Climate Click

New Study finds logging of tropical forests needn’t devastate environment

2012-05-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

Harvesting tropical forests for timber may not be the arch-enemy of conservation that it was once assumed to be, according to a new study led by a University of Florida researcher. Selective logging may be one of the few feasible options left for conserving tropical forests given the huge financial incentives pushing tropical landholders to convert primary forests into cash-generating agricultural plantations.

The report analyzed data from more than 100 studies of tropical forests on three continents that had been harvested for timber. Results suggest that while biodiversity and carbon retention take a hit from selective logging, the losses are survivable and reversible to a degree if the forest is given adequate time to recover. The study appears in the online version of the journal Conservation Letters. That’s not the case when forests are converted to rubber or palm oil plantations, said the study’s lead author, Jack Putz, a UF professor of biology. Once a forest is gone, it is hard to get it back in any semblance of its former glory. “We aren’t advocates for logging,” he said. “We’re just acknowledging that it is a reality — and that within that reality, there is a way forward.” The study found that on average, 85 to 100 percent of the animal and plant species diversity present before an initial harvest remained after the forests were selectively logged. Forests also retained 76 percent of their carbon after an initial harvest.

The authors concede that the reports they analyzed could be overly optimistic portrayals of forest health. They nevertheless maintain that even moderately well-managed forests provide valuable benefits, and that badly managed forests can recover many of their most valuable attributes over time. The continued existence of indigenous people culturally bound to these forests depends on forest survival, Putz said. Other people benefit from the eco-services that forests provide like soil erosion control, carbon sequestration and habitat for wildlife. The problem, he said, is that there are powerful economic forces driving developing nations to convert their forests to cash crops and cattle ranches. A forest sustainably managed for timber and biodiversity might earn $2,000 per acre every 20 to 30 years. In contrast, a palm oil plantation can bring in the same amount in less than a year.

Via UFL news image roosevelt garcia

Climate Change Could Hamper China’s Rise

2012-01-20T04:22:00.000-08:00

The effects of climate change could seriously damage the Chinese economy in the near future, according to the Chinese government’s latest research into the phenomenon. Both food and water supplies are threatened with critical shortages, while an increase in flooding and drought could ravage vulnerable areas.

The 710-page “Second National Assessment Report on Climate Change” was published last year, but only recently entered the public domain. Authored by teams of government-supervised scientists, the report builds on an initial assessment conducted in 2007 to provide evidence and forecasting which will shape, rather than set, government policy.

The booming industry that has put millions of new cars on China’s roads and sprouted legions of factories has helped propel China towards its current status as the world’s second-largest economy. However, it has also made China the world’s biggest producer of the harmful greenhouse gasses which now present a long-term threat to the impressive growth in prosperity.

According to the report, China’s carbon-dioxide emissions (a major “greenhouse gas”) will only begin to diminish after 2030, with no significant drop until around 2050. By then, if current global warming trends are allowed to continue unhindered, China’s grain output could fall by up to 20 percent. This, says the report, could potentially be offset to a degree by the fertilizing effects of more carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere, in addition to shrewd crop choices and improvements to farming practices.

However, by the end of the century, based on the results of various projections of greenhouse gas levels, China’s atmospheric temperature will increase by between 2.5 and 4.6 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 average. It is the effect this warming will have on the country’s water which poses the greatest danger to society.

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Climate Change and Hungry Whales Killing Penguins

2011-04-13T01:39:00.000-07:00

Penguins are in dire peril due to climate change and a resurgence of hungry whales, according to the results of a long-term study.

Back in the early 80s, about half of Adelie and chinstrap penguins on the West Antarctic Peninsula returned to their breeding grounds after hatching. That number has plummeted to just 10 percent today – the implication being that the AWOL penguins have starved to death.

Biologist Wayne Trivelpiece of the National Marine Fisheries Service, a researcher in the study who has been on the penguin case since the 1970s, thinks he knows what’s killing off the birds: a lack of krill. These tiny shrimplike crustaceans are a huge food source to young penguins, and without enough of them the creatures are essentially screwed.

So what’s causing the krill implosion? Trivelpiece et al cite two prime suspects.

The first is warmer temperatures over Antarctica. The average winter on the West Antarctic Peninsula has risen by 10 degrees since about 1950. Krill feed off of algae that accumulates on sea ice, and with warmer winters causing less ice their population drops sharply – about 80 percent since the mid-1970s, the researchers say. (It’s true that Antarctic ice increased during 2010, but any growth is expected to be temporary.)

Not everything is starving around the South Pole. Whales and seals have regained a little footing in the underwater food chain since the days when they were prey for widespread human hunting. These creatures are slurping up enough krill that it might actually be harming the penguins. Humans are eating them, too: Krill factors into several types of dietary supplements (Krill Oil)

So will the penguins be able to revert to their historical food source, fish? Maybe not, says Trivelpiece.

source: tbd

UK's CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme "An Unecessary Burden"

2011-04-04T03:10:00.000-07:00

Around half of businesses have said the government's carbon reduction commitment energy efficiency scheme (CRC) is an unneccessary burden whose league table will be meaningless, a survey suggests.

The survey, conducted for npower, also found that 41 per cent of firms felt the CRC should be postponed until the UK's financial recovery is more secure. A similar number want financial incentives reintroduced and through that the CRC is now effectively a tax.

npower claimed that a significant number of firms will also miss the next milestone of the scheme - the submission of the first footprint report at the end of July.

source: utilityweek, image: cambium

Poor Countries Pledge To Curb Climate Change

2011-03-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

The United Nations is compiling pledges by developing countries to fight climate change, from Mongolia's plan to set up solar power stations in the Gobi Desert to promises by the Central African Republic to cover a quarter of its territory with forests.

The pledges are voluntary, and many nations made them conditional of financial and technical help from the industrial world.

But the list released Monday helps satisfy demands by wealthy countries, which are obliged to cut carbon emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, that all countries help fight global warming.

Last December rich countries approved plans for a Green Fund to administer billions of dollars for developing nations, but further action to define the fund has been delayed.

source: France24, image: churchandstate

Religious Group Giving Up Carbon For Lent

2011-03-18T04:41:00.000-07:00

One group in Brattleboro England, has decided to spend Lent reducing their carbon footprint. The Brattleboro Area Interfaith Initiative is taking part in a carbon-fast, an idea that originated in England, spread to Boston and now Vermont, and is expanding its reach even more.

The New England Regional Environmental Ministries is sending daily emails to people in more than 30 states with tips on ways to cut their carbon emissions. And 5,600 people have already signed up on-line to take part.

VPR's Mitch Wertlieb speaks with Fred Taylor is an environmental studies professor and writer who lives in Dummerston. He helped get churches in the Brattleboro area involved in the project.

source: vprnews, image: capitolcolumns

Algore says Turkey Could be a Leader in Climate Policy

2011-03-17T03:07:00.000-07:00

Former US Vice President Al Gore said on Monday that Turkey could be a leader in its region in reversing the effects of global warming through the climate policies it has the option of endorsing.

Gore, who has become the most insistent voice sounding the “wake-up call” for governments around the world to preemptively contain global warming, said at a forum in İstanbul that Turkey has the ability to provide leadership and support for the changes in policy that the world needs. Gore’s remarks came at a seminar in İstanbul late Monday at the Leaders of Change Summit, where many international figures, academics, intellectuals and senior government officials convened to discuss ways to positively contribute to change.

Gore said Turkey is at the nexus of North Africa, the Middle East and Europe and could become a lynchpin in a potential wind and solar energy grid. The former vice president also warned that Turkey could experience one of the most severe droughts by the end of this century starting in the 2030s, according to a reliable study, unless the international community takes steps to prevent this from happening.

Gore stressed that Turkey is perceived as a moral leader in its region and is making effective progress. “Turkey is a prosperous and huge country. It is displaying unprecedented leadership,” Gore noted.

He also pointed to the Arab world and said when young people are told that their country is not ready for democracy, the first thing they say is, “Look at Turkey.” He said this is only a single example of the ability for moral leadership that Turkey has. During his presentation Gore warned that the recent wave of floods and drought all around the world is evidence that danger is looming. He also talked about his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, which was also flooded recently, and provided examples from Turkey, which has experienced fires and floods that wreaked havoc in the country. Citing scientific studies and challenging claims that global warming and climate change is a myth, Gore listed numerous national science academies that agree with the fact that climate change is indeed occurring. The former vice president also underlined that the Turkish National Science Academy (TÜBA) also agrees that global warming is an undeniable reality of today.

source:todayzaman, image: smh,AP

UK: £10m Allocated for 3 Low Carbon Vehicle Projects

2011-03-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is providing £10 million for three major projects to address fundamental research questions in developing low carbon vehicles, Business Minister Mark Prisk announced today.

These projects have been developed by EPSRC with the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) through the Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform Integrated Delivery Programme.

They will cover scientific and engineering issues related to:

Hybrid electric vehicles subsystems, enabling the design of more efficient vehicles;the use of recycled and recyclable materials for manufacturing vehicles, reducing their environmental footprint; andoptimising the performance of electric motors and power electronics.

Mark Prisk made the announcement at the opening of a new exhibition at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to showcase UK manufactured low carbon vehicles.

Business Minister Mark Prisk said:

“The Coalition Government is absolutely committed to low carbon growth, tackling climate change and making our energy supply more secure.

“This exhibition highlights UK success as advanced manufacturers of low carbon vehicles and the £10m research grant will help ensure that the UK remains a world leader.”

Chief Executive of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Professor Dave Delpy, said:“As part of the Integrated Delivery Programme, EPSRC will be supporting a strategic programme of university-based research. The provision of high quality academic research ideas provides the basis for businesses to translate science into the vehicle market.“

Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said:

“Our world class science and research base is critical to promoting economic growth in emerging technologies, including low carbon vehicles.

“We have protected the science and research budget for the next four years. This will boost employment and instil the confidence of other investors. But, above all, it will improve people’s quality of life by pushing at the frontiers of our knowledge.”

EPSRC and the TSB are working together to support businesses by ensuring that emerging science is pulled through the innovation chain to market.

source: innovatek, image: microcab

PepsiCo Creates Plant-Based Bottle To Cut Carbon Footprint

2011-03-15T05:25:00.000-07:00

PepsiCo Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a bottle made entirely of plant material, which it says bests the technology of competitor Coca-Cola and reduces its potential carbon footprint.

The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business.

The new bottle looks, feels and protects the drink inside exactly the same as its current bottles, said Rocco Papalia, senior vice president of advanced research at PepsiCo. “It’s indistinguishable.”

PepsiCo says it is the world’s first bottle of a common type of plastic called PET made entirely of plant-based materials. Coca-Cola Co. currently produces a bottle using 30 percent plant-based materials and recently estimated it would be several years before it has a 100 percent plant bottle that’s commercially viable.

“We’ve cracked the code,” said Papalia.

Food Prices Will Soar, Warns UN Climate Panel

2011-03-15T02:18:00.000-07:00

Leaps in food prices linked to drought in Brazil or floods in Australia and Pakistan may be a foretaste of ever greater shocks to be caused by climate change, according to a commission named on Friday (March 12) to find ways to fix the problems. The international group of 13 experts will try to come up with ideas in the next 10 months to help agriculture cope with global warming, blamed by the UN panel of climate experts mainly on mankind’s emissions of greenhouse gases, according to a Reuters report from Oslo.

John Beddington, Britain’s chief scientific adviser who will chair the commission, said it would advise governments on issues such as UN climate negotiations and in preparing an Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in mid-2012. Extreme weather like the droughts in Russia, China and Brazil and the flooding in Pakistan and Australia have contributed to a level of food price volatility we haven’t seen since the oil crisis of 40 years ago, he said in a statement.

Unfortunately, this could be a taste of things to come because in the next few decades the build-up of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere could greatly increase the risk of droughts, flooding, pest infestation and water scarcity for agriculture systems already under tremendous stress, he added.

World food prices hit a record high last month, according to the United Nations. High food prices are adding to poverty and are a factor in triggering uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt which have spread across the Arab world. The poorest farmers in sub-Saharan Africa may be among those who have most at stake.

The commission comprises experts from Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, Britain, China, Ethiopia, France, Kenya, India, Mexico, South Africa, the US and Vietnam.

source: fnbnews, image: guardian

DECC Reassures Public Over Nuclear Safety

2011-03-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

The department of energy and climate change has sought to reassure the public over nuclear safety in the aftermath of the tsunami that has badly damaged nuclear plant in Japan - and claimed lessons would be learned from the situation for Britain's current fleet and the proposed new nuclear programme.

"We take this incident extremely seriously even though there is no reason to expect a similar scale of seismic activity in the UK," energy minister Chris Huhne said in a statement on Sunday as reports emerged of an explosion and at least a partial meltdown at one of the reactors at the Fukushima plant.

Thousands of residents were evacuated from the area over the weekend.

"I have called on the Chief Nuclear Inspector, Dr. Mike Weightman for a thorough report on the implications of the situation in Japan and the lessons to be learned. This will be prepared in close cooperation internationally with other nuclear regulators."

Congo Community to Use Carbon Payments To Send Kids To School

2011-03-09T03:11:00.000-08:00

African Press Organization - A small community in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that decided to replant its degraded forest is ensuring education for hundreds of children and providing basic health care services – in part thanks to carbon revenue that their reforestation project is expected to generate.

Ibi village, located on the Batéké Plateau approximately 150 kilometers from the capital Kinshasa, is now finding itself in the spotlight as it boasts the DRC's first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project approved and registered under the Kyoto Protocol. In addition to fighting climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide, the Ibi Batéké Carbon Sink Plantation Project is helping surrounding communities improve the livelihoods of its people through job creation and provision of health and education while promoting other environmental benefits such as the regeneration of patches of savannah and sheltering wildlife.

The project is seen as a successful model for the rest of the country and indeed the continent. Through the planting of different types of acacia, eucalyptus and pine trees, the project is directly absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Part of the reforestation will be used as a sustainable source of charcoal for urban areas, such as Kinshasa, which will reduce the pressure of deforestation on native forests. By dealing pre-emptively with the effects of climate change including a focus on employment and better health care, this project is aligned with the World Bank's newly approved strategy for Africa.

NOVACEL, a private company founded and managed by local people from the Batéké Plateau, is reforesting over 4,200 hectares of degraded land, which will employ around 400 part- and full-time staff and absorb an estimated 2.4 million tons of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years. This allows the project to generate carbon credits which are purchased by the World Bank's BioCarbon Fund and private sector firms such as the French company ORBEO. The carbon revenue will be invested in reforestation and local development activities - a primary school is providing over 200 children with an education and a clinic is providing basic health care to the local population. Local farmers are also receiving support from GI-Agro, an NGO linked to NOVACEL, to adopt more productive agriculture techniques, contributing to food security in the area.

The Ibi Batéké Project is the first of its kind to be registered by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the DRC, and is only the third CDM forestry project to be registered in Africa. Reforestation and avoided deforestation are areas where African countries see an opportunity to take part in climate change mitigation and a chance to generate important revenues.

Scaling up has already begun. NOVACEL is partnering with the government to implement an agroforestry project in the Sud-Kwamouth territory where there has been severe deforestation of primary forests. It has also recently signed a contract with Danone for the sale of carbon credits generated by the reforestation of an additional 2,500 hectares of land.

source: environmentalexpert

Brazilian Beef Has An Enormous Carbon Footprint.

2011-03-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

According to food product design - A new study published in Environmental Science & Technology reveals beef production in Brazil leads to greater carbon emissions than previously thought. The findings also suggest beef from the Brazilian Amazon carries the highest carbon footprint of any beef in the world.

Carbon dioxide emissions in conjunction with deforestation are responsible for 10 percent of all emissions globally. Increasing demand for more feed, biofuel and food, primarily meat, creates a need for more farming land, which leads to deforestation and even greater emissions.

Researchers at the Swedish Institute of Food and Biotechnology estimate beef ranches account for approximately 70 percent of the cleared forest in the Brazilian Amazon and they are calling for a revision of methods for calculating the greenhouse gas emissions of Brazil’s meat. They noted only 6 percent of Brazilian beef comes from ranches created by deforestation, which means the carbon footprint of Brazilian beef varies enormously based on where it is raised. As a result, just 6 percent of the country's beef accounts for 60 percent of its beef industry's carbon footprint.

"We have calculated in many different ways in the article, and no matter how we do it, we arrive at the conclusion that Brazilian beef is a heavy producer of carbon dioxide," they said. "The snag is that this 6 percent of beef production causes about 25 times more carbon dioxide emissions than beef produced in the rest of Brazil. This means that the average for carbon dioxide emissions caused by beef production in Brazil is twice as high as that in Europe."

DECC Publishes UK Carbon Plan

2011-03-09T01:34:00.000-08:00

The UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has today published its Carbon Plan, outlining the anticipated steps to reaching the country’s 2020 emissions targets.

Aiming to encourage the UK to cut its carbon footprint while at the same time promoting green jobs and investment in the country, a revised version of the Carbon Plan will be released each year.

Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said, “This Carbon Plan sets out a vision of a changed Britain, powered by cleaner energy used more efficiently in our homes and businesses, with more secure energy supply and more stable energy prices, and benefiting from the jobs and growth that a low-carbon economy will bring.

The Carbon Plan sets out three main objectives for the UK including a shift away from reliance on fossils fuels and towards low-carbon alternatives, a change in how buildings are heated by focusing more on renewable, low carbon options and improving public transport by reducing the amount of vehicles on the road as well as improving motor technology, perhaps towards electric versions.

Further, the Carbon Plan details the Government’s intention to create a carbon price floor by April 2011, award the first UK CCS demonstration contract by the end of 2011 and to identify further projects by May 2012, get the Green Investment Bank operation by September 2012 with the first annual data released on the funds and size of investments made by May 2013, develop a nationwide strategy to promote electric vehicle infrastructure by June 2011 and to reduce central Government emissions by 10% by May 2011.

Although the Carbon Plan outlines positive Government action in order to meet the UK’s carbon emissions targets, it has been met with mixed reviews. Many in the renewables industry are keen to see the Government outline its intentions to accelerate the reduction of carbon in the UK, and see the Carbon Plan as a positive move towards the 2020 goals. Others however, are still unconvinced that the Government will continue its support for certain renewable technologies.

US Won’t Commit to Binding Climate Deal.

2011-02-22T03:26:00.000-08:00

A legally binding accord to combat climate change “is not on the cards” at a December summit, because developing countries such as China, Brazil and India won’t commit to it, according to U.S. negotiator Todd Stern.

With developing countries unlikely to commit to reducing greenhouse gases by set targets, the U.S. will push for non- binding agreements to slow global warming, which will eventually result in a comprehensive and binding deal, Stern, President Barack Obama’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, told reporters in Johannesburg today.

The U.S. would be “perfectly comfortable with a legal agreement provided it’s legally binding with respect to all the major players and that includes China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia etc,” Stern said. “Our pretty strong impression is that it’s not on the cards yet. China, India and others are not prepared to take on that legally binding agreement yet.”

Signatories to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, who will discuss whether to extend emission cuts beyond the current 2012 expiry at the summit in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban, are still “deadlocked” on the matter, Stern said. The Kyoto plan called for a 5.2 percent reduction from 1990 levels among industrial nations. Japan, Russia and Canada all said they don’t want to extend Kyoto unless the two biggest emitters, China and the U.S., are brought into the pact.

Durban Summit

Countries on Dec. 11 approved a plan that creates a climate fund to channel as much as $100 billion a year in aid to developing nations by 2020, protects forests and outlines methods to verify cuts in emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. No new targets for curbing greenhouse gases were set.

The Durban summit will be about consolidating previous agreements, Stern said. “If we had agreements in principle now we need agreements in fact,” he said.

A Republican-controlled Congress may complicate efforts to provide U.S. legislation to back-up a pledge by the world’s largest economy to cut emissions about 17 percent by 2020, Stern said. Still, the Obama administration may be able to mobilize bipartisan support around ideas, such as incentivizing the development of electric cars, he said.

“If we’re going to get a real handle on climate change we’re going to need enormous technological innovation,” Stern said.

source: businessweek

Climate Change Affecting Food Security, says experts

2011-02-22T02:59:00.000-08:00

Climate change is already having an effect on the safety of the world's food supplies, and unless action is taken, it's only going to get worse, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) reported on Monday.

The warning came from several nationally known experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Economic Research Service, the Michigan State University and the University of California, Los Angeles, according to the release.

The experts warned that food safety is already an issue and will worsen unless climate change is confronted, the release said.

"Accelerating climate change is inevitable with implications for animal products and crops," said Ewen Todd, a professor of advertising at Michigan State University. "At this point, the effects of climate change on food safety are poorly understood."

However, there are already a number of examples of climate change taking its toll on the world's food supply, Todd said in remarks published by the AAAS.

One is Vibrio, a pathogen typically found in warm ocean water which is now becoming more common in the north as water temperatures rise, said Todd, also a fellow of the AAAS.

"It's been moving further up the coast these past few years," he said. "There was an outbreak of it near Alaska in 2005 when water temperature reached 15 degrees Celsius."

Todd also said that extreme weather - droughts and heavy rains - is having an impact on the world's food supply. In some areas crops are being wiped out, resulting in higher prices and other issues.

Drought and starvation can lead to mycotoxins which pose a health threat to humans, Todd said.

"Mycotoxins are molds that can sometimes cause illness in humans,and where you have drought and starvation there can be a mycotoxin problem," he said. "That's because people will store their meager resources of crops for longer than they should."

source: xinhuanet

Climate Change Requires Diplomacy, Hannah Brenton

2011-02-22T02:52:00.000-08:00

A new "politics driven" diplomatic approach is required to tackle global warming, the Foreign Office's special representative for climate change said yesterday.

Speaking to a packed audience at Chatham House, John Ashton described climate change as a "ticking clock", arguing for binding international agreements to cut emissions and keep world temperatures below two degrees centigrade.

"Only a binding regime can create a force field strong enough to align those countless [individual] choices, and convince those whose capital allocation decisions shape the economy that governments are serious," he said.

Mr Ashton - who first worked for the Foreign Office in 1978 and was appointed as special representative for climate change by the Labour government in 2006 - highlighted the importance of diplomacy in creating an environment where binding agreements could be realised.

"We must establish the political conditions necessary to support the climate treaty we need," he said.

"We need to make the low carbon economy feel more like an opportunity, climate risk feel more threatening; a binding treaty feel more necessary and achievable."

He described the failures of past treaties as largely due to "tensions originating in national politics" and emphasised that "low carbon growth" should be the answer to economic expansion in all the major economies.

The special representative made constant comparison to the diplomacy of the Cold War era and the need for a sense of "imperative".

He said: "In the Cold War, diplomats on either side helped build a shared imperative that operated across frontiers like a political force field, organising entire societies and, yes, legitimising countless individual choices. That is what we need to do now.

"In the Cold War, diplomats like George Kennan forged doctrines that made sense of those choices. The climate project will fail without a doctrine of climate security."

The high-level diplomat said people today needed to feel the same sense of imperative when confronting climate change as they did in the 1980s when facing some of the more frightening images of the Cold War.

"We don't have the equivalent of a mushroom cloud," he said.

Invoking that apocalyptic imagery, Mr Ashton emphasised the need for serious action.

Escalating food and oil prices, coupled with the increasing number of natural disasters linked to climate change, were a testament to the fact climate change is "a today problem not a tomorrow problem".

"The security and prosperity of 60 million British people depend on a successful global response to climate change," he said.

source: politics.co.uk , author

Africa Wants Reparation for Climate Change

2011-02-16T08:41:00.000-08:00

“Africa will no longer tolerate the alibi of using governance issues like transparency and legitimacy as a pretext to efforts at checking the consequences of climate change in Africa,” Joseph Endundo

Participants at the on going Seventh African Development Forum in Addis Ababa have accused developed nations of paying lip service to funding Africa’s efforts at combating climate change.

Speaker after speaker noted that while Africa contributes barely four per cent of carbon emissions, the continent bears the brunt while those whose actions endangered the planet remain reluctant at financing the process that will mitigate the disaster.

Jose Endundo, the minister of environment, nature conservation and tourism in the Democratic Republic of Congo who spoke on the theme: Africa and international climate change negotiations, said previous commitments contained in the Kyoto protocol and at the Conpenhagen conference must be met immediately.

Mr. Endundo warned that if the parties concerned do not deploy the required funding to check the menace of global warming, the number of ecological migrants would swell to 200 million in the next three decades.

“Common sense show that we can no longer have the rich on one hand and the poor on another.”

Mr Endundo said historical facts, and fairness require that the advanced nations provide the technology, the capacity and the funds needed to ensure sustainable development in Africa in the face of climate change.

In his contribution, Peter Ekweozoh, an assistant director in the federal ministry of finance in Nigeria, said as a member of the negotiating team to the climate conference, he disagrees with the notion that Africa lacks the capacity to fight climate change.

He noted that for decades Africa has come to negotiations expecting the European and American partners to provide critical help on issues, but such help hardly comes.

Mr Ekweozoh said the only way out is for the continent to acquire the requisite technology that will ensure that Africa consumes its quota on emissions.

“The technology to grow is in the public domain. We must use it to build industries and provide jobs for our people.”

However, Ako Amadi, the executive director of Nigeria’s Community Conservation and Development initiative, told NEXT that he is disappointed at Mr Ekweozoh’s submission that Africa has the capacity which is domiciled outside the continent.

A retired marine biologist from the Institute of Oceanography, Lagos, Mr Amadi said Mr Ekweozoh failed to consider the fact that capacity is an institutional matter, and research institutions have been destroyed, at least in Nigeria.

source: 234next

image: newsone

South Africa's Proposed Carbon Tax Could Hurt Businesses and Consumers

2010-12-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

South Africa is likely to phase-in a carbon tax on fossil fuel inputs as part of new measures to curb carbon dioxide emissions, the national treasury said, in a move that may hit company profits and hurt consumers. Africa's biggest economy, also the continent's worst polluter, is considering three carbon tax options as it moves to reduce CO2 discharges by 34 percent over the next decade.

In a draft carbon tax policy approved by cabinet on December 9, the government said it was considering a direct carbon tax on actual measured emissions, a fossil fuel input tax based on carbon content and an output tax applicable to emitters. South Africa hopes the taxes will influence behaviour among consumers and industry, including power utility Eskom and petrochemicals group Sasol, which ranked as the country's worst emitters in 2009.

Treasury said a tax of 75 rand per tonne of CO2, which could increase to around 200 rand per tonne CO2, would be "feasible and appropriate" to achieve reduction targets. However, while the proposed tax on fossil fuel inputs would probably hit companies using coal, crude oil and natural gas, it did not guarantee less harmful emissions, an analyst said. "Producers will have less profit and consumers will have to pay more.

What we need is alternative energy sources and not increased costs," Cornelis van der Waal, an energy analyst at Frost and Sullivan told Reuters. Both Eskom and Sasol said they were still studying the paper to determine its financial implications and would hold further discussions with government on its implementation. Eskom last year emitted some 220 million tonnes of CO2, while Sasol's South African operations were responsible for 70 million tonnes of CO2.

"We do believe a carbon tax has a role to play in a suite of options aimed at reducing carbon emissions. However, we need to ensure it does not make commodities like electricity unaffordable," Hilary Joffe, Eskom's spokeswoman, told Reuters. Eskom supplies the bulk of power in Africa's biggest economy, using mainly coal-fired stations.

The utility is already struggling to pay for new plants to meet fast rising demand in the world's top producer of platinum and a major supplier of gold, and analysts said a carbon tax could further strain its bottom line. South Africa, which introduced its first explicit carbon tax in 2008 with the announcement of an electricity generation levy of 2c per kWh, wants the new carbon tax initially set at a modest rate and gradually increasing over time.

The Treasury said it would consider sector specific tax reductions and exemptions to protect the competitiveness of key industries, although these would be temporary. South Africa, the world's 12th-largest emitter of CO2, will host the next global climate change round in Durban in 2011, and is under pressure to step up its fight against greenhouse gases.

source: theafricareport

U.S. Seeks Balanced Outcome At Cancun Climate Negotiations

2010-12-04T07:47:00.000-08:00

The United States seeks a balanced outcome in the Cancun climate negotiations that cover all major issues concerning climate change, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern said Friday.

"What we need to do is to produce a balanced package of decisions covering all the core issues from the Copenhagen Accord, including mitigation, transparency, financing, technology, adaptation and the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) issue," Stern told a press conference.

"Balance is, in my judgment, the key that can unlock the door to a strong set of decisions here in Cancun," he said.

Stern's stance was not new. At a briefing on Nov. 22, he said "to preserve the balance of the package in Cancun, we need to make comparable progress on all the core issues included in the Accord."

Developing countries have accused developed countries including the United States of producing lots of carbon emissions and consuming too much energy over the past decades.

They demand the Cancun talks attach more importance to urging developed countries to share more burden in emissions cut and provide more fund and technology to developing countries.

The UN climate change conference, running from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10 in the Mexican resort of Cancun, aims to find solutions to global climate change.

Attendees include some 25,000 governmental officials, businessmen as well as members of nongovernmental organizations and research institutions from some 200 countries.

source

East African Community Leaders Tackle Climate Change and Food Insecurity

2010-12-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

Photo: Howard Burditt/Reuters

Leaders of the five-nation East African Community (EAC) on Friday declared their firm commitment to combating climate change, as a priority area to be addressed in order to mitigate its negative effects on socio-economic development.

In a declaration at their 12th Summit on Food Security and Climate Change, the EAC heads of state noted that climate variability and change were not just a serious global concern but were also impacting negatively the EAC region’s ecosystems, the natural resources productivity, people’s livelihoods and all development efforts.

The summit, held at the northern Tanzania tourist resort of Ngurdoto, 30 kilometres from the EAC headquarters in Arusha, was preceded by a one-day retreat attended by presidents Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi.

The three leaders emphasized that the problem of climate change in the EAC region and neighbouring countries called for a regional approach.

Nkurunziza warned that if not addressed properly, problems associated with climate change could roll back or even undo the progress that the region had painstakingly made in socio-economic development.

Natural resources form the predominant base of socio-economic development of the EAC countries and the adverse impacts of climate change are already visible on the environment, agriculture and more seriously on food security.

The presidents affirmed that the EAC region “is capable of producing adequate food for consumption, as well as for export, given the natural resources potential that could be exploited for increasing agriculture production.”

Besides developing a regional Climate Change Policy, the summit has directed that strategies to address the adverse impact of this phenomenon should include “determining how surplus food in one country can be shared in countries that are worst hit.”

According to the declaration, all five member states of the EAC - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda - are committed to use the EAC Common Market Protocol as an important instrument of ensuring food security in the region.

The presidents said that will be done by accelerating the marketing and trade of strategic food commodities and products from all sources, including crops, livestock, fishery and marine resources and forestry systems.

On food security, the summit specifically declared that implementation of the EAC Food Security Action Plan must take off immediately.

Meanwhile, each partner state has committed to increase its budget allocation to the agriculture sector to a minimum of ten per cent of national budgets by 2015, as per the Maputo Declaration of the African Union, directing them to give priority to programmes and projects for enhancing food security and poverty reduction.

Each state must also ensure that all food security strategies and actions have in-built gender and HIV/AIDS considerations.

source: afriquejet

India Deviating From National Position At Cancun Climate Talks

2010-12-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said India was deviating from its national position in favour of developed countries by supporting international scrutiny of domestic climate change mitigation measures at the ongoing talks at the Cancun Summit.

Jaitley has demanded the personal intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh made no deviation from national position on climate change.

Eversince the UPA-II assumed office, he said, there had been a legitimate apprehension in India and amongst developing countries with regard to the dilution of India’s conventional position in the climate change negotiations.

Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had made a statement on the eve of the UN Climate Summit in Cancun, suggesting - “We are certainly prepared to engage in a system of monitoring, review and verifications/international consultation and analysis (MRV/ICA) of domestic climate actions, which respects national sovereignty….. and we have suggested a set of operational guidelines on how this system will function.”

Global CO2 emissions Fall by 1.3%, Says Scientists

2010-11-22T06:44:00.000-08:00

According to an international team of scientists, "Global emissions of carbon dioxide dropped by 1.3 per cent in 2009 compared with the previous year, largely due to the effects of the economic crisis and an overall fall in GDP"

The drop is smaller than the 2.8 per cent fall predicted by many experts for 2009, however, because the reductions in carbon emissions per unit of GDP – a measure of efficiency called the carbon intensity – was smaller than expected in many emerging economies.

The results are part of the annual carbon budget update by the Global Carbon Project (GCP), an international group of climate scientists and analysts that collates emissions data to help policymakers. The project totalled the carbon emissions due to use of fossil fuels in power stations, cement manufacture and changes in land use, such as deforestation.

Despite the 1.3 per cent overall drop, the 2009 global fossil fuel emissions – 30.8 billion tons of CO2 – were the second highest in human history, just below the all-time high of 2008.

The small overall decrease in global emissions masks some big regional shifts, according to the report published today in Nature Geoscience. Because the global financial crisis has mainly affected developed nations, this is where emissions dropped by the largest amounts: in the US by 6.9 per cent, the UK by 8.6 per cent, Germany by seven per cent, Japan by 11.8 per cent, Russia by 8.4 per cent and Australia by 0.4 per cent.

In the emerging markets, however, there were big increases: China rose by eight per cent, India by 6.2 per cent and South Korea by 1.4 per cent.

"The 2009 drop in CO2 emissions is less than half that anticipated a year ago," said Pierre Friedlingstein, a professor of mathematical modelling of climate systems at the University of Exeter. "This is because the drop in world GDP was less than anticipated and the carbon intensity of world GDP improved by only 0.7 per cent in 2009, well below its long-term average of 1.7 per cent per year."

This relatively poor improvement in carbon intensity was caused by an increased reliance on coal in the emerging economies, Friedlingstein said.

The GCP also found that global CO2 emissions associated with deforestation have dropped by 25 per cent since 2000. This is mainly due to a reduction in tropical deforestation, which is consistent with reports of satellite data over the Brazilian Amazon and Indonesia.

"For the first time, forest expansion in temperate latitudes has overcompensated deforestation emissions and caused a small net sink of CO2 outside the tropics," said Corinne Le Quéré of the University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey. "We could be seeing the first signs of net CO2 sequestration in the forest sector outside the tropics."

If world economies start to recover and grow in 2010 as predicted, however, the 2009 fall in emissions will not continue into the future. "CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are projected to increase by more than three per cent in 2010 if economic growth proceeds as expected, approaching the high emissions growth rates observed from 2000 to 2008," said Pep Canadell, a scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia and executive director of GCP.

Despite the 1.3 per cent drop in emissions, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 continued to increase in 2009, reaching a global average of 387.2 parts per million (ppm) at the end of the year. Prior to the industrial revolution, CO2 levels were around 280 ppm. They are now rising at 2-3 ppm per year and, when other greenhouse gases such as methane are included, the total level in the atmosphere, known as the carbon dioxide equivalent, is closer to 440 ppm.

Computer models predict that if emissions continue to rise at the present rate, average temperatures are likely to increase by 4C by 2100.

source: greenwisebusiness

Dire Message on Global Warming May Increase Skepticism, Says Experts

2010-11-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

According to a new study by a University of California at Berkeley, dire messages about global warming could backfire and actually increase skepticism about climate change among the general public.

The study, which will be published in the January issue of the journal Psychological Science, says warnings about the potentially devastating consequences of global warming "threaten people's fundamental tendency to see the world as safe, stable and fair."

Author Robb Willer said people might respond to such warnings by disputing evidence for global warming and by cutting back on their plans to reduce their carbon footprint.

Willer, who was assisted by doctoral student Matthew Feinberg in conducting the study, said that if the same messages about the consequences of global warming are combined with potential solutions, the information can be communicated without creating substantial threats to individuals' deeply held beliefs that "the world is fundamentally just, orderly and stable."

He said that's important because research on "just world theory" has demonstrated that when people's need to believe in a just world is threatened, they commonly employ defensive responses such as dismissing or rationalizing the information that threatened their beliefs.

One of the two experiments conducted by Willer and Feinberg involved 97 UC Berkeley undergraduates who were asked whether they thought the world was just or

unjust and given two versions of an article about factual data provided by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Half of the participants received articles that ended with warnings about the apocalyptic consequences of global warming, and the other half read ones that concluded with positive messages focused on potential solutions to global warming, such as technological innovations that could reduce carbon emissions, Willer said.

Those who read the positive messages were more open to believing in the existence of global warming and had more faith in science's ability to solve the problem, but those exposed to "doomsday" messages became more skeptical about climate change, he said.

The second experiment involved 45 volunteers recruited from 30 U.S. cities via Craigslist and examined whether increasing one's belief in a "just world" would increase one's skepticism about global warming.

Participants were shown a video featuring innocent children being put in harm's way to illustrate the alleged threat of global warming to future generations.

Those who had been primed for a "just world" view responded to the video with heightened skepticism about global warming and less willingness to change their lifestyles to reduce their carbon footprint, according to the results.

Willer said the study concluded that, "Fear-based appeals, especially when not coupled with a clear solution, can backfire and undermine the intended effects of messages."

He added, "Our results complement recent research showing that framing environmentalism as patriotic can successfully increase pro-environmental behavioral intentions in those most attached to the status quo."

Willer said he believes the study will be helpful for politicians and environmental advocates interested in understanding public reaction to climate change research and advocacy efforts.

source: mercurynews

Conference of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change.

2010-11-16T06:55:00.000-08:00

Africa Union chief tasks African body on climate change ahead of Cancun meet - Africa Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Jean Ping has tasked the Conference of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) to champion Africa's legitimate climate change concerns and interests at the for thcoming conference on climate change (CoP16) in Cancun, Mexico.

Ping made the charge Monday at the opening of the preparatory meeting of CAHOSCC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

According to Ping, the negotiations have been going on a very slow and at times at frustrating pace.

He noted, however, that the key elements and targets of the negotiations, particularly on the Kyoto Protocol, remain largely unchanged.

He said Africa should and can take advantage of its renewable sources of energy to achieve green development goals.

'Indeed, climate change provides an opportunity to pursue a sustainable develo pment path by harnessing natural resources such as water, wind and solar among others and boost agricultural productivity,' the AU Commission chief said.

CAHOSCC, which comprises heads of state from Algeria, DR Congo, Congo Republic, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda, is headed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, and repr esents African countries in any negotiations on climate change.

It was formed ahead of the Copenhagen summit (CoP 15) last year, to give Africa a common position at the summit.

'Africa suffers most (with) lack of progress in the negotiation and, therefore, has a reason to fight for the successful outcome in Cancun,' Meles told the preparatory meeting held at AU Headquarters.

source: afriquejet