There is no incentive for struggling Third World economies to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions while the big pollutors in the North refuse to do so, a director of Greenpeace, United Kingdom, said.

Steve Elsworth was launching Greenpeace's Atmosphere Campaign and a report on 'Halting Global Warming' prepared by Dr PM Kelly, a British scientist.

Dr Kelly calls for targeted reductions in carbon dioxide emissions for the next 30 years. A 30% reduction by the year 2000 is an essential first step towards stabilising Greenhouse gases by 2030, the report says.

According to Elsworth, Western governments, particularly Britain, like to imply that the Third World has caused or is about to exacerbate global warming.

'This is simpiy not true. The Industrialised nations are to blame for the threat to our planet, they have caused 90% of the Greenhouse gas emissions to date and they have the responsibility of cleaning it up,' Elsworth stressed.

Greenhouse gases- carbon dioxide being the most important- collect in the upper atmosphere, where they hold in the sun's heat and increase the temperature of the earth.

Despite Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's much-publicised promise in late 1988 to cut Britain's use of fossil fuels, 'the UK has done nothing, repeat nothing, to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide', Elsworth said.

The United States, the Soviet Union, China, West Germany, Japan and the UK are the largest emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2). Between them they produce almost two-thirds of the world's CO2.

Elsworth cited figures showing that between 1958 and 1986, North America emitted 40.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Eastern Europe emitted 31.9 billion tons, Western Europe 25.1 billion tons, Asia 9.3 billion tons, the Pacific 7.2 billion tons, and the rest of the Third Worid 14.3 billion tons.

Reduction

'It is too late to undo the damage that we have already done to our atmosphere,' he said. 'From 1950 to 1985 global energy consumption more than tripled and world carbon dioxide figures followed the same trend. A large proportion of this carbon dioxide is fixed in the system and will return in later years to haunt us.'

According to Elsworth, if the industrialised world reduces its emissions by using state-of-the-art technologies, it will have a knock-on effect on Third Worid countries as they work to achieve a standard of living similar to that in the North.

He said it is feasible to have large global reductions of carbon dioxide. 'the technology is there, it is achievable, and we cannot understand why the industrialised nations are not doing it.'

The Greenpeace director warned that attempts to stabilise carbon dioxide emissions, which the industrialised world would want to do, will not stop global warming. 'Reducing carbon dioxide emissions will.'

'To take an exampie, if we wanted to supply a fridge and freezer for every home in China using the polluting technology which we accept as standard here, that will take the output of 30 large power stations to supply the electricity demand. 'If we use the state-of-the-art efficient technology, we could give each Chinese home a fridge and a freezer and supply the electricity not with 30 power stations but with three. Those are the pollution reductions that are achievabie.'

Dr Kelly ran computer models showing that if 30% carbon dioxide reductions are made every 10 years for the next 30 years, global warming will be almost 60% less by 2050 than it wouid be if no cuts are made. The report recommends the following steps:

• The elimination of production and use of chlorofluorocarbons and related chemicals by 1995,
• A 30% reduction in global emissions from fossil fuels by the year 2000,
• A halt to deforestation by the year 2000,
• A further cut of 30% in global carbon dioxide emissions by 2010, and
• A final 10% cut by 2020.

Every five years of delay in cutting pollution will lead to a 10% increase in global warming, says Dr.Kelly whereas his strategy will bring a stable climate subject only to natural variabiiity by the end of the 21st century.

Back...