New efforts required to reduce emissions

Two earlier IPCC reports released this year painted a dire picture of a future in which greenhouse gas emissions could drive global temperatures up as much as six degrees Celsius by 2100, reports the Mail & Guardian Online. Even a two degree Celsius rise could have devastating consequences for life on Earth, subjecting two billion people to water shortages and threatening extinction for 20-30% of the world’s species. The third report stresses that we must embrace technological options to keep the temperature rise within the 2C bracket. Options include making buildings and transport more energy efficient; embracing renewable energies; as well as reducing deforestation. Full Mail & Guardian Online report

Developing countries, where industrialisation and construction is under way, offer some of the biggest opportunities for avoiding climate-warming emissions, the draft says, particularly in choices of power plants and building designs. The New York Times reports that changes in design standards and materials chosen for construction could trim about 30% of projected emissions of greenhouse gases from buildings by 2020. Under a best-case scenario for heading off severe damage, the global economy might lose as little as three percentage points of growth by 2030, in deploying technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the draft report. The draft report adds that laws to curb global warming may reduce world production less than 5.5% by 2050, a cost that economists see as a bargain compared to the price of not acting at all, notes Business Day. Higher taxes on fuels and restrictions on land use will hurt economic output but this would be offset by improvements in people\'s health and the environment, according to the draft. The UK Government estimated last year that no action could well shrink output by 5-20% in the future. Full report in The New York Times Full Business Day report

IPCC delegates will have a tough task reaching agreement on how to deal with climate change and fierce debate is expected, The Citizen reports. Peter Lukey, of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, said: ‘It’s very difficult at these negotiations to try to find that level of compromise and to try to find sustainable solutions that are equitable.’ Some of the sticking points include: taxes and caps on CO2 emissions, any references to the Kyoto Protocol, and, the use of nuclear energy. One of the key issues set to be hotly debated is a so-called carbon price – finding a way to make consumers and businesses pay for the pollution they create. Full report in The Citizen

Canada has announced plans for reducing carbon emissions. Under the plan, announced by Environment Minister John Baird, industries would be required to cut the rate at which they produce greenhouse gases by 18% over the next three years, reports The New York Times. Baird said that the plan aims to \'strike a balance between the perfection that some environmentalists may be seeking and the status quo that some in the industry seek to protect\'. The plan includes dates and targets more stringent that those set under the country\'s Clean Air Act, which was introduced last year but effectively shelved following strong opposition. However, the new plan does not address all the complaints lobbed at its predecessor, reports The Globe and Mail. It relies on the intensity-based targets that allow industries to increase their greenhouse gas outputs as they increase production, a method panned by environmentalists who have demanded absolute reductions. Former US Vice-President Al Gore has called the proposal a \'complete and total fraud\' that is designed to mislead the Canadian people, according to a second report in The Globe and Mail. Baird has since released a statement refuting Gore\'s criticisms. Full report in The New York Times Environment Minister John Baird\'s speech First report in The Globe and Mail Second report in The Globe and Mail Text of Baird\'s response to Gore

Moving to Australia, where an independent study found that the country, already the world\'s biggest polluter per capita, will exceed its Kyoto greenhouse gas targets within three years, reports The Globe and Mail. The Australian Government, which has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, insists that it is on track to meet its target of 108% of 1990-level greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. However, the Climate Institute of Australia said emissions have risen by 22.5m tonnes over the past three years. It was anticipated that its total greenhouse gas emissions would grow to 22% above 1990 levels by 2020. Full report in The Globe and Mail Download the Climate Institute of Australia\'s report