Horsemen of the apocalypse descend on Copenhagen

Four horsemen of the apocalypse descend on Copenhagen

Copenhagen 14 December 2009: As the Copenhagen climate summit entered its final week, with no less than 120 Heads of State participating, the four horsemen of the apocalypse (1) today descended on Copenhagen to remind them of what is at stake if they fail to take urgent action and agree a fair, ambitious and legally binding deal to avert a climate catastrophe in comings days.

The four horses represent Famine, Pestilence, War and Death - severe and interrelated impacts of unchecked climate change. They circled the Danish parliament and rode the streets of Copenhagen sending an ominous reminder of what the future will look like if world leaders do not tackle the climate crisis.

“The spectre of the four horseman is looming over these climate negotiations - tackling climate change is about life and death for millions of people,” said Sini Harkki, from Greenpeace Nordic. “Yet world leaders are still failing to grasp the urgency of the crisis.

“They must stop playing poker with the planet and lay their cards on the table to agree a fair, ambitious and legally binding treaty that will banish the horsemen. The time to pull us back from the brink of catastrophic climate change is now. If they act now they can change the future.”

The horsemen and climate impacts:

Pestilence – the white horse represents the devastating health impacts millions will suffer as a result of climate change, worsened by malnutrition. Global warming will intensify diseases such as dengue and malaria and cause them to spread further.

War – the red horse represents the threat of increased violent conflict from climate change. Changing conditions for settlement, agriculture, mining, transportation, diseases and disasters will lead to local resource wars, and to international conflicts mainly through mass migration and power shifts

Famine – the black horse represents the impact that climate change

will have on already scarce food supplies across the world. In some areas of the tropics, a temperature increases of 1-2°C may destroy harvests, and crops will also be wiped out by more frequent and intense floods and droughts

Death – the pale horse represents the fact that an estimated 300,000 people a year are already dying because of climate change. A toll that is projected to rise to at least half a million people per year by 2030.

ENDS

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