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22 Dec 2009 09:46:00
A golden opportunity wasted is the opinion of one leading academic at the University of Bedfordshire after the conclusion of the Copenhagen ‘circus’.
Professor James Crabbe, Dean of the Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies and Science (CATS), is a leading environmental scientist and campaigner at the University.
He said: “It is very disappointing that nothing legally binding has come out of Copenhagen. It was a chance for sharing global resources - important for achieving the millennium goals and poverty relief as well as for mitigating climate change - which has been missed.”
An agreement dubbed the Copenhagen Accord drawn up by leaders from the US, China, India, Brazil and South Africa on Friday night was formally accepted by the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15) during a closing session on Saturday morning.
Professor Crabbe said: “The text is still strongly debated, and it remains to be seen how many countries will sign up to the ‘accord’.
“Whatever the details, it is not enough to combat the threat of a warming planet. US President Barack Obama said the deal would be a foundation for global action but there was ‘much further to go’.”
The accord includes a recognition to limit temperature rises to less than two degrees centigrade and promises to deliver $30bn of aid for developing nations over the next three years. It outlines a goal of providing $100bn a year by 2020 to help poor countries cope with the impacts of climate change.
Professor Crabbe said: “An average temperature rise of two degrees centigrade will mean a number of areas with higher temperature rises. For example, many of the world’s coral reefs will not survive such global warming if other stressors stay the same.”
And Professor Crabbe added: “It makes funding for research in geoengineering, together with the development of methods to protect our coastal resources - including coral reefs - even more important.”
There are two categories of geoengineering – shortwave solar radiation management and Professor Crabbe’s preferred method of longwave carbon dioxide removal.
Latest news» 2009» December» Opportunity's been missed at Copenhagen
