outline: 1)the science weather climate 2)brainstorm effects 3)international response unfccc cop ipcc...
TRANSCRIPT
Outline:
1) The Science
• Weather
• Climate
2) Brainstorm effects
3) International Response
• UNFCCC
• COP
• IPCC
• Kyoto Protocol
4) Foreign Climate Policy (India)
• Developed vs. Developing
The ScienceThe Science
PPMPPM350.org350.org• “If humanity wishes to preserve
a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from [current levels] to at most 350 ppm.”
– Dr. James Hansen- former head of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies
• “PPM” stands for “parts per million,” which is simply a way of measuring the ratio of carbon dioxide molecules to all of the other molecules in the atmosphere. Many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments agree with Dr. Hansen that 350 ppm is the “safe” level of carbon dioxide.
NASANASA
• http://co2now.org/
• http://climate.nasa.gov/400ppmquotes/
• http://www.vox.com/2014/11/19/7246067/nasa-animation-carbon-dioxide
The EffectsThe Effects
What consequences can we expect?
Extreme Ice- NOVAExtreme Ice- NOVA
Chasing IceChasing Ice•Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of climate change. Using time-lapse cameras, his videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate.
•Photo Gallery•The Movie•Trailer
The The International International ResponseResponse
UNFCCC:UNFCCC:United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Since 21 March 21 March 19941994, most countries joined an international treaty -- the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) -- to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable.
• The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the
– COPCOP {Conference of the Parties} which is the supreme decision making party of the UNFCCC. The COP meets yearly in December.
• The UNFCCC sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
• The Convention enjoys near universal membership. Under the Convention, governments:
– 1) gather and share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices – 2) launch national strategies for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected
impacts, including the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries – 3) cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change
Conference of Parties (COP)Conference of Parties (COP)• The UNFCCC was opened for signature on May 9, 1992 after
an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee produced the text of the Framework Convention as a report following its meeting in New York. It entered into force in March, 1994. Countries who sign up to the UNFCCC are known and as ‘Parties’, there are currently 192 signed up Parties.
• Since the UNFCCC entered into force, the parties have been meeting annually in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change, and beginning in the mid-1990s, to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
• The UNFCCC is also the name of the United Nations Secretariat charged with supporting the operation of the Convention. Since 2006 the head of the secretariat has been Yvo de Boer.
Lima Climate Change Conference - December 2014
The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties and the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol will be held from 1 to 12 December. COP 20 will be hosted by the Government of Peru, in Lima, Peru.
IPCC– Intergovernmental – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangePanel on Climate Change
• Climate change is a very complex issue: policymakers need an objective source of information about the causes of climate change, its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences and the adaptation and mitigation options to respond to it. This is why WMO and UNEP established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988.
• Its role is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic literature produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of the risk of human-induced climate change, its observed and projected impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. IPCC reports should be neutral with respect to policy, although they need to deal objectively with policy relevant scientific, technical and socio economic factors.
• 55thth Assessment Report (AR)–2014
– SYNTHESIS 11.2.2014SYNTHESIS 11.2.2014
TreatiesTreaties
• The Kyoto Protocol Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of 5% against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.
• The Protocol commits industrialized nations to lower emissions. Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities.”
• The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005 (RUSSIA). 184 Parties of the Convention have ratified its Protocol to date.
• At DOHA in 2012, the Kyoto Protocol has been extended until 2020– Ratification of the DOHA AMENDMENTDOHA AMENDMENT
Kyoto ProtocolKyoto Protocol
About the Conference:About the Conference:• The 18th session of the
Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol opened on Monday, 26 November and continues until Friday, 7 December 2012 at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha, Qatar.
• Website: http://www.cop18.qa/ • Objectives:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4l0A0AzBz0&feature=player_embedded
Conference News:Conference News:• COP 18 Gets Underway in Doha As Kyoto Protocol Winds
Down• The UN Climate Conference, COP 18, gets underway this
week in Doha, as the Kyoto Protocol winds down and is set to expire by the end of this year. COP 18 is unlikely to emerge with a suitable replacement for Kyoto, as yearly climate talks grind on and disagreements about emissions reductions continue to foil any meaningful agreement that would halt global warming.
• Kyoto set binding targets for industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5% against 1990 levels, reports Voice of America. While the protocol has not been adhered to by industrialised nations and is, as a result, considered a failure, Green Peace activist Ruth Davis, argues that it is a vital tool because the principles embedded in it are essential to a new international treaty.
• As the disagreements between the industrialised world and emerging economies continue to stall any meaningful climate deal, Professor Dieter Helm, professor of environmental policy at Oxford University contends that by 2020 "there will be 400-600 gigawatts of new coal on the world's system and we'll be way beyond 400 parts per million.
– http://allafrica.com/stories/201211281321.html
Foreign Climate Foreign Climate Policy TodayPolicy Today
• ““God forbid that India should ever God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the take to industrialism after the manner of the west... keeping the manner of the west... keeping the world in chains. If [our nation] took world in chains. If [our nation] took to similar economic exploitation, it to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like would strip the world bare like locusts.”locusts.”– Mahatma Gandhi
• World’s Cheapest Car• Emissions?
“While the richest countries have produced the bulk of the pollution blamed for climate change, developing countries are producing increasing volumes of gases. But developing countries say their climb out of poverty should not be halted to fix damage done by industrial countries.”