Wed, Nov 28, 2012
The World Economic Forum and UN Climate
Change secretariat forge a partnership to
showcase new models for financing climate-friendly
investments
Bonn, Geneva, 27 November 2012 - The World
Economic Forum and the United Nations Climate
Change secretariat announced today the launch
of "Momentum for Change: Innovative
Financing for Climate-friendly Investment",
an initiative that showcases successful
public-private financing mechanisms and
approaches to support climate change adaption
and mitigation activities.
The initiative will
inform governments, investors, business,
public finance agencies and the media about
practical ways and means to enable a global
shift to environmentally and economically
sustainable growth. It will be formally
launched on 6 December during the United
Nations Climate Change Conference, taking
place in Doha, Qatar, from 26 November to
7 December.
"It is clear that
the private sector needs to deliver significant
investments to put the world on a path to
a climate-secure future," said Christiana
Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary. "However,
given the scale of investment needed, the
newness of technology solutions and the
perception of risk that exists, the current
level of investment is far too low. The
public sector can help to unlock private
finance and ensure supportive policy frameworks
for climate-friendly investment."
"Momentum for Change:
Innovative Financing for Climate-friendly
Investment" builds upon the results
of the larger Momentum for Change initiative
by the United Nations Climate Change secretariat,
which was launched at last year's United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban,
South Africa, to highlight public-private
partnerships that are addressing climate
change, and have the potential to be expanded
and replicated.
"The World Economic
Forum is pleased to be working with the
United Nations Climate Change secretariat
to help document and share successful public-private
models that deliver innovative finance to
address climate change, one of the most
pressing global challenges that we face,"
added Børge Brende, Managing Director
of the World Economic Forum.
The initiative will
also benefit from the World Economic Forum's
Green Growth Action Alliance, which includes
over 50 of the world's largest energy companies,
international financial institutions and
development finance banks working to deliver
greater investments into clean energy, transportation,
agriculture and other green investments.
Developing countries
are forecast to represent over 60% of global
GDP by 2030. However, given growing environmental
and resource challenges such as climate
change and water security, the imperative
for shifting development onto a resource-efficient
growth pathway is increasingly clear. Governments
can use strategically targeted public monies
and policies to address the risks faced
by private investors, resulting in a significant
increase in private capital flows for climate-friendly
development.
Journalists accredited
to the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha
are invited to the launch event of the partnership
on 6 December at 13.00 at the Qatar National
Convention Centre in Doha.
The new initiative will
be delivered in collaboration with the Green
Growth Action Alliance, launched at the
2012 G20 Summit with Mexican President Felipe
Calderón as Chair and the World Economic
Forum as secretariat.
Notes to Editors
Georg Schmitt, Communications and Media,
World Economic Forum, Tel.: +41 (0)79 799
1385, georg.schmitt@weforum.org
Luis Davila, Programme
Officer, United Nations Climate Change secretariat,
Tel.: +49 (0)228 815 1137 ldavila@unfccc.int
About Momentum for Change
Momentum for Change aims to create a public
platform that raises awareness about concrete
mitigation and adaptation actions being
implemented by a wide range of stakeholders
at the regional, national or local level.
Momentum for Change seeks to demonstrate
the multiple benefits of addressing climate
change and to transform misperceptions surrounding
taking action on climate change.
About the UNFCCC With
195 Parties, the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has
near universal membership and is the parent
treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto
Protocol has been ratified by 193 of the
UNFCCC Parties. Under the Protocol, 37 States,
consisting of highly industrialized countries
and countries undergoing the process of
transition to a market economy, have legally
binding emission limitation and reduction
commitments. The ultimate objective of both
treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level
that will prevent dangerous human interference
with the climate system.
About the World Economic
Forum The World Economic Forum is an independent
international organization committed to
improving the state of the world by engaging
leaders in partnerships to shape global,
regional and industry agendas. Incorporated
as a foundation in 1971, and headquartered
in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic
Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it
is tied to no political, partisan or national
interests (http://www.weforum.org).
+ More
Thawing of Permafrost
Expected to Cause Significant Additional
Global Warming, Not yet Accounted for in
Climate Predictions
Tue, Nov 27, 2012
Policymakers and Climate Scientists Must
Monitor and Prepare for Large Carbon Dioxide
and Methane Emissions from Permafrost, Says
UNEP Report
A scientist standing in front of an ice-rich
permafrost exposure on the coast of Herschel
Island, Yukon Territory (photo: Michael
Fritz).
Doha, 27 November 2012
- Permafrost covering almost a quarter of
the northern hemisphere contains 1,700 gigatonnes
of carbon, twice that currently in the atmosphere,
and could significantly amplify global warming
should thawing accelerate as expected, according
to a new report released today by the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP).
Warming permafrost can
also radically change ecosystems and cause
costly infrastructural damage due to increasingly
unstable ground, the report says.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Download Full Report
Policy Implications of Warming Permafrost
seeks to highlight the potential hazards
of carbon dioxide and methane emissions
from warming permafrost, which have not
thus far been included in climate-prediction
modelling. The science on the potential
impacts of warming permafrost has only begun
to enter the mainstream in the last few
years, and as a truly "emerging issue"
could not have been included in climate
change modelling to date.
The report recommends
a special IPCC assessment on permafrost
and the creation of national monitoring
networks and adaptation plans as key steps
to deal with potential impacts of this significant
source of emissions, which may become a
major factor in global warming.
"Permafrost is
one of the keys to the planet's future because
it contains large stores of frozen organic
matter that, if thawed and released into
the atmosphere, would amplify current global
warming and propel us to a warmer world,"
said UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP
Executive Director Achim Steiner.
"Its potential
impact on the climate, ecosystems and infrastructure
has been neglected for too long," he
added. "This report seeks to communicate
to climate-treaty negotiators, policy makers
and the general public the implications
of continuing to ignore the challenges of
warming permafrost."
Most of the current
permafrost formed during or since the last
ice age and extends to depths of more than
700 meters in parts of northern Siberia
and Canada. Permafrost consists of an active
layer of up to two metres in thickness,
which thaws each summer and refreezes each
winter, and the permanently frozen soil
beneath.
Should the active layer
increase in thickness due to warming, huge
quantities of organic matter stored in the
frozen soil would begin to thaw and decay,
releasing large amounts of CO2 and methane
into the atmosphere.
Once this process begins,
it will operate in a feedback loop known
as the permafrost carbon feedback, which
has the effect of increasing surface temperatures
and thus accelerating the further warming
of permafrost - a process that would be
irreversible on human timescales.
Arctic and alpine air
temperatures are expected to increase at
roughly twice the global rate, and climate
projections indicate substantial loss of
permafrost by 2100. A global temperature
increase of 3°C means a 6°C increase
in the Arctic, resulting in an irreversible
loss of anywhere between 30 to 85 per cent
of near-surface permafrost.
Warming permafrost could
emit 43 to 135 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide
equivalent by 2100 and 246 to 415 gigatonnes
by 2200. Emissions could start within the
next few decades and continue for several
centuries.
Permafrost emissions
could ultimately account for up to 39 per
cent of total emissions, and the report's
lead author warned that this must be factored
in to the treaty to address global climate
change expected to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
"The release of
carbon dioxide and methane from warming
permafrost is irreversible: once the organic
matter thaws and decays away, there is no
way to put it back into the permafrost,"
said lead author Kevin Schaefer, from the
University of Colorado's National Snow and
Ice Data Center.
"Anthropogenic
emissions' targets in the climate change
treaty need to account for these emissions
or we risk overshooting the 2°C maximum
warming target," he added.
Most of the recent climate
projections are biased on the low side relative
to global temperature because the models
do not at this time include the permafrost
carbon feedback, the report says. Consequently,
targets for anthropogenic greenhouse gas
emissions based on these climate projections
would be biased high.
Ecosystems and Infrastructure
under Threat
Warming permafrost also
brings negative consequences in terms of
ecosystem and infrastructure damage.
The dominant ecosystems
in permafrost regions are boreal forests
to the south and tundra to the north. Permafrost
is impermeable to water, so rain and melt
water pool on the surface - forming innumerable
lakes and wetlands which are used by migratory
birds as summer breeding grounds.
Ecosystem disturbances
due to permafrost degradation will change
species composition, and with it animal
habitat and migration, according to the
report.
Longer growing seasons
due to higher temperatures favour the growth
of shrubs and woody vegetation resulting
in a northward migration of the tree line.
Permafrost degradation and the resultant
drying of the land can also result in disturbances
such as fires. Fire in boreal forests has
recently increased in intensity and frequency,
and could become more common in tundra regions.
However, thawing permafrost
is structurally weak, resulting in foundational
settling that can damage or even destroy
buildings, roads, pipelines, railways and
power lines. Infrastructure failure can
have dramatic environmental consequences,
as seen in the 1994 breakdown of the pipeline
to the Vozei oilfield in Northern Russia,
which resulted in a spill of 160,000 tonnes
of oil, the world's largest terrestrial
oil spill.
Roads, buildings and
other infrastructure in discontinuous permafrost,
which tends to be warmer, and along the
Arctic coast, where salt content means small
temperature changes can turn ice to ground
water, are most vulnerable to damage.
Climate change already
could add up to US$6.1 billion to future
costs for public infrastructure in the US
state of Alaska between now and 2030, for
example, and while there are only a handful
of studies and reports evaluating the economic
impacts of permafrost degradation, these
indicate infrastructure maintenance and
repair costs will increase.
"Thawing permafrost
represents a dramatic physical change with
huge impacts to ecosystems and human infrastructure,"
said Mr. Schaefer. "Individual nations
need to develop plans to evaluate the risks,
costs, and mitigation strategies to protect
human infrastructure in permafrost regions
most vulnerable to thaw."
Recommendations
The report issues the
following specific policy recommendations
to address the potential economic, social
and environmental impacts of permafrost
degradation in a warming climate:
Commission a Special
Report on Permafrost Emissions: The IPCC
may consider preparing a special assessment
report on how carbon dioxide and methane
emissions from warming permafrost would
influence global climate to support climate
change policy discussions and treaty negotiations.
Create National Permafrost Monitoring Networks:
To adequately monitor permafrost, individual
countries may consider taking over operation
of monitoring sites within their borders,
increasing funding, standardizing the measurements
and expanding coverage. This applies particularly
to countries with the most permafrost: Russia,
Canada, China and the United States. The
International Permafrost Association should
continue to coordinate development and the
national networks should remain part of
the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost.
Plan for Adaptation: Nations with substantial
permafrost, such as those mentioned above,
may consider evaluating the potential risks,
damage and costs of permafrost degradation
to critical infrastructure. Most nations
currently do not have such plans, which
will help policy makers, national planners
and scientists quantify costs and risks
associated with permafrost degradation.
