Upsetting the Offset - Transnational Institute

Introduction
Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, p.84.
32 IPCC (2007) Fourth Assessment Report, p. 36 and 37.
33 Please note there is difference between the terms carbon and carbon dioxide. The molecular
weight of carbon dioxide is 3.667 times that of carbon.
34 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/.
35 Methane (CH4) takes about a decade to leave the atmosphere. It gets converted to carbon
dioxide and Nitrous Oxide takes about a century to leave the atmosphere.
36 http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/CO2-and-globalwarming-faq.html.
37 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/01/global-warming-emissions-fossilfuels.
38 Lohmann, L. (2006) Carbon Trading: a critical conversation on climate change, privatisation and power.
39 http://www.350.org/.
40 Lohmann, L. (2006) Carbon Trading: a critical conversation on climate change, privatisation and power.
41 These calculations are based on 2005 figures; http://www.worldenergy.org/
publications/survey_of_energy_resources_2007/crude_oil_and_natural_gas_liquids/638.asp.
42 For more information, see http://www.transitiontowns.org.
43 http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/images/stories/CI056_EACC_Report_v1.pdf.
44 Meinshausen, M., N. Meinshausen, et al. (2009) ‘Greenhouse!gas emission targets for limiting
global warming to 2C’, Nature, 458(7242): 1158!1162. http://www.nature.com/
nature/journal/v458/n7242/abs/nature08017.html; Also see http://www.carbonequity.
info/PDFs/QandA-Meinshausen.pdf for a better understanding of the paper by
Meinshausen, et al. Why is the global warming target for 2050 set to 2°C? ‘For avoiding
dangerous climate change, the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, limiting warming to below 2°C is the most prominently
discussed target in science and policy circles alike. The countries supporting a 2°C or lower
temperature target comprise together a total of 110 countries and represent approximately
20% of the World’s population in 2005. 2°C is not a safe level though, and significant
impacts, like major long!term sea level rise are likely to occur even below 2°C warming’,
http://www.carbonequity.info/PDFs/QandA-Meinshausen.pdf.
45 Monbiot, G. (2009) ‘We’re pumping out CO2 to the point of no return. It’s time to alter
course’, The Gaurdian, 1 September, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/
2009/sep/01/global-warming-emissions-fossil-fuels.
46 Earlier fever was considered to be a disease, but later it was discovered that it is not a disease
but a body’s indication that something is wrong. We are here trying to make a connection
between the concept of fever and global warming, suggesting that global warming is a sign
that something is wrong with the body that we call ‘earth’.
47 Lohmann, L. (2006) Carbon Trading: a critical conversation on climate change, privatisation and power.
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