30 January 2006 - Greens have called for an urgent rethink of government policy after a report published today warns that dangerous climate change is further advanced than previously thought.

‘Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change’, a synthesis report based on the February 2005 Climate Change conference in Exeter organised by DEFRA, warns that a two per cent rise in global average temperature will melt the Greenland ice cap, raising sea levels by seven metres and destroying the homes and livelihoods of millions.

The report, which has been peer-reviewed by scientists, says that to have a reasonable chance of preventing a two-degree temperature hike, the concentration of greenhouse gas Carbon Dioxide (CO2) should be stabilised at less than 400 parts per million (ppm).

Caroline Lucas, a Green Party Euro-MP and member of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, said the message was clear. “Scientists agree that climate change is worse than previously thought and that stabilising CO2 levels is more urgent than ever,” she said.

“The government has repeatedly claimed – not least in three general election manifestos - that tackling climate change is a top priority.

“But the gap between its rhetoric and action continues to widen, even as the scientists’ warnings become increasingly urgent. Just today, the Government’s chief scientific advisor Sir David King admitted that we can and must reduce atmospheric CO2 levels to 400 ppm, but that doing so would be politically unfeasible.

“This is a shameless admission of the Government’s dereliction of duty. The truth is the UK, like the rest of the world, faces a predictable and devastating tragedy – indeed its first chapters are already unfolding.

“Our government must do everything in its power to reduce CO2 emissions before it’s too late: that means a complete review of government policy, an end to road and airport construction and a massive investment in energy efficiency and renewable technologies – and a renewed embrace of international mechanisms to persuade the rest of the developed and industrialized world to do the same."

Dr Lucas, who commissioned the Association for Conservation of Energy (ACE) report ‘So Much Hot Air’ last October, which detailed the UK government’s failure to implement EU law on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, added:

“Scientists are pretty much in agreement about the dangers of doing nothing to prevent climate change. We need our politicians to wake up – and expend as much political will on the coming crisis at they might following, for example, a tsunami which destroyed the UK’s coastal towns and cities overnight, or even a hostile military invasion.

“Can you imagine the government claiming that defending the country from invasion would be preferable but politically unfeasible? Of course not – and its attitude to tackling climate change, which has a far greater potential for destruction, should be no different.”

ENDS

‘So Much Hot Air’