Climate change programme

WCC Climate Change Update  #43

Dear ###USER_name###,

Greetings from the WCC Climate Change Programme.

This update includes:

  • Tributes to Lukas Vischer, long-time ecumenist and passionate promoter of care for God's creation, who died in Geneva on March 11th at the age of 81.

  • A statement on climate change from the February meeting of the WCC's Central Committee.

  • A news report about the March 3rd meeting between UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and WCC General Secretary Sam Kobia in which climate change was identified as a shared priority.

  • Excerpts from a few recent news reports related to climate change: Pacific Islanders as environmental refugees; climate change in the US Presidential race; EU concerns about security risks from climate change; China's emission rates.

 * * *

LUKAS VISCHER

A personal reflection by David Hallman, Advisor to the WCC Climate Change Programme

It was May 1989. The group met in a small room in the Basel conference centre where the European Ecumenical Assembly was being held. There were about a dozen people who had responded to a notice that I had circulated inviting representatives of European churches who were interested in exploring some form of ecumenical cooperation with Canadian churches on international environmental issues.

Lukas and Barbara Vischer were two of the most enthusiastic participants in that little gathering.  

Together over the next few days, the group drafted and signed an undertaking with theological, educational and advocacy dimensions agreeing to work together through prayer, through sharing information about the ecological work that was being done in our respective churches and through exploring possibilities of jointly tackling some of the bigger issues that crossed national boundaries.

For Lukas and me, "global warming" (as we generally referred to climate change at the time) became the priority focus. Lukas had worked for years as a senior staff person in the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical organisations with a focus on issues of theology and ecumenism. He had recently become convinced (as a function, he acknowledged, of his wife Barbara's encouragement) that concerns about the future well-being of God's creation should become the pre-eminent challenge for the churches. I was a young staff member of the United Church of Canada responsible for ecological issues. Over the next almost twenty years, Lukas and I collaborated in a partnership that drew on our particular strengths and compensated for our respective weaknesses.

There are far too many details in this history of friendship and ecumenical collaboration to recount here. A few of the high-lights:

  • The first ever global ecumenical consultation on climate change was one that Lukas and I planned and was held in Gwatt, Switzerland in January 1991. I arrived at the event to discover that Lukas, in his nonchalant manner, expected me to chair the consultation freeing him from the logistical details to focus on the bigger substantive issues in the discussion. This set a pattern. Lukas didn't have much patience for chairing meetings and ensuring the full participation of all in attendance. He was keen to think about the issues and be free to debate them unhindered by meeting process details. I, on the other hand, by predisposition and Canadian grooming had some skills in facilitating gatherings. Lukas and I worked well together - he was an intellectual powerhouse with incisive analytic acuity and I was a competent organiser who could ensure a good experience for all and bring the event to a productive conclusion.

  • In the two years leading up to the 1997 UN climate conference in Kyoto Japan, the World Council of Churches initiated an advocacy campaign with WCC member churches and ecumenical organisations around the world to increase public awareness and build pressure on governments to agree to an effective treaty in Kyoto. By this point, the WCC had a Working Group on Climate Change which conceived of the petition campaign and set in place the basic organisational structure, including the hiring of a part-time staff person - Madeleen Helmer who is now the coordinator of the Red Cross/ Red Crescent Centre on Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness. Though Madeleen, I and members of the WCC Working Group on Climate Change made our contributions, the success of the campaign boiled down in large part to the countless phone calls, personal letters, cajoling of ecumenical contacts around the world, networking, stuffing envelops and plain grunt work that Lukas did from his home aided by his wife and partner Barbara.

  • Lukas was always ahead of the curve. He realised before the rest of us that the work of the ecumenical community pressing countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases (i.e. the mitigation agenda) had to be expanded to address the needs of people who were already suffering from the impacts of climate change (i.e. the adaptation agenda). I am pleased that our WCC Working Group on Climate Change took the initiative to plan a consultation on "Solidarity with Victims of Climate Change" in November 2001 in part as a 75th birthday present to Lukas in recognition of his commitment, vision and years of service to the issue of caring for God's creation. Lukas wrote much of the content of the consultation report which was published in 2002 and remains one of the pivotal climate change resources to come out of the WCC.

The ecumenical community is profoundly indebted to Lukas for his many contributions including as Sam Kobia, WCC general secretary, says in his tribute "it was to a large extent thanks to him that the WCC began to work on Climate Change".

I will miss Lukas as a mentor, colleague and friend.

David Hallman

A Tribute to Lukas Vischer from Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, WCC general secretary

"I live, you also will live"
John 14:19

The World Council of Churches and the ecumenical movement have lost an outstanding ecumenist, a man of vision and great passion for the future of life on earth and a church visibly united in faithfulness to Christ's calling.

With great sadness, but also with a deep sense of gratitude for his extraordinary service to the ecumenical movement, we report the death of Prof. Dr Lukas Vischer.

Lukas Vischer joined the staff of the WCC as a young theologian in 1961. Participating in the 1961 New Dehli Assembly of the WCC with staff responsibility for the statement on church unity, and sent as an observer to the Second Vatican Council, he developed a deep understanding for the new dynamics in the ecumenical movement. One fruit of the Second Vatican Council was the Joint Working Group between the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. He served as its first co-secretary.

Lukas Vischer left a decisive mark on the WCC and the ecumenical movement through the leadership he provided as Faith and Order director from 1966 to 1979. He initiated and shaped various study processes, in particular the study on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry that is widely recognized as a major milestone in the history of the ecumenical movement.

With his immense theological knowledge, sharp mind, great energy and strong will Lukas Vischer continued to contribute to the ecumenical movement in many ways after he left the WCC in 1979. The WCC is especially grateful for his strong commitment to God's suffering creation during the time of the Conciliar Process for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation that followed the 1983 Vancouver Assembly and culminated in a World Convocation in 1990 in Seoul. It was to a large extent thanks to him that the WCC began to work on Climate Change more than fifteen years ago.

During his life, Lukas Vischer built relationships of friendship and trust with many theologians and church leaders around the world. They will mourn with us this loss of a theologian and ecumenist of such a great stature.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Lukas' family, particularly his wife Barbara. We assure them that his memory will be alive in our midst and give thanks to God for Lukas' long life and rich ecumenical ministry.

* * *

 

STATEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE BY THE WCC CENTRAL COMMITTEE, FEBRUARY 2008
Minute on global warming and climate change
"Be stewards of God's creation!"

 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...God saw all that he had made, and it was very good"

(Genesis 1:1, 31, NIV)

The present minute builds on previous statements of the WCC, especially the statement on the 10th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol, adopted by the WCC executive committee in September 2007.

  1. The scriptures affirm that the "earth is the Lord's and everything in it" (Psalm 26:1, NIV). In Genesis 1:28, God charges humanity to care for the earth by giving humanity "dominion" over it. The word "dominion" is most appropriately translated as "stewardship", since humanity is not the master of the earth but steward to responsibly care for the integrity of creation. God wondrously and lovingly created a world with more than enough resources to sustain generations upon generations of human beings and other living creatures. But humanity is not always faithful in its stewardship. Mindless production and excessive consumption by individuals, corporations and countries have led to continuous desecration of creation, including global warming and other forms of climate change.

  2. Indigenous peoples all over the world continue to live a respectful way of relating with the environment. The sacred nature of the whole creation is also reflected in different indigenous world-views. While looking at the impact of global warming and climate change, the indigenous peoples' witness provides inspiration and encouragement.

  3. Climate change, as the variation in the earth's global climate or in regional climates over time, and its effects are being experienced already in many regions of the world. Global warming, i.e. the increase in the average temperature of the earth's near-surface air and oceans, is one of the most evident aspects of climate change. The average temperature of the earth is rising. This creates the melting of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, glaciers, permafrost in mountainous regions and the rising of the average sea level. Rising sea levels are already affecting some countries like Bangladesh in Asia and some islands, particularly in the Pacific. A water crisis brought on by severe droughts and unprecedented floods has resulted in a lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Other effects of climate change are hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons, which are increasing in strength, causing loss of life and destruction of the environment and property. Further consequences of climate change are described in the 2007 "Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report". Thus, human life and the whole of creation are suffering a new threat. Climate change raises ecological, social, economic, political and ethical issues, and demonstrates the brokenness of relationships between God, humankind and creation.

  4. As stated by the "IPCC Report" and other studies, the situation needs urgent mitigation and adaptation measures in order to prevent further adverse consequences of rising temperatures. Mitigation (dealing with the causes) is a must for developed countries that will have to drastically reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Adaptation (dealing with the impacts) is urgently needed by developing countries to be able to cope with the changes that are happening. Those who are and will increasingly be affected are the impoverished and vulnerable communities of the global South who are much more dependant on natural resources for their subsistence and do not have the means to adapt to the changes. Deforestation in Africa, Asia and Latin America; the increase in vector-borne diseases (like dengue or malaria) in the higher altitude areas of Africa as a result of the increase in temperature; the forced migration, displacement and resettlement of populations as a result of sea level rise, particularly in the Pacific; are some of the impacts that will continue to increase the pressure on poor and vulnerable communities.

  5. To address the threats the world is facing because of climate change, action must be taken now. In December 2007, at the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bali, governments agreed on a road map for the negotiation of a new set of commitments under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol for the post-2012 period. Negotiations are to be concluded by the end of 2009. The United States is now the sole major emitter who has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol. If there is no profound change in life styles, development patterns and the pursuit of economic growth, humanity will not be able to meet the challenge. As the WCC delegation in Bali clearly stressed, "it is our conviction as members of faith communities that a ‘change of paradigm' from one way of thinking to another is needed if we are to adequately respond to the challenge of climate change".

  6. Climate change is both an environmental issue and a matter of justice. Major green house gas (GHG) emitters have a historic responsibility to assume, to stop and to reverse the current trend. Developing countries, while looking for better conditions for their people, face a dilemma which should be confronted in looking for ways not to repeat the path that led to the present situation. The current unsustainable production and consumption patterns have caused tremendous negative effects in the environment and generated what has been called an ecological debt towards humanity and the earth. This ecological debt can be analyzed in relation to the financial debt. To reverse this trend it becomes crucial to look for technologies and practices both to mitigate and adapt, especially responding to the needs of vulnerable communities.

  7. Churches and religious communities can take key leadership roles in addressing global warming and climate change concerns to individuals, communities and governments. The question we must pose is whether we can rise together to meet this unprecedented opportunity. Churches and religious communities, for example, must find ways to challenge and motivate each other to measure our ecological and economic "footprints" and to follow through by making lasting changes in lifestyles and economic pursuits. Church members have to take responsibility for paying their share of the ecological debt that looms large in the years ahead. Christians should practice "life in all its fullness" (John 10:10) in the face of a modern materialism that has now been globalized. Steps such as these will be a testimony which could permeate societies and be a catalyst for much-needed change.

  8. As the effects of global warming can lead to conflict between populations competing over resulted scarce resources, WCC member churches' actions with regards to climate change should also be seen in relationship with the Decade to Overcome Violence and the lead-up to the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, scheduled to take place in 2011. The theme of the convocation, "Glory to God and Peace on Earth", highlights peace on earth, which should include peace with the earth as well as peace among human beings.

  9. Many churches, ecumenical organizations and specialized ministries have already started to take action concerning climate change and global warming. The Ecumenical Patriarch has played a leadership role advocating for the care of creation, involving the scientific community, including its concerns in education curricula and calling, on 1 September 1989, to observe September 1st (the beginning of the liturgical year in the Orthodox Church) as creation day. This call was reiterated by the Third European Ecumenical Assembly, meeting in Romania in September 2007. Also in September 2007, the 9th assembly of the Pacific Conference of Churches called on the churches in the Pacific to advocate for "a regional immigration policy giving citizens of countries most affected by climate change (…) rights to resettlement in other Pacific island nations", and on the global ecumenical family to support this initiative. Forty years after the WCC Uppsala assembly, the Church of Sweden is organizing in Uppsala an inter-religious summit on climate change in November 2008.

 The central committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, 13-20 February 2008: 

  1. Urgently calls the churches to strengthen their moral stand in relationship to global warming and climate change, recalling its adverse effects on poor and vulnerable communities in various parts of the world, and encourages the churches to reinforce their advocacy towards governments, NGOs, the scientific community and the business sector to intensify cooperation in response to global warming and climate change;
  2. Calls for a profound change in the relationship towards nature, economic policies, consumption, production and technological patterns. This change is based on the commitment of Christian communities and institutions, including the WCC, which should strengthen the work of the Ecumenical Centre Ecology Group to continue implementing ecological practices in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva;
  3. Encourages member churches, specialized ministries and other ecumenical partners to:
    1. share and further develop creative ways of practicing ecologically respectful relationships within the human community and with the earth;
    2. share knowledge and affordable technology that promote environmentally friendly lifestyles;
    3. monitor the ecological footprints of individuals, parishes, corporations and states and take other steps to mitigate climate change and global warming; 
  4. Urges member churches to observe through prayers and action a special time for creation, its care and stewardship, starting on September 1st every year, to advocate for the plight of people and communities of the Pacific, especially in the low lying atolls of Kiribati and Tuvalu, and to find specific ways to show our ecumenical solidarity with those most at risk;
  5. Requests theological schools, seminaries and academies to teach stewardship of all creation in order to deepen the ethical and theological understanding of the causes of global warming and climate change and of the sustainable lifestyle that is needed as a response;
  6. Promotes the exploration of inter-religious and inter-cultural avenues for cooperation and constructive response, such as the inter-religious summit planned by the Church of Sweden, ensuring a better stewardship of creation and a common witness through concrete actions.

Text also available on WCC web-site at: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/central-committee/geneva-2008/reports-and-documents/public-issues/minute-on-global-warming-and-climate-change.html

* * *

UN AND WCC ON CLIMATE CHANGE

World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org


For immediate release - 03/03/2008 06:58:51 PM

UN AND WCC GENERAL SECRETARIES FORGE CLOSER PARTNERSHIP ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND DEMOCRACY ISSUES

In a wide ranging discussion at the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC) the UN secretary general, H.E. Ban Ki-Moon and WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia found agreement for the two world bodies to work more closely on several global issues, particularly climate change.

"Global warming will only be resolved through a global common response and we need your help," Ban Ki-Moon said to Kobia and several staff gathered.

The UN leader was visiting the WCC offices at the invitation of Kobia. The two had previously met in New York last October.

Kobia opened the meeting with a brief description of how WCC and its member churches are working to mobilize churches toward a better understanding of the impact of global warming and the need to follow through beyond the Kyoto Protocol.

"We welcome your visit to the Antarctica to see the climate change issue first hand," Kobia said. "It was a powerful testimony."

"Working on global warming is a matter of faith," Kobia said. "You can count on the WCC as a strong partner in acting together now for the sake of humankind and the rest of creation."

"We would like to maintain a close partnership with the WCC," Ban Ki-Moon said. "You have high moral power and what you are doing is based on your Christian beliefs."

Saying he was very familiar with the work of the WCC he added that the WCC had played an important role in the democratization of Korea.

Ban Ki-Moon is the first UN chief from Korea.

The discussion broadened into the issue of democratic electoral processes with references by Kobia to Kenya and more recently the upheaval in Armenia. "I want to thank you for helping in Kenya as you did," Kobia, who is also a Kenyan pastor, said.

Ban Ki-Moon described how he plans to place a focus on the issues of intolerance which have led to some of the struggles and violence surrounding electoral processes.

"This is another area where the WCC can make a contribution," he said. "The world has suffered for too long with intolerances."

Kobia said the WCC work on inter-religious dialogue and cooperation promotes understanding and tolerance between people of different faiths.

He also announced that the WCC and its member churches in Africa are planning for monitoring of the upcoming elections in Zimbabwe 29 March.

"Your spirit of caring is based in Christianity," Ban Ki-Moon said. "I am glad the WCC is one of the strong partners of the UN."

Following the discussions the leaders attended a short prayer service for peace in the WCC chapel before Ban Ki-Moon returned to the UN offices which are nearby the WCC.

 

* * *

EXCERPTS FROM A FEW RECENT NEWS REPORTS

From Reuters (accessed on March 14th at http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL10842290):

Climate refugees in political pass-the-parcel

Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:04am EDT

By Megan Rowling

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - The islanders of Tuvalu could lose their homes and much of their land in the coming decades. But the world has yet to figure out how it will deal with them, and millions of others, who may be displaced by climate change.

"It's a game of political pass-the-parcel," said Andrew Simms, policy director at British think-tank New Economics Foundation. "No one wants to be left holding the problem of climate refugees."

It's a problem with immediate resonance in the nine tiny Pacific islands that make up Tuvalu.

The group of atolls and reefs is on average barely two metres above sea-level. The United Nations climate panel estimates that oceans will rise by 18-59 cms by 2100.

This, along with environmental degradation, could make large parts of Tuvalu uninhabitable.

Japanese activist and journalist Shuichi Endo has set himself the daunting task of photographing 10,000 Tuvaluans -- nearly the entire population -- in a bid to draw political attention to the threat they face from global warming.

"If industrialised countries like Japan and the United States don't cut their greenhouse gas emissions, the Tuvaluans won't be able to carry on living here," Endo said by telephone from Funafuti island, as children laughed in the background.

"Their culture will be lost, the Tuvaluans will no longer exist, and that would be very sad. Here, people live in tune with the natural environment. They don't emit carbon, and we can learn a lot from them," Endo said.

No one seems to know where the Tuvaluans would go if their islands disappear -- something one study said could happen in just 50 years.

Australia has been approached by the islands' authorities, but has not agreed to let the 12,000 islanders resettle there. New Zealand accepts 75 Tuvaluans a year under a regional immigration quota, but has no explicit policy to take in people from Pacific island countries due to climate change.

Tuvalu's plight does not augur well for millions of others -- from Africa's Sahel region to Bangladesh in south Asia -- who could be forced from their homes by climate change.

"There is a lack of concern about this right now," said Frank Biermann, a professor at Vrije University's Institute for Environmental Studies in Amsterdam.

"A crisis is unlikely to occur before 2030 or 2040," he said. "But if we don't want to see people in camps, violence and other nasty consequences, we need to start planning now."

* * *

 

From Christian Science Monitor (accessed on March 14th at http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0214/p12s01-wogi.html):

Presidential Campaigns have Climate Change on Agenda

Both leading Democrat and Republican candidates vie to show they can tackle global warming.
By Brad Knickerbocker
from the February 14, 2008 edition

Now that Sen. John McCain is the presumptive GOP nominee, all three of the leading presidential candidates seem likely to tackle climate change in a way that clearly will distinguish the next president from the George W. Bush administration.

Senator McCain was one of the first on Capitol Hill, and one of the few of his party, to acknowledge the reality of global warming and the need to act quickly. His position on the issue is one reason why hard-core conservatives have been suspicious of McCain.

As a result, Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are rushing to present themselves as greener than the Arizona Republican.

On the eve of this week's "Potomac primaries" in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, Senator Obama aligned himself with former vice president Al Gore's push to make the US take the lead on reducing greenhouse gases. The Washington Post reports:

"[Obama] said he would start developing the U.S. position on a pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol before the general election in November…. 'I think we need to start reaching out to other countries ahead of time, not because I'm presumptuous, but because there's such a sense of urgency about this.' "

All three candidates favor a "cap and trade" system that would issue oil companies, power plants, and other major big polluters permits to emit carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas thought to cause global warming.

The two Democrats have more detailed plans, including energy proposals aimed at big oil companies. But all three favor letting states set their own limits on CO2, which the Bush administration opposes.

As is usually the case, environmental groups lean Democratic rather than Republican. The League of Conservation Voters has yet to endorse a candidate, but spokesman David Sandretti says the proposals from Clinton and Obama are "very good." The Baltimore Sun reports:

" 'They address the overall need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and they set forward goals that accomplish those,' Sandretti said. 'On the Republican side, clearly one candidate stands out, and that's John McCain. He has been working on this issue for a number of years, he has legislation that will reduce greenhouse gases, has a target, it's economywide. Unfortunately, his goals are not what we feel are necessary to stem the worst effects.' "

For one thing, McCain has backtracked on his earlier opposition to ethanol subsidies, critics say. He also stresses the role of the marketplace and the profit motive in addressing the challenge of cleaner energy. In an interview published in the environmental news website, Grist.org, McCain says:

"I think most, if not all, of the ways that we can address this issue are through profit motive, free-enterprise-system-driven green technologies. General Electric dedicated itself to green technologies, and guess what? They're still making a lot of money…. Cap and trade, to me, is far more capitalistic and free-enterprise oriented [than a carbon tax].

In short, McCain's front-runner position now puts him in sharper contrast with the two Democrats, not with those of his own party who are more skeptical of climate change.

 

* * *

 

From Christian Science Monitor accessed on March 14th at http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0314/p06s01-wogn.html):

At E.U Summit, Climate Change Billed as Major Security Risk

EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana warns in a new report that detrimental climatic changes could drive millions of migrants to Europe from developing countries.

By Nicole Itano | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the March 14, 2008 edition

Athens - Rising sea levels are what some nations fear most about global warming. But in Europe, climate change is likely to mean a new flood of immigrants from Africa and other poorer countries, according to a new report.

That was one of the issues before the heads of state from the 27-member European Union as they gathered in Brussels Thursday and Friday to address climate change and, in particular, the security threats it raises.

Unchecked climate change could not only cause a flood of new environmental migrants to Europe, it could spark instability in energy-producing states and lead to the collapse of fragile states around the world, says the report by EU foreign-policy chief Javier Solana and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European commissioner for external relations. Climate change, the report says, is a "threat multiplier" which "intensifies existing trends, tensions, and instability."

European leaders say they have an important role to play in leading the world towards an agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions - and that's on this meeting's agenda, too. But increasingly, EU leaders are also seeing the need to prepare for the impacts of climate change at home. Meeting those challenges, analysts say, may require greater coordination of foreign policies.

"There's really a new approach and perspective developing," says Dirk Messner, director of the German Advisory Council on Global Change. "Climate change has been addressed until very recently as an environmental problem.... But dangerous climate change, beyond 2 degrees or so, will result in a destabilization processes around the world."

In 2007, the Solana report notes, all but one of the emergencies for which the UN appealed for humanitarian aid had climate dimensions. And new trading routes are opening in the Arctic as the polar ice caps melt, shifting the balance of power in the region.

Little in the report is new. In fact, it echoes a widely cited 2007 study by 11 retired American admirals and generals issued by CNA Corporation, a Virginia think tank.

But the stark warning from such high-ranking EU officials is likely to invigorate the debate in Europe about the links between climate and security - as well as highlight the urgency of coming to some sort of global agreement on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Europe, experts say, is not likely to experience climate-related instability within its own territory - the brunt of the impact of global warming is likely to fall on the world's poor. But on the Continent's borders are regions, such as North Africa and the Middle East, that are both political fragile and acutely vulnerable to climate change.

"Migration is the real biggie," says Jeffrey Mazo, an expert on climate and security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "What's causing the migration is food insecurity and water insecurity and general insecurity in developing nations that don't have the infrastructure to cope with climate change impacts."

 

* * *

 

From Reuters (accessed on March 14th at http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKHKG23855520080313):

China's emissions seen rising faster than thought

Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:21am GMT

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China is producing far more carbon dioxide than previous estimates and this will frustrate global aims to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gases, a group of U.S. economists said.

China is the world's second-largest emitter of CO2 and some studies suggest it might already have overtaken the United States last year. The report could add to calls for China to sign up to binding cuts, something it has refused to do.

Writing in the May issue of the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and UC San Diego said China's CO2 emissions will grow at least 11 percent annually between 2004 and 2010.

Previous estimates, including those used by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, say the region that includes China will see a 2.5 to 5 percent annual increase in CO2 emissions during the same period.

The release of the article comes as energy and environment ministers from the world's 20 major greenhouse gas emitting nations prepare to meet in Japan from Friday to discuss climate change, clean energy and sustainable development.

The G20, ranging from top polluters the United States and China to Indonesia, Brazil and South Africa, emit about 80 percent of mankind's greenhouse gases.

Pressure is growing on these nations to hammer out a pact to halt and reverse growing emissions of CO2, the main gas blamed for global warming.

In the journal report, the U.S. researchers said that by 2010, there will be an increase of 600 million metric tons of CO2 emissions in China over levels in 2000.

They said that figure from China alone would overshadow the 116 million metric tons of carbon emissions reductions pledged by all the developed countries under the Kyoto Protocol during the pact's 2008-2012 first commitment phase.

* * *

 

WCC Climate Change Update prepared by Dr. David G. Hallman, Advisor, WCC Climate Change Programme. Sources included input from members of the WCC Working Group on Climate Change and ecumenical delegates to the Bali Climate Conference as well as UNFCCC, IPCC, IISD and media internet sites.

 

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