In his Inaugural Address this week, President Barack Obama called on the United States to “roll back the specter of a warming planet.” But at last week’s State of the World 2009 Symposium, IPCC Chair Dr. Rajendra Pachauri said that Obama’s proposed emissions target — returning to 1990 levels by 2020 — is insufficient, citing the IPCC’s 2007 conclusion that global emissions must peak no later than 2015 to limit temperature increases to 2.0-2.4 degrees Celsius, a level at which the planet will still see serious impacts. Dr. Pachauri also noted that Obama’s proposed target is well short of the 20 percent cut by 2020 that the European Union has committed to. Dr. Pachauri’s keynote address begins at 11:07. He specifically discusses President Obama’s emissions reduction goals at 55:20 and 30:18.

Contact the new administration and let them know we would like to see more strict goals, and more aggressive action. Click here to contact them.

click more to see the video (it auto-plays which is annoying, so I hid it below the fold)