Power of Ostrich: ACTIVATE!
Jan. 20th, 2005 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingCalling it a "distraction," U.S. delegates worked to expunge the issue of climate change from the United Nations action plan being readied for adoption at a global conference to reduce natural disasters worldwide.
Scientists say global warming is likely to stir up more disastrous weather events, such as hurricanes and droughts, as the century wears on. But the deputy U.S. delegation head told reporters the subject is too "controversial" for the World Conference on Disaster Reduction.
In its preamble, the action plan draft says climate change is one factor pointing toward "a future where disasters could increasingly threaten the world's economy, and its population." Other passages call for strengthening research into global warming and for clear identification of "climate-related disaster risks."
The U.S. move to delete the passages, an effort backed by Canada and Australia, is opposed by the 25-member European Union, a strong supporter of the Kyoto agreement, and by poorer countries potentially imperiled by the intensified storms, rising ocean waters and other effects foreseen with climate change.
Scientists say global warming is likely to stir up more disastrous weather events, such as hurricanes and droughts, as the century wears on. But the deputy U.S. delegation head told reporters the subject is too "controversial" for the World Conference on Disaster Reduction.
In its preamble, the action plan draft says climate change is one factor pointing toward "a future where disasters could increasingly threaten the world's economy, and its population." Other passages call for strengthening research into global warming and for clear identification of "climate-related disaster risks."
The U.S. move to delete the passages, an effort backed by Canada and Australia, is opposed by the 25-member European Union, a strong supporter of the Kyoto agreement, and by poorer countries potentially imperiled by the intensified storms, rising ocean waters and other effects foreseen with climate change.