1 / 11

Information Needs for Climate Policy

Information Needs for Climate Policy. An NGO Perspective. Lynn Rosentrater WWF European Policy Office ACCENT Workshop, 27-28 October 2004. What We Do.

alice
Download Presentation

Information Needs for Climate Policy

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Information Needs for Climate Policy An NGO Perspective Lynn Rosentrater WWF European Policy Office ACCENT Workshop, 27-28 October 2004

  2. What We Do The world’s natural areas are under severe threat – with disastrous consequences. Plant and animal species are becoming extinct faster than at any time in our history. Humanity’s consumption now exceeds the planet’s capacity to sustain renewable resources. WWF’s ultimate goal is to stop and eventually reverse environmental degradation and to build a future where people live in harmony with nature. Our promise to the world is that through working together, we will find the best solutions to save nature. For more than 40 years our passion, commitment, and inspiring actions have made us the most recognized independent conservation organization on Earth.

  3. Climate Change Programme • Atmospheric levels of CO2 – the main global warming gas – are now higher than at any time in the past 420,000 years • 23 billion tonnes: the amount of CO2 which is spewed into the Earth’s atmosphere every year. That’s more than 700 tonnes every second! • 97%: the percentage of CO2 emitted by western industrialized countries which comes from burning coal, oil, and gas for energy • The power sector: the biggest CO2 emitting sector accounting for 37% of emissions

  4. Coral bleaching Glacial retreat Sea ice deterioration Impacts to wildlife Polar bear American pica Golden toad Utilities: Significantly improve energy efficiency; increase their share of ‘new’ renewables to at least 20 percent by 2020; support strong policies; stop investing in coal. Financial Institutions: Switch investments to low carbon portfolio such as renewable energy. Politicians: Put strong laws in place to create market conditions where low carbon investments are financially rewarded. Impacts & Solutions

  5. Climate Witness Regional Environmental Changes Observed by Inuit • Warmer and shorter winters • Shorter spring & fall seasons • Increased snowfall • Weather has greater variability and is less predictable • Change in sky color • Unstable ice conditions: freezes later, breaks earlier • Decreased river levels and flow

  6. 2°C is too much!

  7. Challenges for the Scientific Community • Working with the media

  8. Balance as bias M.T. Boykoff, J.M. Boykoff / Global Environmental Change 14 (2004) 125–136

  9. Challenges for the Scientific Community • Working with the media • Uncertainties vs. Risk • Scientists generally talk about uncertainties (e.g. changes in temperature, sea level rise, precipitation). In the real world people talk about risks. • Extreme weather vs. Climate Change • Events that are very unusual under the climate of thirty years ago, but are expected to be much more usual under the existing climate (e.g. floods, heat waves, drought) should REASONABLY be linked to climate change.

  10. How you can help • Science Advisors • Climate Witness • Reviewing reports, conservation plans, etc. • Regional modeling: • 2°C Mediterranean • Ecoregion adaptation plans • Policy, e.g. Hayhoe, et al. / PNAS (2004) 101:12422-12427 • Joint Communications • Increases our credibility • Adds resonance to your research

  11. Please contact us! Lara Hansen, chief scientist Lara.Hansen@wwfus.org Martin Hiller, communications manager MHiller@wwfint.org

More Related