FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IPCC Summary Report Puts Climate Solutions Back in Focus

Nov 13, 2007

 

Recent Nobel Peace Prize Highlights Importance of Scientific Findings

Contact: Annie E. Strickler, 510.844.0699

Oakland, CA – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release its Synthesis report this week, and is expected to emphasize the need for significant and swift action to combat global warming and highlight the core findings of three reports earlier this year. IPCC members are engaged in week-long meetings in Valencia, Spain, where the final installment of the Fourth Assessment Report is scheduled for release Saturday morning. More information is available at www.ipcc.ch and www.ipccinfo.com

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Last month the IPCC received, along with former Vice President Al Gore, the Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.” The conclusion of the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report comes as international leaders prepare for international climate negotiations in Indonesia in December as part of the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP-13).

“Yet again the world’s preeminent scientists are ringing the alarm bells and calling for prompt, decisive action to address global warming pollution, underscoring the importance of local climate action underway across the U.S.,” said Michelle Wyman, Executive Director of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability. 

Indeed, local governments have pioneered sensible climate protection solutions in the U.S. with remarkable results. Mayors and other local leaders are finding that local climate action can be both simple and cutting-edge, it’s cost-effective, and isn’t about a silver bullet but rather a portfolio of solutions. But the challenges of shouldering the burden at the local level alone is clear.

“What local leaders know, and the latest IPCC report underscores, is that local governments can’t do it alone,” said Wyman. “Local government experience should be inspiring and informative for our leaders in Washington.”

“Local action is leading the way, but it’s going to take everyone – individuals, businesses, and governments at all levels – working together to make sure we don’t saddle future generations with the burdens of inaction,” said Wyman. “Together, we can transform the potential problems associated with global warming into positive, innovative solutions.”

The Fourth Assessment Report includes:
-- Working Group I's "Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis," issued on February 2 in Paris.
-- Working Group II's "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability," issued on April 6 in Brussels.
-- Working Group III's "Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change," to be issued on May 4 in Bangkok.

The IPCC is an international body of more than 2,500 scientists from 192 countries, charged in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) with assessing the "risk of human-induced climate change."

 

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