03 May 2007 - Bangkok,
Thailand – While some governments try to
delay action, the switch to a cleaner and
more efficient energy system is already
underway, according to a new report from
WWF.
A new briefing from the global conservation
organization — Stop Climate Change: It Is
Possible — highlights 15 ways in which people,
business and governments can reduce CO2
emissions and help slow global warming.
The report also highlights initiatives
from around the world, ranging from India
to Brazil, that save energy and reduce carbon
pollution.
In Thailand, a new law encourages the clean
production of energy from biofuel plants
that will feed into the electricity grid.
Elsewhere, major businesses have signed
up for WWF's Climate Savers programme and
are actively reducing their carbon emissions.
And in the UK, a new campaign shows that
people can simply unplug their phone chargers
to cut stand-by power consumption.
"Taking action brings real savings
and other benefits to consumers and businesses
while preventing dangerous climate change,"
says Hans Verolme, Director of WWF's Global
Climate Change Programme.
"The planet is running a fever and
people are working with WWF to cool it.
Global warming is costing us dearly already
but by acting now we can avoid future calamities."
The third working group of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), meeting
in Bangkok this week, is expected to show
that the cost of doing nothing about global
warming is far higher than the cost of cleaning
up our economies.
WWF says that to stay below a dangerous
rise in temperature of 2°C, the world
needs to reduce global CO2 emissions by
over 50 per cent by the middle of this century.
Independent economic assessments have confirmed
that this pays off.
The Stern Review on the economics of climate
change, published by the British government
in October 2006, showed that doing nothing
about climate change can cost the world’s
economies up to 20 per cent of Gross Domestic
Product, while the cost of climate action
remains at 1 per cent.
"We have all the technological and
economic tools available today," adds
Dr Stephan Singer, Head of WWF's European
Climate Change Programme and expert reviewer
of the report by IPCC Working Group III.
"Governments now need to implement
clean energy solutions and remove the obstacles
that still prevent their break-through.
The facts are clear, preventing climate
change is the best deal for the global economy.
So why are we still waiting?"
Martin Hiller, Communications Manager
WWF Global Climate Change Programme
Brian Thomson, Press Officer
WWF International
