Amidst dismay at the true extent of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) submitted its first report with resulting consequences. A need to curb the then current level of energy intake and consumerism undermined an industry reliant on a blind faith in obsessive materialism, resulting in fierceĀ opposition.
The IPCC held its third meeting in Washington DC in February 1990 and US President George Bush Snr opened the session by referring to his recent State of the Union address: āA sound environment is the basis for the continuity and quality of human life and enterprise,ā he told the AmericanĀ people.
āClearly, strong economies allow nations to fulfil the obligations and environmental stewardship. Where there is economic strength, such protection isĀ possible.ā
Bert Bolin, founder of the IPCC along with two hundred climate scientists, researchers and government negotiators submitted the IPCC‘s first assessment report to the United Nations general assembly in OctoberĀ 1990.
The IPCC debut report set out that the scientists were: ācertainā that āemissions resulting from human activities were substantially increasing the atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, CFCs and nitrous oxideā and also that āthese increases will enhance the greenhouse effect, resulting on average in additional warming of the Earth’sĀ surface.ā
The report warned that under ābusiness as usualā there would be an average 0.3 degrees of warming every decade, which would be a faster rate of increase in global temperatures than witnessed on earth for more than 10,000Ā years.
Death Knell for Coal
The scientists warned that by the end of the 21st century there would be four degrees of warming above those experienced before the industrial revolution: āThe rise will not be steady because of other factors,ā the scientists setĀ out.
āThe oceans act as a heat sink and thus delay the full effect of greenhouseĀ warming.ā
The report then set out the uncertainties in the science, including: āthe response of clouds, oceans and polar ice sheetsā before calling, as scientists to, for furtherĀ research.
āThe complexity of the system means we cannot rule outĀ surprisesā.
American coal and oil companies fully understood the implications of the report. The IPCC stated that industrialised countries had a greater responsibility to reduce carbon emissions and suggested this could be achieved through greater efficiency and āthe use of cleaner, more efficient energy sources with lower or no emissions or greenhouseĀ gasesā.
It advised national governments to set limits on carbon emissions. Such limits could sound the death knell for coal fired power stations, petrol-driven sports utility vehicles and almost a century of industry based on encouraging British and American shoppers to consume as much energy, oil and plastics asĀ possible.
Forced to Act
The IPCC report was not idle chatter. The report was discussed by the UN the following December, and the grand sounding Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee was beĀ formed.
This body would draft the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) to be agreed at the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, scheduled for JuneĀ 1992.
If coal and oil were to prevent a calamity for their current business model they would have to act fast andĀ decisively.
Bolin sounded genuinely surprised and personally dismayed by the reaction of heavy industry: āThere was, however, early reluctance from industry and other stake-holders to proceed quickly,ā heĀ complained.
āThey feared that action to protect the current climate, i.e. a reduction in the use of fossil fuels, might be a threat to their activities and admittedly the scientific basis for taking action was then hardlyĀ convincing.ā
Photo: PatrickĀ Gruban
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