{"id":30218,"date":"2012-10-19T10:57:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T10:57:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-05-14T18:43:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T18:43:05","slug":"5218-un-climate-chief-says-limiting-global-warming-to-2c-is-not-impossible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/5218-un-climate-chief-says-limiting-global-warming-to-2c-is-not-impossible\/","title":{"rendered":"UN climate chief says limiting global warming to 2C is “not impossible”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UN’s chief climate negotiator Christiana Figueres says she believes public acceptance of the need to tackle climate change is growing in the US, after a summer of drought in the country.
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\nSpeaking to chinadialogue <\/em>in London this week, Figueres said:<\/span> "I would not be surprised if the drought in the United States this year opens up more political space for the United States…it was really a detonating factor in people in the United States citizens acknowledging the fact that there is climate change.<\/p>\n

"The latest [reuters ] poll is that 70%<\/a> of the US citizens really do understand that the climate is changing, that it is hurting them, and in addition, to hurting other people. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there is political space opening up here," she said.<\/p>\n

Figueres also dismissed suggestions that it is now impossible to prevent two degrees of global warming.<\/p>\n

"I think there are different opinions about whether ‘two degrees’ are out of reach or not. Professor Joseph Alcamo [chief scientist at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)]<\/span> says that the 2 degrees is still within reach even with the technology we have, so I don’t think this is a question of whether we have closed the door. The point is everybody needs to make their absolute best effort right now," she said.<\/p>\n

See video below or on youtube<\/a> or youku<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n