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The following press briefing took place in Ottawa on November 13, 2007.

Leading Scientist Presents Briefing on Climate Science Report in advance of key UN negotiations

(Ottawa) This week, scientists from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are meeting in Spain to prepare a summary report on climate science aimed squarely at the world’s governments. The report to be released Nov. 17 will guide negotiations on the next phase of the Kyoto Protocol when the parties meet just two weeks later in Bali, Indonesia.

Climate Action Network Canada-Réseau action climat Canada (CAN-RAC) is pleased to present a technical briefing for journalists from one of Canada’s leading climate scientists on the significance of the IPCC’s report.

Dr. John Stone, an adjunct research professor at Carleton University and former Environment Canada climate science director, is currently the Vice-Chair of the IPCC’s Working Group II (Impacts and Adaptation). He will call in from the IPCC’s meetings in Valencia, Spain.

Dr. Stone will be joined by John Bennett (Executive Director, climateforchange.ca), Matthew Bramley (Director, Climate Change Program, Pembina Institute), and Steven Guilbeault (Spokesman, Climate Change and Energy, Équiterre).

Backgrounder

(also see Greenpeace International briefing note, here):

The IPCC is a United Nations organization charged with reviewing and summarizing the science and economics of climate change. It is widely considered the world’s most authoritative source of scientific and technical information on climate change, and recently shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore in recognition of its work.

The Panel’s three working groups have each released reports in the course of 2007. February’s physical science report concluded that the “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and is mainly due to human activities. A second report, which examined the impacts of climate change, projected catastrophic consequences if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are allowed to continue rising unchecked. In May, the third working group concluded that deep reductions in GHG emissions are technically feasible, affordable and urgent.

This week, scientists will finalize a synthesis report for policymakers that includes key conclusions from each of the three working group reports. As nations prepare for the crucial Kyoto negotiations taking place this December in Bali, Indonesia, the IPCC’s Synthesis Report will be the key source of information on the scale and urgency of global climate change.

In August, a preparatory meeting for Bali incorporated the IPCC’s analysis that industrialized countries need to reduce their GHG emissions by 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020 into its final communiqué. (This is the range of emission reductions that the IPCC projects will be needed by 2020 to have a reasonable chance of avoiding a 2°C rise in global temperatures, relative to pre-industrial levels.)

Although Environment Minister John Baird has expressed support for the IPCC’s work, his 2020 target for Canada – roughly 2% above the 1990 level – falls far short of the IPCC’s analysis and of targets taken by leading countries.

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