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“Don’t get distracted,” WWF urges ministers

Posted on 14 diciembre 2009

Ministers arriving for the high level segment of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen are being urged to not get distracted from a goal of preserving the world from climate catastrophe.

Copenhagen, Denmark – Ministers arriving for the high level segment of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen are being urged to not get distracted from a goal of preserving the world from climate catastrophe.

WWF called on ministers to adopt a shared vision where the rise in average global temperature rise was limited to below two degrees and stabilises at 1.5 degrees.

“To minimize the risk of overshooting two degrees, WWF believes any measures decided at this conference should be subjected to a science review finishing no later than 2015,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s global climate initiative.

“This review, to see if what we are doing matches what we need to do, needs to be part of the agreement.”
In WWF’s view, the Copenhagen outcome should be legally binding on parties and consist of a an amended Kyoto Protocol with new and adequate emissions reductions targets for developed countries, and a new, linked Copenhagen Protocol establishing the international legal framework around climate action in the US and in developing countries.

“Any agreement on funding needs to deal not only with fast start funding, but must also specify how the immediate funding can be used to create the capacity and the institutions needed to be able to handle rapidly growing levels of funding in coming years.

“The agreement should also detail new sources of funding such as levies on international aviation and shipping and auctioning of carbon pollution permits, and it should make clear how and through what institutions the money should be distributed.”

WWF believes that there is a need to establish an international methodology to track emission reductions both in developed and developing countries.

“Parties must clearly state what their real reductions are, and the data must be clear and transparent and must follow agreed international standards” Carstensen said. “The overall objective must be to lay the basis for an outcome that will put the world on track to a less than two degree future.”

For further information:
Phil Dickie, +41 79 703 1952, [email protected]

About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

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