Monday, August 31, 2009

Climate change calls for adaptation, says UN

Deutsche Welle: A five-day conference in Geneva aims to provide politicians and other decision makers with the data they need to make informed decisions when it comes to climate change, according to members of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the technical and scientific arm of the United Nations, which is hosting the conference.

"Even if we reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the climate will continue to change," Gro Harlem Brundtland, the United Nations secretary-general's special envoy on climate change, said on Monday. "All countries will need to adapt to a changing and more erratic climate."

But the problem is not a lack of dire warnings about more storms, rising sea levels, droughts, and famine, but how the information is used, according to WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. "The problem is that much information on the climate is not used properly," Jarraud told reporters. "It's time to link technology and science with decision makers."

…Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told delegates in Geneva that climate agreements had to be "radical, universal and binding" and have "climate justice at its heart." Annan said the people most affected by climate change were the poorest and least developed nations that contributed the least to pollution….

Edward Hicks (1780-1849), "Noah's Ark"

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