International Institute for Environment and Development 
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| International Institute for Environment and Development |
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6 June 2007 |
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IPCC members and other experts urge G8 to act on climate change Climate change experts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and international development organisations give their views on what the G8 must achieve at its annual summit in Germany. Saleemul Huq, head of climate change at the International Institute for Environment and Development, and IPCC lead author, United Kingdom "This G8 meeting follows the release of the IPCC's fourth assessment report, which highlighted the need for much stronger action on climate change. The G8 leaders no longer have any excuse for procrastination. They must agree much stronger measures for reducing their own emissions of greenhouse gases and at the same time must provide substantial funding for adaptation in the poorer countries of the world, which will suffer the unavoidable impacts of climate change in the near term." Sahba Chauhan, communications advisor, Oxfam GB, India "I would like the G8 to acknowledge that they are responsible for climate change and that they should be the forerunners of helping the South to adapt. The UN Millennium Development Goals will never be met unless the G8 acts now to support mitigation and adaptation. The G8 should also do extra to support women fighting climate change as they will — indeed already are — suffering most." Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio, PhD, climate change consultant, United States "The G8 needs to know that adaptation is going to be one of the foremost issues on the global agenda. If we don’t adapt effectively to the changes that are in store, there will be massive issues across nations that will just magnify. The most effective time to start dealing with these issues is now. Hopefully we will start to see action and better development policies in the global South to address these needs.” Pablo Suarez, technical advisor, Red Cross / Red Crescent Centre on Climate Change, Netherlands "The G8 can certainly help the adaptation movement. What we need now is to bring the news of climate change not only to the big players but also to the little ones, to the ones that are at risk. We have people in the field who could deliver the message but they need to know how best to convey it. That involves training, institutional learning and capacity building. The G8 can help and we believe it should." Ian Burton, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead author, Canada "If we are going to move forward towards a growing economy and a more harmonious international community, we are going to have to recognise that climate change needs to be addressed from an adaptation, development and equity point of view as well as this rather narrow focus on simply reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We do need to do that and do it urgently, but that’s only part of the problem." Bimal Regmi, senior programme officer, Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development, Nepal "The burden of climate change is already on the poor and marginalised communities in the least developed countries. They have to watch in silence and helplessness when their fields dry up, when they lose their crops or land. We must all consider carefully what we need to do, and then apply ourselves to our common task of preserving all life on Earth. The richer countries must take these issues seriously and take responsibility for their past emissions. The current commitments from such countries are not so convincing. Poor people can no longer wait for another delegation or meeting or conference. It is time for action." Roger Jones, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Australia, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead author "Climate is already changing quite rapidly and we expect to see massive changes in many systems. Those changes will have to be responded to. A 'wait and see' approach, anticipating technologies like carbon capture won't be enough for these sorts of risks. We need to act straight away using technologies already out there, implementing both mitigation and adaptation." Cynthia Awuor, research fellow, African Centre for Technology Studies, Kenya "The key elements in increasing developing countries' resilience and capacity to adapt to climate change are capacity building, appropriate technology and skills transfer, coupled with targeted, stable financial support. Poverty reduction and sustainable economic development remain central to climate change adaptation in the South. This, combined with a positive attitude and lifestyle shift at all levels, is required in all countries to enhance adaptation to, and mitigation of climate change. Collaboration and partnership among stakeholders in the North and South should be promoted towards this common aim." Saleemul Huq, head of climate change at the International Institute for Environment and Development, United Kingdom "President Bush's so-called plan on climate change is nothing other than an effort to derail the ongoing process under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). All developing countries, including major ones like China, Brazil and India, are deeply engaged in the ongoing, and so far very fruitful, dialogue under the UNFCCC. They are working to agree a future climate change regime after 2012 when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends, and hope to reach a consensus by the next meeting of the UNFCCC in Bali, Indonesia in December 2007. Bush's idea of initiating new, parallel talks between just a few countries is nothing but an effort to derail the ongoing talks under the UNFCCC. Developing countries should not fall into his trap of delaying action under a UN framework."
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NOTES TO EDITORS The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent, non-profit research institute. Set up in 1971 and based in London, IIED provides expertise and leadership in researching and achieving sustainable development (see: http://www.iied.org). Copyright © 2005 International Institute for Environment and Development. |
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