Environment Agency calls for renewed urgency over international environmental legislation

The chairman of Britain's Environment Agency has called for governments to build on the international agreement made in Copenhagen and move the process of introducing international environmental legislation forward.

In a speech to Henley Business School on February 3rd, Lord Smith said that evidence to support climate change "is indeed there" and urged people to see past the errors in some research that have recently come to light.

"We need to continue the drive for an international treaty. And to do so with renewed urgency," he stated.

Lord Smith also described the damage done to public opinion over climate change by scientific inaccuracies and the subsequent media reports as "a tragedy".

He added that much work needs to be done to rebuild the arguments and ensure that people all over Europe and the world understand both the reality and urgency of the situation.

Many of the recent media reports stemmed from the revelation that a publication by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) incorrectly claimed that the Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035.

However, in a statement the IPCC stressed that there is a strong case to support the assertion that glaciers and ice caps around the world are receding.

Posted by Laruen Steadman