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G8 Nations Flunk Climate-Change Report Card
By Brian Handwerk
National Geographic News
July 5, 2005

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/0705_050705_G8score.html

The international conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has
issued "G8 Climate Scorecards"
<http://www.panda.org/downloads/climate_change/g8scorecardsjun29light.pdf>
to grade the world's top economies on their efforts to address the climate
change brought about by greenhouse gas emissions.

The United States ranked at the bottom of its class, but the conservation
organization warns that the other members of the Group of Eight major
industrialized nations are also failing to make the grade.

"All the G8 are far from securing a safe and stable climate," says Jennifer
Morgan, director of WWF's Global Climate Change Programme. "With clear
differences in the level of commitment and efforts to solve the climate
crisis, no single country could truly claim to be a climate leader."

The scorecards measure efforts at reducing emissions, boosting renewable
energies, and improving energy efficiency.

WWF calculated that the U.S. has the highest greenhouse gas emission rates
among the G8 and that the nation derives some two thirds of its energy from
coal and oil.

Under current policies, the report says, both problems will only increase.

"The Bush administration is not only failing to deal with the threat of
climate change but is also actively trying to water down the G8's efforts on
the issues," Morgan said. "If the U.S. is lagging behind, then it's time for
them to be left behind."

Other climate and energy experts agree that the U.S. is failing to
adequately address greenhouse gas emissions.

"There have been some notable efforts on the state level with mixed
success," said Sarah Joy, a researcher at Stanford University's Program on
Energy and Sustainable Development. "But the absence of federal management
means that the U.S. just isn't making strides toward reducing emissions in
terms of real numbers."

Of course, G8 economies are only part of the global warming puzzle.
Developing nations like China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Mexico --
which were also scored in the WWF report -- are rapidly growing greenhouse
gas emitters. Their economic development could offset any environmental
gains made in more industrialized nations.

EU Results Mixed

None of the G8 countries reached the highest range of possible grades.
France, Germany, and the U.K. fared best. In some respects, however, their
scores reflected unsustainable "one-off" occurrences driven by economic
rather than environmental factors.

"The reductions that the EU has achieved over the past decade are largely
attributable to circumstance rather than climate policy," said Elliot
Diringer, a director for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in
Arlington, Virginia.

"In Germany following reunification, lots of inefficient factories were shut
down in the east, which resulted in a 'bonus' reduction," Diringer
explained. "In the U.K., a policy to phase out coal-fired electric
production and replace it with natural gas has paid emissions dividends, but
[that change] was largely driven by economics."

Germany was best at developing new renewable energy resources, WWF reported,
growing nearly 2 percent since 1990. Only half of the G8 countries showed
any growth in this category at all.

Canada, Italy, Japan, and Russia scored far lower in the overall rankings.
The report found them lagging in their efforts to comply with the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol, which mandated lower greenhouse emissions, as well as with the
EU-stated goal of keeping the global rise in temperatures below 3.6°F (2°C)
by 2050.

While the United States's greenhouse gas emissions grew by some 13 percent
from 1990 to 2003, for example, Canada's went up 20 percent.

Similarly, the U.S. would need to reduce its emissions by 20 percent to meet
Kyoto goals, though the country did not sign the protocol. Canada, a Kyoto
signer, must implement a 26 percent cut to reach its goal.

G8 Climate Goals

While the G8 nations lag behind their goals, Pew's Diringer notes that most
of the countries are, at minimum, looking to improve.

"It's important that they've set a target and are continually assessing
their progress toward that target," he said.

Since the U.S. has not entered into accords like Kyoto, however, its goals
remain strictly discretionary.

"In the U.S. we have only a voluntary goal that is more or less business as
usual, because it allows emissions to continue growing pretty much at the
present rate through 2012," he said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac have
been outspoken in recent days about their desire to get the United States to
embrace a strong international climate agreement. The issue will be on the
agenda at this week's Group of Eight summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

Prospects for such an agreement remain murky, though scientists in all G8
nations, including the United States, have warned that climate change is
occurring and that governments should take action.

"The fact that Tony Blair has given the climate issue such a high priority
at this year's summit is quite significant," Diringer said. "Putting it atop
the G8 agenda elevates the issue and puts it before Š top-level government
actors."

"In terms of consciousness-raising alone it's quite significant," Diringer
concluded. "But the prospects for achieving significant outcomes [through
the summit] are unfortunately quite limited."

...........

CANADA, US RANK LOWEST ON CLIMATE SCORECARD
WWF Canada
July 4, 2005

http://www.wwf.ca/NewsAndFacts/NewsRoom/default.asp?section=archive&page=dis
play&ID=1393&lang=EN

The US is bottom of the G8 climate change class, turning in the worst
performance of all the top eight economies in dealing with global warming,
according to a new rating published by WWF.

The global conservation organization¹s ³G8 Climate Scorecards² show that
while the US remains the climate change schoolroom dunce, none of the others
look particularly bright either. No G8 country could truly claim to be a
leader when it comes to cutting emissions, increasing the share of renewable
energies or improving energy efficiency.

³The Bush administration is not only failing to deal with the threat of
climate change but is also actively trying to water-down the G8 effort and
outcome,² said Jennifer Morgan, Director WWF¹s Global Climate Change
Programme. ³If the US insists on lagging behind then it¹s time for them to
be left behind.²

The scorecards use ten criteria to provide a comparable snapshot of recent
and expected greenhouse gas emissions in each of the G8 economies, and
evaluate the performance by how effectively governments are reacting to the
threat of climate change.

Within the scorecards, the US performed worst, with the highest emission
rates for greenhouse gases (around two thirds of its energy is from coal and
oil) and per capita energy consumption, nor a party to the Kyoto Protocol.
France, Germany and the UK are furthest along in dealing with climate
change, but even their emissions will increase unless if further measures
are implemented soon. Canada, Italy, Japan and Russia rank much lower.

Canada is in penultimate position because greenhouse gas emissions have
risen by 21% against the Kyoto benchmark when the requirement is for a 6%
decrease, per capita and industrial energy consumption is very high, and
electricity from renewable sources (mainly very large-scale hydro) is
unambitious compared to others in the class.

³A lame G8 statement will come back to haunt Mr. Martin when Canada takes up
the chair of the Kyoto process² said Julia Langer, Director of WWF-Canada¹s
Global Threats programme, referring to the meeting of the Parties to the
Kyoto Protocol which Canada will host in Montreal in November. ³Canada has
to both demonstrate improvement on all its climate change indicators and
rally international creativity and support for Kyoto II.²

Five major developing countries represented at the G8 climate talks --
Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa -- are expecting large growth
in emissions as their economies expand. WWF is calling on the G8 to announce
clear programmes and financing to assist them to develop in a less
carbon-intensive fashion.

The global conservation organization also wants the G8 to commit to keeping
the rise in global temperatures below 2°C above pre-industrial levels,
provide a clear policy framework for Kyoto countries to meet their targets,
and for all countries to support even deeper cuts in CO2 emissions.

.....

To obtain a copy of the scorecard or to arrange interviews contact:

In Canada: Kyle Ferguson, Manager, Communications, WWF-Canada 416-484-7728
<kferguson@...>

In Gleneagles: Brian Thomson 011 41 79 477 3553, <bthomson@...> or
Helen McDade, 011 44 7780 957665, <hmcdade@...>.


EDITORS NOTES

1. The G8 Climate Scorecards are available at:
http://www.panda.org/climate

WWF-CANADA RECOGNIZES THE G8 CLIMATE CHANGE RANKING PRODUCED BY THE DAVID
SUZUKI FOUNDATION, WHICH WHILE DEVELOPED INDEPENDENTLY, REACHES THE SAME
CONCLUSIONS AS THE WWF G8 CLIMATE SCORECARDS

2. WWF's materials on G8 are available at <http://www.panda.org/climate/g8>.
They include briefings on G8 policy, on carbon-neutral technology
alternatives, and on climate change impacts.

3. A full copy of the WWF commissioned report ­ Climate change impacts in
the Mediterranean resulting from a 2°C global temperature rise ­ can be
downloaded at <http://www.panda.org/climate/med2degrees>.

4. The Kyoto Treaty implements the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Kyoto Protocol sets binding targets for
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for industrialized countries; its
text was adopted at the Kyoto conference of the Parties to the Climate
Treaty in December 1997 in Japan

5. For climate change B-roll footage contact Claire Doole, Head of Press,
WWF International, t +41 22 364 9565, email <cdoole@...>.

6. For more information on WWF¹s Global Climate Change Programme go to
<http://www.panda.org/climate>.

7. For more information on WWF¹s PowerSwitch! Campaign got to
<http://www.panda.org/powerswitch>.

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Published by David Sunfellow
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