Climate change concerns

When we look back to the world's "biggest ever" climate change conference held in Bali, Indonesia, last December, we recall the purpose of the conference - to lay the groundwork for a new international climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol on global warming when it expires at the end of 2012.

The Bali Conference ended with the adoption of a Roundmap for reaching agreement on ways to tackle climate change. Bali was not the end. It was the beginning of a series of talks to develop specific actions over the next two years as to how the world would meet "the defining challenge of the century."

Report after report supports U.N. Under - Secretary - General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes' assertion that climate change is already transforming the planet. If the world's scientists are right, the onslaught of droughts, flooding, intensive storms and heat waves of last year are but a curtain rising on our future.

The American Public Health Association warns that "climate change is affecting our health now and in the future." Across the globe heat stress, extreme weather, air pollution, water-borne and food-borne diseases and vector-borne diseases are becoming more prevalent.

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that the effects of global warming will be irreversible if action isn't taken within the next decade.

Delegates from 163 countries recently concluded the first of the Roadmap's series of meetings which must forge a new global warming pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol. The meeting was held in Bangkok, Thailand. Yva de Boer, Executive Secretary, U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, opened the conference stating: "We know we stand at the dawn of a very busy one and a half years in the climate change process." He pointed out that a clear agenda needs to be agreed upon and that, because of the scientific findings, the solutions need to:

* Significantly increase the extent of adaptation to reduce vulnerability. This means we should train and prepare for natural disasters, build safer and prepare for known risks and the consequences. * * Stop the increase of global emissions within the next 10 - 15 years. * * Dramatically cut back emissions by mid - century at the latest. * * Do so in a way that is economically viable worldwide. * The United States has consistently refused to join in any international pacts that would address global warming. We refused to sign on to the Kyoto Protocol. We were reluctant participants in the Bali meeting. We have questioned the accuracy of scientific reports indicating the seriousness of climate change. The negotiating agenda approved at Bali and the upcoming two years of negotiations will help determine the success of the world's efforts to hold down rising temperatures in the future and to deal with the crises at hand. We cannot turn back the clock. We can look ahead and act. The next president and congress should be held to account. We need to be active participants in the process that will be ongoing over the next two years.

For more information go to the USCCB Web site: www. usccb.org for information on the moral and human dimensions of climate change, or Catholic Charities for videos addressing the issue at 1601 Military Rd, Sioux City, IA 51103; telephone 712-252-4547; e-mail: cathchar@ cableone.net.

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