++ Malaysia Urges Rich Nations to Give Funds, Technology to Fight Climate Change -- Yeay for MALAYSIA!! =) ++
Monday October 29
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Developed nations, which are some of the world's greatest polluters, should provide the technological and financial means to help poor countries fight climate change, Malaysia's deputy leader said Monday.
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, opening a two-day regional conference on climate change, said developing countries lacked the means to gain new technology for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite global efforts, he noted that greenhouse gas concentrations have been projected to increase by 42 percent in 2100 from the 2005 levels.
"Technology transfer and capacity building are essential in our fight against climate change. Greater international momentum on technology transfer is needed," he told some 300 delegates from Southeast Asian governments, companies and environmental groups.
"While technologies are held by private companies, governments can help to promote international collaboration to overcome barriers faced," he said.
"Countries will commit themselves to the climate change efforts at the international level only if such efforts are congruent with those of national interests," he said. "This means that different types of targets ... will have to be in place so that all countries can participate effectively." He didn't elaborate.
Officials said the conference is aimed at identifying common approaches to tackle climate change ahead of a December summit on Indonesia's Bali island, where environment ministers from 80 countries will discuss a replacement for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Najib called for a fair and equitable replacement for the Protocol, which expires in 2012, and suggested flexibility be given to developing nations.
The treaty requires 36 industrial nations to reduce the heat-trapping gases emitted by power plants and other industrial, agricultural and transportation sources, but critics say it did not go far enough and are pushing for a more stringent regime next time around.
The United States and Australia, which kept out of Kyoto, also do not want to sign onto a new treaty setting caps on emissions unless China and India -- who argue that such a deal would impede their booming economies -- agree. So far, that seems unlikely.
Su-Lin Garbett, an economist with Britain's climate change office, said there has been greater awareness on climate change in the U.S. and Australia but any binding agreement is not likely in Bali.
"We are hopeful there will be significant progress in Bali. It will be helpful but Bali won't be the answer everyone is hoping for," she said. "There is still a lot of work to do."
A post-Kyoto framework will only be effective if the United States, China and India, come on board, she added.
Showing posts with label Mahfuzah Musalli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mahfuzah Musalli. Show all posts
Monday, October 29, 2007
Special Issue of Current History Features Warning: Climate Change Portends Worldwide Conflicts
Monday October 29, 11:07 am ET
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- As global warming intensifies, severe storms, drought, and flooding could wreak havoc around the world. But "it may well be that the most costly and challenging consequence of climate change will be an increase in violent conflict and all the humanitarian trauma this brings with it."
So argues Michael T. Klare in the November issue of Current History, a special issue devoted to the effects of climate change on the international order.
Klare, a Hampshire College professor and author of the forthcoming Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy, contends in his essay ("Global Warming Battlefields: How Climate Change Threatens Security") that emerging resource conflicts, collapsing states, and massive migrations will transform the global security landscape in coming decades.
Klare is available for interviews at 413-559-5563.
For complimentary copies, or to reach any authors, contact Alan Sorensen, 215-482-5465.
Also in the November issue:
-- Senator Barbara Boxer (chair, Environment and Public Works Committee)
asserts that America has been mostly missing in action when it comes to
international efforts to combat global warming.
-- Will Steffen (Australian National University) suggests climate
change may require rethinking humanity's relationship with nature.
-- Bryan Mignone (Brookings Institution) assesses prospects for
international cooperation on global warming.
-- David Wyss (Standard & Poors) analyzes the global costs of capping
emissions and considers which countries might emerge as winners and
losers from climate change.
-- Kelly Sims Gallagher (Harvard) warns that China, now the largest
aggregate emitter of greenhouse gases, lacks tools to address the
crisis.
-- Nathan Hultman (Georgetown) suggests how the global economy can be
weaned from reliance on fossil fuels.
The oldest US publication devoted exclusively to world affairs, Philadelphia, Pa.-based Current History was founded by The New York Times in 1914 and since the 1940s has provided an independent forum for scholars and specialists to analyze trends in every region of the world.
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- As global warming intensifies, severe storms, drought, and flooding could wreak havoc around the world. But "it may well be that the most costly and challenging consequence of climate change will be an increase in violent conflict and all the humanitarian trauma this brings with it."
So argues Michael T. Klare in the November issue of Current History, a special issue devoted to the effects of climate change on the international order.
Klare, a Hampshire College professor and author of the forthcoming Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy, contends in his essay ("Global Warming Battlefields: How Climate Change Threatens Security") that emerging resource conflicts, collapsing states, and massive migrations will transform the global security landscape in coming decades.
Klare is available for interviews at 413-559-5563.
For complimentary copies, or to reach any authors, contact Alan Sorensen, 215-482-5465.
Also in the November issue:
-- Senator Barbara Boxer (chair, Environment and Public Works Committee)
asserts that America has been mostly missing in action when it comes to
international efforts to combat global warming.
-- Will Steffen (Australian National University) suggests climate
change may require rethinking humanity's relationship with nature.
-- Bryan Mignone (Brookings Institution) assesses prospects for
international cooperation on global warming.
-- David Wyss (Standard & Poors) analyzes the global costs of capping
emissions and considers which countries might emerge as winners and
losers from climate change.
-- Kelly Sims Gallagher (Harvard) warns that China, now the largest
aggregate emitter of greenhouse gases, lacks tools to address the
crisis.
-- Nathan Hultman (Georgetown) suggests how the global economy can be
weaned from reliance on fossil fuels.
The oldest US publication devoted exclusively to world affairs, Philadelphia, Pa.-based Current History was founded by The New York Times in 1914 and since the 1940s has provided an independent forum for scholars and specialists to analyze trends in every region of the world.
Scientist hopes 'fingerprinting' bears reveals hunting, climate change pressures
Sun Oct 28
A Canadian researcher is using new technology to try to "fingerprint" polar bears in an effort to discover how hunting and climate change is affecting their population. The new technique, which has already been used on rhinos in Africa and tigers in India, could allow scientists to keep much closer tabs on bear numbers in the face of Inuit hunting pressures and the threat to their icy habitat from global warming. "We have no idea what's going on with our bears most of the time in the High Arctic or the Arctic generally," said Peter De Groot of Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. Estimating bear populations has become increasingly controversial. Most scientists suggest that bears are coming under increasing pressure as climate change melts the ice they use as a hunting platform. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering whether to declare the bears an endangered species. But guiding sport hunters is a lucrative business for some Inuit and they have long maintained they see plenty of bears out on the land. Scientists currently depend on expensive population surveys conducted by tranquilizing bears that have been tracked by air. Surveying Canada's 13 bear populations through this method can cost more than $2 million per region, so counts only take place every 13 years or so. That means wildlife managers who set hunting limits and scientists trying to understand how the changing Arctic is affecting its largest predator have to make decisions on increasingly doubtful data. "There's a hell of a lack of information and to me, the harvesting regime gets increasingly incorrect," De Groot said. "You can't take data that's 10 years old in a dynamic system that's subject to change like the melting of ice and set up harvesting regimes." He's hoping the procedure developed by a European-based company called Wildtrack could help end the dispute. Wildtrack uses the photographs taken in the field to measure the distances and angles between the bear's five toes and its toe and heel footpads. In a clear print, that reveals sex and age - data crucial to determining population trends - and can even identify individuals. "They are probably as individual as fingerprints," said Suzanne Sprajcar of SAS, the company that developed the software for the program. Footprint surveys, however, require only a camera and an Inuit bear tracker. The cost is about one-quarter of a full "mark-and-capture" survey. "That's the strength of the Inuit," said De Groot, who works in the M'Clintock Channel region near the Nunavut community of Gjoa Haven. "You give them a hunting knife and a can of gas and in two weeks they'll come back with whatever you want." Such surveys could be done almost yearly, using mostly local resources. But first, De Groot's team must first find enough fresh, clear footprints from bears of known age and sex in order to have something to compare to those from unknown bears. Over the next few months, he plans develop that reference in Churchill, Man., where bears - even known individuals - are more commonly handled. De Groot's work will also gather genetic information using hair samples gleaned from barbed wire strung up along chunks of seal meat. The system will also involve local Inuit as expert bear trackers and data gatherers. Many hunters now claim they can already tell a bear's age and sex from its footprint, and De Groot said the Wildtrack system will give local people a role to play in the science that determines how their wildlife is managed. "We're about about inclusivity," he said. "Before it was quite paternalistic - the men in the white coats show up and collect all this data and put it
A Canadian researcher is using new technology to try to "fingerprint" polar bears in an effort to discover how hunting and climate change is affecting their population. The new technique, which has already been used on rhinos in Africa and tigers in India, could allow scientists to keep much closer tabs on bear numbers in the face of Inuit hunting pressures and the threat to their icy habitat from global warming. "We have no idea what's going on with our bears most of the time in the High Arctic or the Arctic generally," said Peter De Groot of Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. Estimating bear populations has become increasingly controversial. Most scientists suggest that bears are coming under increasing pressure as climate change melts the ice they use as a hunting platform. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering whether to declare the bears an endangered species. But guiding sport hunters is a lucrative business for some Inuit and they have long maintained they see plenty of bears out on the land. Scientists currently depend on expensive population surveys conducted by tranquilizing bears that have been tracked by air. Surveying Canada's 13 bear populations through this method can cost more than $2 million per region, so counts only take place every 13 years or so. That means wildlife managers who set hunting limits and scientists trying to understand how the changing Arctic is affecting its largest predator have to make decisions on increasingly doubtful data. "There's a hell of a lack of information and to me, the harvesting regime gets increasingly incorrect," De Groot said. "You can't take data that's 10 years old in a dynamic system that's subject to change like the melting of ice and set up harvesting regimes." He's hoping the procedure developed by a European-based company called Wildtrack could help end the dispute. Wildtrack uses the photographs taken in the field to measure the distances and angles between the bear's five toes and its toe and heel footpads. In a clear print, that reveals sex and age - data crucial to determining population trends - and can even identify individuals. "They are probably as individual as fingerprints," said Suzanne Sprajcar of SAS, the company that developed the software for the program. Footprint surveys, however, require only a camera and an Inuit bear tracker. The cost is about one-quarter of a full "mark-and-capture" survey. "That's the strength of the Inuit," said De Groot, who works in the M'Clintock Channel region near the Nunavut community of Gjoa Haven. "You give them a hunting knife and a can of gas and in two weeks they'll come back with whatever you want." Such surveys could be done almost yearly, using mostly local resources. But first, De Groot's team must first find enough fresh, clear footprints from bears of known age and sex in order to have something to compare to those from unknown bears. Over the next few months, he plans develop that reference in Churchill, Man., where bears - even known individuals - are more commonly handled. De Groot's work will also gather genetic information using hair samples gleaned from barbed wire strung up along chunks of seal meat. The system will also involve local Inuit as expert bear trackers and data gatherers. Many hunters now claim they can already tell a bear's age and sex from its footprint, and De Groot said the Wildtrack system will give local people a role to play in the science that determines how their wildlife is managed. "We're about about inclusivity," he said. "Before it was quite paternalistic - the men in the white coats show up and collect all this data and put it
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Reporting from Sydney: Discuss action plan to manage climate issues
2007/09/07
MALAYSIA does not object introducing issues of climate change in the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum as long as they avoid rhetorics and impositions of rules.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said adverse impact from climate change must be viewed as a form of calamity and discussions on the issue in Apec should be on how to manage the climate, not to point fingers at who is responsible.Rafidah said the broader forum for climate change already existed at the United Nations level and through the Kyoto Protocol. The US and Australia have not ratified the Kyoto treaty."We must talk instead about an action plan to manage climate change, preferably at three levels — global, regional and domestic."
Rafidah said Malaysia would object to any new agreements outside of those already agreed at the international level. She has suggested to the Apec forum that issues of climate change be included in the forum’s Trade Facilitation Action Plan 2.The scope, she said, must be wider than that proposed by certain Apec member economies and not limited only to management of forest areas as earlier proposed.Officials, however, said the final declaration to be issued at the end of the leaders meeting this week would still include a watered-down section on climate change.Rafidah said at the end of the day, Apec declarations were non-binding on its members. "Its not that we are not willing to talk about climate change but there is already the Kyoto Protocol to deal with and we do not want rhetorics to creep into Apec."But we are committed towards helping manage the climate. If we can help, we will and if there are others who can help us manage the climate better, we will be willing to listen."Meanwhile, a joint statement issued at the end of the Apec forum yesterday had balanced the focus for anti-corruption initiatives among the public and private sectors after Malaysia intervened during the discussions, saying that an earlier statement was inclined sharply towards civil servants, giving the impression that only government officials were corrupt.In the joint statement, Apec ministers said they endorsed a model Code of Conduct for Business, a model Code of Conduct Principles for Public Officials and a complementary Anti-corruption Principles For The Private and Public Sectors.
MALAYSIA does not object introducing issues of climate change in the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum as long as they avoid rhetorics and impositions of rules.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said adverse impact from climate change must be viewed as a form of calamity and discussions on the issue in Apec should be on how to manage the climate, not to point fingers at who is responsible.Rafidah said the broader forum for climate change already existed at the United Nations level and through the Kyoto Protocol. The US and Australia have not ratified the Kyoto treaty."We must talk instead about an action plan to manage climate change, preferably at three levels — global, regional and domestic."
Rafidah said Malaysia would object to any new agreements outside of those already agreed at the international level. She has suggested to the Apec forum that issues of climate change be included in the forum’s Trade Facilitation Action Plan 2.The scope, she said, must be wider than that proposed by certain Apec member economies and not limited only to management of forest areas as earlier proposed.Officials, however, said the final declaration to be issued at the end of the leaders meeting this week would still include a watered-down section on climate change.Rafidah said at the end of the day, Apec declarations were non-binding on its members. "Its not that we are not willing to talk about climate change but there is already the Kyoto Protocol to deal with and we do not want rhetorics to creep into Apec."But we are committed towards helping manage the climate. If we can help, we will and if there are others who can help us manage the climate better, we will be willing to listen."Meanwhile, a joint statement issued at the end of the Apec forum yesterday had balanced the focus for anti-corruption initiatives among the public and private sectors after Malaysia intervened during the discussions, saying that an earlier statement was inclined sharply towards civil servants, giving the impression that only government officials were corrupt.In the joint statement, Apec ministers said they endorsed a model Code of Conduct for Business, a model Code of Conduct Principles for Public Officials and a complementary Anti-corruption Principles For The Private and Public Sectors.
Broad understanding reached on climate change
2007/09/26
THE largest gathering of leaders discussing climate change here concluded that there is an urgent need to tackle the root causes of the problem and reverse its effects through decisive action.
The goal is a global low-carbon economy that supports both mitigation and adaptation efforts, the leaders said in a statement issued at the end of the meeting.Leaders from over 150 countries came to a broad understanding that developing countries should be provided with additional resources for investment and to develop and implement the right mix of public policy instruments that will help them ensure sustainable growth. The one-day “High Level Event on Climate Change” was held yesterday - a day before the United Nations General Assembly.Literally feeling the heat and facing rising sea levels in their respective countries, the leaders admitted that industrialised nations needed to cut the emission of greenhouse gases while, at the same time, help subsidise similar efforts in developing countries.
The meeting was aimed at securing political commitments from the leaders on key issues pertaining to climate change while details and negotiations towards a new international climate agreement will start at the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change in Bali from Dec 3 to 14.Developing countries had called for increased funding through the “Adaptation Fund” and other mechanisms and had pushed for legally binding targets on emissions and other factors that contribute to climate change.“Developing countries understandably do not want to compromise their chances of achieving better standards of living for their people. “They also accept that a more sustainable energy system with better energy efficiency and planning can allow for less emission.“Further incentives are needed to ensure the active engagement of these countries in a future climate regime. In the negotiating process we should not lose the big picture, which is safeguarding our planet,” the statement said.Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, who spoke at the plenary session on financing for developing countries and also at the special meeting of tropical rainforest countries, said:“Malaysia also insisted that accessibility to funds to help countries overcome problems relating to climate change should not come with any conditions. “If the developed countries want developing countries to save the world then the industrialised nations must save the economies of the developing countries.”He said the ultimate goal was to draw up a treaty where the concerns of all countries were addressed, climate change was managed and serious consequences and calamities were avoided.Syed Hamid said he told the meeting that, while focusing on economic development, Malaysia would also give equal attention to the conservation of its natural resources, environmental protection and sustainable utilisation of forest resources for people dependant on it.He said the Bali meeting must formulate strategies on all fronts including adaptation, mitigation, clean technologies and resource mobilisation, to ensure future generations get to live and enjoy Mother Earth without facing disaster.
THE largest gathering of leaders discussing climate change here concluded that there is an urgent need to tackle the root causes of the problem and reverse its effects through decisive action.
The goal is a global low-carbon economy that supports both mitigation and adaptation efforts, the leaders said in a statement issued at the end of the meeting.Leaders from over 150 countries came to a broad understanding that developing countries should be provided with additional resources for investment and to develop and implement the right mix of public policy instruments that will help them ensure sustainable growth. The one-day “High Level Event on Climate Change” was held yesterday - a day before the United Nations General Assembly.Literally feeling the heat and facing rising sea levels in their respective countries, the leaders admitted that industrialised nations needed to cut the emission of greenhouse gases while, at the same time, help subsidise similar efforts in developing countries.
The meeting was aimed at securing political commitments from the leaders on key issues pertaining to climate change while details and negotiations towards a new international climate agreement will start at the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change in Bali from Dec 3 to 14.Developing countries had called for increased funding through the “Adaptation Fund” and other mechanisms and had pushed for legally binding targets on emissions and other factors that contribute to climate change.“Developing countries understandably do not want to compromise their chances of achieving better standards of living for their people. “They also accept that a more sustainable energy system with better energy efficiency and planning can allow for less emission.“Further incentives are needed to ensure the active engagement of these countries in a future climate regime. In the negotiating process we should not lose the big picture, which is safeguarding our planet,” the statement said.Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, who spoke at the plenary session on financing for developing countries and also at the special meeting of tropical rainforest countries, said:“Malaysia also insisted that accessibility to funds to help countries overcome problems relating to climate change should not come with any conditions. “If the developed countries want developing countries to save the world then the industrialised nations must save the economies of the developing countries.”He said the ultimate goal was to draw up a treaty where the concerns of all countries were addressed, climate change was managed and serious consequences and calamities were avoided.Syed Hamid said he told the meeting that, while focusing on economic development, Malaysia would also give equal attention to the conservation of its natural resources, environmental protection and sustainable utilisation of forest resources for people dependant on it.He said the Bali meeting must formulate strategies on all fronts including adaptation, mitigation, clean technologies and resource mobilisation, to ensure future generations get to live and enjoy Mother Earth without facing disaster.
Climate change: Dark clouds on horizon
2007/10/29
The recent unseasonal floods in Johor are clear signs that the climate patterns are slowly changing.
ON Sept 24, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened the first-ever high-level meeting focused on climate change. Heads of state represented 80 of the 164 participating nations; foreign ministers a further 40. This was an unprecedented gathering of world leaders, which testified that climate change is happening and demands urgent action.
As Ban said, this event at the UN expressed the political will of world leaders to tackle the challenge of climate change. The importance of climate change was further emphasised by the award of the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for bringing world attention to climate change.The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ends in 2012. The Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC will meet in Bali from Dec 3 to 14 to negotiate a post-Kyoto Framework.What happens between now and the COP will be crucial to the success of the negotiations. We need clear leadership and commitment.That is why today and tomorrow, the Malaysian government will host a regional conference on climate change. The conference will be addressed by leading specialists from across the region and beyond. The aim will be to help frame the debate on climate change in Southeast Asia. It will also put Malaysia right at the heart of this debate, working closely with regional partners, as well as with the United Kingdom.
The conference is being organised by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, in close collaboration with the British High Commission in Malaysia. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will deliver the keynote address and open the conference, tagged “Reducing the Threats and Harnessing the Opportunities of Climate Change".This conference has not come about by accident. Last year, the world-renowned economist Sir Nicholas Stern published his now famous review on the economic impact of climate change. He concluded that current global emission levels were unsustainable. And the economic cost of failure to act now would be far greater than the cost of acting.Two months after Stern published his review, Malaysians saw for themselves the economic damage caused by the unseasonal floods in Johor.It was immediately apparent that climate change will increase the frequency and severity of such events in the future. This regional conference comes at an opportune time, as it allows participants to inject the conference outcomes directly into the meeting of the COP to the UNFCCC in Bali.Southeast Asia is home to one of the world’s great biodiversity regions. These regions are essential to maintain climate security for the whole planet. The region is vulnerable to climate change, with large areas of coastline potentially threatened by a rise in sea levels. Water supplies are equally at risk. All of us living in this region would have to bear the adverse economic impacts of repeated instances of flooding.The key to tackling climate change on a global scale is working together to build a low-carbon economy. This will require deeper international co-operation in many areas, most notably in creating markets for carbon trading, driving technology research and promoting adaptation, particularly for developing countries.In addition, other important and significant themes in climate change will include mitigation, energy security, climate change negotiations, and the relationship of land use change and forestry to climate change, which will be discussed in this conference.At Bali, the Malaysian and British governments need to work with other countries to put together the plan for how the world will achieve climate security. One thing is clear: we need to act now. That is why the regional conference over the next two days matters.
The recent unseasonal floods in Johor are clear signs that the climate patterns are slowly changing.
ON Sept 24, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened the first-ever high-level meeting focused on climate change. Heads of state represented 80 of the 164 participating nations; foreign ministers a further 40. This was an unprecedented gathering of world leaders, which testified that climate change is happening and demands urgent action.
As Ban said, this event at the UN expressed the political will of world leaders to tackle the challenge of climate change. The importance of climate change was further emphasised by the award of the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for bringing world attention to climate change.The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ends in 2012. The Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC will meet in Bali from Dec 3 to 14 to negotiate a post-Kyoto Framework.What happens between now and the COP will be crucial to the success of the negotiations. We need clear leadership and commitment.That is why today and tomorrow, the Malaysian government will host a regional conference on climate change. The conference will be addressed by leading specialists from across the region and beyond. The aim will be to help frame the debate on climate change in Southeast Asia. It will also put Malaysia right at the heart of this debate, working closely with regional partners, as well as with the United Kingdom.
The conference is being organised by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, in close collaboration with the British High Commission in Malaysia. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will deliver the keynote address and open the conference, tagged “Reducing the Threats and Harnessing the Opportunities of Climate Change".This conference has not come about by accident. Last year, the world-renowned economist Sir Nicholas Stern published his now famous review on the economic impact of climate change. He concluded that current global emission levels were unsustainable. And the economic cost of failure to act now would be far greater than the cost of acting.Two months after Stern published his review, Malaysians saw for themselves the economic damage caused by the unseasonal floods in Johor.It was immediately apparent that climate change will increase the frequency and severity of such events in the future. This regional conference comes at an opportune time, as it allows participants to inject the conference outcomes directly into the meeting of the COP to the UNFCCC in Bali.Southeast Asia is home to one of the world’s great biodiversity regions. These regions are essential to maintain climate security for the whole planet. The region is vulnerable to climate change, with large areas of coastline potentially threatened by a rise in sea levels. Water supplies are equally at risk. All of us living in this region would have to bear the adverse economic impacts of repeated instances of flooding.The key to tackling climate change on a global scale is working together to build a low-carbon economy. This will require deeper international co-operation in many areas, most notably in creating markets for carbon trading, driving technology research and promoting adaptation, particularly for developing countries.In addition, other important and significant themes in climate change will include mitigation, energy security, climate change negotiations, and the relationship of land use change and forestry to climate change, which will be discussed in this conference.At Bali, the Malaysian and British governments need to work with other countries to put together the plan for how the world will achieve climate security. One thing is clear: we need to act now. That is why the regional conference over the next two days matters.
Climate change will hurt NM water supply
Wed Oct 24
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Researchers at New Mexico's two largest universities are painting a grim picture of New Mexico's economic and agricultural future with predictions that climate change will mean less water in the Rio Grande watershed.
New Mexico State University agricultural economics professor Brian Hurd and University of New Mexico civil engineering professor Julie Coonrod say a wide range of climate models predict warmer weather and a change in precipitation patterns in New Mexico.
The researchers said in a study released Tuesday that those changes could lead to a drop in the basin's water supply by as little as a few percent or as much as one-third. That, in turn, could result in direct and indirect losses ranging between $13 million and $115 million by 2030 and from $21 million to more than $300 million by 2080.
The researchers noted that water is used by people, plants and animals and it's used to grow food and provide economic and ecological benefits.
"Under current climate there is virtually no spare water in New Mexico," the study says. "Imagine a very plausible future ... of significantly less water and at the same time significantly more people."
Most at risk are rural communities and agriculture, said Hurd, who has studied climate change and its economic effects for more than a decade.
According to the study, warmer temperatures could create a shift in precipitation patterns, leading to more rain and less snow. Much of the state's surface water comes from snow melt.
Warmer temperatures also mean earlier snow melts, and the researchers said that means water that makes it to the state's reservoirs has more time to evaporate before the irrigation season.
Hurd and Coonrod said less water means crops will shrink and production will drop, which could irreversibly alter New Mexico's landscape and character.
"Irrigated lands support more than crops," Hurd said. "They provide habitat for wildlife, open space and scenic vistas for the backdrop to New Mexico's thriving art, tourist and recreation economies."
Hurd and Coonrod also said the effects warming and drying would have an impact on the state's forests, rangelands and water quality. Wildfires could happen more often and be more severe, and wildlife and livestock would have less forage.
Also, farmers might experience more pressure to lease or sell their water rights so communities can sustain their populations.
"This is something that has already been happening in the state," Hurd said. "Climate change will only hasten water transfers."
The study says New Mexico's social, economic and environmental systems are highly vulnerable to changes and disruptions to water supplies potentially caused by climate change.
"Thus, the need is highlighted for water users, communities, organizations and institutions in New Mexico at every level and in every sector to begin considering possible adaptive strategies for making better use of their water resources," the study says.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Researchers at New Mexico's two largest universities are painting a grim picture of New Mexico's economic and agricultural future with predictions that climate change will mean less water in the Rio Grande watershed.
New Mexico State University agricultural economics professor Brian Hurd and University of New Mexico civil engineering professor Julie Coonrod say a wide range of climate models predict warmer weather and a change in precipitation patterns in New Mexico.
The researchers said in a study released Tuesday that those changes could lead to a drop in the basin's water supply by as little as a few percent or as much as one-third. That, in turn, could result in direct and indirect losses ranging between $13 million and $115 million by 2030 and from $21 million to more than $300 million by 2080.
The researchers noted that water is used by people, plants and animals and it's used to grow food and provide economic and ecological benefits.
"Under current climate there is virtually no spare water in New Mexico," the study says. "Imagine a very plausible future ... of significantly less water and at the same time significantly more people."
Most at risk are rural communities and agriculture, said Hurd, who has studied climate change and its economic effects for more than a decade.
According to the study, warmer temperatures could create a shift in precipitation patterns, leading to more rain and less snow. Much of the state's surface water comes from snow melt.
Warmer temperatures also mean earlier snow melts, and the researchers said that means water that makes it to the state's reservoirs has more time to evaporate before the irrigation season.
Hurd and Coonrod said less water means crops will shrink and production will drop, which could irreversibly alter New Mexico's landscape and character.
"Irrigated lands support more than crops," Hurd said. "They provide habitat for wildlife, open space and scenic vistas for the backdrop to New Mexico's thriving art, tourist and recreation economies."
Hurd and Coonrod also said the effects warming and drying would have an impact on the state's forests, rangelands and water quality. Wildfires could happen more often and be more severe, and wildlife and livestock would have less forage.
Also, farmers might experience more pressure to lease or sell their water rights so communities can sustain their populations.
"This is something that has already been happening in the state," Hurd said. "Climate change will only hasten water transfers."
The study says New Mexico's social, economic and environmental systems are highly vulnerable to changes and disruptions to water supplies potentially caused by climate change.
"Thus, the need is highlighted for water users, communities, organizations and institutions in New Mexico at every level and in every sector to begin considering possible adaptive strategies for making better use of their water resources," the study says.
White House defends 'health benefits' of climate change
Thu Oct 25
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House on Thursday defended its prediction that climate change would bring some "health benefits" to humans, a forecast unlikely to endear it to critics of the US environmental record.
But a document cited to buttress the claim also warned that the advantages would be "outweighed by the negative health effects of rising temperatures worldwide, especially in developing countries."
On Wednesday, spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters that US experts were trying to determine "what are going to be the health benefits and the health concerns of climate change, of which there are many."
Asked to detail what the benefits would be, Perino replied: "Look, this is an issue where I'm sure lots of people would love to ridicule me when I say this.
"But it is true that many people die from cold-related deaths every winter. And there are studies that say that climate change in certain areas of the world would help those individuals," she added. "I'm not an expert."
On Thursday, President George W. Bush's Council on Environmental Quality, which steers the US government's environmental policies, rode to her defense, citing findings by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
"It is important to consider both health risks and health benefits of climate change. We rely on the best available science to guide our policy decision process," said spokeswoman Kristen Hellmer.
Hellmer provided sections of a 2007 IPCC report that cited some possible advantages of climate change, including a drop in deaths from cold and possible curtailing, in some areas, of the spread of infectious disease.
"Studies in temperate areas have shown that climate change is projected to bring some benefits, such as fewer deaths from cold exposure," according to the Summary For Policymakers of the IPCC report.
But "overall it is expected that these benefits will be outweighed by the negative health effects of rising temperatures worldwide, especially in developing countries," it said.
Another section of the report suggested a "mixed" impact on malaria, restricting the range of the deadly mosquito-borne illness in some areas, expanding it in others.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House on Thursday defended its prediction that climate change would bring some "health benefits" to humans, a forecast unlikely to endear it to critics of the US environmental record.
But a document cited to buttress the claim also warned that the advantages would be "outweighed by the negative health effects of rising temperatures worldwide, especially in developing countries."
On Wednesday, spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters that US experts were trying to determine "what are going to be the health benefits and the health concerns of climate change, of which there are many."
Asked to detail what the benefits would be, Perino replied: "Look, this is an issue where I'm sure lots of people would love to ridicule me when I say this.
"But it is true that many people die from cold-related deaths every winter. And there are studies that say that climate change in certain areas of the world would help those individuals," she added. "I'm not an expert."
On Thursday, President George W. Bush's Council on Environmental Quality, which steers the US government's environmental policies, rode to her defense, citing findings by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
"It is important to consider both health risks and health benefits of climate change. We rely on the best available science to guide our policy decision process," said spokeswoman Kristen Hellmer.
Hellmer provided sections of a 2007 IPCC report that cited some possible advantages of climate change, including a drop in deaths from cold and possible curtailing, in some areas, of the spread of infectious disease.
"Studies in temperate areas have shown that climate change is projected to bring some benefits, such as fewer deaths from cold exposure," according to the Summary For Policymakers of the IPCC report.
But "overall it is expected that these benefits will be outweighed by the negative health effects of rising temperatures worldwide, especially in developing countries," it said.
Another section of the report suggested a "mixed" impact on malaria, restricting the range of the deadly mosquito-borne illness in some areas, expanding it in others.
Climate change seen hurting poor regions
Thu Oct 25
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Latin America and other poor regions of the world will bear the brunt of climate change, a top official from the organization that shared this year's Nobel Peace Prize said Thursday.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. network of scientists, was awarded the prize along with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore for their work alerting the public of the perils of global warming.
"The results of the IPCC show very clearly the impacts of climate change will be ... much more severe for the poorest groups and Latin America is included in that," said IPCC vice chairman Mohan Munasinghe of Sri Lanka. Munasinghe headed a two-day meeting in Rio of the organization, its first since winning the Nobel prize.
He said water management issues were likely to be the most pressing problem caused by global warming in Latin America. Dry areas will become much drier and other areas will face increased floods and associated waterborne diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
Results from the Rio meeting, the group's fourth since 1990, will be presented at the U.N. climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December.
Munasinghe said he felt the Noble prize gave greater recognition and credibility to the scientific panel, which has explained the details of global warming in thousands of pages of footnoted reports issued every six years or so.
He said despite the problems facing Latin America, the region is very proactive in addressing the issue.
"My sense is that (Latin American) countries ... have been much more responsive to the issue of climate change because they feel much more vulnerable," Munasinghe said. "For North America, particularly the United States, the reaction is more defensive."
Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva said global warming was a burden shared by both developing and developed nations.
"If we were to reduce our gas emission by 100 percent, without richer nations reducing theirs by at least 80 percent, we would still be affected," Silva said, warning that global warming could turn the Amazon rain forest into dry savanna land in the decades to come.
Many scientists believe that the extensive Amazon rainforest absorbs carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. About 70 percent of the basin lies in Brazilian territory.
But agricultural burning in the Amazon is also responsible for about 75 percent of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, making it the world's fourth largest emitter nation.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Latin America and other poor regions of the world will bear the brunt of climate change, a top official from the organization that shared this year's Nobel Peace Prize said Thursday.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. network of scientists, was awarded the prize along with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore for their work alerting the public of the perils of global warming.
"The results of the IPCC show very clearly the impacts of climate change will be ... much more severe for the poorest groups and Latin America is included in that," said IPCC vice chairman Mohan Munasinghe of Sri Lanka. Munasinghe headed a two-day meeting in Rio of the organization, its first since winning the Nobel prize.
He said water management issues were likely to be the most pressing problem caused by global warming in Latin America. Dry areas will become much drier and other areas will face increased floods and associated waterborne diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
Results from the Rio meeting, the group's fourth since 1990, will be presented at the U.N. climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December.
Munasinghe said he felt the Noble prize gave greater recognition and credibility to the scientific panel, which has explained the details of global warming in thousands of pages of footnoted reports issued every six years or so.
He said despite the problems facing Latin America, the region is very proactive in addressing the issue.
"My sense is that (Latin American) countries ... have been much more responsive to the issue of climate change because they feel much more vulnerable," Munasinghe said. "For North America, particularly the United States, the reaction is more defensive."
Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva said global warming was a burden shared by both developing and developed nations.
"If we were to reduce our gas emission by 100 percent, without richer nations reducing theirs by at least 80 percent, we would still be affected," Silva said, warning that global warming could turn the Amazon rain forest into dry savanna land in the decades to come.
Many scientists believe that the extensive Amazon rainforest absorbs carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. About 70 percent of the basin lies in Brazilian territory.
But agricultural burning in the Amazon is also responsible for about 75 percent of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions, making it the world's fourth largest emitter nation.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Scientists see coal as key challenge
Mon Oct 22
The proliferation of coal-burning power plants around the world may pose "the single greatest challenge" to averting dangerous climate change, an international panel of scientists reported Monday.
Governments and the private sector are spending too little on research into a partial solution — technology to capture and store the carbon dioxide emissions from such plants, the group said.
The study by 15 scientists from 13 nations, "Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future," was commissioned by the governments of China and Brazil and is the product of two years of workshops organized by the InterAcademy Council, the Netherlands-based network of national academies of science.
The 174-page report details current and developing technologies, and government incentives and other policies that could lead both the developed and developing world to clean, affordable and sustainable energy supplies.
"The first thing it says, really, is that conservation and energy efficiency will remain for the next couple of decades the most important thing the world can do to get on a sustainable path," said co-chairman Steven Chu, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and director of California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Such steps are urgently needed, the panel said, not only to cut back emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming, but also to extend basic energy services to 2 billion poor people worldwide and reduce the potential for international conflict over energy resources.
The report took note of the growing role of coal-fired power plants in some countries, "despite increased scientific certainty and growing concern about climate change."
China expects to open one new coal-fired plant per week over the next five years. In the United States, plans for more than 150 new coal plants have been announced since the late 1990s, although some recently have been scrapped or delayed because of climate and other concerns.
European and U.S. scientists and engineers are working to develop capture-and-storage technologies, whereby power plants' carbon-dioxide emissions might be sequestered long-term in abandoned oil wells or other underground cavities. But the InterAcademy Council panel said such work is poorly financed.
"Some would argue this is an absolutely cornerstone policy with currently inadequate investment and attention," panelist Ged Davis, a British energy economist, told reporters in a teleconference Monday.
The report noted public investment worldwide in energy research and development was estimated at $9 billion in 2005. That should be at least doubled, it said, and there should be "worldwide introduction of price signals for carbon emissions," to push future public and private investment in a carbon-saving direction.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, which requires emissions reductions by industrialized nations, the European Union operates a "carbon price" system whereby industries not using up their quotas can sell allowances to others that overshoot their quotas. The United States rejects the idea of such mandatory emissions cutbacks.
The proliferation of coal-burning power plants around the world may pose "the single greatest challenge" to averting dangerous climate change, an international panel of scientists reported Monday.
Governments and the private sector are spending too little on research into a partial solution — technology to capture and store the carbon dioxide emissions from such plants, the group said.
The study by 15 scientists from 13 nations, "Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future," was commissioned by the governments of China and Brazil and is the product of two years of workshops organized by the InterAcademy Council, the Netherlands-based network of national academies of science.
The 174-page report details current and developing technologies, and government incentives and other policies that could lead both the developed and developing world to clean, affordable and sustainable energy supplies.
"The first thing it says, really, is that conservation and energy efficiency will remain for the next couple of decades the most important thing the world can do to get on a sustainable path," said co-chairman Steven Chu, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and director of California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Such steps are urgently needed, the panel said, not only to cut back emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming, but also to extend basic energy services to 2 billion poor people worldwide and reduce the potential for international conflict over energy resources.
The report took note of the growing role of coal-fired power plants in some countries, "despite increased scientific certainty and growing concern about climate change."
China expects to open one new coal-fired plant per week over the next five years. In the United States, plans for more than 150 new coal plants have been announced since the late 1990s, although some recently have been scrapped or delayed because of climate and other concerns.
European and U.S. scientists and engineers are working to develop capture-and-storage technologies, whereby power plants' carbon-dioxide emissions might be sequestered long-term in abandoned oil wells or other underground cavities. But the InterAcademy Council panel said such work is poorly financed.
"Some would argue this is an absolutely cornerstone policy with currently inadequate investment and attention," panelist Ged Davis, a British energy economist, told reporters in a teleconference Monday.
The report noted public investment worldwide in energy research and development was estimated at $9 billion in 2005. That should be at least doubled, it said, and there should be "worldwide introduction of price signals for carbon emissions," to push future public and private investment in a carbon-saving direction.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, which requires emissions reductions by industrialized nations, the European Union operates a "carbon price" system whereby industries not using up their quotas can sell allowances to others that overshoot their quotas. The United States rejects the idea of such mandatory emissions cutbacks.
Qld has cool idea for climate change
Tuesday October 23
Queenslanders have been urged to set their fridge temperatures to four degrees celsius to help combat climate change.
The state government launched on Tuesday its new 'Cool it by Degrees' campaign, which aims to tackle global warming by changing simple household habits.
Premier Anna Bligh, who launched the initiative at Sea World's polar bear shores on the Gold Coast, said climate change was everyone's responsibility.
"Polar bears are among the most threatened species as a result of changes in our temperature and changes in our climate," Ms Bligh told reporters.
"If we had every Queenslander change the temperature of their fridge by one degree, it would be the equivalent of taking 11,000 cars off the road.
"While climate change is a very significant global issue, the solution lies in our own households and in our own hands."
Ms Bligh said four degrees celsius was a safe level for storing food.
"You don't need to have your fridge on the coldest possible temperature," she said.
The initiative is part the government's Climate Smart Living campaign and follows last month's Change A Lightbulb Day.
Ms Bligh urged all households to set their fridges to four degrees celsius by November 16 - Cool it by Degrees Day.
"Our reduction in water use here in south-east Queensland is an inspiration I think to people across the state and across the country that you can change your behaviour to make a big impact on the environment," she said.
A television commercial will screen in the coming months and 50,000 free thermometers will be handed out as part of the campaign.
Queenslanders have been urged to set their fridge temperatures to four degrees celsius to help combat climate change.
The state government launched on Tuesday its new 'Cool it by Degrees' campaign, which aims to tackle global warming by changing simple household habits.
Premier Anna Bligh, who launched the initiative at Sea World's polar bear shores on the Gold Coast, said climate change was everyone's responsibility.
"Polar bears are among the most threatened species as a result of changes in our temperature and changes in our climate," Ms Bligh told reporters.
"If we had every Queenslander change the temperature of their fridge by one degree, it would be the equivalent of taking 11,000 cars off the road.
"While climate change is a very significant global issue, the solution lies in our own households and in our own hands."
Ms Bligh said four degrees celsius was a safe level for storing food.
"You don't need to have your fridge on the coldest possible temperature," she said.
The initiative is part the government's Climate Smart Living campaign and follows last month's Change A Lightbulb Day.
Ms Bligh urged all households to set their fridges to four degrees celsius by November 16 - Cool it by Degrees Day.
"Our reduction in water use here in south-east Queensland is an inspiration I think to people across the state and across the country that you can change your behaviour to make a big impact on the environment," she said.
A television commercial will screen in the coming months and 50,000 free thermometers will be handed out as part of the campaign.
Climate Change Threat in Caribbean
Monday October 22,
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- The Caribbean tourism industry, the lifeblood for many island economies, needs to brace itself for stronger hurricanes, more frequent droughts and rising sea levels resulting from global warming, scientists said Monday.
The Caribbean, where more than half the population lives within a mile of the coast, faces some of the greatest risks from climate change, according to the expert panel at the Caribbean Tourism Organization meeting in San Juan.
"The region as a whole is really vulnerable -- it's sand, sun and beaches," said Ulric Trotz, science adviser to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center in Belize.
Trotz said governments should limit development along eroding coastlines, protect natural resources including reefs and mangroves and take other steps before global warming accelerates in the coming decades, as some experts forecast.
Already, rising ocean temperatures have been blamed for killing off coral that sustains significant marine life and fueling monstrous storms. This year was the first on record when two Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes -- Felix and Dean, which both gained strength in the Caribbean -- made landfall in the same season.
While humans' role in global warming remains a source of controversy, panelists said the trend is driving decisions by investors on where to develop hotels.
"Even if you don't believe in climate change, it's part of decision making in the industry," said Daniel Scott, a climate specialist at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Many have launched campaigns to emphasize sustainable or "green" tourism. Barbados, which already suffers a scarcity of fresh water, has required new golf courses to build desalination plants for irrigation.
To help adapt the tourism industry regionwide, Trotz suggested imposing a $5 levy on every visitor arriving by plane or cruise ship -- a method that could raise more than $60 million annually.
"We have to do something very urgently about resources for adaptation," he said.
Growing awareness of emissions released by jet travel could lead to a drop in tourists, according to Scott, who cited surveys from Britain that showed many believe the price of a ticket should reflect its environmental cost.
And as other regions grow warmer, the tropics might lose their appeal.
"We can't move these islands," said Brenda Ekwurzel, of the Washington-based nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- The Caribbean tourism industry, the lifeblood for many island economies, needs to brace itself for stronger hurricanes, more frequent droughts and rising sea levels resulting from global warming, scientists said Monday.
The Caribbean, where more than half the population lives within a mile of the coast, faces some of the greatest risks from climate change, according to the expert panel at the Caribbean Tourism Organization meeting in San Juan.
"The region as a whole is really vulnerable -- it's sand, sun and beaches," said Ulric Trotz, science adviser to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center in Belize.
Trotz said governments should limit development along eroding coastlines, protect natural resources including reefs and mangroves and take other steps before global warming accelerates in the coming decades, as some experts forecast.
Already, rising ocean temperatures have been blamed for killing off coral that sustains significant marine life and fueling monstrous storms. This year was the first on record when two Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes -- Felix and Dean, which both gained strength in the Caribbean -- made landfall in the same season.
While humans' role in global warming remains a source of controversy, panelists said the trend is driving decisions by investors on where to develop hotels.
"Even if you don't believe in climate change, it's part of decision making in the industry," said Daniel Scott, a climate specialist at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Many have launched campaigns to emphasize sustainable or "green" tourism. Barbados, which already suffers a scarcity of fresh water, has required new golf courses to build desalination plants for irrigation.
To help adapt the tourism industry regionwide, Trotz suggested imposing a $5 levy on every visitor arriving by plane or cruise ship -- a method that could raise more than $60 million annually.
"We have to do something very urgently about resources for adaptation," he said.
Growing awareness of emissions released by jet travel could lead to a drop in tourists, according to Scott, who cited surveys from Britain that showed many believe the price of a ticket should reflect its environmental cost.
And as other regions grow warmer, the tropics might lose their appeal.
"We can't move these islands," said Brenda Ekwurzel, of the Washington-based nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists.
Global warming may be leading to higher rice yields in China: IRRI
23rd Oct 2007
MANILA (AFP) - Global warming appears to have led to higher rice yields in northern China while free trade, changing diets, and rapid urbanisation is leading to a decline in rice production elsewhere, officials from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said.
Philippines-based IRRI has tracked a northward shift in rice-growing areas in China, which is home to a fifth of humanity and produces 35 percent of the world's rice.
While economic development, the shift to high-value vegetables and land conversion steered farmers away from rice farming in southern China, "another factor that may have contributed is climate change," IRRI geographer Robert Hijmans wrote in the forthcoming issue of the IRRI journal Rice Today.
Liaoning, Jilin, Nei Mongol and Heilongjiang now account for 11.5 percent of China's rice growing areas, up from 2.7 percent in 1979.
The four northern provinces also saw "relatively strong increases in yield" over the period, he said.
Warming in high latitudes such as northern China, where a 2.5 degree-Celsius rise in minimum temperature in Heilongjiang was monitored over the past 40 years, has been above the global average of 0.03 degrees Celsius rise per year, he said.
While yield declines result from increased minimum temperature in areas near the equator, "in relatively cool areas as Heilongjiang, warming may have contributed to higher yields through a longer growing season and reduced cold stress," Hijmans added.
Meanwhile, free trade, changing diets, and rapid urbanisation could lead to a decline in rice production, one of the world's leading experts on the crop said.
"As prosperous rice-growing countries move toward free trade in agricultural production, they may increasingly find it difficult to sustain producers' interest in rice farming," said Mahabub Hossain, a former IRRI economist.
He said global rice demand growth has slowed as rapid urbanisation and rising per capita income in middle and high-income countries in Asia and Latin America prompt people to diversify their diets, while population control has reduced population growth rates in rice-eating China, Malaysia and Thailand.
However, this may be offset by "increased consumption due to poverty reduction among low-income households" in West Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South America, where rapid migration to urban areas has led to changes in diets from ones based on maize or root crops to rice-based ones.
Hossain said urbanisation would lead to "economic pressure to reduce the area under rice cultivation to accommodate agricultural diversification in favor of higher-value crops" and as farms are lost to build housing, factories and roads.
MANILA (AFP) - Global warming appears to have led to higher rice yields in northern China while free trade, changing diets, and rapid urbanisation is leading to a decline in rice production elsewhere, officials from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said.
Philippines-based IRRI has tracked a northward shift in rice-growing areas in China, which is home to a fifth of humanity and produces 35 percent of the world's rice.
While economic development, the shift to high-value vegetables and land conversion steered farmers away from rice farming in southern China, "another factor that may have contributed is climate change," IRRI geographer Robert Hijmans wrote in the forthcoming issue of the IRRI journal Rice Today.
Liaoning, Jilin, Nei Mongol and Heilongjiang now account for 11.5 percent of China's rice growing areas, up from 2.7 percent in 1979.
The four northern provinces also saw "relatively strong increases in yield" over the period, he said.
Warming in high latitudes such as northern China, where a 2.5 degree-Celsius rise in minimum temperature in Heilongjiang was monitored over the past 40 years, has been above the global average of 0.03 degrees Celsius rise per year, he said.
While yield declines result from increased minimum temperature in areas near the equator, "in relatively cool areas as Heilongjiang, warming may have contributed to higher yields through a longer growing season and reduced cold stress," Hijmans added.
Meanwhile, free trade, changing diets, and rapid urbanisation could lead to a decline in rice production, one of the world's leading experts on the crop said.
"As prosperous rice-growing countries move toward free trade in agricultural production, they may increasingly find it difficult to sustain producers' interest in rice farming," said Mahabub Hossain, a former IRRI economist.
He said global rice demand growth has slowed as rapid urbanisation and rising per capita income in middle and high-income countries in Asia and Latin America prompt people to diversify their diets, while population control has reduced population growth rates in rice-eating China, Malaysia and Thailand.
However, this may be offset by "increased consumption due to poverty reduction among low-income households" in West Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South America, where rapid migration to urban areas has led to changes in diets from ones based on maize or root crops to rice-based ones.
Hossain said urbanisation would lead to "economic pressure to reduce the area under rice cultivation to accommodate agricultural diversification in favor of higher-value crops" and as farms are lost to build housing, factories and roads.
Carbon dioxide in atmosphere increasing
Mon Oct 22, 9:39 PM
WASHINGTON - Just days after the Nobel prize was awarded for global warming work, an alarming new study finds that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing faster than expected.
Carbon dioxide emissions were 35 percent higher in 2006 than in 1990, a much faster growth rate than anticipated, researchers led by Josep G. Canadell, of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Increased industrial use of fossil fuels coupled with a decline in the gas absorbed by the oceans and land were listed as causes of the increase.
"In addition to the growth of global population and wealth, we now know that significant contributions to the growth of atmospheric CO2 arise from the slowdown" of nature's ability to take the chemical out of the air, said Canadell, director of the Global Carbon Project at the research organization.
The changes "characterize a carbon cycle that is generating stronger-than-expected and sooner-than-expected climate forcing," the researchers report.
Kevin Trenberth of the climate analysis section of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. said the "paper raises some very important issues that the public should be aware of: Namely that concentrations of CO2 are increasing at much higher rates than previously expected and this is in spite of the Kyoto Protocol that is designed to hold them down in western countries,"
Alan Robock, associate director of the Center for Environmental Prediction at Rutgers University, added: "What is really shocking is the reduction of the oceanic CO2 sink," meaning the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere.
The researchers blamed that reduction on changes in wind circulation, but Robock said he also thinks rising ocean temperatures reduce the ability to take in the gas.
"Think that a warm Coke has less fizz than a cold Coke," he said.
Neither Robock nor Trenberth was part of Canadell's research team.
Carbon dioxide is the leading "greenhouse gas," so named because their accumulation in the atmosphere can help trap heat from the sun, causing potentially dangerous warming of the planet.
While most atmospheric scientists accept the idea, finding ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been a political problem because of potential effects on the economy. Earlier this month, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and former Vice President Al Gore for their work in calling attention to global warming.
"It turns out that global warming critics were right when they said that global climate models did not do a good job at predicting climate change," Robock commented. "But what has been wrong recently is that the climate is changing even faster than the models said. In fact, Arctic sea ice is melting much faster than any models predicted, and sea level is rising much faster than IPCC previously predicted."
According to the new study, carbon released from burning fossil fuel and making cement rose from 7.0 billion metric tons per year in 2000 to 8.4 billion metric tons in 2006. A metric tons is 2,205 pounds.
The growth rate increased from 1.3 percent per year in 1990-1999 to 3.3 percent per year in 2000-2006, the researchers added.
Trenberth noted that carbon dioxide is not the whole story — methane emissions have declined, so total greenhouse gases are not increasing as much as carbon dioxide alone. Also, he added, other pollution plays a role by cooling.
There are changes from year to year in the fraction of the atmosphere made up of carbon dioxide and the question is whether this increase is transient or will be sustained, he said.
"The theory suggests increases in (the atmospheric fraction), as is claimed here, but the evidence is not strong," Trenberth said.
The paper looks at a rather short time to measure a trend, Robock added, "but the results they get certainly look reasonable, and much of the paper is looking at much longer trends."
The research was supported by Australian, European and other international agencies.
WASHINGTON - Just days after the Nobel prize was awarded for global warming work, an alarming new study finds that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing faster than expected.
Carbon dioxide emissions were 35 percent higher in 2006 than in 1990, a much faster growth rate than anticipated, researchers led by Josep G. Canadell, of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Increased industrial use of fossil fuels coupled with a decline in the gas absorbed by the oceans and land were listed as causes of the increase.
"In addition to the growth of global population and wealth, we now know that significant contributions to the growth of atmospheric CO2 arise from the slowdown" of nature's ability to take the chemical out of the air, said Canadell, director of the Global Carbon Project at the research organization.
The changes "characterize a carbon cycle that is generating stronger-than-expected and sooner-than-expected climate forcing," the researchers report.
Kevin Trenberth of the climate analysis section of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. said the "paper raises some very important issues that the public should be aware of: Namely that concentrations of CO2 are increasing at much higher rates than previously expected and this is in spite of the Kyoto Protocol that is designed to hold them down in western countries,"
Alan Robock, associate director of the Center for Environmental Prediction at Rutgers University, added: "What is really shocking is the reduction of the oceanic CO2 sink," meaning the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere.
The researchers blamed that reduction on changes in wind circulation, but Robock said he also thinks rising ocean temperatures reduce the ability to take in the gas.
"Think that a warm Coke has less fizz than a cold Coke," he said.
Neither Robock nor Trenberth was part of Canadell's research team.
Carbon dioxide is the leading "greenhouse gas," so named because their accumulation in the atmosphere can help trap heat from the sun, causing potentially dangerous warming of the planet.
While most atmospheric scientists accept the idea, finding ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been a political problem because of potential effects on the economy. Earlier this month, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and former Vice President Al Gore for their work in calling attention to global warming.
"It turns out that global warming critics were right when they said that global climate models did not do a good job at predicting climate change," Robock commented. "But what has been wrong recently is that the climate is changing even faster than the models said. In fact, Arctic sea ice is melting much faster than any models predicted, and sea level is rising much faster than IPCC previously predicted."
According to the new study, carbon released from burning fossil fuel and making cement rose from 7.0 billion metric tons per year in 2000 to 8.4 billion metric tons in 2006. A metric tons is 2,205 pounds.
The growth rate increased from 1.3 percent per year in 1990-1999 to 3.3 percent per year in 2000-2006, the researchers added.
Trenberth noted that carbon dioxide is not the whole story — methane emissions have declined, so total greenhouse gases are not increasing as much as carbon dioxide alone. Also, he added, other pollution plays a role by cooling.
There are changes from year to year in the fraction of the atmosphere made up of carbon dioxide and the question is whether this increase is transient or will be sustained, he said.
"The theory suggests increases in (the atmospheric fraction), as is claimed here, but the evidence is not strong," Trenberth said.
The paper looks at a rather short time to measure a trend, Robock added, "but the results they get certainly look reasonable, and much of the paper is looking at much longer trends."
The research was supported by Australian, European and other international agencies.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
China offers surprise hope in climate change fight
Sun Oct 7, 6:54 PM
YANQING, China (AFP) - Teenager Zhu Xiaotong's home a few hours' drive outside Beijing is a world away from the acrid air and snarling traffic jams that have come to dominate China's energy-hungry capital.
Cherry tomatoes, capsicum and spring onions rise up from a little garden patch that forms the centrepiece of her family's brick courtyard home, while a solar panel heater ensures the Zhu's have warm water even in winter.
Zhu, the 19-year-old daughter of cabbage farmers, has also for the past few months cooked the family meal in their sparse kitchen on a new eco-friendly stove that burns crop waste ultra-efficiently instead of noxious coal.
"There was a lot of smoke when we burnt the coal, but now there's no smoke at all. Coal smoke used to make us cough," she said on a recent clear sunny day at their home in Yanqing, a picturesque farming district.
The Zhu family stove, in fact, is being held up as a symbol of what many may be surprised to hear -- that China could be one of the world's saviours in combatting global warming.
Former US vice president Al Gore recently presented Chinese firm Daxu, the makers of the stove, with an Ashden Award, a high-profile British honour that promotes world-leading sustainable technologies.
China's environment is undoubtedly under unprecedented pressure as its 1.3 billion people rush to live modern, Western lifestyles, and it continues to rely on global-warming culprit coal for 70 percent of its expanding energy needs.
In fact, China has quickly caught up with the United States as the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that are blamed for global warming.
But China is also quietly emerging as a global force in renewable energy technologies, from big-ticket items such as wind and solar power to small products like the Zhu's stove.
This is being driven by strong government policies, its own vast market and businesses seizing opportunities in a fast-growing global industry, according to the China programme manager for Worldwatch Institute, Yingling Liu.
-- "China has potential to be a world leader" --
"China has the potential to be a world leader in the renewable energy sector," Washington-based Liu told AFP.
"What is promising is that changes (in China) are happening in the right directions towards cleaner and more sustainable energy sources, and the trends will likely be accelerated."
China currently gets eight percent of its energy from renewable sources, and the official target is to build that up to around 15 percent by 2020.
And while most of that comes from hydropower, a scan around China's countryside and even its cities shows that some other renewable technologies have already become more widespread in the developing Asian nation than in rich countries.
Solar water heaters such as the one used at the Zhu's home can be seen on the roofs of remote village homes and endless lines of new apartments in China's rapidly emerging urban sprawl.
Meanwhile, China's status as the world's "factory floor" and its ability to drive product costs down globally is being seen as an even bigger cause for optimism in the struggle against climate change.
Currently, fossil fuels remain a cheaper source for power than wind, solar and other renewables, while energy-efficient products often cost more than their energy-hungry equivalents.
"The price of these technologies will only come down if countries like China start manufacturing them," said Greenpeace China climate and energy campaign manager Yang Ailun.
In one example, which has ironically drawn anti-dumping tariffs from the European Union, China has emerged as the world's biggest and cheapest exporter of energy-saving light bulbs.
Solar technology is another. While solar power, as opposed to water heaters, is yet to take off dramatically in China due to high costs, Chinese businesses are beginning to dominate the global market.
Chinese scientist-turned-entrepreneur Shi Zhengrong is a billionaire thanks to his Suntech Power company, a New York-listed firm that is one of the world's leading makers of photovoltaic equipment that turns sunlight into electricity.
YANQING, China (AFP) - Teenager Zhu Xiaotong's home a few hours' drive outside Beijing is a world away from the acrid air and snarling traffic jams that have come to dominate China's energy-hungry capital.
Cherry tomatoes, capsicum and spring onions rise up from a little garden patch that forms the centrepiece of her family's brick courtyard home, while a solar panel heater ensures the Zhu's have warm water even in winter.
Zhu, the 19-year-old daughter of cabbage farmers, has also for the past few months cooked the family meal in their sparse kitchen on a new eco-friendly stove that burns crop waste ultra-efficiently instead of noxious coal.
"There was a lot of smoke when we burnt the coal, but now there's no smoke at all. Coal smoke used to make us cough," she said on a recent clear sunny day at their home in Yanqing, a picturesque farming district.
The Zhu family stove, in fact, is being held up as a symbol of what many may be surprised to hear -- that China could be one of the world's saviours in combatting global warming.
Former US vice president Al Gore recently presented Chinese firm Daxu, the makers of the stove, with an Ashden Award, a high-profile British honour that promotes world-leading sustainable technologies.
China's environment is undoubtedly under unprecedented pressure as its 1.3 billion people rush to live modern, Western lifestyles, and it continues to rely on global-warming culprit coal for 70 percent of its expanding energy needs.
In fact, China has quickly caught up with the United States as the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that are blamed for global warming.
But China is also quietly emerging as a global force in renewable energy technologies, from big-ticket items such as wind and solar power to small products like the Zhu's stove.
This is being driven by strong government policies, its own vast market and businesses seizing opportunities in a fast-growing global industry, according to the China programme manager for Worldwatch Institute, Yingling Liu.
-- "China has potential to be a world leader" --
"China has the potential to be a world leader in the renewable energy sector," Washington-based Liu told AFP.
"What is promising is that changes (in China) are happening in the right directions towards cleaner and more sustainable energy sources, and the trends will likely be accelerated."
China currently gets eight percent of its energy from renewable sources, and the official target is to build that up to around 15 percent by 2020.
And while most of that comes from hydropower, a scan around China's countryside and even its cities shows that some other renewable technologies have already become more widespread in the developing Asian nation than in rich countries.
Solar water heaters such as the one used at the Zhu's home can be seen on the roofs of remote village homes and endless lines of new apartments in China's rapidly emerging urban sprawl.
Meanwhile, China's status as the world's "factory floor" and its ability to drive product costs down globally is being seen as an even bigger cause for optimism in the struggle against climate change.
Currently, fossil fuels remain a cheaper source for power than wind, solar and other renewables, while energy-efficient products often cost more than their energy-hungry equivalents.
"The price of these technologies will only come down if countries like China start manufacturing them," said Greenpeace China climate and energy campaign manager Yang Ailun.
In one example, which has ironically drawn anti-dumping tariffs from the European Union, China has emerged as the world's biggest and cheapest exporter of energy-saving light bulbs.
Solar technology is another. While solar power, as opposed to water heaters, is yet to take off dramatically in China due to high costs, Chinese businesses are beginning to dominate the global market.
Chinese scientist-turned-entrepreneur Shi Zhengrong is a billionaire thanks to his Suntech Power company, a New York-listed firm that is one of the world's leading makers of photovoltaic equipment that turns sunlight into electricity.
Merkel warns of climate change in South Africa
07 October 2007 07:10
Climate change is already happening in South Africa, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday during a visit to a biodiversity centre in Cape Town."You can see that climate change is already a reality here," said Merkel, as she visited Biota Africa, a centre where German and South African scientists conduct research on African climate change."Climate change is more obvious in South Africa than in Germany," she said."If the temperature rises seven degrees in South Africa, then it is too late," said Merkel, on her third day of her South African visit.'Moving moment'Merkel met on Saturday with former South African president Nelson Mandela and declared afterwards that it had been a "very moving moment" to meet the hero of the anti-apartheid movement.Merkel met for 45 minutes with the 89-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who was accompanied by his wife, Graca Machel, for what was the German leader's first personal meeting with Mandela."It was a very moving moment for me to experience and to speak with Nelson Mandela," the Berlin leader said, describing him as a monument of humanity.She noted that as a young woman while she was living in the former communist East Germany, she had followed with interest Mandela's opposition activities to end apartheid and so it was her special wish to have a chance to meet him.With Mandela having largely withdrawn from the public limelight, Merkel and Development Aid Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul regarded it as an honour that they were given an appointment with the former South African president.The meeting took place in the library of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which has joined in the battle against Aids in South Africa.There was a bit of joking when he asked Merkel whether she wanted some rum in her coffee. When she asked whether he drank rum with his coffee, he said he was too old.Moments later, when Wieczorek-Zeul disclosed that her ministry was donating $3,6-million to his foundation, Mandela said: "You have just made me younger."Graca Machel, now one of Africa's most influential women, praised Merkel for her efforts on behalf of the forthcoming European Union-Africa summit. But she warned the Berlin leader not to make too much of an issue of the participation of Zimbabwe's controversial leader Robert Mugabe.Mandela, for his part, said that the most important message must be peace itself. Whether Sudan, democratic Republic of Congo or Somalia, all conflicts must be resolved through peace. He had arrived at this maxim during his many long years in prison, he told Merkel.Merkel arrived in South Africa late on Thursday evening on the second leg of a three-nation trip to Africa. She met President Thabo Mbeki on Friday. She leaves South Africa on Sunday, with a brief stopover scheduled in Liberia before returning home. -- Sapa-AFP, dpa
Climate change is already happening in South Africa, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday during a visit to a biodiversity centre in Cape Town."You can see that climate change is already a reality here," said Merkel, as she visited Biota Africa, a centre where German and South African scientists conduct research on African climate change."Climate change is more obvious in South Africa than in Germany," she said."If the temperature rises seven degrees in South Africa, then it is too late," said Merkel, on her third day of her South African visit.'Moving moment'Merkel met on Saturday with former South African president Nelson Mandela and declared afterwards that it had been a "very moving moment" to meet the hero of the anti-apartheid movement.Merkel met for 45 minutes with the 89-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who was accompanied by his wife, Graca Machel, for what was the German leader's first personal meeting with Mandela."It was a very moving moment for me to experience and to speak with Nelson Mandela," the Berlin leader said, describing him as a monument of humanity.She noted that as a young woman while she was living in the former communist East Germany, she had followed with interest Mandela's opposition activities to end apartheid and so it was her special wish to have a chance to meet him.With Mandela having largely withdrawn from the public limelight, Merkel and Development Aid Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul regarded it as an honour that they were given an appointment with the former South African president.The meeting took place in the library of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which has joined in the battle against Aids in South Africa.There was a bit of joking when he asked Merkel whether she wanted some rum in her coffee. When she asked whether he drank rum with his coffee, he said he was too old.Moments later, when Wieczorek-Zeul disclosed that her ministry was donating $3,6-million to his foundation, Mandela said: "You have just made me younger."Graca Machel, now one of Africa's most influential women, praised Merkel for her efforts on behalf of the forthcoming European Union-Africa summit. But she warned the Berlin leader not to make too much of an issue of the participation of Zimbabwe's controversial leader Robert Mugabe.Mandela, for his part, said that the most important message must be peace itself. Whether Sudan, democratic Republic of Congo or Somalia, all conflicts must be resolved through peace. He had arrived at this maxim during his many long years in prison, he told Merkel.Merkel arrived in South Africa late on Thursday evening on the second leg of a three-nation trip to Africa. She met President Thabo Mbeki on Friday. She leaves South Africa on Sunday, with a brief stopover scheduled in Liberia before returning home. -- Sapa-AFP, dpa
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Animals are causing climate change
28 September 2007
ALTHOUGH we were delighted to see that the Christian Aid ‘Cut the Carbon’ march will reaching it’s finale in London on the October 2, we were shocked to see no mention of the impact of livestock on climate change.The main gas that farmed animals produce, methane, is actually 21 times more damaging that carbon dioxide, and livestock farming accounts for 18 per cent of greenhouse emissions.This is more than the entire world’s transport systems combined and comes second only to the burning of fossil fuels as a contributor to global warming.In fact, farmed animals produce 100 million tons of methane every single year as well as 13 billion tonnes of waste every year. This waste causes acid rain, pollutes waterways and devastates wildlife.Across the world, poor countries are being encouraged to grow cash crops such as animal fodder to earn foreign currency to meet their debt repayments - at the expense of food for home consumption. It has resulted in the obscenity of children starving to death alongside lush crops destined for the West’s animals. Most of this food is wasted as for every 10kg of vegetable protein fed to cattle, only 1kg is converted to meat.It is clear to us at Viva! that the only way to prevent climate change and to feed the world is to adopt a vegetarian, or even better, vegan diet.If you would like any more information or a free ‘Go Veggie’ pack, please contact us on 0117 944 1000 (Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm) or log on to www.viva.org.uk. Or read about the UN Report, ‘Livestock’s Long Shadow’, at www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html.
ALTHOUGH we were delighted to see that the Christian Aid ‘Cut the Carbon’ march will reaching it’s finale in London on the October 2, we were shocked to see no mention of the impact of livestock on climate change.The main gas that farmed animals produce, methane, is actually 21 times more damaging that carbon dioxide, and livestock farming accounts for 18 per cent of greenhouse emissions.This is more than the entire world’s transport systems combined and comes second only to the burning of fossil fuels as a contributor to global warming.In fact, farmed animals produce 100 million tons of methane every single year as well as 13 billion tonnes of waste every year. This waste causes acid rain, pollutes waterways and devastates wildlife.Across the world, poor countries are being encouraged to grow cash crops such as animal fodder to earn foreign currency to meet their debt repayments - at the expense of food for home consumption. It has resulted in the obscenity of children starving to death alongside lush crops destined for the West’s animals. Most of this food is wasted as for every 10kg of vegetable protein fed to cattle, only 1kg is converted to meat.It is clear to us at Viva! that the only way to prevent climate change and to feed the world is to adopt a vegetarian, or even better, vegan diet.If you would like any more information or a free ‘Go Veggie’ pack, please contact us on 0117 944 1000 (Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm) or log on to www.viva.org.uk. Or read about the UN Report, ‘Livestock’s Long Shadow’, at www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Pacific Nations Spotlight Perils Of Climate Change
Tuesday, 2 October 2007, 4:35 pm
Pacific island nations spotlight perils of climate change during addresses to UN
Developing countries must be allowed to make voluntary commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions under any new global agreement to deal with the effects of climate change, the Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu told the General Assembly today.
Tavau Teii, who is also his country's Natural Resources and Environment Minister, said the international summit being held in Bali, Indonesia, in December, "will be very important" in determining how and whether the world can respond successfully to the impact of global warming.
Any agreement emerging from the Bali summit should reconfirm the importance of the Kyoto Protocol concerning greenhouse gas emissions and encourage States Parties to make new and substantial emissions reductions, he said at the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly.
Mr. Teii said newly industrialized countries and States with economies in transition should be encouraged to take on pledges to reduce their emissions.
A new negotiation process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) should also be agreed, he said, to set up a legal agreement allowing developing countries to make voluntary commitments to reduce their emissions.
"Under this arrangement we envisage that developing countries will be able to take voluntary commitments to reduce emissions from the energy, transport and forest sectors. These commitments would be linked to appropriate incentive mechanisms."
Mr. Teii also said it was important that any reductions in emissions from deforestation should not come at the expense of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.
Vanuatu's Foreign Minister George Andre Wells said a rapid reduction in gas emissions must take place within the next 10 to 15 years.
"It is a reality that, if it is not addressed urgently, will have irreversible effects on the agriculture and tourism sectors which constitute the core pillars of development of many of our island economies."
Mr. Wells said the effect of climate change - such as rising sea levels - on agriculture production, water quality and infrastructure development was of critical importance to his nation.
"For many small island States and least developed countries (LDCs) meeting the challenges of climate change will only add additional stress to their financial, human and institutional capacities."
Mongolia's Foreign Minister Enkhbold Nyamaa told the high-level debate that climate change was already having an impact on nations large and small, coastal and landlocked - like his own.
Desertification has become rampant in Mongolia, he said, with pastures supporting the semi-nomadic lifestyle of many locals dwindling and becoming more fragile.
Extreme weather conditions have also become more common in recent years, particularly droughts and the phenomenon known as "dzud," a cold winter with heavy snowfalls.
Any agreements that succeeds or supplants the Kyoto Protocol "should be flexible and diverse, taking into consideration circumstances in each country," Mr. Nyamaa stressed.
"It must include all the major emitters and achieve compatibility between environmental protection and economic growth by utilizing advances in technologies to the greatest extent possible."
Pacific island nations spotlight perils of climate change during addresses to UN
Developing countries must be allowed to make voluntary commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions under any new global agreement to deal with the effects of climate change, the Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu told the General Assembly today.
Tavau Teii, who is also his country's Natural Resources and Environment Minister, said the international summit being held in Bali, Indonesia, in December, "will be very important" in determining how and whether the world can respond successfully to the impact of global warming.
Any agreement emerging from the Bali summit should reconfirm the importance of the Kyoto Protocol concerning greenhouse gas emissions and encourage States Parties to make new and substantial emissions reductions, he said at the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly.
Mr. Teii said newly industrialized countries and States with economies in transition should be encouraged to take on pledges to reduce their emissions.
A new negotiation process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) should also be agreed, he said, to set up a legal agreement allowing developing countries to make voluntary commitments to reduce their emissions.
"Under this arrangement we envisage that developing countries will be able to take voluntary commitments to reduce emissions from the energy, transport and forest sectors. These commitments would be linked to appropriate incentive mechanisms."
Mr. Teii also said it was important that any reductions in emissions from deforestation should not come at the expense of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.
Vanuatu's Foreign Minister George Andre Wells said a rapid reduction in gas emissions must take place within the next 10 to 15 years.
"It is a reality that, if it is not addressed urgently, will have irreversible effects on the agriculture and tourism sectors which constitute the core pillars of development of many of our island economies."
Mr. Wells said the effect of climate change - such as rising sea levels - on agriculture production, water quality and infrastructure development was of critical importance to his nation.
"For many small island States and least developed countries (LDCs) meeting the challenges of climate change will only add additional stress to their financial, human and institutional capacities."
Mongolia's Foreign Minister Enkhbold Nyamaa told the high-level debate that climate change was already having an impact on nations large and small, coastal and landlocked - like his own.
Desertification has become rampant in Mongolia, he said, with pastures supporting the semi-nomadic lifestyle of many locals dwindling and becoming more fragile.
Extreme weather conditions have also become more common in recent years, particularly droughts and the phenomenon known as "dzud," a cold winter with heavy snowfalls.
Any agreements that succeeds or supplants the Kyoto Protocol "should be flexible and diverse, taking into consideration circumstances in each country," Mr. Nyamaa stressed.
"It must include all the major emitters and achieve compatibility between environmental protection and economic growth by utilizing advances in technologies to the greatest extent possible."
World at climate change crossroads - UNEP
By Jeremy Lovell
LONDON (Reuters) - The world went through a tipping point in dealing with climate change in 2007 as public opinion recognised the crisis, but time is running out fast for action, the head of the UN Environment Programme said on Monday.
Achim Steiner said politicians across the world, driven in part by public opinion and in part by signs of climate change like droughts and floods, were finally waking up to the need to take urgent action. What was needed now was momentum.
"We really have now got an issue on which the world public is fully engaged. Now we really have to change gear," he told Reuters by telephone from his Nairobi office. "Climate change is being observed in virtually every country."
"In 2007 we have crossed the threshold easily in terms of the kinds of issues that we agree on. We are now talking about modalities, mechanisms and money," he added.
The crunch would be at a meeting of UN environment ministers in December on the Indonesian island of Bali that many people see as a last chance to launch talks on a new world agreement on measures to cut emissions of climate changing carbon gases.
"Bali must be the starting gun. We have only 24 months to put a global framework in place," Steiner said, noting that the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions runs to 2012 with nothing to replace it as yet.
The United States, the world's biggest emitter of carbon, has rejected Kyoto. But even there political and public pressure had forced the administration of President George W. Bush to start changing tack.
A source at a meeting of major world emitters that Bush convened in Washington last week said his officials had been taken aback by the strong pressure to act from participants.
BOTTOM LINE
"The bottom line is we are now in a much better position to have the full attention of the world's governments for the Bali meeting," Steiner said. "Kyoto is about creating a universal framework that is compatible with a global economy."
But while some countries were now taking action to cut carbon emissions, a lot more needed to be done in terms of practical actions and positive incentives to change.
"From where I sit no one is doing enough," Steiner said.
However, he noted that Germany was taking a lead in renewables like wind power and Costa Rica had adopted a low carbon economy.
Even Cuba and South Africa had started to switch to low energy lightbulbs -- although the motivating force was electricity conservation rather than global warming.
But while prospects for Bali may have begun to look slightly rosier, the impact of climate change was already being felt and would only get worse in the near term, Steiner said.
"There is no linear predictability in terms of how ecosystems respond. The phenomena of collapse is one that we have under-appreciated, partly because of the feed-back mechanisms that we are still trying to understand," he said.
Africa in particular was in the front line of global warming, yet little action and less money was being spent there to try to cope with the effects, Steiner said. "We have lost 10 years in Africa by not taking climate change seriously enough."
LONDON (Reuters) - The world went through a tipping point in dealing with climate change in 2007 as public opinion recognised the crisis, but time is running out fast for action, the head of the UN Environment Programme said on Monday.
Achim Steiner said politicians across the world, driven in part by public opinion and in part by signs of climate change like droughts and floods, were finally waking up to the need to take urgent action. What was needed now was momentum.
"We really have now got an issue on which the world public is fully engaged. Now we really have to change gear," he told Reuters by telephone from his Nairobi office. "Climate change is being observed in virtually every country."
"In 2007 we have crossed the threshold easily in terms of the kinds of issues that we agree on. We are now talking about modalities, mechanisms and money," he added.
The crunch would be at a meeting of UN environment ministers in December on the Indonesian island of Bali that many people see as a last chance to launch talks on a new world agreement on measures to cut emissions of climate changing carbon gases.
"Bali must be the starting gun. We have only 24 months to put a global framework in place," Steiner said, noting that the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions runs to 2012 with nothing to replace it as yet.
The United States, the world's biggest emitter of carbon, has rejected Kyoto. But even there political and public pressure had forced the administration of President George W. Bush to start changing tack.
A source at a meeting of major world emitters that Bush convened in Washington last week said his officials had been taken aback by the strong pressure to act from participants.
BOTTOM LINE
"The bottom line is we are now in a much better position to have the full attention of the world's governments for the Bali meeting," Steiner said. "Kyoto is about creating a universal framework that is compatible with a global economy."
But while some countries were now taking action to cut carbon emissions, a lot more needed to be done in terms of practical actions and positive incentives to change.
"From where I sit no one is doing enough," Steiner said.
However, he noted that Germany was taking a lead in renewables like wind power and Costa Rica had adopted a low carbon economy.
Even Cuba and South Africa had started to switch to low energy lightbulbs -- although the motivating force was electricity conservation rather than global warming.
But while prospects for Bali may have begun to look slightly rosier, the impact of climate change was already being felt and would only get worse in the near term, Steiner said.
"There is no linear predictability in terms of how ecosystems respond. The phenomena of collapse is one that we have under-appreciated, partly because of the feed-back mechanisms that we are still trying to understand," he said.
Africa in particular was in the front line of global warming, yet little action and less money was being spent there to try to cope with the effects, Steiner said. "We have lost 10 years in Africa by not taking climate change seriously enough."
Climate change report 'a wake up call'
2nd October 2007, 12:02 WST
Predictions that temperatures could climb one degree Celsius across Australia by 2030 should be a wake-up call to the major parties to act swiftly on climate change, the Australian Greens say.
The latest Climate Change in Australia report, produced by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, indicates the probability of warming exceeding one degree is 10 to 20 per cent for coastal areas of Australia, and more than 50 per cent for inland regions.
Rainfall is also expected to decrease in parts of Australia, particularly in south-western Australia, according to the report.
Greens climate change spokeswoman Senator Christine Milne said the alarming predictions should prompt the major parties to take the issue of climate change seriously.
"When will the government and opposition wake up to the threat and take real action to tackle the biggest issue of our time?" she said.
"The underlying message has not changed for well over a decade: we need to act fast to reduce emissions if we are to have any chance of avoiding runaway climate change."
Senator Milne urged the major parties to stop supporting major greenhouse gas emitters like the coal and aluminium industries.
"Clearly, the problem is nothing about science, but about political will and the power of major industrial emitters," she said.
"Both the government and opposition are desperately trying to protect these major emitters - primarily the coal, forestry and aluminium sectors - while leaving Australia's agriculture and tourism, not to mention our health and infrastructure, to dry up, bleach and melt away."
Senator Milne said steps must be taken to slash emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050 to avoid the CSIRO's predictions eventuating.
Labor's environment spokesman Peter Garrett says agricultural communities and water supplies in southern Australian cities will be severely affected by climate change.
Mr Garrett said the Howard government had gone backwards in addressing the need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions.
"What I'm seeing in today's report is the likelihood that we will have seriously hot days in much of the continent, including in Darwin, but also in the southern parts of the continent which will inevitably impact very, very grievously on agricultural communities and on the water supplies on cities in the south," Mr Garrett told reporters.
"I'm also seeing that the suggestion that scientists have made in the past, that global warming means we're likely to have more intense drought, are now actually confirmed."
Every country had a responsibility to get their emissions under control, Mr Garrett told reporters.
"It's only by getting our emissions under control and showing that we're serious about the task, can we hope to persuade and work with other countries to do the same," he said.
Predictions that temperatures could climb one degree Celsius across Australia by 2030 should be a wake-up call to the major parties to act swiftly on climate change, the Australian Greens say.
The latest Climate Change in Australia report, produced by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, indicates the probability of warming exceeding one degree is 10 to 20 per cent for coastal areas of Australia, and more than 50 per cent for inland regions.
Rainfall is also expected to decrease in parts of Australia, particularly in south-western Australia, according to the report.
Greens climate change spokeswoman Senator Christine Milne said the alarming predictions should prompt the major parties to take the issue of climate change seriously.
"When will the government and opposition wake up to the threat and take real action to tackle the biggest issue of our time?" she said.
"The underlying message has not changed for well over a decade: we need to act fast to reduce emissions if we are to have any chance of avoiding runaway climate change."
Senator Milne urged the major parties to stop supporting major greenhouse gas emitters like the coal and aluminium industries.
"Clearly, the problem is nothing about science, but about political will and the power of major industrial emitters," she said.
"Both the government and opposition are desperately trying to protect these major emitters - primarily the coal, forestry and aluminium sectors - while leaving Australia's agriculture and tourism, not to mention our health and infrastructure, to dry up, bleach and melt away."
Senator Milne said steps must be taken to slash emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050 to avoid the CSIRO's predictions eventuating.
Labor's environment spokesman Peter Garrett says agricultural communities and water supplies in southern Australian cities will be severely affected by climate change.
Mr Garrett said the Howard government had gone backwards in addressing the need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions.
"What I'm seeing in today's report is the likelihood that we will have seriously hot days in much of the continent, including in Darwin, but also in the southern parts of the continent which will inevitably impact very, very grievously on agricultural communities and on the water supplies on cities in the south," Mr Garrett told reporters.
"I'm also seeing that the suggestion that scientists have made in the past, that global warming means we're likely to have more intense drought, are now actually confirmed."
Every country had a responsibility to get their emissions under control, Mr Garrett told reporters.
"It's only by getting our emissions under control and showing that we're serious about the task, can we hope to persuade and work with other countries to do the same," he said.
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