CLIMATE CHANGE: THE VICTIMS BEAR
WITNESS
Dyke-Building Action Planned for
Hague Summit
While Governments wriggle and
prevaricate, climate disasters are
wrecking lives and local economies
around the world. Even if agreement is
finally reached at the major climate
summit in the Hague in November
(Conference of the Parties [COP] VI),
climate change will become a disastrous
reality for millions of the world's
poorest and most vulnerable people.
Freak events compatible with climate
change forecasts are being seen even in
rich developed countries, particularly
in the United States, the country which
is most responsible for delaying
effective international action totackle
the crisis.
"Gathering Storm", a new publication
from Friends of the EarthInternational,
sets out the latest evidence on
dangerous climate change as well as
moving eye witness testimony from
survivors of Hurricane Mitch, the
Mozambique floods and other recent
extreme weather events. FOEI has also
announced a major action outside the
Hague talks on Saturday 18th November.
Thousands of protestors will build a
Climate Change Dyke.Present will be
witnesses of extreme weather events
from around the world.
Key evidence of climate change
includes:
-
Meltdown of glaciers, and the
thinning of Arctic Sea ice by nearly
40% in less than 30 years
-
Average temperature rises of 0.6
degreescentigrade since 1860, with
six of the warmest years recorded
during the 1990s. 1998 is believed to
have been the warmest year of the
millennium
-
According to the UN
Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), global mean surface
temperatures could rise by between 1
and 3.5 degrees centigrade by 2100,
relative to 1990 levels. Average sea
level could rise by between 15 and 95
centimetres.
Robert T Watson, Chairman of the
IPCC has observed that "it is no longer
a question of whether the earth's
climate will change, but rather when,
where and by how much". The IPCC also
concluded that even "small changes in
the mean climate or climate variability
can produce relatively large changes in
the frequency of extreme events".
"Gathering Storm" sets out the evidence
of the damage that such extreme weather
events will cause.
In February this year, five straight
days of unseasonal downpours caused
terrible flooding in Mozambique. Eye
witness Gina Mamanoela, a Maputo aid
worker said:
"The worst thing about this is the
impact on children. So many of them
were separated from their parents
during the floods, and many have lost
their parents, but don't understand
their loss. Instead they keep asking
"when are mama and papa coming
home"
In July this year, record high
temperatures claimed lives in
Greece,Bulgaria, Italy, Southern France
and Romania. Lavinia Andrea, a Romanian
NGO worker said:
"The rains have failed and the heat
wave persists with devastating impact.
Survival means successful crops for 35%
of the working population of Romania.
For them, agriculture is the only
source of income. None could afford to
insure their crops against failure and
that's why, after this drought, their
livelihoods have been
completelydestroyed. The animals are
dying and the people become the poorest
of thepoor."
In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch
roared through Nicaragua, with wind
speeds of up to 290 kilometres an hour.
About 10,000 people were killed in
floods and mud slides. Josefina
Valasquez, a hurricane survivor,
writes:
"We found many bodies without heads,
and severed limbs scattered. Cries for
help could be heard emanating from the
mud. People were still trapped where so
many trees had fallen and we lacked the
rope necessary to haul survivors out of
the mud. One woman who was alive when
we managed to pull her out of themud
died soon after".
The COP VI climate summit is the
last chance to rescue the international
agreement signed at Kyoto in 1997. But
even this agreement will not be
sufficient to stop climate change.
Developed countries will need to cut
their greenhouse gas emissions by as
much as 80 to 90% by 2050 if this is to
be achieved.
Friends of the Earth International,
the world's largest environmentnetwork
with groups in 61 countries, wants
Governments at COP VI to:
-
ensure that the Kyoto Protocol
results in real and permanent
emissions reductions through the
development of renewable energy and
energy efficiency measures
-
commit industrialised countries
to achieving 80% oftheir Kyoto target
through cuts in emissions at
home
-
agree the principle of equity for
future emissions reductions, based on
an equal per capita approach and on
the principle of ecological
limits.Commenting, FOEI Climate
Campaigner Roger Higman said:
-
* Our report sets out the latest
shocking evidence on the extent of
climate change, and the damage it
will do to health, security and the
environment. It also contains
moving testimony of the human costs
of weather disasters. The world's
Governments must seize the last
chance offered to save the Kyoto
agreement in the Hague this
November. Otherwise millions of us
around the world will pay a
terrible price for their failure.
We'll be in the Hague throughout
thetalks demanding that the
planet's politicians finally face
up to theirresponsibilities."
FoE Netherlands
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