International Herald Tribune

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Environment ministers from G8 countries open meeting, face accelerating climate change

The Associated Press

KOBE, Japan: Global warming is damaging the earth more quickly than previously forecast and rising oil prices threaten to speed the growth in greenhouse gas emissions, scientists and activists told environment ministers from industrialized nations Saturday.

The ministers, from the Group of Eight countries, gathered in the western Japanese city of Kobe for a three-day conference dominated from the opening minutes by the battle with the worsening effects of climate change.

At a round-table discussion Saturday afternoon, environmentalists urged quick action to stem the effects of the rise in world temperatures, which scientists say threaten to drive species to extinction, worsen floods and droughts, and thwart economic development.

The rapid melting of the Arctic ice, increasing crop damage and other problems show the multiplying effects of higher temperatures, said Bill Hare of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Summer sea ice in the Arctic, for instance, shrank to a record low last year -- nearly 40 percent less than the long-term average between 1979 and 2000.

Hare also warned that rising oil prices could speed that even further. Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose US$1.38 to settle at US$132.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. The expense encourages the use of cheaper coal -- a much dirtier fuel.

"The recent developments in the energy sector, particularly high oil prices and coal intensive development ... are pointing toward the risk of higher emissions," Hare told ministers from G8 and observing nations.

"(It's) too early to say if this is an entrenched change in the pattern ... but (it's) certainly a risk factor," he said.

The sessions take place in the midst of U.N.-led talks to conclude an international pact by December 2009 to combat global warming. The pact is aimed at succeeding the Kyoto Protocol, a climate change agreement whose first phase expires at the end of 2012.

The U.N. process, however, has moved slowly, with nations clashing over how ambitious the world should be in stemming the rising in world temperatures, how reduction targets should be set, and how much rapidly developing nations such as China should be called on to rein in emissions of greenhouse gases.

Yvo de Boer, the U.N. climate chief, told the Associated Press on the sidelines of the meeting that the environment ministers should set the stage for decisive movement on climate change at the G8 summit in Japan in July.

The G8 countries -- the United States, Japan, Russia, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Canada -- need to decide on midterm targets for reducing carbon emissions by 2020, make a clearer commitment to transferring clean technology to developing nations, and form a dialogue with top developing countries such as China to run parallel with the U.N.-led talks, he said.

"Certainly my expectation is that ... the G8 leaders will now really take things to the next level, and I think need to take it to the next level, with December 2009 being just around the corner," de Boer said.

The initial meetings on Saturday, however, illustrated the continuing divisions among nations over how to attack climate change.

Japanese business leaders called for commitments by developing countries, while officials from Brazil said wealthy nations have to provide technology transfers and help poorer countries handle the effects of global warming, such as rising sea levels.

Hilary Benn, British environment chief, argued that the world had no choice but to act against climate change now that scientists have shown that the earth can only absorb a limited amount of greenhouse gases before temperatures rise too high.

"The fundamental problem we have is a political one," he said. "How do we divide up between all the nations of the earth in a fair manner the ability to emit that limited quantity of emissions so that we avoid dangerous climate change?"

posted by lance to ClimateConcern