World 'must adapt' to climate change
As temperatures rise governments are urged to adapt
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Monday, 04, Sep 2006 03:08
Climate change efforts should focus on dealing with the effects of global warming rather than just trying to prevent its increase, a leading scientific expert claimed today.
Frances Cairncross, president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA) and chair of Britain's Economic and Social Research Council, believes that it is an "enormous" and "very difficult task" to bring down carbon dioxide emissions, which is linked to global warming.
As well as attempting to carry out this mitigation, governments should aim to adapt to the situation and to develop policies "that prepare better for a hotter, drier, world", Ms Cairncross argues.
Speaking at her presidential address for the BA's Festival of Science, held this week in Norwich, she will say this evening that such policies could include "developing new crops, constructing flood defences, setting different building regulations, or banning building close to sea level".
Speaking ahead of tonight's speech, Ms Cairncross explained that part of the problem with reducing carbon dioxide emissions are the "ineffectual" Kyoto Treaty and developing countries' hesitancy to put the climate before development.
"Poor countries want better living conditions and that matters to them more now than what might happen in the coming centuries. I think it is very important to help countries develop strategies but we shouldn't think people will put climate above conditions now," she said.
She will add tonight: "Of course, there are important areas where no adaptation is possible. We cannot relocate the Amazon or insulate coral reefs - and so we need mitigation too. But the government could and should put in place an adaptation strategy right away."
The Festival of Science is being held from September 2nd to 9th and will be attended by more than 300 of the UK's top scientists and engineers.