Oxfam wants to see action on actual carbon cutting, not just debates about targets. It also wants the G8 to reconsider its biofuels policy as there is mounting scientific evidence that biofuel mandates are actually accelerating climate change

The international NGO Oxfam is concerned that rich countries may not continue the momentum on climate change set in motion at the UN climate conference in Bali in December 2007.

G8 environment ministers are meeting in Kobe on May 29-30, 2008, ahead of this year’s G8 Summit in July, and Oxfam says in a press release that the summit’s climate agenda ‘stops short of delivering much-needed political momentum to tackle climate change’. It is worried that the agenda is even weaker than it was a year ago in Germany, when members agreed to ‘consider seriously the decisions made by the European Union, Canada and Japan, which include at least a halving of emissions by 2050’.
 
Oxfam wants to see action on actual carbon cutting, not just debates about targets. “The endless debate about ‘considering’ reducing emissions is long gone. We need carbon cuts and we need this to happen now… Anything less would be a clear step backward in the fight to combat global warming,” said Takumo Yamada, Oxfam spokesperson in Japan.

Discussions are to centre around a 50% cut, but action is needed in ‘turning consideration into commitment and arguments into action’ if the temperature rise is to be below the desired level of 2°C and thus prevent life-threatening consequences for the world’s poorest people.

Besides, the long-term target of a 50% cut is not enough to stay below the 2°C increase, Oxfam said.

Japan recently proposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a so-called sectoral approach. Oxfam believes that this approach must be negotiated as part of a fair global climate regime that keeps global warming below 2°C. A fair regime would see countries take action in line with their economic power and emissions’ record.

Oxfam also wants the G8 to reconsider its biofuels policy. “In the midst of a global food crisis, it’s unacceptable for the rich world to burn food while the poor risk starvation. There is mounting scientific evidence that biofuel mandates are actually accelerating climate change. A serious rethink of policies is needed,” Yamada noted.

The Japanese government is expected to announce a plan to offer $ 10 billion over the next five years to help poorer nations tackle climate change. Oxfam says that whilst this money is welcome, it should be seen as compensation and not count towards aid budgets.

Source: www.oxfam.org, May 29, 2008