Tiempo Climate Newswatch

The fires that swept California recently may presage a greater frequency of such events as climate change generates heavier vegetation and fuel loads. These fires are "exactly what we've been projecting to happen, both in short-term fire forecasts for this year and the longer term patterns that can be linked to global climate change," said Ronald Neilson of Oregon State University in the United States.

A warming planet means more evaporation and greater rainfall. "That can lead, at times, to heavier vegetation loads popping up and creation of a tremendous fuel load," according to Neilson. "But the warmth and other climatic forces are also going to create periodic droughts. If you get an ignition source during these periods, the fires can just become explosive," he continued. Three consecutive heatwaves contributed to the severe forest fires over Greece this summer.

The International Carbon Active Partnership (ICAP) has been launched to accelerate the development of a global carbon market. Founding members are nine nations of the European Union, Norway, New Zealand, four states in the United States and one Canadian province, all of whom are involved in national or regional carbon market initiatives. José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said that ICAP "will be saying that leaders from across the developed world, leaders with vision, can work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; can put in place the tools at home and globally that are so essential if we are to succeed in tackling the greatest challenge of our generation."

ICAP will facilitate world-wide emissions trading by acting as a forum and information exchange for governments and public authorities. The Partnership plans to develop a set of agreed standards on emissions trading, including verifying and reporting of emissions, and flexible means of compliance. According to the ICAP Declaration, "future linking of emissions trading systems may provide emissions reductions at lower cost, and accelerate the scale of innovation. Larger trading volumes and improved market liquidity are likely to yield robust price signals. Linked systems may also stabilize investor expectations and help mobilize capital for the necessary transition to a global low-carbon economy."

"The systematic destruction of the Earth's natural and nature-based resources has reached a point where... the bill we hand on to our children may prove impossible to pay," warned Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Environment Programme, launching GEO 4. GEO 4 is the latest report in the Global Environment Outlook series. "The fact that we are in the year 2007, with all the knowledge that we have and with all the capacity to do things differently, to present to the world at this point a report that essentially says that our response has been woefully inadequate is a very sobering realization," he observed.

On climate change, GEO 4 calls for greater progress in emissions mitigation. It concludes that "mainstreaming climate concerns in development planning is urgent, especially in sectors such as energy, transport, agriculture, forests and infrastructure development, at both policy and implementation levels." On biodiversity, the report warns that the world faces its sixth mass extinction event in 450 million years as a result of human development. Persistent problems include the decline of fish stocks, loss of fertile land, unsustainable pressure on resources, decreasing availability of fresh water and the risk that environmental damage could pass "unknown points of no return."