By Simon Leufstedt
Wednesday, 26 November, 2008

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Simon Leufstedt is the editor of Green Blog. Simon has previously studied Global Environmental Justice and is currently studying Human Ecology and Political Science at Lund University in Sweden. Simon is also blogging over at the Swedish 350 website and working with the Swedish TckTckTck organisation. You can follow Simon on Twitter.

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New climate report says we must rapidly decarbonise our society

Tomorrow a new and updated version of last year’s climate report, Climate Code Red, will be released. The Climate Safety report from the Public Interest Research Center (PIRC), an independent charity studying and communicating vital global issues in the UK, is expected to trash the out-dated climate predictions from the IPCC, and show that the climate doesn’t change little by little but instead in a landslide.

“The “Climate Safety” report gives a simple summary of the latest science, delivering a clear message that to have any chance of maintaining a safe climate, we must rapidly decarbonise our society, preserve global sinks, and address the problem with an unprecedented degree of seriousness.”

The new report is said to show that we can’t afford to follow Brown’s or Obama’s climate plans, which both calls for an 80% reduction in global emissions. Instead global emissions must decline by between 6-8% per year from 2020 to 2040, and lead up to a complete 100% decarbonisation by 2050, according to a paper by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

“Even with a commitment to 80% carbon cuts by 2050, “Climate Safety” warns that our current policy response does not match up to the scale of the challenge. Join us to discuss finding a way to get beyond “politics-as-usual” and achieve a full, emergency response.”

And if we are to keep global temperatures from reaching a 2 degree increase we need to cut global emissions by even more than 8% a year. So there is no point anymore in arguing about any percentage as everything has to go, and the sooner the better.

Some people have already read the new Climate Safety report. George Monbiot is one of them, and he says that “you cannot overstate the importance of this report: it has opened my eyes to levels of climate risk far beyond those of which I was aware. Crisp, clear-headed and profoundly shocking, this report should be read immediately by everyone who cares.”

And Mark Lynas, author of “Six Degrees”, says that “Climate Safety plainly shows us that we need to inject a sense of urgency into the debate about how we respond to climate change. It’s not about gradually reducing emissions any more, it’s about recognising the risks we face and cutting our emissions to zero as quickly as possible.”

Climate Safety is “a report to keep every policy maker awake at night,” Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party in the UK, have said. Let’s hope she is right.

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  • http://nonexistant.co.uk/forevergreen ForEverGreen

    This is an interesting comment on the disparity between differing political views on the subject of emissions. I can’t help but feel that a complete de-carbonisation by 2050 is something of a pipe dream, but none the less is a good target to have especially with it being backed by scientific impetus.
    I think it is also important to remember how far the world’s attitude to climate change has changed in the last 10 years, so it is not inconceivable that in 40 years this could be a possibility – lets all hope that it is!

  • http://TierraPath.com Brian Townsend

    Hi,

    This report is both eye-opening and frightening. We are looking to help reduce carbon emissions through promoting the usage of better building products. We are also looking for ideas on products that make a difference and the public would like to see us carry. I invite you and your community to weigh in.

    Regards,

    Brian Townsend
    Tierrapath.com

    Building products for a green world

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