1 Dec 2011

UN / DURBAN

Briefing on the upcoming UN Framework Convention on Climate Change today, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning Bob Orr said that “it’s safe to say that expectations are low, but it’s an important meeting.” UNTV

Posted at: December 1, 2011 6:26 pm

Duration: 01:31

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / DURBAN
TRT: 1.31
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 1 DECEMBER 2011, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

RECENT 2011, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters

1 DECEMBER 2011, NEW YORK CITY

2. Med shot, Robert Orr sits down at press conference
3. Wide shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Bob Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning, United Nations:
"I think its safe to say that expectations are low for this conference of parties and yet it is an important meeting."
5. Cutaway, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Bob Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning, United Nations:
"Durban is happening against a very real world challenge that is evolving, just in the last year since the last COP in Cancun, Mexico. The science has been marching on and revealing a number of things that are quite worrisome. The World Meteorological Organization this year has a report that they greenhouse gases concentrations in the atmosphere have reached record levels. The IPCC has produced an extensive report on extreme weather and disaster risk reduction that indicates that on a global scale hot days have become hotter and occur more often and that if emissions are allowed to spin out of control the likely frequency of hot days will increase by a factor of ten in most regions of the world."
7. Cutaway, journalist
8. Med shot, Bob Orr ends press conference

STORYLINE:

Commenting on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change taking place in Durban, South Africa, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning told journalists that he thought it was safe to say that "expectations are low for this conference of parties and yet it is an important meeting."

Orr said that the conference was happening against a "very real world challenge" that was presently evolving.

He noted that since the COP (Convention of Parties) in Cancun Mexico last year, science had revealed several worrisome developments. Among them, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported this year that greenhouse gases concentrations in the atmosphere had reached record levels and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC) had produced an extensive report on extreme weather and disaster risk reduction indicating if emissions were allowed to spin out of control. With the likelyhood of hot days increasing by a factor of ten in most regions of the world.

Thousands of representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society are present in Durban for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which seeks to advance ways to cut global carbon emissions and pollution.

The stakes at the two-week long conference are high, as its outcome will determine the future of the Kyoto Protocol, the legally binding treaty to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, whose first commitment period is due to expire in 2012.