[NYTr] 50 Million Could be Displaced by Climate Change by 2010

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[But multinational bizznezz is seeing silver linings: New tourism
possibilities in Greenland! With no ice left on the poles in summer,
imagine how easy it will be for oil tankers to just tool around in a
straight line. -NYTr]

Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com


UN Expert: 50 Million Displaced From Climate Change

Bali, Indonesia, Dec 12 (Prensa Latina) Top UN climate official Yve de
Boer warned on Wednesday that by 2010 the consequences of climate
change can displace 50 million people due to desertification and
deforestation.

De Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change, said at the opening of the high-level UN climate change
conference in the Indonesian resort of Bali, that competing for energy
and food could lead to ethnic rivalries and regional conflicts.

The expert upheld that to meet the drastic increase in the world's
demand for energy, a massive investment of 20 trillion US dollars is
needed until 2030.

He explained that more than half of these investments are required in
developing countries, where energy is needed for economic growth.

The UN official also warned the international community that at the
current rate global emissions of greenhouse gases will increase by 50
percent in 2050 instead of decreasing by 50 percent.

De Boer quoted reports from the UN Nobel prize-winning
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that by 2020, between 75
million and 250 million people in Africa are expected to be exposed to
increased water stress due to climate change.

In this context, he added that by the 2050s, freshwater availability
for millions in Asia will be threatened, because glaciers that provide
drinking water are melting.

The UN expert pointed out that one-tenth of the global population lives
in coastal areas that lie less than 40 feet above sea level and are
exposed to hazards such as flooding, storms and cyclones.

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Indonesia Looks at Global Warming

Bali, Indonesia, Dec 12 (Prensa Latina) The top ministerial conference
on climate change was opened here Wednesday by UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon, with the attendance of heads of State and Government. # UN
Expert: 50 Million Displaced From Climate Change

Delegates are debating until Friday an international accord to
reinforce global actions faced with global warming in this Indonesian
tourist center in the island of Bali.

Participants held a minute"s silence for victims of the terrorist
attack in the Algerian capital, in which 11 UN officials were killed.

The convention on climate change started December 3 with the presence
of over 10,000 delegates from 180 countries and observers from
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.

Parallel to this meeting are sessions of the UN Draft Convention for
Climate Change and its bodies.

In three days of negotiations, ministers will create bases that must be
ready by 2009, so that there is no a space between the Kyoto Protocol
and a later accord.

They must agree on a draft to decrease the emissions of greenhouse
effect"s gases between 25 percent and 40 percent from now to 2020.

The United States, the world"s main emitter of gases responsible for
global warming, together with Canada and Japan, is opposed to that
proposal.

Also on the list are results of the fourth report to evaluate the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, funds for adaptation,
long-term cooperation to face global warning and future commitments for
wealthy countries.

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