All Sectors Of Society Need To Adopt 'carbon Thinking' And Carbon Accounting

All sectors of society need to adopt 'carbon thinking' and carbon accounting needs to be incorporated into institutional and regulatory systems. A key challenge is to develop a clear, equitable, realistic international framework for the much larger reductions in emissions that will be required post- Kyoto and to apply principles of international and intergenerational equity in policy formulation.
Most of the expected global impacts of climate change will affect the UK, either directly or indirectly. Insurance companies already take the impacts of climate change very seriously. By 2080, predictions suggest temperatures may rise by 2-3°C. Winters will become wetter and summers drier, sea levels will rise, extreme sea levels may become more frequent and cloud cover in the south may reduce, increasing the risk of skin cancer. More heatwaves are predicted, increasing heat-related deaths to around 2800 cases per year. This is likely to be offset by fewer cold-related deaths. Flooding and landslides are predicted to become more frequent, disrupting road and rail networks. Fish from warmer waters such as mullet, bass, sole and bream are already replacing colder water species such as cod and whiting. Whilst there are uncertainties which mean that future effects could be less or more severe than currently estimated, it is widely accepted by the international scientific community (if not international business) that greenhouse gas emissions are largely responsible for the acceleration in climate change.
At the climate summit meeting in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, developed countries agreed to legally-binding national targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol was set to come into force once countries responsible for 55% of industrial nations' emissions approved it. The USA, responsible for 25% of all carbon emissions worldwide, signed the agreement but, under pressure from business (predominantly the big oil companies), would not ratify it. This left Russia with the casting vote. Russia ratified the treaty in 2004 and the Protocol is now in force. However, with the USA failing to ratify the Protocol it is not legally bound by it. As the largest greenhouse gas emitting country, failure by the USA to reduce levels jeopardises global reduction efforts.

Bibliography
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Raynaud D, Barnola JM, Chappellaz J, Blunier T, Indermuhle A, Stauffer B (2000). The ice record of greenhouse gases: a view in the context of future changes. QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS 19 (1-5): 9-17
The Royal Society (2002). Climate Change: what we know and what we need to know. Report of a Royal Society meeting held in December 2001.
Internet Sources
www.ukcip.org.uk
www.ipcc.ch
www.wmo.ch/web/wcrp/wcrp-home.