THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
Thursday, 16 May 2013
UNEP and the Executive Director in the News
Guardian (UK): African leaders must emulate Chinese celebrities to save elephants
ITAR-TASS (Russia): Arctic Council to work on carbon black, methane problems in
Arctic - Russian Foreign Minister
Times Of India (India): Renewable energy is the need of the hour
EU Political Press (Belgium): How are we living up to the Rio+20 commitments on
sustainable development?
This Day Live (Nigeria): Africa Has Huge Potential for Generating Clean Energy
Daily Observer (Gambia): Africa Ozone Officers' Meeting Opens in Banjul
Namibian (Namibia): Global call to protect migratory birds
Global Journal (New York): An Optimist Outlook On The Green Economy Intellectual
Vietnam News Service (Vietnam): Hue to celebrate Environment Day
Intellectual Property watch (Switzerland): EPO-UNEP Report Examines Patents And
Clean Energy
Marketing Green (US): Consumer Decisions in a Green Market
Domestic Fuel (US): Africa Mecca for Clean Energy
Other Environment News
Reuters (UK): China gives environmental approval to country's biggest hydro
dam
BBC News (UK): World's most distinct mammals and amphibians mapped
Daily Star (Lebanon): Environment Ministry struggles to manage resources
IPS (US): In Vietnam, Rhino Horns Worth Their Weight in Gold
Environmental News from the UNEP Regions
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ROA
ROAP
ROLAC
RONA
ROWA
Other UN News
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Environment News from the UN Daily News of 16 May 2013 (None)
Environment News from the S.G.’s Spokesman Daily Press Briefing of 15 May 2013
(None)
To read a specific news article, press the ctrl button on your keyboard then click on the
news headline you want to read
UNEP and the Executive Director in the News
Guardian (UK): African leaders must emulate Chinese celebrities to save elephants
By Paula Kahumbu
16 May 2013
Li Bingbing and Yao Ming are among the celebrities campaigning to save elephants – now African
politicians must do the same
The world can no longer ignore the reality that elephants may be gone within decades, unless
something drastic happens to stop the slaughter. Crushing the criminal cartels in Africa is only half
of the challenge, demand in consumer countries must also be choked. The demand for ivory in
the Far East is unprecedented and China alone consumes over 50% of the illegal ivory coming
out of Africa.
Stepping up to the challenge, Chinese actress and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, Li Bingbing has
added her voice to the campaign to raise awareness about how the demand in China is fueling
the killing of elephants in Africa. In an emotional press conference at UNEP headquarters in
Nairobi recently, Li admitted that she had once purchased a beautiful ivory bracelet because she
had no idea that it had come from a killed elephant.
Like many people in China, Li asserts that ignorance in consumer countries is the enemy of
elephants. On her first tour in Africa, Li had moving encounters with baby elephants orphaned by
poachers at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's orphanage in Nairobi, and witnessed a downed
matriarch in northern Kenya with Save the Elephants.
She said:
Many consumers in Asia do not realize that by buying ivory, they are playing a role in the illegal
wildlife trade and its serious consequences. As global citizens, we need to take responsibility by
learning more about the potential impacts of our lifestyle choices.
Chinese actress and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Li Bingbing poses in front of the remains of a
45 year old female elephant who was speared with poison and walked for 2 days before dying
under this tree, on May 8, 2013. Photograph: Georgina Goodwin/AFP/Getty Images
Among the most recognized faces in China, her message will reach tens of millions of Chinese
ivory consumers. Li's presence in Kenya is significant. Kenya and China were both listed by the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as members of a "Gang of
eight" countries found to be complicit in the slaughter of elephants. China and Kenya will both face
sanctions if they fail to adopt action plans to address the situation.
She is the second Chinese celebrity to demonstrate leadership on the elephant crisis; Basketball
phenomenon Yao Ming is also lending his name to a massive Asian campaign by WildAid to
influence consumers.
But the slaughter of elephants is happening on African soil, and what Africa needs now is an
African champion to save the species.
It will take extraordinary leadership
In 1989, at the height of international criticism of his leadership, Kenya's President Daniel Arap
Moi differentiated himself by setting alight Kenya's entire ivory stockpile in what is undisputedly
the most powerful conservation symbol the world has ever seen. Governments responded by
banning the international trade in ivory and for the next 20 years elephant populations around the
continent began to recover. Despite all his misdeeds, Moi is still seen as a saviour of elephants.
The crisis facing elephants today is many times more serious than in 1989, there are far fewer
elephants and the demand for ivory is many times more vast. The price of ivory has reached
record heights. This month's conservation headlines emphasizes how bad it is across the
continent; For example, 26 elephants slaughtered in the Central African Republic's Dzanga Bai
National Park by armed militias and rebel forces in just one week; 292 rhinos killed in South Africa
in first 5 months of 2013; over 120,000 elephants slaughtered in Sudan over the last 20 years;
Elephants may go extinct in 7 years after more than 30,000 elephants killed in Tanzania.
First we must face the truth
Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP in a report titled Elephants in the Dust warns:
"The African Elephant is facing the greatest crisis in decades. Reports of mass elephant killings in
the media vividly illustrate the situation across many African range states... In some areas the
elephant may soon disappear unless urgent action is taken."
Once again, the world is watching Kenya and judging her behavior. It doesn't look good. Since
2009, Kenya has rapidly ascended to become one of the most prominent countries connecting
African ivory with Asian demand. In 2009, Kenya was merely an "emerging force" due to two large
shipments of Central African ivory passing through Kenya's Indian Ocean port town of Mombasa.
Since then Kenya has become a primary conduit for large shipments of ivory flowing to Asia
accounting for over 21.6 tonnes of ivory between 2009 and 2012.
Kenya's prominent role in ivory trafficking is a major shift in African trade routes and the scale of
these consignments suggest the handiwork of organized criminal syndicates, and few believe that
they could operate without some degree of political protection.
We need a new vision for the continent
Despite the ugly record, and the challenge of having a president who is best known for charges of
crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the 2007 post election
violence, Kenyan conservationists believe that Kenya's new president Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta is
exactly what Africa needs right now.
Kenyatta at his inauguration said:
"My fellow Kenyans, poaching and the destruction of our environment has no future in this
country. The responsibility to protect our environment belongs not just to the Government, but to
each and every one of us".
Kenya has traditionally been a leading voice on the world stage in the conservation arena, through
tourism, collaboration with international agreements, branding, partnerships with the NGO and
scientific communities, and documentaries which have shown the world "Magical Kenya". In their
inauguration speeches Mr Kenyatta and his Deputy President Mr William Ruto both promised to
end the poaching crisis. Kenyatta's commitment echoed those of his father the first president of
Kenya who issued a decree to protect Kenya's largest elephant, a magnificent bull named Ahmed
who lived on Marsabit Mountain.
Kenya is well positioned geopolitically and technically – the national wildlife enforcement agency,
the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), is one of the most respected in the world in wildlife
enforcement. Anti-poaching forces from across Africa train at the KWS police training Academy.
And, on the non government front, Kenya is home to the world's longest running research on
elephants, and is headquarters for most of the greatest experts on this species including, David
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, The Amboseli Trust for Elephants, WildlifeDirect, Save the Elephants,
IFAW, IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group, Space for Giants, WWF, Monitoring of Illegal
Killing of Elephants (MIKE)/UNEP, amongst others.
It is not surprising that Kenyans and Africans expect Mr Kenyatta to make the difference for
elephants but first he must restore Kenya's reputation by doing three things.
First he must amend the legislation which treats wildlife crime as a petty offence that attracts a
maximum penalty less than a speeding ticket. He must recognize wildlife crimes as a felony, and
increase penalties long jail terms of 7 - 15 years with no option of a fine.
Secondly he must crack down on impunity and corruption in the existing government agencies.
The volume of ivory transiting Kenya could only be happening if government officials were
involved. This includes wildlife police, customs, revenue and ports authorities.
Finally, he must unite African leaders around the crisis and persuade them to mobilize resources
to take on the criminal cartels. No single country can solve the crisis alone, it will take an
international coordinated approach. By putting African money into the war chest against poachers,
Africa will have earned the moral authority to stand beside China and other countries of the Far
East and unapologetically demand the closure of domestic ivory markets.
Only after the criminal cartels are crushed and the demand for ivory is extinguished, will elephants
once again be safe.
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ITAR-TASS (Russia): Arctic Council to work on carbon black, methane problems in
Arctic - Russian Foreign Minister
15 May 2013
The Arctic Council will work on problems of carbon black and methane in the Arctic, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Speaking at the ministerial meeting on Wednesday, Lavrov said, “We don’t sidetrack the problems
of carbon black and methane in the Arctic. A final declaration due to be adopted will record the
intention to create a target group in order to prepare corresponding agreements.”
In May 2012 Russia joined the G-8 Global Initiative to reduce methane and carbon black
emissions. The United States, Canada, Sweden, Ghana, Mexico and Bangladesh put forth such
proposal in line with the U.N. Environment Protection Programme (UNEP).
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Times Of India (India): Renewable energy is the need of the hour
15 May 2013
Renewable energy has huge potential to provide solution to increase energy crisis and it is the
key factor to the future of energy, food and economic security, said participants at a seminar
organized by GREENTECH and BNCCI.
"We are a growing economy. So our energy requirement is also growing. But we don't produce
enough energy to meet even our current needs. With depleting fossil fuel reserves and concerns
about its environmental impact, renewable energy is the only long-term solution," said Bibek
Bandhopadhyay, advisor at the ministry of new and renewable energy.
At present, India's installed power capacity is 2,10,645 MW with renewable energy contributing
26,900 MW or 12.4%. From various energy technologies, a capacity addition of about 30,000 MW
has been planned during the 12th Plan period 2012-2017. The focus is now on mainstreaming
renewable energy technologies so that it becomes cost-effective. Of this, 69% is generation from
wind and 4.5% from solar.
Incidentally, India was the first country to set up a ministry of non-conventional energy resources
in the early 1980s.
India is densely populated and has high solar insolation, an ideal combination for using solar
power in India. Much of the country does not have an electric grid, so one of the first applications
of solar power has been for water pumping, to begin replacing India's 4-5 million diesel powered
water pumps, each consuming about 3.5 kilowatts, and off-grid lighting. Some large projects have
been proposed, and a 35,000 sq km area of the Thar desert has been set aside for solar power
projects, sufficient to generate 700 to 2,100 GW.
The Indian Solar Loan Programme, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme
has won the prestigious Energy Globe World award for sustainability for helping to establish a
consumer financing program for solar home power systems. Over the span of three years more
than 16,000 solar home systems have been financed through 2,000 bank branches, particularly in
rural areas of south India where there is no grid electricty.
Launched in 2003, the Indian Solar Loan Programme was a four-year partnership between UNEP,
the UNEP Risoe Centre, and the Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank.
Announced in November 2009, the Government of India proposed to launch its Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change with plans to generate
1,000 MW of power by 2013 and up to 20,000 MW grid-based solar power, 2,000 MW of off-grid
solar power and cover 20 million sq metres with collectors by the end of the final phase of the
mission in 2020.
Development of wind power in India began in the 1990s and has increased in recent years.
Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry compared with Denmark or the US, domestic
policy support for wind power has led India to become the country with the fifth largest installed
wind power capacity in the world. As of December 2010, the installed capacity of wind power in
India was 13,065.37 MW, mainly spread across Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal. Wind power accounts for
6% of India's total installed power capacity, and it generates 1.6% of the country's power.
Every year, about 55 million tonnes of municipal solid waste and 38 billion litres of sewage are
generated in the urban areas of India. In addition, large quantities of solid and liquid wastes are
generated by industries. Waste generation in India is expected to increase rapidly in the future. As
more people migrate to urban areas and as incomes increase, consumption levels are likely to
rise, as are rates of waste generation. It is estimated that the amount of waste generated in India
will increase at a per capita rate of approximately 1-1.33% annually. This has significant impacts
on the amount of land that is and will be needed for disposal, economic costs of collecting and
transporting waste, and the environmental consequences of increased MSW generation levels.
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EU Political Press (Belgium): How are we living up to the Rio+20 commitments on
sustainable development?
15 May 2013
Achim Steiner talked to EU civil society about Rio+20 follow-up actions, the sustainable
development goals and the post-2015 development agenda
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP) Achim Steiner spoke yesterday to the European Economic and Social
Committee and other European civil society representatives on the subject of "Advancing
Sustainable Development Post-Rio+20". Mr Steiner spoke of the need for a fully inclusive
consultation process for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that must involve
governments, civil society and the private sector. This struck a chord with the EESC, which has
already started its Rio+20 follow-up work by setting up broad consultation forums with civil society
and institutional stakeholders at EU level on the sustainable development goals and linking them
with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Since the "Rio+20" UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro last year,
UNEP has been strengthened and upgraded. A key component of this is the now universal State
membership in its governance body, the new United Nations Environment Assembly. Mr Steiner
highlighted the fact that universality will be important for generating successful SDGs and thus
keeping humanity's footprint within planetary boundaries.
The EESC is actively contributing to the development of global SDGs by promoting civil society
dialogue both within the EU and with our civil society partners outside the EU, as it did prior to the
Rio+20 conference. Mr Steiner praised the EESC for its work in helping the EU institutions to keep
looking out beyond their borders, pointing to the regular Brazil – EU Civil Society Round Tables as
an example. In an upcoming opinion, the EESC will be arguing in favour of a single set of post2015 development goals: evidence of its efforts to bring the players from the SDG and MDG
processes together.
Mr Steiner encouraged the EESC to keep on pushing for the incorporation of the policy shifts that
emerged from the Rio+20 agreement into the upcoming review of the "2020 Strategy on Smart
and Sustainable and Inclusive Growth". His mention of UNEP's work on the green economy in
the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication was picked up by several other
participants in the debate on ways to build SDGs into green economy policy design and
implementation in the EU.
High level representatives of European trade unions, business and sustainable development
councils took part in this debate, which was also attended by Kitty van der Heijden, Dutch
Ambassador for Sustainable Development, who is a member of the sustainable development
goals open working group.
The EESC will continue with the work it began ahead of the Rio+20 conference on enabling and
promoting civil society dialogue on sustainability issues, involving European civil society
organisations and networks and national economic and social councils and sustainable
development councils in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Civil society must keep up the
momentum and make the link between discussions in New York and real life.
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This Day Live (Nigeria): Africa Has Huge Potential for Generating Clean Energy
16 May 2013
A new United Nations study has revealed that less than one per cent of all patent applications
relating to clean energy technology (CET) have been filed in Africa.
The detailed report also highlighted the opportunity for the continent to leapfrog existing fossil-fuel
energy sources and, in the process, cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve public health.
According to the study by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Patent
Office (EPO), Africa has a huge untapped potential for generating clean energy, including enough
hydroelectric power from its seven major river systems to serve the entire continent’s needs, as
well as enormous potential for other energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal.
Hydropower, the most commonly used renewable energy source, is estimated to be utilized at just
4.3 per cent of the continent’s total capacity – although recent years have seen efforts to ramp up
clean energy, with North African nations leading in solar and wind categories, Kenya in
geothermal, Ethiopia in hydro and Mauritius in bioenergy.
The report titled Patents and Clean Energy Technologies in Africa also pointed out that intellectual
property and patenting in particular have been highlighted as a significant factor limiting the
transfer of new clean technologies to developing countries, and identified as a barrier to these
countries meeting new emission limits for CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
While the lack of patents filed means CETs can be freely exploited in Africa, the lack of these
patents to protect their products means source companies may be reluctant to offer up their knowhow to promote technology transfer, according to a release on the study.
“The development and transfer of technologies are key pillars in both mitigating the causes of
climate change and adapting to its effects; patents are a crucial part of this process,” said UNEP
spokesperson Nick Nuttall.
“In addition to an accelerated response to climate change, boosting clean energy technologies
have multiple green economy benefits including on public health – for example, in sub-Saharan
Africa more than half of all deaths from pneumonia in children under the age of five, and chronic
lung disease and lung cancer in adults over 30, can be attributed to solid fuel use,” he added.
The study found that of the one per cent of identified CET-related patents filed in Africa, the
majority came in South Africa - meaning there was very little activity in the rest of the continent.
Also, only 10 per cent of African inventors apply for patent protection in Africa; the majority tend to
seek protection in four other regions: the United States (27 per cent), the European Patent Office
(24 per cent), Germany (13 per cent) and Canada (10 per cent).
The report added that there are signs that the situation is changing. Despite low patent application
numbers, the overall inventive activity in African countries grew by 5 per cent between 1980 and
2009, compared to 4 per cent at the global level. With a 59 per cent increase, mitigation
technologies grew most significantly in that period.
Noting that Africa’s intellectual property system requires further development to better support the
transfer of technology that can mitigate climate change, the report makes a number of
recommendations, including the development of international policies to promote CET in Africa
without having to consider significant issues relating to patent rights.
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Daily Observer (Gambia): Africa Ozone Officers' Meeting Opens in Banjul
14 May 2013
28 Ozone officers from 27 countries are currently converging on the Sunswing Hotel for the 19th
Ozone Officers' Network meeting for English speaking countries in Africa.
Organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with the
government of The Gambia through the National Environment Agency (NEA), the annual meeting,
which kicked-off Monday, is part of the Regional Networking service managed by UNEP's
Compliance Assistance Programme with support from the Multilateral Fund for the
Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer.
The forum will avail the delegates the opportunity to reflect on important issues of common
concern, and share information on their different experiences in the implementation of the
Protocol. It will also be an opportunity to discuss problems that may have been experienced and
to consider solutions.
In her keynote address at the opening ceremony, Fatou Ndeye Gaye, minister of Environment,
Parks and Wildlife, said the government of The Gambia considers the meeting important because
it believes that the protection of the environment on a sustainable basis for future generations is a
collective responsibility that should be nurtured by all and sundry. "As you deliberate on issues
regarding the protection and preservation of the Ozone layer, I want to challenge everyone here
present to work tirelessly in finding solutions that will prevent the further depletion of the Ozone
Layer and the recovery of the 'hole' in the Ozone Layer," she remarked.
She expressed optimism that during the four-day meeting there will be fruitful discussions and
sharing of information and experiences that will result to a better environment for humanity. "The
National Ozone Unit within the National Environment Agency was established in May 1997,
charged with implementation of the Montreal Protocol on the protection and preservation of the
Ozone Layer under the able leadership of His Excellency Sheikh Professor, Dr. Alhaji Yahya AJJ
Jammeh. The National Ozone Unit since it started the implementation of the Montreal Protocol,
has trained over 240 refrigeration technicians on best refrigeration practices, recovery and
retrofitting of refrigerants, successfully phased out Cholo Flouro Carbons (CFCs) by 31st
December 2009, distributed refrigerants analyzers to all the major customs posts throughout the
country," Minister Gaye revealed.
She told the gathering that to ensure that The Gambia is CFC free, the Unit also trained over 300
customs and other security officers on the identification of banned refrigerants, smuggling
techniques, noting that most of those trained have been trained more than once necessitated by
the emergence of new technologies. She further informed the gathering that the NEA in June
2012 also launched a new project called the HydroChloro Fluoro Carbon Phase out Management
Plan (HPMP), signed between the government of The Gambia and the Multilateral Fund
Secretariat through UNEP, to phase out of Hydrochlorofluoro Carbons (HCFCs), by 2030. She
continued: "The phase-out is in stages commencing with a freeze this year. The NEA has
embarked on sensitising stakeholders through the print and electronic media on a regular basis
about the project, instituted a licensing system for refrigeration technicians and importers of
refrigerants. The NEA under my ministry has amended the Ozone Depleting Substances
Regulations to include import and export of refrigerants and the document in currently at the
Solicitor General's office for gazzetting."
While expressing delight with the award given to the government of The Gambia by UNEP for its
vital role in the protection of the atmosphere for generations to come, Minister Fatou Gaye
acknowledged that the award could not have been achieved without the continuous support and
collaboration with the implementing agencies namely UNEP, UNIDO, UNDP, GIZ and MLF and
stakeholders in the refrigeration sector.
She concluded by congratulating the management team and staff of NEA, especially staff of the
Ozone Unit, and all their stakeholders for their tireless efforts, while urging them to mobilise more
energy and dedication to the new challenge they are faced with, that is to successfully phase out
HCFCs by 2030.
Speaking earlier on, Jim Curlin, Network and Policy Manager at UNEP, thanked the government
of The Gambia for hosting the meeting. He also thanked the country's hardworking Ozone Officer,
Alhagie Sarr, and the staff of the National Ozone Unit present and behind the scenes for the
excellent meeting preparations. "We are now five months into the HCFC freeze period, which
marks the beginning of the end of HCFCs. The clock is ticking on the phase out of these
chemicals and all of your countries have to reach the 10% reduction target in less than two years
time. The freeze was the relatively easy parts accomplished primarily through your licensing and
quota systems; now we have to do the hard part, to start reducing actual HCFC consumption by
reducing emissions and putting into place alternative technologies, including low-GWP climatefriendly alternatives. This process poses certain challenges related to technology choices, market
penetration, financing, technician training, and consumer acceptability. This meeting will address
a number of these issues," he said.
"High-level continued political support is needed for the Montreal Protocol agenda in general, and
for developing and enforcing legislation in particular, to ensure that compliance commitments are
met and to enable a smooth transition to the low-GWP, energy efficient alternatives needed to
replace HCFCs," Curlin further stated, noting that the National Ozone Units and ministries are
critical in mobilising that political support at the national level.
He disclosed that on the 9th May, scientists reported that the symbolic level of CO2 concentration
in the atmosphere has reached 400 parts per million, the highest level from 2.5 million years,
noting that mitigating climate change through a smart HCFC phase out can contribute to reversing
that trend. "Decision XIX/6 of the meeting of the parties encourages countries to promote the
selection of alternatives to HCFCs that minimise environmental impacts, in particular impacts on
climate, as well as meeting other health, safety and economic considerations. For climate
consideration, this means taking global-warming potential, energy use and other relevant factors
into account," he explained.
While reminding the participants that the HCFC 10% reduction step is 19 months away, Curlin
urged them to review their national plans and exactly what needs to be done between now and
then in terms of policy setting, training, certification, enforcement, and other aspects of HPMP
implementation.
On his part, Gerald Mutisya, representative of the Ozone Secretariat, said Gambia's hosting of the
meeting is a demonstration of the continued commitment by the government in working together
with other countries to protect the ozone layer. He further stated that the successes and strategies
applied by individual countries in the implementation of the Protocol can be shared with others in
order to realise the full implementation of the Protocol, noting that the Protocol stands out as the
most successful international environmental treaty because of the ground-breaking principles it
espouses. "The Montreal Protocol is the only international environment treaty that commands
universal membership of all 197 states and the European Union with no state left outside its global
coverage. This again is testimony to its success and the widespread support the treaty enjoys
from the world community," he added.
On her part, Ndey Sireng Bakurin, acting executive director of NEA, said The Gambia has shown
real commitment to the protection of the environment as a key part of sustainable development.
"In line with that, The Gambia was selected to host the meeting given the significant achievements
undertaken in implementing its obligation under the Montreal Protocol among others," she added.
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Namibian (Namibia): Global call to protect migratory birds
16 May 2013
A Local cattle herder sees a cloud of Lesser Flamingos feeding in an almost drying up Lake
Oponona in Uuvudhiya constituency of Oshana region.
His immediate decision was to rush home, take a shot gun and shoot the long-legged birds for
their meat.
As a result, some of those Flamingos lost their lives while others flew away to other parts of the
world.
These Flamingos have just arrived at Lake Oponona a few weeks ago from Tanzania’s Lake
Natron, in search of food and safer breeding sites.
The killing of migratory water birds for consumption, is just one of the many threats facing many
migratory birds the world-over.
Other threats they face during their migratory journeys are man-made things such as electric
power-lines and tall buildings into which they sometimes crash when they take on their long
journeys around the world and die.
Many migratory birds such as flamingos, storks, cranes, shorebirds and eagles, travel thousands
of kilometres across flyways that spans countries, continents and even the entire globe, according
to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the African-Eurasian Migratory
Waterbird Agreement (AEWA).
This year, the World Migratory Bird Day was on 11-12 May and was celebrated in 65 countries.
The day was marked by highlighting the importance of ecological networks for the survival of
migratory birds, the important human networks dedicated to their conservation and the threats
they face as well as the need for more international co-operation to conserve them.
In his global message to mark the day, United Nations Secretary General Ban-ki-Moon called for
greater international efforts to restore and preserve migratory birds and the network of sites they
need to survive as an important part of the environment on which all people depend.
UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner said “migratory birds and the challenge they face in
many ways undermines the ambition of multi-lateralism a globalized world.
“It is only when countries work together for a common cause that the survival and conservation of
these species be ensured.”
Launched in Kenya in 2006, the World Migratory Bird Day is organized by the Convention on
Migratory Species (CMS) and AEWA, two inter-governmental wildlife treaties administered by
UNEP.
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Global Journal (New York): An Optimist Outlook On The Green Economy
Intellectual
15 May 2013
The Executive Director of the UN Environment Program and the Under-Secretary General of the
United Nations, Achim Steiner sat down with The Global Journal to discuss his views on the
transition towards a green economy.
Looking at the new report released by UNEP on the green economy, it appears that orientating its
efforts to the private sector rather than the state?
Only in so far as the three quarters of our global economic activity is transacted outside
government budgets. On average the public sector accounts for 22 to 25 % of GDP. If you talk
about the economy, you are inevitably talking about the private investors and finance. If you look
at the work UNEP is doing, the focus is not so much targeting the private sector, but rather on
public policy and government. At the heart of the green economy is a series of analysis of the
success stories and policy implications that look at how government policies and frameworks for
the marketplace can influence the way the economy will work in a more sustainable manner.
Energy policy, agriculture policy, subsidies policies, fiscal policies are critical elements of either
sending a signal into the economy whether to move towards a more sustainable economy or not.
In that sense, I don’t think our work is focused on the private sector but rather on how the policies
interact with the marketplace..
So does this mean that states are still relevant in the transition to a green economy?
Well, I think at the moment, we have just lived through three or four years during which the
marketplace has been put into serious question! In fact, 4,000 billion dollars of public financing
bailout for a private sector led bubble economy has made us realize it is not the market or state.
Post-financial crisis, the ideologically polarized views that either the state will fix everything or the
market will fix everything are out of the window: the Washington consensus is no longer there! We
are talking about a post-crisis economy in which we know the public policy domains as critical as
is also the willingness of investors and entrepreneurs into the market.
What is the role of international organizations and agencies in that framework?
I always believe that one of the principal functions of international organizations has to be
interpreted along two domains. One: they are service providers. The service we provide to the
international community is first of all knowledge. We assist countries, because we virtually interact
with every country of the United Nations family. We can connect experiences, experiments,
success stories and failures and make them available to other countries. Countries can save a lot
of time and make the right choices. Second: we have a critical role by extension of national
sovereignty to facilitate the agreement of international norms and standards. Be that through legal
agreements, protocols, and other instruments in the trade regime, the climate change regime, at
the World Health Organization. We provide the means by which governments can agree on how
to cooperate, how to structure a global marketplace, a global economy, and thereby create a
transparent, more equitable and hopefully better functioning intergovernmental world.
How do you cope with competition and lack of coordination between international organizations
and national governments? Would it not be easier to have one global agency deal with
environment issues?
First of all, let me say that in 1972 and at the Stockholm Summit that saw the establishment of
UNEP and the emergence of a global environment agenda, there was that appreciation. Let’s be
fair: in establishing that environmental entity at the time, governments had pushed the frontiers.
The mainstream of government policies and domestic policies was to make sure that this
environment sustainability agenda did not get too much influence and momentum too soon. I think
that has begun to change: that is why we saw in Rio 2012 a significant decision being taken with a
strong signal being sent by head of states and governments. The environmental dimensions both
by virtue of the risks it presents for future development and by virtue of the significance it has
taken on in the public debate, was given a new lease of life. Part of that was the strengthening of
UNEP - The United Nations now has the world’s leading world environment authority in the
UNEP. It has, as the only entity in the UN Secretariat family, a governing body called the UN
environment assembly, which has the identical membership as the UN General Assembly. The
door has been opened to having a global body that is not only a technical service provider but
also increasingly about international environmental governance in the context of sustainable
development. It will gain importance. Let me again say the UN has a body called the UNEP with
an assembly, acknowledged at the Rio Summit by head of states as the leading authority on
environment issues in the world.
Yet, the funding mechanisms, for example, are not under UNEP’s control. This was illustrated
once again with the discussion surrounding the creation of the Green Climate Fund, expected to
disburse twice the annual amount the World Bank does by 2020.
That is a question that political scientists and economists continue to examine and interrogate:
why is that? I think that certainly sooner or later, the world will realize that having divided up many
of the building blocks of the sustainability and environment financing system, it was perhaps more
about not creating too strong a force for transition.
On the other hand, let us all be clear: the environmental institutional responsibility is not one you
can centralize and unify in one body. In fact we have a judiciary. It employs hundred of thousands
of people, it provides the norms, the legal framework in which a society can operate. The world
environmental institutions at the national and international levels are not to take responsibility for
implementing all the sustainability measures in energy, in agriculture, in industry, fishing. It is to
provide the best signs, the best norms, and the best standards. And also hopefully in the future
the forms of accountability and targets that will allow our sister agencies not only to have a budget
10 times as large as UNEP’s but operating within a globally agreed set of norms. In this case, an
environmental institution and an authority within the multilateral system should not be judged by
the size of its budget, by the size of bureaucracy but by the strength of its mandate to be able to
provide an entire multilateral system but also a global community with the regulatory frameworks
by which sustainability can be achieved. We have some way to go. My point is: yes, the
landscape is very scattered with many multilateral agreements, separate secretariats, etc. but the
logical answer to that is not necessarily putting everything under one roof, including all the money
and the activities.
Where in the world do you see the fastest transition towards a green economy happening?
What we have witnessed in the field of changing the global energy metrics is nothing short of
phenomenal. If you go back to some of the reports from 20 years ago, and you would have put a
figure of 250 billion dollars total investment in clean energy technology for 2012 as a target, you
would not have been taken seriously, especially as it now exceeds that of oil, coal and gas
combined. Here is fantastic example of a decision by countries that you have to change towards a
low-carbon economy. You need a regulatory framework, you need to facilitate transitions with
tariffs, etc. and the markets respond overnight.
The second focus will be the global south. Contrary to the perceptions at global environmental
conferences that they are reluctant actors, the greatest transformations as we sit here today are
happening in developing economies. China in terms of investment in clean energy technology is
introducing norms and standards. It is producing a radically cheaper technology set of products.
Brazil has taken massive steps towards reversing deforestation thereby probably making the most
significant contribution to avoid emissions from other countries on the planet. Smaller countries
are also active here: Kenya for example introduced a green energy policy four years ago. 95% of
its investment in energy generating infrastructures is green: geothermal power, wind power. And I
could go on with examples like this.
For me, there are two drivers in the world today that are critical: one is the imperative to act, which
I think more and more people North and South recognize. The other is the ability to act, combined
with the willingness to move into a different generation of strategies and products. That we see –
perhaps not surprisingly – emerging in the key emerging and developing countries because they
do not have as much of a legacy economy or infrastructure that date from 30, 50 years ago. They
are investigating in new infrastructure, and technology leapfrogging is easier when you don’t have
to shut down an industry.
There are also talks, in Western countries for example, to use new sources of energy that are not
green but cheap. Here, I am referring to the debates surrounding shale gas uses.
I think the emergence of something like shale gas in an unexpected variable in what was a fairly
linear path in what was a dual strategy of energy efficiency gains and renewable energy sources.
The temptation is there. If someone presents you with a cheaper energy source for today and
does not ask you to pay the price for tomorrow, you will take that. Let us also be frank: if the
choice is between shale gas and coal, shale gas is both financially and environmentally an
incremental step in the right direction. What I think countries that may premise their entire energy
strategy around expanding shale gas rather than renewable energy may have to ask themselves:
what will the world look lie in 2020 and will we have missed an enormous opportunity?
There are many countries across the world now that are not going for that intermediate solution:
they are going for radical renewable energy, and efficiency strategies. Energy markets have very
little that is predictable. But one thing is predictable: you cannot say whether the price or the
supply for a product such as shale gas or oil will likely be in 2020. Thinking 10-20 years into the
future, let’s be careful: I think the renewable and efficiency energy strategy ultimately has longterm promise that shale gas will never deliver.
During a recent speech at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in
Geneva, you said– surprisingly if I may – you were optimistic regarding the fate of the global
environment negotiations and frameworks. How so?
The reasons why we are not making progress right now are not reasons that are impossible to
overcome. They have to do with awareness, public confidence in the possibility of making
transformation, political leadership, creating new markets and giving the private sector a possibility
to play a role. All these are not unsolvable; we are not talking about something that is yet to be
invented or within the realm of the next 3 generations. These are all elements that are eminently
changeable. I believe that slow and late as we may be in some of these issues, we are perfectly
capable of doing so.
People and civilization at the beginning of the 21st century are not stupid! What is holding us back
right now is that the general public is often told that things have to be the way they are. That is
simply something that we can – and have shown – we are capable of overcoming with good
information, with science, with economics. Green economy will become a driver for progress,
innovation, transformation and investment opportunities. In being an executive director or an
environmental activist, impatience is an essential part to work in this field. But impatience should
never close our eyes to the facts. And the facts are that we have already started to undertake a
meaningful transformation that gives us many reasons to be optimistic.
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Vietnam News Service (Vietnam): Hue to celebrate Environment Day
16 May 2013
Viet Nam plans to celebrate this year’s World Environment Day, themed “Think.Eat.Save”, in
central Hue City on June 5.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the theme is intended to encourage
people to become more aware of the environmental impact of the food choices they make and
empower them to make informed decisions.
The theme has a direct bearing on the daily life of everyone in the world, said Tran Phong,
Director of the Centre for Environment Training and Communication under the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment, at a briefing yesterday.
A series of events will also be organised in Thua Thien-Hue province from June 1-5.
This includes a national commemoration event with the participation of Party and State leaders
and nearly 300 other delegations at Nghinh Luong Pavilion, on the bank of the Huong (Perfume)
River in Hue City.
Another event is the biennial Viet Nam Environmental Awards 2013, which honours 50 individuals
and organisations who demonstrated outstanding efforts in protecting natural resources and the
environment.
Deputy Minister Bui Cach Tuyen said that the ministry had ordered 63 provinces and cities to
celebrate the day by helping local residents save food.
Viet Nam began to celebrate the world environment day in 1982.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of
food is wasted. At the same time, one in every seven people in the world goes to bed hungry and
more than 20,000 children under the age of five die daily from hunger.
FAO estimates that a third of global food production is either wasted or lost. Food waste is an
enormous drain on natural resources and contributes to negative environmental impacts.
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Intellectual Property watch (Switzerland): EPO-UNEP Report Examines Patents And
Clean Energy
15 May 2013
A recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European
Patent Office (EPO) looks at the role of the patent system in clean energy technology (CET)
transfers in Africa. One of the highlights of the report is that less than 1 percent of identified CETrelated patent applications have been filed in Africa, despite there being a high level of potential in
renewable energy sources.
The report goes on to cite the desire of developing and least developed countries to have CETs
excluded from patenting, a view opposed by industrialised countries. It also shows that increased
funding and technical support has helped African countries implement strategic patent policies at
the national and regional levels. This leads to one of the report’s conclusions: “With its approach
not to exclude a priori any technology from legal protection the patent system is an adequate tool
for promoting the diffusion of CETs in Africa.”
According to the report, energy in Africa continues to be primarily sourced from fossil fuels (such
as oil and coal) and traditional biomass (such as wood burning), both of which have been shown
to have negative effects on health and the environment. The report further cites a study that
claims that Africa could provide enough clean energy – through hydro – to satisfy the continent’s
needs and have enough left over for export.
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Marketing Green (US): Consumer Decisions in a Green Market
15 May 2013
Forget buying a lottery ticket, the future is looking green. As the United Nations’ environmental
agency (UNEP) reported this week, the global market for low-carbon and environmentally-friendly
goods and services is projected to triple to $2.2 trillion by the year 2020. While “green trade” still
only represents a fraction of the global market, the numbers don’t lie: trade in certified products
and environmental goods and services is on the rise.
The new report, Green Economy and Trade-Trends, Challenges and Opportunities, says that
there are six main economic sectors that identify “green trade” opportunities – agriculture,
fisheries, forests, manufacturing, renewable energy and tourism. Top growth areas are reported to
include organic food and beverages, which are projected to reach $105 billion by 2015 (up from
$62.9 billion in 2011). Next is seafood farmed according to sustainability standards, which is
projected to rise to $1.25 billion, up from $300 million in 2008.
Looking at these industry sectors, one can’t help but see the convergence of a consumer base
that is increasingly environmentally-focused and the implication of working in an industry with
constricted natural resources.
According to UNEP, developing countries with abundant renewable resources are well-positioned
to increase their share in international markets for sustainable goods and services. UNEP’s
executive director Achim Steiner says that would help “reverse the global decline in biodiversity,
mitigate the release of greenhouse gases, halt the degradation of lands and protect our oceans."
However, green marketers should take note – while “green trade” may be on the rise, new
research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences found that some
politically conservative shoppers actively avoid products that advertise and tout how
environmentally friendly they are.
In particular, the study found that the more conservative respondents were less likely to support
energy-efficient technology, such as LED lights. In the studies, researchers looked at purchasing
behavior of people when they were aware of the relative “greenness” of a product. The study
points out that while labeling products as “green” or “energy efficient” is a common marketing
strategy today, in some instances, labeling something as “green” may not actually help.
And then, there are those consumers who are not driven by political persuasion, but are swayed
by image / brand building. Recent research from global market research firm Mintel found that
consumers are being persuaded to use more “green” products and maintain a good shape.
Mintel found that of those who believe it’s important to be seen as green (a category that I, myself,
probably fall into), 24% admit to having purchased a green product just to demonstrate their
environmental concerns (vs. 9% on average) and 20% "admit to having concealed recyclable
trash in with their regular garbage so that others can't tell they didn't separate their recycling” (vs.
an 8% average).
The facts are that whether consumers like it or not, the market is embracing sustainable products
and services – in part because they have to, and in part because it’s smart business. Study after
study finds that imbedding sustainability into one’s business model is not only the right thing to do,
but it’s profitable in the long run. And for some of these resource-restricted industries, it’s the only
way that they will survive.
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Domestic Fuel (US): Africa Mecca for Clean Energy
15 May 2013
According to a recent study by the United Nations, less than 1 percent of all patent applications
relating to clean energy technology have been filed in Africa, with the majority of this 1 percent
filed in South Africa. The study find that Africa is a mecca for clean energy and has the ability to
leapfrog existing fossil-fuel energy sources. “Patents and Clean Energy in Africa,” finds the
country has an untapped potential for generating clean energy including enough hydroelectric
power from its seven major river systems to serve the entire continent’s needs. In addition, the
country has great potential for solar, wind and geothermal energy sources.
Hydropower, the most commonly used renewable energy source, is estimated to be utilized at just
4.3 percent of the continent’s total capacity – although recent years have seen efforts to ramp up
clean energy, with North African nations leading in solar and wind categories, Kenya in
geothermal, Ethiopia in hydro and Mauritius in bioenergy.
The study also points out that intellectual property and patenting in particular have been
highlighted as a significant factor limiting the transfer of new clean technologies to developing
countries, and identified as a barrier to these countries meeting new emission limits for CO2 and
other greenhouse gases. While the lack of patents filed means CETs can be freely exploited in
Africa, the lack of these patents to protect their products means source companies may be
reluctant to offer up their know-how to promote technology transfer, according to a news release
on the study.
“The development and transfer of technologies are key pillars in both mitigating the causes of
climate change and adapting to its effects; patents are a crucial part of this process,” said UN
Environment Programme spokesperson Nick Nuttall. “In addition to an accelerated response to
climate change, boosting clean energy technologies have multiple green economy benefits
including on public health – for example, in sub-Saharan Africa more than half of all deaths from
pneumonia in children under the age of five, and chronic lung disease and lung cancer in adults
over 30, can be attributed to solid fuel use,” he added.
Only 10 percent of African inventors apply for patent protection in Africa; the majority tend to seek
protection in four other regions: the United States (27 percent), the European Patent Office (24
percent), Germany (13 percent) and Canada (10 percent), according to the study. The report
adds that there are signs that the situation is changing. Despite low patent application numbers,
the overall inventive activity in African countries grew by 5 percent between 1980 and 2009,
compared to 4 percent at the global level. With a 59 percent increase, mitigation technologies
grew most significantly in that period.
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Other Environment News
Reuters (UK): China gives environmental approval to country's biggest hydro
dam
15 May 2013
China's environment ministry has given the go-ahead for the construction of what will become
the country's tallest hydroelectric dam despite acknowledging it will have an impact on plants
and rare fish.
The dam, with a height of 314 meters (1,030 feet), will serve the Shuangjiangkou hydropower
project on the Dadu River in southwestern Sichuan province.
To be built over 10 years by a subsidiary of state power firm Guodian Group, it is expected to cost
24.68 billion yuan ($4.02 billion) in investment.
The ministry, in a statement issued late on Tuesday, said an environmental impact assessment
had acknowledged that the project would have a negative impact on rare fish and flora and affect
protected local nature reserves.
Developers, it said, had pledged to take "counter-measures" to mitigate the effects. The project
still requires the formal go-ahead from the State Council, China's cabinet.
China aims to raise the share of non-fossil fuels in its energy mix to 15 percent by 2020, up from
9.4 percent in 2011. Hydropower is expected to make the biggest contribution.
It has vowed to speed up construction of dams in the 2011-2015 period after slowing it down
following the completion of the controversial Three Gorges project in 2005.
The Three Gorges Dam, which serves the world's biggest hydropower station on the Yangtze
river, measures 185 meters.
The 300-m Nurek dam in Tajikistan in Central Asia is the world's highest, though other taller dams
are now under construction. China's tallest dam now, at 292 meters, is the Xiaowan Dam on the
Lancang River, also known as the Mekong.
On completion, the Sichuan project will have a total installed capacity of 20 gigawatts (GW), with
annual power generation to exceed 7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh).
The government said this year that hydropower capacity was expected to reach 290 GW by 2015,
up from 220 GW at the end of 2010. It also said it would begin building a controversial project on
the undeveloped Nu River in Yunnan province.
Guodian was one of a number of state-owned firms criticized by China's national audit office last
week for starting work on projects not yet been approved by the central government. The office
said by the end of 2011, the company had invested nearly 30 billion yuan in 21 unapproved
projects.
The Huadian Group, China's biggest power company, was also criticized for launching
construction of the Huangdeng hydropower plant before receiving the government's go-ahead.
($1 = 6.1428 Chinese yuan)
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BBC News (UK): World's most distinct mammals and amphibians mapped
15 May 2013
Scientists have developed the first map of the world's most unique and most endangered
mammals and amphibians.
The map highlights the fact that only a fraction of the areas identified as critical for the
conservation of these species are protected.
Among the species highlighted by the map are the Mexican salamander, the Sunda pangolin and
the black and white ruffed Lemur.
The research is published in the journal Plos One.
We've tried to draw attention to a range of species that are on the verge of extinction, that most
people haven't heard of or are doing anything about”
The Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) project has been developed by the
Zoological Society of London (ZSL) to highlight species that are both distinctive and under severe
threat.
The map highlights the regions of the world where the highest concentrations of these species
occur and which should be priorities for conservation efforts.
"If you look at mammals, if you look at just evolutionary history, the species that are more different
from all others, the deep rooted ones tend to be in South America," Prof Jonathan Baillie, Director
of Conservation at ZSL told BBC News.
"But if you incorporate threat, then the focus changes to South East Asia and the reason is that
land conversion has been so rapid there due to things like palm oil that a lot of these species are
highly threatened - they come up to the top when you add threat as a variable."
The Sunda Pangolin is a culinary delicacy in South East Asia while its scales are used in Chinese
medicine
As well as highlighting the fact that the priority areas for mammals and amphibians are different,
the map also underlines how little of the areas that are identified as priorities for these distinct
creatures are protected. Only 5% of the regions that are priorities for mammals are conserved,
and just 15% for amphibians.
"We've tried to draw attention to a range of species that are on the verge of extinction, that most
people haven't heard of or are doing anything about," said Prof Baillie.
"So something like a pangolin a beautiful creature the size of a small dog, it has scales all over its
body and lives in trees - it's taken for the Chinese medicinal trade."
Other obscure creatures making it onto the map include Madagascar's black and white ruffed
lemur, which is threatened by loss of its forest habitat due to logging and mining.
Amphibians are suffering a "terrifying" rate of extinction say the researchers, making them the
most threatened vertebrates in the world. The Mexican salamander or axolotl is being threatened
by expanding cities, pollution and invasive fish species which eat their young.
While many of the survival issues facing species highlighted on the map are extremely
challenging, sometimes small changes can make a big difference.
Prof Baillie highlights the example of a small worm like amphibian from Kenya called the Sagalla
caecilian.
The map should help focus conservations efforts for amphibians like the Mexican salamander
"It was just losing its habitat because the native trees were taken, so we've started a programme
of replanting the native trees and 6,000 have been replanted and the areas where they have their
strongholds are now being protected."
"That kind of simple action can ensure that those species can be there hopefully for hundred of
years to come."
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Daily Star (Lebanon): Environment Ministry struggles to manage resources
16 May 2013
The creeping destruction of Lebanon’s natural resources is costing the country many millions of
dollars, the Environment Ministry said Wednesday at an international conference, which
addressed the environmental management of coastal areas and air quality issues in the Arab and
Mediterranean regions.
“Lebanon suffers from environmental degradation that costs the country $800 million,” said
caretaker Environment Minister Nazem Khoury. “This figure provides evidence that ...
indiscriminate urbanization and the increase in consumption and overconsumption patterns of
natural resources has led to the loss of the agricultural lands, forests and public coastal areas.”
“The Environment Ministry is focusing on the rational management of our national resources to
protect it and preserve its sustainability.”
Khoury said the resource management problem is a result of disorganization and lack of
coordination between ministries and because “we don’t make public the outcome of studies,
statistics and data.”
“All Arab countries struggle to manage their environmental resources in different degrees,” Iyad
Abu Megalli, head of the regional United Nations Environment Program office, said during the
conference.
Held in Ain al-Mreisseh, the conference was attended by six Arab countries and five European
and African countries. The conference comes in line with the ongoing Environmental Resources
Monitoring in Lebanon project spearheaded by the Environment Ministry and managed by UNEP
and the U.N. Development Program.
UNEP has plenty of experience working in Lebanon and assessed the major environmental
impacts of the July 2006 war with Israel.
During the conference, UNDP’s head in Lebanon, Luca Randa, highlighted Greece’s technical
and financial assistance to help Lebanon implement key projects.
UNDP, in close coordination with UNEP, is currently supporting the Environment Ministry as it
brings in the Air Quality Management component of the national ERML project. UNDP is
responsible for procuring and installing new equipment and will also ensure on-the-ground
monitoring and evaluation of activities related to the project.
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IPS (US): In Vietnam, Rhino Horns Worth Their Weight in Gold
15 May 2013
At first glance, the poster appears to be a typical advertisement for an African safari: a large
rhinoceros set against a rugged, open terrain. Then you take a closer look and realise something
is amiss.
A white rhino at a sanctuary in South Africa's Limpopo province. Credit: Jennifer McKellar/IPS
A cluster of human hands has replaced the two horns that distinguish this African animal from the
single-horned Indian and Javan rhino. A message over the creature's head reads: "Rhino horn is
made of the same stuff as human nails. Still want some?"
Produced jointly by the wildlife watchdogs TRAFFIC and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), these
posters are soon to appear on the walls of public places in major Vietnamese cities including the
capital, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City.
Offices, apartment buildings and even airports are all set to become sites in the campaign to end
the illegal international trade in rhino horns that is threatening the ungulate to extinction.
Experts say there is no better place than this Southeast Asian nation of 87 million to drive this
stark message home. Vietnam has long been singled out by international groups monitoring the
illicit wildlife trade for the dramatic rise in domestic demand for African rhino horns.
Close to 290 of the 20,000 rhinos left in South Africa have been killed for their horns since the
beginning of this year, according to conservationists worried that such a deadly spree could see
the death toll match the record number of 668 rhinos killed by poachers in 2012.
"We are in the midst of a rhino poaching crisis," Mark Jones, a British veterinarian who heads the
London-based Humane Society International, told IPS, adding that Vietnam has recently emerged
as the main market for rhino horns.
The spike in demand has been shaped by a belief among locals that has taken root over the past
five years: that rhino horn has special medicinal powers, including the ability to treat cancer, cure
hangovers, and act as an aphrodisiac.
According to Naomi Doak, coordinator of the Greater Mekong Programme at TRAFFIC, the
graphics for the new campaign poster were developed after experts realised that a "large
proportion of the Vietnamese public" were not aware that rhino horn, a mass of agglutinated hair,
is comprised of keratin, the same basic substance that constitutes human finger and toenails.
She hopes that bringing this fact to light will make people "think twice before consuming rhino
horn."
Yet driving home this message will be "a long and difficult campaign," Doak admitted in an
interview with IPS. "With very few penalties and consequences people really aren't that concerned
about the impacts the consumption of rhino (horn) has either on the animals or on people."
A status symbol
To understand what wildlife protection groups are up against, one need only take a stroll through
Hanoi's famed Old Quarter, a colourful network of 36 streets where crafts and local products have
been hawked for centuries.
Here, shops specialising in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) attract scores of customers
seeking remedies made from wild animal parts, including rhino horn.
In his latest documentary ‘Bad Medicine – Illegal Trade in Rhinoceros Horns', conservationist and
filmmaker Karl Amman traces the routes of illegal traffickers from the Africans wilds to the streets
of Vietnam, where "rhino horns have also become a status symbol," he said.
This explains why gold, once the favourite gift among the communist-ruled country's expanding
class of wealthy citizens, has been dethroned by rhino horns, which currently fetch 65,000 dollars
per kilogramme.
This is "more than gold, gram for gram," according to Jones. Though the weight of rhino horns
vary, an individual horn can fetch upto 150,000 dollars.
The pressure on Vietnam to curb the demand for illegal rhino horns is expected to grow following
the resolutions passed in March at the Bangkok meeting of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species (CITES). The strong language at this 16th global gathering of 178
member countries fell just short of imposing sanctions on Hanoi.
The Vietnamese government, meanwhile, has consistently denied allegations that it is a major
market in this global trade. It often points an accusing finger at its powerful northern neighbour,
China, which is also under scrutiny for boosting the illegal wildlife trade, particularly the demand
for tiger parts.
But activists have proof, and are not prepared to remain silent.
Do Quang Tung, deputy director of CITES Vietnam, who headed his country's delegation to the
Bangkok talks, told a Vietnamese newspaper in late March, "From 2004 until now, 13 (individuals)
involved in rhino trafficking were arrested, with a total of 150 kg of rhino horns." Two of these
cases, he said, occurred in early 2013.
"Illegal trade in rhino horns involves highly organised, mobile and well-financed criminal groups,
mainly composed of Asian nationals based in Africa," a report published by TRAFFIC and the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) revealed early this year.
"These networks have recruited pseudo-hunters including Vietnamese citizens, Thai prostitutes
and proxy hunters from the Czech Republic and Poland to obtain rhino horns in South Africa,"
added the report.
"Pseudo-hunting has significantly reduced as a result of a decision to prevent nationals of Vietnam
from obtaining hunting licenses and changes to South African law in April 2012."
Another embarrassment for Vietnam has been scandals involving its diplomats at the South
African mission who were accused of smuggling rhino horns in 2006 and 2008. When confronted
about these incidents at the recent CITES meeting in Bangkok, a Vietnamese government official
said that the errant diplomats had received "punishment" for their actions.
Hopes are running high that the impending poster campaign will do its part to educate the public
and bring an end to the thriving trade. But it will take more than two animal rights groups to halt
rising demand.
Nguyen Thuy Quynh, of WWF Vietnam, told IPS, "We are seeking support and cooperation from
many businesses, celebrities, universities, international organisations and mass media who all
have an important voice in reaching and influencing the community."
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Environmental News from the UNEP Regions
ROLAC MEDIA UPDATE
THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
Thursday, May 16, 2013
For a full summary of news from Latin America and the Caribbean region, visit:
http://www.pnuma.org/informacion/noticias/2013-05/15/index.html
Ver todas la Noticias Ambientales
http://www.pnuma.org/informacion/noticias/2013-05/15/index.html
Manchete Notícias
UNEP: Observed Concentrations of CO2 Cross 400 parts per million Threshold at
Several Global Atmosphere Watch Stations
Mayo 15, 2013
At the current rate of increase, the global annual average CO2 concentration is set to cross the
400 ppm threshold in 2015 or 2016
Diario La Tribuna (Chile): Autoridades promueven uso eficiente de la energía
Mayo 15, 2013
La campaña de eficiencia energética tiene como objetivo crear conciencia en la comunidad
sobre el buen uso de ésta.
Autoridades promueven uso eficiente de la energía La campaña de eficiencia energética tiene
como objetivo crear conciencia en la comunidad sobre...
El Sol de Hidalgo (México): Inauguraron Planta de Separación de Residuos
Sólidos Urbanos
Mayo 15, 2013
Por Abraham Ramirez Pachuca, Hidalgo.- Acompañado del gobernador Francisco Olvera, el
alcalde de Pachuca, Eleazar García, puso en marcha la Planta de separación de residuos
sólidos urbanos, que traerá beneficios directos al medio ambiente y que se encuentra ubicada
en la comunidad de San Juan Tilcu
...municipio, afortunadamente cada día creamos más conciencia del cambio climático y de
cómo combatirlo mediante hábitos de reciclaje sencillos,
El Diario de Chihuahua (México): Estudiantes de secundaria presentan proyectos
de huertos verticales con reciclaje
Mayo 15, 2013
Más de 100 proyectos artísticos, científicos y otros, fueron presentados por alumnos de la
Escuela Secundaria Técnica #61; los estudiantes de los tres grados de secundaria utilizaron su
creatividad para resolver problemáticas o satisfacer necesidades de la sociedad chihuahuense.
ASICh (México): Más de 30 millones de pesos para atender los desafíos de la
Selva Lacandona: MVC
Mayo 15, 2013
Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas.- Tras recorrer la Reserva de la Biósfera de los Montes Azules,
acompañado por el empresario Alfredo Harp Helú, titular de la fundación del mismo nombre, y
el director general de Fomento Social y Ecológico Banamex, Fernando Peón Escalante, el
gobernador del estado Manuel
...construir modelos de intervención que contrarresten los efectos ocasionados por la
deforestación y el daño al ecosistema, en aras de preservar las...
La Hora.com.ec (Ecuador): Tala de árboles tendrá controles más estrictos
Mayo 15, 2013
La tala de árboles es uno de los mayores problemas que se busca controlar a través de la
Unidad de Medio Ambiente de Tungurahua. Omar Landázuri, director y Coordinador de la
Cartera de Estado, informó que junto a su personal realizan operativos en todos los sectores de
la provincia.
...otros sitios donde existen reportes de la tala de vegetación y deforestación. Nuestro trabajo
es verificar que todas las personas cumplan con...
Vanguardia.com (Colombia): Colegios demostrarán cuál es más ecológico
Mayo 15, 2013
Las iniciativas y esfuerzos de estudiantes, profesores, directivos y padres de familia en favor
del medio ambiente serán premiados por la Administración Municipal.
DiarioLibre.com (República Dominicana): Senasa firma convenio para apoyar
reciclaje
Mayo 14, 2013
SANTO DOMINGO. El Seguro Nacional de Salud (Senasa) firmó ayer un convenio con la
empresa Green Love, Tomenca, SRL, mediante el cual se compromete a entregar, para fines
de reciclaje, los residuos sólidos no peligrosos que generan sus oficinas de atención directa a
los afiliados y usuarios, ubicadas
DiarioLibre.com (República Dominicana): Medio Ambiente sensibilizará a
municipios del país sobre reciclaje
Mayo 14, 2013
Semana del Reciclaje es del 17 al 24 de mayo; se realizarán visitas casa por casa
Dominican Today (República Dominicana): Environment Ministry campaign:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Mayo 14, 2013
Santo Domingo.- The Environment Ministry on Friday will launch Recycling Week to raise
awareness on the importance of separating solid household waste, for people in every town,
government agency and NGO learn how to manage and make a difference, focusing on the
3'Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Radio Cadena Agramonte (Cuba): Agricultural Diversification Cushions Climate
Change Effects
Mayo 14, 2013
Havana, Cuba, May 14.- Cuban experts insisted in the need to diversify agricultural production
as a way to mitigate climate change effects and increase the local food supply to the population.
Agricultural Diversification Cushions Climate Change Effects Havana, Cuba, May 14.- Cuban
experts insisted in the need to diversify agricultural...
Government News: Regional body launched climate change project
Mayo 14, 2013
May 14, 2013: The European Union has given a grant of $8.6 million euros to support a regional
project to improve Caribbean food security in the context of climate change.
Regional body launched climate change project May 14, 2013: The European Union has given a
grant of $8.6 million euros to support a regional...
MiamiHerald.com: Climate change melting Mount Everest glaciers, research finds
Mayo 14, 2013
Los Angeles Times A warming climate is melting the glaciers of Mount Everest, shrinking the
frozen cloak of Earth's highest peak by 13 percent in the last 50 years, researchers have found.
Climate change melting Mount Everest glaciers, research finds Los Angeles Times A warming
climate is melting the glaciers of Mount Everest, shrinking...
Prensa Latina : Pide ONU más medidas contra concentración de CO2 en
atmósfera
Mayo 14, 2013
14 de mayo de 2013, 15:11Naciones Unidas, 14 may (PL) La secretaria ejecutiva de la
Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático, Christiana Figueres,
llamó a intensificar las medidas contra la alta concentración de dióxido de carbono (CO2) en la
atmósfera.
Pide ONU más medidas contra concentración de CO2 en atmósfera 14 de mayo de 2013,
15:11Naciones Unidas, 14 may (PL) La secretaria ejecutiva de...
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RONA MEDIA UPDATE
THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
Thursday, May 16, 2013
UNEP Press Release: Observed Concentrations of CO2 Cross 400 parts per
million Threshold at Several Global Atmopshere Watch Stations
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=2716&ArticleID=9503&l=
en&t=long
Observed concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere have exceeded the
symbolic 400 parts per million (ppm) threshold at several stations of the World Meteorological
Organization's Global Atmosphere Watch network. This is a wakeup call about the constantly
rising levels of this greenhouse gas, which is released into the atmosphere by fossil fuel burning
and other human activities and is the main driver of climate change. Carbon dioxide remains in
the atmosphere for thousands of years, trapping heat and causing our planet to warm further,
impacting on all aspects of life on earth.
On May 9, 2013, the daily mean concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mauna
Loa, Hawaii, recorded a reading of 400.03 ppm, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. Mauna Loa is the oldest continuous atmospheric measurement
station in the world and so is widely regarded as a benchmark site in the Global Atmosphere
Watch.
Several other Global Atmosphere Watch stations have also reported CO2 concentrations
exceeding the 400 ppm threshold during the seasonal maximum. This occurs early in the
northern hemisphere spring before vegetation growth absorbs CO 2.
The threshold was first crossed at stations in the Arctic. A monthly average value exceeding 400
ppm was registered at Barrow, Alaska, USA (71.3N) for the first time in April 2012, as well as at
Alert, in Canada (82.5N). From the beginning of 2013, measured CO 2. values at another GAW
Global station, in Ny-Ålesund, Norway, (at 78.9N) also exceeded 400 ppm. This threshold has
now also been crossed at stations closer to the Equator. Izaña, (Canary Islands, Spain),
reported daily mean values exceeding 400 ppm at the end of April 2013. This was followed by
Mauna Loa, which has been carrying out measurements since 1958.
The Global Atmosphere Watch coordinates observations of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases
like methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere to ensure that measurements around the
world are standardized and can be compared to each other. The network spans more than 50
countries including stations high in the Alps, Andes and Himalayas, as well as in the Arctic,
Antarctic and in the far South Pacific.
Carbon dioxide is the single most important greenhouse gas emitted by human activities. It is
responsible for 85% of the increase in radiative forcing ? the warming effect on our climate over the past decade. Between 1990 and 2011 there was a 30% increase in radiative forcing
because of greenhouse gases. Radiative forcing is calculated relative to the pre-industrial level
of key greenhouse gases.
According to WMO's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reached
390.9 parts per million in 2011, or 140% of the pre-industrial level of 280 parts per million. The
pre-industrial era level represented a balance of CO2 fluxes between the atmosphere, the
oceans and the biosphere. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased on average by
2 parts per million per year for the past 10 years.
At the current rate of increase, the global annual average CO2 concentration is set to cross the
400 ppm threshold in 2015 or 2016. http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/global.html.
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The Business Mirror: ‘Green’ global trade to eradicate poverty – Unep
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/news/nation/13517-green-global-trade-toeradicate-poverty-unep
As the world hurtles toward open international trade, the United Nations Environmental Program
(Unep) pushed for “greening” global trade in order to build new economic opportunities and
generate employment leading to the eradication of poverty.
In the 298-page report released on Wednesday titled “Green Economy and Trade—Trends,
Challenges and Opportunities,” Unep said there should be a “unified effort” at the international,
regional, national and local community levels in addressing illiteracy and limited access to
energy, among other barriers to a green global trade, so that these will no inhibit development
and certified trade.
A green global trade practice will help in reducing social inequalities and environmental pollution
especially in developing and least developed countries, Unep said.
“In today’s increasingly interconnected world, where trillions of dollars worth of goods and
services are traded annually, greening trade is not only an opportunity, it is an imperative. If we
are to reverse the global decline of biodiversity, mitigate the release of greenhouse gases, halt
the degradation of lands, and protect our oceans, then international trade must become
sustainable and responsible. Further, if we are to succeed in eradicating poverty, we will need to
ensure that trade benefits the poor,” said Achim Steiner, UN undersecretary-general and Unep
executive director.
Trade is a vital element of the global economy. According to the report, the sum of world exports
of goods and commercial services amounted to $22.3 trillion at the end of 2010, growing at an
average five percent rate per year between 2000 and 2011. “In addition, merchandise and
commercial services exports provide an increasingly important share of world gross domestic
product [GDP], rising from 14 percent in 1970 to 29.3 percent in 2011. In developing countries,
this share reached peaks of 45 percent before the financial and economic crisis of 2008.”
However, as international trade creates economic growth, it also “put additional stress on
natural resources and increased greenhouse-gas [GHG] emissions.”
“Increased demands by emerging economies for natural resources, coupled with the already
unsustainable levels of resource consumption and use registered in more developed countries,
led to an unprecedented surge in resource consumption and trade in the period 1995-2010. In
addition, a trade-driven expansion in the scale of production and transport has resulted in
significant increases in GHG emissions. Emissions from international maritime and aviation
transport, for example, have increased by 88 percent over a period of 25 years,” it said.
This “unsustainable global trade” was one of the highlights of the discussions during the Rio+20
conference in June 2012, where world leaders reaffirmed that “international trade [is] an engine
for development and sustained economic growth.”
In that conference, participants also identified “green” economy as “an important tool for
achieving sustainable development.”
“The meeting of global environmental leaders at Rio+20 has initiated a shift of focus, from the
potential risk of trade protectionism associated with green economy policies, toward improving
the trade performance of developing countries as an additional effect of, and motivation for, the
implementation of green economy policies. As a result, a green economy is increasingly seen
as a gateway to new opportunities for trade, growth and sustainable development,” the report
said.
Unep, which is committed to assisting governments and other stakeholders in identifying and
creating sustainable trade opportunities, and transforming risks and challenges into new
pathways to sustainable development and poverty eradication, seeks to identify policies and
measures to help developing countries overcome challenges and respond to export demand for
sustainable goods and services under its Green Economy and Trade Opportunities Project (GETOP).
According to Steiner, the report aims to 1) identify a range of international trade opportunities in
various key economic sectors associated with the transition to a green economy; 2) identify
policies and measures that may act as facilitators and overcome hindrances to seizing trade
opportunities arising from the transition to a green economy; and 3) assist governments, the
private sector and other stakeholders to build capacity to take advantage of sustainable trade
opportunities at the national, regional or international level.
In order to do this, the report identifies a number of solutions to facilitate sustainable trade
opportunities in six key sectors including agriculture, fisheries, forests, manufacturing,
renewable energy and tourism.
Solutions identified include national regulatory frameworks to attain sustainable development. It
also called for international frameworks to have a rules-based multilateral trading system, as
well as advocated for dialogue and capacity-building to overcome challenges in a proactive
manner to interconnect producers in developing countries to regional and global markets.
“Trade, when accompanied by appropriate regulation, can facilitate the transition to a green
economy by fostering the exchange of environmentally friendly goods and services [including
environmentally sound technologies] and by increasing resource efficiency and generating
economic opportunities and employment,” the report said.
The Unep report acknowledged that a “meaningful transition to a greener economy
strengthened by international trade will require extensive technical and financial support.”
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E&E Daily: U.N. airline agency debates global emissions reduction system
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059981164/search
Although the European Union agreed to temporarily halt a law that taxed airlines for emissions
created during flights to and from its member states late last year, representatives of the United
Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization have yet to agree on an alternative agreement
to reduce emissions.
The ICAO is expected to deliver a resolution by September, but disagreement on several key
issues is causing some to doubt whether this deadline will be met.
Tasked with coming up with a global agreement, the group disagrees on whether states or
airlines should foot the bill for emissions and whether exceptions should be made for poorer
countries.
At this point, the ICAO is considering three plans: an emissions trading system, a mandatory
offsetting system and mandatory offsetting that would fund climate change mitigation measures.
According to Tony Tyler, chief executive of the International Air Transport Association, the
global offsetting system in which airlines purchase carbon credits is so far the most attractive
option.
"We are looking for simplicity and ease of administration as a key component of what we go
forward with, so it's likely that the industry will come out in favor of a global offsetting scheme
rather than emissions trading," Tyler said
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Intellectual Property Watch: EPO-UNEP Report Examines Patents and Clean
Energy
http://www.ip-watch.org/2013/05/15/epo-unep-report-examines-patents-and-clean-energy/
A recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European
Patent Office (EPO) looks at the role of the patent system in clean energy technology (CET)
transfers in Africa. One of the highlights of the report is that less than 1 percent of identified
CET-related patent applications have been filed in Africa, despite there being a high level of
potential in renewable energy sources.
The report is available here [pdf].
The report goes on to cite the desire of developing and least developed countries to have CETs
excluded from patenting, a view opposed by industrialised countries. It also shows that
increased funding and technical support has helped African countries implement strategic
patent policies at the national and regional levels. This leads to one of the report’s conclusions:
“With its approach not to exclude a priori any technology from legal protection the patent system
is an adequate tool for promoting the diffusion of CETs in Africa.”
According to the report, energy in Africa continues to be primarily sourced from fossil fuels (such
as oil and coal) and traditional biomass (such as wood burning), both of which have been shown
to have negative effects on health and the environment. The report further cites a study that
claims that Africa could provide enough clean energy – through hydro – to satisfy the continent’s
needs and have enough left over for export.
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Global Times: UN praises insect snacking
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/781851.shtml#.UZOgX0rYEew
Insects are a virtually "untapped" source of food for people, livestock and pets, according to the
United Nations.
Two billion people already supplement their diets with creepy-crawlies and insect farming could
be one way to address food security, a UN agency has said.
Its 200-page report Edible Insects says many of the creatures are high in protein, good fats and
minerals.
It suggests that large-scale mechanisation of "insect farming" would also bring environmental
benefits.
Insects are "extremely efficient," needing only 2kg of feed to produce 1kg of tasty insect mass,
according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
In comparison, cattle need 8 kg of feed to produce 1 kg of meat.
Another advantage over their bovine friends is the amount of "emissions" produced.
"Insects produce a fraction of emissions such as methane, ammonia, climate-warming
greenhouse gases and manure, all of which contaminate the environment," said the FAO. More
than 1,900 insect species are consumed by humans worldwide.
United States
E&E: Business groups lower local emissions without mentioning climate change
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059981160
Cleveland's chamber of commerce is ready to launch an unusual program to help businesses
get loans for energy efficiency retrofits. In Salt Lake City, the local chamber is promoting "clean
air" to reduce gasoline use.
These out-of-the-ordinary pursuits by local business associations are increasingly being used in
regions where the politics of climate change might not fly, but profits from clean energy do.
Local chambers are devising ways to reduce the travel time of big trucks, swap gas guzzlers for
natural gas haulers and erect wind turbines in conservative states.
Business officials there say it's all in the message -- and the messenger. Chambers tend to be
trusted allies of hometown companies and are known to advocate for business interests more
than environmental benefits.
As it turns out, many local business groups are seeing that environmental benefits are good for
business.
"It comes down to the bottom line for small businesses," said Nicole Stika, senior director of
energy services at the Council of Smaller Enterprises in Cleveland. It is a division of the Greater
Cleveland Partnership, which is the name of the local chamber. "They're focused on retaining
jobs and being successful. Climate change is not necessarily part of their everyday vocabulary."
Her group is about to launch a program that will help small businesses, which might not qualify
for an energy efficiency loan, receive upfront capital for retrofits. Stika says it might be the first
time that a chamber has gotten so involved in financing projects to replace outmoded lighting,
heating and cooling systems.
The program is expected to provide about 150 loan guarantees to small companies over the
next three years. The chamber is essentially cosigning the loans. It marks an expansion of the
group's full service energy efficiency repertoire, which provides businesses with energy
assessments, advice on energy rebates and project designs from start to finish.
Clean energy, not climate policy
Stika says the loans will be provided by a local bank and range from $5,000 to $50,000. The
chamber designs the retrofits so they attain enough savings to cover a project's cost. In other
words, the energy reductions will provide the monthly loan payments.
Other consultants and contractors provide similar services. But Stika says the chamber has an
advantage: It's trusted. That can accelerate the pace by which businesses commit to efficiency
projects, she said.
"They don't know who to trust, which is really the biggest thing that it comes down to," Stika
said. "As a chamber, especially in a region that's known for coal and oil, our focus and our goals
is on saving these businesses money."
The local pursuits in clean energy come as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is seen as an
opponent of past climate policies. Former Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (IConn.) tenaciously sought the chamber's support during the debate on cap and trade in 2010.
The best they came up with was the chamber's pledge to withhold a public attack campaign.
The chamber's opposition to climate policies has been, at times, a cause of concern for some of
its business members. In 2009, four high-profile members, including Nike and Apple, ended
their affiliations with the group or stepped down from its board.
Its climate positions have also been exploited by tricksters. A group called the Yes Men
convinced some news outlets in 2009 that the chamber supported a carbon tax rather than cap
and trade because it would benefit businesses. The hoax wasn't discovered until a chamber
official interrupted a Yes Men conference call with reporters to set the record straight.
Still, the chamber has at times put its support, if not its weight, behind clean energy initiatives.
Last year, Tom Donahue, the group's president and CEO, described energy efficiency as "the
most economically viable alternative energy."
And in 2007, Donahue flirted with the idea of a carbon tax as a good source of revenue for
infrastructure improvements in the transportation sector. The chamber did not respond to
requests for comment.
'Ambassadors' to the future
But it's increasingly in local communities, and not in Washington, that policy debates result in
real changes. More than 300 local chambers are involved with Chambers for Innovation and
Clean Energy, a hub for information and planning that helps local business groups pursue clean
energy programs. The national group released a report today that highlights 10 locally tailored
programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a profit to companies.
"We focus on the economics," said Diane Doucette, executive director of Chambers for
Innovation and Clean Energy. "If something pencils out and it's good for the members of local
chambers and it's good for the economy, that's what we focus on. For us, it's all about the
economic development opportunities."
Manik Roy, vice president of federal government outreach for the Center for Climate and Energy
Solutions, said these local companies are "ambassadors from our technological future."
By that, he means they're on the frontier of an energy and climate landscape that's able to show
others that turning a profit need not be exclusive of reducing emissions.
"Even if these companies aren't standing up and saying, 'We want [climate] policy,' they give us
an example of the kind of business activity we want to see more of," Roy said.
In Salt Lake City, the local chamber's Clean Air Champions program has gotten commitments
from 57 businesses to reduce their gasoline use. Things like no-idling policies, smarter route
planning for trucks and letting employees work from home are saving companies money and
reducing the smog that sometimes gets trapped in the mountain-formed basin surrounding the
city.
"We've really tried to keep our focus on that economic impact," said Ryan Evans, vice president
of business and community relations at the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.
"How does it affect the bottom line at your company? How does it affect the Utah economy?" he
added. "And because we put that at such an emphasis, we've been able to skirt any such pushback on, say, climate change."
Huffington Post: Climate Change and the Future of the Arctic
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johnkerry/climate-change-and-the-fu_b_3272250.html
In 1867, Secretary of State William Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska, officially
extending America into the Arctic, dramatically changing not only our map, but our landscape,
resources and identity.
What Seward could never have foreseen was the way, nearly 150 years later, climate change
would dramatically change the Arctic itself -- and leave his successors in our government with a
set of challenges and opportunities few would have imagined even a decade ago. Seward
negotiated the purchase of a territory; climate change demands we negotiate a whole new set of
relationships and responses that affect our economy, our health, our security, and our interests
as an Arctic power. As I travel to Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, for this year's
meeting of the Arctic Council, all of these realities are front and center.
Our warming planet means the Arctic's ecosystem is experiencing significant, rapid shifts with
far-reaching consequences. Last September, the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean
reached record lows, threatening marine mammal life and local populations dependent upon
them. Receding sea ice might also bring new commerce and industry to the region, including
exploration of offshore oil and gas, as well as minerals. New Arctic shipping routes could
significantly decrease transit times between Pacific and Atlantic ports.
All of the changes in the Arctic must change the way we approach the region. The Obama
administration's new National Strategy for the Arctic Region prioritizes domestic infrastructure
development as Arctic conditions change, responsible stewardship, and enhanced cooperation
with our international partners. We're focused on ensuring a secure, peaceful, and prosperous
Arctic.
One of the most valuable forums in which the United States can work is the Arctic Council,
which is why I am proud to be just the second Secretary of State to attend its biennual conclave
where the eight Arctic States address regional environmental, economic, and indigenous issues.
This week in Kiruna, I will sign an agreement on marine oil pollution preparedness and response
that provides a framework for cooperation in the event of an Arctic oil emergency. Just as with
the massive challenge of climate change, we must be ready today for tomorrow's crises.
Beginning in May 2015 and lasting two years -- through the 150th anniversary of the Alaska
purchase -- the United States will take the helm of the Arctic Council. It's an exciting opportunity
for America to lead in the region, and it couldn't come at a more critical time.
Secretary Seward's embrace of Alaska marked America's first step in Arctic leadership. A
century and a half into that journey, we accept today's challenges with the same spirit of
determination.
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Fox News: 47 structures destroyed as northwestern Wisconsin wildfire burns
8,700 acres
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/15/47-structures-destroyed-as-northwestern-wisconsinwildfire-burns-8700-acres/
TOWN OF GORDON, Wis. – Firefighters are working to contain a smoky wildfire in
northwestern Wisconsin that has consumed 8,700 acres, destroyed nearly 50 structures and
forced dozens from their homes.
The Department of Natural Resources says the wildfire in Douglas County is about 90 percent
contained Wednesday morning, meaning firefighters have stopped most of the fire from
spreading.
DNR spokesman Kevin Harter says 47 structures were lost, including 17 homes, but that
firefighters were able to save 77 other buildings. He says no one was injured in the fire.
Harter says 22 evacuees stayed overnight at a high school in Drummond, 60 miles southeast of
Duluth, Minn.
DNR officials say the wildfire was first reported Tuesday near the Town of Barnes. Conservation
wardens went door-to-door to alert area homeowners of the fire danger.
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The New York Times: For Insurers, No Doubt on Climate Change
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/business/insurers-stray-from-the-conservative-line-onclimate-change.html?_r=0
If there were one American industry that would be particularly worried about climate change it
would have to be insurance, right?
From Hurricane Sandy’s devastating blow to the Northeast to the protracted drought that hit the
Midwest Corn Belt, natural catastrophes across the United States pounded insurers last year,
generating $35 billion in privately insured property losses, $11 billion more than the average
over the last decade.
And the industry expects the situation will get worse. “Numerous studies assume a rise in
summer drought periods in North America in the future and an increasing probability of severe
cyclones relatively far north along the U.S. East Coast in the long term,” said Peter Höppe, who
heads Geo Risks Research at the reinsurance giant Munich Re. “The rise in sea level caused
by climate change will further increase the risk of storm surge.” Most insurers, including the
reinsurance companies that bear much of the ultimate risk in the industry, have little time for the
arguments heard in some right-wing circles that climate change isn’t happening, and are quite
comfortable with the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is the main culprit of global
warming.
“Insurance is heavily dependent on scientific thought,” Frank Nutter, president of the
Reinsurance Association of America, told me last week. “It is not as amenable to politicized
scientific thought.”
Yet when I asked Mr. Nutter what the American insurance industry was doing to combat global
warming, his answer was surprising: nothing much. “The industry has really not been engaged
in advocacy related to carbon taxes or proposals addressing carbon,” he said. While some big
European reinsurers like Munich Re and Swiss Re support efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, “in
the United States the household names really have not engaged at all.” Instead, the focus of
insurers’ advocacy efforts is zoning rules and disaster mitigation.
Last week, scientists announced that the concentration of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere had reached 400 parts per million — its highest level in at least three million years,
before humans appeared on the scene. Back then, mastodons roamed the earth, the polar ice
caps were smaller and the sea level was as much as 60 to 80 feet higher.
The milestone puts the earth nearer a point of no return, many scientists think, when vast,
disruptive climate change is baked into our future. Pietr P. Tans, who runs the monitoring
program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told my colleague Justin
Gillis: “It symbolizes that so far we have failed miserably in tackling this problem.” And it raises a
perplexing question: why hasn’t corporate America done more to sway its allies in the
Republican Party to try to avert a disaster that would clearly be devastating to its own interests?
Mr. Nutter argues that the insurance industry’s reluctance is born of hesitation to become
embroiled in controversies over energy policy. But perhaps its executives simply don’t feel so
vulnerable. Like farmers, who are largely protected from the ravages of climate change by
government-financed crop insurance, insurers also have less to fear than it might at first appear.
The federal government covers flood insurance, among the riskiest kind in this time of crazy
weather. And insurers can raise premiums or even drop coverage to adjust to higher risks.
Indeed, despite Sandy and drought, property and casualty insurance in the United States was
more profitable in 2012 than in 2011, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of
America.
But the industry’s analysis of the risks it faces is evolving. One sign of that is how some top
American insurers responded to a billboard taken out by the conservative Heartland Institute, a
prominent climate change denier that has received support from the insurance industry.
The billboard had a picture of Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, who asked: “I still believe in
global warming. Do you?”
Concerned about global warming and angry to be equated with a murderous psychopath,
insurance companies like Allied World, Renaissance Re, State Farm and XL Group dropped
their support for Heartland.
Even more telling, Eli Lehrer, a Heartland vice president who at the time led an insurancefinanced project, left the group and helped start the R Street Institute, a standard conservative
organization in all respects but one: it believes in climate change and supports a carbon tax to
combat it. And it is financed largely with insurance industry money.
Mr. Lehrer points out that a carbon tax fits conservative orthodoxy. It is a broad and flat tax,
whose revenue can be used to do away with the corporate income tax — a favorite target of the
right. It provides a market-friendly signal, forcing polluters to bear the cost imposed on the rest
of us and encouraging them to pollute less. And it is much preferable to a parade of new
regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We are having a debate on the right about a carbon tax for the first time in a long time,” Mr.
Lehrer said.
Bob Inglis, formerly a Republican congressman from South Carolina who lost his seat in the
2010 primary to a Tea Party-supported challenger, is another member of this budding coalition.
Before he left Congress, he proposed a revenue-neutral bill to create a carbon tax and cut
payroll taxes.
Changing the political economy of a carbon tax remains an uphill slog especially in a stagnant
economy. But Mr. Inglis notices a thaw. “The best way to do this is in the context of a grand
bargain on tax reform,” he said. “It could happen in 2015 or 2016, but probably not before.”
He lists a dozen Republicans in the House and eight in the Senate who would be open to
legislation to help avert climate change. He notes that Exelon, the gas and electricity giant, is
sympathetic to his efforts — perhaps not least because a carbon tax would give an edge to gas
over its dirtier rival, coal. Exxon, too, has also said a carbon tax would be the most effective way
to reduce emissions. So why hasn’t the insurance industry come on board?
Robert Muir-Wood is the chief research officer of Risk Management Solutions, one of two main
companies the insurance industry relies on to crunch data and model future risks. He argues
that insurers haven’t changed their tune because — with the exception of 2004 and 2005, when
a string of hurricanes from Ivan to Katrina caused damage worth more than $200 billion — they
haven’t yet experienced hefty, sustained losses attributable to climate change.
“Insurers were ready to sign up to all sorts of actions against climate change,” Mr. Muir-Wood
told me from his office in London. Then the weather calmed down.
Still, Mr. Muir-Wood notes that the insurance industry faces a different sort of risk: political
action. “That is the biggest threat,” he said. When insurers canceled policies and raised
premiums in Florida in 2006, politicians jumped on them. “Insurers in Florida,” he said, “became
Public Enemy No. 1.”
And that’s the best hope for those concerned about climate change: that global warming isn’t
just devastating for society, but also bad for business.
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West Virginia Gazette: Region’s coal industry faces huge drop, report says
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201305140090
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Coal production in Southern West Virginia and the rest of central
Appalachia will continue to plummet over the next 30 years, according to a new report that
examines multiple stresses that are pressuring the region's mining industry.
The report, from the Morgantown-based environmental consulting firm Downstream Strategies,
says current government estimates project production to drop by 53 percent between 2011 and
2040.
Downstream Strategies cites a familiar list of factors driving the decline: the mining out of the
best and easiest-to-reach coal reserves, historically low natural gas prices, competition from
other coal basins, and a series of federal rules aimed at reducing coal's environmental impacts.
In an interesting twist, the report says mining jobs and industry tax revenues may not follow the
exact pattern as production.
More underground mining and a decline in coal industry labor productivity "may dampen the
employment impact of the decline in production." These trends "may even result in an increase
in coal-mining jobs," the report says.
But the report warns that the expected impacts -- whether in jobs losses or gains -- will not "be
spread evenly" across all coalfield communities.
"Some coal-producing counties may experience significant declines in both jobs and revenues,
while other counties may experience increases," the report says. "The resulting expectation is
that the benefits of coal production may become more concentrated in fewer counties."
And, the report cautioned, "The possibility of increasing coal jobs with decreasing coal
production should not prevent policymakers from laying the foundation for new economic
opportunities in the communities most vulnerable to declines in coal production."
Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said he could not really quibble with
the report's basic outline of the state of the central Appalachian coal market, but wants to focus
on keeping coal strong.
"I don't think I would argue at all about the challenges we have to maintain production levels,"
Raney said. "Our people are going to do everything possible to stay in the market. I hope we do
have improved employment and I hope we do stay in the market."
Others who are closely following the coal industry in the region emphasized that the report's
findings offer a renewed chance for Appalachian policymakers to focus not just on protecting
coal, but diversifying the economy in coalfield communities.
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Reuters: US Tax Dollars Promote Monsanto’s GMO Crops Overseas: Report
http://www.sej.org/headlines/us-tax-dollars-promote-monsantos-gmo-crops-overseas-report
"U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for overseas lobbying that promotes controversial biotech
crops developed by U.S.-based Monsanto Co. and other seed makers, a report issued on
Tuesday said."
"A review of 926 diplomatic cables of correspondence to and from the U.S. State Department
and embassies in more than 100 countries found that State Department officials actively
promoted the commercialization of specific biotech seeds, according to the report issued by
Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer protection group.
The officials tried to quash public criticism of particular companies and facilitated negotiations
between foreign governments and seed companies such as Monsanto over issues like patents
and intellectual property, the report said."
E&E News: Senate panel sends farm bbill to the floor in 15-5 vote
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2013/05/14/stories/1059981154
After three hours of debate, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee today
voted 15-5 to send its 1,100-page, five-year farm bill to the full Senate floor.
The bill represents a win for conservation groups for its requirement that producers comply with
conservation requirements in order to receive crop insurance subsidies. Amendments to limit
U.S. EPA regulations were either withdrawn or not considered at today's markup.
The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the (bill would cost about $950 billion over
the next decade and save $24 billion in direct spending, though the numbers don't take into
account amendments passed today. After the vote, Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow
(D-Mich.) said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has indicated he will bring the
bill to the floor after the Senate finishes its debate on the Water Resources Development Act.
Both the Agriculture Committee and the full Senate last year passed a farm bill, S. 3240, but it
failed to make it to the president's desk after work in the House ground to a halt. The House
Agriculture Committee will mark up its version of the bill tomorrow.
While the Senate bill received bipartisan approval today, its coalition of support was different
from last year because of language inserted to appease Southern senators. The compromise
included keeping in place traditional price supports, or subsidies paid out when the market price
of a crop falls below a certain reference price.
In a speech near the end of the markup, former committee ranking member Pat Roberts (RKan.) called the bill a "rear-view policy." Roberts and Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Mike Johanns
(R-Neb.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) all voted against the bill for the changes to the
commodity title. Thune, Roberts and Johanns supported the bill last year.
On the other hand, three Southern lawmakers who last year opposed the measure's changes to
farmer subsidies, including ranking member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), this year supported the bill
because of its inclusion of the target price program. After the vote, Cochran said the bill signaled
"a big day for the state of Mississippi and the Deep South."
After the markup, Stabenow said she believed the bill hit the "sweet spot of making sure every
region [of the country] is addressed in terms of their needs" but that she was not surprised by
the split support.
"We knew it would be a challenge having regional equity," she said.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) was the only Democrat to vote against the bill. She opposed its $4
billion in cuts to food stamps and has vowed to take her fight to the Senate floor.
The bill would make several substantial changes to rural conservation measures, including
consolidating the bill's 23 programs down to 13 and, for the first time since the mid-1990s, tying
conservation requirements to eligibility for crop insurance subsidies.
The nation's leading farm groups last week announced they agreed to support the crop
insurance provision in exchange for conservation groups' opposition to further attempts to limit
crop insurance (E&E Daily, May 7). The Senate Agriculture panel today approved an
amendment from Stabenow that codifies the agreement.
The amendment includes several provisions to make the program more flexible for farmers than
a provision championed by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) during last year's farm bill debate.
Farmers, for example, would have extra time to comply with the requirements if they are found
in violation but acted in "good faith."
Conservation compliance drew a mixed response from Agriculture Committee members. Sen.
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) called it "a very, very important policy reform," while Sen. John Hoeven
(R-N.D.) introduced several failed amendments to scale back the program's requirements,
including a restructuring of how violation payments are calculated and assurances that
producers aren't saddled with "excessive" penalties.
"At a time when farmers and ranchers are having to deal with more and more regulations,"
Hoeven said, "we're adding another layer of compliance and regulatory burden and cost."
The issue will likely be fully hashed out in a conference committee, as the House Agriculture
Committee is unlikely to include conservation compliance when it marks up its farm bill
tomorrow.
As part of a package of amendments passed en bloc, the Senate Agriculture panel also
approved an amendment by Thune to require the Agriculture Department to track native
grassland that has been converted to cropland beginning in 2014. The amendment is meant to
strengthen the farm bill's "sodsaver" provision, which limits crops insurance subsidies for the
first several years that grassland is tilled.
Several other conservation amendments were approved at today's markup. A provision by Sen.
John Boozman (R-Ark.) that would allow municipal water and wastewater entities to partner on
conservation projects, while amendments by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) would direct USDA
to protect honeybee habitat and allow USDA to have more say in how it allocates conservation
technical assistance dollars.
The panel also approved an amendment by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to boost funding for
the Conservation Stewardship Program, a program that awards farmers on a tiered basis for
conservation measures, and the Rural Energy for America Program, which provides farmers
and ranchers with funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The bill would
also compel the Agriculture Department to take steps to provide insurance to bioenergy crops
like sorghum.
The committee did not consider an amendment filed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that
would limit EPA's ability to collect personal information from livestock producers, a measure the
senator introduced after a series of missteps by the agency in responding to a Freedom of
Information Act request by environmental groups (Greenwire, May 3).
During the markup, Roberts withdrew a separate amendment that would block an EPA
permitting program for pesticide users who spray over water. The program was required as the
result of a ruling in National Cotton Council v. EPA. Roberts said he would introduce the
amendment during floor debate
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E&E: California: Gov Brown proposes to borrow $500M from cap-and-trade
revenue
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059981189
California Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday proposed borrowing $500 million in revenues from the
state's landmark carbon cap-and-trade auctions and using those to help balance the general
fund budget.
The Democratic governor presented a $96.4 billion revised spending plan for the coming fiscal
year that included the loan from the carbon trading program, a move that triggered outrage from
environmental and community groups. By law, the Golden State must spend the funds on efforts
that reduce carbon emissions or otherwise meet the purposes of California's climate measure,
A.B. 32.
State officials said shifting the money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund -- where
emissions trading money lands -- would be the most "prudent" option. Because this is the first
full year that California is selling carbon allowances, there isn't a good estimate of how much
revenue to expect, said state EPA Secretary Matthew Rodriguez. The delay also provides time
to pick the best places to spend the proceeds, he said.
"We're trying to figure out frankly how much money we're going to be dealing with and trying to
set priorities among the various programs that are out there," Rodriguez said. "We're trying to
be prudent and ensure that when we commit funds to programs, they really are the most
effective."
The loan from cap and trade is a relatively small part of Brown's proposed $96.4 billion budget,
a blueprint that also cut $1.3 billion from a version offered in January. The governor said the
state expected lower revenues because of the federal sequestration and projections that income
tax revenues will decline. But Brown's recommendation marks the latest skirmish over the
funds, which could grow to billions of dollars in the years ahead. Some members of the state's
Air Resources Board (ARB) last month said that better scrutiny is needed to ensure the
revenues fund the best choices for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
California is the first state in the nation with an economywide carbon-trading program. The first
two sales of greenhouse gas permits generated about $140 million for the state. The $500
million loan includes money from the first auctions plus allowances still to be sold this coming
fiscal year. Brown and other state officials said that the loan was a one-time option and that they
expected the monies beginning next year to go toward programs that shrink carbon.
The Legislature will have to approve the revised budget, and it was not immediately clear how
lawmakers would respond. There have been several bills earlier offering alternatives for
spending the revenues.
There also have been a series of meetings where communities and environmental groups have
offered feedback on where the money should go. During a conference call with state officials,
some with activists groups questioned whether the delay in spending the money on climate
causes would "undermine public support for the program."
'Playing a dangerous game'
Some of those groups pounced on Brown's latest proposal.
"This means the governor will be delaying opportunities to use those funds to actually get critical
reductions in global warming pollution at the time when all science shows that we must reduce
those emissions as much and as quickly as possible," Kathryn Phillips, executive director of
Sierra Club California, said in a statement.
"This shift in funds is extraordinarily disappointing," she added. "The governor is using bizarre
accounting to 'balance' the budget and making future generations pay the price with climate
disruption."
A group that represents low-income communities located near power plants accused Brown of
subverting the intent of S.B 535, legislation passed last year that requires part of the auction
money go toward helping economically disadvantaged areas.
"The governor is playing a dangerous game that could wreck California's push toward clean
energy," said Ryan Young, legal counsel at Greenlining Institute, in a statement. "Voters of color
turned out in force to protect A.B. 32, the clean energy law, when it was under attack by Prop.
23, and they did it based on the promise that it would bring clean energy investments to polluted
and struggling communities."
"Seizing these funds for other uses will hurt our state's neediest communities, and it's simply not
necessary," Young added.
State officials said there is no plan to spend the cap-and-trade revenue on any particular
expense.
"It's helping to allow the state to have a budget that's in balance with a healthy reserve fund,"
said ARB Chairwoman Mary Nichols. "It's part of the overall fiscal prudence that I think the
governor's budget has shown."
Nichols said that the loan would not hurt the state's greenhouse gas reduction goals. By 2020,
the state wants to cut emissions to 1990 levels and by 2050 aims to cut greenhouse gas
pollution 80 percent.
"The part about the cap-and-trade program that is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it's the
cap, it's the lowering of the cap," Nichols said. "It's not the revenue that we get from the
allowances.
"Having that revenue gives us the opportunity to invest in some longer range programs that
clearly are beneficial to achieving our longer term goals," Nichols added. "One of the reasons
why we support this decision is that we do not believe that it will have any adverse effect on our
progress toward meeting the goals of A.B. 32."
Repayment schedule not known
State officials did not commit to any repayment plan for the cap-and-trade revenues, but state
EPA Secretary Rodriguez said that the loan "is short term and the money will be repaid with
interest."
Karen Finn, program budget manager for the California Department of Finance, said that the
money would be refunded as it became needed, once the Legislature approved specific
programs.
"The repayment will be done according to when the [greenhouse gas reduction] fund needs it
and when any expenditures get appropriated," Finn said. "With no plan, with no program yet, it's
hard to say exactly when repayment would happen, but there's a commitment to do it."
Separately, ARB yesterday released the final version of its investment plan for cap-and-trade
proceeds, for fiscal years 2013-14 through 2015-16. Nichols said that there were no substantive
difference from a draft issued last month. It envisions funding sustainable communities located
near transit, clean vehicles, energy efficiency, renewable power, resource conservation and
waste diversion.
E&E: ‘Not to worry,’ a campus attitude that repels news about climate change
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2013/05/15/stories/1059981190
Ignorance, they say, is bliss, but does bliss lead to ignorance? Perhaps when it comes to
climate change, new research shows.
A person's emotional response to climate change has a strong influence on whether they learn
more about the issue, suggests a recent study conducted at the University at Buffalo at the
State University of New York and the University of Texas, Austin.
In an online survey of 736 undergraduates, students who had negative feelings associated with
climate change were more inclined to seek out new information on the topic and were also more
likely to consider their current knowledge insufficient. Respondents who were less concerned
about the problem, however, had a different approach.
"People who have more positive feelings towards climate change, or, I guess, a lack of negative
feelings towards climate change, those are the folks that are avoiding information about climate
change," said Janet Yang, assistant professor of communications at the University at Buffalo
and co-author of the study.
Yang also found that this behavior was encouraged by the respondents' social environment,
suggesting that those who are not alarmed by climate change are likely surrounded by people
who feel similarly.
Because the study was limited to predominantly white college students of an above-average
income level, Yang said the ability to generalize these results to the average American public
could be limited.
However, she did feel that the focus on this age group was important, because "we think that
young people are important," Yang said. "Climate change ... has a greater impact, probably, on
the younger generation."
Too much bad news an emotional burden
Currently, 16 percent of Americans believe global warming is not happening, according to an
April report from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. However, half of
Americans say that they were either somewhat or very worried about the issue.
A recently published book by psychologist Mary Pipher titled "The Green Boat" discusses the
various reasons Americans lack a sense of urgency when confronted with this topic. One of her
theories is that climate change is an "emotionally threatening" problem, the reality of which often
causes feelings of hopelessness and despair.
"The complex and multifaceted nature of our global storm somehow seems to push our culture
into confusion and overload," Pipher writes.
Because of this, she said, people respond by minimalizing or even denying the problem to
maintain a sense of well-being.
In her study, Yang draws a parallel between people who express less worry about climate
change and patients with terminal diseases. She theorizes that avoiding more information about
climate change could be a way for people to stay hopeful about the future.
"A patient can maintain uncertainty by avoiding new information, which allows him or her to
avoid having to cope with the negative affect that might surface if confronted with a 'certain' but
negative message," the study states.
"Sometimes too much information creates a burden," Yang said. "There are certain situations or
issues that people rely on a sense of uncertainty ... to either feel psychologically more ready to
deal with it or to maintain that sense of hope."
Could fear tactics work?
Much of Yang's earlier communications research was on how people seek information on
health-related issues. Because of this, she was surprised to find that a person's social
environment could further encourage a person to avoid learning more about climate change.
"In any other context, we haven't really observed this relationship at all," Yang said, "either in
health contexts, energy-related contexts or other environmental issues."
Some social groups may consider staying away from the topic of climate change more
reasonable, or at least acceptable, Yang said, guessing that this behavior is related to
America's deep political divide on the issue. Earlier studies have found that a person's political
party was a strong indicator of how he or she feels about climate change (ClimateWire, May 1).
These findings could have important implications for teaching the general public about climate
change. To some extent, encouraging negative emotions about global warming could spur
people to learn more -- think the dark, looming smokestacks spewing out a hurricane on the
poster for Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." However, Yang said that going
overboard with this tactic could have the opposite effect, causing despair and therefore a
continuation of current behaviors.
But it could also be helpful to consider the important role a person's social group plays in
whether he or she pursues information on climate change. Information campaigns that cast
learning about climate change as a socially popular behavior, the study said, could be especially
effective among younger populations.
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E&E: Spring of 2012 was the warmest and earliest in U.S. history
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2013/05/15/stories/1059981162
In case you forgot, the spring of 2012 was a record breaker for warmth, and it arrived early -15,000 high-temperature records were broken in the United States last March.
Now, scientists have shown that the spring of 2012 was not only record-breaking in its heat, but
it was also the earliest spring on record in the continental United States.
A team of scientists at the USA National Phenology Network, a U.S. Geological Surveysponsored effort that tracks the timing of such seasonal phenomena as spring leaf emergence
or bird migrations, looked back all the way to 1900, which is the earliest year such data are
available. The results of their analysis were published online yesterday in the journal Eos,
Transactions of the American Geophysical Union.
The researchers combine data collected on minimum and maximum temperatures and hours of
daylight to determine when spring has actually arrived, because its coming is somewhat difficult
to define, noted study author Toby Ault, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Center for
Atmospheric Research.
"When does spring start? You know it when you see it," Ault said.
That's why years ago, scientist Mark Schwartz, another co-author on the study, developed a set
of spring indexes, so the researchers could calculate when spring has sprung.
Julio Betancourt, a senior scientist at the USGS and a study co-author, said, "It allows you to
map the onset of spring as lilacs and honeysuckles [typical harbingers of the season] would
have seen it."
Schwartz heads the geography department at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and has
been observing springs there for years. He said he knew the spring of 2012 was early in the
Midwest. But until he looked at the data, "I didn't know how it shook out for the whole country."
2013, running later and cooler
In the Midwest and the Northeast, the consequence of such an early spring was felt by farmers.
Fruit growers in Michigan saw their trees fill with flowers much earlier than usual. But then it
cooled off again -- too much.
"They just got zapped because of what was a pretty normal freeze event in April," Ault said.
That "zap" caused half a billion dollars in frost damage, and the state was declared a disaster
area.
In comparison, this year has been a little late, Schwartz said. "Last year my lilacs had first leaf
around mid-March; this year they were April 27," he added. The timing of spring is often
variable, he explained. But climate change does have an impact.
"It's not to say that all years are going to be early," Schwartz said. But, he added, "things have
been getting earlier from the mid-'50s to the present time at a rate of one or two days per
decade."
Now, researchers like Ault and Schwartz are working toward using some of the signs of spring -these phenological data that have been collected for years -- to do short-term predictions.
Ault says climate patterns that cause early springs, like atmospheric waves, troughs and ridges,
might be predictable. They could use those forecasts to help farmers and disaster planners be
more prepared for wider weather swings.
"Last year, if we had the right information at the right time, certain aspects of the ridge that
drove the warmth were predictable," he said.
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Canada
The Toronto Star: Natural Disasters Forced 32 Million People from Their Homes
Last Year
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/05/13/natural_disasters_forced_32_million_people_f
rom_their_homes_last_year.html
More than 32 million people were forced to flee their homes in 2012 because of disasters like
floods, storms and earthquakes — almost twice as many as in 2011, says a new report.
Most disaster-induced displacement was caused by climate and weather-related disasters, the
report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre says.
More than 98 per cent of the people displaced were in developing countries in Asia and Africa.
“Thirty-two million people . . . that is the human cost of climate change,” said Gordon McBean,
director of research at Western University’s Centre for Environment and Sustainability in
London, Ont.
McBean said he isn’t surprised by the staggering numbers. “The impact of climate change isn’t
small. That’s what these numbers say.”
Wild weather struck all corners of the Earth in 2012. Massive floods in northeast India and most
of Nigeria displaced almost 13 million people collectively, 41 per cent of the global total. In the
Philippines, almost two million were left homeless by typhoons and floods. In Russia and Spain,
floods and forest fires forced people out of their homes.
Many of those displaced have gone through the cycle repeatedly — they have lost homes and
moved multiple times. Most stay in their own countries, moving from villages to towns, and from
towns to big cities.
The risk of displacement is only going to rise, the report predicts. Similar concerns were raised
in October, when a Red Cross report said the number of displaced people will likely go up as
climate change helps drive forced migration.
Though more people are surviving disasters due to better warning, “more are becoming
displaced; increasing numbers are exposed and vulnerable; climate change is projected to
influence the frequency and intensity of weather extremes over the coming decades,” this
week’s report says.
Rich countries, including the U.S., weren’t spared in 2012. Superstorm Sandy displaced more
than 775,000; tens of thousands fled their homes to escape forest fires.
“The world’s population is not only increasing but it is increasingly in the way of weather,” said
Warren Mabee, the director of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy at Queen’s
University.
The five countries with the most displaced people in 2012 — China, India, Pakistan, Philippines
and Nigeria — are countries with exploding populations, he says.
“These are heavily, heavily populated countries,” Mabee said. “There aren’t unspoiled stretches
of land . . . like the Canadian Prairies where disruptions will impact few.”
While the report says governments need to do more to “prevent and prepare” for disasterinduced displacement, Mabee says there is too much reliance on the United Nations for relief.
“We need to explore other ways of delivering aid,” he said. “Maybe help with knowledge
programs so we are more robust and resilient. It is a worldwide problem.”
Despite what some people in the West think, most of those displaced aren’t looking to move to
the U.S. or Canada, said Audrey Macklin, a University of Toronto professor specializing in
international human rights and immigration.
“They just want to stay where they are, in their countries, but have clean drinking water or a safe
place to live,” she said. “Most people’s first choice isn’t to leave.”
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The Globe and Mail: Despite Liberal win, B.C.’s stand on pipelines still
unanswered
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-andresources/despite-liberal-win-bcs-stand-on-pipelines-still-unanswered/article11935221/
Western Canada’s landlocked oil and gas producers have kept a wary eye on a British
Columbia election campaign rife with debate about pipelines and fracking. And while many will
prefer the surprising Liberal victory Tuesday night than an NDP government, the election result
still leaves a number of unanswered questions about the relationship between the province and
the industry.
Christy Clark took the campaign stance that her incumbent Liberal party was a shrewd steward
of the economy while NDP policies would “kill” the natural-gas sector vital to the production of
liquefied natural gas. “I say yes to growing our economy. Adrian Dix says no,” was Ms. Clark’s
refrain regarding the NDP leader.
But the Liberal win is still a relative wildcard for the energy industry. While Ms. Clark – whose
party has already formed government for a dozen years – didn’t absolutely rule out pipeline
projects as Mr. Dix did, she did pick up on her province’s anti-pipeline sentiment. She has set
what she says is five immovable conditions in order for heavy oil to be transported across the
province – including a focus on First Nations consultation and treaty rights, world-leading marine
oil-spill prevention, and that B.C. receive “its fair share of the fiscal and economic benefits” of
any project.
“From an oil-producing perspective, there is more room to manoeuvre with the Clark
government than a Dix government,” Robert Roach of the Canada West Foundation think tank
said late Tuesday.
“But it’s not a green light.”
At stake is the B.C. government’s position on Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway
pipeline between Bruderheim, Alta., and Kitimat, B.C., and Kinder Morgan Inc.’s plans to twin its
Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs from just outside of Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C. – which will
increase capacity to 890,000 barrels per day from the current 300,000. Both projects are
lifelines for neighbouring Alberta’s oil industry.
“This means Kinder Morgan and Enbridge’s Northern Gateway are both open questions,” said
Vancouver-based energy consultant Barb Justason of Justason Market Intelligence Inc. “The
Liberal position is a whole bunch of conditions to be met.”
Mr. Dix’s position on pipeline proposals was more categorical. He opposed the Northern
Gateway project and, two weeks ago, made the surprise announcement that he opposed the
Trans Mountain expansion.
The NDP had also said any government he led would order a science-based review of fracking,
the practice that forces natural gas or oil out of a reservoir by injecting sand, water and
chemicals into the ground under high pressure.
Although LNG export projects costing billions of dollars to construct are still years away, Ms.
Clark is an unabashed supporter of the industry’s prospects, saying B.C. could benefit from a
provincial windfall in line with what oil has done for Alberta.
“The pipelines that are of most interest to British Columbians are liquefied natural gas,” she said
earlier this month. “That’s something we can do and we don’t need the federal government and
we don’t need Alberta.”
Gerry Goobie, a Calgary-based energy consultant for Gas Processing Management Inc., said
the industry has watched the B.C. election with hope for government policy that is stable and
certain.
“It’s very difficult to make investment decisions when you hear rhetoric about imposing new
taxes and things of that nature, or opposing this development or that development,” Mr. Goobie
said.
“Companies don’t like to make decisions with a lot of uncertainty hanging over them, particularly
for money of that magnitude.”
With oil sands production projected to double in less than a decade, there are concerns the
output could outstrip transport capacity. Ottawa and the Alberta government have both been
pushing for additional pipelines, including projects to and through the United States such as the
Keystone XL, along with those that would cross B.C. to the West Coast and onwards to foreign
markets.
Alison Redford, who has had a number of “frosty” talks with Ms. Clark, has said she will work
with whatever party forms the next government. But the Alberta premier has argued access to
foreign markets for Canada’s oil and gas is a national issue, and the need for interprovincial cooperation on the issue “is more urgent than ever.”
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers vice-president Janet Annesley said in an e-mail
Tuesday the oil and gas industry “will work constructively with the government elected to
continue delivering energy and economic benefits to B.C. while protecting the B.C.
environment.”
However, the Dogwood Initiative Campaign noted late Tuesday that the B.C. Liberal
government has yet to file its final position with the joint review panel examining Enbridge’s
pipeline and tanker proposal.
“We are hopeful the next government will stand up for B.C. and say no to Enbridge, in line with
the wishes of the B.C. public,” the environmental group’s director Eric Swanson said in a news
release. “The majority of British Columbians oppose the expansion of oil tanker traffic on B.C.’s
coast and will continue to pressure their politicians to stand up for our coast.”
RBC Dominion Securities’ Mark Chandler said in a research note Wednesday that the Liberals’
victory “is likely to bolster expectations on a more significant energy-infrastructure in the
province to help expand Pacific export markets.”
In a separate note, Robert Kwan of RBC Dominion said a Liberal government is likely to be
seen as more supportive of the “entire LNG chain.”
But getting the oil pipelines through might be an “uphill battle.
“While the NDP winning would have resulted in outright opposition to Northern Gateway and the
Trans Mountain expansion, the Liberals’ commentary has not been particularly supportive,” said
Mr. Kwan.
“Even if the Liberals end up supporting one, or both, of the oil pipes, we note that there are still
numerous issues that could pose a significant impediment to either project proceeding.”
Some members of the B.C. business community saw the Liberal win as a clear endorsement of
economic development in the resource-rich province.
“This was the most important provincial election in recent memory and a very clear victory for
Canada. This demonstrates that environmental alarmists, Hollywood elitists and left wing
policies are out of place,” said Cary Pinkowski, chief executive of Astur Gold Corp..
“British Columbia citizens understand that pipelines are there to protect our national security
interests. Canada and B.C. should work together for a mutual economic solution and build these
pipelines without delay.”
Frank Rizzardo, president of infrastructure construction and maintenance group Emcom
Services Inc., said the electorate has opted for a government favouring a “strong economy, jobs
and a lean government.
“B.C. has a history of being a leader in Canada through resource development and cost
effective power development. Businesses throughout B.C. will be looking at how they can
participate in the future economic activity that will eliminate the capital debt for our
grandchildren.”
Keith Schaefer, editor-publisher of Oil and Gas Investments Bulletin, said in an email: “I think
the energy industry should be happy – especially the natural gas industry, and the whole LNG
[liquid natural gas] complex. There should be a clear path for large-scale LNG exports in a few
years. There will be hurdles and protests, but I think the natural gas execs in Canada have to be
the happiest with this election.”
He added there is still some reluctance among voters to go full-speed ahead with the
controversial pipeline projects.
Canadian National Post.com: Ontario Court of Appeal says innocent parties must pay for
pollution clean-up
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/05/14/ontario-court-of-appeal-says-innocent-partiesmust-pay-for-pollution-clean-up/
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment may order innocent parties who are not responsible for
discharging pollution into the environment to remediate contamination which has impacted their
properties, says the Ontario Court of Appeal.
“Kawartha Lakes confirms that the MOE may turn to innocent landowners when pursuing its
ultimate goal of protecting the environment, even if this leads to ‘unfair’ outcomes against
innocent parties,” write Daniel Kirby, Jack Coop, Paul Morassutti, Jennifer Fairfax, Lindsay
Rauccio and Patrick Welsh writing in Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt’s Osler Update.
As we reported previously, the case arose when heating oil migrated onto City property after
being spilled at a neighbouring property. ”All parties agreed that the City had nothing to do with
the spill,” Kirby said.
The MOE initially ordered the neighbours to remediate. The resident’s insurer commenced
remediation in compliance with the order but the pollution continued to spread to the adjacent
City land.
The Environmental Review Tribunal upheld the Ministry order against the City requiring it to
clean up the spill. It ruled that the City could not get relief from the Order without proferring
some evidence of a solution that was also consistent with the purposes of the EPA in the sense
of being fair to the environment and those affected by the pollution. Here, the City had failed to
do. The Divisional Court upheld the ruling, but did not go so far as to exclude fairness and fault
factors from consideration. Rather, it appears to have decided that fault or lack of fault could
impact the content of an order, but not whether it should have been made in the first place.
The Court of Appeal upheld the Divisional Court, finding that the primary objective of the
Environmental Protection Act took precedence over the polluter-pays principle.
Some environmental lawyers are unhappy with the decision, saying that the ultimate result may
be that fewer spills are reported if innocent reporters run the risk of responsibility for the cleanup
costs. But the Osler authors don’t necessarily agree. They argue that “all owners now have
increased incentive to ensure that environmental conditions on neighbouring properties that
might migrate onto their own property are being adequately addressed.” This, they add, could
“lead to an increase in neighbour-on-neighbour reporting of spills.“
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The Toronto Star: Obama’s Arctic initiative is a call to action for Canada
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/05/15/obamas_arctic_initiative_is_a_call_to_
action_for_canada.html
U.S. President Barack Obama announced an American National Strategy for the Arctic Region
last week. There is much for Canadians to applaud and to learn from this strategy, and nothing
to fear from a sovereignty perspective.
The Obama doctrine provides the basis for new co-operation with the United States on the
Arctic, bilaterally and multilaterally, that will bring responsible economic development to our
Arctic, and give substance to Canada’s Arctic Council role.
For the first time, the United States has set out a comprehensive vision of its national Arctic
policy that takes into account the changing circumstances of the Arctic, particularly the
“dramatic, abrupt, and unrelenting” reduction in sea ice, and looks positively to the future.
It serves Canada’s interest that the United States, our geographic neighbour, partner and ally in
the Arctic, has recognized new realities at the presidential level. Obama has shown a laudable
determination to align American agencies, stakeholders and policies around an integrated Arctic
national management approach.
The administration underlines the need to adapt responsibly to the reality of a more accessible
and prosperous Arctic, while at the same time combating global warming through a variety of
other national and international means.
The president takes an activist approach to integrating in a practical way the goals of expanding
economic development and conservation in the Arctic region, and gives special weight to the
role of the Alaskan state government and its native peoples.
The strategy emphasizes its continuing commitment to responsible stewardship. And it opens
the door to working bilaterally and multilaterally with other countries to work out “new
mechanisms,” charting the Arctic Ocean efficiently, developing new waterways management
regimes, launching joint ventures and P3s with international partners, and promoting safe,
secure, efficient and free flows of navigation and trade through new systems and new
infrastructure.
As to Arctic security, the United States presents a positive, moderate and forward-leaning rather
than threat-magnified approach. The Arctic region is in fact “peaceful, stable and free of
conflict,” and sees America’s security interest as best met through continued trust, co-operation
and collaboration with allies and neighbours.
Beyond noting its traditional freedom of navigation and national defence concerns, the strategy
describes the need for Arctic infrastructure and capabilities, including ice capable vessels, and
support for safe commercial and scientific operations as a U.S. security interest
It would be easy to dismiss the president’s strategy as “something for everyone” rhetoric to
provide Secretary of State John Kerry with a doctrine to point to at the May 15 Arctic Council
ministerial meeting, and to paper over fissures between intensely partisan environmental and
economic interest groups over Alaskan leasing and drilling and other issues.
But the national strategy is a concrete and valuable attempt to deal with Arctic opportunities in
an innovative way. In the U.S. system, a presidential determination like this provides guidance
to the whole administration, and is close to a Canadian white paper.
The devil, as in all grand designs, will be in the implementation. The White House will need to
keep an Arctic focus at the highest level, strengthen its capacity to monitor and drive
collaboration, find smart funding in a difficult fiscal environment to match words with actions,
and work directly with its most promising partner: Canada. Russia and the Scandinavian
countries need no lessons from Washington on Arctic vision, investment and collaboration.
The appearance of the report is a strong incentive for the Canadian government to refresh and
operationalize our own promising Northern Strategy in dealing with the same Arctic domestic
challenges as the president. It is time to open a new high level bilateral and multilateral dialogue
with the United States on Arctic issues, now that the United States has made the first move.
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CBC News” Polar meltdown top challenge for Arctic Council
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/05/14/f-arctic-council-issues.html
Last Thursday, the eight-country Arctic Council was reminded of the issues they face by an
event faraway in Hawaii. For the first time in probably three million years, the level of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere averaged above 400 parts per million for an entire day.
That's based on readings at the key monitoring station at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, and the best
available scientific evidence. Carbon dioxide readings above 400 ppm were first seen in the
Arctic last year, but did not stay above that level for an entire 24-hour period.
Canada, which hosted the founding conference of the Arctic Council in 1996 and was its first
chair, again took on that responsibility at the meeting in Kiruna, Sweden, on Wednesday.
Federal Health and Northern Development Minister Leona Aglukkaq was scheduled to become
the council chair.
During Wednesday's sessions, the conference agreed to let nations that are far from Earth's
north to become observers to the council's operations.
The decision boosts rising superpowers China, India and Korea, which seek to mine the north of
its untapped energy and other natural resources. The European Union also was tentatively
granted observer status but must first address several questions about its bid, including
concerns about its ban on Canadian seal exports.
Here are six of the most important issues on the table at the moment, from A to F:
Acidification of the Arctic Ocean
According to the council, "ocean acidification is occurring at a rapid and accelerating pace, and
the Arctic Ocean is on the frontline of this global change."
Acidification "will have a negative effect on Arctic marine ecosystems at all scales," including
marine food chains and fish stocks, it says.
Commercial fishermen and other mariners send the message 'SOS acid ocean' to spread word
about ocean acidification caused by fossil fuel emissions, in Homer, Alaska, Sept. 6, 2009.
'Acidification is occurring at a rapid and accelerating pace,' the Arctic Council says. (Lou
Dematteis/Reuters)
One example, calcifying species may become unable to form hard shells, which would then
affect other animals up the food chain.
The acidification results from rising temperatures and melting sea ice, which leads oceans to
absorb larger quantities of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and turn the gas into a weak
acid.
The council estimates that "Over the past 200 years, the average acidity of surface ocean
waters worldwide has increased by about 30 per cent."
What's more, carbon dioxide "is more readily absorbed into cold water and the increasing
amounts of fresh water entering the Arctic Ocean from rivers and melting ice are reducing the
Arctic Ocean's capacity to neutralize acidification."
Black carbon reduction
Scientists say that one of the best ways to limit climate change in the Arctic is to reduce black
carbon or soot emissions, which get carried to the Arctic and deposited on snow and ice.
Created by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass, this black carbon both
absorbs solar radiation and reduces the amount that is reflected away from the Earth, adding to
the warming cycle.
Last year, the Arctic Council called on the international community to prioritize cutting emissions
of black carbon as well as other of what are called short-lived climate forcers such as ozone,
methane and hydrofluorocarbons.
In January, an international study concluded that black carbon's direct influence on global
warming is probably twice as high as previous estimates, including those by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007.
According to Tami Bond of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a lead author of the
report, since black carbon is short-lived, the impacts of curbing emissions "would be noticed
immediately."
In April, the Arctic Athabaskan Council, an indigenous group in Canada with status at the Arctic
Council, filed a petition concerning black carbon with the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights.
Council membership
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, is seated with, clockwise, Michael Stickman, of the
Arctic Athabaskan Council and James Stotts, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, in Kiruna,
Sweden, May 14, ahead of the Arctic Council meeting. The council may decide to give observer
status to as many as 14 additional countries. (Charles Dharapak/Associated Press)
China, India and a dozen other countries, along with the European Union, are requesting
observer status at the Arctic Council.
Council decisions are reached by consensus of the eight member states that ring the Arctic
Circle, and so far the Nordic states appear to be in support, with Canada and Russia opposed.
The White House, despite unveiling its own Arctic strategy on Friday, did not state a position on
the new observer applications.
China's interest stems from mining operations in the region and the expectation, due to climate
change, of the opening of a northern passage through the Arctic that would dramatically shorten
shipping distances between China and Western Europe.
Disappearing ice cover
Last month, scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a
study that predicted the Arctic will be ice-free in summer by 2050, much earlier than previous
estimates.
By last September, thick ice cover had already shrunk to half the average for that month during
the years 1979-2000, researchers found.
Other scientists, including Carlos Duarte, the director of the Oceans Institute at University of
Western Australia, have warned that "the Arctic could be free of ice in summer by 2015."
Last year, Duarte wrote a paper about how the receding ice cover and other climate change
factors could lead to a snowball effect of "dangerous" changes in the Arctic and globally.
Emergency preparedness
On Wednesday, the ministers of the eight Arctic states will sign the Marine Oil Pollution
Preparedness and Response agreement.
It will be only the second time they've signed a legally binding accord.
With oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean looming, the agreement aims to prevent accidents and codify
response actions should a spill happen.
"There isn't any effective equipment deployed in the Arctic that can handle an oil in ice spill,"
Lars-Otto Reiersen, head of the Council's Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP),
told CBC News last year.
With half the year in darkness, extreme cold, strong winds and fog, Reiersen said any oil-spill
cleanup faces huge challenges.
In February, Greenpeace received a leaked copy of the draft, which the environmental group
called "a disappointingly weak document."
The draft was also criticized by Finland's environment minister who said he would push for
changes.
Food chain pollution
Pollution and other threats to Arctic biodiversity, which is on the agenda for the meeting in
Sweden, have a direct effect on indigenous people in the region.
The council says it has special responsibility for indigenous peoples in the Arctic and certain
indigenous organizations are included as permanent participants in council meetings.
Reiersen says that the main challenge from pollution in the North comes from the mercury,
industrial chemicals and persistent organic compounds in pesticides, which are often
transported via the atmosphere and rivers.
These accumulate in the food chain and the foods indigenous people eat, and can lead to
cancers and developmental problems in infants.
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E&E: Expedition to study Arctic plankton ‘while there is still time’
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2013/05/15/stories/1059981171
The famed polar schooner Tara will cast off from Lorient in France on Sunday for a sevenmonth expedition to study the Arctic's plankton.
Shrinking ice floes are opening up new sea routes across the Arctic, as well as the potential for
exploiting oil, gas, fishing and tourism. But that could also alter the "frontier zone" along the
edges of the floes where plankton thrive.
"This is a vital and urgent task," said French biologist Chris Bowler, head of research at
France's National Centre for Scientific Research. "The Arctic is one of the most productive
planktonic regions on the planet, so we have to get there before humans start interfering."
Plankton is vital to the marine ecosystem because it forms the basis of the food chain. It also
plays a major role in biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen, carbon and oxygen. Half the oxygen we
consume comes from the oceans, and the sea is the planet's leading carbon sink.
Scientists are trying to figure out how plankton will react to the consequences of climate change
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