In an interview with the AFP Pachauri said that the emphasis for emissions reductions for 2050 needed to be place on 2020 because of the unanticipated acceleration of climate change. "Strong and urgent action is needed" said Pachauri in a meeting of the ministers of the International Energy Agency in Paris.
Pauchauri is chairman of the Noble Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Pachauri said the talks in Copenhagen in December should focus on the far more important target of 2020 instead of mid century. "It is not enough to set any aspirational goal for 2050, it is critically important that we bring about a commitment to reduce emissions effectively by 2020," he said. "If this path of mitigation is to be embarked on, to ensure stabilization of temperatures at the level that I mentioned (2 C, 3.6 F), then global emissions must peak by 2015," he said.
The Chairman also opened the door to a follow up meeting to Copenhagen in case the US can not get their climate change ducks in a row before December. PARIS (AFP) – The UN’s top climate scientist on Thursday urged a key conference on global warming to set tough mid-term goals and warned carbon emissions had to peak by 2015 to meet a widely-shared vision.