Scientists warn G8 of climate peril to food

Yahoo News 9 Jun 08;

Scientists from Group of Eight countries and the five biggest emerging nations urged next month's G8 summit to ratchet up action against global warming, warning that climate change threatened food and water supplies.

The 13 academies called for leaders to commit to a goal -- sketched in the 2007 Heiligendamm summit as something they would "seriously consider" -- that would halve global emissions of carbon gases by 2050.

They also demanded urgent action to improve energy efficiency and expand renewable energy and for a timetable, to be drawn up by 2009, for building "carbon capture" plants to snare carbon dioxide from power stations and other big emitters.

"Progress in reducing global greenhouse gas emission has been slow," they said. "Climate change is a pressing issue for today."

"Key vulnerabilities include water resources, food supply, health, coastal settlements and some ecocystems, particuarly Arctic, tundra, alpine and coral reef.

"The most sensitive regions are likely to include the Arctic, Africa, small islands and the densely-populated Asian mega-deltas," the statement added.

In a press statement, Martin Rees, president of Britain's Royal Society, said: "Food and water shortages are now a dangerous reality particularly in many developing countries.

"In the coming years, they will be aggravated by rising populations, and climate change. These threats must be properly assessed and solutions identified if we are to avoid costly mistakes from investing in technologies and infrastructure that do not take climate change into account."

The joint statement was signed by the heads of the national academies of science of the G8 countries and of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.

It is the fourth appeal on climate change issued by the 13 academies ahead of the annual summit of the G8, which comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

The first appeal came ahead of the 2005 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

This year's summit runs from July 7-9 in Toyako, a lakeside resort on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Capture carbon to avert catastrophic climate change, say world's scientists

Chris Smyth, Times Online 10 Jun 08;

The world must have a clear plan to fit power stations with facilities to capture carbon dioxide within a year to prevent "catastrophic" climate change, the world's leading scientific bodies said today.

But the warning came as Britain's support for the technology was blasted as "woefully inadequate" by experts.

The Royal Society, along with the scientific academies of the eight leading industrial nations and of five other countries including China and India, says that millions will be at risk from food and water shortages if action is not taken.

They are calling on next month's G8 summit to begin action now to halve global emissions by 2050. The scientists say this will not be achieved without the ability to capture to capture and store carbon from coal-fired power stations.

Carbon capture technology works by separating and liquefying carbon dioxide emitted by power plants. This is then stored deep underground, often in depleted coal or gas fields. Some technologies can also use the injection liquid carbon dioxide to force out more gas.

"Coal will continue to be one of the world's primary energy sources for the next 50 years. If coal burning power plants and industries continue to pump out carbon dioxide unabated we face a growing risk of triggering a dangerous and irreversible change in the climate. Techniques for carbon capture and storage must therefore be developed urgently," said Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society.

"So much is at stake that current efforts are quite inadequate. The nations at the G8 summit should commit themselves to a much expanded and coordinated programme. The sooner this technology can be proven and widely adopted, and annual carbon dioxide emissions stopped from rising, the lower the risk of catastrophic climate change."

But Britain is falling behind the pace on this technology – which could on its own cut global emissions by up to 50 per cent – because of failing government policy, according to a report for the Policy Exchange think tank.

Half of the commercial schemes planned in Britain have fallen through because the Government has refused price supports needed to make the experimental technology viable, the report claims. It recommends that carbon capture technology be given the same price guarantees as wind power.

"The industry is currently way ahead of Government. An electricity market is needed which enables this new industry to see a fair price for decarbonised electricity, take risks, grow rapidly, and build not one, but a suite of clean power plants in the UK,” said Stuart Haszeldine, Professor of Geology at the University of Edinburgh and co-author of the report.

“If Government takes heed and acts now we can ensure that CCS does not become just another missed UK opportunity. The UK was first to industrialise and now can be first to decarbonise.”

The report estimates that fitting carbon capture technology to all large UK coal and gas-fired power stations would add GBP60 a year to average household bills, less than most other renewables.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that global temperatures will rise by 0.2C to 0.4C over the next 20 years and that to stabilise the climate emissions must be reduced to less than half current levels.