Here are some brief notes I made at the Acclimatise Steering Group meeting held last week:

Notes on Climate Change Steering Group Report

1. Adaptation Policy Fundamentals and Executive Summary.

In 2-3 weeks time a report will go to Government to enable a Tynwald debate for April/May.

A number one priority is the security of energy supplies - gas, oil. Installation of solar panels would be of assistance with this.

The Governments energy policy should bring NGO’s on-board.

There was a short mention of the IPCC 4th Assessment Report involving some 146 countries including India and the USA. It shows that climate change is moving more rapidly

www.ipcc.ch

The Stern Report put the economic costs firmly on the political agenda.

John Firth, M.D. Acclimatise thought “green” groups:

a. had a responsibility to give out good science

b. to act as unofficial auditors.

c. to personalise with life choice stories

d. to liaise with others such as the construction industry.

Government can put in place policies for schools -threshold sensitivity; emissions and energy standards; emissions of CO2 by carbon neutral policies; DOT flood control; designing buildings for the future; ensuring the legal consequences are accounted for and foreseen; agriculture etc.

This policy report is for Ministers; there will be a separate report for the public.

Adaptation is aimed at Government and organisations; mitigation is in the hands of the public.

A 10-point summary leaflet will be produced for both.

Adaptation and mitigation should be balanced.

An appraisal of the needs of each organisation should be carried out. A mention was made of fiduciary responsibility to ensure investor’s interests are protected both short and long term. The Government should look at its capital investment programme.

Future of Steering Group. A Chief Executives Group exists. There should also be an environmentalist-sustainability group although there is unlikely to be any resources for sustainability groups. The appointment of a graduate as a Regional co-ordinator could drive the matter forward.

An invite to a senior figure such as Nicholas Stern or Jonathon Porritt could launch the report. There also needs to be a link with the British-Irish Council.

Extra Information subsequent to meeting:

MEDIA ADVISORY

IPCC adopts major assessment of climate change science

Paris, 2 February 2007 – Late last night, Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) adopted the Summary for Policymakers of the first volume of “Climate Change 2007”, also known as the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).

“Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis”, assesses the current scientific knowledge of the natural and human drivers of climate change, observed changes in climate, the ability of science to attribute changes to different causes, and projections for future climate change.

The report was produced by some 600 authors from 40 countries. Over 620 expert reviewers and a large number of government reviewers also participated. Representatives from 113 governments reviewed and revised the Summary line-by-line during the course of this week before adopting it and accepting the underlying report.

The Summary can be downloaded in English from www.ipcc.ch and http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu. A webcast of the final press conference has also been posted. The Summary will be available in Arabic, Chinese French, Russian and Spanish at a later date. The full underlying report will be published in English by Cambridge University Press.

• Carola Traverso Saibante, IPCC Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland

Phone: +41 22 730 8066; +41-79- 666-7134 (portable)

E-mail: CSaibante@wmo.int

• Kristen Averyt, IPCC Working Group I Technical Support Unit, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Phone: +1-303-497-4885;

Email: ipcc-wg1@al.noaa.gov