THE CLIMATE
CHALLENGE
The twentieth century closed with one of
the strongest declarations yet that climate
change is happening and having rapid
effect. Chief meteorologists in Britain and
the United States stated jointly that
climatic instability has reached "critical"
proportions and that global action must
begin right away. And around the world,
climate devastation provided plenty of
evidence of what lies in store if we fail
to act now.
Venezuela, upwards of 30,000 people were
killed in December by mudslides following
heavy and prolonged rains. Just days later,
winds up to 200 kph (120 mph) tore through
Western Europe, killing over 100 people and
causing damages estimated at 10 billion
euros. In France, some 360 million trees
were uprooted or snapped in two, with
losses totalling US$4 billion. Meanwhile
two French nuclear reactors were flooded by
storm waters, damaging important
equipment.
As a backdrop to these events, the
December oil spill from the tanker Erica
provided a poignant reminder of the driving
force behind climate change - our
dependency upon fossil fuels such as coal,
oil and gas. To top it all off, 1999 just
happened to be the warmest year on record
in the UK and among the warmest
globally.
We are entering a decisive year for
climate protection. As nations square up
for the sixth Conference of Parties to the
Climate Convention (COP-6), FoEI is keeping
on the pressure for ratification of the
Kyoto Protocol to help drive a worldwide
transition to high-efficiency and renewable
energy technologies. But FoEI's climate
campaign will be pushing for more than just
ratification of the Protocol. We expect
governments and industry to make sure that
the agreement is environmentally effective
and promotes sustainable development.
The wrong decisions could give us a
Protocol that will encourage the expansion
of nuclear power in developing countries
and economies in transition. It could
channel funds into the construction of
disastrous mega-dams, and drive the
replacement of biodiversity-rich old growth
forests with exotic plantations. FoEI will
urge industrialized countries to take
action by cutting greenhouse gas emissions
at home whilst providing technology
transfer for low-income countries to adapt
to the impacts of climate change. We will
be campaigning for a moratorium on new oil
and gas exploration and an end to
ecological debt.
The Kyoto Protocol must be
environmentally effective, but it must also
be fair. Since the Protocol was agreed,
FoEI has been working hard to convince
governments and other NGOs to look at the
long term. In the future, countries will
have to make deeper cuts in greenhouse gas
emissions than those agreed at Kyoto. The
fairest way of setting such targets will be
on a
per capita
basis, so FoEI has
been promoting the issues of environmental
space and fair shares within the treaty
process. With representation in the North,
South, East and West, FoEI is uniquely
placed to face this challenge. Please join
our Climate Campaign 2000 in the run-up to
COP-6 in November in the Netherlands.
Frances MacGuire, FoE
England Wales and Northern Ireland
