The Global climate has been undergoing changes throughout the entire history of our planet. Due to human activity, climate changes have become particularly pronounced over the past 20 years. The Kyoto Protocol signed to regulate greenhouse emissions is regarded by many as outdated.
Mikhail Aristov: A new climate program is on the agenda of the 17th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference which is opening in Durban on November 28th. Representatives of 194 countries that signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change are attending the conference in Durban. The US and China, which didn’t sign the Kyoto Protocol, are taking part as well. The participants in the conference will be discussing measures to guarantee the transparency of the Convention’s work and deliver financial assistance to the poorest of the countries that resigned the Kyoto Protocol. Adopted 14 years ago, the Kyoto Protocol is no longer meeting present-day climate stabilization requirements, Alexei Kokorin, project manager for the WWF, says. "Unfortunately, the governments have been too slow to work out a new climate agreement. The United States says that a new agreement should come into effect in 2020. But this is inadmissible. Russia is sure that a new agreement should be adopted immediately. Naturally, it can’t be produced overnight. A new agreement should be concluded by at least 30 or 40 countries by 2015." Another issue on the agenda is adjustment to climate changes. The global warming is likely to cause droughts and floods. Thus, there is a need to build new hydraulic structures, change arable crops, re-cultivate land. And it’s important to combat barbaric deforestation. "The Durban conference will focus on steps to put an end to deforestation in Brazil, Indonesia, Myanmar, Congo and other tropical countries. The participants will also discuss the transition to renewable sources of energy, which is inevitable and should be completed by the middle of the 21st century. The climate should be cleared of the activity of man so that it could follow the natural course again." Greenpeace activities are presenting a giant chain of bamboo wind bells to attract that conference’s attention to the potential of renewable sources of energy. Each bell will bear the name of a member of the Greenpeace movement. Those willing to give their votes in favor of “green” energy are welcome to visit the Greenpeace Africa website. The 17th session of the UN Climate Change Conference will work till December 9th . Source: Voice of Russia.
