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  Channel NewsAsia 4 May 07
UN experts urge quick action to fight global warming

Channel NewsAsia 5 May 07
Science triumphs over politics at UN climate change meeting

BANGKOK : Science had a rare victory over politics at this week's UN climate change conference, after a united call for action emerged despite fierce debate over how to best tackle global warming.

The UN's top body on climate change on Friday released a report approved by delegates from 120 nations, laying out how the world could avoid the worst impacts of global warming with minimal economic damage.

As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting began in Bangkok on Monday, delegates warned that it was fanciful to believe all the players had the interests of the planet at the top of their agenda.

They said nations would inevitably fight to protect their own economic and political interests, and as the meeting got underway, reports crept out from behind the closed doors that some delegations were indeed playing politics.

But after all the battles, wrangling and interventions, most agreed that science had triumphed, with politics sometimes even playing a helping hand.

"You could argue that some of the delegates that are most critical and difficult towards the text are the most important to the text," said Michael Williams, spokesman for the UN's Environment Programme.

"By challenging and nitpicking and asking questions, that just increases the chances of us getting a better text rather than just being polite about it."

The United States, usually fingered as a key culprit in protecting economic interests over climate change concerns, escaped largely unscathed from the conference, with most delegates pleasantly surprised by its performance.

"I was relieved to see the Americans behaving, that makes such a difference," said Stephan Singer, of the conservation group WWF.

Gavin Edwards from Greenpeace also said the United States delegation had kept a low profile, but "they burst into life when it came to nuclear power."

Throughout the week, news emerged from various camps that India, China and Brazil were pushing their positions with vigour, trying to get rich countries to recognise their historical burden for global warming.

Shouldering most of the blame for trying to stick a political oar in the proceedings was China, who were said to be trying to play up the costs of taking immediate action to battle global warming.

Michael Mueller, a German environment ministry official who attended the talks, accused China of impeding progress towards cutting greenhouse gases, and said its delegates had been "masters of deception and the art of interpretation."

But even the green groups eventually gave China a pat on the back. "Some of the coal industry interests were represented by some interventions by the Chinese government, but they were isolated. China accepted it in the end," said Singer.

Nebojsa Nakicenovic, a scientist from Austria and one of the authors of the report, admitted it was frustrating when politics tried to make inroads in science, but said it was essential that all voices were heard.

"Science tries to reduce to the possible minimum the personal bias of analysts. Whereas in politics one can say that it's a completely different game, completely different rules apply," he told AFP.

"But I think what one has to understand is this is also the uniqueness about this process... what is unique about this is the connections between the science side and the decision makers."

And as weary delegates emerged from the conference hall, most agreed that that they were broadly happy with the results of the lengthy and exhausting process.

"We made it at last," one delegate said with a sigh. - AFP/ir

Channel NewsAsia 4 May 07
UN experts urge quick action to fight global warming

BANGKOK: Global climate experts warn that countries must act fast and firmly to combat global warming, or face dire consequences.

They say the phenomenon would cause rising sea-levels that could drown low-lying areas and hit Asia hard, and emphasised the need for alternative energy policies at their meeting in Bangkok.

What used to be an inconvenient truth has now become an urgent concern of the whole world.

Climate experts warn that no country will be immune to the detrimental effects of global warming, if it is left unchecked.

The United Nations experts say the next three decades are crucial to bringing the problem under control. Asia, they say, is most at risk from rising sea levels and more powerful storms, yet few countries in the region have detailed plans to deal with this.

In their latest report, the experts recommend a variety of policy approaches to reduce emissions of greenhouses gases.

Among these - cutting carbon emissions by turning to energy-efficient technologies, using less coal, and implementing agricultural reforms.

Developing nations say they just do not have the capacity to implement energy-saving measures and conservation policies. The costs involved, and the issue of who the main culprits are, were sticking points at the meeting of experts in Bangkok.

Rapidly industrialising nations pointed fingers at the United States and Europe. But by the end of the decade (2009), China is expected to be the world's biggest polluter.

"If we alter the way we develop our societies, if we alter the way we behave in our societies especially within the environmental, economic, and technical regimes, we definitely can also effectively reduce greenhouse gases," says Ogunlade Davidson, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The experts estimate that limiting global warming to a two degrees centigrade rise would cost just 0.12 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product. "It's only a relatively small amount that you are less well-off in material wealth. But what you've gained then is that you have controlled climate and have limited the negative impact of climate change," says Bert Metz, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The chief concern of many governments is - who pays how much?

America's refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol is a clear indication that not all of the experts' recommendations will be implemented.

But foot dragging on the issue, warn climate scientists, is a luxury that no nation can afford.

The earth's rising temperature may be a global problem, but it has definitely very local consequences.

Experts warn that Bangkok could be a metre under water by 2025 due to rising sea levels and erosion of coastal areas a consequence of the gradual warming of the earth's atmosphere. - CNA/yy
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