WATSON DRAWS ATTENTION TO 'THIRD POLE' SHRINKAGE AND CALLS FOR EU ACTION

1.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 20th Oct 2009

Speaking in a debate in the European Parliament on 'Climate Change and Developing Countries' in preparation for the UN climate change conference, UK Liberal Democrat MEP Graham Watson drew attention to the problem of the shrinkage of the 'third pole'.

"It is not only the Arctic and the Antarctic ice sheets which are shrinking" the MEP said:"the so-called "third pole"- the Himalayan ice cap which provides water for nearly one third of humankind in China, India and the Indian sub-continent - is also retreating under the influence of "black carbon" from fossil-fuel powered industrial, agriculture and transport engines.

Mr Watson called on Council and Commission to put on the Copenhagen agenda and on the agenda of the EU's bilateral summits the issue of EU aid to help with the rapid reduction of black carbon emissions by assisting the countries affected with technology transfer and investment in new, cleaner power generation capacity.

ENDS

Note: Graham Watson MEP is the Chairman of the Climate Parliament, a world-wide network of parliamentarians working on climate change alteration.