CHENNAI: Industrial nations should cut their carbon dioxide emissions as per the Kyoto Protocol as part of the efforts to keep global warming below dangerous levels so as to preserve the diversity and abundance of fishery resources, says the World Wide Fund for Nature Report.

It was launched by M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, here on Monday.

The report, `Are we putting our fish in hot water?' claims the move is also crucial to help fish recover from threats such as over-fishing and destruction of their habitats. "WWF seeks to limit global warming of average global temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels."

According to the report, carbon dioxide is the main pollutant causing climate changes. It rises through the atmosphere and captures heat, intensifying the effect of the greenhouse gases that keep the earth warm. "This has dramatic consequences for the globe's climate system — more extreme weather such as drought, floods and storms, rising sea level and changes in large ocean currents and changes in regional weather systems during events such as El Nino.

All countries must commit themselves to more serious emission reductions after 2012. To stay well below the 2 degree Celsius threshold, they must reduce their emissions by 60-80 per cent. "This will only be possible when developed economies — Governments as well as the business and financial communities — engage [themselves] in this endeavour," the report said.

The WWF's `Power Switch Campaign' "challenges the coal-burning power sector to cut climate pollution and aims at sparking a major switch to clean power by 2006 in at least 12 countries."

"Fisheries resources may become less predictable as extreme whether hits more often," the report said, calling for comprehensive strategies to build resistance to climate change impacts on threatened communities and nature reserves.

Prof. Swaminathan, who inaugurated a panel discussion on `Impact of Climate Change on Global Fisheries', stressed the need for coordinated efforts to ensure sustainable coastal zone management. The report on Integrated Coastal Zone Management Study, which he and other experts conducted, chalked out 12 major guiding principles. The suggestion for setting up a national board for sustainable coastal zone management assumed importance, as the country had two million square km sea surface in its exclusive economic zone.

Though climate change initially could have positive effect in some respects, "these advantages are minuscule when compared to the potential dangers" posed by global warming.

Yugraj Singh Yadava, Director, Bay of Bengal Programme (BoB), said the global warming itself might increase the frequency of El Nino. "It occurred in five of the first seven years of the 1990s, a sharp increase from its pattern of the previous 7000 years of every two to 8.5 years."

J.K. Patterson Edward, Director, Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute, Tuticorin, highlighted the effect of climate change on the loss of Lactarius lactarius fishery, which had high demand in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Prakash Rao, Senior Coordinator, Climate Change and Energy Programme of WWF-India, introduced the topic of the panel discussion on the importance of fisheries as livelihood and nutrients source and the possible impacts of climate change.