Time for change

Huge emitter lobby undercuts climate efforts

Carbon Positive: Moves by governments to regulate carbon emissions and efforts to secure a new international climate change treaty are being successfully thwarted by the sheer number of lobbyists and amount of funding being brought to bear by heavy greenhouse emitting companies, a study by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) claims. The study examined lobbying efforts and campaign contributions in the United States, European Union, Japan, China, India, Australia, Brazil ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

IPI Survey Economists Agree Climate Change Puts Economy at Risk

EP Magazine: Respondents agree at a rate of 81 percent that a cap-and-trade system should auction permits to polluters and only 9 percent prefer the United States to give them away for free. Most expert economists agree that reducing greenhouse gas emissions can help avoid a major economic malfunction, according to a survey conducted by New York University's Institute for Policy Integrity (IPI). The institute released its findings Wednesday in a report called Economists and Climate Change: ...
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G20 talks to tackle climate change

Press Association: Chancellor Alistair Darling has urged finance ministers from the world's leading economies to "get on" with tackling climate change. Speaking ahead of the G20 meeting which begins in Scotland on Friday, Mr Darling said climate change was a "present problem" which needs billions of pounds in order to be tackled. He said: "We either take action and stop those problems happening or we fail to take action and we face bigger costs down the line." Mr Darling continued: "My ...
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UK's Miliband: There's no Plan B for climate talks

Associated Press: British Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband on Thursday urged nations to aim for meaningful progress on a global climate change pact in talks next month -- despite fading hopes that a deal will be struck. Miliband told the House of Commons on Thursday that prospects are fading that a legally binding agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions will be finalized at talks in Copenhagen, Denmark. He said countries "shouldn't be in Plan B territory," and urged negotiators to strive ...
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United Kingdom: Climate talks 'not going well': Ed Miliband

Agence France-Presse: Negotiations ahead of the crucial UN climate talks in Copenhagen are "not going well", Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband has warned. Miliband indicated that December's meeting to agree a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, could be the precursor to a legally binding treaty, rather than yielding one itself. Hopes of an accord has faded in recent days -- earlier this week, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said it was "obvious" a "full-fledged binding treaty, ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Australia attacks Copenhagen critics

Reuters: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd launched a spirited attack on climate skeptics on Friday, saying a vocal minority is powerful enough to threaten a global deal at next month's Copenhagen climate summit. Rudd said climate skeptics, deniers and opponents of climate action are active in every country, had limited the ambition of national climate change commitments and slowed progress of carbon trade laws in the United States and Australia. "They are a minority. They are ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

GOP Boycotts Senate Panel On Climate Change

National Public Radio: MICHELE NORRIS, host: And over in the Senate, a feud over climate change legislation prompted a rare move by Republicans. They boycotted the final drafting of a major bill on global warming. Two Republicans were needed for a quorum in the Environment and Public Works Committee, only one showed up. NPR's David Welna explains what happened. DAVID WELNA: Chairwoman Barbara Boxer wants her environment committee to be the first of six Senate panels to finish cap-and-trade ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

China's Climate Change Plan: The Debate Goes On

Inter Press Service: For China choosing to act on climate change is not simply agreeing to effect changes in the way its robust economy is being run. Chinese leaders have to choose between two equally unattractive options--put the brakes on growth to choke off pollution and face an array of scary scenarios, from unemployment swell to social unrest. The alternative, though, is to continue with their rapid economic expansion at the risk of achieving a result that defeats its purpose. With four weeks ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Naked emperors: the Greenpeace Guide to Climate Politics

Greenpeace's new Guide to Climate Politics shows just how badly the leaders of rich, industrialised nations are failing in their efforts to address climate change. In the last year developing nations have made real progress and put a series of offers on the table during the UN climate negotiations.
Read more [Greenpeace international]

Britain rules out climate treaty at summit

British Government officials believe there is no hope of signing a legally binding climate change treaty in Copenhagen next month.
Read more [EarthWire]

European patent office to study green innovation

The European Patent Office (EPO)'has embarked on a detailed study to map the growth in eco-innovation since the introduction of the Kyoto Protocol on�climate change. The move comes ahead of the next month's UN climate summit in Copenhagen�and as major industry players line up behind green technology.
Read more [EarthWire]

Famed climate change researcher snags WWF award

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – WWF Brazil has given a special award to Dr. Carlos Nobre, who has conducted pioneering research on the impacts of climate change on the Amazon and helped deepen the world’s understanding of global warming.

WWF Brazil last month awarded Dr. Nobre with the 2009 WWF Brazil Environment Personality Award for his research.

Dr. Nobre currently serves as Head Researcher and General Coordinator of the Scientific Centre of the Brazilian National Space Research Institute -INPE's Terrestrial System.

He received the award on Oct. 13, during the visit of the Darwin Expedition to Rio de Janeiro, with a ceremony on board the clipper 'Stad Amsterdam' moored at the Mauá Pier. The exhibition is retracing the journey made by naturalist Charles Darwin to the Southern Hemisphere during the 19th century.

In addition to his work as an INPE researcher, Dr. Nobre is the executive secretary of the Brazilian Climate Change Research Network (Rede CLIMA), executive coordinator of the Global Climate Change Research Programme run by the FAPESP and President of the Scientific Committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).

Dr. Nobre was also one of the authors of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2007 along with former US Vice-president Al Gore. In 2007 he received the Conrado Wessel Foundation Environment Award. In 1991 Dr. Nobre formulated his pioneering hypothesis on possible savannization of the Amazon which today is an important reference theory worldwide.

"The award is a way of recognising and paying homage to personalities that have carried out consistent, systematic work in the environmental field in alignment with the terms of WWF Brazil's mission and with the organization's ideals" said Álvaro de Souza, president of WWF Brazil’s board.

"The choice of Dr. Carlos Nobre is the fruit of a scientific career that has made a great contribution towards a better understanding of the relations between tropical forests and climate, the effects of deforestation on climate change and the potential impacts on the Amazon stemming from global warming" said Álvaro de Souza.

The WWF Brazil Environment Personality Award is given bi-annually for outstanding work in the conservation of nature and in fostering the country's sustainable development. The first edition of the Award went to Marina Silva, at that time, Brazil’s Minister for the Environment.

The Darwin Expedition is an initiative of the Dutch Public Television Network VPRO, the Darwin Expedition is part of the commemorations for the 150th anniversary of the publication of "The Origin of Species". With support from the WWF Network, the expedition is re-tracing the route of HMS Beagle in its voyage to the Southern Hemisphere with Darwin aboard. By May 2010, the vessel will have visited 12 countries altogether.

The expedition, with the participation of biologist Sarah Darwin, the naturalist's great-great-grand-daughter, left England at the end of August and arrived in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil on Sep. 30th. The expedition then went to Salvador, Bahia where it stayed from Oct. 5-7, and on the 12th arrived in Rio where it tied up at the Mauá Pier. It remained there until Oct. 17, and then continued around the southernmost tip of the continent towards Chile.


Read more [WWF]

Climate talks: Saying all the wrong things but chance remains to do the right things

Barcelona, Spain - An ambitious climate treaty can still be achieved in Copenhagen despite most policy makers’ focus on what they cannot achieve rather than what they can do to prevent the worst consequences of runaway climate change, WWF said at the inconclusive ending of climate negotiations in Barcelona.

“Politicians seem to be obsessed with expressing what they cannot achieve, rather than setting a high bar for how they will save the world from catastrophic temperature rises,” said Kim Carstensen, the leader of WWF’s global climate initiative. “They are saying all the wrong things but they still have a chance to do all the right things.”

While rich nations have lost their voice in Barcelona, developing countries started to speak in a more united and stronger way.

“Barcelona didn’t achieve much spectacular, but it kept the pace of slow, steady progress. The key issue is not time, but political will and that can be shown in a matter of seconds,” Carstensen said. “While developed countries were trying to lower expectations, the world’s expectations were actually rising.”

In WWF view the Danish Presidency has been an active participant in playing down expectations for a legally binding and enforceable outcome. This needs to stop. “The Danish Presidency must create a level of ambition that corresponds with climate crisis and the will of the major part of the world. “Trying to please the US and other developed countries with vague language will not give us the climate deal the world needs”

Over the past week some developed countries suggested they no longer believe a comprehensive and legally binding treaty can be signed in Copenhagen in December. Suggestions that Copenhagen would end with an agreement that countries could not be held accountable for anyway are completely unproductive, Carstensen said.

“We need a climate treaty which will survive recessions, elections, and natural disasters. Not a piece of paper that will be forgotten after the next change of power in London, Tokyo or Washington.”


Read more [WWF]

Climate bill to force refinery closures: Petroplus

LONDON (Reuters) - An international pact and U.S. legislation to tackle climate change will hit oil refiners' profits and may force some to shut some capacity, Thomas O'Malley, chairman of Swiss refiner Petroplus, said on Thursday.
Read more [Reuters]

Low-carbon farms can raise food output, food agency says

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Low-carbon farming can both curb climate change and boost food output in developing nations and so must be rewarded under a global climate deal due in December, the U.N.'s food agency said on Thursday.
Read more [Reuters]

Carbon trading 'irresponsible and dangerous'

Politics.co.uk: The government's fixation on carbon trading as a solution to climate change is "high risk, irresponsible and dangerous," according to a report by Friends of the Earth (FoE). Expanding the carbon market could trigger a second financial collapse and fail to prevent the world from global warming catastrophe, it warns. The right to emit carbon dioxide can be traded among countries that buy credits or sell unwanted permits, in principle to help cut unnecessary emissions and prevent climate ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Fossil fuel subsidies "bringing us closer to irreversible climate change"

Mongabay: The Green Economy Coalition is urging G20 finance ministers to rapidly put an end to fossil fuel subsidies. In a letter to the ministers, the coalition argues that these subsidies are contributing directly to climate change and making it difficult for the world to transition to a greener economy. "These subsidies are a massive diversion of public funds that could be better spend in other ways," says Mark Halle, executive director of IISD-Europe, a member of the coalition. "Subsidies ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

All hope is lost for Copenhagen climate treaty, British officials say

Times (UK): A world treaty on climate change will be delayed by up to a year and is likely to be watered down because countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions are refusing to commit to legally binding reductions. British officials preparing for next month's UN summit in Copenhagen said the best that could be hoped for was that national leaders would make "political agreements' on emission cuts and payments to help poor countries to adapt to climate change. These agreements would be ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Angry words as timetable for climate deal slips

Agence France-Presse: Green groups and activists for the developing world accused rich nations of tiptoeing away from vows to seal a binding, far-reaching UN treaty on climate change in Copenhagen next month. Their bitter response came after European Union (EU) negotiators in Barcelona spelt out the likelihood that the much-trumpeted pact would be concluded in 2010, not at the December 7-18 meeting as planned. The talks, launched under a two-year "road map" in Bali, call for a global accord to curb ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

An uphill road to Copenhagen climate conference

RIA Novosti: The UN conference on climate change, to be held in Copenhagen on December 7-18, is unlikely to seal anything more than routine pledges to address the problem of global warming. The United States broadly hinted on November 5 that it is not ready for the conference. China has made public its dissatisfaction with the current principles of sharing responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions. African countries boycotted this week's UN climate talks in Barcelona to demonstrate their protest ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

US Senate Democrats push through climate bill

Agence France-Presse: US Senate Democrats on Thursday pushed a sweeping climate change bill through a key committee, shrugging off a boycott by Republicans who oppose the measure and mostly shunned the debate. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the legislation by an all-Democratic 11-1 vote that forecasts a long, hard, road before the bill can clear the US Congress and President Barack Obama can sign it into law. "Today?s step in the process sends a clear message to the world ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Timeline of world's fight to tackle climate change

Telegraph: Here is a timeline of key dates in the climate change negotiations: June 1992: Rio World Summit - Following years of lobbying by environmentalists on the potential danger of global warming, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is set up. The primary objective is the stabilization of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere to stop temperatures rising. Some 192 countries have signed up so far. Dec 1997: The Kyoto Protocol - Developed nations agree to cut ...
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Senate panel approves Democratic climate bill

Reuters: A controversial climate change bill cleared its first hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, allowing President Barack Obama to tout progress in the run-up to next month's global warming talks in Copenhagen. Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ignored a Republican boycott and used their majority to approve the legislation that would require U.S. industry to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2020, from 2005 ...
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Health impact of weather change 'could eclipse all pandemics'

Irish Times: THE SEVERE health impacts of climate change would "eclipse all known pandemics in the 21st century", it was claimed yesterday, with even a one degree Celsius rise in average temperatures causing a six-fold increase in mortality among respiratory patients. As shown by some 10,000 premature deaths in France alone during a heatwave in 2003, "all of the known or predicted impacts of climate change are going to lead to severe health impacts", according to Josh Karliner, of the Health Care ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Climate Change Could Contribute to Higher Food Prices in Developing World

Voice of America: Two new reports say climate change will reduce agriculture production and raise food prices in the developing world. The studies were released during a round of U.N. sponsored climate talks in Bangkok. Outlook says less food will be available for more people Climate change is expected to reduce agricultural productivity and increase pricesA new Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report says agricultural productivity in developing countries may decline by between nine and ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Senate panel approves Democratic climate bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A controversial climate change bill cleared its first hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, allowing President Barack Obama to tout progress in the run-up to next month's global warming talks in Copenhagen.
Read more [Reuters]

Senator Baucus says opposes Kerry-Boxer climate bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Max Baucus, an influential moderate Democrat, announced his opposition on Thursday to a climate change bill crafted by fellow Democrats John Kerry and Barbara Boxer.
Read more [Reuters]

Fact Sheet: Energy and Climate Policy Action in China (Update)

China’s recent statements and policy initiatives demonstrate growing concerns about energy security, pollution and the ability to sustain long-term economic strategies for reducing poverty.

Note:: this fact sheet is an update of previous posts here and here.

• Download PDF (PDF, 4 pages, 242 Kb)
  (includes footnotes & references)
• WRI & climate policy in China
• More resources on China

China’s per-capita GDP is less than one-tenth of U.S. levels, and about half of its 1.3 billion people earn less than $2 per day. Indeed, China confronts a challenge no other large, emerging economy has ever faced: fostering rapid economic growth while at the same time limiting harmful emissions.

• On August 27th, 2009, China’s top legislative chamber adopted a resolution calling for active engagement in global climate negotiations, and new domestic initiatives to “make carbon reduction a new source of economic growth.” The Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress also endorsed new policies and rules designed to drive down China’s energy use and emissions. It also called for improving China’s capacity to deal with “climate disasters.”
• On June 5th, 2009, China’s highest council announced that the government would step up efforts to shut down old, inefficient power plants and factories, and increase spending on renewables and efficiency. Premier Wen Jiabo presided over the State Council Meeting on Climate Change, Energy Saving and Emissions Reduction, which also backed increased incentives for consumers to buy energy-saving appliances, and new rules that would drive up costs for “energy wasting” companies.

To meet these challenges, China has adopted a range of new energy policies, rules and targets. Many of these initiatives are linked to goals outlined in China’s “National Climate Change Programme,” approved by the State Council in June 2007. Indications are that China may meet or exceed many of its goals, and has even raised its original targets in some areas. The government is also currently developing new energy and climate goals for its 12th Five Year Plan. The next five year plan, to begin in 2011, is expected to build on a suite of existing policies, which include:

Implementing a 2005 policy, China reduced its energy used per unit of GDP by 1.8% in 2006, 4% in 2007, and 4.6% in 2008. In the first half of 2009, China reduced energy intensity by 3.35%; at that pace, China would achieve the goal set in 2005. Analysts estimate that reaching the goal will prevent the equivalent of 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from reaching the atmosphere, compared to “business as usual.” Initiatives to spur efficiency have included:

• Making large enterprises more efficient. The Top 1000 Energy-Consuming Enterprises Program sets energy-saving targets for China’s largest industries. The program was responsible for an impressive two-thirds of China’s energy efficiency gains in 2006 and half of the gains in 2007. The program is on track to reach its goal for 2010.
• Building better coal-fired power plants. As of 2008, all coal-fired power plants built in China must use state-of-the-art commercially available technology, or better. As a result, most of the world’s cleanest and most efficient coal-fired power plants are now located in China—and the average efficiency of its entire coal-fired power plant fleet is now better than that of U.S. plants.
• Closing wasteful facilities. China is on track to close far more inefficient factories, power plants, and industrial facilities than originally called for by the 11th Five Year Plan, adopted in 2006. To date, it has closed inefficient plants that once produced 60.6 million tons of iron, 43.5 million tons of steel, 140 million tons of cement, and 64.5 million tons of coke. It has also shuttered nearly 7,500 small power plants. The policy of replacing these inefficient power plants alone could prevent 12.4 billion tons of CO2 emissions.
• Raising taxes on petroleum. In January 2009, China increased the tax on gasoline from 11 cents per gallon to 55 cents per gallon and the tax on diesel rose from 6 cents per gallon to 44 cents per gallon.
• Spurring local government action. Since April 2008, China has required all local governments to increase urban energy efficiency in buildings and public transportation to meet energy intensity goals. The central government now audits local government plans, and the increased local attention has helped accelerate energy efficiency improvements.
• Helping consumers buy “green” home appliances. In May 2009, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance started the “Conservation Products Beneficial to Consumers Project.” It provides consumers with subsidies that range from $44 to $125 to buy energy-efficient air-conditioners, refrigerators, television sets, washing machines and motors. The subsidies are expected to generate $60 billion to $75 billion in sales, and save 75 billion kilowatt hours of power.

By 2020, China has committed to using energy technologies that don’t burn fossil fuels – including hydro, wind, solar and biomass and nuclear – to generate at least 15% of its total energy. In particular, China aims to promote renewable energy by:

• Rapidly expanding windpower. China is now the world’s fastest-growing installer of wind turbines, and in 2008 it set a goal of increasing wind power generation capacity to 100 GW by 2020. In 2008, China installed 6.3 GW of new wind power, with total installed capacity reaching 12.2 GW. To provide an incentive for wind power operators, some utilities pay fixed rates for new power—called “feed-in tariffs”—that are higher than those paid for electricity from coal.x
• Growing its solar industry. Although most of the photovoltaic (PV) panels produced in China to date have been exported—China is the world’s largest PV producer—the government has announced increased spending on R&D and subsidies for installing PV systems in order to foster a domestic market for making solar electricity.xiv Under the “Golden Sun” program announced in July 2009, for instance, the government will provide up to 70% of the cost of installing PV generation and transmission systems for projects selected by provincial governments. By 2020, some analysts estimate that China’s installed solar capacity could range from 1.8GW to 10GW, depending on policy decisions, although some believe 20GW is feasible.
• Diversifying domestic energy sources. The public and private sectors are increasingly using waste gases captured from facilities such as dumps, manure pits and coal mines to make heat and electricity for household use. More than 50 cities, for instance, run waste-to-energy or district heating plants. By 2030, China’s aims to convert 30% of its total municipal waste into energy.
• Expanding capacity for biomass. By 2010, China wants biomass – from crop plants to wood chips – to provide about 1% of its total energy. Biomass can be burned directly for heat, converted to a gas (“biogas”), or converted to liquid fuels (such as ethanol). The government is promoting biomass with direct subsidies, and also provides financial incentives for generating electricity from biomass by paying generous fixed fees for biomass power.xviii By 2010, China plans to use biomass to produce 5.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity; 2 million tons of liquid fuels; 19 billion cubic meters of biogas, and 1 million tons of fuel pellets.

Although China is now the world’s largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases, China’s per capita emissions are just one-fifth of those of the United States (see chart). So, as China pursues economic development levels on par with the United States, it will be critical to de-link its economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. This “decarbonization” of China’s economy is beginning with the policy steps it is taking today. To stabilize global greenhouse levels, however, the United States and China must together move beyond their reliance on fossil fuels, to cleaner and more secure sources of energy.

Per Capita CO2 Emissions For Select Major Emitters, 2007 and 2030 (Projected)

In a recent series of high-profile statements, China’s leaders have indicated that confronting climate change and improving energy efficiency are becoming central goals of China’s domestic and foreign policies:

After a cabinet meeting on August 12th, 2009, Premier Wen Jiabao warned that global warming threatened China’s environmental and economic health. He said, “Controlling greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change,” would become “an important basis for setting the medium and long-term development strategies and plans of government at every level.”

The stated intention to continue policies that foster the “decarbonization” of China’s economy received a spotlight in the first-ever speech by a Chinese president to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23rd, 2009. President Hu Jintao said China will reduce its carbon intensity by “a notable margin” by 2020 and confirmed that China will ratchet up national targets for producing renewable energy. President Hu’s speech included a commitment to take “determined and practical steps” and “forceful measures” to integrate climate goals into China’s economic development policies, a strong indication that national-level attention and action will be sustained.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is drawing upon the Institute’s technical expertise, research and analytical tools, and history of effective private sector collaboration to support Chinese policy-makers, businesses, and researchers in reaching their climate and energy goals.

Relevant WRI programs and projects include:

• A joint research program in Beijing with the Tsinghua University Low Carbon Energy Laboratory with major projects focused on carbon capture and storage, and elements of a potential international agreement, including both measuring and reporting issues and technology.
• In June 2009, WRI established ChinaFAQs, the Network for Climate and Energy, to develop better information tools for policymakers in the United States to understand China’s climate and energy policies and data.
• The [GHG Protocol Initiative](http://www. ghgprotocol.org/programs-and-registries/ china-program) is a partnership of businesses, NGOs, governments and academics convened by WRI and WBCSD. The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard has emerged as the pre-eminent international standard for preparing a corporate-wide GHG emissions inventory. Last year the protocol team began developing GHG standards and programs in China focused on the country’s most energy intensive sectors–power, cement, steel and petroleum.
• The Green Power Market Development Group is working with Jiangsu Province to promote the domestic renewable market and led off with a program on promoting solar power in Nanjing in April 2009.
• WRI’s New Ventures China project promotes sustainable growth by accelerating the transfer of capital to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that deliver social and environmental benefits. Since 2004, NV China has mentored 40 companies that have since received a combined total of $70 million in equity and debt financing.

U.S. climate envoy takes aim at developing nations

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As a top American diplomat accused developing countries of inaction on global warming, a coalition of senators on Wednesday stepped up efforts to break a political deadlock that has choked U.S. steps on climate change.
Read more [Reuters]

Palm oil roundtable breaks emissions logjam

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil this week agreed to consider implementing voluntary measures to encourage producers and buyers of palm oil to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Roundtable’s 7th annual conference came to a close Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Titled “Moving Ahead in Challenging Times,” the three-day conference drew more than 800 people from inside and outside of the palm oil industry, including buyers and producers.

After several rounds of heated discussion this week, the Roundtable’s Executive Board reached a compromise in which some emissions reduction requirements will be directly incorporated in the Roundtable’s certification standards.

They agreed to further address the issue and hammer out emissions measures related to land use change before the next Roundtable conference in 2010. To this end, they will develop a voluntary framework within which companies will work together to reduce emissions.

This objective received considerable support by producers from outside Malaysia and Indonesia who said they will use this voluntary standard as soon as it becomes available, while committing to stop the expansion of plantations on peat lands.

“This is a move in the right direction,” said Adam Harrison, WWF’s representative on the RSPO Executive Board. “We encourage companies to embrace emissions reduction standards once they become available and do their part to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change.”

The conference also focused on the frustration by producers concerning the slow uptake of certified sustainable palm oil by buyers. The sluggish market prompted WWF to publish the Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard on Oct. 28, a project that assessed the performance of 59 European retailers and manufacturers buying palm oil.

The Scorecard showed that the majority of European palm oil buyers are failing to buy certified sustainable palm oil, despite its availability and the previous commitments by many companies to purchase it.

The Scorecard was presented and widely discussed at the conference. It was praised by producers and buyers alike as a positive vehicle for bringing much needed transparency to this growing market and showing companies buying palm oil that they are expected to do their part in transforming the palm oil market.

The growing demand for palm oil is adding to the already severe pressure on remaining rainforest areas of the world. The loss of forest in Indonesia is threatening the survival of species such as the orang-utan, the Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant. Forest loss and the draining of peatlands for palm oil plantations is also contributing to climate change and displacing local people who rely on the forest for food and shelter. Palm oil is one of the world’s fastest expanding crops in Southeast Asia as well as West Africa and South America.

It is because of threats like this that WWF worked with other NGOs and the palm oil industry to set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2003. Since then WWF has worked with the industry to ensure that the RSPO standards contain robust social and environmental criteria, including a prohibition on the conversion of valuable forests. Certified Sustainable Palm Oil has been available since November 2008 and provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environmental and social safeguards have been met during the production of the palm oil.

WWF opted to grade palm oil buyers after releasing figures in May showing that only a small percentage of the sustainable palm oil available on the market had been bought. Since then, the situation is starting to improve. Over the last year, RSPO certified plantations have produced over 1,000,000 tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), and over 250,000 tonnes have been sold to date. While this still represents only 22 percent of the available supply on average, the RSPO has reported that CSPO sales have been growing in recent months.



Read more [WWF]

U.S. climate envoy takes aim at developing nations

Reuters: As a top American diplomat accused developing countries of inaction on global warming, a coalition of senators on Wednesday stepped up efforts to break a political deadlock that has choked U.S. steps on climate change. Todd Stern, President Barack Obama's top climate negotiator and envoy to next month's international climate summit in Copenhagen, used blunt language in testimony to Congress when he zeroed in on developing countries' participation in talks. Some developing ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Bangladesh: Combating climate change impacts

Daily Star: THE European Union (EU) parliamentary delegation's commitment that the EU will be on Bangladesh's side in spite of the outcome of the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen is a hope giving one. Especially, we are reassured at the concern and empathy it expressed for us in the event of any catastrophe befalling the country, for example, in the form of triggering an exodus of climate refugees. As a frontline state in the fight for survival against the impact of global ...
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Forests in the desert: the answer to climate change?

Guardian: Some talk of hoisting mirrors into space to reflect sunlight, while others want to cloud the high atmosphere with millions of tonnes of shiny sulphur dust. Now, scientists could have dreamed up the most ambitious geoengineering plan to deal with climate change yet: converting the parched Sahara desert to a lush forest. The scale of the ambition is matched only by the promised rewards – the scientists behind the plan say it could "end global warming". The scheme has been thought up by ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

United Kingdom: Climate change 'will raise bills'

BBC: Property insurance could become more expensive and harder to obtain as a result of climate change, an insurance body has said. The Association of British Insurers said the cost of flood and windstorm damage would rise for insurers as global temperatures increased. This would lead to higher premiums for consumers and a restriction of cover as insurers would need more reserves. Wales and the south-west of England would be worst hit, the report said. Financial ...
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United Kingdom: Nicholas Stern sees good chance for deal in Copenhagen

Reuters: World powers have a "very good chance" of reaching a political deal to target global curbs in carbon emissions at a U.N. conference in Copenhagen next month, British climate change expert Nicholas Stern said on Wednesday. Stern, author of an influential 2006 report for the British government on the impact of global warming, said he did not expect a "formal treaty" to be signed in Copenhagen, partly due to resistance in the United States. "But we can and should put together a ...
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Russia Still Dragging Its Feet on Climate Change

Time Magazine: ussia doesn't seem to care two bits about global warming, and it's not hard to see why. Most Russians would probably be happy if the country was a little warmer. Officials even joke that once climate change has run its course, people may start pouring into Siberia instead of trying to escape it. If the polar ice caps melt any further, Russia would be able to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean, where it's believed to have huge fossil-fuel reserves. For the rest of the planet, however, ...
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Poor urge deep climate cuts

Reuters: Developing countries said on Wednesday they risked "total destruction" unless the rich stepped up the fight against climate change to a level that even the United Nations says is out of reach. The top U.S. climate diplomat Todd Stern blamed a "17-year divide" between rich and poor nations for slow progress at the U.N. talks meant to agree a global climate deal in Copenhagen in December, and slammed "debating society" pranks. Keeping up pressure in Barcelona, the final ...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

UN climate talks focus on how to cut emissions

Associated Press: Negotiators at a U.N. climate conference in Spain further defined plans for reducing greenhouse emissions and continued work on a draft climate change treaty, with next month's deadline for a legal document increasingly in doubt. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the European Union presidency, said the holdup in the U.S. Senate of a climate bill made it impossible to meet a deadline next month for adopting a binding agreement regulating the world's ...
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Clean-Energy Cause Shouldn't Void Patents, Senators Tell Obama

Bloomberg: The U.S. must "stand fast" on patent protection and resist calls from developing nations to share energy-efficient technologies to combat climate change, 42 senators told President Barack Obama. The administration shouldn't waver in its "support of American intellectual property, American workers, and American innovators" during climate-change talks next month in Copenhagen, the lawmakers said in the letter to Obama yesterday that was circulated by Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana ...
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Lindsey Graham, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman crafting new climate change bill

Associated Press: Sen. Lindsey Graham is part of a new effort to find common ground on climate change legislation. The South Carolina Republican and two of his colleagues from the Northeast, Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, said this afternoon they're beginning work to craft a bill palatable to all. It was an unspoken acknowledgement that the bill introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Kerry is too controversial and wouldn't win broad support. The ...
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Insurance sector can't cope with climate change: trade group

Reuters: The general insurance industry may not be able to cope with the increased frequency and severity of floods and typhoons brought about by climate change, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said on Wednesday. ABI research, commissioned from Britain's Met Office and catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, examined the implications of 2 Celsius, 4C and 6C increases in global mean temperature on inland flooding and windstorms in Great Britain, and typhoons in China. The ...
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Calm Before The Spawn: Climate Change And Coral Spawning

redOrbit: What's the point of setting up marine reserves to protect coral reefs from pollution, ship groundings and overfishing if climate change could cause far more damage? A study published this week in London in Proceedings of the Royal Society B provides the answer. For decades researchers have known that corals synchronize their release of eggs and sperm into the water but were unsure of how and why. Robert van Woesik, a biologist at the Florida Institute of Technology, explains why ...
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Can geoengineering schemes fix climate change?

Hindu: Whatever remedial measure that we undertake now will not affect the climate for the next 20-30 years but will influence the climate only after 2040. The most promising solutions that Prof J Srinivasan, Chairperson of the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IISc, Bangalore, and Prof Dr. Govindswamy Bala, Associate Professor, Divecha Centre for Climate Change, IISc, Bangalore, suggest to fix our troubled climate are the renewable energy and geoengineering ...
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Paleoecologists Offer New Insight Into How Climate Change Will Affect Organisms

redOrbit: An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science written by a team of ecologists, including Robert Booth, assistant professor of earth and environmental science at Lehigh University, examines some of the potential problems with current prediction methods and calls for the use of a range of approaches when predicting the impact of climate change on organisms. According to Booth and his colleagues, one of the biggest challenges facing ecologists today is trying to ...
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German Chancellor Merkel urges U.S. to act on climate change

Washington Post: German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Congress and the Obama administration Tuesday to take bold steps to address global warming, even as Senate Democrats and Republicans feuded over whether to press ahead with a climate bill. Speaking at a joint meeting of Congress, Merkel described climate change as one of the "great tests" of the 21st century. She took pains to compliment lawmakers and the administration for viewing "the protection of our climate to be a very important task," even ...
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EU parliamentary nod for free emissions permits

Agence France-Presse: The European Parliament's environment committee on Wednesday approved a list of 164 industrial sectors that will win free carbon emissions permits for the next five years if no global deal on climate change is negotiated next month. Members of the powerful committee voted 39 for and 19 against, with one abstention, the parliament said. A European Union action plan adopted in December 2008 to fight global warming places serious constraints on industry, which must reduce harmful ...
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Climate change belief given same legal status as religion

Telegraph: In a landmark ruling, Mr Justice Michael Burton said that "a belief in man-made climate change ... is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purpose of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations". The ruling could open the door for employees to sue their companies for failing to account for their green lifestyles, such as providing recycling facilities or offering low-carbon travel. The decision regards Tim Nicholson, former head of sustainability at ...
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United Kingdom: Climate change ministry signs up to campaign

Guardian: The Department of Energy and Climate Change, responsible for promoting energy efficiency, is to sign up tomorrow to the 10:10 campaign to cut carbon emissions. Its pledge to cut its carbon emissions by 10% in 2010 comes after it emerged that the department's headquarters in Whitehall had the worst possible energy efficiency rating on the government's own seven-point scale. It is the second government department to sign up to the campaign, which is supported by the Guardian, after the ...
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US scales down hopes of global climate change treaty in Copenhagen

Guardian: The US has given up hope of reaching a global climate change treaty at Copenhagen and is working towards a deal late next year, the Obama administration said today. The decision ends hopes of a legally binding deal being sealed next month. "We have to be honest in the process and deal with the realities that we don't have time in these four weeks to put the language together and flesh out every crossed t and dotted i of a treaty," said John Kerry, who chairs the Senate foreign ...
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Farmers have been told to go green or face the financial consequences

Times (UK): English farmers have been given a last chance to adopt greener practices that benefit wildlife and help to combat climate change or face deductions from their state hand-outs of cash. The Government has set a tough new target which requires that the area of arable fields covered by environmental schemes should double within three years. Every farmer has also been told that he or she should fund some environmental improvements on their land without any financial support from ...
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