Ban: people feel ‘planet’s wrath’ over warming

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said people around the world are feeling the “wrath of a warming planet”, and he’s urged almost 200 governments to take tougher action to reach a deal in 2015 on fighting global warming.

Mr Ban told environment ministers at climate talks in the Polish capital, Warsaw, they had a steep climb ahead to agree to cut rising greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say fuel more extreme climate conditions.

The Warsaw talks are struggling to lay the foundations for a new global accord, meant to be agreed in 2015 and enter into force from 2020.

Reuters Newsagency reports the agreement looks likely to be a patchwork of pledges by national governments rather than a strong treaty.

Many developed nations are more focused on spurring sluggish economic growth than fixing global warming.

This is despite scientists’ increased certainty that human emissions will cause more heatwaves, droughts, floods and rising sea levels.

Developing nations, led by China and India, insist that the rich must continue to lead while they focus on ending poverty.

“All around the world, people now face and fear the wrath of a warming planet,” Mr Ban said, referring to extreme weather events such as Typhoon Haiyan that killed more than 3900 people in the Philippines this month.

Current pledges for curbing global warming were “simply inadequate”, Mr Ban said.

“Here, too, we must set the bar higher.”

He said governments needed to step up aid to help poor nations slow their rising emissions of greenhouse gases and to adapt to the impacts of warming.

No major nations have set tougher national goals for cutting greenhouse gases in Warsaw.

Japan disappointed many last week by saying it was watering down goals for 2020 after closing its nuclear industry after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Australia has also caused consternation with the new conservative Liberal-National government’s moves to roll-back carbon pricing in the country, one of the highest per capita polluters in the world.

A report by 49 experts in 10 nations said that carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels would rise to a record 36 billion tonnes this year.

“I am deeply concerned that the scale of our actions is still insufficient to limit global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels,” Mr Ban said.

Governments agreed the two degrees Celsius ceiling in 2010 as a maximum permitted to prevent dangerous change.

Temperatures have already risen by about 0.8 degrees Celsius from before the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century.

Mr Ban said there were some signs of hope, pointing to actions by governments, business, cities and farmers to cut emissions.

The Secretary General has invited world leaders to attend a summit at UN headquarters in New York on September 23, 2014.

“I ask all who come to bring bold new announcements and action,” he said.