THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
CANCUN SPECIAL
Friday, 03 December 2010
UNEP and the Executive Director in the News
Cancun Climate Summit
 CNN: Oceans failing the acid test, U.N. says
 AFP: Climate: UN report highlights ocean acidification
 Reuters: Ocean acidification may threaten food security: U.N.
 Washington Bangla Radio (US): Growing ocean acidification threatens marine
life: UN
 Telegraph (UK): Cancun climate summit: Britain's salmon at risk from ocean
acidification
 Voxy (New Zealand): Acidification' May Push Already Over-Stressed Oceans Into
The Red
 Business Spectator (Australia): Cancun calling – Alphabet soup
 Star (Malaysia): Ocean acidification may threaten food security - UN
 EFE (Spain): La química del Océano cambia a mayor velocidad de últimos 65
millones de años
 Informador (Mexico): Química del Océano cambia velozmente
 Arzetca noticias (Mexico) :Alertan sobre acidificación en mares y especies
 Servi Media (Spain): La acidificación de los océanos, peligro para la seguridad
alimentaria
 SDPnoticias (Mexico): Advierten sobre acidificacion en oceanos y especies
marinas
 L'express (France): L'acidification des océans, menace pour la sécurité
alimentaire
 TF1 (France): Climat: l'acidification des océans représente un danger croissant
(Onu)
 UPI: Go green -- change your light bulbs
 New American (US): UN & Big Business Call for Global Light Bulb Ban to Save
Climate
 Guardian (UK): UN urges phase-out of old-style light bulbs
 Reuters: Switching to Efficient Lighting Could Save U.S. $9B Annually
 SDPnoticias (Mexico): Ahorrara Mexico 900 mdd con plan de sustitucion de luz
incandescente
Other Environment News
Cancun Climate Summit
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Reuters: India expects to break logjam in climate talks
Telegraph (UK): 2010 was hottest year on record
AFP: Spotlight will return on climate change, says Pachauri
Reuters: Google launches mapping tool to monitor global environmental change
AP: Alaska acknowledges effects of climate change
Other News
 Independent (UK): Government accused of glacial response as UK counts cost
of big freeze
 Reuters: Special Report: Making forests pay in a warming world
 AP: China promises new support to solar development
 AFP: Australia, Denmark to discuss toxic waste shipment
 AFP: Gabon detains 13 foreigners for ivory trade: campaigners
Environmental News from the UNEP Regions
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ROA
ROLAC
RONA
Other UN News
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Environment News from the UN Daily News of 3rd December 2010 (None)
Environment News from the S.G.’s Spokesman Daily Press Briefing of 3rd
December 2010 (None)
UNEP and the Executive Director in the News
Cancun Climate Summit
CNN: Oceans failing the acid test, U.N. says
2nd December 2010
The chemistry of the world's oceans is changing at a rate not seen for 65 million years,
with far-reaching implications for marine biodiversity and food security, according to a
new United Nations study released Thursday.
"Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification," published by the U.N.
Environmental Program (UNEP)," warns that some sea organisms including coral and
shellfish will find it increasingly difficult to survive, as acidification shrinks the minerals
needed to form their skeletons.
Lead author of the report Carol Turley, from the UK's Plymouth Marine Laboratory said
in a statement: "We are seeing an overall negative impact from ocean acidification
directly on organisms and on some key ecosystems that help provide food for billions.
We need to start thinking about the risk to food security."
Tropical reefs provide shelter and food for around a quarter of all known marine fish
species, according to the U.N. report, while over one billion people rely on fish as a key
source of protein.
Increasing acidification is likely to affect the growth and structural integrity of coral reef,
the study says, and coupled with ocean warming could limit the habitats of crabs,
mussels and other shellfish with knock-on effects up and down the food chain.
The report, unveiled during the latest round of U.N. climate talks in Cancun, Mexico,
says that around a quarter of the world's CO2 emissions are currently being absorbed by
the oceans, where they are turned into carbonic acid.
Overall, pH levels in seas and oceans worldwide have fallen by an average of 30
percent since the Industrial Revolution. The report predicts that by the end of this
century ocean acidity will have increased 150 percent, if emissions continue to rise at
the current rate.
But scientists say there may well be winners and losers as acidification doesn't affect all
sea creatures in the same way.
Adult lobsters, for example, may increase their shell-building as pH levels fall, as might
brittle stars -- a close relation of the starfish -- but at the cost of muscle formation.
"The ability, or inability, to build calcium-based skeletons may not be the only impact of
acidification on the health and viability of an organism: brittle stars perhaps being a case
in point," Turley said in a statement.
"It is clearly not enough to look at a species. Scientists will need to study all parts of the
life-cycle to see whether certain forms are more or less vulnerable."
Scientists are more certain about the fate of photosynthetic organisms such as
seagrasses, saying they are likely to benefit from rising acidification and that some
creatures will simply adapt to the changing chemistry of the oceans.
The authors identify a range of measures which policymakers need to consider to stop
pH levels falling further, including "rapid and substantial cuts" to CO2 emissions as well
as assessing the vulnerability of communities which rely on marine resources.
"Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health
warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions. It is a new and
emerging piece in the scientific jigsaw puzzle, but one that is triggering rising concern,"
Achim Steiner, UNEP executive director, said in a statement.
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AFP: Climate: UN report highlights ocean acidification
2nd December 2010
Carbon emissions from fossil fuels may bear a greater risk for the marine environment
than thought, with wide-ranging impacts on reproduction, biodiversity richness and
fisheries, a report at the UN climate talks here on Thursday said.
Each year, billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal greenhouse gas, are
absorbed by the sea and are very gradually turning the water more acidic, according to
the study launched by the UN Environment Program (UNEP).
In the coming decades, the consequences are likely to be felt throughout the marine
food chain, it said.
Rising acidity levels have an impact on calcium-based lifeforms, ranging from tiny
organisms called ptetropods that are the primary food source, to crabs, fish, lobsters and
coral, it said.
The report was compiled by scientists from Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the
National Oceanography Centre in Britain, and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission, part of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO).
"We are seeing an overall negative impact from ocean acidification directly on organisms
and on some key ecosystems that help provide food for billions," said Carol Turley, a
senior scientist at Britain's Ocean Acidification Research Programme, who headed the
report.
"We need to start thinking about the risk to food security."
Turley cautioned there many unknowns about ocean acidification.
For instance, some research indicated that adult lobsters might actually increase shellbuilding in response to rising acidity levels, but it may be the juveniles who are less able
to build healthy skeletons, she said.
Similarly, the smelling systems of some species of young fish could be impaired, but
adults may be unaffected.
There could be some winners as well as losers, she said.
"It is clearly not enough to look at a (single) species. Scientists will need to study all
parts of the life cycle to see whether certain forms are more or less vulnerable," Turley
said.
UNEP chief Achim Steiner described ocean acidification as "yet another red flag being
raised" about greenhouse gases.
"It is a new and emerging piece in the scientific jigsaw puzzle, but one that is triggering
rising concern."
The report calls for cuts in man-made CO2 emissions to reduce acidification and support
for further work to quantify the risk and identify species that could be most in peril.
The "greenhouse" effect from CO2 is already a known problem for the sea. By trapping
solar radiation, the gas warms the atmosphere and thus the Earth's surface.
Warming has already been linked to changes in fish migration, and some biologists fear
that cases of coral die-out in recent years are clearly linked to higher temperatures.
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Reuters: Ocean acidification may threaten food security: U.N.
2ND December 2010
Acidification of the seas linked to climate change could threaten fisheries production and
is already causing the fastest shift in ocean chemistry in 65 million years, a U.N. study
showed on Thursday.
Production of shellfish, such as mussels, shrimp or lobsters, could be most at risk since
they will find it harder to build protective shells, according to the report issued on the
sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Mexico.
It could also damage coral reefs, vital as nurseries for many commercial fish stocks.
"Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health
warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions," said Achim
Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Programme ( UNEP).
"Whether ocean acidification on its own proves to be a major or a minor challenge to the
marine environment and its food chain remains to be seen," he said in a statement.
A UNEP booklet reviewing scientific findings about ocean acidification, caused by water
soaking up greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, said that it adds to threats to food
security that already include overfishing and pollution.
"It's the speed of change ... that is the cause of concern," said Carol Turley, of the UK
Ocean Acidification Research Programme.
DINOSAURS
"We don't think it has been experienced by the marine environment for 65 million years,"
when the dinosaurs vanished, she said, presenting a booklet entitled "Environmental
consequences of ocean acidification: a threat to food security."
About 25 percent of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas,
are absorbed by the seas, where it converts to carbonic acid. The pH value of the
oceans, a scale from alkaline to acidic, has fallen 30 percent since the Industrial
Revolution in a shift to acidity.
"We are speaking about a threat especially to the shellfish industry," said Joseph
Alcamo, the chief scientist of UNEP. Aquaculture production ranges from French
mussels to shrimp in Thailand.
It would also damage coral reefs, and fish that swim around reefs. About a billion people
worldwide rely on fish as their main source of protein.
There was evidence that acidification had other effects, for instance impairing the sense
of smell of bright-colored clown fish and making it harder for them to avoid predators.
And there were other puzzling findings. Some adult lobsters were apparently increasing
shell-building even though juveniles were less able to build healthy skeletons.
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Washington Bangla Radio (US): Growing ocean acidification threatens marine life:
UN
2nd December 2010
A new United Nations-backed report warns that unless governments cut carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions, ocean acidification will continue and have wide-ranging impacts on the
health of the seas and the fish living in them.
The report, entitled “The Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification,” was
launched on Thursday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) at the UN climate
change conference in Cancun, Mexico.
It confirms concerns about the effects of increased ocean acidity on the marine
environment, warning that the future impact of rising emissions on the health of seas and
oceans may be far greater and more complex than previously supposed.
“Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health
warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions. It is a new and
emerging piece in the scientific jigsaw puzzle, but one that is triggering rising concern,”
said Achim Steiner, UNEP’s Executive Director, urging governments to take action to
address the issue.
“The phenomenon comes against a backdrop of already stressed seas and oceans as a
result of over-fishing to other forms of environmental degradation. Thus the public might
quite rightly ask how many red flags do governments need to see before the message to
act gets through,” he said.
Ocean acidification is the result of increasing concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide
finding their way into ocean water and lowering the water’s pH level. Such changes
threaten the very survival of many marine organisms, including fish and coral, and
together with other environmental effects, such as over-fishing and ocean warming,
could impact massively on the marine food chain, which is a main source of protein and
livelihood for billions of people.
To produce the report, UNEP worked together with the UN Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, as
well as with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and National Oceanography Centre in the
United Kingdom.
The report’s lead author, Carol Turley, pointed out the negative impact that rising ocean
acidity was having.
“We are seeing an overall negative impact from ocean acidification directly on organisms
and on some key ecosystems that help provide food for billions. We need to start
thinking about the risk to food security,” she said.
Although the report notes that there may be some ‘winners’ within marine ecosystems,
with photosynthetic life, such as sea grasses benefiting from acidification, Turley
pointed out the vulnerabilities of many sea organisms.
“It is clearly not enough to look at a species. Scientists will need to study all parts of the
life-cycle to see whether certain forms are more or less vulnerable,” she said.
Urging policy makers to cut CO2 emissions and to reduce pressure on the oceans
through marine spatial planning and aquaculture, the report recommends that
governments embrace the science of ocean acidification into the way they manage
fisheries.
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Telegraph (UK): Cancun climate summit: Britain's salmon at risk from ocean
acidification
2nd December 2010
Britain’s famous salmon runs are in danger from ocean acidification caused by climate
change, scientists have warned.
The species rely on tiny shellfish when they go out to sea and feed before returning to
rivers like the Tay in Scotland or the Test in Hampshire.
However these sea snails are in danger from ocean acidification.
A United Nations report by the University of Plymouth has warned that fish higher up the
food chain like salmon may suffer as a result.
Since the industrial revolution oceans have become 30 per cent more acidic as the water
absorbs carbon dioxide and the situation is set to get worse as greenhouse gases
increase.
The process, known as ‘ocean acidification’ makes it difficult for shellfish to build their
calcium carbonate shells.
Dr Carol Turley, a senior scientist at the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme at
Plymouth University, said studies already show shell fish are struggling to grow.
She feared tiny molluscs, known as ptetropods or ‘sea butterflies’, that are important to
the wider ecosystem, may reduce in number affecting a number of larger fish.
“One could see a reduction in salmon,” she said. “Ocean acidification may have
significant future impacts on catches of crabs, mussels and other shellfish; species
dependent on coral reefs and ones such as salmon that feed on smaller, shell building
organisms lower down the food chain know as ptetropods.”
The report ‘Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification: A Threat to Food
Security’ was released during the latest round of UN climate change talks in Cancun.
Dr Turley said billions of people rely on fish like salmon to survive.
She called on the world to agree a cut in emissions so that ocean acidification does not
impact on fish like salmon and ultimately global food security.
“It is likely that if CO2 emissions continue at the same rate ocean acidification will have a
considerable influence on marine-based diets for billions of people worldwide,” she
added.
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Voxy (New Zealand): Acidification' May Push Already Over-Stressed Oceans Into
The Red
3rd December 2010
he future impact of rising emissions on the health of seas and oceans may be far more
wide-ranging and complex than was previously supposed, a new report released at the
UN climate convention meeting in Mexico says.
The study, entitled the Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification, has brought
together some of the latest scientific research on 'ocean acidification', a process
triggered by increasing concentrations of dissolved C02 which is changing the sea's
chemistry by lowering the pH of the marine environment.
Launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the report confirms
concerns that some organisms, such as corals and shellfish may find it increasingly
difficult to form their skeletons in the decades to come making it harder to survive let
alone thrive. It also shows that ocean acidification can react together with ocean
warming so that animals such as crabs have a reduced range of temperatures they can
thrive in.
This in turn may have significant future impacts on catches of crabs, mussels and other
shellfish; species dependent on coral reefs and ones such as salmon that feed on
smaller, shell-building organisms lower down the food chain known as ptetropods, for
example.
Other new research is spotlighting fresh areas of concern including findings that some
species, including the clown fish made famous in the Disney cartoon Finding Nemo, may
find it harder to avoid their predators and to find their way home.
If other fish react the same way, this may have implications for the marine food chain
upon which billions of people depend directly or indirectly for protein and livelihoods.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said:
"Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health
warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions. It is a new and
emerging piece in the scientific jigsaw puzzle, but one that is triggering rising concern".
'Whether ocean acidification on its own proves to be a major or a minor challenge to the
marine environment and its food chain is to date unknown. But the phenomenon comes
against a backdrop of already stressed seas and oceans as a result of over-fishing to
other forms of environmental degradation. Thus the public might quite rightly ask how
many red flags do governments need to see before the message to act gets through," he
said. The report was compiled in collaboration with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in
the United Kingdom and scientists from other organisations including the National
Oceanography Centre in Southampton and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission of UNESCO. Carol Turley, a senior scientist at the laboratory; Knowledge
Exchange Coordinator for the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme, and lead
author of the new report, said: "As scientists around the world start to investigate the
potential impacts of ocean acidification, we are seeing an overall negative impact from
ocean acidification directly on organisms and on some key ecosystems that help provide
food for billions. We need to start thinking about the risk to food security."
Dr. Turley stressed that researchers were working on the frontiers of science in respect
to ocean acidification and its potentially complex impact on the marine environment and
its organisms.
She added that some research indicated that adult lobsters, for example, might actually
increase shell-building in response to falling pH levels whereas it may be the juveniles
who are less able to build healthy skeletons.
A similar possibility may arise in respect to adult and juvenile forms of fish with the
olfactory or smelling systems of some species of young fish impaired but adults
unaffected.
Meanwhile, there is some evidence of other curious changes if emissions continue to
rise and concentrations of C02 continue to build-up in the seas and oceans. For
example, brittle stars, an important part of the marine food chain, may increase shellbuilding at the cost of muscle formation, some science suggests.
"It is clearly not enough to look at a species. Scientists will need to study all parts of the
life-cycle to see whether certain forms are more or less vulnerable. Meanwhile, the
ability, or inability, to build calcium-based skeletons may not be the only impact of
acidification on the health and viability of an organism: brittle stars perhaps being a case
in point," said Dr. Turley.
The report points out that there may be "winners" as well as "losers", with photosynthetic
organisms such as seagrasses likely to benefit from rising acidification. Yet studies of
natural C02 vents in the Mediterranean Sea show that although there are some
"winners" the ecosystem is likely to be altered in other ways.
The report calls on governments, policymakers and others to consider a range of actions
including:
Rapid and substantial cuts to man-made CO2 emissions to the atmosphere in order to
reduce ocean acidification;
Determine the vulnerability to ocean acidification of human communities dependent on
marine resources;
Identify species that are more flexible to change and assess how these may affect
ecosystems and food security;
Reduce other pressures on food fish stocks to provide the best chance of success
through, for example, marine spatial planning or re-evaluating available resources and
their usage;
Assess the options for the development of environmentally sustainable 'aquaculture'
options using species that may be more resistant to lowered pH;
Embrace the science of ocean acidification into fisheries management tools.
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Business Spectator (Australia): Cancun calling – Alphabet soup
3rd December 2010
No matter where you go, you just can’t get away from the j-curve. Seasoned veterans of
UN climate change talks say the first week of negotiations always represents the down
curve, the challenge is to get it moving back up and beyond in the second week.
Having looked at the progress of climate change negotiations since the Kyoto Protocol
was first struck in 1995, it’s hard to see many Js. More like a series of Ws. In
Copenhagen they achieved a Y. Or was it a Z?
If they finish with another Z in Cancun, then the indiscreet comments uttered by an
advisor to the Environment Minister of South Africa, the hosts of the next COP in
Durban, might just be on the button: “The COP is considered to be as much about
tourism as anything else,” he told a parliamentary committee last month.
Mexico and the UN have sought to manage expectations by not having many. Officially,
and we hear this everywhere, Cancun is about creating a “balanced package” –
agreement on as many of the six key issues of these talks as they can possibly muster.
Basically it’s about keeping the process alive enough to retain hope that an outcome
might one day be concluded. An EU official put it more prosaically today: “It is about
making a decision to start a process.” And this is as far as we have got in 15 years.
The optimistic view is that after the frustration of Copenhagen, Cancun represents a
unique opportunity to push the process forward. But it is the realisation that it may be the
last opportunity – a prospect rammed home by an indelicate Japan earlier this week –
that is providing impetus to these talks.
Still, after a relatively uneventful first week – Mexico has been careful to avoid the weknow-best negotiating style of the Danes – it is unclear what sort of agreement will
emerge. The environmental NGOs, who watch these negotiations like hawks, as do the
various business lobby groups, are optimistic.
“Most Government’s have come to Cancun with a spirit of cooperation and have largely
avoided fog horn diplomacy,” says Erwin Jackson, the deputy CEO of The Climate
Institute.
“Solid progress has been made on issues that lack political sting. As we move into the
weekend it will be up to Minister Combet and other political leaders to build on the
progress made and deliver a solid package of decisions that build further momentum to
limit pollution and accelerating climate change.”
Four of the so-called six-pack of agreements appear within reach – financing,
adaptation, forests, and technology – although there are still hurdles to overcome, such
as whether a green fund should be managed by the UN or an outside body. The two
most difficult – mitigation (effectively locking in the pledges made since Copenhagen)
and transparency – remain a challenge. The head of one of the key working groups told
NGOs today that there remained “a big gap” on mitigation.
And therein lies the problem; the developed economies won’t agree to adaptation,
forests and technology, unless one or both of the latter two are agreed to by developing
economies. China won’t agree to anything unless it gets technology. The US appears to
believe that it is all or nothing.
Did somebody say warming?
These talks are, it should be remembered, supposed to be responding to the science,
which says that the best chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change is to limit
average temperature rises to 2°C. Island states and other vulnerable nations want it
capped at 1.5°C.
The World Meteorological Organisation today said 2010 is, so far, the hottest year on
record, and may remain so by year end – despite the arrival of a strong La Nina (cooling)
effect in mid-November.
WMO secretary general Michele Jarraud said it was certain that 2010 would be among
the three hottest since instrumental climate records began in 1850, along with 1998 and
2005, although he said the differences between these three were negligible – a variation
of plus 0.55°C for 2010 to date, plus 0.53°C for 1998 and plus 0.52°C for 2005.
Jarraud said the only sub region which is recording a negative anomaly this year is
northern Australia, and he said Europe is still warmer than the long-term average despite
the cold weather of the past two winters. Indeed, while the there had been significant
warming over the Arctic (it experienced its third lowest sea ice levels), Greenland and
Canada, as well as the northern part of Europe.
He noted the number of extreme weather events across the globe, such as the heat in
Moscow (the mean temperature in July was 7.6°C above normal), flooding in Pakistan
(caused by the same weather system), record rains in parts of Australia, flooding in
African countries such as Benin and Niger (“where you would not expect flooding”), and
droughts in parts of the Amazon.
“The long-term trend is of very significant warming. I guess that’s why we are in Cancun
to address that.”
Acid test
The UN Environment Program meanwhile said the future impact of rising emissions on
the health of seas and oceans may be far more wide-ranging and complex than was
previously supposed. UNEP said ocean acidification, the process triggered by increasing
concentrations of dissolved C02 which is changing the sea’s chemistry by lowering the
pH of the marine environment, may make it increasingly difficult for corals and shellfish
to survive, let lone thrive, and reduce the habitats for other animals such as crabs.
This would have a knock-on effect on commercial catches of crabs, mussels and other
shellfish; species dependent on coral reefs and those such as salmon that feed on
smaller, shell-building organisms lower down the food chain, and then have an impact
on the food chain upon which billions of people depend directly or indirectly.
“Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health
warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions,” said Achim
Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General. “It is a new and emerging piece in the scientific
jigsaw puzzle, but one that is triggering rising concern”.
Cutting to the chase
Which brings us back to the difference between what’s on the table in Cancun, and
what’s required to address the science. The UN today reinforced the findings of its study
which showed the world needed to cut around 12 gigatonnes of emissions from the
business as usual scenario.
About 3 gigatonnes are accounted for under the Copenhagen Accord, but another 4
gigatonnes could be cut if countries presented more ambitious targets, and adopted
rules the avoided a net increase in emissions from either lenient accounting of land use,
land use change and forestry activities (where Australia is in the firing line), and surplus
emission units. Even this would leave the gap short by 5 gigatonnes.
This was the focus of the press conference today from the EU, which says it is on target
to exceed its Kyoto commitments, but was concerned about who would take the lead to
drive more ambitious targets.
“It is the responsibility of developed countries to take the lead,” EU negotiator Peter
Whittoeck said. “A bigger effort is lying ahead of us. They can only be met by completing
a transition to a low carbon economy. At Cancun we need to provide a formal basis for
the accord … so that we can ratchet them up to bring 2°C within reach.”
Fossil of the Day
The Fossil of the Day awards have been a fun part of UN climate talks over the past few
years, and a neat way for the environmental watchdog groups to call out some less than
green behaviour from the 194 participating countries.
Australia’s flag was pinned to the award on Wednesday, sharing second place with 12
other countries, including Norway and New Zealand, for trying to preserve the mass of
“hot air” generated by surplus credits that were created by a huge mistake in the
estimate of business-as-usual scenarios for emissions in Ukraine and Russia.
The group of 13 want these credits to be carried over the second commitment period of
the Kyoto protocol. The EU says such actions will pretty much undermine most of the 20
per cent emission reductions it says it is one track to achieve by 2012.
The Climate Action Network, which hosts the awards, said this issue had been
addressed in Australia’s own draft emissions trading scheme, ”so it is surprising that
they are not working constructively to find a way to ensure that those who have
deepened their emissions reductions can be rewarded for doing so in a way that does
not compromise the environmental integrity of future commitments.”
First prize went to Saudi Arabia, Norway, Kuwait, Algeria, UAE, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and
the newly appointed COP18 and World Cup 2022 host Qatar, for continuing to block
progress in negotiations by insisting on the “inappropriate” inclusion of carbon capture
and storage in the Clean Development Mechanism, which is designed to foster
emissions reduction projects in developing countries. The environmental NGO would
much rather these investments go towards renewables, energy efficiency and the like.
Japan was the only winner from Day 2, for it’s threat to kill the Kyoto Protocol, which has
alarmed many developing countries, even if most people think it is just bluster, and old
bluster at that. Canada won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places on the first day just for being
Canada; and for recently killing a progressive climate change bill, cancelling support for
clean energy and failing to have any plan to meet its emissions target.
Tips for weary conference-goers
The hosts have been charming, but the logistical challenges of Cancun – mostly
transport and communication – are expected to be tested further in coming days with a
new influx of people, ranging from ministers and about 30 heads of state and their
entourages, media, late-running NGOs and a lobby of business types, descending for a
series of business conferences.
Mobile phone coverage is patchy at best, and smart phones worse than useless. The
local mobile network, TelCel, owned by the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim Helu, is
doing brisk trade in cheap local phones. Wireless coverage is as highly valued as
truffles, and the band-width is struggling to cope, with several blackouts over the last few
days, some lasting a few hours. A tip for late arrivals: Bring a folding chair and a satellite
phone, and one of each for me too, if you don’t mind.
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Star (Malaysia): Ocean acidification may threaten food security - UN
3rd December 2010
Acidification of the seas linked to climate change could threaten fisheries production and
is already causing the fastest shift in ocean chemistry in 65 million years, a U.N. study
showed on Thursday.
Production of shellfish, such as mussels, shrimp or lobsters, could be most at risk since
they will find it harder to build protective shells, according to the report issued on the
sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Mexico.
It could also damage coral reefs, vital as nurseries for many commercial fish stocks.
"Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health
warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions," said Achim
Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP).
"Whether ocean acidification on its own proves to be a major or a minor challenge to the
marine environment and its food chain remains to be seen," he said in a statement.
A UNEP booklet reviewing scientific findings about ocean acidification, caused by water
soaking up greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, said that it adds to threats to food
security that already include overfishing and pollution.
"It's the speed of change ... that is the cause of concern," said Carol Turley, of the UK
Ocean Acidification Research Programme.
DINOSAURS
"We don't think it has been experienced by the marine environment for 65 million years,"
when the dinosaurs vanished, she said, presenting a booklet entitled "Environmental
consequences of ocean acidification: a threat to food security."
About 25 percent of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas,
are absorbed by the seas, where it converts to carbonic acid. The pH value of the
oceans, a scale from alkaline to acidic, has fallen 30 percent since the Industrial
Revolution in a shift to acidity.
"We are speaking about a threat especially to the shellfish industry," said Joseph
Alcamo, the chief scientist of UNEP. Aquaculture production ranges from French
mussels to shrimp in Thailand.
It would also damage coral reefs, and fish that swim around reefs. About a billion people
worldwide rely on fish as their main source of protein.
There was evidence that acidification had other effects, for instance impairing the sense
of smell of bright-colored clown fish and making it harder for them to avoid predators.
And there were other puzzling findings. Some adult lobsters were apparently increasing
shell-building even though juveniles were less able to build healthy skeletons.
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EFE (Spain): La química del Océano cambia a mayor velocidad de últimos 65
millones de años
2nd December 2010
La química de los océanos se está modificando a una velocidad nunca vista en los
últimos 65 millones de años, debido a un repentino incremento de la acidez de las
aguas que podría afectar la vida y desarrollo de peces y crustáceos, advirtió hoy la ONU
en un informe.
El documento, difundido en el marco de la Conferencia sobre Cambio Climático de la
ONU en México (COP16), indica que el pH del mundo marino "ha disminuido en un 30%
y la concentración de iones de carbonato se ha reducido en un 16% desde la revolución
industrial".
El pH promedio global del océano era de 8,2 antes de la industrialización, y ha caído en
0,1, lo que representa un aumento en la acidez del 30%, precisa la investigación.
"Los mares del mundo se han visto muy afectados por el cambio climático debido a que
alrededor del 25% de las emisiones de CO2 en el mundo están siendo absorbidas por
los mares y océanos, donde se convierten en ácido carbónico", explicó en conferencia
de prensa la científica Carol Turley, investigadora del laboratorio marino Plymouth y
autora principal del estudio.
Con base en las tasas actuales de emisiones de CO2, las proyecciones indican que a
finales del siglo XXI el pH de los océanos se reducirá en 0,3 unidades más, lo que
representa un "aumento de la acidez total del 150%", apuntó Turley.
El estudio, financiado por el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente
(PNUMA), muestra que hay una respuesta negativa en la vida marina a la creciente
acidificación del mar, y que hay un impacto diferenciado, dependiendo de las especies,
y de si son adultos, larvas o huevos.
"En algunas especies reduce la habilidad para enfrentar el calor", hay pruebas de que
los crustáceos "crecen menos", por lo que al final del siglo tendremos almejas, ostiones,
ostras y caracoles con conchas "más pequeñas, mas delgadas y menos sólidas", señalo
Turley.
Según el informe, se prevé que la futura acidificación del océano afecte además el
crecimiento del coral tanto en fases adultas como juveniles, el crecimiento de algas
rojas coralinas, la integridad estructural de los arrecifes y, potencialmente, los
depredadores.
"Si el pH del océano continúa decreciendo esto podría conducir a la pérdida de algunos
crustáceos y moluscos y organismos con exoesqueleto", precisa el documento.
De acuerdo con los científicos, "eventualmente los sedimentos en el océano
amortiguarán los cambios químicos, pero la recuperación de la química marina por
estos eventos puede tomar decenas de miles de años".
Turley recordó que los pescados y mariscos contribuyen con el 15% de la proteína
animal para 3.000 millones de personas en todo el mundo, y que otros 1.000 millones
de habitantes del planeta dependen de la pesca como fuente primaria de proteína.
Por esta razón, dijo, la creciente acidificación del mar podría tener un efecto sobre la
seguridad alimentaria en el mundo.
Una serie de análisis realizados por expertos en un grupo de respiraderos de CO2
frente a las costas de Nápoles, revelaron que en las aguas ácidas la biodiversidad es
mucho menor, y abunda la hierba marina y otros organismos invasivos.
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Informador (Mexico): Química del Océano cambia velozmente
2nd December 2010
La química de los océanos se está modificando a una velocidad nunca vista en los
últimos 65 millones de años, debido a un repentino incremento de la acidez de las
aguas que podría afectar la vida y desarrollo de peces y crustáceos, advirtió hoy un
informe de Naciones Unidas.
El documento, difundido durante la Conferencia sobre Cambio Climático de la ONU en
México (COP16), indica que el pH del mundo marino "ha disminuido en un 30 por ciento
y la concentración de iones de carbonato se ha reducido en un 16 por ciento desde la
revolución industrial".
El pH promedio global del océano era de 8.2 antes de la industrialización, y ha caído en
0.1, lo que representa un aumento en la acidez del 30 por ciento, precisa la
investigación.
"Los mares del mundo se han visto muy afectados por el cambio climático debido a que
alrededor del 25 por ciento de las emisiones de CO2 en el mundo están siendo
absorbidos por los mares y océanos, donde se convierte en ácido carbónico", explicó en
conferencia de prensa la científica Carol Turley, investigadora del laboratorio marino
Plymouth y autora principal del estudio.
Con base en las tasas actuales de emisiones de CO2, las proyecciones indican que a
finales del siglo XXI el pH de los océanos se reducirá en 0.3 unidades más, lo que
representa un "aumento de la acidez total del 150 por ciento", apuntó Turley.
El estudio, financiado por el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente
(PNUMA), muestra que hay una respuesta negativa en la vida marina a la creciente
acidificación del mar, y que hay un impacto diferenciado, dependiendo de las especies,
y de si son adultos, larvas o huevos.
"En algunas especies reduce la habilidad para enfrentar el calor", hay evidencias de que
los crustáceos "crecen menos", por lo que al final del siglo tendremos almejas, ostiones,
ostras y caracoles con conchas "más pequeñas, mas delgadas y menos sólidas", señalo
Turley.
Según el informe, se prevé que la futura acidificación del océano afecte además el
crecimiento del coral tanto en fases adultas como juveniles, el crecimiento de algas
rojas coralinas, la integridad estructural de los arrecifes y, potencialmente, los
depredadores.
"Si el pH del océano continúa decreciendo esto podría conducir a la pérdida de algunos
crustáceos y moluscos y organismos con exoesqueleto", precisa el documento.
De acuerdo con los científicos, "eventualmente los sedimentos en el océano
amortiguarán los cambios químicos, pero la recuperación de la química marina por
estos eventos puede tomar decenas de miles de años".
Turley recordó que los pescados y mariscos contribuyen con el 15 por ciento de la
proteína animal para tres mil millones de personas en todo el mundo, y que otros mil
millones de habitantes del planeta dependen de la pesca como fuente primaria de
proteína.
Por esta razón, dijo, la creciente acidificación del mar podría tener un efecto sobre la
seguridad alimentaria en el mundo.
Una serie de análisis realizados por expertos en un grupo de respiraderos de CO2
frente a las costas de Nápoles, descubrió que en las aguas ácidas la biodiversidad es
mucho menor, y abunda la hierba marina y otros organismos invasivos.
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Arzetca noticias (Mexico) :Alertan sobre acidificación en mares y especies
2nd December 2010
El impacto en los océanos por el aumento de las emisiones de dióxido de carbono
puede ser una mayor acidificación en las aguas de los mares y las especies marinas,
advirtió aquí el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA).
El informe "Consecuencias medioambientales de la acidificación de los océanos" fue
comentado en el marco de la 16 Conferencia de Naciones Unidas sobre Cambio
Climático en esta ciudad por la coordinadora del Laboratorio Marino Playmouth, en
Reino Unido, Carol Turley.
Indicó que conforme avanzan las investigaciones sobre acidificación de los mares "se
ve un impacto general negativo directo sobre organismos y ecosistemas claves que
ayudan a proporcionar alimentos a millones de personas".
"Tenemos que empezar a pensar en el riesgo que esto puede entrañar para la
seguridad alimentaria", subrayó la investigadora.
El estudio destaca el cambio de química que sufre el mar por un descenso del pH del
medio marino, como consecuencia de la concentración de emisiones de gases
contaminantes.
Asimismo expresa la preocupación de la comunidad científica sobre organismos
marinos como corales y mariscos que podrían tener dificultades para formar sus
esqueletos en un futuro, y con ello afectar su desarrollo.
El reporte del PNUMA recuerda que en torno a un 25 por ciento de las emisiones de
gases de efecto invernadero es absorbido por los mares, que una vez allí se convierte
en ácido carbónico.
Por ello la agencia de Naciones Unidas llama a que en esta conferencia de Cancún los
gobiernos avancen en sus reducciones de emisiones a fin de reducir la acidificación de
los océanos.
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Servi Media (Spain): La acidificación de los océanos, peligro para la seguridad
alimentaria
2nd December 2010
La acidificación de los mares y océanos del planeta por la acumulación de dióxido de
carbono en sus aguas constituye ya una amenaza para la seguridad alimentaria
mundial, según alertó este jueves el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio
Ambiente (Pnuma).
Así lo revela un informe presentado por esta agencia de la ONU en la Cumbre sobre
Cambio Climático que acoge estos días Cancún (México).
Según el Pnuma, el aumento de los niveles de CO2 en las aguas amenaza ya la vida de
los organismos marinos, lo que podría producir "consecuencias graves" para la
seguridad alimentaria mundial.
Además, la alteración química de las aguas tendrá impactos negativos en actividades
como la pesca y el turismo.
Según las estimaciones del Pnuma, unos mil millones de personas dependen
actualmente de los mares como fuente principal de proteínas.
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SDPnoticias (Mexico): Advierten sobre acidificacion en oceanos y especies
marinas
2nd December 2010
El impacto en los oceanos por el aumento de las emisiones de dioxido de carbono
puede ser una mayor acidificacion en las aguas de los mares y las especies marinas,
advirtio aqui el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA).
El informe "Consecuencias medioambientales de la acidificacion de los oceanos" fue
comentado en el marco de la 16 Conferencia de Naciones Unidas sobre Cambio
Climatico en esta ciudad por la coordinadora del Laboratorio Marino Playmouth, en
Reino Unido, Carol Turley.
Indico que conforme avanzan las investigaciones sobre acidificacion de los mares "se
ve un impacto general negativo directo sobre organismos y ecosistemas claves que
ayudan a proporcionar alimentos a millones de personas".
"Tenemos que empezar a pensar en el riesgo que esto puede entranar para la
seguridad alimentaria", subrayo la investigadora.
El estudio destaca el cambio de quimica que sufre el mar por un descenso del pH del
medio marino, como consecuencia de la concentracion de emisiones de gases
contaminantes.
Asimismo expresa la preocupacion de la comunidad cientifica sobre organismos
marinos como corales y mariscos que podrian tener dificultades para formar sus
esqueletos en un futuro, y con ello afectar su desarrollo.
Turley remarco que investigaciones indican que las langostas podrian aumentar con
estos efectos su capacidad de construccion de su cascara en respuesta a la caida del
pH, mientras las langostas juveniles tendrian menos capacidad para ello.
Abundo que otro ejemplo es el de las estrellas de mar, que tienen un papel importante
en la cadena alimentaria marina, pues podrian aumentar su capacidad de formacion de
cascara en detrimento de la formacion de musculo.
"No es suficiente con observar a todas las especies.
Los cientificos deberian de mirar a todas las especies de mar para concluir si algunas
de ellas son mas o menos vulnerables a la acidificacion", manifesto Turley.
El reporte del PNUMA recuerda que en torno a un 25 por ciento de las emisiones de
gases de efecto invernadero es absorbido por los mares, que una vez alli se convierte
en acido carbonico.
Por ello la agencia de Naciones Unidas llama a que en esta conferencia de Cancun los
gobiernos avancen en sus reducciones de emisiones a fin de reducir la acidificacion de
los oceanos.
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L'express (France): L'acidification des océans, menace pour la sécurité
alimentaire
3rd December 2010
L'acidification des océans, liée au réchauffement climatique, pourrait menacer l'industrie
de la pêche et provoque déjà les changements les plus rapides dans la composition
chimique des océans en 65 millions d'années, comme le montre jeudi une étude menée
par les Nations unies.
C'est la production de crustacés comme les moules, les crevettes ou les homards qui
sera le plus menacée, car les crustacés auront plus de mal à fabriquer leurs coquilles,
conclut ce rapport, publié en marge de la conférence internationale sur le climat en
cours jusqu'au 10 décembre à Cancun, au Mexique.
L'acidification des mers risque aussi de nuire aux récifs coralliens, qui jouent un rôle
capital en tant que pouponnières pour nombre de poissons.
"L'acidification des océans est un autre signal d'alarme, qui répercute des
avertissements pour la santé de la planète face à une augmentation incontrôlée des
émissions de gaz à effet de serre", explique Achim Steiner, directeur du Programme des
Nations unies pour l'environnement (PNUE).
"Il reste à voir si l'acidification des océans en soi s'avèrera être une grande menace ou
un danger mineur pour l'environnement marin et sa chaîne alimentaire", a-t-il dit.
Un quart des émissions mondiales de dioxyde de carbone (C02), le principal gaz à effet
de serre, sont absorbées par les mers, où elles se transforment en acide carbonique. La
valeur pH des océans - une échelle allant de l'alcalin à l'acide - a chuté de 30% depuis
la révolution industrielle, ce qui traduit une nette augmentation de l'acidité.
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TF1 (France): Climat: l'acidification des océans représente un danger croissant
(Onu)
3rd December 2010
Les émissions de CO2 pourraient causer plus de dégâts que l'on en le pensait. Elles
auraient des impacts sur la reproduction, la biodiversité et le stock de poissons a indiqué
jeudi un
rapport de l'Onu. Les milliards de tonnes de CO2 rejetés tous les ans sont absorbées
par les océans, et les rendent de plus en plus acides, selon cette étude lancée par le
Programme des Nations unies pour l'Environnement (PNUE). Dans les décennies à
venir, les conséquences sur la chaîne alimentaire marine devraient commencer à se
sentir, avance-t-elle.
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UPI: Go green -- change your light bulbs
2nd December 2010
Indonesia alone could cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 8 million tons per
year just by switching to energy-efficient light bulbs, a U.N. panel found.
The U.N. Environment Program said simple measures like eliminating incandescent light
bulbs would go a long way toward protecting the environment.
UNEP said Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico could save more than $1 billion per year
in energy costs and remove millions of tons of carbon emissions by switching to energysaving light bulbs.
Achim Steiner, UNEP's executive director, said those simple figures don't do the benefits
of switching light bulbs justice.
"A switch to efficient lighting in Indonesia, for example, would avoid the need to build 3.5
coal-fired power stations costing $2.5 billion and similar findings come from other
country assessments," he said in a statement.
European consumers by September 2011 will no longer be able to purchase 60-watt,
40W and 25W light bulbs. The European Parliament said compact fluorescent, halogen,
light-emitting diode or "improved incandescent" light bulbs will replace the conventional
light bulb in the European Union.
The 75W bulb was banned by the EU in September and the 100W light bulb was phased
out in 2009.
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New American (US): UN & Big Business Call for Global Light Bulb Ban to Save
Climate
2nd December 2010
The United Nations and its corporate allies called for a global ban on incandescent light
bulbs and kerosene lamps Wednesday at the COP16 global-warming summit in Cancun,
claiming in a new study that “energy-efficient” lights would reduce the amount of carbon
dioxide emissions. “Among the low hanging fruit in the climate change challenge, a
switch to far more efficient lighting must rank as among the lowest,” said UN
Environment Program (UNEP) chief Achim Steiner. “Efficient lighting systems is one
path that is literally available at the flip of a policy switch.”
According to the report released by the UNEP, the Global Environment Facility (GEF),
and two lighting-industry giants during a presentation at the climate summit, the move
would reduce the world’s lighting-related electricity demand by about two percent. The
paper also claimed a global ban would save money.
“We need to cut the use of kerosene for lighting," demanded chief “sustainability” officer
Wolfgang Gregor of Osram, one of the world’s largest lighting manufacturers, during a
news conference. “OSRAM has given its firm commitment to the … initiative, as well as
to combating the use of kerosene,” he added. His company, along with lighting
behemoth Philips, also worked on the UN report.
Fellow traveler Harry Verhaar, the “director of energy and climate change” for Philips
Lighting, offered similar remarks. Calling the anti-incandescent bulb crusade “an
excellent example of a new category of public/private partnerships that will help
accelerate sustainable growth in emerging and developing countries," Verhaar said the
mandatory switch to CFLs “represents a triple win for these countries and in addition this
sectoral lighting approach is also a bottom-up initiative that compliments [sic] the topdown UNFCCC process."
And the UN, in a separate statement, said it would propagandize the public until more
nations agree. “By promoting the tangible benefits of efficient lighting it is anticipated that
a growing number of countries will be interested in engaging in transformation activities
to phase out inefficient lighting systems and reduce emissions,” it said in the press
release announcing the unveiling of the new study.
The report focused primarily on 100 countries where governments have not yet started
mandating the UN-backed changes, calculating potential reductions in CO2 emissions
(also known as plant food) and wildly inflating alleged potential savings.
Then there’s the claim that this is somehow a “market solution,” made by the GEF. “For
the past two decades, the GEF has championed market efforts to expand efficient
lighting to developing countries throughout the world," claimed GEF boss Monique
Barbut in a UN press release, perhaps not realizing that banning the older bulbs would
be in direct conflict with true market principles.
The project, known as “En.lighten” to its corporate and government backers, “is the
latest initiative funded by the GEF in partnership with UNEP and leading global lighting
manufacturers to accelerate market transformation of efficient lighting technologies on a
global scale,” Barbut said. “Through this initiative, we hope to build a strong partnership
with the private sector to encourage innovation.”
But not everybody is excited about the prospect of a worldwide ban on traditional
lighting. For one, compact fluorescent lamps, or CFL light bulbs, are made with mercury,
a known neurotoxin dangerous to human health, water supplies, pets, and the
environment.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency even has a complicated 12-step process for
dealing with broken CFL bulbs. Calling in professionals to deal with the mercury can cost
thousands of dollars, too. And when the CFLs burn out on their own, the EPA
recommends calling a local waste collection agency to dispose of the dead bulbs at a
hazardous waste drop-off location.
The new bulbs also cost a lot more money than incandescent lights — sometimes ten
times more. And critics complain that they do not produce the same amount or quality of
light. They can cause headaches and numerous other problems as well, according to
detractors. And most of the CFLs also produce a high amount of what is known as
electromagnetic pollution, which some experts consider problematic.
But none of those drawbacks — or even common sense — has stopped busybody
government officials around the world from implementing total bans on incandescent
light bulbs. There are already dozens of regimes phasing them out through force,
including the European Union, which has a target date of 2012 for the complete
eradication of the lights throughout the bloc.
“Much like the car and the telephone caught on with everyone, I have no doubt that once
Europeans start using the modern alternatives to the inefficient light bulbs, they will start
to enjoy the advantages they have to offer,” pontificated former USSR Communist Party
member Andris Piebalgs of Latvia, who drafted the EU light-bulb ban with help from the
lighting industry while serving as the European commissioner for energy.
“Great ideas are sometimes slow to catch on,” the “former” communist wrote on his blog
in response to critics of the ban, probably not realizing the absurdity of his statements.
“These are understandable reactions as people are naturally resistant to change and
more comfortable with what they already [sic] familiar with.”
The U.S. government has also passed legislation — signed by former President George
W. Bush as part of an energy package — aimed at phasing out incandescent bulbs by
2014. Numerous other governments, from Australia and Canada to Venezuela and
Cuba, have done the same. Other regimes around the world are considering similar
measures.
“The world needs quick wins to show that climate change can be controlled,” the UNbacked anti-incandescent bulb coalition claimed in a statement. “A global transition to
efficient lighting is perhaps the easiest method. If achieved swiftly, this victory would
generate the momentum needed to achieve greater CO2 reductions in other sectors and
assist towards stabilizing the climate.”
Unfortunately for incandescent-bulb fans and CFL critics, this new UN/Big Businessfunded study may provide rulers around the world with exactly the ammunition they need
to foist the unpopular ban on the remaining hold-out populations, no matter what the true
cost. But since the UN doesn’t plan to have its draft “road map” for the world ban
completed before mid-2011, there is still time for people who would rather stick to
Thomas Edison’s time-tested invention to stock up. For poor people around the world
relying on kerosene lamps — no matter what the UN and CFL bulb manufacturers say
— now might be a good time to buy extra gas, too.
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Guardian (UK): UN urges phase-out of old-style light bulbs
2nd December 2010
The United Nations yesterday urged a global phase-out of old-style light bulbs and a
switch to low-energy lighting that it said would save billions of dollars and combat climate
change.
About 40 countries already have schemes to switch from incandescent light bulbs, the
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report issued on the sidelines of UN
climate talks in Cancún.
Generation of electricity for lighting, often from burning fossil fuels, accounts for about
8% of world greenhouse gas emissions, it said. A shift to more efficient bulbs would cut
electricity demand for lighting by 2%.
A review of 100 nations showed huge potential for savings and carbon cuts from a shift
to low-energy bulbs, according to a study backed by UNEP and lighting groups Osram
and Philips.
Indonesia, for instance, could save $1bn a year and cut its greenhouse gas emissions
by 8m tonnes a year, the equivalent of taking 2m cars off the road, it said.
It said Brazil could save $2bn a year, Mexico $900m, Ukraine $210m and South Africa
$280m. All would also deliver big cuts in emissions.
"The actual economic benefits could be even higher," said Achim Steiner, head of
UNEP, who added that a switch to efficient lighting in Indonesia would avoid the need to
build several coal-fired power stations costing $2.5bn."
"Similar findings come from other country assessments," he said.
He also said the cost calculations did not include health benefits from switching from the
use of fossil fuels, including use of kerosene lamps. About 1.8m deaths a year are linked
with indoor air pollution.
UNEP cautioned there were drawbacks because the most common low-energy compact
fluorescent light bulbs, or CFL, contain toxic mercury.
It said countries needed to ensure safe collection and disposal of the light bulbs. "This is
a central challenge, especially in developing countries," it said.
It said countries including EU members, the US, Canada, Australia, Cuba and the
Philippines were working on phase-outs of old-style bulbs.
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Reuters: Switching to Efficient Lighting Could Save U.S. $9B Annually
2nd December 2010
Phasing out energy-guzzling incandescent lighting for efficient alternatives could save
the U.S. $9 billion a year and avoid roughly 45 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide
emissions annually. That's the equivalent of removing 11 million vehicles from the road,
or bypassing the need to build 26 medium-sized coal-fired plants.
Energy-efficient lighting also carries the potential to save $5.5 billion a year in China,
where energy use from lighting accounts for roughly 12 percent of electricity
consumption.
At a time when energy use in expected to soar in coming years, lighting represents an
attractive piece of low-hanging fruit, while also carrying the potential for generating
billions of dollars in savings and reducing the world's hefty carbon footprint. Up to 70
percent of lighting sales are made up of inefficient incandescent lamps, according to the
U.N.
To highlight the opportunities, the U.N. Environment Programme and Global
Environment Facility teamed up to assess the impact from switching from incandescent
lighting to compact fluorescent light bulbs in 100 countries. Osram and Philips were also
involved in the "en.lighten initiative," the partnership that launched the findings
Wednesday at the climate change negotiations in Cancun.
"In reality, the actual economic benefits could be even higher," Achim Steiner, UN
Under-Secretary General and UNEP executive director, said in a statement. "A switch to
efficient lighting in Indonesia, for example, would avoid the need to build 3.5 coal-fired
power stations costing US$2.5 billion and similar findings come from other country
assessments."
The initiative's assessment pegged Indonesia's potential savings from a massive lighting
retrofit to be about $1 billion a year, but as Steiner the noted, the savings could be
greater if more inefficient lighting was phased out, such as inefficient tube lights or
halogens.
The assessment offers a searchable map with an executive summary for each country,
including information about avoided emissions, financial savings, and individual country
lighting policies. A more detailed assessment is also available for each country.
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SDPnoticias (Mexico): Ahorrara Mexico 900 mdd con plan de sustitucion de luz
incandescente
1st December 2010
Mexico ahorrara 900 millones de dolares reduciendo emisiones de cinco millones de
toneladas de dioxido de carbono al ano, con el plan de sustitucion de luz incandescente,
informo el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA).
La agencia de la Organizacion de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) presento aqui un nuevo
reporte sobre "Iluminacion eficiente", que estudia el avance de programas de sustitucion
de lamparas en 100 paises con ayuda del Fondo Global al Medio Ambiente y diversas
empresas fabricantes.
En rueda de prensa durante la 16 Conferencia de las Partes de la Convencion Marco de
las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climatico (COP-16), el representante del PNUMA,
Bernard Jamet, explico que los avances del plan reportan el ahorro en esos 100 paises
equivalente a 500 plantas de produccion de 500 megawatts de carbon.
Se trata de dos por ciento del consumo mundial de electricidad y la suma podria
representar una reduccion de uno por ciento del total de emisiones de gases de efecto
invernadero a la atmosfera, equivalente, ademas, a lo que emiten 60 millones de
coches.
Recordo que segun la Agencia Internacional de la Energia, la electricidad para la
iluminacion representa 19 por ciento del consumo de energia mundial y entre seis y
ocho por ciento de los gases de efecto invernadero en todo el mundo.
Indico que se espera que en proximos meses sean ya 150 los paises que forman parte
de ese plan, de los que destaco los casos de China, Cuba, Ucrania, Rusia y otros que
tienen gran avance.
Bernard Jamet explico que en cada pais los reportes de avances son diferentes, tanto
en calendario, como en procedimientos, y lo que se hace es asesorar en sus programas
de sustitucion.
El documento difundido este miercoles en la COP16 precisa en el caso de Mexico que
proximamente se anunciara un plan especifico de lamparas incandescentes.
Planteo que con el ahorro de energia que podria representar ese plan mexicano, hasta
tres plantas de electricidad generadas por carbon podrian ya ser "innecesarias".
En esa estrategia participan las empresas OSRAM y Phillips, que explicaron la forma en
que sus plantas de fabricacion de lamparas incandescentes se ha ido cerrando en el
mundo conforme avanzan esos planes de sustitucion.
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Other Environment News
Cancun Climate Summit
Reuters: India expects to break logjam in climate talks
3rd December 2010
An Indian proposal could break a deadlock between rich and poor countries over how to
share the burdens of tackling global warming, India's environment minister said on
Thursday before heading to U.N. climate talks in Mexico.
India's environment minister Jairam Ramesh said a proposal that would require
countries to report what actions they are taking to fight global warming could win critical
support from the United States and increase chances that representatives at the U.N.
climate talks could reach a broader agreement.
"It is basically meant to break the logjam and it is basically meant to bring the U.S. in
because without some progress in (transparency) the U.S. is not going to come on
board," Ramesh said before traveling to the summit.
Ramesh's hopeful assessment came on a day that the U.N. released more pessimistic
climate news. It said 2010 would be one of the top three hottest years on record.
India recently released a plan that countries -- rich or rapidly developing -- that contribute
more than 1 percent of global greenhouse gases should report their actions and their
emissions to the United Nations every three years.
Jonathan Pershing, the deputy U.S. climate negotiator, was not immediately available to
comment on Ramesh's assessment.
But on Wednesday he told reporters there was hope the United States and India could
move forward on the issue of measuring, reporting and verifying emissions.
"Coming in, it was quite clear that we were converging," Pershing said. "But we've not
yet reached agreement."
The Indian proposal would not penalize poor countries if they did not meet pledges on
emissions reductions.
HOT SEAT
Analysts said the Indian proposal provided a good foundation.
"India is clearly trying to be constructive," Michael Levi, a fellow on climate at the Council
on Foreign Relations.
For the United States, an agreement with India could put pressure on China to come on
board or risk looking like it is not doing enough to fight global warming.
India's Ramesh said an agreement on so-called transparency could lead to bigger
agreements on climate, like protecting forests and financing.
But there was also risk for the United States. If it agrees on one of the key aspects of the
talks in Cancun, it could put pressure on Washington to work out another one: long-term
financing for poor countries to help them mitigate climate change and adapt to more
storms, floods and heatwaves.
"It also puts the U.S. on the hot seat for the money," Levi said. The United States,
Norway and other rich countries agreed at last year's climate talks in Copenhagen to
financing of $100 billion per year by 2020.
Since then the U.S. climate bill failed. It was expected to set up a carbon market that
would help raise money for the financing.
2010 COULD BE HOTTEST
Pressure on climate negotiators was also growing as evidence mounted that 2010 would
be one of three hottest recorded and that human actions like burning fossil fuels and
cutting down forests was to blame.
Michael Jarraud, the head of the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization, said at a
news conference that 2010 could be the warmest year since 1850, the first year such
records were kept. It also caps a record-warm decade.
"The trend is of very significant warming," Jarraud said. "If nothing is done ...
(temperatures) will go up and up," he said.
And emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, threaten fish supplies.
Acidification of the seas caused by carbon dioxide could threaten fisheries production
and is causing the fastest shift in ocean chemistry in 65 million years, a U.N. study
showed.
Production of shellfish, like mussels, shrimp or lobster, could be most at risk since the
acidic water eats into their protective shells, according to the report.
"Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health
warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions," said Achim
Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Program.
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Telegraph (UK): 2010 was hottest year on record
3rd December 2010
Despite the coldest start to the year in Britain for 30 years and the recent freeze, the
world as a whole has been 0.94F (0.52C) warmer than the 30 year average of 57.2F
(14C).
The national weather service said it was equal with 1998, when an El Nino in the Pacific
made the world warmer.
This time the weather pattern in the southern oceans has actually cooled the world,
meaning the high temperatures are more likely than ever to be as a result of man made
global warming.
The cooling pattern known as La Nina will increase into next year making it slightly
cooler than recent years.
But again, because the level of global warming is so high, 2011 is still expected to be
warmer than average.
The provisional figures, released at the latest United Nations climate change talks in
Cancun, are backed up by the US national weather service and Nasa.
The Met Office figures estimate 2010 has been 0.94F (0.52C) hotter than the 57.2F
(14C) average from 1961 to 1990. Only 1998 was this hot followed by 2005.
The World Meteorological Organisation said the world was 0.99F (0.55C) hotter in 2010,
making it the hottest year since records began in 1850, although there are regional
variations. The UK has had its coldest year since 2010. The fastest warming has been in
the Arctic, Africa and Southern Asia, while northern Europe, America and Asia have all
had cooler years.
The last decade has been on average 0.79F (0.46C) hotter, with most years in the top
ten hottest year.
However next year is expected to be just 0.82F (0.44C) hotter.
Dr Adam Scaife, head of long range forecasting at the Met Office, said the predictions
are usually correct within 0.1F (0.06C).
He said they show the world is warming and could jump up even more if there is another
strong El Nino.
“The three leading global temperature datasets show that, so far, 2010 is clearly warmer
than 2009. This is despite El Niño declining and being replaced by a very strong La
Niña, which has a cooling effect.”
Dr Vicky Pope, the Met Office’s head of climate science advice, explained that the cold
weather in Britain is compatible with the warming pattern as regions of the world can
experience different weather patterns.
She said the overall pattern for the UK is still warmer winters.
“Our annual prediction of global temperatures for the next year combined with our
monitoring of the observed climate helps people to put the world’s current climate into
context," she said.
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AFP: Spotlight will return on climate change, says Pachauri
2nd December 2010
2010 has been an annus horribilis for climate change and his Nobel-winning scientists,
but Rajendra Pachauri is confident that time will turn the tide.
"There are always ups and downs, and one just has to learn from them and live with
them," the chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
said on the sidelines of global climate talks. "I think this is only a kind of temporary blip."
Pachauri agreed that climate change had nearly fallen off the political map after the
near-bustup at last year's Copenhagen summit -- and, he admitted, by flaws within his
own organization.
The IPCCC found itself under fire for several mistakes that belatedly surfaced in its 2007
Fourth Assessment Report, the landmark document that fueled the drive to
Copenhagen.
Vetted by outside experts, the report's conclusions -- in essence, that climate change is
on the march and the unbridled burning of fossil fuels is to blame -- stand proudly
unchanged.
But, less than three years after it co-won the Nobel Peace Prize, the IPCC was also
humiliatingly told to overhaul its procedures and better communicate with the public.
Today, as the unambitious goals set in the Cancun talks can illustrate, political will to
tackle the threat spelled out by the IPCC seems to have evaporated.
"There are number of factors which are responsible for that, and I think that we
ourselves should have done a few things much better. But we've learnt from them,"
Pachauri insisted.
Scientists recruited for the 5th Assessment Report due in 2014 will be instructed to avoid
the risk of "Climategate," in which hacked emails written by a British scientist were held
up by skeptics as proof that data was being skewed.
An independent probe found no evidence of any wrongdoing. The emails had been
poorly phrased by a scientist irked by relentless demands to see his data under freedom
of information laws.
"We are going to have be very thorough in how we are going to carry out our work,
because let's accept it, we are under intense public scrutiny," Pachauri said. "We have to
make sure we don't in any way default on what we are expected to do as scientists."
Over the course of this year, many climate scientists -- used to working quietly with their
peers, away from the public glare -- were shocked at the anger and clout of climate
skeptics.
Pachauri indicated he had been bombarded with hatemail.
Last month, Phil Jones, the University of East Anglia professor embroiled in the
Climategate scandal, said his family had received threats and that he had even
contemplated suicide at the height of the storm.
If the IPCC has been tarnished in 2010, the neutrality and objectiveness of the panel's
work will restore luster, Pachauri argued.
As for climate change, interest would also be revived by public awareness, especially
among the youth, of the carbon threat.
"I am not terribly dismayed about the current state of affairs," Pachauri said.
"I believe the trend is clearly toward much greater understanding and awareness on
climate change than was the case three or four years ago. I personally feel very
optimistic about the youth all over the world, including the US, who feel very sensitive
about some of these issues.
"There's a lot of disinformation, which is driving current attitudes, and these things don't
last," he added.
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Reuters: Google launches mapping tool to monitor global environmental change
2nd December 2010
Google unveiled a powerful new mapping tool at the Cancun climate talks on Thursday
that allows scientists to monitor changes in the Earth’s environment as climate change
accelerates.
The search giant’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, calls the new Google Earth Engine “a
planetary-scale platform for environmental data and analysis.” It combines Google
Earth’s maps with 25 years’ worth of Landsat satellite images and other data.
Just as important as that data goldmine is Google’s move to put its immense computing
resources at scientists’ disposal. Google.org is donating 20 million computational hours
over the next two years to developing countries so they can monitor their forests as the
United Nation’s prepares to implement an initiative called REDD, Reducing Emissions
from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.
“Deforestation releases a significant amount of carbon into the atmosphere, accounting
for 12-18 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions,” Rebecca Moore, the
engineering manager for Google Earth Engine, wrote in a blog post. “For the least
developed nations, Google Earth Engine will provide critical access to terabytes of data,
a growing set of analytical tools and our high-performance processing capabilities. We
believe Google Earth Engine will bring transparency and more certainty to global efforts
to stop deforestation.”
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AP: Alaska acknowledges effects of climate change
3rd December 2010
Alaska wildlife officials have released a report acknowledging that scientific and
traditional evidence increasingly shows climate change at unprecedented rates
throughout the Arctic.
The report released this week marks a departure for the state, which is suing to overturn
the federal listing of polar bears as a threatened species because of declining sea ice
habitat.
The report, called "Climate Change Strategy," says warming temperatures could affect
Alaska's bodies of water, leading to changes in sport fishing and subsistence
opportunities.
A Department of Fish and Game official, Doug Vincent-Lang, says the agency has
stayed out of the climate change debate but thought it was time to take stock of the
effects.
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Other News
Independent (UK): Government accused of glacial response as UK counts cost of
big freeze
3rd December 2010
Mounting anger over Britain's failure to cope with days of persistent snowfall boiled over
yesterday as millions of workers once again stayed at home, costing the economy
billions, while stranded rail travellers slept in train carriages, thousands of schools stayed
shut and fears grew over fuel supplies.
With temperatures expected to hit record lows of -10C in some cities and -20C in the
Scottish Highlands, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond promised to convene the
emergency Cobra committee normally, deployed in times of national crisis, if necessary.
Gatwick airport remained shut for a second day after a further 15cm of snow fell in
Sussex and Kent. Runways at Edinburgh, City and Southampton were also closed for
much of the day.
Robin Hood airport in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, where some of the heaviest snow
seen for 100 years has fallen, will be shut until at least midday.
But the plight of grounded air travellers was small beer compared to that of the 100
passengers forced to spend Wednesday night in a stationary train at Three Bridges in
West Sussex.
Motorists on the A57 endured a second night bedding down in their vehicles or in a
Methodist chapel, after yet more heavy snow in the eastern Pennines left major routes
impassable. Although bookmakers were cheerfully slashing the odds on the prospect of
a white Christmas, Mr Hammond was urged by the opposition to "get a grip" on his
handling of the situation.
In a series of angry exchanges in the Commons, he was accused by Labour's Angela
Eagle of "demonstrating a breathtaking degree of complacency" over the situation, which
according to some estimates is costing the economy £1.2bn a day. Mr Hammond
insisted that everything possible was being done and that grit supplies remained healthy.
But while he said he sympathised with stranded commuters, he added: "The question is
not whether a foot of snow and double digit negative temperatures create disruption –
they will create disruption – the question is whether we should or could have done
anything differently."
Much of Britain's education system remained frozen as the Department for Education
estimated that 7,000 schools across the UK, including 1,000 in Yorkshire, were shut
yesterday – which is more than twice as many as on Wednesday.
On the rail network, nearly one in three trains was cancelled with the majority of those in
service experiencing delays. The Association of Train Operating Companies said the
problems were caused by the build up of snow and ice on electric conductor rails. Britain
was not unique in struggling to cope with the arctic weather.
France's SNCF state rail company cancelled 20 per cent of its trains between Paris and
the south-east. In Germany there were delays at Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin airports,
while motorists were stranded overnight for several hours on one motorway in the
western state of Hesse.
Geneva's Cointrin airport reopened yesterday after being closed for 36 hours by snow. In
the UK forecasters said the main problem for the days ahead would be the sub-zero
temperatures and ice rather than snow. Met Office chief forecaster Frank Saunders said:
"The quieter conditions will come at the expense of some very low overnight
temperatures. Even major cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and
Birmingham could see minus 10C or below."
Even those able to drive on ungritted roads faced a new threat to their mobility, as the
Retail Motor Industry (RMI) Independent Petrol Retailers Association warned that fuel
shortages in some areas had become critical.
Forecourts, mainly in rural areas of the North East and eastern Scotland, were already
running out of supplies.
A spokesman said road tankers had been unable to leave the main terminals from two
refineries in south Humberside, while there were similar problems at Grangemouth, near
Falkirk and at Coryton on the Thames in Essex.
RMI chairman Brian Madderson said: "We are close to a critical point in what is fast
becoming a fuel crisis as well as a weather crisis."
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Reuters: Special Report: Making forests pay in a warming world
3rd December 2010
Deep in the flooded jungles of southern Borneo, muddy peat oozes underfoot like jello,
threatening to consume anyone who tries to walk even a few yards into the thick,
steaming forest.
Hard to imagine this brown, gooey stuff could become a new global currency worth
billions a year, much less an important tool in the fight against climate change.
Yet this is a new frontier for business, says Bali-based consultant Rezal
Kusumaatmadja, and a new way to pay for conservation efforts in a world facing ever
more pressure on the land to grow food and extract timber, coal and other resources.
He and his fellow Indonesian business partner Dharsono Hartono are trying to preserve
and replant a peat swamp forest three times the size of Singapore in Central Kalimantan
province in Indonesia's part of Borneo. And in the process, draw in local communities by
boosting livelihoods and curb encroachment
They are at the vanguard of a global effort to slow climate change by trying to create a
new market that puts a value on preserving forests, or avoiding deforestation.
The effort brings together a diverse cast of characters: environmental entrepreneurs
such as Kusumaatmadja and Hartono; investment bankers trying to create a carbon
market; companies seeking to buy carbon credits in that market; activists trying to
ensure some of that money flows to rainforest communities; and bureaucrats whose task
will be to somehow monitor and enforce the ambitious scheme, and not divert the
proceeds into their pockets.
Rainforest preservation has become central to U.N. talks on a tougher climate pact and
is a focus of a major climate conference in Cancun, Mexico, that began on November
29.
The key is carbon. Forests, and particularly deep peat forests in the tropics, soak up and
lock away lots of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, acting like giant filters for the
atmosphere. Cut down the forests and drain the peat, and they can release even more.
Deforestation and burning account for more than half Indonesia's greenhouse gas
emissions, making it leading carbon polluter.
How, then, to put a price on that carbon and trade it?
That's the puzzle and the lure for many investors who want to capture the benefits
forests bring, from locking away carbon, to being watersheds for rivers and storehouses
of countless species.
"You can't solve the climate change issue unless you simultaneously tackle
deforestation," said Abyd Karmali, global head of carbon markets for Bank of America
Merrill Lynch. That means preserving what's left and driving investment in rainforests in
Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia, which have the three largest areas
of remaining tropical forests.
But the plan pits powerful business interests in the palm oil, logging and mining sectors
against public and private sector efforts to support greater forest protection and potential
carbon credit payment systems. It also means reforming powerful bureaucracies and
weeding out entrenched corruption, strengthening land ownership and land use rules,
improving monitoring and law enforcement and enshrining the rights of local forest
communities.
PEAT PRESERVATION
In some countries, including Indonesia, the reform process is under way, and daunting
though the challenges may be, rich nations such as Norway have already pledged in
total about $4 billion for pilot programs to drive such reforms.
Studies such as the 2006 Stern Review, and investors such as George Soros, say
saving forests is a cheap way to buy mankind a little more time in the switch to less
polluting economies.
The scale of the challenge -- and the potential benefits -- is vast.
Borneo, the world's third largest island, has lost half its forest cover in a matter of
decades. Every year, peat swamp forests and soil storing up to 1 billion tons of CO2 are
destroyed in Indonesia. U.N. data shows the annual rate of deforestation in Indonesia is
about 700,000 ha a year, less than half the level from the 1990s, but still 10 times the
size of Singapore.
To give a sense of scale, 12 percent of Indonesia's land area is peatland. Yet this area is
a repository for more than 40 billion tons of carbon (more than 100 billion tons of CO2 if
released), according to Dutch research institute Deltares.
This is more than twice mankind's annual -- and growing --greenhouse gas emissions. It
highlights the threat posed by clearing peat swamp forests, and why Indonesia has
become a key player in the efforts to revalue forests in poorer nations.
"Carbon credits from forestry is a new way to finance conservation efforts, such as
restoration, or preservation," Kusumaatmadja told Reuters in the trading town of Sampit
in Central Kalimantan during a recent trip to the 227,000 ha (570,000 acre) peat forest
conservation project in Katingan regency (county).
"You also need to work with communities to build up livelihoods so they don't encroach,"
he said.
Ultimately, the battle will come down to forests being worth more standing than cleared
for a plantation -- and then getting buy-in from local communities.
"What you need to have is proof of concept," says Kusumaatmadja, 40, the son of a
former Indonesian environment minister and who trained as an urban and regional
planner in the United States. "This means we deliver the emissions reductions and get
compensated. Then we can start talking about the competing values for the land.
Because right now there is no value. It's a frontier. It's like people take a leap of faith that
this is actually making money."
Land tenure and the new science of carbon accounting, are additional challenges, he
said, pointing to the need to have clear legal title to the carbon stocks in a forest and a
legally enforceable process to resolve conflicts over land use.
Getting the carbon measurements right also will be crucial if investors are to trust a
project's CO2 reductions.
READY FOR REDD?
At a point marked "D206" inside the Katingan forest, Kusumaatmadja, his team and this
reporter gingerly make our way to a sampling site under several feet of water.
The site is to be one of about 400 planned across the Katingan project, with the aim of
taking regular samples of peat depth, the amount of carbon stock above ground, such as
trees, and the depth of the water that helps preserve the peat. The muddy, tiring work in
mosquito-infested waters has shown the peat depth to be from one meter to about 12
meters across the project, shaped like an oval and 120 km (70 miles) end to end.
More than one billion of tons of carbon could be sitting underground, the result of
millennia of carbon accumulation by the forest. But this could be undone in a matter of
decades by clearing and draining the tea-colored swamps and burning the peat.
The resulting forest fires, blamed on oil palm plantation companies and local slash-andburn agricultural practices, create a choking haze that regularly blights great swathes of
Southeast Asia, much to the irritation of Indonesia's neighbors.
The Katingan project could generate about 100 million carbon credits over 30 years,
depending on final carbon stock measurements. That's the same as 100 million tons of
CO2 being locked away because the forest has been protected from being cleared, dryseason fires prevented and logged areas replanted.
Crucially, a portion of any credit sales would flow to local communities and central
government coffers.
But to maximize the benefits, investors need a market.
"We cannot be sustainable in five years without a market for the credits,"
Kusumaatmadja's business partner Hartono, 36, told Reuters in Jakarta. "We're fighting
a losing battle if there's no transaction," said the U.S.-trained former investment banker
for J.P. Morgan, who runs private firm PT RMU. More than $2 million had already been
invested in the project, he added, with another $4.5 million to be paid up front when the
central government issues a special license.
Underpinning hopes for that new market is a U.N.-backed scheme called REDD, or
reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
The idea is to reward developing nations that preserve their forests, boost the carbon
stock, and have sustainable forestry management. Kusumaatmadja and Hartono's
project is one of nearly 40 early REDD prototypes, the Indonesian government says.
Those rewards would ultimately take the form of an annual sale of forest carbon credits
to rich nations to help them meet part of their mandatory emissions reduction targets in
market that could be worth $30 billion a year, the U.N. REDD program estimates.
That's the theory.
Two years ago it seemed to be falling into place with the United States and Australia
proposing domestic emissions trading schemes that would have allowed companies to
use large amounts of offsets from overseas. Legislation to enact those schemes
foundered in both countries, however.
Only Europe and New Zealand currently have emissions trading schemes, but the EU
bars use of REDD credits and it is unclear if it will allow them to be used in the third
phase of its trading scheme from 2013.
U.N. talks are far from sealing a broader climate pact to expand or replace the existing
Kyoto Protocol from 2013 , in which REDD would be a central part, casting yet more
uncertainty over the plan.
That leaves the newly passed California emissions trading scheme and a planned
bilateral carbon offset program by Japan as the only real potential buyers at the moment.
The lack of major demand for credits comes as an irony, since over the past two years,
governments and institutions, including the World Bank, have stepped in to finance pilot
REDD projects in developing countries in Asia, South America and Africa.
The voluntary carbon market has also developed rigorous standards for projects to
ensure the carbon reductions are real, measurable and verifiable to give investors
confidence.
Yet the voluntary market remains miniscule. It shrank 47 percent in 2009 to $387 million,
compared with the EU's 100 billion euro ($134 billion) emissions trading scheme. Only a
fraction of the voluntary market volume covered trade in avoided deforestation offsets.
WHERE'S THE DEMAND?
"Two years ago, mainstream investors didn't want to get involved in projects that
appeared to be run by cowboys with ridiculous return expectations," said Chris Knight,
assistant director of PricewaterhouseCoopers' climate change, forestry and ecosystems
advisory.
Now, because of much improved standards, investors are less concerned about the risk
at the project level, he told Reuters last month by telephone during a REDD conference
in Malaysia.
Instead, investors are looking for more certainty over demand for the carbon credits, said
London-based Knight, who is working on ways to draw in private-sector financing until
there are stronger REDD policies in place in developing countries.
Some banks, such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Australia's Macquarie, have
invested in projects or bought credits once projects pass a tough auditing process.
Macquarie, in a 2009 report, estimated the potential emissions reductions from reducing
deforestation at two billion tons of CO2 by 2030 and 1.3 billion tons for reforestation.
Karmali of Bank of America Merrill Lynch signed an agreement in early 2008 to buy
carbon credits from a 750,000 ha project in Indonesia's Aceh province that aims to cut
deforestation in the Ulu Masen forest area by 85 percent.
A deal with the government of Aceh in northern Sumatra and Singapore-based firm
Carbon Conservation aims to reduce 100 million tons of emissions over 30 years and
boost local livelihoods to prevent logging.
The credits, though, are still some way off, with the project still to complete the carbon
auditing process by the respected Voluntary Carbon Standard based in Washington. But
the project has already been approved by the equally respected Climate, Community
and Biodiversity Alliance standard.
Karmali said it was essential to reward early action by REDD investors. It was also
essential for the public sector to leverage private capital to drive investments in the
forestry sector that would ultimately prove to be a cheap way of cutting greenhouse gas
emissions.
"The other thing you could do is you could have a purchaser of credits of last resort," he
told Reuters from London. This was an idea raised in the 2008 Eliasch Review for the
British government. That report estimated that doing nothing to halt deforestation could
lead to climate change costs to the global economy of $1 trillion a year by 2100.
Karmali pointed to the need to have some sort of global public sector fund that could buy
up emissions reductions.
"If such a mechanism were deployed, it would be de-risking private capital," he said.
A BRIDGE TO FINANCE
For project developers, time is running out. East of PT RMU's Katingan project in Central
Kalimantan, Hong Kong-based Infinite Earth is hoping its Rimba Raya project will be the
first REDD investment to be fully validated by the Voluntary Carbon Standard by the end
of this year, subject to the Indonesian government granting it a special license.
The nearly 100,000 ha project on the edge of a national park has forward-sold enough
credits to cover operations for the next five years, but at a substantial discount to the 5 to
7 euros per carbon credit mentioned by brokers.
"Appetite for Rimba Raya credits has been good but definitely we need a compliance
(emissions trading) market to support the prices REDD needs in order to be competitive
with alternate land uses, such as palm oil," Infinite Earth CEO Todd Lemons told
Reuters.
Knight of PwC said some sort of bridging financing or guarantee mechanism was crucial
for investors until a global market evolved. "Unless you provide some sort of bridging
finance before there's regulatory certainty then the risks are just too high for the private
sector," Knight said.
One possibility was to ramp up the use of environment funds to help disburse some of
the billions of dollars pledged by rich nations for REDD. These are often endowment
funds and therefore independent of governments. Another was revolving funds, in which
a portion of any REDD credit proceeds are returned to the fund to keep it running.
In the interim, large amounts of public money from governments, foundations and
conservation groups are vital.
Earlier this year, dozens of nations teamed up to create an interim REDD partnership to
guide spending of about $4 billion in pledged funding, build institutions and develop pilot
projects between 2010 and 2012. To date, more than 70 nations have signed up.
Billionaire investor George Soros has also stepped in.
In a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama on Aug 21 this year following a trip to
Indonesia, Soros said $10 billion a year would be sufficient to put a price on avoiding
and reversing carbon emissions from rainforests.
He proposed a 5 percent surcharge on airline tickets, about 40 percent of which would
go to the collecting countries and the rest to setting up a global forest fund.
Soros said he was willing to take on "exceptional first-of-a-kind risk" to send a positive
signal to other private investors, but only under conditions that could bring in the
required scale of private capital.
"These conditions would be tailored to the individual projects, but it is estimated that the
cost would be less than $5 a ton of CO2 for a limited number of years for carbon savings
that would extend over many more years," he said in the letter obtained by Reuters.
THE $1 BILLION CARROT
Earlier this year, Norway and Indonesia signed a climate deal worth up to $1 billion over
the next five to six years, aimed at reforming Indonesia's notorious bureaucracy and
funding pilot forest and peatland projects that cut carbon emissions.
Norway would pay for emissions reductions from projects that were measurable and
verifiable, but believes a market-based system that trades forest carbon credits is some
way off.
Under the Norway deal, Indonesia would impose a two-year moratorium on new licenses
to cut down primary forests and clear peatlands, and set out clearer definitions of forest
and degraded lands to prevent loopholes that could be exploited by companies.
The Indonesian government has created a special REDD task force, and appointed
veteran technocrat Kuntoro Mangkusubroto to make the Norway deal a success. But
some groups, including Greenpeace, while welcoming the deal, feel the reform process
is being rushed and that a market isn't necessary at present.
"We see Indonesia and countries in that position of needing to spend a lot more time on
building their technical capacity, their institution frameworks," said Paul Winn, Sydneybased forest and climate campaigner for Greenpeace.
Mangkusubroto, respected for his role in managing a multi-billion dollar reconstruction
agency for Aceh province after the 2004 tsunami, relishes the chance to reform the
bureaucracy. "It'll be excellent for Indonesia," he said with a smile during a recent
interview in his office in the presidential compound in Jakarta.
The country needed to overhaul its land licensing process, refine its land maps, create a
central agency to manage REDD projects and a system to accurately measure the
nation's carbon emissions and any reductions, he said.
But he voiced fears about corruption.
"The poor people are easy to buy," he said, pointing to the power of big corporations. He
also said there would be "leakage" at the local official level if the money from REDD
credit sales flowed through regional governments via budgets.
"How do you structure a mechanism so that the money flows to the people? That's why
we have to have pilot projects to monitor the flow of money. We haven't had that
experience before," he said.
SHARING THE BENEFITS
Resolving land use and ownership conflicts is also key to Indonesia and other
developing nations pushing ahead with REDD. Investors ultimately want to know who
owns the carbon stock.
"Some conflicts are legitimate, some are not legitimate. Some are colored by bribery,
some are genuine problems of lack of legal system coherence in our regulations," said
Agus Purnomo, the Indonesian president's special climate change envoy.
The key was creating a dispute resolution mechanism that was legally robust, he said
during an interview in his black Toyota Prius during a drive through central Jakarta.
Fair sharing of the benefits of REDD credits was also crucial to avoid disputes and
encourage investors.
"The real elephant in the room is benefit-sharing mechanisms," said Stewart Maginnis of
the International Union for Conservation of Nature. "You've got countries moving ahead
putting in place procedures," to build up REDD, he said from Gland, Switzerland, after
just returning from a grassroots meeting on REDD in Cambodia.
"There hasn't really been a (look) at how the money will flow from the capital city down to
where the REDD initiatives are taking place, and then critically also, how it will flow
horizontally within that locality. Who benefits?" he asked.
Rural communities' dependency on forests was also something that governments and
donors were underestimating, Maginnis, director of the IUCN's environment and
development group, said.
In the village of Mentanya Seberang on the riverbank opposite Sampit in Central
Kalimantan, residents supported the nearby Katingan project but they also need longterm incomes from cash crops such as rubber, rattan and tree sap used in chewing gum.
"We support rubber planting and also rattan so that our forest won't be finished. If you
talk about palm oil, that means the forest will be cut down," said Murniah, 40.
Kusumaatmadja and Hartono have spent the past two years working with an Indonesian
NGO to discuss villagers' needs and potential livelihood benefits.
Deep inside the project, the needs are palpable. It doesn't take long to hear the sounds
of chain saws from small teams illegally cutting trees into planks.
Some of the loggers are locals trying to earn a little extra cash, and local businessmen
keen to supply timber for construction are only too happy to offer them work.
Mastranhani, 50, took up illicit logging to pay debts because an unusually wet year
meant he couldn't grow enough rice to feed his seven children. The $100 or so each
month he gets from logging is just enough for his family.
For other illegal loggers that Reuters met, the story was the same. Kusumaatmadja said
finding employing and alternative livelihoods was crucial for the project to succeed.
So, too, is long-term demand for credits.
"Long-term stable demand is what's needed to make REDD viable and for that we need
REDD to be included in the European carbon trading scheme, as well as Japan and
ideally in the United States," said Lemons of Infinite Earth.
Until that happens, most fund managers would sit on the sidelines, he added.
Karmali said he was willing to wait. "These are all the niches of demand that could yet
come," he said, referring to Japan and Australia. "That's why that we're still very
committed to making sure the early projects that we're involved in, including Ulu Masen,
continue to succeed, even if it does take a bit longer. Everyone has to just recognize this
is going to be a marathon and not a sprint." (Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan;
Editing by Bill Tarrant)
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AP: China promises new support to solar development
2nd December 2010
Beijing is promising new subsidies to develop China's solar power industry — policies
already under fire from the United States as a possible trade violation.
The Finance Ministry announcement late Thursday came amid global talks in Cancun,
Mexico, on controlling output of gases blamed for changing the climate. China and the
United States are the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters.
Beijing has rejected binding emission limits but is pushing to develop solar and wind
power technology to reduce reliance on imported oil and gas and to profit from growing
global clean power demand. The government wants at least 15 percent of China's power
to come from renewable sources by 2020.
Beijing will create 13 industry zones and pay up to half the price of equipment for solar
power projects, the Finance Ministry said. It said other costs will be covered by a subsidy
of 4 to 6 yuan (60 to 90 U.S. cents) per watt of generating capacity.
"China will invest more in construction projects with solar power applications," the
ministry said on its website.
Environmentalists have welcomed China's promotion of clean power. But foreign
business and labor groups complain Beijing is improperly subsidizing its manufacturers
and hampering access to its large, fast-growing market.
The U.S. government is investigating a September complaint by the United Steelworkers
union that says subsidized Chinese producers sell equipment at unfairly low prices,
destroying American jobs. If Washington supports the complaint, it could file a World
Trade Organization case and seek permission to sanction Chinese goods.
The latest announcement gives too few details to know whether it might trigger new
trade complaints, said Frank Haugwitz, a renewable energy consultant in Beijing. He
said suppliers will have to wait to see how the government carries out the policy.
China has major solar equipment producers but most of their goods are sold abroad due
to the technology's higher cost, while domestic renewable energy has relied heavily on
wind and hydroelectric dams. Beijing launched an initiative last year, dubbed Golden
Sun, to promote domestic use of solar power.
Thursday's announcement said the government wants to install at least 1,000
megawatts of solar generating capacity — the equivalent of two standard coal-fired
power plants — annually starting in 2013.
"This confirms the political commitment to support all renewable energy technologies,"
said Haugwitz. "They are saying, since our industry is doing fairly well in the export
business, the product must be pretty good and we can support local deployment."
Government-subsidized domestic sales could help Chinese producers that have seen
exports weaken since demand in Spain, a major market, collapsed in 2009 due to the
global crisis and France and Germany reduced rates paid for solar-generated power.
Solar generating capacity in China costs 20,000 to 30,000 yuan ($2,900 to $4,400) per
kilowatt-hour, up to seven times the price of coal-fired power, according to figures
reported by Jiang Liping, a researcher for State Grid Corp., which runs most of China's
power distribution grid, at a September conference in Beijing.
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AFP: Australia, Denmark to discuss toxic waste shipment
3rd December 2010
Australia and Denmark will discuss what to do with a shipment of hazardous chemical
waste which had been due to sail to northern Europe for disposal, Australia's
Environment Minister Tony Burke said Friday.
The Danish government Thursday postponed a plan to accept some 44 containers of
highly toxic hexachlorobenzene (HCB) due to be processed at a facility in Nyborg, in
central Denmark, following pressure from the opposition.
Australia approved the shipment in August, acknowledging that there was no adequate
treatment facility in Australia to destroy the chemical waste, a by-product of solvents
made between 1964 and 1991.
"The Danish environment minister has said that she wishes to discuss the matter with
me," Burke told AFP via an email.
"It would not be appropriate to comment on the arrangements for dealing with the HCB
waste until those discussions with the Danish government have occurred."
The Australian explosives company Orica, which has been storing the waste in Sydney
for decades as it seeks a disposal solution, said it was disappointed with the Danish
delay but would continue talks with both governments.
"The shipment has been approved by both the Australian and Danish Governments
under the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste," the
company said in a statement.
The shipment of Orica's 6,100 tonnes of toxic chemicals was Friday targeted by
Greenpeace activists who spray-painted the containers with the words "toxic shame"
and a skull-and-cross bones as it sat on a dock.
Police were called but no arrests were made, Greenpeace said.
Environmentalists argue that Australia should deal with the waste at home, and that
shipping highly dangerous chemicals around the world poses an unacceptable risk.
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AFP: Gabon detains 13 foreigners for ivory trade: campaigners
3rd December 2010
Police in Gabon have impounded stocks of ivory and arrested three people from
Cameroon and 10 from Senegal and had them charged with trafficking, an ecological
movement said on Friday.
"All 13 were presented to the state prosecutor on Wednesday" after being arrested last
week, and charged with "trading in ivory, possession of ivory without authorisation,
without a special agreement," an official of Support for the Application of the Law on
Wildlife (the AALF project) told AFP.
The AALF project groups representatives of the ministry of water and forests with
members of two non-governmental organisations that defend the environment and
wildlife. Ivory trafficking has been illegal in Gabon since 1981.
"There is no more possible ivory trade here, because there are no special sales
agreements. Elephant hunting was banned in 1981, it has never been made legal since,"
the AALF official said, asking not to be named.
Once charged, the official added, the 13 men were "taken to the prison" in Libreville, but
two other Senegalese who were initially arrested with them were set free without
charges.
The suspects were arrested during police raids in several districts of Libreville, when the
police also seized 105 kilogrammes (230 pounds) of ivory, with an estimated value on
the international market of "between 50,000 and 100,000 euros" (66,000 and 132,000
dollars), the AALF official said.
The state prosecutor ordered the imprisonment of the 13 men to prevent them fleeing
the country or failing to turn up in court again, and also to "prevent them from giving
information to other members of the network with links abroad", the source added.
The 13 men face prison sentences of between three and six months and fines of from
100,000 to 10 million CFA francs (152 to 15,245 euros).
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ROA MEDIA UPDATE
THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
Friday, 03 December 2010
Thursday, 02 December 2010
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


General Environment News
Africa: Food versus Biofuels Debate Continues
Nigeria: Women Critical to Climate Action
Ghana: ISSF Holds Educational Workshop
Rwanda: Police Officers Train on Environmental Issues
Nigeria: Revolutionizing Electronics through Eco-Friendliness
Africa: Food versus Biofuels Debate Continues
IPS (Mbabane) - "We're going to Cancún no better off than we were in Copenhagen,"
said Thuli Makama, the director of Friends of the Earth Swaziland, as she prepared to
leave for the climate negotiations in Mexico. Makama is worried about one particular
proposal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: biofuels. She feels industrialized
countries are promoting the production and use of biofuels to fulfill their energy needs,
but this will leave more people in the developing world without food.
"We face the danger of growing food for the machines instead of our stomachs,"
Makama said. Swaziland faces serious shortages of food, with 170,000 of its million-
strong population in need of food aid this year. Makama and Friends of the Earth
campaigned hard against a project to establish biofuels production from jatropha in
Swaziland. http://allafrica.com/stories/201012020478.html
Nigeria: Women Critical to Climate Action
Daily Independent (Lagos) Women must be included in all international efforts to save
the world's remaining forests and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent, the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has said at the ongoing UN
climate summit in Cancun, Mexico.
A new gender initiative, launched by IUCN and partners at the UN climate summit in
Cancun, aims to ensure that women are an integral part of negotiations on REDD
(Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest degradation), an international
process that seeks to reduce the effects of climate change due to the logging and
mismanagement of forests. "Political will for REDD exists, but donors sponsoring REDD
initiatives still do not mainstream gender in projects on the ground even though they
have mandate - and hence obligation - to do so," says Lorena Aguilar, Global Senior
Advisor on Gender for IUCN. http://allafrica.com/stories/201012020864.html
Ghana: ISSF Holds Educational Workshop
The Chronicle (Accra) - Fishers, skippers and boat owners have attended a workshop
in Accra to be part of a global effort to reduce the environmental impact of purse seine
(net) fishing for tuna. The program was hosted by the International Seafood
Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) and facilitated by MWBrands, a co-founder of ISSF.
The workshop incorporated educational elements, which are updated as scientists
uncover new information during at-sea research, and an open dialogue to identify new
ideas from fishers directly. "In reality, scientists can identify best practices but we need
the fishers to tell us if it's practical or if there's a new idea we should pursue," ISSF
Scientific Advisory Committee Chair, Dr. Victor Restrepo said "This direct line of
communication with a diverse group of vessel captains and skippers during the research
process is rare and invaluable." Purse seine vessels often fish on floating objects. These
materials, which are many times man-made devices, attract tuna making fishing easier
and more efficient. http://allafrica.com/stories/201012010641.html
Rwanda: Police Officers Train on Environmental Issues
New Times (Huye) - Police officers from the Southern and Western provinces, on
Wednesday, commenced a two-day training course on environmental protection. The
training has been organized by the Rwanda National Police (RNP) and Rwanda
Environment Management Authority (REMA). Talking to The New Times, Chief
Superintendent Damas Gatare, the in-charge of community policing in RNP, said that it
is important for the law enforcers to understand environment related policies.
Remy Nobert Duhuze, an official from REMA, stressed the need for equipping Police
personnel with knowledge on environmental issues so that they are able to sensitise the
population they work with. He added that the main environmental crimes in the country
include; encroachment on wetlands, pollution of water bodies, and lack of waste
management.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201012020491.html
Nigeria: Revolutionizing Electronics through Eco-Friendliness
This Day (Lagos) - Promoters of the Panasonic brand of electronic products contend
that they exist to benefit people and improve society. The worldwide electronic giant held
its annual convention in Nigeria last week where it showcased a number of the latest
brands from its stable. Many of the distributors at the convention lauded the eco-friendly
and energy-saving brands put on show at the Civic Centre in Lagos.
As they walked into the magnificent Civic Centre on Victoria Island Lagos, each of the
distributors was elated and convinced that the products on show were dream products of
any marketer. Although the occasion was the annual convention of the Panasonic
Corporation, their array of products for 2010 were all on display for guests to savour the
incredible technology behind the production of the electronic appliances. This major
annual meet of the corporation is to review its brand presence in Nigeria. The ingenuity
behind the products is even more enhanced by their low power consumption rate and
eco-friendliness. http://allafrica.com/stories/201012020199.html
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ROLAC MEDIA UPDATE
THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
Friday, 03 December 2010
Thursday, 02 December 2010
General Environment News

Varios millones de dólares de beneficios para todo el mundo por cambiar a la
iluminación energéticamente eficiente puesto de relieve en 100 Países.

Regional - Abogan por educación ambiental en contexto latinoamericano

Regional - Estados insulares batallan en Cancún por supervivencia
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Regional - Países amazónicos sostienen desarrollo sostenible de esa región

Regional - Chávez, Evo y Santos confirman asistencia a COP16 Cuba - Cuba
defiende en Cancún experiencia financiera de Kyoto
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Cuba - Cuba culmina temporada ciclónica con poca afectación

Panamá - Panamá bajo presión de variaciones climáticas México - Celebrarán
Día Mundial de bosques durante Cumbre Climática México - Fundación México
Silvestre reclama preservación de Selva Maya

Ecuador - Presentan en Ecuador auditoría internacional ambiental de la
Amazonía
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Brasil - Amazonía brasileña muestra menor deforestación anual
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Cuba - Int'l Forum Debates Renewable Energy Colombia - 167 muertos por las
lluvias en Colombia en lo que va de 2010

Global - En COP 16 gobiernos evaden enfrentar el hiperconsumo, causa del
cambio climático, la pobreza y la destrucción del mundo Global - PNUMA
destaca esfuerzos para reemplazar bombillas incandescentes

Global - India reitera respaldo al Protocolo de Kyoto Global - REDD+: una
solución para el clima y la biodiversidad donde todos ganan
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Global - Un proyecto para controlar la contaminación acústica marina
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Global - UN publishes book celebrating rich biodiversity of southern Caucasus
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Global - U.N. climate talks struggle to overhaul carbon trade
Varios millones de dólares de beneficios para todo el mundo por cambiar a la
iluminación energéticamente eficiente puesto de relieve en 100 Países.
12 - 01 - 10
El nuevo informe dirigido por el PNUMA "en.lighten" concluye que el ahorro de
emisiones equivale a sacar decenas de millones de automóviles de las carreteras
Hasta el ocho por ciento de emisiones globales de gases vinculados a la iluminación
Cancún - Indonesia podría ahorrar mil millones de dólares al año y reducir sus
emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero por ocho millones de toneladas de CO2 al
año-el equivalente a sacar dos millones de automóviles de la carretera al año, al
cambiar a bombillas de bajo consumo de energía.
Sudáfrica podría ahorrar 280 millones de dólares al año y eliminar las emisiones
equivalentes a 625.000 automóviles al año, siguiendo un camino similar, dicen las
conclusiones que se conocerán hoy en la reunión Convención sobre el Clima por el
Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA).
México ahorraría 900 millones de dólares, reduciendo 5 millones de toneladas de
emisiones de CO2 al año en un plan que pronto será anunciado para reemplazar las
bombillas incandescentes en el país. Con la electricidad ahorrada de este pequeño
cambio tres plantas eléctricas de carbón serán innecesarias.
Se espera que Brasil ahorre 2 billones de dólares al año y 4 millones de toneladas de
CO2 -las emisiones equivalentes de 1 millón de automóviles - cuando la legislación del
país finalice, a mediados del 2012.
Para Ucrania, una economía en transición, los ahorros de costes podrían ser de 210
millones de dólares anuales con la reducción de gases de efecto invernadero de 2
millones de toneladas de CO2 al año – el equivalente a sacar medio millón de
automóviles de las carreteras al año.
Achim Steiner, Subsecretario General y Director Ejecutivo del PNUMA, dijo: "En realidad
los beneficios económicos reales podrían ser aún mayores. Un cambio en la iluminación
eficiente en Indonesia, por ejemplo, evitaría la necesidad de construir 3,5 centrales
térmicas de carbón con un costo de 2,5 billones de dólares y conclusiones similares
provienen de otras evaluaciones del país".
“Estos cálculos no incluyen el beneficio adicional, para el medio ambiente en la salud y
en la 'economía verde' de las comunidades y los países, de cambiar, por ejemplo, los
combustibles como el queroseno y la reducción de las emisiones provenientes de
fuentes tales como las centrales basadas en combustibles fósiles. Alrededor de 1,8
millones de muertes al año están relacionadas con la contaminación del aire en el
interior y 800.000 muertes al año en el exterior: una iluminación más eficiente tiene un
papel que jugar aquí también”.
“Durante las últimas dos décadas, el GEF ha defendido los esfuerzos del mercado para
ampliar la iluminación eficiente a los países en vías de desarrollo en el mundo entero"
dijo Monique Barbut, Directora Ejecutiva y Presidenta del Fondo para el Medio Ambiente
Mundial. “En.lighten es la última iniciativa financiada por el GEF en sociedad con el
PNUMA y los fabricantes globales principales de la iluminación para acelerar la
transformación del mercado de las tecnologías eficientes de la iluminación a una escala
global. A través de esta iniciativa, esperamos construir una asociación sólida con el
sector privado para fomentar la innovación y ayudar a aquellos que más necesitan
nuestra ayuda para construir un futuro mejor hoy y para la próxima generación”.
Las conclusiones de la Evaluación de la Iluminación en 100 Países provienen de la
iniciativa "en.lighten"-una asociación dirigida por el PNUMA en la que participan
empresas como Osram y Philips.
La iniciativa, que lanzó hoy una detallada evaluación de mercado del potencial
ambiental y económico de un cambio a iluminación eficiente en 100 países, es apoyada
por el Fondo para el Medio Ambiente Mundial bajo su Fondo de la Tierra. Las
evaluaciones analizan los beneficios de cambiar la tecnología de la bombilla
incandescente caída en desuso por bombillas fluorescentes compactas (CFL, por sus
siglas en inglés). Ahorros aún más grandes se esperan lograr si otras tecnologías
ineficaces de iluminación también son sustituidas, como conductos de luces ineficientes
o halógenos ineficientes.
Las evaluaciones muestran que en África, un país como Nigeria podría reducir su
consumo de electricidad en más del 15 por ciento en un cambio a la iluminación
eficiente de energía y reducir las emisiones de CO2 de la combustión de combustible en
cerca de un cinco por ciento.
En Asia, un país como Camboya podría ahorrar más del 30 por ciento de su consumo
de electricidad y reducir las emisiones de CO2 en más del 13 por ciento.
En Uzbekistán, el ahorro de consumo de electricidad podría ser de más del 20 por
ciento, en Croacia, cerca del 10 por ciento, en Guatemala también cerca del 10 por
ciento y en el Yemen poco más del 10 por ciento.
Según Wolfgang Gregor, Sr. Vice-Presidente de Osram, Sostenibilidad GmbH, “No sólo
somos responsables de lo que estamos haciendo, sino también por lo que no estamos
haciendo. Las empresas multinacionales de iluminación no pueden descuidar más a la
población en desarrollo y a los mercados emergentes. Esa es la razón por la que
OSRAM ha dado su firme compromiso con la iniciativa "en.lighten", así como a la lucha
contra el uso de queroseno como parte de nuestro proyecto de iluminación de la red”.
“Creemos que la iniciativa "en.lighten" es un ejemplo excelente de una nueva categoría
de asociaciones público-privadas que ayuden a acelerar el crecimiento sostenible en las
economías emergentes y los países en desarrollo”, dice Harry Verhaar, Sr. Director de
Energía y Cambio Climático, Philips Lighting. “El cambio a soluciones de alumbrado
eficiente representa una triple ventaja para estos países, ya que estas aproximaciones a
la iluminación sectorial es también una iniciativa de abajo hacia arriba que complementa
el proceso de arriba hacia abajo de CMNUCC”.
Una de las principales tecnologías y fácilmente disponible es la bombilla fluorescente
compacta (CFL). A diferencia de antiguas bombillas incandescentes, que producen el
95 por ciento de calor y sólo el cinco por ciento de luz, las bombillas fluorescentes
compactas producen una cantidad equivalente de luz utilizando 75% menos de energía.
También duran hasta diez veces más que las bombillas incandescentes.
Sin embargo, algunos críticos han señalado que el mercurio que se utiliza en las CFL,
es peligroso para la salud, como una cuestión que plantea un interrogante sobre las
credenciales medioambientales de la tecnología.
Los sistemas de devolución y la eliminación segura de las CFL es claramente un tema
clave que 'en.lighten' también se ocupa -se trata de un reto, especialmente en los
países en desarrollo.
Mientras tanto, otras tecnologías libres de mercurio también se están promoviendo
como los Diodos Emisores de Luz (LED).
Sin embargo, dado que la principal fuente de nuevas emisiones de mercurio en todo el
mundo es de la quema de carbón, las estimaciones indican que, en general es mucho
más respetuoso del medio ambiente el cambio de las bombillas viejas a las nuevas.
Un estudio reciente realizado por la Universidad de Yale estima que si Estados Unidos
cambiara a las bombillas fluorescentes compactas, el ahorro de energía en las centrales
eléctricas llevaría a recortes en las emisiones de mercurio de 25.000 toneladas al año.
Las evaluaciones a 100 países vienen a raíz de un estudio del PNUMA, realizado en
colaboración con investigadores de 25 centros principales de modelos climáticos en
todo el mundo.
Esto demostró que si todos los países reunieran la totalidad de sus compromisos
vinculados con el Acuerdo de Copenhague del año pasado, las emisiones para el año
2020 podrían caer a 49 gigatoneladas (mil millones).
Podría dejar una brecha de 5GT entre esta ambición actual y donde los científicos dicen
que las emisiones deben ser en 2020 para tener alguna posibilidad razonable de
mantener un aumento de la temperatura mundial a menos de 2 grados C en 2050.
El mundo necesita victorias rápidas para mostrar que el cambio climático se puede
controlar. Una transición global a la iluminación eficiente es quizá el método más fácil.
Si se logra rápidamente, esta victoria podría generar el impulso necesario para lograr
una mayor reducción de CO2 en otros sectores y ayudar a la estabilización del clima por
debajo de 2 grados.
En paralelo al trabajo de evaluación, en.lighten convoca a expertos de más de 30
países desarrollados y en vías de desarrollo y de varios sectores, incluyendo los
gobiernos, la sociedad civil y el sector privado, para desarrollar un giro en la ruta para la
retirada global progresiva de la iluminación ineficaz. Esta ruta incluirá la política,
recomendaciones técnicas y financieras para apoyar esta transición. El PNUMA espera
que el giro en la ruta sea propuesto para consulta global en la segunda mitad de 2011.
El Sr. Steiner agregó: "Entre las frutas maduras en el desafío del cambio climático, un
cambio en la iluminación mucho más eficiente debe figurar como uno de los más
maduros. Existen múltiples oportunidades rentables para la rápida transición del
denominado 'brechas de GigaTone', de la fuerte subida de la energía renovable a los
recortes de los contaminantes no-C02, como el metano y el negro de carbono
disponibles, los sistemas de iluminación eficientes es un camino que está literalmente
disponible en un salto de cambio de política".
Datos clave de iluminación
• A nivel mundial, del 50 al 70% de las ventas totales de iluminación del mercado
siguen siendo de las bombillas incandescentes ineficientes. Un cambio en el
mercado, de las bombillas incandescentes a las alternativas de bajo consumo,
reduciría la demanda mundial de electricidad para la iluminación en más de un 2%.
• Un informe de los analistas de EE.UU. Global Industry Inc, indican que para el año
2010, el mercado de la iluminación industrial, comercial, residencial y pública
superará los 94 mil millones de dólares con una gran parte del crecimiento de las
economías en desarrollo.
• Usando las tendencias actuales de eficiencia energética y económica, se prevé que
la demanda global de luz artificial será de un 80% más en 2030 si el cambio no se
produce, con una gran cantidad vinculada a la construcción y operación de nuevos
edificios en las economías en desarrollo, incluido China.
• La Agencia Internacional de Energía (AIE) estimó en 2007, el consumo total de
electricidad debido a la iluminación en 2650 TWh. Esto representa casi el 19% del
uso mundial de electricidad (15-17% mayor que la energía nuclear o hidráulica).
• El total de las emisiones globales de GEI obtenidos por el consumo de luz eléctrica
se estimó en 2005 por la AIE en 1889 Mt de CO2, de los cuales los sistemas de red
•
•
•
basados en la iluminación contribuyen a 1.528 Mt CO2. Esto equivale
aproximadamente al 8% de las emisiones mundiales o al 70% de las emisiones de
los vehículos de pasajeros del mundo.
Si las tecnologías de iluminación y la eficiencia no mejoran, la demanda mundial de
electricidad de iluminación llegará a casi el doble de la salida de todas las plantas de
energía nuclear moderna por valor de 4.250 TWh. (Horas terrawatt).
Hasta el 95% de la energía emitida por bombillas incandescentes es calor, y su
eficiencia es intrínsecamente baja. Comparando los dos tipos de iluminación, las
bombillas incandescentes duran alrededor de 1.000 horas lo que es
apreciablemente más corto que bombillas de ahorro de energía, con una vida de
6.000 a 12.000 horas.
Unos 40 países están actualmente involucrados en la transformación de sus
mercados, incluida la fase de retirada paulatina de las antiguas bombillas, entre ellos
Cuba, Australia y los 27 Estados miembros de la Unión Europea, los Estados
Unidos, Canadá y Filipinas.
Algunos otros países en desarrollo están también haciendo esfuerzos para promover la
adopción de CFL y de retirar paulatinamente bombillas incandescentes—algunas con el
soporte del GEF y con la participación del Programa para el Desarrollo de la ONU
(PNUD) y el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA).
• Éstos incluyen China, Rusia, Vietnam, Marruecos y Costa de Marfil.
Antiguamente, la principal barrera que obstaculizaba el despliegue de energía eficiente
de productos de iluminación era su alto coste inicial.
• Cuando por primera vez se lanzó a principios de 1980, los CFL eran de 20 a 30
veces más caros de producir que las incandescentes equivalentes. Sin embargo, el
coste de los CFL se ha disminuido constantemente por el uso y el crecimiento de la
competencia. Ahora se venden en cuatro veces el precio de una bombilla
incandescente.
Los consumidores han sido tradicionalmente lentos para animarse y, según algunos
informes, inicialmente no se mostraron impresionados por los primeros modelos, no
gustándoles la apariencia y funcionalidad de los primeros modelos.
Los fabricantes dicen que los consumidores necesitan entender que usando las
bombillas de ahorro energético les permitirá un ahorro a largo plazo, así como estar
seguros de la cualidad y la fiabilidad de nuevos modelos. Como todas las bombillas
fluorescentes, los CFL contienen mercurio, lo que complica su eliminación. El mercurio
es una sustancia dañina para la salud en las bombillas fluorescentes.
• La media de mercurio dentro de una bombilla CFL es de aproximadamente 3
miligramos – aproximadamente la cantidad que se necesitaría para rellenar la punta
de un bolígrafo. En comparación, los antiguos termómetros contenían 500
miligramos de mercurio – el equivalente a más de 100 CFL.
Los expertos enfatizan que el mercurio se emite también por las centrales térmicas de
carbón. Los estudios indican que el nivel de emisiones de las centrales vinculadas a la
iluminación con antiguas bombillas es de lejos mucho más alto que las vinculadas con
la eliminación de las bombillas energéticamente eficientes.
• Algunos productores han reducido voluntariamente el mercurio contenido en los CFL
en alrededor de un 80% en la pasada década, hasta un mínimo de 2 mg por
bombilla.
Continúan las investigaciones para lograr nuevas reducciones de mercurio.
• Una de las prometedoras innovaciones en la iluminación no nacional es el desarrollo
de la iluminación de estado sólido (SSL, por sus siglas en inglés).
Esta tecnología espera lograr una eficiencia por lo menos diez veces mayor que las
lámparas incandescentes y hasta dos veces mayor que las lámparas fluorescentes.
Las bombillas de diodo emisor de luz (LED), además de que no contienen mercurio
tienen otras ventajas como la larga vida, un color de luz cálida similar a las lámparas
incandescentes, baja generación de calor y la capacidad de que algunas bombillas
puedan trabajar con interruptores de oscurecimiento.
La iniciativa “en.lighten” — Iluminación Eficiente para Países en Desarrollo y
Emergentes —incluida la evaluación de Iluminación de 100 Países está disponible en:
www.enlighten-initiative.org
Para más información por favor contacte Nick Nuttall, Portavoz del PNUMA y
Director de Medios de Comunicación, en el Tel: +254 20 7623084, Móvil: +254 733
632755, o cuando viaje: +41 795965737, o e-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org
http://www.pnuma.org/informacion/comunicados/2010/1Diciembre2010/1cpb35n_i.htm
Regional - Abogan por educación ambiental en contexto latinoamericano
01 – 12 – 10
Pinar del Río, Cuba (PL) Ecologistas latinoamericanos abogaron hoy en esta provincia
cubana por el desarrollo de la educación popular ambiental para rescatar conocimientos
ancestrales y fomentar el uso sostenible de los recursos naturales.
Representantes de Brasil, Nicaragua, Argentina, Guatemala, Colombia, Santa Lucía,
México y Cuba, expusieron sus vivencias en el trabajo comunitario encaminado a
conservar el entorno y propiciar el aprovechamiento racional de los frutos que brinda.
Durante el encuentro de profesionales de la ciencia, maestros y líderes de asociaciones,
se escucharon iniciativas para instruir sobre el tema a pobladores del estado mexicano
de Chiapas.
La creación allí de una red estatal dedicada a las misiones de educación ambiental
permitió recuperar procedimientos para el empleo de las plantas con fines medicinales y
diseñar políticas locales dirigidas al cuidado de la naturaleza en la región, explicó a
Prensa Latina Jaime Magdaleno Ramírez, coordinador del programa.
La labor en comunidades rurales de estudiantes y profesores pertenecientes a la
Universidad Pedagógica Nacional de Colombia fue otra de las experiencias divulgadas
durante la jornada científica que concluirá el próximo 3 de diciembre en esta ciudad,
situada en el extremo occidental de la isla.
La idea es contribuir a la conservación de la diversidad biológica y cultural en zonas
campestres del departamento de Boyacá, trabajar en pos del cuidado de sus riquezas
desde ese contexto.
Nancy Yamilé Malano, una de las promotoras de la estrategia, comentó que entre los
principales resultados sobresale la identificación en ese escenario de nuevas especies
de mariposas y la recuperación de semillas nativas.
El propósito es combinar los adelantos de la ciencia con las sabidurías tradicionales,
añadió.
Integrantes de organizaciones de mujeres indígenas y mestizas oriundas de Guatemala
participan también en los conversatorios, los cuales se alternan con exposiciones.
Al IV Encuentro Latinoamericano de Educación Popular Ambiental asisten expertos del
Parque Nacional Viñales, declarado Paisaje Cultural de la Humanidad, y de otros
parajes cubanos de similar prominencia, donde los lugareños son protagonistas y
beneficiarios de las tareas de preservación y gestión sustentable
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243158&Itemid=1
Regional - Estados insulares batallan en Cancún por supervivencia
02 – 12 – 10
México (PL) La necesidad de un acuerdo para un segundo capítulo del Protocolo de
Kyoto salta de boca en boca en el complejo hotelero Moon Palace, donde la cumbre
climática de la ONU entra en su cuarta jornada.
Granada, en nombre de la Alianza de los Pequeños Estados Insulares (AOSIS), puso
sobre la mesa una propuesta que busca fortalecer el régimen de compromisos que
existe bajo la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el cambio climático.
El documento, que permanecía engavetado desde la fracasada cumbre de
Copenhague, se propone establecer un nuevo protocolo jurídico internacional que
permita encausar de una mejor manera las acciones de los países industrializados para
frenar el calentamiento global, incluso las medidas de mitigación de las naciones en
desarrollo.
La propuesta, que recibió el respaldo del Grupo Africano, de China y Suráfrica, entre
otras naciones, encarrila un régimen de verificación con el objetivo de facilitar de forma
más rápida la estabilización de los niveles de gases contaminantes en la atmósfera, de
manera que permita la disminución de la temperatura a los niveles que la ciencia
considera.
El Protocolo de Kyoto, aprobado en esa ciudad japonesa en 1997 y no ratificado por
Estados Unidos, precisa el objetivo de reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto
invernadero en una media del 5,2 por ciento con respecto a los niveles de 1990.
En correspondencia con la evidencia científica, el acuerdo para un segundo período de
compromisos de ese documento, que expira en 2012, debe fijarse en un rango entre 40
y 45 por ciento de reducción de las emisiones de los países desarrollados por debajo de
los niveles de 1990 para el año 2020, y un objetivo a largo plazo (2050) entre 80 y 90
por ciento de reducción.
De esta manera se podrían evitar catastróficas consecuencias al sistema climático
global, entre ellas se evitaría que queden sumergidos los Estados insulares más
pequeños, consideran expertos.
El grupo de contacto, propuesto por la AOSIS en correspondencia con el artículo 17 de
la convención, permitiría discutir también propuestas presentadas por Costa Rica y
Tuvalu, ya que en la actualidad no hay espacio como tal para debatir nuevos protocolos.
"El nuevo instrumento busca revigorizar la implementación de la Convención a través de
un esquema de compromisos más rigurosos, más duros, más fuertes, para todas las
partes", comentó a Prensa Latina uno de los negociadores.
En el ambiente de incertidumbre que prevalece en esta cumbre, acentuado por la
anunciada negativa de Japón a nuevos compromisos como los de Kyoto, se respira que
no habrá tiempo para que un instrumento de esa naturaleza sea aprobado, por lo cual la
OASIS tratará de mantener viva su propuesta con la vista puesta en la próxima
conferencia de las partes en Durban, Suráfrica, prevista para diciembre de 2011.
Sin duda alguna, entre los países más amenazados por el calentamiento global se
encuentran los de la AOSIS, que es una coalición de pequeños Estados insulares y
países con bajas zonas costeras que comparten retos y preocupaciones similares
respecto del desarrollo y el medio ambiente, especialmente debido a su vulnerabilidad a
los efectos adversos del cambio climático global.
La organización surgió al calor del proceso preparatorio de la Conferencia de las
Naciones Unidas sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo, celebrada en Río de Janeiro,
Brasil, en 1992, y funciona básicamente como un lobby "ad hoc" y voz negociadora en
representación de esas islas dentro del sistema de las Naciones Unidas.
Tiene una membresía de 43 Estados y observadores de Africa, el Caribe, el océano
Índico y el Pacífico. De ellos 37 pertenecen a la ONU, lo que representa un 20 por
ciento del total de miembros de la organización.
En su conjunto agrupan cerca del cinco por ciento de la población mundial.
La Alianza promueve una estabilización a largo plazo de las concentraciones de gases
de efecto invernadero en la atmósfera en un nivel que asegure que el aumento
promedio de la temperatura de la tierra sea limitado por debajo de
1.5 grados centígrados.
También es partidaria de una reducción de al menos el 45 por ciento para las emisiones
de los países desarrollados hasta el año 2020 y una meta global de más de un 95 por
ciento para el año 2050.
La cumbre de Cancún, que comenzó con expectativas bajas y se mantiene a ese nivel,
concluirá el próximo 10 de diciembre.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243241&Itemid=1
Regional - Países amazónicos sostienen desarrollo sostenible de esa región
01 – 12 – 10
Lima (PL) La Organización del Tratado de Cooperación Amazónica (OTCA) ratificó aquí
como principal objetivo de su relanzamiento el logro de un equilibrio entre la explotación
y la conservación de la Amazonía.
La primera reunión en cinco años de los cancilleres de Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia,
Ecuador, Guyana, Perú, Surinam y Venezuela concluyó ayer aquí con una declaración
que propugna ese desafío.
El documento plantea lograr un equilibrio entre el aprovechamiento de los recursos
naturales de la Amazonía -hidrocarburos, oro, madera y otros- y su protección y
conservación, lo cual no ha sido respetado por empresas transnacionales, según los
pueblos indígenas amazónicos.
Para los ocho países miembros de la OTCA, el ambicioso objetivo requiere profundizar
el diálogo para conservar la región amazónica, procurar su desarrollo sostenible de
manera participativa y facilitar el acercamiento de los pueblos.
La X Reunión de Ministros de Relaciones Exteriores de los Países Miembros de la
OTCA acordó por consenso este tema y reclamó como urgente el desarrollo sostenible
y la acción de los países miembros.
La cita diseñó además una agenda estratégica del mecanismo de cooperación de los
países que comparten la Amazonía.
Los ocho países que comparten la selva amazónica firmaron en 1978 el Tratado de
Cooperación Amazónica (TCA), en 1995 crearon la OTCA y en 2002 su Secretaría
Permanente, establecida en Brasilia.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243031&Itemid=1
Regional - Chávez, Evo y Santos confirman asistencia a COP16
01 – 12 – 10
Aunque no se precisó el día que llegarán los mandatarios, se espera a los jefes de
Estado y sus comitivas este fin de semana en Cancún
Hugo Chávez, de Venezuela, Evo Morales, de Bolivia, y Juan Manuel Santos, de
Colombia, son parte de la lista de 25 presidentes que arribarán a México para participar
a la 16 Conferencia de las Partes de la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas
sobre Cambio Climático (COP16) que la próxima semana entrará en una fase de
negociaciones de alto nivel.
Autoridades de Relaciones Exteriores informaron que estos mandatarios ya han
confirmado su participación en el encuentro climático, en el que 194 integrantes de la
Convención buscarán firmar un acuerdo para un paquete de acciones específicas en
materia de adaptación, financiamiento y transferencia de tecnología.
Aunque no se precisó el día que llegarán los mandatarios, se espera que los jefes de
Estado y sus comitivas comiencen a llegar este fin de semana a esta zona turística del
país.
También forman parte de esta lista de 25 presidentes, Eduardo Correa, de Ecuador; el
Ejecutivo de Guatemala, Álvaro Colom; el primer mandatario de Costa Rica, entre los
jefes de Estado del continente.
La cancillería también tiene confirmada la asistencia de los jefes de Estado de Noruega,
Sudáfrica, Kuwait y Grecia.
En el caso de Estados unidos, todo apunta a que Barack Obama no acudirá y la
próxima semana habrá representantes de la Casa Blanca enviados a las negociaciones
de alto nivel que se sumarán a Jonathan Perching, jefe de delegación que está hoy en
la cumbre, tampoco hay indicios de que el mandatario chino, Hu Jintao, asista al
encuentro climático y, en su caso, la representación es a nivel ministerial.
http://www.teorema.com.mx/cambioclimatico/chavez-evo-y-santos-confirman-asistenciaa-cop16/
Cuba - Cuba defiende en Cancún experiencia financiera de Kyoto
01 – 12 – 10
Cancún, México (PL) Cuba insistió hoy aquí en aprovechar las lecciones positivas del
Fondo de Adaptación del Protocolo de Kyoto en el diseño de nuevos mecanismos
financieros de cambio climático, pese a que aún está en proceso de maduración.
Las lecciones del fondo deben ser tomadas en cuenta en dos direcciones principales, la
primera de ellas encaminada a lograr una representación balanceada y equitativa, que
favorece una adecuada participación de los países en desarrollo, afirmó Orlando Rey,
director de Medio Ambiente del Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Medio Ambiente de
Cuba.
Los países en desarrollo en su conjunto son los más vulnerables al cambio climático, no
solo en términos ambientales, sino también económicos y sociales, dijo el delegado
cubano en la sesión plenaria de la Conferencia de las Partes del Protocolo de Kyoto,
como parte de la cumbre climática de la ONU en Cancún, que hoy desarrolla su tercera
jornada.
La segunda enseñanza del fondo son los mecanismos desarrollados para un acceso
más rápido y directo a los recursos de adaptación al cambio climático, enfatizó.
De acuerdo con Rey, Cuba apoya los llamados a fortalecer las asignaciones financieras
al fondo, de acuerdo a las crecientes demandas de recursos que las necesidades de la
adaptación exigen.
"No hay que reinventar la rueda, usemos lo mejor de lo que ya hemos contribuido a
crear en el proceso de negociaciones bajo la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas
sobre el Cambio Climático y el Protocolo de Kyoto", concluyó el representante cubano,
en referencia a propuestas de nuevas fórmulas de financiamiento que comienzan a
aparecer.
El Fondo de Adaptación fue establecido en el Protocolo de Kyoto para financiar
proyectos y programas concretos de adaptación en países en desarrollo que son partes
de ese acuerdo, y debe ser financiado con el dos por ciento de los Certificados de
Reducción de Emisiones emitidos por proyectos del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio y
con otras fuentes de ingreso.
La adaptación contempla iniciativas y medidas encaminadas a reducir la vulnerabilidad
de los sistemas naturales y humanos ante los efectos reales o esperados de un cambio
climático.
Cuba es miembro de la actual junta del Fondo de Adaptación, como uno de los dos
representantes por los Estados insulares.
Este mecanismo del Protocolo de Kyoto es considerado un interesante modelo para
desarrollar instituciones financieras, ya que hay una representación equitativa de los
países, con mayoría de las naciones en desarrollo, ya que numéricamente son más en
el mundo.
También posee vías simplificadas para acceder al dinero, de manera directa, sin la
intervención de organismos intermedios.
En la misma sesión de este miércoles, Georgia y otras naciones solicitaron a los países
industrializados que aporten más recursos al fondo, en tanto representantes de la
sociedad civil insistieron en la responsabilidad moral de las naciones industrializadas,
como las más contaminantes.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243144&Itemid=1
Cuba - Cuba culmina temporada ciclónica con poca afectación
01 – 12 – 10
La Habana (PL) Cuba culminó la temporada ciclónica 2010 con pocas afectaciones,
solo la depresión tropical número 16, la tormenta Paula y el huracán Tomás, dejaron
alguna huella en el territorio nacional.
Iniciada de manera oficial el 1 de junio, la temporada para el Atlántico norte, Mar Caribe
y Golfo de México concluyó la víspera, 30 de noviembre, y se caracterizó por su gran
actividad, con 12 huracanes, seis tormentas tropicales y tres depresiones, señaló el
doctor José Rubiera, jefe del Centro de Pronósticos del Instituto de Meteorología.
En un análisis preliminar, publicado en el sitio digital Cubadebate, el experto hace un
recuento del periodo y explica que el huracán Alex, fue el único ciclón tropical
observado en junio de 2010 y el primero que ocurre en el Atlántico desde 1955. Fue
además el primero categoría dos del mes de junio desde 1966.
En julio se formaron la depresión tropical número dos y la tormenta Bonnie, lo que está
acorde con el promedio de varios años, destacó.
Rubiera resaltó que el mes de agosto fue bastante movido, algo que ocurre
normalmente, y se formaron cuatro tormentas tropicales y una depresión. Dos de estas
tormentas, Danielle y Earl, se convirtieron en huracanes de gran intensidad.
Sin embargo, en este año, ha sido septiembre el mes de mayor complicación, seguido
de octubre. En el primero se desarrollaron siete tormentas tropicales, de las cuales tres
se convirtieron en huracanes de gran intensidad, Igor, Julia y Karl.
Igor resultó ser el más intenso de toda la temporada con vientos máximos sostenidos de
250 kilómetros por hora, categoría cuatro en su límite superior, es decir, casi alcanza la
categoría cinco.
En el décimo mes, se contabilizaron cinco tormentas tropicales, y todas alcanzaron la
fuerza de huracán.
La actividad ciclónica de la temporada del 2010 estuvo acorde con la etapa que se
registra en el Atlántico desde 1995, agregó.
La gran actividad registrada estuvo fuertemente influenciada por factores de gran
escala, como, el récord de temperaturas altas en aguas del Atlántico, combinado con
vientos favorables procedentes de África y vientos en la vertical con muy poca
diferencia (poca cizalladura en la vertical), típicos de un año con predominio de "La
Niña", manifestó el especialista.
Agentes de escala más pequeña y a corto plazo fueron los que dictaron los patrones en
cuanto a las trayectorias individuales de cada fenómeno, aseveró.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243058&Itemid=1
Panamá - Panamá bajo presión de variaciones climáticas
02 – 12 – 10
Panamá (PL) La posible extensión de la temporada de lluvias figura hoy entre las
principales inquietudes de los agricultores panameños, presionados por condiciones
adversas para el desarrollo de sus cultivos.
Los pronósticos de la Gerencia de Hidrometeorología de la Empresa de Transmisión
Eléctrica (Etesa) consideran que las precipitaciones llegarán hasta marzo del próximo
año.
Las perspectivas mencionan incluso el impacto de al menos cuatro frentes fríos sobre el
país, con lluvias por encima de los valores históricos para diciembre y enero.
Ese vaticinio contrasta con el tradicional comienzo del periodo de transición hacia la
temporada seca, que ocurre a partir de los primeros días del actual mes.
Diversos expertos coinciden en atribuir ese comportamiento al fenómeno de La Niña,
acompañado de cambios en el régimen de precipitaciones.
Frente a ese escenario, en el sector agrícola se menciona ya la alternativa de cambiar
los planes de siembra para introducir variedades acordes con la abundancia de lluvias.
Sin embargo, una modificación de ese tipo atenta contra rubros como el melón y la
sandiía, incluidos entre las principales exportaciones del país.
Asimismo, no se descarta que esta coyuntura se refleje en los precios finales al
consumidor debido a una producción insuficiente de determinados alimentos.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243279&Itemid=1
México - Celebrarán Día Mundial de bosques durante Cumbre Climática
01 – 12 – 10
Cancún, México (PL) La cuarta versión del Día Mundial de los Bosques se realizará el
próximo día 5, en medio del influjo de la Cumbre del Cambio Climático, que tiene lugar
en este balneario mexicano.
En un comunicado distribuido por la Comisión Federal Nacional Forestal de México
(Conafor) se precisa que en la oportunidad se intercambiarán ideas sobre la urgencia de
garantizar la supervivencia de los bosques a nivel planetario.
En la jornada estarán sobre el tapete tópicos de las negociaciones de la Convención
Marco de la ONU del Cambio Climático(COP-16), en cuanto a la compensación para la
preservación forestal.
Bajo el lema "Es momento de actuar", el Día Mundial de los Bosques contará con unos
70 ponentes, quienes abordaran diversos tópicos coincidentes, que se encuentran en el
centro de los debates de la Cumbre del Cambio Climático y en las reuniones del
mecanismo del Protocolo de Kyoto.
Entre los principales contenidos a ser explorados en Cancún estarán la mitigación y
desarrollo económico, la tala ilegal y la corrupción en esta rama de la agricultura,
derechos de las comunidades y los pueblos indígenas y los potenciales acuerdos de
verificación sobre deforestación por alcanzar.
Se espera que en la cita se escuchen voces de expertos forestales, activistas
medioambientalistas y negociadores sobre cambio climático, con el objetivo de abordar
la urgencia de garantizar la supervivencia de los bosques a nivel planetario.
En el grupo de ponentes sobresalen Dan Nepstad, director del Instituto de Investigación
del Amazonas; Mirna Cunningham, titular del Centro para la Autonomía y Desarrollo de
los Pueblos Indígenas; y Hans Brattskar, director de la Iniciativa Internacional de
Bosques del Ministerio noruego de Medio Ambiente.
Conafor informó que esta convocatoria por el Día Mundial de los Bosques está a cargo
del Centro de Investigación Forestal Internacional y el gobierno de México, mediante su
secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, tras precisar que durante la
celebración serán invitados 370 delegados asistentes a la COP-16.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243122&Itemid=1
México - Fundación México Silvestre reclama preservación de Selva Maya
01 – 12 – 10
Cancún, México (PL) La Fundación México Silvestre, representante de organizaciones
ecológicas y sociales de la península de Yucatán, expresó en la Cumbre del Cambio
Climático de Cancún su reclamo sobre acciones que garanticen la preservación de la
Selva Maya.
En declaraciones a Prensa Latina en la sede de la Convención de las Partes de la ONU
sobre el Cambio Climático (COP-16), el presidente de esa fundación, Aroldo Quijano,
dijo que como territorio del país que alberga esta cumbre ambientalista, quieren
expresar su exigencia sobre el respeto a sus tierras silvestres.
Añadió que México Silvestre se propone impulsar en los foros paralelos de la sociedad
civil, que tienen lugar aquí, la cooperación encaminada al desarrollo y establecimiento
de tratados multinacionales referidos a la conservación de la naturaleza.
Creemos que es primordial la defensa, promoción y protección de los ambientes, tanto
terrestres como marinos, asi como la prevención contra su deterioro y el fomento de la
cultura participativa frente al cambio climático, agregó.
Manifestó que los antepasados mayas tuvieron la certeza, la visión y las capacidades
para vivir en armonía con la naturaleza, por lo que en la región de Yucatán se lucha por
preservar esa tradición milenaria.
Quijano Molina argumentó que esas costumbres aportan la inteligencia para afrontar los
tiempos actuales que como sociedad les ha tocado vivir, y así trascender con un
pensamiento que conjugue las ideas universales, con los objetivos de la conservación
de los ecosistemas.
A su vez, se refirió a las iniciativas de esa fundación yucateca en pro del cuidado de la
Selva Maya, en especial el Área Puuc, que incluye 11 municipios peninsulares donde dijo- se brega por preservar de manera integral el entorno y las tradiciones de sus
comunidades indígenas y culturales.
Los herederos de la milenaria civilización Maya tenemos el deber sagrado de proteger
el bienestar de nuestros pueblos, resguardar los recursos naturales y atesorar la
cosmogonía del mundo que nos rodea, añadió Quijano Molina, tras reiterar el papel
protector de su fundación en cuanto al entono y esas tradiciones.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=242882&Itemid=1
Ecuador - Presentan en Ecuador auditoría internacional ambiental de la Amazonía
01 – 12 – 10
Quito (PL) El Contralor General ecuatoriano, Carlos Pólit, presentó hoy aquí los
resultados de la auditoría internacional a Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú sobre la
gestión ambiental para la conservación de los recursos naturales de la región
amazónica.
Al explicar el contenido del informe entregado, Paul Novoa, encargado de la dirección
del proceso de auditoría, destacó la importancia de la Amazonía para todo el planeta,
por ser reservorio de unas 60 mil especies vegetales y miles de especies animales.
En especial, subrayó, el río Amazonas, con sus seis mil 742 kilómetros de largo,
almacena 15,47 por ciento de toda el agua dulce del mundo, recurso estratégico de vital
importancia para la Humanidad.
Por primera vez, recalcó, al auditar unas 30 entidades de los cuatro países
mencionados, se tiene una idea de cómo está realmente la conservación de la
Amazonía y el estado de su cuenca.
En sus palabras de clausura del acto solemne efectuado en el Jardín Botánico de Quito,
Pólit calificó el informe de un salto trascendente en el control medio ambiental que
permitirá fortalecer acciones en lo nacional y supranacional para la construcción del
Buen Vivir.
La Amazonía es indispensable para el equilibrio ecológico del planeta, y esta auditoría
en cooperación de cuatro países es una respuesta común a una problemática común,
subrayó.
Este informe, recalcó, muestra la voluntad política de los cuatro países para
contrarrestar efectos negativos y activar las comisiones nacionales en las políticas
trazadas para la conservación del medio ambiente en la región amazónica.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243159&Itemid=1
Brasil - Amazonía brasileña muestra menor deforestación anual
01 – 12 – 10
Brasilia (PL) La Amazonía brasileña perdió seis mil 451 kilómetros cuadrados de
bosques entre agosto de 2009 y julio de 2010, la menor tasa anual histórica, afirmó hoy
la ministra de Medio Ambiente, Izabella Teixeira.
Esa cifra representa una disminución de 14 por ciento en comparación con igual período
anterior (entre agosto de 2008 y julio de 2009), cuando la mayor selva tropical húmeda
del planeta vió desaparecer siete mil 464 kilómetros cuadrados de floresta, pero menor
a la meta gubernamental, de cinco mil kilómetros cuadrados.
No obstante, Teixeira exaltó que "es la menor deforestación de la historia de la
Amazonía. Son números fantásticos" y subrayó que gracias a ello llegará orgullosa a la
décimo sexta cumbre sobre Cambio Climático, que se realiza en Cancún, México, para
negociar compromisos y resultados de las demás naciones. Teixeira participó en el
Palacio de Planalto en un acto en el cual el presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva firmó un
decreto que crea el Macrozonamiento Económico-Ecológico de la Amazonía Legal
(MacroZEE) y se entregaron títulos de Concesión de Derecho Real de Uso a dos mil
584 familias residentes en seis reservas.
Con esos documentos, los moradores obtienen oficialmente el derecho de explotar de
manera sustentable los recursos naturales de esas unidades de conservación.
De otro lado, el MacroZEE constituye una herramienta fundamental para la planificación
y la gestión ambiental y territorial, establecidos en la Política Nacional de Medio
Ambiente con vistas a la promoción de un modelo de desarrollo sustentable en la región
amazónica.
El Ministerio de Medio Ambiente apunta que el objetivo de ese decreto es promover la
transición del patrón económico actual para un modelo de desarrollo sustentable,
contemplando las diferentes realidades y prioridades del territorio amazónico.
Su texto aborda los desafíos de esa transición e indica las estrategias de diversos
sectores de la economía, como el energético y el mineral, y la planificación integrada de
infraestructura y de logística.
Asimismo, hace referencia a temas como territorios rural y urbano, protección de la
biodiversidad y de los recursos hídricos, agricultura y cambios climáticos en la
Amazonía.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243039&Itemid=1
Cuba - Int'l Forum Debates Renewable Energy
12 – 01 – 10
HAVANA (PL) - Renewable energy is the focus of debate Wednesday at the 15th
International Convention of Engineering and Architecture.
With 17 different events at the Havana Conference Center, convention participants will
debate the use of wind energy and life science technology.
Decorations will be granted to several foreign institutions and figures from the CUJAE,
the Jose Antonio Echeverria Higher Polytechnic Institute, which is organizing the Nov. 3Dec. 3 convention.
Brazilian Wilson Andrade will give a talk on the future of natural fibers in highly
globalized markets, in which delegates from Spain, Colombia and Poland, representing
33 nations, will participate.
In a message sent to the Convention, Cuban antiterrorist fighter Antonio Guerrero,
unjustly imprisoned in the United States since 1998, warned of the threat posed by
global warming and nuclear war for maintaining humanity's legacies.
Antonio Guerrero, along with Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Fernando
Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez, are currently serving harsh sentences ranging from 15
years to double life imprisonment after a rigged trial, and are supported by a large
international solidarity movement.
http://news.caribseek.com/Cuba/Prensa_Latina/article_90805.shtml
Colombia - 167 muertos por las lluvias en Colombia en lo que va de 2010
02 – 12 – 10
Al menos 167 personas muertas y 1,5 millones de damnificados deja la temporada de
lluvias que afecta a Colombia a lo largo de 2010, informó el miércoles el gobierno, que
decretó además una alerta roja en una represa del centro del país ante la inminencia de
un desbordamiento de agua.
Según un informe del Ministerio del Interior, los colombianos fallecidos a causa de las
lluvias suman 167, mientras que la cifra de damnificados por éstas suman 1.503.730. A
ello se suma que 19 individuos más han sido dados como desaparecidos y la
destrucción de 1.821 viviendas.
La temporada de lluvias, potenciada por el fenómeno de La Niña, ha golpeado con
mayor intensidad a las zonas del Caribe y el este del país. En total, ha afectado a por lo
menos 627 municipios de 28 de los 32 departamentos (provincias), según el gobierno.
Las autoridades decretaron el miércoles una alerta roja en la represa de Prado, ubicada
en el central departamento de Tolíma "porque el embalse ya alcanzó el límite
permitido", informó la Dirección de Gestión del Riesgo, del ministerio del Interior.
Las lluvias obligaron hace dos semanas al gobierno de Juan Manuel Santos a declarar
el estado de calamidad pública y a solicitar a la comunidad internacional ayuda
económica "para complementar los esfuerzos nacionales orientados a superar la
emergencia".
El gobierno colombiano, que teme que la situación desencadene en una emergencia en
el tema de salud para la población afectada, estima que necesitará unos 325 millones
de dólares para superar la tragedia.
http://es.noticias.yahoo.com/12/20101202/twl-167-muertos-por-las-lluvias-en-colom4094efd.html
Global - En COP 16 gobiernos evaden enfrentar el hiperconsumo, causa del
cambio climático, la pobreza y la destrucción del mundo
01 – 12 – 10
700 millones de personas, de las más de 8,700 que habitan el planeta, son
responsables del 50% de las emisiones de CO2.
Con activistas portando grandes cabezas de Obama, Merkel y Kan, El Poder del
Consumidor y la oficina regional para América Latina y el Caribe de Consumers
International, se pronunciaron por que los gobiernos enfrenten el cambio climático
acordando compromisos para modificar el modelo de consumo imperante que pone en
riesgo la sobrevivencia de la humanidad.
El modelo de hiperconsumo que concentra la producción de la sociedad postindustrial
en la generación de nuevas necesidades para un sector minoritario de la población
mundial, ha llevado a que 700 millones, de un total de 6,8000 millones de personas,
sean las responsables del 50% de las emisiones globales de CO2, mientras los 3 mil
millones de personas más pobres solamente emiten el 6% del CO2.
Entre 1950 y 2005 la producción de metal aumentó 600%, el consumo de petróleo
800%, el consumo de gas 1,400%. Se extraen anualmente 60 mil millones de toneladas
de recursos, 50% más que hace 30 años. Se calcula que más del 60% de los servicios
que brindan los ecosistemas del planeta se encuentran degradados.
La mayor parte de estos recursos han sido apropiados por el 20% de la población
mundial que son responsables del 86% del consumo global, mientras el 20% más pobre
consume solamente el 1.3%. El director de El Poder del Consumidor explicó: “El gasto
anual en cosméticos en Estados Unidos de 8,000 millones de dólares y el europeo en
helados de 11,000 millones de dólares supera el gasto en agua potable, educación
básica y alcantarillado para las 2,000 millones de personas del mundo que carecen de
estos servicios”.
Se estima que las emisiones por persona no deben rebasar las 2.5 toneladas de CO2 al
año para que la temperatura global del planeta no aumente más de 2° C,
considerándose este el límite sobre el cual pueden presentarse catástrofes climáticas
incontrolables. Actualmente, el promedio de emisiones de los estadounidenses es de
19.1 toneladas anuales de CO2, más de 7 veces superior al límite recomendado.
Aunque la población mundial hiperconsumista se concentra en las naciones
desarrolladas, también se presenta en las clases ricas de las naciones pobres,
imponiéndose como un modelo al que aspira el resto de la población. De ahí que la
estrategia deba establecerse en compromisos por país para disminuir las emisiones de
ese sector, permitir el desarrollo de los más pobres y desarrollar formas de producción y
consumo sustentables para la población en general, como lo estableció la Cumbre de
Marrakech.
“Necesitamos hacer cambios necesarios en los estilos de vida para combatir el cambio
climático, buscando soluciones colectivas e individuales. En este sentido, los
consumidores necesitan estar de manera central en la hoja de ruta hacia los cambios de
patrones de consumo”, dijo Juan Trímboli, Coordinador de Consumers International
para América Latina y el Caribe.
Los acuerdos internacionales de reducción de emisiones deben centrarse en un
programa para salvar al planeta que, entre otros objetivos:
- Busque modificar los hábitos de consumo disminuyendo, en primer lugar, las
emisiones de los hiperconsumidores, en el país en que se encuentren.
- Establezca un límite máximo de emisiones per cápita
- Transite de las fuentes no renovables de energía hacia renovables.
- Establezca políticas y reglamentos urbanos que disminuyan el consumo energético y
promuevan el transporte público.
- Desfavorezca todo tipo de producción de productos y servicios que traiga
consecuencias negativas para el medio ambiente, la salud, la cultura y la economía.
Para mayor información comunicarse al 53384587, al 0445523154210 o visitar la página
www.elpoderdelconsumidor.org
Global - PNUMA destaca esfuerzos para reemplazar bombillas incandescentes
01 – 12 – 10
Un cambio hacia una iluminación eficiente que reemplazara a las bombillas
incandescentes podría reducir la demanda de luz en más del 2%, según un estudio de
Programa de la ONU para en Medio Ambiente (PNUMA) dado a conocer hoy.
Para un país como México, por ejemplo, podrá representar un ahorro de 900 millones
de dólares y reducir cinco millones de toneladas de emisiones de carbono cada año.
La tecnología disponible es la bombilla fluorescente compacta. A diferencia de las
incandescentes, que producen un 95% de calor y un 5% de luz, genera una cantidad
equivalente de luz con 75% menos de consumo de energía. Además dura diez veces
más.
Según el PNUMA, unos 40 países están actualmente haciendo una transición hacia la
iluminación eficiente, entre ellos Cuba, Australia, los 27 miembros de la Unión Europea,
Estados Unidos y Canadá.
http://www.un.org/spanish/News/fullstorynews.asp?newsID=19798&criteria1=ambiente&
criteria2=
Global - India reitera respaldo al Protocolo de Kyoto
01 – 12 – 10
Nueva Delhi (PL) La India reiteró hoy su respaldo al Protocolo de Kyoto y resaltó la
necesidad de llegar a un acuerdo sobre un segundo periodo de compromisos de ese
mecanismo que intenta reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero.
Según explicó el ministro de Medioambiente, Jairam Ramesh, el país surasiático y otras
36 naciones propusieron desde hace mucho tiempo una reducción de al menos un 40
por ciento para 2020, a partir de los niveles de 1990.
La India ha sido uno de los principales beneficiarios del Mecanismo de Desarrollo
Limpio, y quisiéramos que esa herramienta flexible dentro del Protocolo de Kyoto
continúe y se fortalezca, afirmó Ramesh, en una declaración presentada por escrito
ante el Parlamento.
Tras recordar que las negociaciones para un segundo periodo de compromisos datan
de 2005, el ministro indio dijo que ese y otros temas están siendo discutidos en la
Cumbre sobre Cambio Climático que se celebra por estos días en el balneario mexicano
de Cancún.
El Protocolo de Kyoto toma el nombre de la ciudad japonesa de donde fue firmado en
1997, y su objetivo es reducir para el 2012 las emisiones de gases de efecto
invernadero en una media del 5,2 por ciento, con respecto a los niveles de 1990.
La India, que comparte con Estados Unidos, Rusia, China, Japón, Brasil y Suráfrica el
triste privilegio de estar entre los principales emisores de gases causantes del llamado
efecto invernadero, se comprometió el año pasado a reducir en un 20-25 por ciento sus
emisiones de dióxido de carbono y otros gases contaminantes para 2020.
Nueva Delhi, sin embargo, se muestra reticente a firmar un acuerdo que no incluya
garantías explícitas de que los países desarrollados transferirán tecnologías y recursos
a las naciones emergentes.
http://www.prensalatina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243062&Itemid=1
Global - REDD+: una solución para el clima y la biodiversidad donde todos ganan
01 – 12 – 10
Un nuevo Documento Científico indica que con el apoyo financiero adecuado para
REDD+, las extinciones de las especies podrían disminuir hasta en 80%
CANCÚN, QR (MÉXICO).— Los índices de extinción de alrededor de dos mil 500
especies de anfibios, aves y mamíferos que habitan los bosques y que son los más
biológicamente singulares del mundo, podrían verse significativamente reducidos —
hasta en 46-80 por ciento en un periodo de cinco años— si se contara con el
financiamiento adecuado para apoyar la reducción de emisiones resultante de la
deforestación y la degradación forestal.
Ese hallazgo representa uno de varios estimados alentadores reportados por
investigadores de Conservation International (CI) en un nuevo documento científico
diseñado para apoyar los esfuerzos durante la 16ª Conferencia de las Partes de la
Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático en Cancún,
México.
El documento “Co-beneficios para la biodiversidad de reducir las emisiones
ocasionadas por la deforestación bajo niveles alternativos de referencia y de finanzas
modela cuáles hubieran sido los índices nacionales de deforestación en 85 países si
éstos hubiesen tenido establecido un mecanismo REDD+ durante los últimos cinco años
(2005-2010), y estudia los vínculos entre REDD+ como herramienta de mitigación
climática y los potenciales beneficios acompañantes para la biodiversidad forestal. El
documento está disponible en línea en la revista científica Conservation Letters.
“Lo que esta investigación nos dice es que REDD+ puede ser una solución para la
protección de nuestro clima y la preservación de la biodiversidad en la que todos salen
ganando”, expresó el doctor Jonah Busch, autor principal del informe, y economista
climático y forestal de Conservation International.
“Si bien cualquier reducción en los índices de deforestación y extinción serían logros
bienvenidos, el mensaje más importante es éste: el nivel de financiamiento de REDD+
será el factor principal de impulso del verdadero progreso. Mayor financiamiento
conducirá a mayores reducciones en la deforestación, mayor almacenamiento de
carbono en los bosques, y mayores beneficios para la biodiversidad”, dijo Busch. “Todos
están entrelazados.”
El doctor Will Turner, coautor del informe y director senior para Prioridades y Alcance de
Conservación de CI, añadió: “Lo que estamos observando es que REDD+ puede ser
una parte importante de la solución a dos de los desafíos más grandes de la
humanidad: la pérdida de biodiversidad y el cambio climático, al mismo tiempo. De ser
adecuadamente financiado, REDD+ será una línea vital inmediata para la biodiversidad
global de la que todos dependemos, y es una de las herramientas más fácilmente
disponibles para reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero.”
El documento concluye con un llamado a los participantes y observadores de las
negociaciones climáticas en Cancún a que colaboren y aseguren que las negociaciones
den como resultado un mecanismo REDD+ que sea completamente financiado, y
diseñado para incentivar una amplia participación a lo largo y ancho de muchos países
forestales.
“Una decisión detallada de REDD+ en Cancún marcaría un momento trascendental en
los esfuerzos de mitigación climática”, añadió Rebecca Chacko, directora de Política
Climática de CI, “pero es sólo una parte de la solución. También necesitamos progreso
en todos los aspectos de un acuerdo climático y un cronograma que coloque al mundo
en marcha para lograr tal acuerdo antes del 2012.
“Creemos que esto es posible, y nos alienta el éxito de las recientes negociaciones
sobre biodiversidad de las Naciones Unidas en Japón, las cuales mostraron que 193
países pueden reunirse como una comunidad global y ver más allá de sus agendas
nacionales para enfocarse en el futuro de la vida sobre el planeta Tierra y su papel
esencial en el bienestar humano.
“Durante estas próximas dos semanas, estos mismos países tendrán otra importante
oportunidad de llegar a un acuerdo mutuo para el beneficio de todos. Al hacerlo, pueden
ponernos de nuevo en marcha para abordar uno de los retos más grandes del mundo.
Las soluciones climáticas de gran escala a largo plazo sólo serán posibles con acciones
decisivas por parte de la UNFCCC —el único organismo climático internacional que
incluye a todos los países del mundo.”
http://www.teorema.com.mx/biodiversidad/forestal/redd-una-solucion-para-el-clima-y-labiodiversidad-donde-todos-ganan/
Global - Un proyecto para controlar la contaminación acústica marina
02 – 12 – 10
MADRID (EUROPA PRESS) El Laboratorio de Aplicaciones Bioacústicas (LAB) de la
Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña (UPC) ha lanzado el proyecto Listen to the DeepOcean Environment (LIDO) para controlar la contaminación acústica sobre ecosistemas
marinos, según informa la institución.
Así, advierten de que los efectos de la contaminación acústica a corto y medio plazo
sobre los ecosistemas marinos pueden llevar a una reducción de hasta más de un 50
por ciento en la población de peces en zonas bajo explotación, cambios en el
comportamiento de los cetáceos y en las rutas migratorias, y distintos rangos de daños
físicos en vertebrados e invertebrados marinos.
En ese sentido, con la colaboración con otros programas de investigación
internacionales como ESONET, ANTARES y NEPTUNE, que utilizan observatorios
marinos para la detección de neutrinos y el análisis de riesgos geofísicos, el LAB ha
podido instalar sensores acústicos (hidrófonos) en plataformas existentes en diferentes
lugares del planeta para poner en marcha este proyecto.
Concretamente, LIDO controla el ruido producido por actividades humanas y su
influencia o efectos sobre las poblaciones expuestas. Cualquier sonido que capta el
sistema está identificado y etiquetado en tiempo real, permitiendo la toma de decisiones
de mitigación inmediatas en caso de amenaza o de peligro, así como el
almacenamiento de datos estadísticos que llevarán a entender la evolución del ruido
antropogénico marino a nivel global.
El
resultado
de
este
proceso
se
puede
visualizar
en
línea
"http://listentothedeep.com", donde el internauta escuchará en directo el cruce
ruidos, no siempre armónicos, que pueblan los océanos. Además, con el desarrollo
esta tecnología, asegura que se permitirá "un desarrollo sostenible de la búsqueda
los recursos oceánicos y un paso definitivo para la conservación del hábitat marino".
en
de
de
de
http://es.noticias.yahoo.com/5/20101202/tes-un-proyecto-para-controlar-la-contamdddb26a.html
Global - UN publishes book celebrating rich biodiversity of southern Caucasus
12 – 02 – 10
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has published a book
celebrating the rich biodiversity of the Southern Caucasus and calling for its
preservation.
MEXICO CITY, Mexico - “Gardens of Biodiversity” is part of FAO’s contribution to the
International Year of Biodiversity and celebrates the rich diversity of crops and farming
techniques of the Southern Caucasus, which comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia.
“The Southern Caucasus is a treasure trove of biodiversity that must not be lost. Only
concrete action will ensure that present and future generations can continue to improve
their food security and livelihoods. Today we must ‘wake-up’ and engage in identifying,
maintaining and using our genetic resources to meet the challenges of the future to feed
a growing world population,” said Caterina Batello, Senior FAO Officer and one of the
book’s authors.
Because of its productivity, the Caucasian bee is used all over the worldThrough
photographs, the book documents the genetic resources, rural life and traditional food
practices particular to the region, home to some of the earliest evidence of humans
practicing farming and the birthplace of many common foods found on plates all over the
world.
Crops such as wheat, grapes, apples, apricots, pomegranates, pears and peas are listed
as originating in the region, where the hot summers, cold winters and mountainous
terrain provide an ideal climate and geography for rich crop diversity.
The diversity is also preserved and promoted by small-scale farming techniques
common to the region, with strong attachment to traditional food production systems that
have helped to encourage diversity of crops like wheat. All three countries maintain rich
collections in their national seed banks
“We have to store germplasm in seed banks, but we also need farmers to preserve and
use this genetic material in their day-to-day activities. This book pays homage to that,
and we hope it will help focus on the role of farmers in the Southern Caucasus and
elsewhere in this important task,” said Ms. Batello.
The International Year of Biodiversity provides a timely opportunity to focus on the
urgency of safeguarding biodiversity for the wealth, health and well-being of people in all
regions of the world, with the idea that restoration of ecosystems can generate wealth,
create jobs and alleviate poverty.
http://www.planetaazul.com.mx/www/2010/12/02/un-publishes-book-celebrating-richbiodiversity-of-southern-caucasus/
Global - U.N. climate talks struggle to overhaul carbon trade
12 – 01 – 10
Countries differed sharply on Wednesday on the future of a $20 billion carbon market
after 2012, casting doubt on any overhaul of the scheme at U.N. climate talks in Cancun.
CANCUN, Mexico - The Kyoto Protocol allows rich countries to meet greenhouse gas
emissions limits by paying for carbon cuts in developing countries, earning carbon
offsets in return.
No new emissions limits have been agreed after the first phase of the protocol ends in
2012, stifling investment in the offset scheme, experts told the November 29-December
10 Cancun climate talks.
Some market participants and countries want a formal, U.N. decision in Cancun to
commit to proceed with the market after 2012 regardless of whether any new targets are
agreed.
"We want a clear indication in Cancun, we leave it to the parties to decide how," said
Henry Derwent, chief executive of the lobby group the International Emissions Trading
Association.
"A clear decision would be great. In the absence of that investors will look at intent. The
more we hear people saying this must go on, it points in the right direction," he told
Reuters.
The Kyoto carbon offsetting scheme called the clean development mechanism (CDM)
was worth $20 billion in 2009.
"Whatever it looks like, an international agreement will provide a signal to the market,"
said Lex de Jonge, a Dutch member of the U.N. panel which oversees the CDM.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol requires industrialised countries to cut greenhouse gases by
about 5 percent to 2012, compared with 1990 levels, but no successor has yet been
agreed.
Several countries on Wednesday told the U.N. Cancun conference that the CDM's
survival was "vital," including Algeria, Brazil, hosts Mexico and Papua New Guinea
(PNG).
But they differed on other issues, including whether or not to widen the scheme to
include new carbon-cutting technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS),
much favored by Gulf oil states.
CCS involves trapping the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from power plants, and
pumping it into near-depleted oil wells.
As well as stopping the greenhouse gas from reaching the atmosphere, it also has the
advantage that it helps push out the last dregs of oil, a process called enhanced oil
recovery.
Small island states and Brazil have previously said they opposed embracing the
technology in the CDM, on the grounds that it may divert funds from renewable energy
projects.
Experts said that only a few of many proposed items to overhaul the CDM would likely
be approved in Cancun, and one of those may be to cut the waiting time for project
approval.
http://www.planetaazul.com.mx/www/2010/12/01/un-climate-talks-struggle-to-overhaulcarbon-trade/
Back to Menu
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RONA MEDIA UPDATE
THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
Thursday, 02 December 2010
UNEP or UN in the News
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Reuters: U.N. urges global switch to low-energy light bulbs
Reuters: U.N. climate talks struggle to overhaul carbon trade
Reuters: Host Mexico urges higher ambitions at climate talks
CNN: Oceans failing the acid test, U.N. says
UPI: Uproar over climate funding?
EU Observer: EU funding offer sparks anger at Cancun
New American: UN & Big Business Call for Global Light Bulb Ban to Save
Climate
Relief Web: Climate Change Seen Costing Central American Billions of Dollars
AFP: Activists head to Cancun as talks hit more obstacles
Vancouver Sun: Cancun and the future of climate science
Huffington Post: The Storm before the Storm
NY Times: The Ghost of Kyoto Visits Cancún
Huffington Post: Where's the Beef? Cancun Climate Conference Should Take
Animal Agriculture Seriously
CNN Money: Cancun climate talks don't faze industry
Colorado Independent: As Cancun talks begin, Coloradans demand U.S. lead on
climate change
Sydney Morning Herald: Fears US will walk out of 'last chance' climate talks
Bloomberg: India Envoy Says Climate Talks' Success `Remote' If Kyoto's Not
Extended
U.N. urges global switch to low-energy light bulbs
Reuters, December 1, 2010 BY Alison Doyle
The United Nations on Wednesday urged a global phase-out of old-style light bulbs and
a switch to low-energy lighting that it said would save billions of dollars and combat
climate change.
About 40 countries already have programs to switch from incandescent light bulbs, the
U.N. Environment Program, or UNEP, said in a report issued on the sidelines of U.N.
climate talks in Cancun.
Generation of electricity for lighting, often from burning fossil fuels, accounts for about 8
percent of world greenhouse gas emissions, it said. A shift to more efficient bulbs would
cut electricity demand for lighting by 2 percent.
A review of 100 nations showed huge potential for savings and carbon cuts from a shift
to low-energy bulbs, according to a study backed by UNEP and lighting groups Osram
and Philips.
Indonesia, for instance, could save $1 billion a year and cut its greenhouse gas
emissions by 8 million tons a year, the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road, it
said.
It said Brazil could save $2 billion a year, Mexico $900 million, Ukraine $210 million and
South Africa $280 million. All would also make big cuts in emissions.
"The actual economic benefits could be even higher," said Achim Steiner, head of
UNEP, who added a switch to efficient lighting in Indonesia would avoid the need to
build several coal-fired power stations costing $2.5 billion."
"Similar findings come from other country assessments," he added.
He also said the cost calculations did not include health benefits from switching from the
use of fossil fuels, including use of kerosene lamps. About 1.8 million deaths a year are
linked with indoor air pollution.
"We need to cut the use of kerosene for lighting," Osram's Wolfgang Gregor told a news
conference. Low-energy bulbs are more expensive but last far longer than conventional
incandescent bulbs.
UNEP cautioned there were drawbacks since the most common low-energy compact
fluorescent light bulbs, or CFL, contain toxic mercury.
It said that countries needed to ensure safe collection and disposal of the light bulbs.
"This is a central challenge, especially in developing countries," it said.
It said that countries including European Union members, the United States, Canada,
Australia, Cuba and the Philippines were working on phase-outs of old-style bulbs.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B108T20101202
U.N. climate talks struggle to overhaul carbon trade
Reuters, December 1, 2010 BY Gerard Wynn
Countries differed sharply on Wednesday on the future of a $20 billion carbon market
after 2012, casting doubt on any overhaul of the scheme at U.N. climate talks in Cancun.
The Kyoto Protocol allows rich countries to meet greenhouse gas emissions limits by
paying for carbon cuts in developing countries, earning carbon offsets in return.
No new emissions limits have been agreed after the first phase of the protocol ends in
2012, stifling investment in the offset scheme, experts told the November 29-December
10 climate talks.
Some market participants and countries want a formal, U.N. decision in Cancun to
commit to proceed with the market after 2012, regardless of whether any new targets
are agreed.
"We want a clear indication in Cancun, we leave it to the parties to decide how," said
Henry Derwent, chief executive of the International Emissions Trading Association, a
lobbying group.
"A clear decision would be great. In the absence of that investors will look at intent. The
more we hear people saying this must go on, it points in the right direction," he said.
The Kyoto carbon offsetting scheme, called the clean development mechanism (CDM),
was worth $20 billion in 2009.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol requires industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gases by
about 5 percent by 2012, compared with 1990 levels, but no successor has yet been
agreed.
Several countries on Wednesday told the U.N. Cancun conference that the CDM's
survival was vital, including Algeria, Brazil, Mexico and Papua New Guinea.
But they differed on other issues, including whether to widen the scheme to include new
carbon-cutting technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), much favored
by oil-exporting countries but opposed by Brazil.
CCS involves trapping the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from power plants and
pumping it into nearly depleted oil wells,
As well as stopping the greenhouse gas from reaching the atmosphere, it also has the
advantage that it helps push out the last dregs of oil, a process called enhanced oil
recovery.
Japan bemoaned the slow pace of progress to overhaul the CDM, and said that as a
result it was pursuing bilateral deals with developing countries to promote low-carbon
technologies.
"We find a lot of problems concerning the current CDM system," said Akira Yamada, a
senior official at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, referring to the slow pace of project
approvals and the narrow scope of technologies.
"We have to address these problems ... However, judging from the current progress of
that discussion we cannot expect a timely solution so therefore ... we are also eager to
explore bilateral cooperation with certain countries."
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B103D20101202
Host Mexico urges higher ambitions at climate talks
Reuters, December 1, 2010 BY Robert Campbell
Mexico is pushing parties at the United Nations climate change meeting to strive for the
best possible deal, although even the most ambitious agreement will fall short of what is
needed to deal with climate change.
Acknowledging that thorny issues such as agreeing to a second round of greenhouse
gas emissions cuts under the Kyoto Protocol are unlikely to be resolved at the talks at
the beach resort of Cancun, Mexico's top climate change diplomat told reporters that he
felt a major step forward could be made.
"The big challenge is not to just capture in a United Nations document the commitments
and actions of developed and developing countries, but to find a way on one hand to
increase these ... and find a mechanism to keep going," said Luis Alfonso de Alba at a
news conference.
Progress on a new global climate change agreement has been slow as developed
countries complain that the United Nations' 1992 climate convention is outdated,
focusing too much on them when China's rapid economic growth has made it the world's
top carbon emitter.
Most countries agreed on a formula at last year's Copenhagen summit whereby
industrialized countries would cut their emissions while emerging economies took
"climate actions" to slow growth in greenhouse gases. Objections by some nations
prevented it, however, from being formally adopted by the U.N.
"Kyoto covered at most 28 percent of global emissions and had goals that barely
surpassed 5 percent of global emissions," de Alba said. "In Cancun we are hoping to
come out with a package of emissions reductions that will certainly, if what countries
have announced is made concrete, will surpass 18 or 19 percent on a global level."
DEAL NEEDED
The cuts envisioned by parties at Cancun fall short of what scientists say is needed to
limit the rise in average global temperatures to less than 2 degrees Celsius, de Alba
said, but a deal would breath new life into the multilateral process.
The Cancun meeting has seen so far little of the rancor and inflexibility that marked the
Copenhagen summit as negotiators appear to have accepted that a incremental
approach is the best that can be hoped for at this time.
The most controversy has come from Japan's claim that extending the Kyoto protocol is
"meaningless" without a broader pact that includes China and the United States, the
world's top two emitters of greenhouse gases.
The stance of Japan, and some other countries including Canada and Russia over
Kyoto, has prompted accusations by environmental groups and some developing
countries that rich nations are trying to shirk their commitments.
"Everyone is for the continuity of Kyoto, but in some manner this is linked to
complimentary or additional efforts. What we have to be aware of is that we have a brief
period to take decisions but this period ends in 2012, not the end of Cancun," de Alba
said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B056M20101201
Oceans failing the acid test, U.N. says
CNN, December 2, 2010 BY Matthew Knight
The chemistry of the world's oceans is changing at a rate not seen for 65 million years,
with far-reaching implications for marine biodiversity and food security, according to a
new United Nations study released Thursday.
"Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification," published by the U.N.
Environmental Program (UNEP)," warns that some sea organisms including coral and
shellfish will find it increasingly difficult to survive, as acidification shrinks the minerals
needed to form their skeletons.
Lead author of the report Carol Turley, from the UK's Plymouth Marine Laboratory said
in a statement: "We are seeing an overall negative impact from ocean acidification
directly on organisms and on some key ecosystems that help provide food for billions.
We need to start thinking about the risk to food security."
Tropical reefs provide shelter and food for around a quarter of all known marine fish
species, according to the U.N. report, while over one billion people rely on fish as a key
source of protein.
Increasing acidification is likely to affect the growth and structural integrity of coral reef,
the study says, and coupled with ocean warming could limit the habitats of crabs,
mussels and other shellfish with knock-on effects up and down the food chain.
The report, unveiled during the latest round of U.N. climate talks in Cancun, Mexico,
says that around a quarter of the world's CO2 emissions are currently being absorbed by
the oceans, where they are turned into carbonic acid.
Overall, pH levels in seas and oceans worldwide have fallen by an average of 30
percent since the Industrial Revolution. The report predicts that by the end of this
century ocean acidity will have increased 150 percent, if emissions continue to rise at
the current rate.
But scientists say there may well be winners and losers as acidification doesn't affect all
sea creatures in the same way.
Adult lobsters, for example, may increase their shell-building as pH levels fall, as might
brittle stars -- a close relation of the starfish -- but at the cost of muscle formation.
"The ability, or inability, to build calcium-based skeletons may not be the only impact of
acidification on the health and viability of an organism: brittle stars perhaps being a case
in point," Turley said in a statement.
"It is clearly not enough to look at a species. Scientists will need to study all parts of the
life-cycle to see whether certain forms are more or less vulnerable."
Scientists are more certain about the fate of photosynthetic organisms such as
seagrasses, saying they are likely to benefit from rising acidification and that some
creatures will simply adapt to the changing chemistry of the oceans.
The authors identify a range of measures which policymakers need to consider to stop
pH levels falling further, including "rapid and substantial cuts" to CO2 emissions as well
as assessing the vulnerability of communities which rely on marine resources.
"Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health
warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions. It is a new and
emerging piece in the scientific jigsaw puzzle, but one that is triggering rising concern,"
Achim Steiner, UNEP executive director, said in a statement.
http://cempaka-marine.blogspot.com/2010/12/oceans-failing-acid-test-un-says.html
Uproar over climate funding?
UPI, December 2, 2010
Financing for the push to adopt green energy initiatives shouldn't be a revolving door of
debt, delegates at a conference in Cancun, Mexico, said.
World leaders are gathered in Cancun for the meeting of the U.N. Framework
Convention on Climate Change where they are examining ways to find a common
environmental agreement.
The European Union at the conference outlined plans for "fast-start" funding to help
developing nations address the short-term challenges of climate change.
Delegates at last year's climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, agreed to provide
$30 billion in "new and additional" financing for developing nations, though industrial
powers are slow to come forward with the money.
Artur Runge-Metzger, a top negotiator for the EU in Cancun, said loans might be a better
solution than grants.
"You don't need grants," he was quoted by the EU Observer as saying. "It would be a
waste of money because the individual pays for itself."
Critics, however, said loans would only burden developing countries with more debt,
which would inhibit their ability to keep pace with the rest of the world.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/12/02/Uproar-over-climatefunding/UPI-65001291304205/
EU funding offer sparks anger at Cancun
EU Observer, December 2, 2010 BY Andrew Willis
In one of the first major announcements at UN climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, the EU
has released details of its contribution to ‘fast-start' funding to help poorer nations deal
with the adverse effects of climate change over the short-term.
But aid agencies and governments from developing countries quickly rounded on the
news when it became clear that roughly half the money would be in the form of loans or
equity in local companies, rather than grants.
Wrangling over the ‘fast-start' funding has led to a major breakdown in trust between rich
and poor nations over the past year.
A pledge of $30 billion in "new and additional" money between 2010 and 2012 for poorer
nations was one of the few concrete initiatives to come out of Copenhagen last
December, but since then richer nations have appeared reluctant to stump up the cash.
Outlining Europe's contribution to the pot on Tuesday (30 November), expected to total
€7.2 billion over the three years, EU chief negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger said loans,
rather than grants, could provide a "win-win" situation for both sides.
"When it comes to mitigation actions you find that … consumers can repay loans, in
other words, finance can be used like a revolving fund," he said.
"In that way, funds can be repaid and used by others. You don't need grants. It would be
a waste of money because the individual pays for itself. You have to make best use of
peoples' money," he added.
Mr Runge-Metzger later clarified to the Guardian newspaper that EU loans to poorer
nations were frequently made on a "highly concessional basis", including a major grant
element of up to 75 percent.
Critics said loans were totally unacceptable however, and would simply saddle
developing nations with more debt.
They added that closer analysis of developed-country pledges showed much of it be recycled money, therefore failing to reach the "new and additional" criteria laid down in
Copenhagen.
Together with Europe's €7.2 billion offer, Japan has pledged $15.4 billion and the US
$1.7 billion over the three-year period.
NGOs argue that the practice of double-counting money from former promises is adding
to confusion and a feeling of mistrust on the part of developing nations. "Countries are
definitely using creative accounting to cover up for their shortfalls," said Tim Gore,
Oxfam's senior climate advisor.
As well the tough discussions on short-term assistance, talks also got underway on a
Green Fund which negotiators at Copenhagen last year decided should be able to raise
$100 billion a year from 2020 onwards to help poorer nations fight climate change over
the longer-term.
http://euobserver.com/9/31404
UN & Big Business Call for Global Light Bulb Ban to Save Climate
New American, December 2, 2010 BY Alex Newman
The United Nations and its corporate allies called for a global ban on incandescent light
bulbs and kerosene lamps Wednesday at the COP16 global-warming summit in Cancun,
claiming in a new study that “energy-efficient” lights would reduce the amount of carbon
dioxide emissions. “Among the low hanging fruit in the climate change challenge, a
switch to far more efficient lighting must rank as among the lowest,” said UN
Environment Program (UNEP) chief Achim Steiner. “Efficient lighting systems is one
path that is literally available at the flip of a policy switch.”
According to the report released by the UNEP, the Global Environment Facility (GEF),
and two lighting-industry giants during a presentation at the climate summit, the move
would reduce the world’s lighting-related electricity demand by about two percent. The
paper also claimed a global ban would save money.
“We need to cut the use of kerosene for lighting," demanded chief “sustainability” officer
Wolfgang Gregor of Osram, one of the world’s largest lighting manufacturers, during a
news conference. “OSRAM has given its firm commitment to the … initiative, as well as
to combating the use of kerosene,” he added. His company, along with lighting
behemoth Philips, also worked on the UN report.
Fellow traveler Harry Verhaar, the “director of energy and climate change” for Philips
Lighting, offered similar remarks. Calling the anti-incandescent bulb crusade “an
excellent example of a new category of public/private partnerships that will help
accelerate sustainable growth in emerging and developing countries," Verhaar said the
mandatory switch to CFLs “represents a triple win for these countries and in addition this
sectoral lighting approach is also a bottom-up initiative that compliments [sic] the topdown UNFCCC process."
And the UN, in a separate statement, said it would propagandize the public until more
nations agree. “By promoting the tangible benefits of efficient lighting it is anticipated that
a growing number of countries will be interested in engaging in transformation activities
to phase out inefficient lighting systems and reduce emissions,” it said in the press
release announcing the unveiling of the new study.
The report focused primarily on 100 countries where governments have not yet started
mandating the UN-backed changes, calculating potential reductions in CO2 emissions
(also known as plant food) and wildly inflating alleged potential savings.
Then there’s the claim that this is somehow a “market solution,” made by the GEF. “For
the past two decades, the GEF has championed market efforts to expand efficient
lighting to developing countries throughout the world," claimed GEF boss Monique
Barbut in a UN press release, perhaps not realizing that banning the older bulbs would
be in direct conflict with true market principles.
The project, known as “En.lighten” to its corporate and government backers, “is the
latest initiative funded by the GEF in partnership with UNEP and leading global lighting
manufacturers to accelerate market transformation of efficient lighting technologies on a
global scale,” Barbut said. “Through this initiative, we hope to build a strong partnership
with the private sector to encourage innovation.”
But not everybody is excited about the prospect of a worldwide ban on traditional
lighting. For one, compact fluorescent lamps, or CFL light bulbs, are made with mercury,
a known neurotoxin dangerous to human health, water supplies, pets, and the
environment.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency even has a complicated 12-step process for
dealing with broken CFL bulbs. Calling in professionals to deal with the mercury can cost
thousands of dollars, too. And when the CFLs burn out on their own, the EPA
recommends calling a local waste collection agency to dispose of the dead bulbs at a
hazardous waste drop-off location.
The new bulbs also cost a lot more money than incandescent lights — sometimes ten
times more. And critics complain that they do not produce the same amount or quality of
light. They can cause headaches and numerous other problems as well, according to
detractors. And most of the CFLs also produce a high amount of what is known as
electromagnetic pollution, which some experts consider problematic.
But none of those drawbacks — or even common sense — has stopped busybody
government officials around the world from implementing total bans on incandescent
light bulbs. There are already dozens of regimes phasing them out through force,
including the European Union, which has a target date of 2012 for the complete
eradication of the lights throughout the bloc.
“Much like the car and the telephone caught on with everyone, I have no doubt that once
Europeans start using the modern alternatives to the inefficient light bulbs, they will start
to enjoy the advantages they have to offer,” pontificated former USSR Communist Party
member Andris Piebalgs of Latvia, who drafted the EU light-bulb ban with help from the
lighting industry while serving as the European commissioner for energy.
“Great ideas are sometimes slow to catch on,” the “former” communist wrote on his blog
in response to critics of the ban, probably not realizing the absurdity of his statements.
“These are understandable reactions as people are naturally resistant to change and
more comfortable with what they already [sic] familiar with.”
The U.S. government has also passed legislation — signed by former President George
W. Bush as part of an energy package — aimed at phasing out incandescent bulbs by
2014. Numerous other governments, from Australia and Canada to Venezuela and
Cuba, have done the same. Other regimes around the world are considering similar
measures.
“The world needs quick wins to show that climate change can be controlled,” the UNbacked anti-incandescent bulb coalition claimed in a statement. “A global transition to
efficient lighting is perhaps the easiest method. If achieved swiftly, this victory would
generate the momentum needed to achieve greater CO2 reductions in other sectors and
assist towards stabilizing the climate.”
Unfortunately for incandescent-bulb fans and CFL critics, this new UN/Big Businessfunded study may provide rulers around the world with exactly the ammunition they need
to foist the unpopular ban on the remaining hold-out populations, no matter what the true
cost. But since the UN doesn’t plan to have its draft “road map” for the world ban
completed before mid-2011, there is still time for people who would rather stick to
Thomas Edison’s time-tested invention to stock up. For poor people around the world
relying on kerosene lamps — no matter what the UN and CFL bulb manufacturers say
— now might be a good time to buy extra gas, too.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/tech-mainmenu-30/environment/5356-un-abig-business-call-for-global-light-bulb-ban-to-save-climate
Climate Change Seen Costing Central American Billions of Dollars
Relief Web, December 1, 2010
Climate change could cost Central America at least half its gross domestic product by
the end of this century as more extreme weather, lower crop yields and water shortages
are forecast in a region already prone to natural disasters, a recent United Nations report
warns.
Increasing global average temperatures, rising sea levels, changes in rainfall and more
frequent storms and droughts linked to climate change are already taking a heavy toll on
government finances and poor rural communities across the seven countries that make
up Central America.
Based on economic modelling, the study carried out by the U.N. Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) aims to put a price tag on the impact of
global warming in the region, based on development and carbon emissions scenarios for
agriculture, water resources, intensity of hurricanes and floods, and biodiversity.
"While uncertainties exist, initial estimates for only four sectors suggest that climate
change might cost the region the equivalent 54 percent of its GDP based on 2008
figures - the equivalent of $73 billion - accumulated over 90 years, from now until 2100,"
Julie Lennox, climate change expert and ECLAC project coordinator, told AlertNet in an
interview from Mexico City.
The study estimates the potential cost for Central American governments of doing
nothing or little to address the effects of climate change – the "business as usual"
approach – as well as costs if governments do implement strategies to tackle the
problem.
The report concludes it would be more "cost effective" for states to address climate
change by focusing on disaster prevention and adaptation sooner rather than later.
EXTREME WEATHER ON THE RISE
While Central American nations are low emitters of carbon - producing just 0.5 percent
of global emissions - El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala are among the
world's countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.
The isthmus of Central America, wedged between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, lies
on the edge of the hurricane belt, making the region particularly susceptible to natural
disasters like tropical cyclones.
Roughly half of Central America's population of 40 million live in poverty, and it is they
who bear the brunt of natural hazards and local climate shifts, the report says.
Central America has experienced a "sustained increase" in the number of recorded
extreme weather events since the 1970s, it adds, especially floods and landslides
caused by storms in Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama.
More than 80 percent of land in Central America is exposed to landslides brought on by
heavy rainfall, and almost all parts of the region have experienced drought in the last 30
years, according to the report.
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch battered Central America, causing some $5 billion in damage,
and this year Guatemala has suffered over $1 billion in economic losses due to tropical
storms.
The economic toll of such natural disasters is expected to rise, as experts predict
extreme weather linked to climate change will become worse and more frequent.
"We are very concerned that we will have at least more intense storms and other
extreme weather events such as droughts. We expect to see an increase of between
five to 10 percent in intensity in hurricanes and tropical storms over this century, based
on international literature," said Lennox.
RISK TO FOOD SECURITY
The report warns that agriculture - which is a key driver of the Central America's
economy, making up 18 percent of its GDP - will be one of the hardest-hit sectors.
"Climate change could significantly affect food security by reducing food production and
curbing direct access to food among rural families, as well as leading to higher food
prices," the report says.
Predicted water shortages will also cause falling production of the region's staple foods:
maize, rice, beans and coffee, its key export. These crops are particularly sensitive to
rising temperatures and declining rainfall levels, the report says.
The model used in the study points to an average reduction in rainfall levels for Central
America of between 10 to 28 percent, depending on the level of emissions in the future,
as well as increasing variability.
"Under the 'business as usual' scenario, it is estimated the overall agricultural production
index in the region could fall by about nine percent by the end of the century," Lennox
said.
In Guatemala, for example, the report forecasts that a 3.5 degree Celsius rise in
temperature together with a 30 percent reduction in rainfall could lead to a 34 percent
decline in maize production and 66 percent for beans.
To address falling agricultural production, the report calls on regional governments to
step up agricultural insurance schemes for poor farmers, expand credit and financial
incentives for those investing in sustainable farming methods, and grant more collective
land titles to indigenous groups.
WATER MANAGEMENT KEY
The report forecasts serious water shortages for the region, where 75 percent of the
population depend on groundwater. At the same time, without improvements in water
use, economic and population growth in Central America could boost demand for water
by about 300 percent by 2050.
"Central American societies need to become more audacious managers of their water
resources," the report says.
It urges governments to promote the use of electric power from renewable energy
sources, such as solar and wind, and more efficient irrigation systems, particularly in
rural communities.
"Everything to do with efficient water management - like dams, using and storing water
more efficiently, recycling and returning water to the ecosystems - is going to be
essential to Central America," said Lennox.
However, the report warns that adopting measures to adapt to climate change "will be
highly onerous for Central America because it demands a redoubling of efforts to reduce
poverty, inequality".
"This is a serious challenge, and it can't just stay in the realm of environmentalists and
climate experts," said Lennox. "It is a central economic challenge with implications in
many sectors."
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/VDUX-8BQVR2?OpenDocument
Activists head to Cancun as talks hit more obstacles
AFP, December 2, 2010
More than 400 international environmental activists left Mexico City Wednesday in a
convoy headed to a UN climate conference in Cancun, where they plan to meet Bolivian
President Evo Morales.
Some 14 buses transported activists from Latin America, Europe and Asia on a more
than 1,000-mile (1,700-kilometer) journey from Mexico City, to include stops in several
cities on the way to the Caribbean coast.
"We're going to meet on December 7 with (Bolivian) President Evo Morales, who is the
only president who has shown his intention to attend the conference (apart from Mexican
President Felipe Calderon)," said Alberto Gomez, spokesman for the organizers, La Via
Campesina, an international movement of farm workers and peasants.
"We're going to demand that governments find real mechanisms to reduce carbon
emissions by 50 percent instead of a market of quotas that's on the table, which will only
serve to increase the earnings of multinational companies," Gomez said.
Farm workers already suffer directly from climate change through worsening natural
phenomena like hurricanes and droughts, he added.
The convoy set off as the world climate talks already struck a sour note on their third
day, as Japan was accused of weakening the campaign for a post-2012 global
emissions treaty by retreating from the Kyoto Protocol.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meanwhile predicted the 12-day meeting
"won't result in anything," after deciding not to attend.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iUlnT9_1icLidpVWaQnnput
MYTfw?docId=CNG.75c9d6b74623561946f4893699ec6552.61
Cancun and the future of climate science
Vancouver Sun, December 2, 2010 BY Gordon McBeam
If this week's climate-change conference in Cancun is a reminder of how tricky achieving
consensus on climate is, an antidote may be to consider something most of the world
leaders gathered in Mexico can agree on: knowing more helps.
Weather and climate science -- significant amounts of it generated by Canadian
researchers -- will start many of this week's discussions about what will happen next and
what we should do about it. While more than just science is needed for any deal on
greenhouse gases, a better understanding of the causes and consequences of the
changes happening overhead is making decisions clearer.
For Canadians, this is worth thinking about: As the summit in Cancun considers the
latest climate science, here at home, time is running out for a mainstay of our own
weather and climate research.
This month, the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS)
celebrated a birthday that could be among its last. After 10 years as Canada's main
funding agency for academic weather and climate science, the foundation will soon
cease to exist if there's no further support from the Canadian government.
Established in 2000, CFCAS has funded two dozen Canada-wide research networks
and more than 170 major scientific projects involving 37 Canadian universities and
Canada's top climate scientists. Grants from the foundation have helped train 1,500
graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and other young researchers across the
country.
Yet, despite this remarkable record, money for the foundation and its science has run
out.
This is significant in a country that is among the most weather-and climate-affected
nations on the planet. The lives and livelihoods of millions of Canadians -- foresters to
farmers, urbanites to Inuit -- depend on what's brewing above us. Anticipating future
weather is no mean feat, especially when our northern climate is shifting faster than
elsewhere on the globe. Having science to help us is not a mere luxury in Canada.
Research helps Prairie farmers, for example. Droughts can ruin them and cost
Canadians dearly. After years of examining the dry spell of 1999-2004, Canadian climate
scientists know more about how Prairie droughts work and when to expect them.
That drought, one of Canada's most expensive natural disasters, caused $3.6 billion in
farm losses and 41,000 lost jobs in 2002 alone.
Better science helps the almost 25 million Canadians who live in urban areas. The
Canadian Medical Association estimates that, in 2008, 21,000 Canadians died from the
effects of air pollution -- a number that's expected to increase fourfold by 2031. Our
Canadian weather researchers are improving our ability to predict -- and to get ready for
-- potentially deadly smog days in Canadian cities.
New information helps British Columbians. No one knew the extent of the western
mountain glaciers until a network of Canadian researchers figured it out and provided
data on the pace of glacier change. The information is vital to a province that gets 90 per
cent of its electrical power from hydro dams significantly fed by glacial run-off.
Research also helps people who work and live in the North. Canadian scientific networks
and research projects on the tundra and Arctic coasts have improved what we know
about everything from sudden blinding blizzards to the future of Arctic sea ice and the
thawing of northern permafrost.
Finally, better science is helping Canada's delegation right now in Cancun. For the past
decade, Canadian climate researchers have used federal support through CFCAS to
inform not just our governments and industries, but also those of other nations.
Research is revealing options about how to slow warming when we can and, when we
can't, how to manage the opportunities and challenges that changes bring.
With this month's anniversary, Canada's main funder for university-based weather, air
quality, and climate science is winding down its first 10-year mandate. The work has
helped change the way Canadians respond to droughts, storms, heat waves, air
pollution, and climate change. And it has contributed to discussions going on this week
in Mexico. But the research is far from finished.
Canada needs to look ahead to the 2011 federal budget and to the possibility of new
funds to support Canada's world-class weather, air quality, and climate science. In a
land so much at the mercy of its sky, Canadians -- along with their governments,
industries, and communities -- depend on this research. Knowing more helps.
Gordon McBean is a climate scientist and professor at the University of Western Ontario.
He is chair of the board of directors of the Canadian Foundation for Climate and
Atmospheric Sciences.
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Cancun+future+climate+science/3915532/story.ht
ml#ixzz16zGEynUK
The Storm before the Storm
Huffington Post, December 2, 2010 BY Ben Grossman- Cohen
Things are percolating here in Cancun. For the first few days it felt as if we were in the
calm before the storm. But a comment here, a draft text released there and all of a
sudden the rain began to flow (literally).
Inevitably, as the run-up to talks became the reality of talks, each minor development
started to bounce around the echo chamber like pop-secret in a microwave.
Governments began to preen and posture and NGO's plotted actions to show
negotiators that their words, their choices have consequences in the real world. It's easy
to get bogged down in the bubble that is the Cancun talks. But when you step back from
the alphabet soup that drowns discussions in a sea of acronyms, how we deal with the
climate's impact on real people is what the COP (irony intended) is all about.
The problem is clear. At stake here are the livelihoods of millions of poor people across
the globe. People whose struggle to feed their families will only get worse as climate
change rocks harvests from Minnesota to Yemen. If we don't act now, weather events
once considered extreme will become extremely-common and our efforts to make a dent
in global poverty will be subsumed in a flash.
Already we've seen how these growing disasters can be costly, both economically and
socially. This year to date, more than 21,000 people have lost their lives due to weatherrelated disasters, more than twice the number in 2009. Those that lose out most are the
people already most vulnerable to extreme poverty and hunger.
But even for those of us lucky enough to know where our next meal is coming from,
climate change is more than a distant challenge. We have heard time and again the
warnings of military leaders who tell us that climate change is a clear and present threat
to global stability and US security. Whether it is floods in Pakistan, or droughts in
Yemen, the challenges of extreme weather hit at the very core of American interests.
So while it's easy to get charged up by every inartful comment or poorly considered
proposal, these blips cannot distract from the concrete actions and determined
negotiations underway in conference rooms all around the complex. This round of
negotiations, just 3 days old, is a challenge of political will and cooperative muscle. They
won't be determined by comments made in press conferences, so no use in pretending
otherwise.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-grossmancohen/the-storm-before-thestor_b_790909.html
The Ghost of Kyoto Visits Cancún
NY Times, December 1, 2010 BY Andrew C. Revkin
There might have been some hope among parties seeking a new international climate
agreement that sunny skies and azure seas would brighten treaty negotiations after the
darkness and chill of Copenhagen one year ago.
But just two days into the two-week treaty conference here, gloom has already spread
among climate campaigners and treaty supporters.
The main source this time is Japan.
With unusual bluntness, senior Japanese officials have said their country will not seek
any extension beyond 2012 of the gas restrictions set under the Kyoto Protocol, the first
(and possibly last) international pact with mandatory restrictions on greenhouse gases.
[11:07 p.m. | Updated The Guardian provides an even more definitive statement from a
senior Japanese official: "Japan will not inscribe its target under the Kyoto protocol on
any conditions or under any circumstances." ]
In an interview with a Bloomberg reporter on Tuesday, Kuni Shimada, the special
adviser to Japan’s environment minister, stated the issue with crystal clarity:
“Without the active participation of the two biggest emitters, namely China and the
United States, it’s not a global effort,” said Shimada, who was formerly Japan’s lead
negotiator at the talks. “Whatever happens, under any kind of conditions we do not
accept a second commitment period.”
For industrialized countries and China, the demand for all to step forward on gas
restrictions in any new agreement is as much about competitiveness as climatology. For
years, it’s been clear that real-time economic realities still trump emerging climate
concerns.
Kyoto has long been seen as a dead end, given that, for different reasons, both China
and the United States, the world’s dominant sources of greenhouse-gas emissions, are
not bound by the pact. And Japan had signaled this move for a long time, as well.
But Japan’s statements still jarred the negotiations, a realm where language without
caveats [or brackets] is a rarity.
The protocol is extremely important to dozens of developing countries that have received
substantial sums for emissions credits earned under the agreement’s Clean
Development Mechanism. They’ll never sign a new global accord unless those money
flows are sustained (on top of tens of billions of dollars being sought to help poor
countries adapt to human-driven climate change).
Japan’s position on climate and related concerns is important not only because of its
still-substantial role in the global economy, but also because it hosted talks that, with
much fanfare, produced the Kyoto agreement in 1997.
All industrialized countries except the United States ratified the treaty and are bound, at
least on paper, by the protocol’s gas restrictions through 2012. No developing countries,
not even emerging the superpower and super-emitter China, have emissions limits
under that pact.
Most efforts here are aimed at creating a new global agreement including commitments
on emissions from the United States and China. But the fate of Kyoto will powerfully
influence those negotiations.
One of the best barometers of prospects here lies elsewhere, in the carbon markets.
BusinessWeek’s excellent roundup of developments in the talks, and their implications,
notes the widening spread between the value of a ton of avoided greenhouse emissions
in European carbon markets, which the European Union has committed to perpetuating,
and credits under the troubled Kyoto mechanism.
The magazine reported World Bank data showing that the global market in Kyoto credits
dropped by more than half from 2008 to 2009, when $2.7 billion flowed.
I rounded up reactions to Japan’s move from environmental campaigners who are
known for putting the best possible spin on things and here’s what they
Alden Meyer, Union of Concerned Scientists –
Not really much new here — they’ve been putting this message out for a while now. But
the stridency of the Japanese intervention yesterday took folks by surprise.
David D. Doniger, Natural Resources Defense Council –
It does seem quite emphatic and forceful (which is not Japan’s usual style), but in my
view, Japan (and other developed countries) have been clear for several years that they
need action commitments by the U.S. and big developing countries before making new
action commitments of their own. The structure of the Copenhagen Accord recognized
the need for action by all the big emitters, though it kept a differentiation – a less rigid
one than Kyoto – between the character of the developed and developing country
commitments.
There are two annexes, and the action commitments of developing countries have a less
“legally binding” character than those of the developed countries. Still, as indicated
above, the differences are less rigid than Kyoto’s, under which the big developing
countries had no specific obligations at all, and Japan is stating the obvious that they
won’t perpetuate that.
Postscript:
Another source of discussion here has been some revelations from the Wikileaks files
about State Department discussions of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to block treaty progress. In
this case, at least, there’s really not much there there, considering how clear Saudi
Arabia’s position has been in treaty talks over the last 20 years. For more on that, review
my 2009 post, ‘Striving for No’ in Climate Talks.
Also on the Wikileaks front, a bunch of commentators have complained about a double
standard at The Times for publishing these files while not posting the cache of University
of East Anglia e-mail messages and files that spread around the Web one year ago. I
can’t speak for the paper, of course, but I updated the relevant Dot Earth post with my
views on my coverage.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/the-ghost-of-kyoto-visits-cancun/
Where's the Beef? Cancun Climate Conference Should Take Animal Agriculture
Seriously
Huffington Post, December 2, 2010 BY Mia McDonald (Executive Director, Brighter
Green)
Cancun -- As more than 190 government delegations gather in Cancun, Mexico, for the
global climate talks, one topic isn't on the menu in any substantial portion: the intensive
system of rearing animals for food known as factory farming. But conference delegates
ignore the rapid spread of intensive animal agriculture at the planet's -- and millions of
people's -- peril.
Approximately 18 percent of climate-warming greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be
attributed to the livestock industry, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations. That's almost equal to the GHG toll from destruction or degradation
of the world's forests. A more recent estimate by current and former World Bank
environmental specialists puts livestock's share of GHGs much higher, at 51 percent of
the global total.
A vast number of animals -- approximately 60 billion -- are used in food production
around the world every year. As the global farmed animal population increases (to
perhaps 100 billion by 2050, if current trends persist), and with it, the number of factory
farms and feedlots, GHG emissions will rise exponentially, too.
GHGs are generated at every stage of livestock production: carbon dioxide through the
transport of animals, powering mechanized facilities, and producing chemical fertilizers
to grow "feed" grains. Large quantities of methane are released by enteric fermentation - the digestive processes of cows -- and by animals' manure.
Methane has more than 20 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide and a
much shorter lifespan in the atmosphere; if quantities were reduced rapidly, the global
warming effect would be substantial. Animals' manure also emits nitrous oxide, a GHG
with nearly 300 times carbon dioxide's warming potential.
Brazil, China, and India are all emerging economic powers. Each is playing a central role
in the direction of the Cancun talks. Each is also a crucial force shaping 21st century
animal agriculture -- and with it, climate realities, too. Ethiopia, although far from a fastfood nation, is Africa's largest producer and exporter of livestock.
In all four countries, as in others in the global South, a growing share of water, grain,
land, forests, and climate "space" are being directed to the meat and dairy industries.
This is coming at a considerable cost, not only to the global climate, but also to food
security, ecological sustainability, livelihoods, equity, animal welfare, and public health at
the national level.
Brazil, an agricultural powerhouse, is the world's largest exporter of beef and chicken,
and a lead exporter of soy for farmed animal feed. Brazil's expanding livestock sector is
intimately linked with global markets for agricultural commodities -- be they beef, poultry,
pork, soybeans, or leather. During the global recession, rates of deforestation in Brazil
dropped to their lowest levels in 20 years. But as demand for commodities like beef and
soy edged back up in 2010, deforestation levels doubled from those in 2009.
Brazil is the world's most biologically diverse nation. It is also the world's fourth-largest
emitter of GHGs, principally due to the burning of its forests for agricultural expansion.
According to a report by Friends of the Earth-Amazonia, the Brazilian National Instiitute
for Space Research, and the University of Brasília concluded that fully half of Brazil's
GHG emissions between 2003 and 2008 came from the cattle sector alone.
Only two generations after a devastating national famine, China is eating increasingly
high on the food chain. Over the past decade, consumption of China's most popular
meat, pork, has doubled. In 2007, China raised well over half a billion pigs. China, the
world's largest emitter of GHGs, has committed to increasing its production of pork and
to expanding meat exports, even as domestic food prices rise and animal agriculture has
become a major source of serious water pollution.
While ethical vegetarianism has a several-thousand-year history in India, more than half
of India's 1.17 billion people now consider themselves omnivores. India's booming
middle class is driving up demand for meat, eggs, and dairy products. India has the
world's largest dairy herd, 300 million strong, and is the world's third largest producer of
eggs and sixth largest producer of poultry meat.
Ethiopia, at a very different level of development, is nonetheless looking to produce
more meat and dairy products for export, although food security for its fast-growing
population remains elusive and soil erosion and land degradation are extensive.
At the same time, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, and India are experiencing the effects of
climate change -- more frequent drought and floods, higher temperatures, and
increasingly erratic weather -- all of which will challenge their ability to produce enough
food and to sustain expanding human and animal populations.
It's increasingly clear that food and agricultural need to be central to climate policy,
including any agreements on stemming deforestation, transferring green technologies,
and funding poorer countries' adaptation to global warming.
Continuing to marginalize animal agriculture in international debates over climate policy
means forfeiting a crucial opportunity to reduce global GHGs and to create a more
sustainable, equitable, humane, and climate-compatible food system. There are NGOs
in Cancun sharing pieces of this message. Will governments offer them a place at the
table? If they don't, it looks like more bitter harvests ahead.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mia-macdonald/at-cancun-wheres-thebeef_b_790836.html
Cancun climate talks don't faze industry
CNN Money, December 2, 2010 BY Steve Hargreaves
ndustries that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases don't expect any new restrictions
from the incoming U.S. Congress or the ongoing international climate talks in Cancun,
Mexico.
While the industries are concerned about new regulations from the Obama
administration, the type of sweeping rules on greenhouse gases were seen as virtually
inevitable two years ago now appear off the table. As a result, new investments in things
such as coal-fired power plants are pushing ahead.
"We'd don't expect any legislation in the foreseeable future," said Carol Raulston, a
spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, which represents the coal industry.
Like most Washington watchers, Raulston's idea of "the foreseeable future" only extends
out about two years. But she said any uncertainty over what future lawmakers may do
"doesn't seem to be affecting how people are investing."
This is in sharp contrast to 2008, when concern about global warming was running high
and both presidential candidates supported a cap on carbon dioxide emissions.
At that time, utility executives and others from energy-intense industries complained that
the uncertainty over what the new regulations would look like was putting new
investments in things such as power plants on hold.
But in the last two years, while the science has not changed, skepticism has grown in
the public's mind over just how serious a threat global warming is, especially among the
incoming class of Republican lawmakers that will control the U.S. House of
Representatives.
The struggling global economy has also diminished the appetitive for what likely would
be costly measures to cut carbon dioxide emissions. And international climate talks last
year in Copenhagen, where a successor to the expiring Kyoto Protocol was supposed to
have been drawn, went nowhere.
The current climate talks in Cancun are yet another attempt to secure a replacement to
the Kyoto treaty, which expires in 2012 and to which the United States is not a party.
Few, if any analysts expect a successor to emerge from Cancun. The best people hope
for is incremental progress on thorny issues and a commitment to keep trying.
But some in industry see even that attempt as futile.
"I don't expect a continuation of Kyoto," said Tom Gibson, CEO of the American Iron and
Steel Institute. "It's become too big, too unwieldy."
While Gibson isn't expecting any climate laws from the United Nations or the U.S.
Congress, he is concerned about action from the Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA, acting under court order, is beginning to regulate the amount of carbon dioxide big
polluters can put into the atmosphere. New rules take effect this January.
So far the rules have been fairly lax, with most of the emphasis placed on greater
efficiency.
But Gibson says the steel industry, like many industries, already has a financial incentive
to be more efficient. He fears more EPA regulation will make the U.S. steel industry
uncompetitive with counterparts in counties that lack similar rules.
As for investments, he said the slack economy makes it tough to point to anything that
been canceled or started and say it's due to looming regulation, or the lack of it. He does
expect EPA's actions to have "a chilling effect" on future investment.
In the chemical industry, another energy-intensive sector of the economy, the same
belief exists: no threat of sweeping greenhouse gas laws, but fear of an encroaching
EPA.
"Any proposal to put a high price on carbon just isn't going to happen in this Congress,"
said Cal Dooley, CEO of the American Chemistry Council.
As for EPA's activity, he said, "this creates a great deal of uncertainty we didn't have a
year ago."
Regardless of what industry and Republicans in Congress think, environmentalists will
likely push ahead with calls to regulate greenhouse gases.
They often point out that industry warns of job losses when threatened with any new
regulations, and say those losses are seldom as steep as feared.
And if it's not job losses the industry fears, it's the inflation that complying with new
regulations would cause in a tight labor market.
"No matter what state the economy is in, there's always a way to complain," said David
Doniger, policy director at the Natural Resource Defense Council's climate center.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/02/news/international/cancun_climate_talks_industry/inde
x.htm
As Cancun talks begin, Coloradans demand U.S. lead on climate change
Colorado Independent, December 2, 2010 BY Scott Kersgaard
What would happen if the United Nations hosted a climate change conference and
nobody came? Does an iceberg crumbling into the ocean make a sound if there is no
one there to hear it?
Well, there are plenty of people in Cancun, Mexico, for this year’s UN Climate Change
Conference, but they don’t include President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi or even former VP Al Gore.
You could say expectations are low.
In Denver at least there are many who do care. Wednesday, a few dozen people
representing 14 local grassroots climate and social justice groups met for a rally on the
steps of the state capitol. Similar gatherings were held around the country, including one
outside the White House.
The participants gave speeches, admired each other’s signs, sipped hot chocolate, and
then marched around the block holding candles.
“We’re calling on President Obama to go to Cancun and show some leadership,” said
Micah Parkin, regional organizer for the 1Sky climate and clean energy campaign.
“We want him to keep the commitments he made last year in Copenhagen to reduce
carbon at home and to fully fund impoverished nations’ efforts to adapt to climate
change. We are here to show solidarity with the people most affected by climate
change,” she said, standing on the West Steps of the Capitol.
Reverend Peter Sawtell, of Eco-Justice Ministries, said he viewed climate warming as an
issue of human justice. “The ice is melting and people are suffering. This is an issue of
global justice.”
He said that, for the most part, climate change discussion is being driven by the rich and
powerful but that the effects are being felt primarily by the poor and helpless.
As a country, he said, the United States must be held accountable for the promises it
has made to lead on this issue.
“We are told to love God and love our neighbors. We love God and our neighbors by
acting for justice,” he said.
He said Americans can start by curbing their appetites for carbon and for meat. “This is
about the future of God’s creation,” he said.
Amy Guinan, an organizer with Clean Energy Action and Protect our Winters, attended
the conference in Copenhagen last year. She said she has been struck “by how little our
leaders have done on this and by how much individuals and local communities have
done.”
“It has to be us,” she said. “We have to push so hard that we make them do it. It is our
moral obligation and it is time to get serious,” she said. “We are here to show solidarity
with the community voices coming out of Cancun.”
http://coloradoindependent.com/69080/as-cancun-talks-begin-coloradans-demand-u-slead-on-climate-change
Fears US will walk out of 'last chance' climate talks
Sydney Morning Herald, December 2, 2010 BY Suzanne Goldenberg
The US has adopted an all-or-nothing position at the Cancun climate change summit,
fuelling speculation of a walk-out if developing countries do not meet its demands.
At the opening of the talks, the US climate negotiator, Jonathan Pershing, made clear
the United States wanted a ''balanced package'' from the summit.
That is diplomatic speak for a deal that would couple the core issues for the developing
world - agreement on climate finance, technology and deforestation - with US demands
from emerging economies for action on emissions and a verifiable system of accounting
for those cuts.
In Washington, the chief climate envoy, Todd Stern, was blunt. ''We're not going to race
forward on three issues and take a first step on other important ones. We're going to
have to get them all moving at a similar pace.''
Mr Stern has said the US will not budge from its insistence that fast-emerging
economies such as Brazil, India and China commit to reducing emissions and to an
inspection process.
The hard line has fuelled speculation the Obama administration could walk out of the
Cancun talks. It is already under pressure over its environmental agenda from a new
Republican power bloc in Congress that is determined to defund climate change
programs and block the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency to act on
greenhouse gases and other pollution.
There is next to no chance Congress would take up cap-and-trade legislation or ratify
any United Nations treaty.
The administration's weak domestic position has cast doubts on its ability to deliver even
the 17 per cent cut on 2005 emissions to which Mr Obama agreed in Copenhagen last
year.
A walk-out would wreck hope that progress in Cancun might put the UN negotiations
process back on track after Copenhagen.
Michael Levi, an energy and environment fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations,
said the dynamics of Cancun could push the US into a walk-out.
''There are decent odds that the United States will be presented with a final package that
takes action on all sorts of things that developing countries want but doesn't have any
clear wins for Washington,'' he wrote on a blog.
''But I wouldn't be surprised to see the US reject such an outcome, even if it means
walking away with nothing and being attacked for that.''
The US has scaled down its presence at Cancun, compared with Copenhagen, which it
saw as a chance to spotlight the changes in Washington post-George Bush.
The dynamics of Cancun are different. Developing countries and some in Europe see
the meeting as a last chance to reach agreement on the building blocks of a treaty - with
or without the US.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/fears-us-will-walk-out-of-lastchance-climate-talks-20101201-18gpb.html
India Envoy Says Climate Talks' Success `Remote' If Kyoto's Not Extended
Bloomberg, December 2, 2010 BY Natalie Obiko Pearson and Abhijit Roy Chowdhury
India said the success of global climate talks in Mexico would be “remote” unless
countries agree to extend the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012.
“If the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol is not there, then I’m afraid the
prospects for any positive outcome at Cancun are very remote,” Environment Minister
Jairam Ramesh said today in an interview at his office in New Delhi.
Countries failed last year in Copenhagen to write a successor to the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol, an international treaty that created an emissions-trading program and awarded
hundreds of millions of euros in tradable credits to projects in India to help reduce
greenhouse-gas pollution.
The survival of that trading program, known as the United Nations’ Clean Development
Mechanism, rests on envoys hammering out an accord that extends the binding
emission limits imposed on 38 developed countries in the Kyoto Protocol, Ramesh said.
“Without that, there’s no CDM,” he said.
UN-sponsored climate talks that began Nov. 29 in the Mexican resort of Cancun are due
to end Dec. 10. India will be delivering two “concrete proposals” involving international
monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions and cooperation on clean technology-sharing,
the minister said.
“At Cancun we need to go beyond goody-goody statements,” Ramesh said. “We need
some commitments,” including details on how developed nations will share clean
technologies with their developing counterparts and what an international agreement to
protect forests will look like, he said.
India would support a forestry agreement even if it didn’t include all the countries that
have adopted the Kyoto Protocol, he said.
Ramesh also said it was important to ensure that the U.S. remains closely involved in
climate negotiations in spite of disappointment at its failure to play a leadership role.
“We want the U.S. in. I’m not interested in U.S.- bashing,” he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-02/india-envoy-says-climate-talks-successremote-if-kyoto-s-not-extended.html
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General Environment News
Washington Post: Lead may be leaching into thousands of D.C. homes
The Hill: Oil spill commission gets down to brass tacks.
Reuters: U.S. wants to lift protections for wolf and grizzly
Washington Post: Second Genesis on Earth?
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NY Times: Climate-Science Critic Wants to Lead House Science Panel
Huffington Post: Gulf Oil Spill Could Spur Creation Of New Safety Agency:
Investigation Panel
Huffington Post: We Don't Need BPA to Make a Baby Bottle
Huffington Post: House Republicans Scrap 'Unnecessary' Global Warming
Committee
Toronto Star: 2010 on track to be warmest year for Canada
Toronto Star: Global warming could double food prices by 2050, experts say
Lead may be leaching into thousands of D.C. homes
Washington Post, December 2, 2010 BY Ashley Halsey III and Mike DeBonis
The water in almost 15,000 D.C. homes that received repairs during a massive effort to
remove lead pipes may still be contaminated by dangerous levels of the metal,
according to a report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
If those residences are home to small children, pregnant women or anyone with a
compromised immune system, the water should be tested, said George Hawkins,
general manager of D.C. Water.
The CDC concluded that homeowners who had pipes only partially replaced may have
made the problem worse. The center also confirmed that children living in the District
were exposed to an increased risk of lead poisoning from 2000 to 2006 as an
inadvertent result of efforts to disinfect the water supply that caused lead pipes to
corrode and leach into the water that flowed through them.
The findings are a sharp reversal by the federal health agency, which initially said it had
found no evidence of measurable or significant harm to public health. A congressional
inquiry concluded in May that the CDC knowingly used false data in making a
"scientifically indefensible" claim that the water was safe to drink.
The report marks the first time the CDC has publicly acknowledged that there was
measurable health risk from the city's lead crisis and that the primary remedy appears to
have been flawed.
The CDC said it "found that children living in housing where a lead service line was
partially replaced after 2003 were more likely to have [elevated blood lead levels] than
children living in housing without a lead service line." It went on to say that "partial lead
service line replacement was not effective in decreasing risk for [higher blood lead
levels]," with the risk similar to that for people who never had their lead lines replaced.
"This is the CDC telling us something we knew and acted upon," said D.C. Council
member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who has been critical of partial pipe replacements.
"Not only did we know this, but we stopped it."
The new CDC report reopens an issue that many residents thought was resolved when
the city spent $93 million to replace thousands of service lines. From 2004 to 2008, the
District replaced water lines serving 17,600 homes, Hawkins said. Homeowners were
responsible for the portion of the pipes on their property. In 14,800 of those homes,
owners chose not to make any additional repairs.
"Partial lead service line replacements don't always work and in fact can cause
sometimes more harm than good," Hawkins said. "We thought it was a good idea until
the data started showed that it wasn't."
There is no blood lead level that is considered safe for children. The new CDC report
found that children in homes where lead pipes had been partially replaced were three
times as likely to have elevated lead levels than those whose homes never had lead
pipes.
It is the process of unearthing and cutting the lead service line that is thought to cause
the increased risk for lead exposure in homes that have undergone partial replacements.
The risk decreases over time after the repair is done, Hawkins said. He added that D.C.
Water conducts regular testing of households that have had partial lead service line
replacements; none of the tests have raised concerns, he said.
"We encourage the notion of testing your water and seeing what's there," Hawkins said.
"If it's only adults in the house, it's probably still a judgment call, but less healthimperative than if there's small children and pregnant women."
The federal government banned the use of lead pipes almost 25 years ago, and the
District embarked on an ambitious plan to replace lead service lines and to encourage
homeowners to eradicate lead plumbing from their homes.
Water suppliers may have unwittingly exacerbated the problem in 2000, when the
Washington Aqueduct began to use the chemical chloramine, rather than clorine, to
purify the water supply. Although its use complied with federal requirements to reduce
carcinogenic byproducts, many experts think it corroded pipes and caused lead to leach
into the water.
The new CDC report found that elevated lead levels in children peaked in 2003, a year
when chloramine was the only disinfectant used.
That year, residents were warned of potentially dangerous lead levels in their tap water.
In 2004, it was reported that most D.C. homes with lead pipes had lead levels above a
threshold set by the Environmental Protection Agency. But the worries of many
homeowners were assuaged later that year when the CDC reported that no children it
had tested suffered from lead poisoning.
CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden acknowledged in June that those findings were wrong
and that "children living in homes serviced by lead water pipes were twice as likely" to
have elevated lead levels.
The utility continues to replace lead service lines if they are connected to a water main
that is being replaced or if a customer is replacing the private portion of the line.
After a lead service line is replaced, D.C. Water monitors the lead levels in the
household's water for at least 51/2 months, Hawkins said. The utility also provides filters
while lead levels remain elevated.
"This report to us confirms and supports the steps we've been taking, and it helps the
scholarship, but we're sort of already there in what we're doing in the system," Hawkins
said. "We're hitting this like a full-court press and are doing everything we think is
warranted."
Hawkins said he was concerned about one class of households not included in the
study: those that had their entire lead service lines replaced but also have interior
plumbing made of galvanized steel. Research has suggested that lead from service lines
can become embedded in galvanized plumbing and continue to leach into the water after
the service line is replaced.
Frank Borris, 45, was one of thousands of D.C. residents living in an area where the city
elected to do a partial pipe replacement in 2004. He, like many of his Shepherd Park
neighbors, decided to pay out of pocket for a full replacement because of concerns for
the health of his family.
With two neighbors, he hired a contractor to replace the pipes leading into their houses
at roughly $1,000 per house, he said, "and that was cheap, really cheap."
"I had concerns about their health and also mine and my wife's," Borris said. "A partial
replacement is only a partial solution. I really didn't see the value in doing a partial
replacement at that time."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/12/01/AR2010120107182_2.html
Oil spill commission gets down to brass tacks
The Hill, December 2, 2010 BY Ben Geman
Salazar hints at drilling as bargaining chip, more fallout from White House drilling
retreat, senior House Republican seeks ‘fracking’ answers, and more.
On tap Thursday: Spill panel mulls findings on safety, environmental review
The presidential commission that’s probing the BP oil spill and drilling reforms meets
Thursday and Friday to review draft findings ahead of its big report to the White House
in January.
The panel — called the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
and Offshore Drilling — will debate staff conclusions on the industry’s “safety culture,”
regulatory oversight, Arctic drilling and others matters during the Washington, D.C.,
meetings.
More fallout from Obama’s drilling retreat
The spill commission meeting comes a day after the Obama administration announced
it’s backing off plans to expand areas where offshore drilling is allowed (see our pieces,
here, here and here).
Fallout from the big policy change continued all day Wednesday. Here’s some reaction
that didn’t make it into our other pieces:
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), a strong oil-and-gas industry ally, bashed the White House
over yet another drilling decision with which she disagrees.
“Today’s announcement by Secretary Salazar to limit areas in the Atlantic and Eastern
Gulf of Mexico is major step backwards for our nation’s energy security. The original 5year plan, when it was announced in March, signaled that this administration was
serious about jobs and our nation’s energy security,” Landrieu said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, despite the rigorous new safety regulations that are now required as a
result of the Deepwater Horizon accident, this Administration has decided to make a Uturn.”
Florida’s Nelson, New Jersey senators cheer
But Obama’s decision to back off expanded drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and to
scrap plans for Atlantic Coast leasing was welcome news to several drilling foes.
The plan never called for drilling off the Jersey Shore, but Sens. Robert Menendez (DN.J.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) had feared that leasing as far north as Delaware
would have jeopardized their state in the event of a spill.
“I am grateful that the administration has heard my message loud and clear: no drilling
for oil anywhere near the Jersey Shore. I applaud this action, which will protect our
state’s economy and environment. The Jersey Shore supports hundreds of thousands of
jobs, drives our state’s economy and is a birthright for all New Jerseyans,” Menendez
said.
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is also pleased that Obama is no longer seeking to roll back the
big no-drilling buffer in place off Florida’s Gulf of Mexico shores until 2022. He called it
“an enormous victory for our state.” The moratorium was part of a compromise 2006 law
that expanded drilling elsewhere in the Gulf.
Salazar: Eastern Gulf drilling could be part of bigger energy plan
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, near the end of a Wednesday conference call with
reporters on the drilling decision, dropped a hint that the Obama administration is open
to negotiations about eastern Gulf development.
He said the administration would be “willing to entertain” a discussion about the
moratorium in the area — but only if it’s part of a “balanced” energy package that
emphasizes efficiency, renewables and R&D into green energy technologies.
The comment suggests the Obama administration has altered its political strategy on
energy after the collapse of comprehensive climate change and energy legislation on
Capitol Hill this year.
Back in late March, when the White House rolled out its plans for expanded drilling,
environmentalists were dismayed that President Obama made the move without
securing GOP commitments on climate policy in return.
Hastings wants answers — in public — from Interior on gas ‘fracking’ plans
The House Republican who will lead the Natural Resources Committee in the next
Congress wants Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to testify about potential rules governing
natural-gas drilling on public lands.
Salazar said Tuesday that Interior might compel drillers to disclose the chemicals
they’re using when employing a controversial drilling method called hydraulic fracturing,
or “fracking,” on public lands.
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), the incoming committee chairman, fears the plan will
create red tape that stymies energy production.
“It is requested that before taking action to unilaterally implement this policy as
Secretary, that you appear before the House Natural Resources Committee in the 112th
Congress to provide testimony and answer questions from Committee members. It is
important for the Department to carefully consult and consider guidance from the House
Natural Resources Committee on policies that will impact technological innovation and
competitiveness on federal lands,” Hastings writes in a letter to Salazar.
Interior officials say they’re very much in favor of natural gas development. “The
Department of the Interior has a responsibility to ensure that natural gas development
on our federal public lands takes place in the right way and in the right places so that
our natural resources and our communities are protected," said Interior spokeswoman
Kendra Barkoff on Wednesday.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/131583-e2-morning-roundup-oil-spillcommission-gets-down-to-brass-tacks-plus-salazar-hints-at-drilling-asbargaining-chip-more-fallout-from-white-house-drilling-retreat-senior-houserepublican-seeks-fracking-answers-andmore?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
U.S. wants to lift protections for wolf and grizzly
Reuters, December 1, 2010 BY Laura Zuckerman
The Obama administration is seeking to lift Endangered Species Act protections from
two of the most iconic symbols of the American West, the gray wolf and grizzly bear, in
moves likely to spark fierce resistance from environmentalists.
The administration intentions emerged in an interview on Wednesday with two topranking officials from the Interior Department, whose agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, oversees federal safeguards for the bulk of imperiled species.
Both the grizzly and gray wolf occupy the figurative pinnacle of the greater Yellowstone
ecosystem encompassing parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Previous efforts to
remove them from the U.S. endangered species list have met with staunch opposition in
court from wildlife conservation groups.
Environmentalists have raised concerns that while both species have made a comeback
under protection as endangered species, their recovery could falter if they were delisted, a move that would likely open the animals to public hunting.
Sportsmen and ranchers, who make up a powerful constituency in Western states, have
strongly advocated delisting wolves and grizzlies, arguing the predators are diminishing
herds of big-game animals like elk and are preying on livestock.
Both wolves and grizzlies were hunted, trapped and poisoned to near extinction in the
lower 48 states before they were eventually added to the endangered species list.
Federal protection of wolves has been especially controversial since they were
reintroduced to the wild in the Rockies in the mid-90s despite strong objections of
ranchers.
Under pressure from livestock interests and state wildlife managers, the federal
government in April 2009 removed the wolf from the endangered species list in Montana
and Idaho while keeping protections in Wyoming.
But a federal judge in August 2010 ordered full listing restored, saying the wolves' entire
range in the Rockies must be treated as a whole, and that protections cannot be left
intact in Wyoming while they were lifted in other states.
Dan Strickland, assistant interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, said on
Wednesday that the Obama administration planned to propose lifting Endangered
Species Act protection for wolves in all three states, and would seek congressional
action if necessary.
Delisting means states would assume management of the estimated 1,700 wolves in the
Northern Rockies -- about 1,000 more than the federal recovery goal for the species.
In the same interview, Fish and Wildlife Service Deputy Director Dan Ashe said his
agency also "will delist the grizzly" in the Yellowstone region.
"We're moving forward with the states," he added, predicting final action within 18
months.
The estimated number of grizzlies in the Yellowstone area has risen to more than 600
from 136 in 1975, which exceeds the recovery goal of 500.
Yellowstone area grizzlies were delisted in 2007, and states promptly planned hunting
seasons. But environmentalists gained a legal victory last year, forcing the government
to re-list them, arguing that the federal government had failed to take into account such
factors as climate change. They also questioned whether 500 animals was a viable
population.
Environmentalists say getting Congress to bypass normal procedures for reviewing the
health of protected species and judicial review of those efforts would undermine the
Endangered Species Act, a cornerstone of American conservation law.
"Wildlife management decisions are supposed to be made based on science, not
politics," said Mike Leahy, Rocky Mountain regional director of a private group,
Defenders of Wildlife. "It means every time a controversial critter comes up under the
Endangered Species Act, Congress could whittle away protections needed to conserve
the species."
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B10FD20101202
Second Genesis on Earth?
Washington Post, December 2, 2010 BY Marc Kaufman
All life on Earth - from microbes to elephants and us - is based on a single genetic model
that requires the element phosphorus as one of its six essential components.
But now researchers have uncovered a bacterium that has five of those essential
elements but has, in effect, replaced phosphorus with its look-alike but toxic cousin
arsenic.
News of the discovery caused a scientific commotion, including calls to NASA from the
White House and Congress asking whether a second line of earthly life has been found.
A NASA press conference Thursday and an accompanying article in the journal Science,
gave the answer: No, the discovery does not prove the existence of a "second genesis"
on Earth. But the discovery very much opens the door to that possibility and to the
related existence of a theorized "shadow biosphere" on Earth - life evolved from a
different common ancestor than all that we've known so far.
"Our findings are a reminder that life-as-we-know-it could be much more flexible than we
generally assume or can imagine," said Felisa Wolfe-Simon, the young biochemist who
led the effort after being selected as a NASA Astrobiology Research Fellow and as a
member of the National Astrobiology Institute team at Arizona State University.
"If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected - that breaks the unity of
biochemistry - what else can life do that we haven't seen yet?" she said.
The research, funded through NASA and conducted with samples from California's
Mono Lake, found that some of the bacteria not only used arsenic to live, but had
arsenic embedded into their DNA, RNA and other basic underpinnings.
"This is different from anything we've seen before," said Mary Voytek, senior scientist for
NASA's program in astrobiology , the arm of the agency involved specifically in the
search for life beyond Earth and for how life began here.
"These bugs haven't just replaced one useful element with another, they have the
arsenic in the basic building blocks of their makeup," she said. "We don't know if the
arsenic replaced phosphorus or if it was there from the very beginning - in which case it
would strongly suggest the existence of a shadow biosphere."
Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies, director of the Beyond Center at
Arizona State and a prolific writer, is a co-author on the paper. He had been thinking
about the idea for a decade and had written a paper in 2005. So had University of
Colorado at Boulder philosopher and astrobiologist Carol Cleland. Both asked why
nobody was looking for life with different origins on Earth, and Cleland coined the phrase
"shadow biosphere."
At a Beyond Center conference four years ago, Wolfe-Simon, then in her late 20s,
proposed a way to search for a possible shadow biosphere, and it involved Mono Lake
and its arsenic.
"We were kicking vague ideas around, but she had a very specific proposal and then
went out and executed it," Davies said. "It defies logic to think she found the only
example of this kind of unusual life. Quite clearly, this is the tip of a huge iceberg."
All life as we know it contains six essential elements - carbon, oxygen, hydrogen,
nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus - that have qualities that make them seemingly ideal for
their tasks. A form of phosphorus, for instance, is near perfect for building the framework
for the DNA molecule, and another form is crucial to the transfer of energy within cells.
forms of phosphorus are well suited for their job because they are especially stable in
the presence of water. Arsenic is not, and that fact is one that raises concerns for some
researchers familiar with the Mono Lake bugs.
Chemist Steven Benner of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Florida has
been involved in "shadow biosphere" research for several years, and will speak at the
NASA unveiling of Wolfe-Simon's work. He says that the Mono Lake results are
intriguing - "I do not see any simple explanation for the reported results that is broadly
consistent with other information well known to chemistry" - but he says they are not yet
proven. And a primary reason why is that arsenic compounds break down quickly in
water while phosphorus compounds do not.
His conclusion: "It remains to be established that this bacterium uses arsenate as a
replacement for phosphate in its DNA or in any other biomolecule."
Nonetheless, the paper and its results have created an excitement reminiscent of the
1995 announcement at NASA headquarters of the discovery of apparent signs of ancient
life in a meteorite from Mars found in Antarctica. That finding was central to establishing
the field of astrobiology, but was also broadly challenged and a scientific consensus
evolved that the case for signs of life in the meteorite had not been proven.
The Mono Lake discovery highlights one of the central challenges of astrobiology knowing what to look for in terms of extraterrestrial life. While it remains uncertain
whether the lake's microbes represent another line of life, they show that organisms can
have a chemical architecture different from what is currently understood to be possible.
"One of the guiding principles in the search for life on other planets, and of our
astrobiology program, is that we should 'follow the elements,' " said Ariel Anbar, an ASU
professor and biogeochemist. "Felisa's study teaches us that we ought to think harder
about which elements to follow."
Mono Lake was selected as a work site by Wolfe-Simon because it is highly unusual and
had been well studied by other scientists trying to answer different questions.
The lake receives run-off from the Sierra Nevada mountains, which have relatively high
concentrations of arsenic. When the water arrives at Mono Lake, it has nowhere to go
because there are no rivers carrying water further downstream. That means the arsenic,
and other elements and compounds, can concentrate to unusally high levels. Arsenic is
present in Mono Lake at a concentration 700 times greater than what the EPA considers
safe.
Wolfe-Simon was invited to use the Menlo Park, Calif., lab of the U.S. Geological Survey
and was aided in her work by senior research scientist Ron Oremland, who has studied
arsenic in Mono Lake for decades. The initial work was quite simple: She took mud from
the briny as well as toxic lake into the lab and began growing bacteria in Petri dishes.
She gradually replaced phosphate salt with arsenic until the surviving bacteria could
grow without needing the phosphates at all.
The bugs, an otherwise common bacteria in the halomonadaceae family, thrived without
phosphates and with lots of arsenic. She then determined that the arsenic was
embedded in the core genetic and energy transfer systems of the bacteria - that it
appeared to have replaced (or preceeded) the phosphorus.
As she explained, replacing phosphorus with arsenic may seem suicidal, but the two are
very similar in their makeup. Arsenic is considered toxic because most living things take
it in and treat it like phosphorus, only to be destroyed by the small differences.
She said that while small amounts of the phosphorus remained in the arsenic-based
bugs, she was able to determine that it was definitely not enough to supply the
presumed phosphorus needs of the cell. That, she said, was being done with the
arsenic.
"Sometimes I'm asked why something like this has never been found before, and the
answer is that nobody has run the experiment before," Wolfe-Simon said. "There was
nothing really complicated about it - I asked a simple question that was testable and got
an answer."
Wolfe-Simon said she hopes to further test her findings in northern Argentina, where,
she's been told, some microbes can not only tolerate arsenic, but absolutely need
arsenic to survive.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/12/02/AR2010120203102.html
Climate-Science Critic Wants to Lead House Science Panel
NY Times, December 1, 2010 BY John Collins Rudolf
A race is on for the chairmanship of the House Science Committee, but whatever the
outcome, the post will clearly be held by a staunch opponent of mandatory caps on the
emissions that contribute to global warming.
By order of seniority, Ralph Hall of Texas, is first in line to lead the science committee.
But seniority does not automatically confer chairmanship, according to Republican
caucus rules, and on Monday, Dana Rohrabacher of California appeared before the
House Republican steering committee, which nominates the party’s committee
chairmen, to make the case why he should lead the science panel.
After his presentation, Mr. Rohrabacher told Politico that as science chairman he would
use the position as a “bully pulpit” to denounce “phony science.”
Mr. Rohrabacher has long maintained that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
pose no threat to the environment and that the scientific basis for man-made climate
change is a fraud.
“We must not allow our future to be stolen by hucksters who would frighten us into giving
up our birthright in the name of saving the planet,” he said in a lengthy floor speech in
March 2009. “It sounds good and noble, as most scams do, but it is just a trick, a hoax.”
In the same speech he warned of the economic consequences of regulating carbon
dioxide, saying that a bill to create a cap-and-trade system for emissions would make air
travel and cars a luxury only the rich could afford.
“The rest of us will not be able to travel by plane and will be stuck sitting next to gang
members on public transportation,” he said.
6:48 p.m. | Updated Our colleagues at the Caucus blog report meanwhile that
Republicans plan to eliminate the House Select Committee on Energy Independence
and Global Warming, created in 2007 to examine climate change and advocate limits on
emissions.
According to Mr. Rohrabacher, climate change is a deception being perpetrated by an
alliance of “radical environmentalists” in the United States and a “global elite.”
“This is a power grab that is aimed at destroying our freedoms,” he said in a December
2009 floor speech. “This is about centralizing power into the hands of global
government. That’s what Kyoto and Copenhagen are all about.”
For his part, Mr. Hall, 87, has taken a far less combative stance on the issue of climate
change. Rather than denounce man-made global warming as a hoax, he has argued
that the science remains unsettled.
“Reasonable people have serious questions about our knowledge of the state of the
science, the evidence and what constitutes a proportional response,” he said in recent
remarks before Congress.
Like Mr. Rohrabacher, however, Mr. Hall has firmly opposed policies to impose a
mandatory cap on emissions as harmful to job growth and the economy.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/critic-of-science-vies-to-lead-housescience-panel/
Gulf Oil Spill Could Spur Creation Of New Safety Agency: Investigation Panel
Huffington Post, December 2, 2010 BY Dina Capello
The presidential panel investigating the massive Gulf oil spill will likely recommend to
President Barack Obama next year new ways for both the federal government and the
oil industry to oversee offshore drilling safety.
Experts with the presidential oil spill commission on Thursday recommended that oil and
gas companies drilling off the U.S. coast set up a safety institute similar to the one the
nuclear industry formed after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. The institute would
address lapses that led to the Gulf spill.
They also said the federal government needed an independent agency to ensure
offshore workers, drilling rigs and production platforms operate safely.
The staff recommendations, and the panel members' reactions, are the first indications
of where the commission is headed as it prepares to release its final report to the
President in January.
The commission on Thursday said that the disaster that erupted from the Macondo well
resulted from questionable decisions and management failures by three companies: BP
PLC, the well owner and operator; Transocean, Ltd., the rig's owner; and Halliburton
Co., which was hired to mix and pump cement that is critical to securing the well against
a blowout.
"This perception in some quarters of the oil and gas industry that Macondo was the
consequence of one company's decisions simply does not stand," said William K. Reilly,
a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator under President George H.W.
Bush and the panel's co-chair. "It has been conclusively and indisputably established
that we have a bigger problem than that."
The panel found 11 decisions made by these companies increased risk. Most saved
time, and all but one had a safer alternative.
"All of these companies were involved – either as the primary decision maker, or in the
decision-making process," said Robert Sears, the commission's senior science and
engineering adviser. "To think these three companies screwed up like this bothers me."
The panel's staff called for a further separation of powers within the Interior Department,
which renamed and reorganized its offshore drilling agency after the Gulf accident to
split its billing and money-collecting duties from its enforcement of safety and
environmental laws.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/02/gulf-oil-spill-could-ushe_n_791185.html
We Don't Need BPA to Make a Baby Bottle
Huffington Post, December 2, 2010 BY Senator Dianne Feinstein
Just one week after chemical industry lobbyists blocked my efforts to introduce
legislation to ban a controversial chemical used in baby bottles and sippy cups, the
European Commission voted to ban Bisphenol-A, or BPA, from plastic baby bottles.
As of March 1, 2011, companies in the European Union will be prohibited from
manufacturing baby bottles with BPA, and no baby bottle containing BPA can be sold
after June 1, 2011.
The Commission wisely banned BPA over concerns it may harm the health of children.
Now, parents across the European Union can breathe a sigh of relief that this hormonedisrupting chemical will not be allowed in any bottles that they use to feed their infants.
But parents in the U.S. will need to be more cautious since efforts to enact a similar ban
in this country have been thwarted by millions of dollars worth of lobbying.
BPA, which is widely used in food packaging to harden plastic, is an endocrine disruptor
that interrupts the way our hormones work. In over 200 studies it has been linked to
breast and other cancers, reproductive disorders, cardiac disease, diabetes, early
puberty, and more.
A growing body of research suggests that babies are particularly at risk from even very
low doses of BPA. The chemical industry has rejected these findings, instead supporting
their industry-funded studies involving animals that have shown no harm arising from the
use of the chemical. They will resist a ban at all costs, but the tide is turning against
them.
Canada became the first country in the world to classify BPA as a toxic substance. It
also banned BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups. Denmark and France also have
national bans on BPA in certain children's products. Bans are also in place in Australia
and seven U.S. states.
The European Commission's new ban on BPA reinforces what a growing number of
scientists have been saying -- that the evidence against BPA and its potential health
risks on the very young is strong. Chemical companies will continue to push their
products in order to make money. This means that parents, grandparents, voters, and
decision-makers need to be prepared to make a thoughtful decision on this substance
and the type of products they buy.
U.S. manufacturers that no longer use BPA in baby bottles include Playtex, Gerber,
Evenflow, Avent America, Dr. Brown's, and Disney First Years. Sunoco, a company that
makes BPA, has said it would refuse to sell the chemical without a guarantee that it
would not be used in children's products. Eden Valley Organics now sells beans in BPAfree cans, and Walmart and Toys "R" Us will no longer sell baby bottles containing the
compound.
Clearly, alternatives do exists and you don't need BPA to make a baby bottle. The
chemical lobbyists won a round when I was prevented from offering my BPA legislation,
but this fight is just beginning. We must act urgently to protect infants and children from
dangerous chemicals.
Until Congress takes action, parents should vote with their pocketbooks by refusing to
buy any baby bottle or sippy cup that is not labeled "BPA-free."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-dianne-feinstein/we-dont-need-bpa-to-make_b_790978.html
House Republicans Scrap 'Unnecessary' Global Warming Committee
Huffington Post, December 1, 2010
The new soon-to-be Republican Congress is so unconcerned with global warming that
their leader, Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner, has announced that they're throwing an
entire House committee dedicated to the topic out the window.
The Select Committee on Global Warming, created by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2007,
was created as a forum to debate the latest developments on climate change issues and
research, but Republican leaders claimed that it was an unnecessary congregation.
"We have pledged to save taxpayers' money by reducing waste and duplication in
Congress," Michael Steel, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, said in a statement. "The
Select Committee on Global Warming was created by Democrats simply to provide
political cover to pass their job-killing national energy tax. It is unnecessary, and
taxpayers will not have to fund it in the 112th Congress."
At a hearing Wednesday, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the ranking GOP member
on the committee who had argued against its disbanding, announced that it would be
their final meeting.
"This hearing will be the last of the select committee," he said . "And while I was initially
skeptical of the select committee's mission, it ultimately provided a forum for bipartisan
debate, and an opportunity for House Republicans to share a different view on the
pressing energy and environment issues that we currently face."
Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) lamented the shuttering of the
assembly Wednesday, but promised not to give up on the committee's mission.
"We are not going away because the problems that climate change presents are too
dangerous, too urgent, for us to disappear into the abyss of cynicism and lost
opportunity," Markey said. "We are not going away because China and India and
Germany are not going away as competitors for global energy dominance. We are not
going away because the national security threats from our continued dependence on
foreign oil are not going away."
As the New York Times points out, legislative issues concerning climate change are
traditionally overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Natural
Resources Committee.
Those concerned about the effects of climate change and global warming, then, will
likely not find solace in the ongoing battles to lead those committees.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who is more receptive of environmental causes than the
other contenders, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), is
currently engaged in a difficult contest to prove his conservative credentials to GOP
leadership.
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) who is likely to assume the House Natural Resources
Committee chair, recently decried the decision by the Obama administration to halt
offshore oil drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. He is also in the midst of lobbying the
House GOP Steering Committee to hand over the energy concerns of the Energy and
Commerce Committee to the Natural Resources Committee.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/01/house-gop-global-warmingcommittee_n_790739.html
2010 on track to be warmest year for Canada
Toronto Star, December 2, 2010
The UN weather agency says 2010 is on track to be the warmest year in Canada.
And Canada is one of two regions in the world where global warming has been most
noticeable — the other covers an area stretching from northern Africa to south Asia.
The information is being released by the World Meteorological Organization at the UN
climate talks in Cancun, Mexico.
The agency says Canada had the warmest winter and spring on record in 2010, with
national temperatures about 4 degree Celsius above long-term average.
It says Canada also had its driest winter on record.
The data confirms a warming trend that has gone on for decades, something that
scientists attribute to man-made pollution trapping heat in the atmosphere.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/900681--2010-on-track-to-be-warmest-yearfor-canada-un
Global warming could double food prices by 2050, experts say
Toronto Star, December 1, 2010 BY Charles Hanley
Even if we stopped spewing global warming gases today, the world would face a steady
rise in food prices this century. But on our current emissions path, climate change
becomes the “threat multiplier” that could double grain prices by 2050 and leave millions
more children malnourished, global food experts reported Wednesday.
Beyond 2050, when climate scientists project temperatures might rise to as much as 6.4
degrees C over 20th century levels, the planet grows “gloomy” for agriculture, said
senior research fellow Gerald Nelson of the International Food Policy Research Institute.
The specialists of the authoritative, Washington-based IFPRI said they fed 15 scenarios
of population and income growth into supercomputer models of climate and found that
“climate change worsens future human well-being, especially among the world’s poorest
people.”
The study, issued here at the annual UN climate conference, said prices will be driven
up by a combination of factors: a slowdown in productivity in some places caused by
warming and shifting rain patterns, and an increase in demand because of population
and income growth.
Change apparently already is under way. Returning from northern India, agricultural
scientist Andrew Jarvis said wheat farmers there were finding warming was maturing
their crops too quickly.
“The temperatures are high and they’re getting reduced yields,” Jarvis, of the Colombiabased International Center for Tropical Agriculture, told reporters last month.
For most farmers around the world, trying to adapt to these changes “will pose major
challenges,” Wednesday’s IFPRI report said.
Research points to future climate disruption for agricultural zones in much of subSaharan Africa, south Asia and parts of Latin America, including Mexico. In one
combination of climate models and scenarios, “the corn belt in the United States could
actually see a significant reduction in productivity potential,” Nelson told reporters here.
“Unlike the 20th century, when real agricultural prices declined, the first half of the 21st
century is likely to see increases in real agricultural prices,” the IFPRI report said.
Even with “perfect mitigation,” the implausible complete elimination immediately of
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, it said real prices for grain would
rise because of growing demand and other factors — by 18 per cent for rice by 2050
under the most optimistic scenario, to up to 34 per cent for corn in the most pessimistic,
a scenario envisioning high population growth.
But climate change “acts as a threat multiplier,” making feeding billions more mouths
even more challenging, IFPRI said.
With climate change factored in, the increases in real prices by 2050 could range from
31 per cent for rice in the most optimistic scenario, to 100 per cent for corn in the most
pessimistic. And IFPRI has estimated that such skyrocketing prices could boost the
global population of undernourished children by 20 per cent, by an additional 25 million
children.
Up until 2050, endpoint of the experts’ projections, some of the impact could be offset by
research development of higher-yielding varieties of corn, wheat and other crops, and by
freer, more flexible global trade in food commodities, IFPRI said.
But beyond 2050, if temperatures rise sharply, “the world is a much more gloomy place
for agriculture,” Nelson said.
Only deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and billions spent to help farmers
adapt to a changing climate can head off serious food shortages, Nelson said. IFPRI,
which is supported by world governments, estimates that at least $7 billion additional
spending a year is needed for crop research and improved irrigation, roads and other
upgrades of agricultural infrastructure.
Needed just as much, it said, are better satellite data on how the world’s farming zones
are changing crops, land use and practices, and on-the-ground information from “citizen
data-gatherers equipped with GPS-enabled camera phones and other measuring
devices.
“Such data would yield huge payoffs in illuminating the state of the world as it unfolds,” it
said.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/900098--global-warming-could-double-foodprices-by-2050-experts-say
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ENVIRONMENT NEWS FROM THE
UN DAILY NEWS
2nd December 2010
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S.G’s SPOKESPERSON DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
2nd December 2010
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