Global-warming gases will be cut 50% by 2050: UN climate chief
The UN climate chief predicted that the world will reach the goal of cutting global-warming gases 50 per cent by 2050.
By Agencies |
DAVOS (SWITZERLAND): The UN climate chief predicted that the world will reach the goal of cutting global-warming gases 50 per cent by 2050 and said the US economic meltdown should spur governments to take bolder action in confronting climate change.
But Yvo de Boer added that governments must move away from taking "small incremental steps" that won't achieve the goal and change direction -- as Norway did this month with the announcement that it will become "carbon neutral" by 2030.
Others warned that the technology to cut emissions still needs to be developed.
De Boer, who presided over last month's UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, said nations can't be driven away from their agreement to adopt a blueprint for fighting global warming by 2009 because of the US financial turmoil.
"This is the time to be bold and really push through," he said yesterday, adding that some people "are going to suffer pain and other people are going to gain."
De Boer spoke to two reporters after moderating a panel at the World Economic Forum on climate change that included several energy company executives and Rajendra Pachauri, the chief UN climate scientist who chairs the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change which shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore.
"We have the International Energy Agency telling us that if we continue with business as usual then greenhouse gas emissions will go up by 50 per cent whereas Pachauri is telling us emissions need to go down by 50 per cent," de Boer said.
But Yvo de Boer added that governments must move away from taking "small incremental steps" that won't achieve the goal and change direction -- as Norway did this month with the announcement that it will become "carbon neutral" by 2030.
Others warned that the technology to cut emissions still needs to be developed.
De Boer, who presided over last month's UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, said nations can't be driven away from their agreement to adopt a blueprint for fighting global warming by 2009 because of the US financial turmoil.
"This is the time to be bold and really push through," he said yesterday, adding that some people "are going to suffer pain and other people are going to gain."
De Boer spoke to two reporters after moderating a panel at the World Economic Forum on climate change that included several energy company executives and Rajendra Pachauri, the chief UN climate scientist who chairs the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change which shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore.
ADVERTISEMENT
"We have the International Energy Agency telling us that if we continue with business as usual then greenhouse gas emissions will go up by 50 per cent whereas Pachauri is telling us emissions need to go down by 50 per cent," de Boer said.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
