Winds of Change
So far, '07 seems to be shaping up as the 'year of global warming'. As January came, analysts were still debating the report issued in October '06 by Sir Nicholas Stem, which urged rich countries to combat global warming or risk seeing global GDP cut by 20% by 2200. Then, in February, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its draft report, which predicted that global warming will cause the world's temperature to rise by somewhere in the range of 1.1-6.4°C by '00.
Now Europe is trying to take action. On March 9, European Union (EU) leaders sealed an agreement on ambitious long term plans for reducing the 27 member states' greenhouse footprint. By '20, governments are supposed to lower emissions to 20% below those of 1990; boost the percentage of energy consumption that comes from renewable sources to 20% of the total; and ensure that biofuels make up at least 10% of fuels used for transport. In exchange for agreeing to these tough targets, individual nations won flexibility in, how they reach those goals.
Like the Stem report, the agreement is clearly meant to stand as a rebuke, and a prod, to, other nations, particularly America, that have not tackled the problem of anthropogenic global warming. With countries like China and India rapidly industrialising and providing evermore carbon-intensive consumer goods like cars to their citizens, the rich world will have to trim its carbon footprint substantially if there is to be much hope of slowing the pace of warming.
The EU unveils bold plans to tackle global warming
So far, '07 seems to be shaping up as the 'year of global warming'. As January came, analysts were still debating the report issued in October '06 by Sir Nicholas Stem, which urged rich countries to combat global warming or risk seeing global GDP cut by 20% by 2200. Then, in February, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its draft report, which predicted that global warming will cause the world's temperature to rise by somewhere in the range of 1.1-6.4°C by '00.
Now Europe is trying to take action. On March 9, European Union (EU) leaders sealed an agreement on ambitious long term plans for reducing the 27 member states' greenhouse footprint. By '20, governments are supposed to lower emissions to 20% below those of 1990; boost the percentage of energy consumption that comes from renewable sources to 20% of the total; and ensure that biofuels make up at least 10% of fuels used for transport. In exchange for agreeing to these tough targets, individual nations won flexibility in, how they reach those goals.
Like the Stem report, the agreement is clearly meant to stand as a rebuke, and a prod, to, other nations, particularly America, that have not tackled the problem of anthropogenic global warming. With countries like China and India rapidly industrialising and providing evermore carbon-intensive consumer goods like cars to their citizens, the rich world will have to trim its carbon footprint substantially if there is to be much hope of slowing the pace of warming.
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