Global warming is hitting the poor the hardest and climate change could cause world-wide destabilisation if solutions are not found, one of the world's leading environmentalists said on Friday.
Klaus Toepfer, a tireless promoter of the Kyoto Protocol as head of the UN environment agency for the last eight years, said in an interview he believed its 2012 goals could still be reached even though he said it was still "not enough".
Toepfer, a driving force behind using the World Cup soccer tournament next month to project an environmental message and a former German environment minister, also said he sensed growing support for Kyoto in cities across the United States.
"I know Kyoto is by far not enough," said Toepfer, who last month stepped down from the UN agency in Nairobi since 1998. "We have to do more because climate change is not a forecast for the long-term future but it is happening now.
"The poorest of the poor are suffering most. Our world will be destabilised if we are not able to solve this problem. It is not something on the margins. Our children and their children will suffer the most and it's our obligation to do it now."
The Kyoto Protocol aims to cut industrial nations' emissions of heat-trapping gases - which are believed responsible for climate change - from factories, power plants and cars by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.
Toepfer said he was dismayed a new Canadian government was distancing itself from its Kyoto targets from 2012 because it says it can't reach them.
"A decision of a government is also a binding decision for the time period that comes after that," he said. "I'm sure there will be huge challenges not only in Canada but in Europe as well to reach the Kyoto targets. But it is possible to reach them."
Kyoto's goals are meant to slow climate change that could spur droughts, floods, powerful hurricanes and flood low-lying Pacific islands by driving up sea levels in the coming decades.
MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: The United States pulled out of Kyoto in 2001, saying it would cost jobs and wrongly excluded developing nations from a first round. Washington is instead making big investments in new technologies, ranging from hydrogen to solar power.
"The United States, Canada and Australia are sceptical, which is not a good situation considering their share of emissions. But they are also sitting at the negotiating table. There are also lots of activities in many states and cities.
"Go to California, go to the New England states. There are mayors in very important US cities who are saying 'We want to reach the Kyoto targets'. There are also lots of big companies. General Electric and BP are two that are committed to reducing CO2, not only in words but in concrete numbers."
Toepfer, 67, said Kyoto was only a first step. "Kyoto made clear we have to change our use of fossil fuels and reduce emissions of CO2," he said. "It's great we have it. But now we can discuss what's beyond Kyoto instead of Kyoto."
Toepfer is a driving force behind a "Green Goal" programme to make next month's soccer tournament the most environmentally friendly World Cup.
Amongst a welter of measures, the Germany and Brazil squads will use trains, as well as planes, to travel around the country, solar panels will adorn stadium roofs, rain water is being harvested and beverages will be sold in reusable cups.
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