissions. His work makes clear that there is now little chance of maintaining the rise in global temperature at below 2°C, despite repeated high-level statements to the contrary. Moreover, Kevin's research demonstrates how avoiding even a 4°C rise demands a radical reframing of both the climate change agenda and the economic characterisation of contemporary society.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Limited