NI Needs Leadership to Meet Climate Challenge

The IPCC report is expected to paint a frightening picture of a planet on the brink of humanitarian and environmental disaster.

WWF Northern Ireland believes that the new Assembly must also play its part in this global challenge. All the major parties recognised climate change as an issue in their election manifestos and WWF wants them to turn words into action. It is seeking:

• A Climate Bill which ensures Northern Ireland is making its contribution to reducing harmful emissions
• A reduction in NI's must reduce its carbon emissions by 60% by 2050 with year on year reductions of 3%
• Leadership from the Administration on this issue e.g. fast tracking the 'greening' of government buildings, in particular Stormont, the home of the new Assembly.

Malachy Campbell, Policy Officer, WWF Northern Ireland, said:

The IPCC report is likely to confirm that the world's poorest and most vulnerable people, who have done so little to contribute to the causes of climate change, will be hit by a double whammy. Many of the world's poor live in the most vulnerable areas and will be hit by increasingly severe droughts, floods, hurricanes and disease - while having less capacity and resources to cope with the impacts. In addition, the ecosystems on which these communities defend for food and fuel will also be severely hit.

Biodiversity is already under severe threat from many human activities but climate change will add greatly to existing stresses. This global threat is highlighted in WWF's many field projects, ranging from the arctic to the arid landscapes of Northern Africa and is affecting almost all species from the world's biggest animals such as the great whales and polar bears to some of the smallest - like the North American pika and many of the world's amphibians.