by Ricardo Lagos
Both developed
and developing
countries need
to get serious
about the risk
of global warming.
One way to do
this is to establish
a global trade
system that
provides market
incentives
for low-carbon
products.
the
environment
limate change will determine the path and
future of human development for this and
future generations. It will transform how
we think and act into a more global way of
understanding our collective destiny. With
that comes the obligation to measure each
country and each society’s impact on our global environment.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are responsible for global warming have increased dramatically since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution. The spike in emissions and the risk they present
demand coordinated, innovative answers.
First, the facts.
The science is emphatic and unequivocal: our planet is getting
warmer. Average temperatures have increased. Snow caps and icebergs
are melting at a faster rate, and the average world sea level is increasing as a result. Reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), chaired by 2008 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, establish that for the first time since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution, human activity has produced substantial changes
or modifications in the earth’s temperature.
Human activities related to industrialization and modern transportation generate emissions of four long-term GHGs: carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and halocarbons (a group
of gases containing fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine). The concentrations of CO2, CH4 and N2O in the world’s atmosphere have risen
considerably—the result of human industrial activity since 1750. Today
they greatly exceed preindustrial levels. Most of the increase in carbon dioxide is due to the use of fossil fuels, with a smaller but perceptible contribution from changes in land use, particularly deforestation.
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commitment
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