Dr Joan Elizabeth Russow (Canada): 278 ppm CO2 by 2050

Canadian peace and environment activist Dr Joan Elizabeth Russow (born Ottawa, November 1, 1938) is a peace activist, a former national leader of the Green Party of Canada from 1997 to 2001 and a co-founder of the Ecological Rights Association and the Global Compliance Research Project (see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Russow )

Dr Joan Russow with Richard Levicki, Global Compliance Research, “Submission to the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change: Time to be bold” …16 November 2009: “Overview. The time for procrastination about climate change has long since passed; the world is in a state of emergency and further inaction is gross negligence. The actual and anticipated impacts of climate change as well as the unintended consequences of climate change, and the short-term and long-term effects that are known and yet to be known have all contributed to the state of emergency. Any denial of the state of emergency is eclipsed by the moral imperative, and legal imperative. to abide by the precautionary principle… As stated in the precautionary principle in the United Nations Framework on Climate Change [UNFCCC], the lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing methods to address the threat… Because of the global urgency, there must be the political will to strive to contain the rise in temperature to less than 1^oC above the pre-industrial levels and strict time frames must be imposed , so that overall global emissions will begin to be reversed as of 2010. There must be a global target of 30% below 1990 by 2015, 50% below by 2020, 75% by 2030, 85% by 2040 and 100% below by 2050, while adhering to the precautionary principle, the differentiated responsibility principle, and the fair and just transition principle. Under the Framework Convention, every state signatory incurred the responsibility to conserve carbon sinks; thus the destruction of sinks, including deforestation and the elimination of bogs must end. Most scientific work today has become tied to the failing negotiations and is based in keeping the risk of a rise in temperature above 2^oC at about 5-40%. The proposal submitted here by the Global Compliance Research Project is based on trying to avoid a temperature above 1^oC and returning atmosphere CO2 back to 278 ppm in line with the obligations outlined in the UNFCCC [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change] by 2050 and bringing risk down to a minimum. If the dangerous level is to be avoided, emissions pathways to eliminate CO2 must arrive at the pre-industrial level of 278 ppm at least by 2050. [Currently under consideration as a target. To succeed in being below the dangerous 1^oC, member states of the United Nations must commit to remove between 1105 GT CO2 and 1842 GT CO2 from the atmosphere (Table 1) …]. [1].

[1]. Joan Russow and Richard Levicki, Global Compliance Research, “Submission to the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change: Time to be bold”, (16 November 2009): http://76.12.226.248/ccc/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/climate-change-statement-November-26-2009.pdf .