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Scientists Tell Leaders To Tackle Climate Change, Energy Security
Paris (AFP) May 16, 2007 Top scientific bodies called Wednesday on world leaders gathering at a G8 summit next month to tackle the twin issues of energy security and climate change. "The problem is not yet insoluble, but becomes more difficult with each passing day," said the 13 national science academies of the Group of Eight industrialised nations and five developing countries in a joint statement. "We call on all countries of the world to cooperate in identifying common strategic objectives for sustainable, efficient and climate friendly systems," the statement said. How to cope with the carbon dioxide emissions driving global warming is likely to top the agenda when G8 leaders from the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Britain, Japan, Canada, and Russia meet in the German town of Heiligendamm on June 6-8. The club of advanced economies will be joined by five rapidly developing nations at the summit: China, which is set to overtake the United States as the world's top carbon polluter by the end of the decade; and India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. The scientists noted that G8 countries "bear a special responsibility for the current high level of energy consumption" that aggravated climate change. But it added that newly industrializing nations would have to share in this burden in the future. In a call to action, the scientists said world leaders should set standards and promote economic instruments for efficiency, and commit to promoting energy efficiency for buildings, devices, motors, transportation systems and in the energy sector itself. The European Union nations favour setting caps on carbon emissions, and have pledged to reduce their collective CO2 output by 20 percent before 2020. The administration of George W. Bush, however, is hostile to imposed reductions, arguing that privately-funded technology will more efficiently curb dangerous global warming. China and India have both pointed out that industrialized nations are largely responsible for the accumulation of greenhouse gases that have driven up global temperatures. They argue that developing nations should not have to face severe restrictions on their growth.
Source: Agence France-Presse Email This Article
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Manchester UK (SPX) May 16, 2007Scientists looking at the effect global warming will have on our major cities say a modest increase in the number of urban parks and street trees could offset decades of predicted temperature rises. The University of Manchester study has calculated that a mere 10% increase in the amount of green space in built-up centres would reduce urban surface temperatures by as much as 4C. |
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