Negotiations at COP 21 in Paris should limit global warming – WWV
Worldwide views on climate and energy indicate that 63 per cent of citizens believe that negotiations at the COP 21 in December should help to limit global warming to a 2C rise, Mr Joseph Kwashie of Community and Family Foundation said this on Tuesday in Accra.
Mr Kwashie said some 79 per cent of the world’s citizens were very concerned about climate change, as citizens in developing countries were very little more concerned than citizens in developed countries.
He said two-thirds of citizens all over the world thought that measures to fight climate change were mostly an opportunity to improve quality of life, adding that 27 per cent considered these measures to be threat to their quality of life.
Mr Kwashie said this at the Ghana National World Wide View on Climate and Energy 2015 Dissemination Seminar.
He said 79 per cent of the citizens thought that their countries should take measures to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions-even if many other countries did not take such measures.
Mr Kwashie noted that 90 per cent of the citizens were of the opinion that all countries should report their emissions and report on the progress of their contributions.
He said it was also believed that the best basis for setting ambition of national climate contributions should be current or anticipated emissions current or future capabilities (39 percent) and historical emissions (21 per cent).
He said 55 per cent were of the view that richer developing countries should be treated as a third group with bigger responsibilities than the poorest, least developed countries, but with smaller responsibilities than developed countries.
Vast majority of the citizens said the private sector had an important role in contributing to climate action with 86 per cent, 53 per cent, saying that the private sector must contribute half or more.
Mr Kwashie explained that WWV on Climate and Energy was an ambitious, global citizen’s participation project on global climate change and energy transition policies and actions.
It is global citizen’s deliberation exercise, integrating citizen’s consultation in all participating countries on the same day across the world.
Mr Kwashie indicated that currently climate change had impact for almost all people around the world, adding that we were already experiencing climate change in all continents and changes that could be a result of climate change.
“Our children and grandchildren may live to experience more dramatic consequences, politicians may determine the future of the planet, but you and your children have to live with the consequences.”
Source: GNA