The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has grave concerns following an announcement by the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate that some of the participating countries are willing to accept “runaway” climate change.
The Australian Prime Minister’s office said that the Asia-Pacific Partnership would lead to 20 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than would otherwise be the case by 2050.
“In my entire career I have never seen a more misleading public statement as that made by Prime Minister John Howard,” said WWF-Australia CEO Greg Bourne.
“If the statements made today become a reality, this will lock us in to a 4C rise in global average temperatures, when scientists confirm that the world needs to stay below a 2C warming to avoid dangerous climate change. There couldn’t be anything more irresponsible than to knowingly embark on a path towards massive increases in emissions and runaway global warming.”
The Australian government figures are said to be based on an analysis by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE). What is not being said is that the ABARE report shows global emissions will in fact increase by 100 per cent by 2050 under the Partnership plan. Climate scientists are calling for emissions to at least be halved by that time to keep the world below dangerous climate change.
A 100 per cent increase in global greenhouse gas emissions, as allowed under the new Partnership plan, would lock the world into a 4C rise in average global surface temperatures. Such a rise in temperatures would wreak havoc on infrastructure and the natural environment. Weather-related catastrophes such as storms, floods and droughts would surge in frequency and intensity.
In Australia, for instance, this rise of global average temperature would result in the certain destruction of natural icons such as the Great Barrier Reef. Global warming of this magnitude would also place untenable pressure on the country’s healthcare and emergency response systems as more people are affected by heat-related diseases, cyclones, bushfires, and other freak weather patterns.
The Australian Medical Association said that by the year 2100 up to 15,000 Australians could die every year from heat-related illnesses and the dengue transmission zone could reach as far south as Brisbane and Sydney if emissions continue to increase.
The only way to avoid dangerous climate change is for the world to agree on a plan with binding targets to reduce emissions. The Kyoto Protocol is the only global treaty to do this.
“The Kyoto Protocol is up and running, and this is where countries need to put their efforts to reduce their emissions,” said Jennifer Morgan, Director of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme.
WWF urges the United States and Australia to join the 157 countries that are working on effective emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol.
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