PART 6 INTERNATIONAL POLICY & ACTION 89 30 International Action 90 Most countries have acknowledged the problem of climate change by signing the Convention on Climate Change. 31 Meeting Kyoto Targets 92 Not quite half of Annex I countries are close to meeting their Kyoto commitments. And the agreed targets fall short of what is needed. 32 Looking Beyond Kyoto 94 Negotiations are continuing in the search for a suitable international response in a post-Kyoto world. 33 Trading Carbon Credits 96 Trading carbon credits encourages investment and shares the burden of reducing emissions. 34 Financing the Response 98 Finance for responding to climate change has improved dramatically but is still far from what is required. PART 7 COMMITTING TO SOLUTIONS 101 35 Personal Action 102 People all over the world are taking measures to reduce the greenhouse gases emitted as a result of the way they live. 36 Public Action 104 The policies, practices, and investments of governments, businesses, and civic organizations will have the greatest impact on our future. PART 8 CLIMATE CHANGE DATA 107 Table 108 Sources & Notes 116 Photo Credits 130 Index 131
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Voices & Visions of Our Future
The Atlas of Climate Change should inspire all of us to action. The authors call upon their experience to present the facts on climate change. In a clear format, from the early warning signs to drivers of change, from impacts to policy, they present the weight of evidence. We have come a long way on climate change, from ignorance and denial to policy recommendations and global negotiations. Over the course of time climate scientists have drawn a line in the sand: the climate is warming and it is projected that unless we change our track we will see a temperature rise of more than 2°C which could have catastrophic effects for the biosphere and all who live in it. Scientists recommend that we should aim at reducing emissions significantly and urgently aspire to become carbon neutral. The scientific evidence so far presented is overwhelming and can be explored in this third edition of the Atlas. The carbon cycle is a key component of ecological systems. And ecological systems are key components of climate action. Deforestation accounts for nearly 20 percent of global carbon emissions, and is reportedly greater than all of the transport systems globally combined. As we all know, the Amazon, Congo Basin, and South-East Asia rainforest ecosystems are the “green lungs” of the planet and are essential for global climate regulation. My work with the women of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya over the past 30 years has shown that grassroots communities will act on the root causes of environmental degradation once they appreciate the linkage between the environment and their livelihoods. It is they who will apply the skills and initiatives that will help them mitigate and adapt against the negative impacts of climate change. It is vital that climate policies work to promote equity, biodiversity, and the rights of vulnerable communities. Solutions to climate change must firmly put people and nature at their core. We have a moral responsibility to protect the rights of future generations, and of all species that cannot speak for themselves but are nevertheless members of the community of life. The challenge of climate change demands that there be a global political will to address this issue. Without political will, especially of the politically and economically powerful nations, the results will be catastrophic, even as the world continues with diplomatic rhetoric and no action. We are the generation that has the opportunity to effectively respond to this challenge. We are already late. Take action now! Professor Wangari Maathai Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 2004 Founder of the Greenbelt Movement in Kenya, 1977 Goodwill Ambassador to the Congo Basin Forest UN Messenger for Peace and the Environment See www.Greenbeltmovement.org for more information on Professor Maathai’s work.
It is not every day that you get a chance to walk on top of an ocean. But that was where I found myself, with five feet of ice the only thing separating me from the 1,000 feet of freezing Arctic Ocean. I was in the Arctic as a correspondent for CNN International, living with scientists working in some of the most extreme conditions on Earth in order to shed more light on the complex systems that drive our climate. At these temperatures, a human being
