 |
 |
2010 Asia Media Summit: Beijing, China
Seminar Co-hosted by IGSD Focuses on “Other” Half of Climate Change and Role of Media in Raising Awareness, Mobilizing the World to Act*
The Montreal Protocol’s success to date in protecting the ozone layer and the climate system was the focus of an all-day seminar as part of the 2010 Asia Media Summit in Beijing – an event drawing more than 700 broadcast journalists from all over the Asian region.
Although climate change has received substantial coverage in the media, there are many stories that still need to be told. One of the stories emphasized during the seminar is the fact that CO2 is only half the climate change problem.
|
HFCs, black carbon, methane, and tropospheric ozone contribute to the other half of climate change and can be addressed now. Because their atmospheric lifetimes are much shorter than CO2, reducing emissions will result in big climate benefits in a short period of time – unlike the benefits from CO2 reductions, which may not be realized for up to 1,000 years. As panelist Matai Akauola from Fiji pointed out, islands and other vulnerable nations cannot afford to wait that long: “We are falling off the map.”
|
IGSD President, Durwood Zaelke, emphasized that these “fast-action” strategies, as well as bio-sequestration through the production of biochar, are essential to keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5˚C above pre-industrial temperatures and returning atmospheric concentrations of CO2 back to 350 parts per million (ppm) – a science-based goal that more than 100 countries agreed to last year in Copenhagen. “To win the fight against climate change, we have to address all of the causes, not just CO2,” said Zaelke. “Addressing the fast half now will help us avoid passing the tipping points for abrupt climate change.”
The second big story for the media is that the Montreal Protocol is one of the most important tools that the world has at its disposal to act on the fast half of climate change. In fact, one of the biggest climate mitigation opportunities available this year is a phase-down of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol. HFCs are “super” greenhouse gases that can have hundreds to thousands the global warming potential of CO2 and are the ozone-friendly substitutes for HCFCs which are currently being phased out under the ozone treaty. The small island of Micronesia as well as the North American coalition of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, have submitted proposals to phase down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol, potentially avoiding more than 100 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq.) by 2050.
|
Why phase down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol? The treaty has already succeeded in phasing out almost 100 gases damaging to both ozone and climate, putting the ozone layer on the path to recovery later this century and avoiding emissions of 222 billion tonnes of CO2-eq., delaying climate change by 7-12 years. In essence, it is the world’s best climate treaty to date, and has the experience, expertise, and financial infrastructure to implement a successful phase-down of HFCs.
As the discussion turned to a comparison of the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols, Romina Picolotti, former Secretary of Environment for Argentina, noted that there are stark differences between the two - differences which have helped Montreal succeed and have hindered Kyoto’s progress. For example, Montreal started with small goals and strengthened over time within an environment of trust and cooperation, with decisions demonstrating fairness to both developed and developing country Parties. Each small step forward provided the Parties with the optimism and momentum to do more: “The successes meant people kept coming back with the attitude that yes, we can do this,” said Picolotti. “With climate, it’s not the same – people say, ‘we can’t do this’.”
Though the process of phasing out CFCs and other ozone-damaging gases was not easy, tackling
climate change has become an even greater battle, partly because of the initial way the world decided to wage war on climate: “We picked the biggest bully in the schoolyard when we went after CO2,” said Zaelke. “The fossil fuel industry has beat us up and taken our lunch money – we’ve made no real progress on CO2.” Breaking the climate change problem down into smaller parts and taking a sector-based approach could help the world move past the climate change deadlock.
Unfortunately, government bureaucracy often gets in the way of progress, noted Rajendra Shende, Director of the United Nation Environment Programme’s (UNEP) OzonAction office in Paris. Different departments don’t necessarily talk to each other, and international treaties, like Montreal and Kyoto, fail to establish a good line of communication even though they deal with overlapping issues, added Atul Bagai, Regional Coordinator for UNEP’s OzonAction program in Asia and the Pacific. As representatives from China’s Ministry of Environment pointed out during the seminar, China’s ability to phase out ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol is largely due to successful coordination among 18 different government ministries.
|
Beyond the hurdles at the government level, there is also the challenge of raising awareness of climate change at the local level. “It is a complex issue, but it can be simple,” said Sam LaBudde from the Environmental Investigation Agency. “The main thing is distilling the story down to its essence – we can get rid of “super” greenhouse gases, HFCs, by the end of this year through the Montreal Protocol.”
|
The media’s role in translating this technical subject into engaging stories that connect with the general public is essential to empowering the people and strengthening their voice to help influence policy. “We need political action, and media can help prompt that action,” added Picolotti. “Politicians listen to their constituents.”
The next opportunity for progress on climate change under the Montreal Protocol comes at the treaty’s mid-year meeting, 14-18 June 2010 in Geneva, where Parties will begin to discuss the proposals to phase down HFCs. The final decisions will be taken at the 8-12 November 2010 meeting in Kampala, Uganda.
* The “Ozone Protection and Climate Benefit” seminar on 24 May 2010 was presented by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).