New IPCC report
shows world unprepared for dangers of climate change
Greenpeace urges swift
transition to renewable energy to disarm threat
By GREENPEACE
March 31, 2014
YOKOHAMA, Japan –
Greenpeace urged world leaders to accelerate the transition to clean
and safe energy as the UN climate panel issued on Monday a new warning
on the looming climate chaos.
The Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) said climate change impacts are already
widespread across all continents and oceans and rapidly worsening. How
bad it will get hinges on near-term choices.
"We’re walking a tightrope,
but if we act boldly and cut climate pollution faster major threats to
human security can still be avoided and vital ocean systems, forests
and species protected. Our actions will define how history will judge
us and we question world leaders: will you stand with us?" said Kaisa
Kosonen at Greenpeace International.
The IPCC report found that
climate change is a growing threat to human security, as it
exacerbates food and water vulnerabilities and indirectly increases
the risks of migration and violent conflicts.
"Oil rigs and coal power
plants are weapons of mass destruction, loading the atmosphere with
destructive carbon emissions that don't respect national borders. To
protect our peace and security, we must disarm them and accelerate the
transition to clean and safe renewable energy that’s already started,"
said Jen Maman, Peace Adviser at Greenpeace International.
The issue of economic
impacts, where estimations vary wildly, has also grabbed attention,
but for vulnerable regions losses caused by climate change cannot be
valued in terms of GDP alone.
"Let’s not get distracted by
limited economic models or be blinded by global GDP. What value can
you put on the lives of 8,000 people left dead or missing by typhoon
Haiyan? Or what is the cost of the trauma of children being torn from
their mother's arms due to storm surges? That is the true cost of
climate change that should define the urgency of the action we take,"
said Amalie Obusan, Regional Climate and Energy Campaigner at
Greenpeace Southeast Asia and based in the Philippines.
"Today it's the victims who
are paying the costs of climate change while polluters are going free.
Oil, coal and gas companies are earning huge profits but not being
held liable for the damage they are causing. This has got to change
and we are determined to change it."
Greenpeace demands
governments to come to the climate summit of UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon in September with serious offers that will help achieve a 100%
renewable energy system. Solar, wind and other clean energy are
already challenging our old system, but governments must accelerate
the transition.