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OUR PLANET MAGAZINECLIMATE CHANGE AND THE CRYOSPHERE
 
MELTING ICE A HOT TOPIC
Climate Change and the Cryosphere
OUR PLANET
The magazine o the United Nations Environment Programme -
May 2007
 
2OUR PLANET MAGAZINECLIMATE CHANGE AND THE CRYOSPHERE
OURPLANET
Helen Bjørnøy,
Minister o theEnvironment o Norway......calls or political leadership to revive internationalnegotiations — and keep the world’s ice rozen....asks or commitment at the political,corporate and grassroots level to combatclimate change.
a dierent planet - page 7
...outlines new solutions or anaccumulating problem, anddescribes how his country isaiming to become carbon neutral.
new dynamics - page 12
Roberto Dobles,
Minister o Environmentand Energy o Costa Rica and President o UNEP’s Governing Council and the GlobalMinisterial Environment Forum...
agenda or action - page 9
Sheila Watt-Cloutier,
2005UNEP Champion o theEarth or North America, andInternational Chair o theInuit Circumpolar Conerence2002–2006......argues that the eects o climate change onthe Arctic and its people should be seen as amatter o human rights.
a human issue - page 14
Yvo de Boer,
ExecutiveSecretary o the UNFramework Convention onClimate Change...
china: climate changeand development - page 16
...examines the challenge beore theworld’s astest developing nation.
Qin Dahe,
co-Chair, Working Group 1o the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change and, until April2007, Administrator o the ChinaMeteorological Administration...
Susana Bischof, Graciela Canziani andPatricia Centurión,
explain the importance o water rom glaciers and snowmelt in Latin Americaand suggest how to adapt to its disappearance.
snow, ice and lie - page 18
Linda Fisher,
Vice President and Chie Sustainability Ocer o Dupont...
action works - page 22
...calls or a coordinated global approachor reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Basanta Shrestha,
Division Head o Mountain Environment and NaturalResources Inormation System at theInternational Centre or IntegratedMountain Development...
Peter Garrett,
rock star,campaigner and politician......describes the rapid retreat o the glacierso the Himalayas and calls or urgentaction to tackle the resulting dangers.
mountain tsunamis - page 20
alsopage 3 reectionspage 4 peoplepage 8 verbatim and numberspage 9 bookspage 24 awards and eventspage 25 wwwpage 26 products
...describes climate change as a “once in ageneration opportunity.
green soundtrack - page 27
Our 
 
Planet 
, the magazine o theUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)PO Box 30552Nairobi, KenyaTel: (254 20)762 234Fax: (254 20)7623 927e-mail: uneppub@unep.orgTo view current and past issues o thispublication online, please visitwww.unep.org/ourplanetISSN 0 - 7394
Director o Publication:
Eric Falt
Editor:
Georey Lean
Coordinators:
Naomi Poulton, David Simpson
Special Contributor:
Nick Nuttall
Distribution Manager:
Manyahleshal Kebede
Design:
Amina Darani
Producedy by:
UNEP Division o Communications and Public Inormation
Printed by:
Naturaprint
Distributed by:
SMI BooksThe contents o this magazine do notnecessarily reect the views or policies o UNEP or the editors, nor are they an ocialrecord. The designations employed and thepresentation do not imply the expressions o any opinion whatsoever on the part o UNEPconcerning the legal status o any country,territory or city or its authority or concerning thedelimitation o its rontiers or boundaries.* All dollar ($) amounts reer to US dollars.
 
OUR PLANET MAGAZINECLIMATE CHANGE AND THE CRYOSPHERE3
reflections
 
by Achim Steiner,UN Under-Secretary-Generaland Executive Director o the UNEnvironment Programme
UNEP promotesenvironmentally sound practicesglobally and in its own activities.This magazine is printed on 00% recycledpaper, using vegetable -based inks and othereco-riendly practices. Our distribution policyaims to reduce UNEP’s carbon ootprint.
Nearly 130 years ater Thomas Edison invented it, the world may be on thebrink o saying ‘thank you, and goodnight’ to the incandescent electric lightbulb. Australia has announced a ban; Cuba, Venezuela and the EuropeanUnion are among those moving in the same direction. We should celebrateits demise, or the world’s billions o bulbs — only ve per cent ecient atconverting power into light — cause massive emissions o carbon dioxide.O course, dealing with climate change requires governments to regulate onemission reduction targets and promote more sustainable orms o energygeneration and consumption. But part o the solution also lies around thecorner at the local shop or supermarket, just as much as in internationalconerence halls. This message — that the power to act rests as much withconsumers as with ministers and heads o state — is emphasized by WorldEnvironment Day, which this year is being hosted by the Government o Norway in the Arctic city o Tromsø.Phasing out energy wasting light bulbs is just one o many opportunities. Areport by UNEP’s Sustainable Construction and Building Initiative, or example,shows that, even by conservative estimates, buildings worldwide could cutC0
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emissions by 1.8 billion tonnes a year with the right mix o appropriategovernment regulation, greater use o energy saving technologies andbehavioural change. A more aggressive energy eciency policy might delivermore than 2 billion tonnes — almost three times the entire amount scheduledto be cut under the Kyoto Protocol.As the latest reports rom the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) make clear, climate change is a huge social, environmental andeconomic challenge. The polar regions — a central ocus o World EnvironmentDay 2007 — are especially vulnerable. In the Arctic, widespread melting o ice,subsidence damage to buildings and inrastructure as their permarost thaws,coastal erosion, and the loss o traditional livelihoods are all set to intensiyunless greenhouse gas emissions are decisively cut.On the positive side, combating climate change also presents a signicantopportunity to deliver on the many promises made by developed countriesto the developing world on nance and development, and to open new wayso addressing wider environmental issues, rom air pollution to deorestation.Indeed , i we are to avoid dangerous climate change and ensure the stabilityo Antarctica and the Arctic, let alone the rest o the world, we must marshalour intellect and seek every solution — rom energy saving, to developingcleaner and more ecient energy supplies, to managing land and vegetationmore sustainably. The absolute need is or a global regime that delivers a air, equitable andmeaningul emission reduction strategy ater 2012, when the Kyoto Protocolexpires. Industrialized nations must move rst and urthest. The EuropeanUnion’s target or cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020should be applauded. It is time or others to pick up the gauntlet. The rest o the industrialized world can no longer seek a reason or inaction inthe myth that the rapidly developing countries are not willing to contribute toeorts to reduce CO
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. Brazil, or example, is likely to bring down its greenhousegas emissions by as much as 14 per cent by 2020; with assistance, this couldrise to close to 30 per cent. It is a similar story in China and in some sectors o the Indian economy, including transport.Reductions o 60 to 80 per cent will eventually be needed ully to stabilize theatmosphere. New technologies will be needed: i a strong, post-Kyoto regimeis in place, it will doubtless drive invention. But we can already do a lot tosave the polar ice caps, and the rest o the world, or the cost o a ew Euros ordollars, using technologies already in the shops. The International Energy Agency estimates that a total, global switch tocompact fuorescent bulbs would deliver C02 savings o 470 million tonnesin 2010 — over hal the scheduled reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. It istime to consign the incandescent light bulb to the history books. This mightgive us a chance to begin relegating dramatic polar melting and dangerousclimate change to the same pages.
Cover photo © John Wilkes Studio/Corbis. Melting ice is the hot topic or this edition o Our Planet. The theme o WorldEnvironment Day 2007 emphasizes the importance o the world’s cold environments, rom the rozen poles to the tropicalice caps o Arica and South America, and the Himalayan glaciers that sit at the roo o the world and provide meltwater toa region that is home to nearly hal the world’s population. As these vital abodes o snow and ice melt, so will the hopes o averting the disastrous consequences o runaway climate change.
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