Seven Years
from Disaster
5th July 2008
The Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Pachauri, delivered a stark warning at a gathering of European Union ministers on Friday, when he pleaded with the EU to take the lead in global talks on tackling climate change. The world is just seven years away from catastrophic climate change unless urgent action is taken.
The UN negotiations "must progress rapidly, otherwise I am afraid that not only future generations but even this generation will treat us as having been irresponsible.......The EU has to lead. If the EU does not lead, I am afraid that any attempt to bring about change and to manage the problem of climate change will collapse," said Pachauri.
"Today there is a high level of expectation. If the EU does not lead, you will not be able to bring the US on board, North America, on board. You will not be able to bring on board other countries in the world as well."
Pachauri said the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report had dispelled any doubts about human impact on the climate system. The Panel and former US vice-president won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their work.
Pachauri also issued a bleak warning that time was running out for dealing with the threat. In the 20th century, the temperature had already risen on average by 0.74 degrees Celsius (1.32 degrees Fahrenheit), he said.
The EU wants to limit the overall warming since pre-industrial times to 2 degrees Centigrade (3.6 F), a goal that is shared by many scientists, although leading Nasa scientist James Hansen has warned that present targets are not ambition enough.
To achieve the 2 degrees centigrade limit, said Pachauri:
"we would have to stabilise the greenhouse-gas concentration at more or less the level at which we are today......But in order to do that, we have a window of opportunity of only seven years because emissions will have to peak by 2015 and reduce after that. We cannot permit a longer delay."
Pachauri also sounded a note of caution about the 2 C (3.6 F) figure, as evidence was mounting that climate change was accelerating faster than thought. Heatwaves and floods were increasing, and higher temperatures were having a far-reaching effect on glaciers and snowfall.
"The very wise target that the EU had set of 2.0 (C, 3.6 F) may need to be looked at once more, because the impacts are turning out to be more serious than we had estimated earlier," he said.
Talks are taking place under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for a new global pact after 2012, when the current provisions of the Kyoto Protocol run out.
A major round of negotiations will take place in Poznan, Poland in December, with the climax scheduled in Copenhagen in December 2009.
The current target in the UK's Climate Bill is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60%, although a working groups is likely to recommend increasing this to 80%.
Colombian Green Leader Freed
Joy as presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt
is rescued after six years in captivity.
4th July 2008
Colombian Green presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt has been rescued by security forces after more than six years' captivity as a hostage of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Green Party Principal Speaker Caroline Lucas MEP has expressed the party's joy at the liberation of our colleague. Dr Lucas told Eco:
"We are all relieved and delighted at the news that Ingrid Betancourt, and the 14 other hostages, are safe at last and on their way home.
"Ingrid has endured an unimaginable six-year ordeal in FARC captivity, and years of death threats before that. A French national, she could have chosen an easy life in Europe or elsewhere but put herself in the line of fire to fight for democracy and peace in Colombia.
"Her personal bravery, moral courage and total commitment to the people of her country set her amongst the most inspirational women of our generation. Her safe return is a cause for celebration not just for Greens, but for all democrats."
Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped on February 23rd 2002, while campaigning in the Colombian presidential election. The founder of the Oxygen Green Party, she served as a member of the country's Chamber of Representatives and as a Senator before launching her presidential bid.
Read CNN's report on the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt
Carbon Cop-Out
3rd July 2008
The Government has opened a new public consultation on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) policy, seeking views on the proposed EU legislation on regulation of CCS and on what the term 'CCS Ready' might mean in practice. Most environmental organisations are deeply sceptical of CCS. In response to this consulation, Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at WWF-UK told Eco:
"It is extremely disappointing that less than a week after publishing its plans for a renewables revolution in this country, the Government is pressing blindly ahead under the assumption that the UK has a need for unabated coal-fired power generation. In order to avoid dangerous climate change, there needs to be a rapid decarbonisation of the power sector and a radical shift in the way in which the UK and indeed the world sources its energy. Renewables and greater energy efficiency should form the bulk of that shift, but fossil fuels could also play a role, provided they use proven and strongly legislated CCS from the outset."
WWF-UK is urgently calling on the Government to introduce a Californian-style emission standard for new power plants in the current Energy Bill in order to ensure the Government's small CCS competition, which will fund one demonstration CCS project in the UK, is not used as a fig-leaf to legitimise a new generation of much larger 'capture ready' but unabated coal-fired power stations.
"If oil and power companies believe that CCS is key to the future of their fossil fuel business models then they should invest heavily in making sure CCS technology is workable, rather than leaving it to the taxpayer, and ultimately the environment, to foot the bill in the future," Keith Allott continues. "At present, the concept of CCS readiness does little more than refer to the need for power plants to leave space on their sites for CCS equipment to be retrofitted in the future. There's no deadline for conversion to full scale CCS, let alone any guarantee that this would then ever be met. Reliance on an as yet unproven technology, however promising it may be, is a risky business. The future of the planet's climate cannot rely upon good intentions."
Read more about CCS
Food For Thought
First study of its kind into greenhouse gas emissions from
farms
3rd July 2008
The first study of its kind to provide detailed measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from farms in England has revealed big differences from one agricultural sector to another.
Farmers are today urged to go online and use the CALM (Carbon Accounting for Land Managers) calculator to measure their farms’ greenhouse gas emissions. They can then compare their results against the range found in this Natural England study.
The comprehensive study of 200 farms comes at a time when the agricultural industry is increasingly aware it must take steps to reduce its carbon footprint, particularly emissions of nitrous oxide and methane.
Agriculture is responsible for the majority of the UK’s nitrous oxide emissions caused by microbial activity in soils as a result of the application of nitrogen fertilizers – both organic and inorganic – essential for healthy crop growth. Methane emissions come mainly from livestock and manures. Both gases have a proportionally higher global warming potency than carbon dioxide.
The study shows that a typical 100 hectare cereal farm will emit the equivalent emissions of 78 cars or 50 average households in an average year.
Continued - Food for Thought
Whaling Protestors Jailed
23 days in custody without charge for
Greenpeace Japan activists
2nd July 2008
A court in Aomori, Japan has ruled that two Greenpeace protestors who exposed a major scandal around the embezzlement of whale meat from the Japanese government-sponsored Southern Ocean whaling programme will spend the maximum time in custody without charge permissible under Japanese law - 23 days.
Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki were arrested on June 20th after exposing the scandal, despite offering to cooperate with any police investigation and having already submitted, under their own initiative, written statements about the undercover investigation, which revealed large-scale theft of meat from the tax-payer funded so-called scientific whaling programme.
"With this additional custody order, Junichi and Toru are to spend twenty three days in detention without charge, despite having given the police all the information they need. This is much longer than the time spent by the Tokyo District Prosecutor investigating the evidence presented by Greenpeace of an embezzlement ring within the so-called scientific whaling fleet," commented Greenpeace International Executive Director, Gerd Leipold. "The authorities in Japan must, as a matter of urgency, refocus their energy on investigating the crimes covered up by the whaling industry and sectors of the Government, not the method of exposing the evidence."
Since their arrest, nearly 190,000 people have sent letters to the Japanese Government calling for the release of Junichi and Toru and further demanding a full investigation into the whale meat embezzlement scandal. Protests have been held outside Japanese embassies in 33 cities across 29 countries.
In a message to supporters, sent via their lawyers, Junichi and Toru welcomed the support they have had from people all over the world, adding: "We still need your help. We have been ordered to remain in custody for ten more days without charge. Please encourage your friends to send an email to the Japanese government, if they have not already. Keep watching for news from Greenpeace of more actions you can take and make sure that the global demand to investigate the whale meat scandal we exposed is heard loud and clear here in Japan."
Greenpeace has begun a series of activities at Japanese embassies around the world protesting the detention of Junichi and Toru. Nearly 190,000 people have now written to demand their release.
Download the "Stolen Japanese Whale Meat Scandal" dossier.
Carbon Smokescreen
Government’s carbon capture push “exposes incoherence of its energy policy”
2nd July 2008
The government was today criticised by environmentalists over its latest plans for more coal power stations.
Last night, the Government announced the publication of a consultation on carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Robin Oakley, the head of Greenpeace's climate and energy campaign, said:
"Coal burning is the single greatest threat to our climate, and this announcement does nothing to change that. It's nothing more than a smokescreen.
"This short-sighted push to approve a new fleet of coal plants is totally at odds with the encouraging renewable energy package released last week, and it exposes the incoherence of the Government's approach to energy policy.
"If the Government was serious about tackling climate change caused by coal, it should set tough limits on emissions from power stations similar to those already in place in California and supported by both the Tories and the Lib Dems."
Get On Board Petition
WWF Get on Board petition delivered to Downing Street
2nd July 2008
After a 10 day voyage in the Arctic, students Emma Biermann and Casper ter Kuile from Warwick University have been to Downing Street to deliver a petition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. WWF-UK's Get on Board petition asks the Government to commit to reduce the UK's CO2 emissions by at least 80% by 2050 in the Climate Change Bill currently going through parliament. It also calls for this to include emissions from international aviation and shipping.
The pair have just been on an arctic voyage which set off from Svalbard, Norway, where they visited some of the area's fjords to witness the shrinking glaciers and reduction in sea ice. They also sailed to Ny Ålesund, the most northern settlement in the world at 78 degrees N and an international centre for Arctic research. During the trip the students were able to see the wealth of Arctic wildlife including seals, walrus, reindeer and the critically-threatened polar bear, whose habitat is disappearing.
"It is essential that the petition is taken on board by the government because the situation is far more urgent than many people had feared", said Emma. "Visiting the Arctic and hearing the scientific background has confirmed how serious this issue is. We need to work for a global social movement that will put pressure on governments worldwide to make long-term decisions about people and planet."
Casper said: "Seeing the beautiful Arctic landscape with its vastness, the snow-capped peaks and glaciers feeding into the ocean really formed a clear picture of the changes that are taking place. The message we've taken to Downing Street is that we must strengthen the Climate Change Bill to set a target for the UK to reduce carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2050, including emissions from boats and planes."
As well as witnessing the natural environment, the students also received lectures from WWF staff and experts in the field on the effects of climate change, the tipping points and feedback mechanisms (when melting sea ice reduces the area of white surface able to reflect the sun's heat and the exposed ocean then absorbs yet more heat). They also learnt about the growing economic interests in the Arctic from oil and gas, fishing and shipping industries and the dangers these pose.
Having experienced first-hand the harsh realities of the impacts of global warming in the Arctic and gaining a wealth of new knowledge of climate change, they will continue to work as young ambassadors with WWF to deliver the message for urgent action on this issue.
Read the blogs and see the pictures from their journey.
Future Brighter for Whales
Some progress for whales – but a long way to go
1st July 2008
Environmental campaigners have applauded the International Whaling Commission's willingness to re-examine its role in whale conservation, but are concerned the process might take too long for some threatened whale and dolphin species.
"We applaud moves to take the IWC towards a future much more constructive than a continuing deadlock on commercial whaling", Dr. Susan Lieberman, WWF International Species Programme told Eco, as the IWC's 60th meeting drew to a close in Santiago. "We regret that no resolution has yet been found on any issues of substance, while so-called 'scientific' whaling continues unabated."
A major success at the meeting was the prioritisation of climate change as a significant threat to whales. A well-received WWF report at the meeting revealed the dangerous extent of the climate warming threat to whales – a point made strongly by many governments during the meeting. The IWC will now be holding a special workshop on climate change next year, and several governments have made financial contributions to ensure this initiative is a success.
On other fronts, a series of new scientific studies have conclusively found whales 'innocent' of declines in global fisheries, a charge placed on them by Japan, Norway and other nations in order to justify their whaling programmes. Over-fishing and excess fishing capacity were found to be the real culprits. Blaming whales serves to harm developing nations by distracting any debate on the real causes of the declines of their fisheries.
"We call upon whaling countries to show flexibility, and on all governments to agree to move the IWC into a meaningful future for whale conservation," Dr Lieberman said. "We also call upon governments to fully engage non-governmental organizations in all their deliberations in the coming year.
"The IWC is at a crossroads – the world is watching, and both the future of the IWC and the world's whales are in the balance."
Dr Lieberman also applauded the achievement of a unilateral consensus position by the Latin American bloc at the meeting – a timely and significant move which coincided with the first IWC meeting to be held in South America for almost a quarter of a century.
"All 12 Latin American member governments of the IWC are now strongly in support of whale conservation," she said.
Road Tax:
Another Government Retreat
30th June 2008
In the latest humiliation, it is rumoured that the Government is about to retreat over its plans to tax the most polluting vehicles. Rebel MPs are unhappy that the increases - sold as an environmental measure - will apply retrospectively to all vehicles bought between 2001 and 2006. Some 48 Labour backbenchers have signed a Commons motion demanding a rethink.
As a result of the rumoured climbdown, Labour whips are now confident that the potential rebellion has been defused. "There shouldn't be any trouble now," one whip told Eco. Some MPs expect Mr Darling to give a public assurance in the Commons next week that the plans are now being reviewed, when the budget is debated on Wednesday.
Changes announced in the Budget in March 2008 mean that from next year, all cars that have been on the road since 2001 would face above-inflation rises in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). Older cars with 1.5-litre engines or larger would also be affected.
The VED changes will affect almost 70 per cent of Britain's 26 million drivers, who could have to pay up to £245 a year more to license a family car. Under plans for a "showroom tax" drivers who purchase a new car would face an additional levy of up to £950.
Drivers of popular family saloons will bear the brunt of the tax changes. A Ford Mondeo registered between March 1, 2001, and March 23, 2006 will have to pay over double the current rate of Vehicle Excise Duty from 2010.
However Mr Darling, the Chancellor, has assured Labour MPs that he will look again at "green tax" plans to increase Duty retrospectively on vehicles bought before 2001. The tax proposals - which would see 18 million motorists face above-inflation rises in their car tax - have prompted a popular backlash.
This week Labour came fifth in the Henley by-election behind the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens and the British National Party, and lag around 20 points behind the Tories in the opinion polls. The public have been angered by the rise in the price of fuel, and the road tax plans are seen as the final straw.
According to one of Mr Darling's colleagues, the Chancellor privately accepts that he has to change course, but in the wake of embarrassing climb-downs over policies including the 10 pence tax rate and the taxation of "non-dom" foreigners, he is keen to avoid suggestions of another retreat.
Gone by September
28th June 2008
Scientists monitoring the thinning of ice at the North Pole are predicting that there is an even chance that the ice could be gone by September, before it reforms during the winter months. If this happens it will be the first time in 20,000 that the pole has become ice-free.
"There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole - not water," said Mark Serreze of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in Colorado.
The Centre has been predicting that the Arctic Ocean could be virtually ice-free by 2012 but that point may be reached within months rather than years.
"Taken together, an assessment of the available evidence points to another extreme September sea ice minimum. Could the North Pole be ice free this melt season? Given that this region is currently covered with first-year ice, that seems quite possible," the Centre says in its latest bulletin.
Other scientists have confirmed this situation. Professor Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University, Professor of Ocean Physics and Head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group, who was the first scientist to study what was happening beneath the Arctic in a Royal Navy submarine, agreed that there was an even chance that the ice would disappear this year.
"It is certainly the case that ice has been disappearing and last year it disappeared almost completely. Small areas of the Pack Ice have opened up before but now we have open water at the very edge of the ice below the North Pole. As far as we can tell this has not happened for at least 20,000 years. The real shock is that it has happened so quickly with ice formed in the winter melting by the summer. These are the big changes that have been predicted happening before our eyes. This is perhaps the first sign of what we are in for."
Fishy Business
Scientists say: Stop Cod fishing in North Sea
Cod stocks in the North Sea are so depleted that fishing must be halted, warned scientists today.
But environmentalists are concerned that EU politicians will ignore the advice of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) - their own scientific advisors - when they set fishing quotas for 2009.
The scientists also expressed concern that as many cod are being discarded overboard as brought to market.
Willie Mackenzie, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace, said:
"Yet again scientists have stressed that the only way to save decimated cod stocks is not to catch any. Yet politicians continually ignore the experts and, as a result, lead us towards barren oceans and a ruined fishing industry."
"The ridiculous approach at the moment is clearly not working. Cod are being pushed towards extinction while fishermen are forced to chuck back half of their catch because of the farcical quota system. We urgently need to move towards a sustainable fishing industry. And politicians should start by creating large marine reserves in the North Sea."
To see the full advice from ICES, go to http://www.ices.dk/advice/icesadvice.asp.
Chips with Everything
Scheme for safe disposal of old computers launched at UN meeting
28th June 2008
Old computer equipment can now be disposed in a way that is safe to both human health and the environment thanks to a new initiative launched today at a United Nations meeting on hazardous waste that wrapped up in Bali, Indonesia.
The Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE) will provide a forum for governments, industry leaders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academia to tackle the disposal of old computer equipment, including through global recycling schemes.
Its launch comes at the end of the ninth meeting of parties to the 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, which met to consider new guidelines for getting rid of old computer equipment, mobile phones and other “e-waste” in an environmentally sound manner.
Among other things, PACE will develop technical guidelines for proper repair, refurbishing and recycling of old computer equipment, including criteria for testing, labelling of refurbished equipment and certification of environmentally sound repair, refurbishment and recycling facilities.
“All stakeholders, including original equipment manufacturers, consumers and recyclers, have a role in promoting environmentally sound management of used and end-of-life equipment,” according to a news release about the initiative, which said that 100 tons of used computers could generate up to 39 tons of steel and 21 tons of other metals such as copper, aluminium and gold.
“The technology and skills are available to promote proper repair and refurbishment that can extend use, provide employment, and make valuable equipment available to the poor,” it added.
Participants at the five-day meeting also looked at guidelines proposed by the Basel Convention Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative, which was launched in 2002 and brings mobile phone manufacturers and service providers together with the Basel Convention, which is administered by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Bali meeting concluded with the adoption of the Declaration on Waste Management for Human Health and Livelihood, which calls on the UN World Health Organization (WHO) to consider a resolution on the improvement of health through safe and environmentally sound waste management.
Oil at Record High
28th June 2008
The price of oil hit another record high on Friday, after a $5 dollar spike following a threat from Libya to cut supplies, following a threat of American sanctions against OPEC nations.
The ongoing high oil price is having an effect on driving habits, with some 60% of drivers now saying that they have changed their habits in response to high petrol prices, either cutting down on unecessary journeys or reducing their speed to save fuel. The high price of oil is also causing global inflation in everything from food to manufactured goods, anything that is transported.
Oil prices soared to the record of $142 a barrel before settling to finish the day at $141. The combination of soaring oil prices, rising inflation and fears about the health of the global economy sent stock markets tumbling.
Many environmentalists are hoping that the high price of oil will act as an incentive to shift towards renewable energy, alternative fuel sources, and energy efficiency. However there is also a concern that the public, more worried about rising fuel bills than saving the planet, will lose interest in green issues, or even become hostile on the message that a reduction in consumption is needed. There are growing calls, including from some Labour MPs worried about losing their seats, for the Government to scrap a planned 2p per litre increase in fuel duty planned for October, and to withdraw plans for an increase in road tax for the most polluting vehicles.
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