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02 Mar 2000
Severe rainstorms and heavy flooding will happen more often and do ever more damage to poorer countries as climate change takes hold, Friends of the Earth warned today.
Reacting to the widespread devastation and hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Mozambique, FOE warned that extreme weather events are a likely consequence of climate change, as predicted by the authoritative Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change.
FOE also called on the UK Government to take a lead in tackling the causes of climate change. The Government is expected to publish its climate change action plan next week.
Commenting, FOE Policy Director Tony Juniper said:
“The tragedy now facing the people of Mozambique stands to be repeated many times over in the next century. It may already be too late to prevent severe climate disruption. However Western governments can and must take bold steps to cuts emissions of 'greenhouse gases'. The longer serious action is delayed,the worse the crisis will be.
In the UK, New Labour fought the last Election promising to cut CO2 levels by twenty per cent over 1990 levels by 2010. Since then that clear and ambitious target has been gradually talked down to a pious hope. But warm words won't cool the climate. If we don't act now, the disaster now facing Mozambique will only be one amongst many.”
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
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