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Civil society groups disappointed at climate change meeting
Civil society groups attending a meeting on climate change in Bonn, Germany, have expressed disappointment that Saudi Arabia had blocked a review on the discussion of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius target as suggested by scientists.
"Many civil society groups are also disappointed to see discussions of the gigat on gap, the gap between pledged reductions and what is scientifically necessary, gone missing from the talks,' said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, an international climate campaign that has rallied millions of citizens in support of a science-based climate treaty. We are not backing 350 because it's a beautiful number," said Ambassador Antonio Lima, vice-president of the Association of Small Island States, stressing: 'No, it is because of science. Some of our members will disappear beneath rising seas if we go above 1.5 degrees Celsius."
Over 100 countries, as well as hundreds of civil society groups and leading scientists support the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 C but are disappointed that discussions about this scientific imperative had been repeatedly blocked. Climate Action Tracker warned Thursday that actions pledged globally to date on reductions of greenhouse gas emissions give virtually no chance to limit global temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius. "The current pledges and loopholes give us a virtual certainty of exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius, with global warming very likely exceeding 2 degrees Celsius and a more than 50 per cent chance of exceeding 3 degrees Celsius by 2100," Bill Hare from Potsdam Institute for Climate Change Analytics stated.
The two-week long climate change meeting which ends Friday (June 18, 2010) is being attended by representatives from 182 governments to take forward work from last year's UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15).
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