Momentum or no momentum
Is Copenhagen the place where a global ambitious agreement on climate changes will be made or is it the place where all parties in the climate negotiations will agree that now is the time to act, but by the end of the day, they fail to agree on how to act upon climate changes in an ambitious manner? Day 1, week two – we are getting closer to the end of the conference and the question is how it all looks on Friday.
I was lucky to attend the side event today on “Greenland Ice Sheet – Melting snow and ice: Calls for Action”. Prominent people like Al Gore, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Per Stig Møller and two well known scientists Dorthe Dahl-Jensen and Bob Corell were among the speakers at the event. All the speakers at the event agreed that it is necessary to act now, and the findings presented at the event left the audience without a douth, that actions must be taken now. Recent findings on the smelting of the ice cap in Greenland shows that, apparently, the predictions from the IPCC report in 2007 have shown to be too modest. The ice is smelting with an alarming speed not seen before – 3-4 times quicker than previously predicted. According to Bob Corell a sea level rise of 1 meter, which can be a reality within the next 50-90 years will result in 145 million people having to move from their homes – they will be climate refugees. The ice in Greenland, on the North Pole and in Antarctica is getting smaller and thinner – and when the permafrost is melting, the global CO2 emissions will double, according to Al Gore. Furthermore, increased temperatures and less ice in the Himalayas greatly affects the 7 great rivers in Asia which supply water to 40 % of the world population.
No matter how you twist and turn it, the numbers from the scientists tell the story of how pressing it is to reach an ambitious agreement in Copenhagen. The question is if the leaders are ready to go all the way to make sure that we will not see the consequences of these predictions. Are we gaining momentum in Copenhagen or not?
