IMarEST issues Climate Change Position Statement
The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) launched their Climate Change Position Statement at a one day conference ‘ Marine Environmental Briefing – Practical implications of new technology’ held last month to mark the Institute’ s President’ s Day.
Recognising that climate change is the most important threat facing humanity,
, which has 15,000 members and 50 branches globally, issued a powerful position statement on climate change.
‘The global community, represented through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and informed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), now unequivocally recognises that emissions of greenhouse gases and land use changes are resulting in significant warming of the atmosphere and the oceans, said IMarEST chief executive Dr Marcus Jones.
As a consequence, there is widespread acceptance of the need to mitigate global warming through control of emissions of greenhouse gases and to plan adaptation to the impacts of a changing climate. As an international professional body representing the marine sector IMarEST is calling for its members to support these goals by:
* Helping to improve scientific understanding of the climate system and climate change.
* Seeking to quantify the impacts of climate change on marine activities and marine natural systems.
* Supporting strategies and technologies for adaptation to the consequences of climate change.
* Recommending adoption of appropriate mitigation measures to limit or prevent greenhouse gas emissions arising from marine activities.
* Encouraging evaluation of marine technologies for removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
‘The Institute has a very clear vision of a world where marine resources and activities are sustained, managed and developed for the benefit of humanity, Dr Jones explained. ‘Our newly published position statement will be supported by a statement on the science behind climate change.
‘This is currently undergoing extensive expert review, and will be published by the end of October. We are also inviting members to provide comment or evidence for future position statements on climate change impacts, adapting to impacts, mitigating climate change, and climate change remediation. Their views, or commitment to becoming involved, should be sent to technical@imarest.org.’
The IMarEST Position Statement on Climate Change is now published on the Institute’s website at www.imarest.org
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