Press release - October 23, 2007
Responding to findings by the Global Carbon Project that atmospheric CO2 levels have risen 35 per cent faster than expected since 2000, Joslyn Higginson of Greenpeace Canada said: “Today’s extremely worrying findings add to the overwhelming scientific evidence of the intensity of the climate crisis. We have no more time to waste in tackling climate change.”
Smoke and ash are belched into the air from a smokestack at a coal coking plant in Linfen, China. Linfen, a city of about 4.3 million, is one of the most polluted cities in the world. China's increasingly polluted environment is largely a result of the country's rapid development and consequently a large increase in primary energy consumption, which is almost entirely produced by burning coal.
Published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
this week, the findings come on the eve of the final confidence
vote in the House of Commons on the speech from the throne, in
which the Harper government lays out its anti-Kyoto agenda. At this
point, all indications are that the throne speech will pass
tonight's vote.
"This will say to the world that Canada has turned its back on
the Kyoto process, while the Conservative government pursues a race
to the bottom on climate solutions with the Bush and Howard
administrations," Higginson continued. "Opposition parties must
demand support for continued commitment to the Kyoto process and to
making every effort to meet our Kyoto commitments."
World governments will meet in Bali, Indonesia this December to
agree on a framework for the next two years of the Kyoto Protocol.
Greenpeace says it is imperative to keep the rise in global mean
temperature well below 2ºC; otherwise, climate change will spiral
out of control and the world will suffer even more extreme weather,
water crises and increased hunger as millions of people become
climate refugees.
Real domestic action must include a plan for absolute emissions
reductions that place a hard cap on industry emissions, including
regulatory penalties for corporations which fail to commit
themselves to combating climate change.
"The science is clear. The solutions are clear. Sadly, it is
also clear that Canada has rejected the science and the solutions.
In abandoning the Kyoto Protocol, the government has refused any
legitimate attempt to reach the science-based,
internationally-negotiated targets, opting instead for an
inadequate stand-alone scheme of its own invention."
In order for governments to honor their 15 year old commitments
to avoid dangerous climate change, Greenpeace is calling for global
cuts of greenhouse gases to 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Developed countries like Canada should reduce their greenhouse gas
emissions by at least 80 per cent during the same time period.
For more information, please contact:
Jane Story, Communications Officer, 416-930-9055
Joslyn Higginson, Climate Change Consultant, 416-996-5679