16/02/2005

WWF urge NI to keep up with Kyoto strategy

WWF Northern Ireland today urged the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment (DETI) to put an effective long-term energy strategy in place to help deal with climate change.

On the day the Kyoto Protocol enters into force, WWF figures released on Wednesday which showed that Northern Ireland is currently the worst climate culprit in the UK with CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions 3.0% and 1.9% higher respectively in 2002, compared to 1990 levels. Over the same period emissions in Scotland, Wales and England all dropped, in some cases by as much as 18%.

"Not only is our emissions record poor but we lack a long-term energy strategy in Northern Ireland,” said Malachy Campbell, policy officer at WWF Northern Ireland.

“The UK has already set aspirational targets for 2050 whereas the DETI has no vision beyond 2012. We are already seeing the affects of climate change across the globe, for instance more frequent extreme weather, seasonal changes and a melting Arctic.

“Short term plans are just not good enough to tackle the long-term problems facing us, our children and our grandchildren."

The Kyoto Treaty implements the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The protocol sets binding targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for industrialized countries.

The protocol was adopted at a conference of the signatories to the Climate Treaty in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan.

(MB/SP)

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