World Summit on Sustainable Development Department of Public Information - News and Media Services Division - New York
	Johannesburg, South Africa 26 August-4 September 2002	29 August 2002

PRESS CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE   While much attention was being paid to measures to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, such as the Kyoto Protocol, little attention had been paid to the critical issue of adapting to the impact of that phenomenon, a senior scientist said at a press conference this evening. Announcing the release of a report on climate change and agricultural vulnerability, Mahendra Shah, Coordinator of United Nations Relations at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), said the developed countries were equipped for adaptation to climate change, but the developing world must place the issue on the global agenda "sooner rather than later". He said the report raised the question of fairness and equity, pointing out that while developing countries contributed little to global warming, they would bear the brunt of its effects. In addition, developed countries would gain production, while many developing countries, with a projected population of 3 billion in 2080, may lose 10 to 20 per cent on average of their cereal-production potential due to climate change, according to the report. Dr. Shah said the situation in sub-Saharan Africa gave cause for concern, particularly in Sudan, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Somalia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Chad, Sierra Leone, Angola, Mozambique and Niger, which would all lose cereal-production potential, according to the report. Even without climate change, 84 developing countries were socially, economically and environmentally vulnerable, he added. He said that with relatively high economic growth in developing countries in the next 80 years and with moderate population increase, hunger could be nearly eradicated. However, it was worrying that little could be expected from "trickle down" economic development alone in reducing hunger by 2020. Hunger would persist until 2020, no matter what economic growth occurred. Asked what role biotechnology could play in helping countries to adapt, Dr. Shah replied that it could contribute by developing drought-resistant crops in the many areas of Africa that suffered from water scarcity. However, all the applications of biotechnology targeted towards the poor countries must take into account critical questions, such as who would invest and pay for such programmes. Governments must play their part, he stressed. Leen Hordijk, Director of the Austria-based IIASA, introduced Dr. Mahendra at the press conference, which was sponsored by the Secretariat of the World Summit.   Press Conferences Summit News