Kyoto Protocol: Just do it

Greenpeace volunteers from APEC member countries today called on Australia Prime Minister Mr John Howard not to use the APEC summit in Sydney next week to derail the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. In Manila, Greenpeace delivered a letter to the Australian Embassy, while in Thailand, volunteers dressed in Koala costumes unfurled a banner reading "Kyoto- Just Do It" at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok.
According to documents leaked to Greenpeace, John Howard is aiming to set "aspirational" goals on climate change at the meeting, where he would work together with another climate treaty saboteur, US President George Bush, to push for a non-binding alternative to Kyoto Protocol, the agreement under United Nations Framework on climate change UNFCC that sets binding targets on greenhouse gas emissions.

"In 1995, the world community agreed that voluntary, aspirational targets were ineffective and, as such, negotiated the Kyoto Protocol which includes binding emission reduction commitments. If Howard is as serious about climate change as he says he is, then he should lead APEC to support and strengthen Kyoto instead of introducing some vague idea of goals at some unspecified time in the future,“ said Greenpeace Climate & Energy Campaigner Abigail Jabines. “We hope that the Philippine government will not fall for this ruse being laid out by the Australian government, and
instead uphold the mandate of the Kyoto protocol.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has this year made it clear that "Mitigation efforts over the next two to three decades will have a large impact on opportunities to achieve lower stabilization levels", and while it is still possible to keep warming below 2 degrees Centigrade, the IPCC indicates that global emissions must peak by 2015 at the latest, and reduce from 1990 levels by 50-85% by 2050.

"Greenpeace urges APEC Leaders to acknowledge the imperative to keep temperatures below the 2ºC limit, commit to measures that will accomplish that goal and work towards successful negotiations at the Kyoto Protocol meeting in Bali in December that will set the world on the right path to protect people and the planet from the greatest threat humanity has ever faced," she added.

To keep global average temperature rise as far below 2 degrees Centigrade as possible and for governments to honor their 15 year old commitments to avoid dangerous climate change, Greenpeace is calling for cuts of:
At least -50% globally by 2050, with a 1990 base year;
At least -30% by developed countries by 2020, with a 1990 base year; and
At least -80% for developed countries by 2050, with a 1990 base year.