Tiempo Climate Newswatch

A coalition of non-governmental organizations and think tanks has called on rich countries to pay for the effect that their lavish lifestyles have on the people and environment of the developing world in a new report on the implications of climate change for Latin America and the Caribbean. "The poorest of the poor are hit first and hardest by the impacts of climate change, although they had little or no role in causing the crisis," says Jan Kowalzig of Friends of the Earth Europe. "Climate change is mostly a result of the energy-hungry lifestyles in the rich world, including the European Union," he continues. "Consequently, Europe must take more serious steps to cut back its own emissions, but also it must act according to the principle that the polluter must pay and must finance adaptation measures and disaster relief in regions like in Latin America and the Caribbean."

"Climate change impacts are being felt across Latin America, ranging from drought in the Amazon to floods in Haiti, from vanishing glaciers in Colombia to hurricanes, not only in Central America but even in southern Brazil," according to Giulio Volpi of WWF International. "Across the region the capacity of natural ecosystems to act as buffers against extreme weather events is being undermined, leaving people more vulnerable." The coalition concludes that immediate action is needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions, stop illegal logging and government-sanctioned deforestation and prioritize energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. It also calls for assessment of national vulnerabilities, support for community-based coping strategies and disaster risk reduction, increased support for small-scale agriculture and new standards for the private sector.

More information

• theparliament.com
• Press release, FOE

• Download report, WWF International

Leaked information from the forthcoming Fourth Assessment of the International Panel on Climate Change suggests that the more extreme forecasts of global warming rates may be revised down. The current draft narrows the range of predictions for the year 2100 from 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius to 2 to 4.5 degrees Celsius, reflecting increasing confidence in the forecasts. Holding greenhouse gas emissions at current levels would limit the rise to two degrees by the end of the century, the draft report concludes. The report will finalized in the first quarter of 2007.

Dismissing the Kyoto Protocol as "largely ineffectual," Frances Cairncross, chair of the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council has called for a greater emphasis on adapting to the changing climate. Speaking at the British Association Festival of Science in Norwich, United Kingdom, she said that "adaptation policies have had far less attention than mitigation, and that is a mistake. We need to think now about policies that prepare for a hotter, drier world, especially in poorer countries." Former United States Vice President Al Gore, meanwhile, warned that adaptation to climate change could serve as an excuse for not reducing pollution. "We have to solve it [global warming] and there are some people who urge adaptation instead of prevention, and that formulation must be rejected," he said while visiting Helsinki, Finland. Given the damage already done, it is only morally responsible that poor nations must be helped to cope with existing changes, he continued.

More information

• The Australian
• Comment, SciGuy

• Independent
• Planet Ark
• Reuters

Approaches to slowing deforestation were discussed at a workshop in Rome, Italy, during the first week in September. Governments presented the results of their actions to slow forest destruction and the lessons they had learned. The workshop also considered the technical requirements for monitoring deforestation rates and consequent emissions. "This meeting clarified the key challenges in this area and identified useful ways to move forward on this important issue," reported Kishan Kumarsingh, chair of the climate treaty's Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, who led the meeting.

There were strong calls for the establishment of a financial mechanism to provide financial incentives for developing countries that voluntarily reduced their emissions from deforestation. Brazil proposed a compensation fund that countries could access if they could prove they had brought deforestation below rates of the 1990s. "Once again Brazil is acting as a protagonist in presenting an innovative proposal," said Environment Minister Marina Silva. Negotiations will continue in Nairobi, Kenya, at the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the climate treaty.

More information

• Press release, FAO
• Press release, UNFCCC
• ENN

• Independent Online
• Radio New Zealand International