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EXPERTS SOUND CLIMATE CHANGE THREAT ALARM TO OAS PERMANENT COUNCIL

Amidst growing concern about global warming, a World Bank expert has told Organization of American States (OAS) members that there is a real danger of some “cataclysmic” developments stemming from the impact of climate change and related phenomena.

Addressing the Member State ambassadors and senior OAS officials at a Permanent Council session, chaired by Ambassador Nestor Mendez of Belize, the World Bank’s lead engineer for its Latin America Environment Department Dr. Walter Vergara used slides and graphs to illustrate the magnitude of the looming danger. He presented information gleaned from modeling that shows “temperature anomalies” increasing with altitude above sea level. “We are expecting a temperature anomaly of five or more degrees Celsius” in most of the Andes mountain range in South America,” he warned, calling that type of momentum “cataclysmic.”

In his presentation at Wednesday’s regular session of the Permanent Council, Vergara discussed projections underscoring the problem of melting glaciers in the Andes and elsewhere in the hemisphere over the next decade or two. He said the glaciers are retreating very quickly, and this has serious implications for agriculture and other important aspects of life.

Dr. Vergara proposed among immediate action an OAS meeting on adaptation to climate change, to provide an opportunity for information-sharing. He suggested the Permanent Council—the OAS’ second highest decision-making body—be more actively engaged in raising awareness about climate change, to help address the information “vacuum” in the countries of the Americas.

For independent consultant and expert Dr. Kristie L. Ebi, the need for more focus on adaptation is urgent. She also called for mechanisms to bring about “a much better understanding of the current local vulnerability” for citizens to understand the risk of climate change and the responses that are needed. Ebi emphasized that new initiatives must also address the existing “dearth of information from many countries on their vulnerabilities to climate change.” She stressed that information on local vulnerabilities must be made more publicly available. “It may be available in some government reports, but it truly is not publicly available.”

The evidence and research suggest that the world would need at least a 50-year commitment to climate change action before greenhouse gas reduction would make much of a difference, according to Ebi. She added that while the major emitters must be responsible for tackling their own greenhouse gas emissions, “most of the world is going to have to adapt to the consequences of the gases that have already been emitted.”

For his part, the Permanent Council Chairman announced a series of OAS initiatives to mark Green Week, beginning with a ceremony on Monday, September 15 to highlight best practices in member countries, under the auspices of the hemispheric organization’s Department of Sustainable Development and Environment. Ambassador Mendez suggested that during Green Week the Member State representatives wear “appropriate light clothing as a symbol of our moving towards a greener environment.”

He also stressed that while the debate continues as to the causes of climate change, “the link between the warming of the seas and oceans and extreme weather events has never been in doubt.” The Belizean diplomat described as “potent evidence of this fact over the last six weeks” the series of Atlantic hurricanes and storms that so far have left significant death tolls and destroyed billions of dollars worth of social and economic infrastructure. All this, he said, highlights the need for promoting awareness of the full scale and range of events associated with weather events and the need for urgent and concerted action at all levels.

The member country ambassadors also added their own comments and analyses on the climate change debate, expressing appreciation as well for the information presented to the Permanent Council by the two experts.

Reference: E-340/08