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 Cape Town to CopenhagenClimate Change Stories
Nations ‘take note’ of Copenhagen AccordCopenhagen, Denmark, 19 December: After a marathon all-night session, countries attending the UN climate summit have agreed to “take note” of a document entitled the Copenhagen Accord, under which they agreed to work towards limiting the rise in global temperatures to below 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The culmination of two weeks of talks and two years of negotiations was welcomed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said: “The U.N. system will work to immediately start to deliver meaningful results to people in need and jump-start clean-energy growth in developing countries.”
Obama arrives in Copenhagen, hoping to unlock stalemateCopenhagen, Denmark, 18 December: US President Obama has joined more than 110 other heads of state or government for the closing day of the Copenhagen climate change summit. It is hoped that his presence will facilitate a political deal that could be the key to unlocking the negotiating stalemate on a range of issues. "It's essential that all countries do what is necessary to reach a strong operational agreement that will confront the threat of climate change while serving as a stepping-stone to a legally binding treaty," Mr. Obama said before leaving Washington. In Copenhagen today he will address the conference and hold separate bilateral talks with the leaders of China, Brazil and Russia.
Next 24 hours are absolutely critical for Copenhagen successCopenhagen, Denmark, 16 December: It is still possible to reach real success at Copenhagen according to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer although in an AP report today he warns: "The next 24 hours are absolutely crucial and need to be used productively." Talks remain deadlocked with just two days left. However at least 130 world leaders, including US President Obama, are due to join the talks on today and tomorrow, hoping to sign a new climate pact on Friday. Left unresolved are the questions of emissions targets for industrial countries, billions of dollars a year in funding for poor countries to contend with climate change, and verifying the actions of emerging powers like China and India to ensure that promises to reduce emissions are kept.
REDD could benefit environment and economy says new report, but safeguards must be followedCopenhagen, Denmark, 14 December: An agreement on REDD (reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) at the Copenhagen climate summit could generate multiple environmental and economic benefits if investments simultaneously target sites that are both carbon and biodiversity-rich, according to a new report from leading environmental organizations and institutions, including UNEP. However the report, published today in Conservation Letters, also warns of challenges unless safeguards are followed. Funding REDD, it says, might displace and intensify activities such as agriculture in lower-carbon but equally biodiversity-rich locales including parts of East Africa and Brazil.
UNEP reports energy-efficient buildings are key to tackling climate changeCopenhagen, 11 December: A new UN report, entitled “Buildings and Climate Change - Summary for Decision Makers”, confirms that the building sector is key to achieving drastic emissions reductions under new climate agreement. Buildings contribute to well over one third of global energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions, but also have a huge potential to achieve drastic emission reductions at virtually no cost. UNEP is calling on parties to UNFCCC to address buildings as a specific sector under a new climate agreement. Small island states and least developed countries call for tougher climate change goalsCopenhagen, Denmark, December 11: More than half of the 192 nations at the Copenhagen climate summit back far tougher goals for limiting global warming than those favoured by rich nations, according to a Reuters report. The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) said more than 100 nations including the least developed nations, mostly in Africa, and small island states had signed up for a goal of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degree C above pre-industrial levels. This would require emissions cuts by rich nations of at least 45 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020. Most developed nations and leading emerging economies, led by China and India, back a goal of limiting warming to a maximum 2 degree C over pre-industrial times.
US ‘emissions harmful to health’ declaration wins approval at CopenhagenUN and EU officials meeting at the Copenhagen climate change summit have welcomed the US declaration that greenhouse gases threaten human health, a move which could allow the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to order emissions cuts without the approval of Congress. IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri said that the Obama administration was "showing what it can do, even while legislation is pending. It also sends a powerful signal to Congress. It shows a degree of resolve on the part of the president." Full story and more Copenhagen coverage
Leaked ‘Danish text’ creates storm at climate talksLondon, UK, December 9: A second leaked documents scandal has hit the UN Copenhagen climate summit with the publication in the London Guardian of a draft political agreement drawn up for national leaders that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations. Last week, hacked emails from the UK’s University of East Anglia purported to show manipulation of data by climate change scientists. The so-called ‘Danish Text’ has upset developing countries who interpret it as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals. "The text robs developing countries of their just and equitable and fair share of the atmospheric space. It tries to treat rich and poor countries as equal," said Lumumba Di-Aping, the Sudanese chairman of the group of 132 developing countries known as G77 plus China.
AfDB calls for US$40 billion/year in climate aid for AfricaRich nations should commit US$40 billion a year in new money to help Africa tackle the consequences of global warming, according to African Development Bank (AfDB) president Donald Kaberuka. "Climate change is costing this continent almost three percent of GDP per year," he told Reuters in an interview yesterday. Translated into numbers, that comes to US$40 billion a year, he added. Mr Kaberuka said Africa would spend the money on helping countries adapt to climate change, on low emission energy sources, and on measures like preserving forests to help absorb excess CO2. The AfDB, whose shareholders include Africa's 53 nations and 24 non-African donor countries, will lend about US$10 billion to African governments and companies this year.
Copenhagen negotiators may be close to targets, says UNEP reportCopenhagen, Denmark 6 December: An analysis of national proposals for annual emissions reductions, launched on the eve of the Copenhagen summit by UNEP and Lord Stern of Brentford, author of the 2006 Stern Review, indicates that the gap between countries' strongest proposed cuts and what is needed to give a reasonable chance of avoiding global warming of more than 2°C is only a few billion tonnes of greenhouse gases. The research estimates that in order to have a reasonable chance, or 50 per cent probability, of avoiding the 2°C rise, annual global GHG emissions in 2020 need to be no more than 44 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent. Analysis shows that the gap between this target and the most ambitious cuts proposed by countries is about 2 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent, with a range of 1 to 5 billion tonnes. The gap identified by the analysis, however, would require a number of key conditions, in particular that developed countries provide developing countries with the right level of financial and technical support for both emissions reductions and adaptation. It also requires that countries deliver on their commitments and intentions, and interpret the actions of others as sufficient to meet any conditions they may have set. Full story and links to report
EcoPassengers board CO2-free express for CopenhagenParis/Copenhagen, 4 December 2009 – More than 400 climate change negotiators, business leaders, environmental activists and journalists will board the CO2-free Climate Express train in Brussels tomorrow to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen. The passengers, who include Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, will make a totally CO2-free journey, as the power drawn for the locomotive comes entirely from renewable sources of energy. If the same group of people flew to Copenhagen, they would produce 115kg of CO2 per person. Workshops and discussions will take place on board the train to prepare delegates for the crucial climate talks ahead.
Nepal cabinet will meet on Everest to highlight climate threat to glaciersNepal is to hold a cabinet meeting high up on Mount Everest to highlight the threat global warming poses to glaciers and send a message to the Copenhagen climate change summit, says a BBC News report. Prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and those politicians physically fit enough will ascend 17,192ft (5,250m) on 4 December to Everest base camp, where the meeting will be held. In October an underwater cabinet meeting held by the government of the Maldives to warn of the effect of rising sea levels attracted worldwide media attention.
Green light seems certain for REDD in CopenhagenWhile nations argue over emissions and climate funds, REDD (reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation) seems set to be a winner at this month’s Copenhagen climate change summit, according to a Reuters report. Most countries support the scheme and investors, such as banks, are pushing for REDD to be a success, potentially ushering in a carbon trading scheme from 2013 that could be worth billions of dollars a year. Forests soak up huge amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide, such as emissions from burning fossil fuels. But the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization says about 13 million hectares (32.5 million acres), or an area roughly the size of England, are destroyed annually. That means deforestation contributes about 20 per cent of mankind's greenhouse gas emissions annually, according to the U.N. climate panel, although a recent study says new calculations show the figure is about 12 per cent.
Commonwealth nations support ‘diplomatic offensive’ to seal the dealPort of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 30 November: Leaders of the 53-nation Commonwealth nations, representing one-third of the world's population, said at their meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last week that they would support a diplomatic offensive seeking a comprehensive agreement at Copenhagen, according to a Reuters report. The Commonwealth nations also backed an initiative to establish a Copenhagen Launch Fund, to assist poor nations' efforts to fight climate change and global warming, starting in 2010 and building to US$10 billion annually by 2012. ‘Climate Gate’ e-mails hackers aimed to discredit Copenhagen talks, say scientistsThe "Climate Gate." scandal over hacked e-mails from scientists documenting the accelerating pace of climate change intensified yesterday after claims that it is nothing less than a "smear campaign" aimed at sabotaging December climate talks in Copenhagen, says a Reuters report. "We're facing an effort by special interests who are trying to confuse the public," said Richard Somerville, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a lead author of the UN IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. The scandal began on November 20, when an unknown hacker stole at least 169 megabytes of e-mails from computers at the prominent Climate Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia and posted them online. Global warming skeptics say these messages are filled with evidence of manipulated data from lead authors of the UN's highly influential IPCC reports.
Climate change fuels Africa conflictsClimate has been a major driver of armed conflict in Africa and future warming is likely to increase the number of deaths from war, according to US researchers at the National Academy of Sciences, quoted by BBC News. The researchers found that across the continent, conflict was about 50 per cent more likely in unusually warm years. Crop yields in the region are really sensitive to small shifts in temperature, even of half a degree Celsius, so food scarcity drives conflict. Although projections of social trends, such as population increase and economic development, were included in their model, temperature rise still emerged as a likely major cause of increasing armed conflict.
GHG levels hit new record and are still rising faster than ever, says WMOGeneva, Switzerland, November 24: Global concentrations of carbon dioxide again reached the highest levels ever recorded in 2008. The levels of other greenhouse gases, including methane and nitrous oxide, have also continued to increase. The latest numbers, published today in the WMO 2008 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, confirm the continued trend of rising atmospheric burdens of greenhouse gases that began with the Industrial Revolution in the mid-18th century. CO2 has increased 38 per cent, nitrous oxide 19 per cent and methane 157 per cent, since 1750, according to WMO. CO2, the main greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, was 385.2 parts per million in 2008, up 2 parts per million from 2007, and rose slightly faster in 2008 than over the last decade when the growth rate was 1.9 parts per million. Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, press release and video
60 world leaders to attend CopenhagenMore than 60 presidents and prime ministers plan to attend the Copenhagen climate summit in December, boosting hopes for success, according to a BBC News report. Delegations from 192 countries will be attending the summit, including the confirmed presence of the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, Japan, Indonesia and Brazil. However, the leaders of the United States, China and India – some of the world's biggest polluters – are yet to confirm. There has been recent concern that no legally binding treaty will emerge from the talks in Copenhagen but observers now say the presence of so many leading government figures will radically increase expectations. Climate change puts national foods off the menuItaly may one day have to import the basic ingredients for pasta, its national food, because climate change will make it impossible to grow durum wheat. Yields will decline from 2020 and the crop will almost disappear later this century, says a recently released report from the UK Meteorological Office. Similarly, France may become unable to produce many of its leading wines, including champagne, while Spain may also be unable to retain its position as a leading producer of fruit and vegetables, and potato and wheat will suffer in Poland. The study contradicts earlier research which suggested rising levels of CO2 might boost crop yields.
SA activist takes top Greenpeace job and speaks out on CopenhagenThe current apparent lack of political will to sign a fair, ambitious and binding treaty on climate change in Copenhagen is a prime example of governments paying paid lip service to poverty and climate change with statements about greening the world's economy without providing substantive propositions or action to back it up, says South African human rights activist Kumi Naidoo, who takes up the post of Executive Director of Greenpeace International next week. Kumi, who was part of the successful struggle against apartheid, is today on the board of Greenpeace Africa and chairs the Global Campaign for Climate Action (GCCA). He was one of the founders of Global Call to Action Against Poverty, which has grown since 2005 into a coalition of anti-poverty campaigners from over 100 countries.
Emissions report adds to Copenhagen urgencyFresh urgency was added to the need to reach agreement at December’s Copenhagen Climate Change Summit with the prediction that average global temperatures are on course to rise by up to 6oC unless we take immediate action to curb CO2 emissions, says a BBC News report. A new analysis from the Global Carbon Project says that emissions rose by 29 per cent between 2000 and 2008, with all the growth in developing countries, although a quarter of it came through production of goods for consumption in industrialized nations.
CDM helps power green energy growth in AfricaNairobi, Kenya, 17 November: A rising number of green energy and climate-friendly projects are operating or being planned across Africa, according to new figures from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). A total of 112 CDM Africa projects, worth a total of US$ 316 million a year, are at the “validation, requesting registration or registered” stage. This is up from 78 projects in 2008 and just two in 2004. Kenya’s total is 14, rising from five in 2008 and zero in 2004. While UNEP says that the figures are cause for optimism, they also underline how few projects are currently flowing into Africa when compared with other parts of the world.
Copenhagen: Focus on what is possible, world leaders toldSingapore, 15 November:World leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, host of next month’s Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, said on Sunday that they supported delaying a legally binding climate pact until 2010 or even later. "Given the time factor and the situation of individual countries we must, in the coming weeks, focus on what is possible and not let ourselves be distracted by what is not possible," Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen told the leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum in Singapore."The Copenhagen Agreement should finally mandate continued legal negotiations and set a deadline for their conclusion."
The U.S. and Japan announces plans to expand cooperation in clean energy technologiesTokyo, Japan, 13 November: The United States and Japan have announced plans which aim to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. The U.S. and Japan plan to work together to expand clean energy technologies "including smart grids, carbon capture and storage and nuclear energy" in an effort to tackle climate change.
African grassroots initiatives recognized in 2009 SEED AwardsNairobi, Kenya, 10 November: Outstanding social and environmental projects from Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Colombia, Southern Africa, India and Niger are the winners of the 2009 SEED Gold Awards, which recognize promising, locally driven start-up enterprises that work in developing countries to improve livelihoods, tackle poverty and manage natural resources sustainably. The SEED Initiative is a global network founded in 2002 by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN to contribute towards the MDGs and the commitments made at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. According to Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director: “The SEED Gold Winners show us that a low carbon, resource efficient Green Economy is as much a developing country and rural community issue as it is a developed country one. These genuinely inspiring initiatives are generating multiple economic, social and environmental benefits and being achieved often against enormous odds. The challenge now is to scale them up." Full story and list of winners
Obama presence may help seal the dealWashington, USA, 10 Nov - U.S. President Barack Obama has said he would travel to the Copenhagen summit next month if his presence there will make a difference in clinching a climate change deal. Obama is hoping to help break the ongoing deadlock and disputes between rich countries and big developing nations. “If I am confident that all of the countries involved are bargaining in good faith and we are on the brink of a meaningful agreement and my presence in Copenhagen will make a difference in tipping us over edge then certainly that's something that I will do,” Obama told Reuters in an interview.
Cost of emission curbs holds back final pre-Copenhagen talksThe final U.N. preparatory meeting before the December Copenhagen climate change summit ended on Friday with little progress towards a global deal on climate change although it narrowed options on helping the poor to adapt to climate change, sharing technology and cutting emissions from deforestation, according to a Reuters report. The 175-nation meeting, held in Barcelona, re-opened a rich-poor divide on sharing the burden of curbs on emissions and criticism of the United States for not tabling a formal, carbon-cutting offer. Meanwhile, a meeting of G20 finance ministers in St Andrews, Scotland on Saturday, sought to make progress on financing a US$100 billion deal to cover the costs of climate change by 2020 but got bogged down in a row about who should foot the bill.
Low carbon practices can boost farm yields and cut GHGs, says FAOBarcelona, Spain, 5 Nov: Low-carbon farming can both curb climate change and boost food output in developing nations and therefore should be rewarded under the global climate deal to be negotiated at Copenhagen, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Farming accounts for 10-12 per cent of global GHG emissions directly, not including deforestation, FAO said that steps to cut carbon emissions on farms in developing countries could also boost yields where food is most needed. Certain farm practices can tackle both problems, but they involve up-front costs. The FAO suggests that some of the funding could come from carbon markets. The FAO initiative was revealed in a report yesterday launched at the Barcelona talks, the final preparatory session before the Copenhagen December climate change summit, said a Reuters report.
Ban Ki-moon revises Copenhagen expectationsUN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that a binding agreement is no longer a realistic goal for next month’s Copenhagen summit on climate change, and the best the world could hope for from the summit would be “political commitments”. Several key countries were not ready to sign up to binding targets, he said yesterday, and so the most likely outcome would be voluntary reduction targets, which could be legally binding within a year. "If we agree on a strong politically binding commitment, that will be, I think, a reasonable success. Then the post-Copenhagen negotiations will continue so that we have a legally binding agreement as soon as possible,” he said. The Secretary-General was speaking after 50 African countries staged a one-day boycott of UN climate change meetings in Barcelona, accusing developed nations of setting weak targets for cutting emissions. African nations force showdown at climate talksAfrican countries at the Barcelona climate change talks have shown they are prepared to provoke a major UN crisis if the US and other rich countries do not start to commit themselves to deeper and faster greenhouse gas emission cuts, according to a report in the UK Guardian newspaper. In an unprecedented show of unity, 55 African countries called for a suspension of all further negotiations on the Kyoto protocol until substantial progress was made by rich countries on emission cuts. The African countries were supported by all other developing country blocks. In a series of statements, the G77 plus China group of 130 nations, the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group, as well as Bolivia and several Latin America countries, all broadly backed the African action. With less than three days full negotiating time left between now and Copenhagen, the split between rich and poor countries threatens to blow the talks fatally off course. Delegates have now agreed to dedicate six of the 10 remaining negotiating sessions to emissions reductions.
Climate change could kill 250,000 children next year, charity warnsA quarter of a million children could die next year due to the effects of climate change and the toll could rise to more than 400,000 per year by 2030, according to a new report issued by Save the Children. The charity predicts that 175 million children a year - equivalent to almost three times the population of Great Britain - will suffer the consequences of natural disasters like cyclones, droughts and floods by 2030. It warns that more than 900 million children in the next generation will be affected by water shortages and 160 million more children will be at risk of catching malaria - one of the biggest killers of children under five - as it spreads to new parts of the world.
Pre Copenhagen negotiations enter final roundBarcelona, Spain, 2 November: The latest round of UN climate talks – the final chance for negotiators to hammer out an agreement before December's Copenhagen summit – opens today in Barcelona with major divisions remaining between countries, according to reports from BBC News and Aljazeera. Officials are still hoping to agree major elements of a treaty although major divisions remain including: the extent to which developed countries should cut emissions; how much money rich nations should contribute to help poorer ones reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, and how far developing countries will go in constraining the rise in their GHG emissions.
Project developers find CDM extension scheme ideal for IndiaSingapore, 29 October: Two leading carbon offset project developers in India say that the PoA (program of activities) extension of the Clean Development Mechanism is ideal for the country’s needs and offers the promise of improving livelihoods and boosting investment returns, says a Reuters report. Many of India’s 1.1 billion people live in large areas cut off from the electricity grid ideal for the deployment of clean energy through solar, wind or biomass. The two developers - J.P. Morgan and Emergent Ventures India – are already backing a number of PoAs including the deployment of 1.2 million solar lanterns in the northern state of Bihar; the roll-out of more fuel-efficient commercial cooking stoves in restaurants; biomass boilers and gasifiers for agro industries, such as sugar mills; transmission line improvement; and street lighting upgrades.
Coral reefs to be frozen for future generationsThe prospects of saving the world's coral reefs from the effects of global warming now appear so bleak that scientists are planning to freeze samples in liquid nitrogen to preserve them for future generations, according to a BBC news report. One of the issues they have been considering is what to do with coral reefs, which make up less than a 0.25 per cent of the ocean's floor, yet are a key source of food, income and coastal protection for around 500 million people worldwide. According to recent research, one of the world's most important concentrations of coral - the so-called Coral Triangle in South East Asia - could be destroyed by climate change before the end of this century with significant impacts on food security and livelihoods.
Hope grows for Copenhagen dealOptimism over ‘sealing the deal’ at the December Copenhagen Climate Change Summit has grown after two days of talks in London between the big-emitting nations, according to a BBC News report. The talks between 17 nations under the auspices of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) were not designed to bring new pledges, but to facilitate dialogue in a less pressured environment than formal UN negotiations. They ended with a call for more funds to assist developing countries prepare for, and adapt to the impacts of climate change, and to protect forests. Six developing countries, including some considered to be in particular need of financial assistance in adapting to climate impacts, such as Ethiopia and The Maldives, were attending an MEF meeting for the first time.
Day of climate action gives a voice to ‘ordinary people’More than 5,200 rallies took place 181 countries on 24 October as part of International Day of Climate Action creating what the organizers called “clearly the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history”. “In some sense, the global warming movement finally went global yesterday,” said Bill McKibben co-founder of the 350.org, which organized the event. “And there wasn’t a rock star or movie actor in sight – it was ordinary people rallying around a scientific data point to send the message that our leaders actually need to lead.” “People in almost all the nations of the earth are involved,” added 350 honorary spokesman Desmond Tutu, the South African Anglican archbishop and Nobel Laureate. “It's the same kind of coalition that helped make the word ‘apartheid’ known around the world.” For pictures and more details visit 350.org
Public policies can lever climate change and low carbon growth investment says new UNEP reportCape Town, South Africa, 26 October: Ways of triggering multi-billion dollar, low carbon technology investments in developing economies have been outlined in a new UNEP report which estimates that investments of around US$500 billion a year will be needed to assist developing countries adapt to climate change while powering low carbon growth. Much of the money will come from the private sector, but will only flow if creative public policies that reflect the differing circumstances of developing economies are swiftly adopted, says the report Catalysing Low Carbon Growth in Developing Economies: public finance mechanisms to scale up private sector investment in climate solutions which was launched at UNEP FI's 2009 Global Roundtable in Cape Town.
Solar panel market outlook stays cloudySan Francisco, USA, 22 Oct: U.S. solar companies SunPower and Akeena Solar have posted results exceeding Wall Street estimates, although there is still little hope the market for the renewable energy source will rebound this year, according to a Reuters report. The companies said the solar sector was slowly improving, but admitted that it still had to overcome oversupply problems that have driven prices for panels down by about 50 per cent in the past 12 months. Demand for solar systems has taken a hit because of the global financial crisis and an oversupply of cells and modules caused by a cutback in Spanish subsidies. Germany, the world's top market for solar systems, is also expected to cut aid to its solar industry
'Stealth' wind turbine deployed to end radar clutterLondon UK, 22 Oct: A British arms firm has teamed up with a turbine manufacturer to produce a "stealth turbine" which uses radar-absorbing materials and coatings to end the problem of “radar clutter” caused by the revolving blades. Wind turbines confuse aviation radar signals, making aircraft in wind farms' vicinities difficult to track. A full-scale prototype stealth turbine blade has been demonstrated at a wind farm in Norfolk, by defence firm Qinetiq and turbine manufacturers Vestas, with part-funding by the UK's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Development of the "stealth turbines" may help many wind farm projects currently on hold because of concerns over their threat to air traffic. US public turns sceptical on global warmingWashington, USA, 22 Oct: The number of Americans who believe in global warming is at its lowest point in three years, according to a poll by the Pew Research Centre. Only 57 per cent of 1,500 adults polled now believe there is strong scientific evidence the Earth has become hotter over the past few decades, (down from 77 per cent in 2006, and 71 per cent in April 2008). As a result, people are viewing climate change issues less seriously, say the researchers. Only 36 per cent of respondents felt that human activities – such as pollution from power plants, factories and automobiles – are behind a temperature increase. “The priority that people give to pollution and environmental concerns and a whole host of other issues is down because of the economy… people forget and see these issues as less grave,” said Pew Research Centre director Andrew Kohut.
Insurers find a ‘fundamental’ role in green economy transitionCape Town/Geneva/Nairobi, 22 October: Global insurers controlling assets worth trillions of US dollars have joined with the world's leading academics in a United Nations-backed survey putting the industry’s approach to sustainability and climate risks under forensic examination. The report, launched today at UNEP FI’s Global Roundtable in Cape Town, is the first ever such global survey of the powerful insurance sector. It says that the industry has a fundamental role to play to speed the transition to a clean, green, low-carbon global economy that supports sustainable development and tackles the threat of global warming head on. Full story and a link to the report Nedbank Group tops South African CDM leadership indexCape Town, South Africa, 21 October: The Nedbank Group has been declared overall winner of the 2009 South Africa Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Report Leadership Index, with the Bidvest Group and Woolworths Holdings in joint second place, followed by BHP Billiton, Goldfields and Sappi. The awards ceremony and launch of the report took place in Cape Town, during Green Week and on the eve of UNEP FI’s Global Roundtable which has brought investment and sustainable finance professionals from across the world to South Africa. The South African CDP 2009 is managed and coordinated by the National Business Initiative (NBI). It is a lead project and forms part of the NBI’s broader climate change programme, which focuses on corporate sustainability and responsible investment. Full story and a link to the report
Carbon scheme reform may get lost in CopenhagenOct 21, 2009 LONDON (Reuters) - The reform of a U.N.-run carbon offset scheme is in danger of being overshadowed by other issues at international climate talks later this year, the head of an emissions trading lobby group said on Tuesday. Reforming the scheme is important to iron out inefficiencies which critics say curb the amount of greenhouse gas reductions it produces, but some fear it could be pushed far down the agenda at the U.N.-sponsored talks in Copenhagen in December. Investors in the scheme, which is called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the firms that audit the clean energy projects registered under it argue that delaying reforms is perpetuating uncertainty and discouraging new investment. "CDM reform is still there but it is in a glass bubble. We hope to burst that bubble in Copenhagen but it is very hard going," said Henry Derwent, head of the International Emissions Trading Association. The CDM allows developed countries to meet their carbon reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol climate pact by funding projects in emerging nations like China and India, which are then granted tradable credits by the United Nations. The European Union is pushing a sector-based approach to the CDM from 2013, after Kyoto expires, to widen its scale and improve its environmental integrity. The EU has proposed an alternative system whereby the project-based approach would be phased out for advanced developing countries and for highly competitive sectors such as power, cement or steel, in favour of a sectoral mechanism. Limited detail has emerged on how a sectoral CDM would work, making investment decisions in the market difficult.
Maldives plans climate meet for threatened nationsMALE, Maldives — The Maldives will convene a summit next month of countries suffering some of the worst impacts of climate change ahead of a global conference on the issue in Copenhagen, government officials said. The low-lying island nation has become a leading voice on the issue of global warming, even staging an underwater Cabinet meeting this month to express concerns about rising sea levels. Government officials said Tuesday that the two-day conference starting Nov. 9 is meant to forge a common position for some of the world's most vulnerable countries ahead of global talks in Copenhagen in December. Those talks aim to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the first global agreement requiring modest reductions by industrialized countries in emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases widely believed responsible for changing the earth's climate. Wealthy nations want broad emissions cuts from all countries, while poorer ones say industrialized countries should carry most of the burden. "We have chosen island states and countries suffering from deforestation, glacial melting and desertification," said Ahmed Naseem, the Maldives state minister for foreign affairs. The Maldives conference is expected to include Bangladesh, Barbados, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, Kiribati, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Tuvalu and Vietnam.
2010 World Cup misses carbon footprint goalCape Town, South Africa, 19 October: Host nation South Africa has admitted that the carbon emissions from the 2010 FIFA World Cup are estimated at 896,661 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), with an additional 1,856,589 tCO2e contributed by international travel by an expected 500,000 foreign tourists. Air travel to Africa’s first World Cup is expected to make up 67 percent of the country's total carbon emissions during the one-month event. Although the event has been designed to minimize environmental impacts, it will have the largest carbon footprint of any major event with a goal to be climate neutral, South Africa's Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica told Reuters. "This footprint is almost 10 times the footprint of the 2006 FIFA World Cup hosted in Germany," she added, noting however that Germany did not include air travel in its carbon footprint estimates.
No plan ‘B’ if Copenhagen talks failLondon, UK, 19 October: There is "no plan B" if agreement is not reached at December's UN summit in Copenhagen, warned UK Prime Minster Gordon Brown at a London meeting of the Major Economies Forum last week. A BBC report says he told the Forum, which brings together 17 of the world's biggest greenhouse gas-emitting countries, that preparatory talks within the United Nations had reached an impasse and that negotiators were not reaching agreement quickly enough. Meanwhile India has softened its climate demands in an attempt to bridge the rich-poor divide, according to a Reuters report, which says that the country has dropped a core demand that industrialized countries cut greenhouse gases by 40 per cent by 2020. India is now in line with the European Union, which has promised to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20-30 per cent by 2020 below 1990 levels. U.S. President Barack Obama wants to return U.S. emissions to 1990 levels by the same deadline. However Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told Newsweek magazine last week "the prospects that states will actually agree to anything in Copenhagen are starting to look worse and worse". India softens climate change demands
BiofuelsA new UN report detailing the environmental pros and cons of biofuels says that governments should fit biofuel production into an overall energy, climate, land-use, water and agricultural strategy if their deployment is to benefit society, the economy and the environment as a whole. Brazil and other Latin American countries currently lead biofuel production but experts agree that sub-Saharan African countries might one day become dominant producers of renewable bioenergy, to the benefit of millions of the continent's rural poor. The report, Towards Sustainable Production and Use of Resources: Assessing Biofuels – the first by the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management – says that the way in which biofuels are produced matters in determining whether they are leading to more or less greenhouse gas emissions. Conditions under which biofuels production does lead to higher emissions have been identified in the report.
NBI pushes for a sustainable South AfricaBusiness and government leaders in various provinces will tackle the issues which will help in shaping a sustainable South Africa, at the annual report-back meetings organized by the National Business Initiative (NBI). This year’s events focus on “the role of responsible corporations in South Africa over the next decade and beyond”. NBI business members, partners and stakeholders will present the impact of NBI and discuss critical issues facing the country, its business leaders and companies at two-hour sessions on Johannesburg (10 November), East London (16 November), Cape Town (17 November), and Durban (24 November) All sessions begin at 15.30. For more details visit the Events section of the NBI website.
Urgent action needed to maintain and restore ‘Blue Carbon’ sinks, says UNCape Town, Nairobi, Rome, Paris, 14 October: Healthy ocean ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes and sea grasses are key to combating climate change and governments should therefore urgently consider setting up a special fund to invest in their maintenance and rehabilitation, says a new Rapid Response Report released today by three United Nations agencies and leading scientists. Blue Carbon: the Role of Healthy Oceans in Binding Carbon has been compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. It says that of all the biological carbon, or “green” carbon captured in the world, over half (55 per cent) is captured by marine-living organisms – not on land – hence the term “blue” carbon. But the report goes on to warn that these natural carbon sinks are being damaged and degraded at an accelerating rate. It estimates that up to seven per cent of these “blue carbon sinks” are being lost annually, or seven times the rate of loss of 50 years ago. Full story and a link to the Blue Carbon report
eSolar picks South African partnerLos Angeles, USA October 13: (Reuters) - Solar thermal power company eSolar Inc has granted South African company Clean Energy Solutions exclusive rights to represent and distribute its solar power technology across seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a Reuters report. Initially eSolar will focus on on-grid applications and later will look toward more community-sized power plants in off-grid applications in Africa. The South African government has set a goal to have 10,000 gigawatt hours of capacity from renewable resources by 2013. The partnership expands eSolar's global operations. In February, it partnered with Indian energy and technology company the ACME Group to build solar thermal power plants in India over the next 10 years.
Climate change threatens global security, say military chiefsMan-made climate change plays into the hands of terrorist groups in many countries and specifically, aggravates the war in Afghanistan, according to a new report complied by US military chiefs. An ABC News report says that National Security and the Threat of Climate Change, with essays by 11 U.S. generals and admirals, and supervised by the former U.S. Army chief of staff, General Gordon R. Sullivan, describes how terrorist groups often are helped global warming's increasing droughts – especially in poor countries such as Afghanistan, which is now 11 years into a drought with no end in sight, and in Somalia. “Famine created by drought leaves many people ripe for picking for terrorist groups,” says Sullivan. “Global climate change could be like striking a match around an open can of gasoline.”
Bangkok talks end with ‘deep divisions’The latest round of UN climate talks in Bangkok has ended with deep divisions over the shape of a new global treaty, according to a BBC News report. Only five negotiating days are now left until the UN Copenhagen summit in December that is supposed to finalize the new treaty. Progress was made during Bangkok sessions, said delegates, but fundamental divisions remained. Developing countries are arguing for an extension of the Kyoto Protocol; but developed nations are seeking a completely new agreement. Delegates convene again in Barcelona at the beginning of November for a further week of negotiations - the final round before the Copenhagen summit.
EPA finalizes GHG reporting ruleThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that from January 1, 2010 it will require the collection and reporting of greenhouse gases (GHG) from specified facilities for the first time under its recently finalized GHG reporting rule (the "Final Rule"). The Final Rule is broad-based and is expected to cover about 85 per cent of all of the GHG emissions in the U.S., requiring the monitoring, recording and submission of data from thousands of previously unregulated sources. It represents a major step to comprehensively measure GHG emissions on a facility-by-facility basis in the United States. The Global Environmental Markets Practice department of lawyers Baker & McKenzie has prepared a Client Alert giving full details and advice on the new ruling.
Climate change could devastate African economies, warns IEED studyLondon, UK, October 8: Sub-Saharan Africa must start adapting its agricultural sector to expected climate shifts or risk a severe economic crisis in the future, warns a new report from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Using sophisticated macroeconomic computer models and picking Tanzania as a test case the researchers said the country could see a drop of up to 68 per cent in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due to the effects of climate change on its agricultural sector with devastating consequences for the nation's entire economic system. The study, which based its research on scientific predictions that temperatures in East Africa are expected to rise by two to four degrees centigrade by the end of the century also confirmed that the expected impact of the climate shifts will disproportionately hit the rural poor, many of whom are subsistence farmers. 80 percent of Tanzania's workforce is in the agricultural sector, and almost half of the nation's GDP is directly tied to farming. However, the economic models also suggested that the economic toll may be relatively modest before the year 2030, giving the region's governments a short time window to begin preparing for the climate-induced economic onslaught. The report recommends that a combination of credit, insurance, and training packages need to be offered to the region's farmers, as well as an adaptation within the agricultural supply chain in order to adjust for the coming changes. Much of sub-Saharan Africa could be in line for a similar radical transformation of their economies, warns the report. "The economies of most countries in this region - not just eastern African itself but southern Africa in general - are underpinned by agriculture, which means that the agricultural sector is quite key and it is quite strategic for other countries to look at the findings for Tanzania and try to establish some of the similarities that the agricultural and economic systems have got with the Tanzanian economy," said IIED economist Muyeye Chambwera, co-author of the study. International Institute for Environment and Development
Business comes clean on emissionsLondon, UK, October 8: A record number of responses on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies have been received this year from the world’s largest organizations by the Carbon Disclosure Project. CDP’s Global 500 report, produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers, includes the highest level of disclosed corporate greenhouse gas emissions (83 per cent of respondents up from 72 per cent last year) and a doubling of response rates in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China). It also contains the greatest level of detail to date. CDP say they have been able to go beyond looking at the level and quality of companies’ disclosure to assessing corporations’ actual performance in responding to and reducing their contribution to climate change. They identified common traits in top performers such as: • Taking effective action to manage risks and capitalize on new opportunities, • Showing carbon reduction activities that deliver results; and • Incorporating expected regulation into forward thinking and planning. However the report also warns that only 36 per cent of reported carbon reduction targets stretched beyond 2012 and says that business needs increased certainty from the Copenhagen climate change conference in order to set medium and long-term targets Carbon Disclosure Project and Global 500 report
Africa investor announces shortlist for Investment and Business Leader AwardsCape Town, South Africa, 6 October: Africa investor (Ai), a leading international investment research and communication group, has announced the shortlist for its annual Investment and Business Leader Awards. The 2009 awards ceremony will take place at the Africa investor CEO Forum and UNEP Finance Initiative Global Roundtable Gala Dinner on 22 October, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The awards recognize and reward the achievements of the private sector across the continent in wide-ranging sectors and disciplines. This year’s awards will place particular emphasis on recognizing the good governance, and strong visionary leadership shown by Africa’s business leaders in navigating their organizations and the continent through the financial crisis. Hubert Danso, Vice Chairman of Africa investor, said: “The increased quality and quantity of entries received for this year’s Awards process is testament to the leadership and resilience of businesses operating on the continent, despite the economic downturn, and we are delighted to be recognizing them in front of the global investment community at such a prestigious ceremony held in association with UNEP FI.” Full story and complete shortlist
Cool climates attract data centre businessNew York, USA, October 5: Climate change and the search for energy efficiency is encouraging IT giants to move their giant data centres to cool locations, where the climate makes them energy-efficient, according to a New York Times report. Data centers use vast amounts of energy. In 2006, they accounted for 1.5 per cent of US electricity use and their electricity consumption is projected to grow at about 12 per cent a year. In many cases, half of the energy is used to keeping the servers cool in order to maximize the efficiency of the chips that run them. Last month, Microsoft opened a data storage center in Dublin, to take advantage of "the naturally colder Ireland climate," and in June, Yahoo announced that it would locate a data center in Buffalo, where the "micro-climate," would cool the servers entirely with outside air. Google already has a data center in Belgium where the local climate allows efficient cooling without power chillers. Many companies, including Microsoft and Yahoo, are also locating data centers near hydroelectric plants, sources of renewable power.
Climate Parliament opens new forum for debateA special Climate Parliament is being set up by the e-Parliament to coordinate its work on energy and climate change. The Climate Parliament will debate and promote ideas such as: the building of supergrids that can transport clean energy over long distances; thermal power stations; wind power; photovoltaic panels; using existing dams for back-up energy; and paying forest landowners for ecosystem services. The e-Parliament is a non-profit organization, set up in 2001, that seeks to link the world's legislators together into a single forum which, together with interested organizations and citizens, can address a democracy gap at national and global levels. It organizes international parliamentary hearings on a number of issues, including climate change. The e-Parliament also polls legislators on topical issues and provides model legislation and policy ideas. Membership is open to all democratically-elected legislators, as well as citizens, organizations and the media.
More talks may be needed before CopenhagenStockholm, Sweden, Oct 1: More climate meetings may be needed this year to help seal the deal in Copenhagen in December. Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt, who is representing the rotating EU presidency, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have called on world leaders to step up their commitments to tackle climate change. Neither of the officials ruled out additional meetings to ones already planned ahead of the UNFCCC Copenhagen conference in order to reach a pact to succeed the Kyoto protocol, according to the subscribers’ news service PointCarbon. The latest round of formal UN-led climate negotiations is taking place in Bangkok this week and next. Barcelona will host the final scheduled round of talks on 2-6 November, prior to the Copenhagen conference. However, formal negotiations appear to be bogged down by "confidence" issues, said the Swedish prime minister. Full story at PointCarbon
Windmill-building teenager transforms village lifeMasitala, Malawi, 1 Oct: A Malawian teenager has transformed his village by building a wind turbine out of junk from rubbish tips. The wind turbine, built from spare bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade, an old shock absorber, and blades fashioned from plastic pipes, now provides power and light for the village’s mud and brick houses. According to a BBC News report William Kamkwamba was forced to quit school as his family could not afford the fees. While working on his parents’ maize farm, the 14-year-old kept up his education at a local library where he became fascinated by science. When he saw a picture of a windmill that could make electricity and pump water, he decided to build one himself. His extraordinary story is now the subject of a new book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
Investors back carbon credit market to save forestsBangkok, Thailand, 28 Sept: Investors such as UBS, Citigroup and Blackrock back a potentially multi-billion dollar carbon credit market centered on saving forests but regulations and cash were needed to build a market first, a survey has found. The survey, carried out by the Brunswick Group on behalf of global conservation group WWF, polled investors with US$7 trillion of assets. It said banks and fund managers were now waiting for the forest carbon scheme to be included in a broader climate pact. Results from the survey were published while delegates from about 180 countries are currently meet in Bangkok in the last major climate change meeting before the December UNFCCC conference in Copenhagen. They are trying to break the existing deadlock and narrow differences on emissions reduction targets, climate finance and transfer of clean-energy technology. Details of the WWF survey
Clean tech investments soar to $1.9 billionSan Francisco, USA, 28 Sept: Global investment in clean technology continued to soar in the third quarter of 2009 with clean tech investments rising to $1.9 billion in 112 deals, according to figures published by Greentech Media and quoted by Reuters. The investments, including solar installations, a computer-controlled efficient electric grid, electric cars, biofuels and green building materials, driven by solar power and a public offering that underscores growing enthusiasm for the sector, Greentech said. The figures represent the year’s second big jump, after clean tech investments rose from US$836 million in the first quarter of 2009 to US$1.2 billion in the second. New science report underlines Copenhagen urgencyWashington/Nairobi/Bangkok, 28 Sept: The pace and scale of climate change may now be outstripping even the most sobering predictions, according to a new UNEP report - Climate Change Science Compendium 2009. The report, compiled in association with scientists around the world, comes with less than 80 days to go to the crucial UN climate convention meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. It notes that although it may still be possible to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change this will only happen if there is immediate, cohesive and decisive action to both cut emissions and assist vulnerable countries. Meanwhile delegates at the start of climate talks in Bangkok Thailand today were told to speed up "painfully slow" negotiations as they struggle to settle on the outline of a tougher pact to fight global warming. The talks are the last major negotiating round before the December UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Laying the foundations of Green Building Day
Cape Town, South Africa, Sept 23: The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) took part in the first annual World Green Building Day (23 Sept) during which worldwide events highlit the importance of green buildings. The GBCSA joined other green building councils internationally in lobbying national negotiating teams for the forthcoming UNFCCC negotiations in Copenhagen in December. Under an initiative set up by the World Green Building Council, the GBCSA is urging South Africa’s negotiating team to recognize the significant role of buildings in generating carbon emissions and contributing to climate change. Worldwide, buildings consume approximately 40 per cent of total energy requirements in their construction, ongoing operation, and in the embodied energy of the building materials. However buildings also represent some of the best, most practical and cost effective emission reduction opportunities. According to the IPCC "the building sector not only has the largest potential for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions...With proven and commercially available technologies, the energy consumption in both new and old buildings can be cut by an estimated 30-50 per cent without significantly increasing investment costs." UN urges leaders to unite on climate change
New York, USA, 23 Sept: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has told dozens of world leaders to unite in purpose and action to address climate change. He told delegates to the largest-ever UN summit on climate change, with more than 100 heads of State and government in attendance, that failure to reach a deal in Copenhagen would be "morally inexcusable, economically short-sighted and politically unwise". "Now is our time. A time to put the 'united' back into the United Nations", he said, appealing for united global efforts to tackle the problem ahead of this December's conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, where negotiations on an ambitious new agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions are due to conclude. "Climate change is the pre-eminent geopolitical and economic issue of the 21st century," said the Secretary-General. "It rewrites the global equation for development, peace and security." A new climate pact has the potential to help green global economic growth and lift billions out of poverty, as well as boosting cooperation on trade, energy, security and health issues, he added. Printing prank parody sends climate change message to Post readers
New York, USA, 23 Sept: Climate change activists used guerilla-style tactics to get their message across by printing a spoof issue of the New York Post, filled with content related to climate change. The parody, which appeared a day before the U.N. Climate Change Summit, bore a blaring "WE'RE SCREWED" headline. All content in the 32-page publication, including some bogus advertisements and comics, revolved around climate change. The Yes Men, an activist group whose activities have been documented in film and who have posed as officials and spokesmen of various organizations, companies and agencies, said that although their version of the New York Post is a fake, "everything in it is 100 percent true, with all facts carefully checked by a team of editors and climate change experts." Partnership boost kicks off Global Climate Week
Nairobi, Kenya, Sept 23: Business, government and civil society organizations have pledged to significantly reduce their carbon footprint and promote greener living by joining the Climate Neutral Network led by UNEP. The new partnerships were announced at the start of Global Climate Week (21-25 Sept) when synchronized action is planned in more that 100 cities to urge world leaders to seal an fair and effective climate agreement at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen (7-18 December.) Full story and list of new partners Act now to break climate change deadlock, urges Stern
London, UK, 21 Sept: British economist Sir Nicholas Stern, who led the influential Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, says that crucial steps must be taken over the remaining weeks before the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference if we are to break the existing deadlock. Writing in the London Daily Telegraph Sir Nicholas says the deadlock is caused by an approach by rich countries which collectively involves inadequate emissions reductions and unwillingness to make financial commitments without being able to approve the plans for developing countries to move to low-carbon growth, while developing countries show an unwillingness to make reductions commitments without a clear indication of financial support from rich countries, together with an unwillingness to have their own plans for low-carbon development determined by, or subject to the approval of, the rich countries. Sir Nicholas says that an ambitious and comprehensive deal is possible, but only if the world gets to grips with these issues. "An effective, efficient and equitable agreement will allow us to avoid the profound risks of climate change, to overcome poverty worldwide and to usher in an exciting new era of prosperity based on sustainable low-carbon growth," he writes. "Through innovation and investment in new greener and more energy efficient technologies in the next two or three decades, we can create the most dynamic period of growth in economic history. And what is more, a low-carbon world will also be quieter, cleaner, more energy-secure and more biologically diverse." Read the full story at the Daily Telegraph website. Green Cape Town looks east for investment
Cape Town, South Africa, 21 Sept: Cape Town’s experience with renewable green energy presents substantial opportunities for trade and for cementing bilateral, mutually beneficial ties between South Africa and China. A delegation from the City of Cape Town is currently in China for the World Economic Forum’s "Meeting of New Champions". The delegation will be on the lookout for examples of environmentally-friendly investment projects in China, as well as ways to encourage Chinese tourism to South Africa. Trade between China and South Africa faces challenges with volume having declined by 23 percent to US$5.6 billion in 2008. Major economic reforms on Pittsburgh agenda, says BBC
London, UK, 22 Sept: Major reforms to promote a more balanced global economy will be called for at the Pittsburgh G20 meeting (24-25 Sept) where the economy will be high on the agenda, according to a BBC report. The BBC quotes a draft government paper which hints at significant policy changes from G20 countries, including the UK, the US and China. The paper says that while stimulus packages should continue for now, "transparent and credible" means to unwind that support and iron out huge imbalances in the global economy need to be created. While no countries are named, the BBC says the document suggests that rich indebted countries - such as Britain and the US - should save more, while cautious and savings-oriented nations - such as Germany and China - increase their spending. The document is said to be ambitious and aims to remove some of the wild economic swings of the first decade of the 21st Century. However it does not suggest any mechanism for enforcing its plans - other than countries coming under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - and acknowledges that each country will have to find its own way of unwinding its support in terms of scale and timing. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8268009.stm Government climate change plan lacks ambition
Johannesburg, South Africa, Sept 17: The opposition Democratic Alliance party (DA) has criticized a government statement on climate change saying it lacks ambition. A report in Business Day, the country’s leading business daily paper, says that MP Gareth Morgan said that a Cabinet statement issued in the run up to the December UN Copenhagen climate change conference ignored previous commitments on climate change and said nothing about how the government planned to engage with developed countries on the issue. Morgan said that the Democratic Alliance party agreed with the government that South Africa should not have to commit to emission reduction targets as developed countries did. But he said that unless constrained, South Africa's emissions could quadruple by 2050, as the government's own study, the Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios for South Africa, had shown last year. In the statement the Cabinet said it was committed to "taking responsible action" to reduce emissions and announced that an inter-ministerial committee would be formed to develop a mandate for the Copenhagen talks. Investors with US$ 13 trillion urge action on climate change New York City, USA, Sept 16: The world’s capital markets have urged action on climate change in a powerful message to the UN Copenhagen climate change conference (COP 15 of the UNFCCC). A Statement on the Urgent Need for a Global Agreement on Climate Change has been issued by 181 leading investors and financial institutions responsible for the fiduciary management of US$ 13 trillion – the backbone of the global economic system. Endorsed by developed and developing country investors, the landmark statement specifies the elements that a climate change deal must feature in order to unlock institutional investment and finance sector skills - at the needed scale - into the development of a low-carbon and climate-change resilient global economy. Central to the statement is the science-based demand for a global target for emission reductions of 50-85 per cent by 2050, and developed country emission reductions targets of 80-95 per cent by 2050. Top internet sites feature G20 analysisThe world’s top-ranked internet news sites all featured breaking news from the first day of G20 talks in Pittsburgh, USA, On Friday morning CBS and Fox both were both reporting the new importance of the G20 as a successor to the G8 (‘G20 declared top global economics council’ and ‘New world order at G20’). The BBC News site echoed this with ‘Bigger role for developing world’and Google News led with a story entitled ‘G20 to police new world order’ from the London Daily Telegraph, also featured on Reuters. Yahoo News coverage included ‘G20 leaders push global economic reforms’ and World News reported ‘G20 under pressure to reform IMF’, a story from Al Jezeera. Local angles were taken by msnbc who reported ‘Obamas play host to the world’ and CNN who featured ‘How Pittsburgh bounced back’ showing how the former industrial city had gone green for the event. Blogs, background information, analysis and related links were particularly strong on the BBC News, Yahoo News and Reuters websites. Climate Change Links
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