Archived press release

Climate talks lack urgency

15 November 2006

NAIROBI (Kenya), November 15, 2006 - Campaigners today called for a greater sense of urgency in the Climate Change Talks in Nairobi as ministers from 165 countries and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan gathered for the final three days of United Nations talks on climate change [1].

Confronted with the latest dramatic evidence of the impacts of rising greenhouse gas emissions, ministers are seeking international agreement on future action. Key to the talks is action after 2012, when the first phase of the Kyoto climate change treaty ends.

Friends of the Earth International Climate Campaigner Catherine Pearce said:

"Some countries have been slow to recognise the problem and seem to want to delay global action - but if they take their heads out of the sand, they may realise that the only way to tackle climate change is by actually reducing the levels of greenhouse gases they emit."

"We must not lose the momentum gathered so far; we need to see far quicker and more drastic actions to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people, including those living in Africa," she added.

The Kyoto Protocol is the only international agreement that actually requires countries to cut their carbon emissions, and most nations see it as the main instrument to fight climate change. The current commitments of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change end in 2012.

"Ministers must put us on a pathway to agree a post 2012 agreement. This requires a clear work programme with a clear end date to ensure that this agreement is reached by the end of 2008, in order to avoid a gap between commitment periods," said Catherine Pearce of Friends of the Earth International.

"Industrialised countries have to lead, with all countries working to agree a mandate to take us into formal negotiations at the next UN climate meeting in 2007. These preparations must start now here in Nairobi."

A UK government-commissioned report released last October showed that if significant global action is not taken rapidly, climate change could push the world into the worst recession in recent history, comparable to the downturn of the great depression and two world wars [2].

The Stern review also warned that if no action was taken on emissions, there was more than a 75% chance of global temperatures rising between two and three degrees Celsius over the next 50 years, resulting in melting glaciers, causing floods, a decline in crop yields and an increase in extreme weather. More than 200 million people could also be permanently displaced because of rising sea levels, the review said.

Campaigners following the talks report that some major polluters including Australia, Canada and the US are attempting to derail the talks by making misleading claims that the Protocol is a failure and will not deliver results for the environment or the economy.

But most countries support the affected communities and civil society organisations that want ministers here to agree that further Kyoto action is urgently needed and there should be no gap between current and future commitments after 2012.

Notes

[1] The UN climate change website is www.unfccc.int

[2] The Stern report draws a gloomy picture on climate change impacts on the global economy but also says that averting the crisis is well within our hands - at the costs of 1% of global GDP, avoiding economic damages of about 10% of global GDP. Read the `Stern Review on the Economics of

Climate Change', published 30 October 2006 at

www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/sternreview_index.cfm

For a background briefing on Friends of the Earth and the climate talks in Nairobi see: www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/climate_nairobi_briefing.pdf (PDF)

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust