XPost: can.politics, ab.politics, bc.politics   
   XPost: ont.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   bbc.co.uk - 16 November 2013   
      
      
   Aid agencies say typhoon shows need for action on climate change   
      
      
      
   The UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has urged countries to take   
   urgent action on climate change, as UN talks enter their second week.   
      
   The committee, comprising 14 aid agencies, said Typhoon Haiyan was a   
   glimpse of the future for millions who will be at risk from extreme weather.   
      
   It said the meeting in Warsaw should agree to rapidly cut carbon emissions.   
      
   But negotiators say such action is unlikely as a global deal is not   
   expected until 2015.   
      
   The British agencies argue that extreme weather events such as Typhoon   
   Haiyan follow a growing pattern of threat that points strongly towards   
   climate change.   
      
   In 2012, the Philippines was the country that suffered the most   
   fatalities from extreme weather events and was ranked the second most   
   affected from climatic disasters.   
      
   Now Haiyan has struck and affected around 12 million people.   
      
   "This should be a wake-up call for negotiators who have been   
   sleepwalking through a process fraught with delay and indecision," said   
   Oxfam's Max Lawson.   
      
   "The images we have seen from the Philippines are a reminder that   
   climate change is not about numbers and process, but a growing reality   
   for poor people who desperately need support to protect themselves and   
   build safer futures."   
      
   Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking at the Commonwealth Heads of   
   Government meeting in Sri Lanka, seemed to support this view, saying the   
   "evidence appeared to be growing."   
      
   However, scientists point out that unequivocally linking a specific   
   weather event such as Haiyan to climate change is impossible.   
   Tears and silence   
      
   Regardless of the specific link, delegates meeting here in Warsaw were   
   quick to see the impact of the typhoon as a reason to up the pace of   
   their work.   
      
   Last Monday at the opening of the talks, the Philippines' lead   
   negotiator Yeb Sano issued an emotional appeal to "end this madness".   
      
   His heartfelt appeal drew tears from some delegates and a three-minute   
   silence in memory of those who lost their lives.   
      
   But the realities of making progress in these UN negotiations hit home   
   on Friday when Japan announced that as a result of the Fukushima   
   disaster it would have to renege on its promises to make massive   
   emissions cuts by 2020.   
      
   However the DEC members point to the widespread public support for those   
   affected by Haiyan, with an emergency appeal raising £30m in the first   
   three days.   
      
   They argue the same spirit should influence the UN talks.   
      
   "We need to see a response from the delegates in Warsaw to match that of   
   the overwhelming response of the public to this devastating tragedy,"   
   said Cafod's Neil Thorns.   
      
   "It is not fair, it is not just and it cannot go on that those living in   
   poor and vulnerable communities, such as in the Philippines, are being   
   affected now whilst governments fail to steer us to a better future   
   based on our shared responsibility to care for our planet now and for   
   future generations."   
      
   In their statement the committee members say that UN negotiators must   
   rapidly deliver a mechanism by which compensation can be paid for loss   
   and damage caused by climate change and they must drastically cut global   
   emissions of carbon dioxide.   
      
   However the reality of this ponderous process is that the calls for   
   action will likely fall on deaf ears, at least for now.   
      
   Ministers arriving here for the second week of the talks are likely to   
   agree to nothing more than to keep the talks going, knowing full well   
   they have until 2015 to secure a new global deal.   
      
   The complexities involved and the need for consensus among the parties   
   means they are likely to take every last minute.   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)