Island States, China & India Want Steeper CO2 Cuts from U.S., Europe

A group of 43 island nations told a U.N. climate conference in Poland that the global community must set much tougher targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions or else their countries face inundation and other environmental damage from global warming. Delegates from China and India also said President-elect Barack Obama’s goal of cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 was inadequate and called for stronger action. More than 10,000 delegates from 187 nations are meeting in Poznan, Poland to debate greenhouse gas reduction goals in advance of setting new targets next year. The alliance of small island states issued a statement saying that temperature increases must be limited to 1.5 C (2.7 F) since larger increases “would have devastating consequences on small island developing states.” Scientists say melting ice caps could cause sea levels to rise three feet or more this century, and a delegate from the Philippines said that temperature increases of 2 C (3.6 F) could leave a third of her country under water.