Posted on 23 November
2009 - Kathmandu, Nepal – Legendary mountaineer
Apa Sherpa and fellow Everest summiteer
Dawa Steven Sherpa are embarking on what
could be their most important expedition
-- a trek through 10 European cities to
raise awareness about the impacts of climate
change in the Himalayas.
The two mountaineers
began their European travels on Nov. 20,
travelling from Prague to Brno, and are
now in Bratislava. They will continue through
London, Rome, Geneva, Chamonix, Vienna,
Brussels and finally to Copenhagen in time
for the climate change negotiations in December.
The journey which started
with Apa Sherpa taking a Climate Change
banner to the Everest Summit during his
19th Record ascent earlier this year, will
now culminate on the European continent,
one of the highest per capita greenhouse
gas emitting regions in the world.
"The European Expedition
will be like climbing Everest,” said Dawa
Steven Sherpa. “Starting from the Base Camp
in Kathmandu, we will be setting up subsequent
camps throughout Europe – all helping us
to reach our ultimate goal – the Summit
- Copenhagen."
In their European journey,
they will meet high-profile politicians
and celebrities and people in the streets
of these European cities to deliver the
message from the Himalayas, where small
communities literally live at the frontiers
of climate change impacts.
Apa and Dawa will reach
out to the people in Europe - the actions
of whom will determine the future of Apa’s
community and hundreds of millions of other
people who live in the drainage system of
the Himalayas.
The European Expedition
is part of the Climate for Life Campaign
initiated by WWF Nepal to raise the profile
of the Himalayas in the global climate debate
in collaboration with the government of
Nepal, its development partners, and a large
number of non-profit and private organizations.
WWF Nepal Country Representative,
Anil Manandhar said: "During Climate
Change debates, Himalayas, the third pole,
has never got the rightful attention of
international community."
"Apa and Dawa's
European Expedition will be crucial in raising
awareness about the impacts of Climate Change
in the Himalayas taking the issue to the
UN Climate Talks in Copenhagen."
+ More
Unchecked Climate change
will put world at ‘tipping point’, WWF and
Allianz report says
Posted on 23 November
2009 - Berlin, 23rd November 2009 – The
world’s diverse regions and ecosystems are
close to reaching temperature thresholds
– or “tipping points” – that can unleash
devastating environmental, social and economic
changes, according to a new report by WWF
and Allianz.
Often global warming
is seen as a process similar to a steady
flow of water in our bathrooms and kitchens,
where temperature goes up gradually, controlled
by a turn of the tap.
But the report ‘Major
Tipping Points in the Earth’s Climate System
and Consequences for the Insurance Sector’
documents that changes related to global
warming are likely to be much more abrupt
and unpredictable – and they could create
huge social and environmental problems and
cost the world hundreds of billions of dollars.
Without immediate climate
action, sea level rise on the East Coast
of the USA, the shift to an arid climate
in California, disturbances of the Indian
Summer Monsoon in India and Nepal or the
dieback of the Amazon rainforest due to
increasing drought, are likely to affect
hundreds millions of people and cost hundreds
of billions of dollars.
The study explores impacts
of these “tipping points,” including their
economic consequences and implications for
the insurance sector. It also shows how
close the world is to reaching “tipping
points” in many regions of the world, or
how close we are to tipping the scales toward
disaster.
“If we don’t take immediate
action against climate change, we are in
grave danger of disruptive and devastating
changes,” said Kim Carstensen, the Head
of WWF Global Climate Initiative. “Reaching
a tipping point means losing something forever.
This must be a strong argument for world
leaders to agree a strong and binding climate
deal in Copenhagen in December.
According to the report,
carried out by the Tyndall Centre, the impacts
of passing “Tipping Points” on the livelihood
of people and economic assets have been
underestimated so far. The report focuses
on regions and phenomena where such events
might be expected to cause significant impacts
within the first half of the century.
“As an insurer and investor,
we must prepare our clients for these scenarios
as long as we still have leeway for action,”
says Clemens von Weichs, CEO of Allianz
Reinsurance. “Setting premiums risk-appropriately
and sustainably is of vital interest to
everyone involved, because this is the only
way to ensure that coverage solutions will
continue to exist.”
Allianz intends to address
climate change by entering into dialogue
with its clients at an early date. This
will allow it to point out countermeasures
in a timely way, and work together to develop
specific coverage concepts, whether for
existing assets or for future climate-compatible
projects like alternative energy and water
supply concepts, dyke construction, or protection
against failed harvests.
Global temperatures
have already risen by at least 0.7 degrees
Celsius. Global warming above 2-3 degrees
in the second half of the century is likely
unless strong extremely radical and determined
efforts towards deep cuts in emissions are
put in place before 2015.
The melting of the Greenland
(GIS) and the West Antarctic Ice Shield
(WAIS) could lead to a Tipping Point scenario,
possibly a sea level rise of up to 0.5 meters
by 2050. This is estimated to increase the
value of assets at threat in all 136 global
port mega-cities by around 25.000 billion
USD.
On the North-eastern
coast of the USA and due to a localized
anomaly, the sea level could rise up to
0.65 meters, increasing the asset exposure
from 1.350 to about 7.400 billion USD
The South Western Part
of the USA, namely California, is likely
to be affected by droughts and levels of
aridity similar to the Dust Bowl in the
1930s. The annual damages caused by wildfires
could be tenfold compared to today’s costs
and could reach up to 2.5 billion USD per
year by 2050 increasing to up to 14 billion
by 2085.
70 percent of working
population may be put at risk by droughts
in India. The future costs of droughts are
expected to rise to approx. 40 billion USD
per decade until the middle of the century.
In a tipping point scenario,
dieback of the Amazon Rainforest could reach
70% by the end of the century as a consequence
of a significant increase in the frequency
of droughts in the Amazon basin. The impacts
include loss of biodiversity and massive
carbon release. Costs could reach up to
9.000 billion USD for a surface of around
4 million square kilometers.
“The Tipping Points
report shows how quickly we are approaching
dangerous and irreversible levels of global
warming,” Carstensen said. “Economic consequences
of passing the climate tipping points are
absolutely overwhelming.”
“There is still a chance
to avoid the worst and this report shows
how urgent it is to act immediately. A strong
climate agreement in Copenhagen in December
is the best, if not the only chance to prevent
the worst impacts of devastating climate
change.”
Today’s insurance industry
has learned lessons from its experiences
after major losses caused by hurricanes
like Andrew (1992), Ivan (2004) and Katrina
(2005). Better models will help people understand
the frequency and strength of natural disasters.
“But good models will not be enough to protect
the climate,” explains Michael Bruch, of
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty,
the Allianz Group’s industrial insurer.
“The human component is playing an ever-increasing
role in reducing the risk from natural disasters,
in terms of both risk management and combating
the human causes of climate change.”
