The European Commission today set out plans to finance the demonstration of carbon capture and geological storage (CCS) in cooperation with China. This comes in the context of a commitment made by the EU and China to develop and demonstrate in China and the EU advanced, near-zero emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage by 2020. CCS is an important technology in the fight against climate change and has the potential to cut emissions from power generation in fast-developing and coal-dependent emerging economies, such as China.
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “We have taken action to put in place the regulatory framework and the incentives to facilitate CCS demonstration in Europe and now we are making good on our promise to China. Action by developed and developing countries alike is essential to ensure global warming is kept below the danger level of 2ºC. This important cooperation between the EU and China on CCS can act as a model for cooperation under the post-2012 global climate change regime the world must agree in Copenhagen in December."
Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner added: "The joint efforts of the EU and China are key to the success of the post-2012 climate change negotiations in Copenhagen and we have an opportunity to show true leadership. The fact that the EU is supporting the construction of a power plant equipped with this innovative technology in China is proof of our common goal to look way beyond Copenhagen and to prepare the ground for cleaner energy production based on coal worldwide."
The need for action by all countries
As set out in the Commission's 'Copenhagen Communication', 1 ( IP/09/141 ), both developed and developing countries need to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit average global warming to less than 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.
Under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the EU and the other developed countries have agreed to help developing countries tackle climate change through financial and technical cooperation.
EU cooperation with China on CCS
Specifically, the EU agreed in 2005 to cooperate with China on a range of climate change issues, including CCS, in the context of the EU-China Climate Change Partnership. 2
The Communication adopted today sets out the Commission's plans for establishing an investment scheme to co-finance the design and construction of a power plant to demonstrate carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in China. The Commission has programmed funding of up to €50 million for the construction and operation phase of the project, out of a total of €60 million that has been earmarked for cooperation with emerging economies on cleaner coal technologies and carbon capture and storage.
Depending on the choice of technology used, and assuming China introduces some form of carbon pricing instrument, the additional cost of constructing and operating over 25 years a new power plant equipped with CCS in China is estimated at €300-€550 million. The Commission will work closely with China, Member States, other European Economic Area (EEA) countries and industry to secure the additional financing required. The Commission proposes to combine these funding sources in a public-private partnership, possibly in the form of a a Special Purpose Vehicle.
This investment scheme could serve as a model for other technology cooperation activities between developed countries and emerging/developing countries in the context of a post-2012 climate change agreement.
The importance of CCS
Coal, the fossil fuel with the highest emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, is China's predominant energy source, contributing 70% to the energy mix. It is expected to maintain its important role into the future. Ways therefore need to be found to reduce the impact of coal burning on the climate. CCS technologies could make a significant contribution by mitigating the greenhouse gas emissions produced. CCS would be a bridge technology while alternatives to fossil fuels are further developed and deployed.
European Commission analysis indicates that under an emissions scenario compatible with meeting the 2ºC target, around 18% of global fossil fuel power generation would have to be fitted with CCS technology in 2030.
Action on CCS in the EU
EU leaders have committed to the establishment of a network of up to 12 CCS demonstration plants in the EU by 2015.
The new EU directive on the geological storage of carbon dioxide, 3 agreed as part of the EU climate and energy package ( IP/09/628 ), sets out an enabling legal framework for CCS to enable the safe operation of CCS in Europe. The EU has also agreed to incentivise CCS demonstration through the EU Emissions Trading System (CO 2 safely stored will not count as emitted), by providing funding from the auctioning of EU ETS allowances which can be used to co-finance CCS demonstration plants), and through revised State Aid rules.
The European Economic Recovery Plan has allocated €1050 million to CCS demonstration projects inside the EU. Several EU companies have announced demonstration plants to be completed in the EU over the next 5-10 years.
Next steps
The Commission invites EU Member States, interested EEA States and China to pledge financial and political support for this novel initiative. It also invites the European Parliament to provide its political support.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Welcome to the Green Week Conference 2009
The biggest annual conference on European environment policy turns the spotlight this year on the multi-faceted challenges of climate change.
What are the prospects for reaching a new global deal to control climate change at the crucial Copenhagen conference in December?
How can we best 'climate-proof' our economies against the impacts of present and future climate change?
How can we create a carbon-free society by 2050?
How can we ensure action to address climate change best serves conservation of the ecosystems that support life on Earth?
These are some of the many questions Green Week 2009 will be examining in three days of discussion and debate between high-level speakers from Europe and beyond.
Green Week is a unique opportunity for exchanges of experience and good practice.
Some 3,500 participants are expected from EU institutions, business and industry, non-governmental organisations, public authorities, the scientific community and academia.
What are the prospects for reaching a new global deal to control climate change at the crucial Copenhagen conference in December?
How can we best 'climate-proof' our economies against the impacts of present and future climate change?
How can we create a carbon-free society by 2050?
How can we ensure action to address climate change best serves conservation of the ecosystems that support life on Earth?
These are some of the many questions Green Week 2009 will be examining in three days of discussion and debate between high-level speakers from Europe and beyond.
Green Week is a unique opportunity for exchanges of experience and good practice.
Some 3,500 participants are expected from EU institutions, business and industry, non-governmental organisations, public authorities, the scientific community and academia.
Climate Change: U.N. Launches 'Seal the Deal' Campaign
Growing U.S. support for U.N. initiatives is raising hopes among those who want to see the world community take immediate and concrete action to tackle climate change, although their optimism is also tinged with scepticism.
'So far, the response by the world’s governments has been less than sufficient,' said U.N. Secretary General-Ban Ki-moon at a news conference held outside the world body’s headquarters in an open space filled with leafy trees.
In pushing the U.N. agenda on climate change, Ban has invited world leaders to discuss this issue for one day on Sep. 22 before they participate in the General Assembly’s annual debate.
The goal of the September summit is to mobilise the 'political momentum needed to seal the deal' in Copenhagen, Denmark, 'on a fair, effective and scientifically ambitious new climate framework,' Ban said.
'We have a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time,' he said. 'This is the time to act. All nations, and all leaders, have a stake in a successful outcome in Copenhagen. Climate change involves everyone.'
Ban was joined by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who endorsed the 'Seal the Deal' campaign and said his administration would organise a series of events in the city when the world leaders come here in September.
The liberal Republican mayor of one of the world’s most populous cities said he hopes that the summit on climate change will help spotlight 'the urgent need for action, both to slow the pace of climate change, and also to adapt to the environmental effects of global warming.'
'We have to do what is right for the world and what is right for America,' said Bloomberg. 'The action is needed on a global level, [but] we need to shrink our climate footprint.'
His remarks allude to the fact that for years the United States has refused to take a substantive role in addressing the issue of global warming. The U.S. is responsible for 35 percent of carbon emissions, although its share in the world population is just 5 percent.
U.N. experts on population and environment say big cities like New York are responsible for at least 75 percent of the resources, including a huge quantity of fossil fuels, consumed by the global population.
According to the U.N., with more than three billion people residing in the cities, for the first time the world's urban population now exceeds the number of those living in rural areas.
The U.N.'s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report in 2007 shows that before the industrial era, nearly half of Earth's land surface was covered with forests. Today, that proportion has dwindled to 10 percent.
During the news conference, Bloomberg seemed convinced that the current economic crisis in the United States and the world required a deeper understanding of the issue of environmental disasters and their impact on the lives of millions of working people.
'Going green is the formula for economic recovery,' he stressed.
Steve Howard of the Climate Group, an independent organisation trying to bring government and business leaders together to address the issue of climate change, agrees with Bloomberg.
'Influential U.S. partnerships and smarter choices will be critical to tackling global warming and setting the world on a pathway to a prosperous low carbon future,' he said.
But the low carbon future based on the concept of treating the climate change issue from the business point of view is not acceptable to who look at the environmental issues from the perspective of human rights.
On Tuesday, while Ban and Bloomberg spoke at the news conference in New York, a number of environmental activists, including the top climate scientist James Hansen and the actress Daryl Hannah, were arrested in Coal River Valley, West Virginia.
They were protesting against the destruction of mountains by the coal mining industry. Despite its supportive statements on environmental issues, the Barack Obama administration said it would take different measures but not abolish the strip mining practice.
Tuesday’s protest is happening just days before a Congressional hearing titled, 'The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia.'
'I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen,' said Hansen in a statement. 'Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient.'
'Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished,' he added.
Two weeks ago, the Obama administration announced steps to end the fast tracking of certain mountaintop removal coal mine permits and to add tougher enforcement in Appalachia.
However, it remains unclear what, if any, improvements this will have on-the-ground in that region, activists say. Without a significant change in policy, mining companies will continue to destroy historic mountain ranges and bury communities' drinking water in toxic waste, they say.
'Every day, mountaintop removal mines use more explosive power than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima,' said Bo Webb, who organised the protest. 'This is not our traditional way of life, and we do not support the destruction of our land or our communities.'
A recent study by the University of Massachusetts found that investment in clean energy projects like wind power and mass transit creates more than three times more jobs than the same amount of spending on the coal industry.
The wind power sector has grown to employ more U.S. workers than coal mining as demand for clean energy has jumped over the past decade.
In New York, without naming the United States and other industrialised nations, the U.N. chief tried to make it clear that the rich nations must take responsibility to reach an agreement in Copenhagen on issues related to global warming.
'We have less than 10 years to halt the rise of greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and planet,' he said. 'Now is the time for action
'So far, the response by the world’s governments has been less than sufficient,' said U.N. Secretary General-Ban Ki-moon at a news conference held outside the world body’s headquarters in an open space filled with leafy trees.
In pushing the U.N. agenda on climate change, Ban has invited world leaders to discuss this issue for one day on Sep. 22 before they participate in the General Assembly’s annual debate.
The goal of the September summit is to mobilise the 'political momentum needed to seal the deal' in Copenhagen, Denmark, 'on a fair, effective and scientifically ambitious new climate framework,' Ban said.
'We have a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time,' he said. 'This is the time to act. All nations, and all leaders, have a stake in a successful outcome in Copenhagen. Climate change involves everyone.'
Ban was joined by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who endorsed the 'Seal the Deal' campaign and said his administration would organise a series of events in the city when the world leaders come here in September.
The liberal Republican mayor of one of the world’s most populous cities said he hopes that the summit on climate change will help spotlight 'the urgent need for action, both to slow the pace of climate change, and also to adapt to the environmental effects of global warming.'
'We have to do what is right for the world and what is right for America,' said Bloomberg. 'The action is needed on a global level, [but] we need to shrink our climate footprint.'
His remarks allude to the fact that for years the United States has refused to take a substantive role in addressing the issue of global warming. The U.S. is responsible for 35 percent of carbon emissions, although its share in the world population is just 5 percent.
U.N. experts on population and environment say big cities like New York are responsible for at least 75 percent of the resources, including a huge quantity of fossil fuels, consumed by the global population.
According to the U.N., with more than three billion people residing in the cities, for the first time the world's urban population now exceeds the number of those living in rural areas.
The U.N.'s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report in 2007 shows that before the industrial era, nearly half of Earth's land surface was covered with forests. Today, that proportion has dwindled to 10 percent.
During the news conference, Bloomberg seemed convinced that the current economic crisis in the United States and the world required a deeper understanding of the issue of environmental disasters and their impact on the lives of millions of working people.
'Going green is the formula for economic recovery,' he stressed.
Steve Howard of the Climate Group, an independent organisation trying to bring government and business leaders together to address the issue of climate change, agrees with Bloomberg.
'Influential U.S. partnerships and smarter choices will be critical to tackling global warming and setting the world on a pathway to a prosperous low carbon future,' he said.
But the low carbon future based on the concept of treating the climate change issue from the business point of view is not acceptable to who look at the environmental issues from the perspective of human rights.
On Tuesday, while Ban and Bloomberg spoke at the news conference in New York, a number of environmental activists, including the top climate scientist James Hansen and the actress Daryl Hannah, were arrested in Coal River Valley, West Virginia.
They were protesting against the destruction of mountains by the coal mining industry. Despite its supportive statements on environmental issues, the Barack Obama administration said it would take different measures but not abolish the strip mining practice.
Tuesday’s protest is happening just days before a Congressional hearing titled, 'The Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining on Water Quality in Appalachia.'
'I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen,' said Hansen in a statement. 'Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient.'
'Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished,' he added.
Two weeks ago, the Obama administration announced steps to end the fast tracking of certain mountaintop removal coal mine permits and to add tougher enforcement in Appalachia.
However, it remains unclear what, if any, improvements this will have on-the-ground in that region, activists say. Without a significant change in policy, mining companies will continue to destroy historic mountain ranges and bury communities' drinking water in toxic waste, they say.
'Every day, mountaintop removal mines use more explosive power than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima,' said Bo Webb, who organised the protest. 'This is not our traditional way of life, and we do not support the destruction of our land or our communities.'
A recent study by the University of Massachusetts found that investment in clean energy projects like wind power and mass transit creates more than three times more jobs than the same amount of spending on the coal industry.
The wind power sector has grown to employ more U.S. workers than coal mining as demand for clean energy has jumped over the past decade.
In New York, without naming the United States and other industrialised nations, the U.N. chief tried to make it clear that the rich nations must take responsibility to reach an agreement in Copenhagen on issues related to global warming.
'We have less than 10 years to halt the rise of greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and planet,' he said. 'Now is the time for action
Biodiversity
The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity is commonly referred to as biodiversity. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Appropriate conservation and sustainable development strategies attempt to recognize this as being integral to any approach. Almost all cultures have in some way or form recognized the importance that nature, and its biological diversity has had upon them and the need to maintain it. Yet, power, greed and politics have affected the precarious balance.
as taken from anup shah
Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?
Why is Biodiversity important? Does it really matter if there aren’t so many species?
Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play.
For example, a larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops; greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms; and healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters.
And so, while we dominate this planet, we still need to preserve the diversity in wildlife.
Read “Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?” to learn more.
Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions
It is feared that human activity is causing massive extinctions. From various animal species, forests and the ecosystems that forests support, marine life. The costs associated with deteriorating or vanishing ecosystems will be high. However, sustainable development and consumption would help avert ecological problems.
Read “Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions” to learn more.
Nature and Animal Conservation
Preserving species and their habitats is important for ecosystems to self-sustain themselves. Yet, the pressures to destroy habitat for logging, illegal hunting, and other facts are making conservation a struggle.
Read “Nature and Animal Conservation” to learn more.
Climate Change Affects Biodiversity
The World Resources Institute reports that there is a link between biodiversity and climate change. Rapid global warming can affect an ecosystems chances to adapt naturally. What have governments around the world been trying to do about it?
Read “Climate Change Affects Biodiversity” to learn more.
Coral Reefs
.
One type of ecosystem that perhaps is neglected more than any other is perhaps also the richest in biodiversity—the coral reefs.
Coral reefs are useful to the environment and to people in a number of ways. However, all around the world, much of the world’s marine biodiversity face threats from human and activities as well as natural. It is feared that very soon, many reefs could die off.
Read “Coral Reefs” to learn more.
Biosafety Protocol 1999
The February 1999 Biodiversity Protocol meeting in Colombia broke down because USA, not even a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, to which the protocol is meant to be part of, and five other countries of the "Miami Group" felt that their business interests were threatened. The safety concerns were unfortunately overridden by trade concerns. Some technological advances, especially in genetically engineered food, have been very fast paced and products are being pushed into the market place without having been proven safe. All over the world, concerned citizens and governments have been trying to take precautionary measures. However, 1999 was not a successful year in that respect.
Read “Biosafety Protocol 1999” to learn more.
Biosafety Protocol 2000
A Biosafety Protocol meeting was hosted in Montreal, Canada January 24 to January 28. Compared to the fiasco of the previous year, this time, there had been a somewhat successful treaty to regulate the international transport and release of genetically modified organisms to protect natural biological diversity. However, there were a number of important and serious weaknesses too.
Read “Biosafety Protocol 2000” to learn more.
Biodiversity Links for more Information
Read “Biodiversity Links for more Information” to learn more.
Climate Change and Global Warming
The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.
This section explores some of the effects of climate change. It also attempts to provide insights into what governments, companies, international institutions, and other organizations are attempting to do about this issue, as well as the challenges they face. Some of the major conferences in recent years are also discussed.
Read “Climate Change and Global Warming” to learn more.
Environmental Issues
Environmental issues are also a major global issue. Humans depend on a sustainable and healthy environment, and yet we have damaged the environment in numerous ways. This section introduces other issues including biodiversity, climate change, animal and nature conservation, population, genetically modified food, sustainable development, and more.
as taken from anup shah
Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?
Why is Biodiversity important? Does it really matter if there aren’t so many species?
Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play.
For example, a larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops; greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms; and healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters.
And so, while we dominate this planet, we still need to preserve the diversity in wildlife.
Read “Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?” to learn more.
Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions
It is feared that human activity is causing massive extinctions. From various animal species, forests and the ecosystems that forests support, marine life. The costs associated with deteriorating or vanishing ecosystems will be high. However, sustainable development and consumption would help avert ecological problems.
Read “Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions” to learn more.
Nature and Animal Conservation
Preserving species and their habitats is important for ecosystems to self-sustain themselves. Yet, the pressures to destroy habitat for logging, illegal hunting, and other facts are making conservation a struggle.
Read “Nature and Animal Conservation” to learn more.
Climate Change Affects Biodiversity
The World Resources Institute reports that there is a link between biodiversity and climate change. Rapid global warming can affect an ecosystems chances to adapt naturally. What have governments around the world been trying to do about it?
Read “Climate Change Affects Biodiversity” to learn more.
Coral Reefs
.
One type of ecosystem that perhaps is neglected more than any other is perhaps also the richest in biodiversity—the coral reefs.
Coral reefs are useful to the environment and to people in a number of ways. However, all around the world, much of the world’s marine biodiversity face threats from human and activities as well as natural. It is feared that very soon, many reefs could die off.
Read “Coral Reefs” to learn more.
Biosafety Protocol 1999
The February 1999 Biodiversity Protocol meeting in Colombia broke down because USA, not even a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, to which the protocol is meant to be part of, and five other countries of the "Miami Group" felt that their business interests were threatened. The safety concerns were unfortunately overridden by trade concerns. Some technological advances, especially in genetically engineered food, have been very fast paced and products are being pushed into the market place without having been proven safe. All over the world, concerned citizens and governments have been trying to take precautionary measures. However, 1999 was not a successful year in that respect.
Read “Biosafety Protocol 1999” to learn more.
Biosafety Protocol 2000
A Biosafety Protocol meeting was hosted in Montreal, Canada January 24 to January 28. Compared to the fiasco of the previous year, this time, there had been a somewhat successful treaty to regulate the international transport and release of genetically modified organisms to protect natural biological diversity. However, there were a number of important and serious weaknesses too.
Read “Biosafety Protocol 2000” to learn more.
Biodiversity Links for more Information
Read “Biodiversity Links for more Information” to learn more.
Climate Change and Global Warming
The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.
This section explores some of the effects of climate change. It also attempts to provide insights into what governments, companies, international institutions, and other organizations are attempting to do about this issue, as well as the challenges they face. Some of the major conferences in recent years are also discussed.
Read “Climate Change and Global Warming” to learn more.
Environmental Issues
Environmental issues are also a major global issue. Humans depend on a sustainable and healthy environment, and yet we have damaged the environment in numerous ways. This section introduces other issues including biodiversity, climate change, animal and nature conservation, population, genetically modified food, sustainable development, and more.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Review of the interceptor plan for the Yamuna
CSE has closely scrutinised the detailed project report of the interceptor plan prepared by the consultants appointed by the Delhi Jal Board and found this hardware plan to be a complete waste of money. The river will remain dead despite the massive investments planned during 2009-2012.
Related content
It was in response to the criticism over the failure of the efforts to clean the Yamuna including the Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) sponsored Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) that the DJB came up with the idea of interceptor sewers. So far Delhi government has spent over Rs 1,500 crore just to connect 50 per cent of Delhi’s population to its sewerage network. Delhi has the largest sewerage infrastructure—6,000 kilometres (km) sewers and 2330 million litres per day (mld) sewage treatment capacity. CSE in its report Sewage Canal: How to clean the Yamuna pointed out that a paradigm shift is needed in our approach to clean the river. An approach moving away from the standard hardware — sewer and STP — approach. It called for a plan understanding the linkages between water, sewage and pollution and most importantly the need for authentic data.
The Rs 2,500 crore interceptor project is projected by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) as a panacea to the pollution problems of the river Yamuna. An analysis of the detailed project report on this project shows that the project, as it is designed, will not result in a clean river. It will be more money down the drain. Clearly, we must discover solutions that will make a difference to the river and the people dependent on it.
Related content
It was in response to the criticism over the failure of the efforts to clean the Yamuna including the Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) sponsored Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) that the DJB came up with the idea of interceptor sewers. So far Delhi government has spent over Rs 1,500 crore just to connect 50 per cent of Delhi’s population to its sewerage network. Delhi has the largest sewerage infrastructure—6,000 kilometres (km) sewers and 2330 million litres per day (mld) sewage treatment capacity. CSE in its report Sewage Canal: How to clean the Yamuna pointed out that a paradigm shift is needed in our approach to clean the river. An approach moving away from the standard hardware — sewer and STP — approach. It called for a plan understanding the linkages between water, sewage and pollution and most importantly the need for authentic data.
The Rs 2,500 crore interceptor project is projected by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) as a panacea to the pollution problems of the river Yamuna. An analysis of the detailed project report on this project shows that the project, as it is designed, will not result in a clean river. It will be more money down the drain. Clearly, we must discover solutions that will make a difference to the river and the people dependent on it.
Nine Dangerous Chemicals Added To Global Banned List
Nine dangerous chemicals used in farming and industry will be added to a list of banned substances whose presence in the environment causes serious health risks, more than 160 government agreed on Saturday.The nine pesticides and industrial chemicals join 12 substances targeted for elimination under the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).Trade in some of the chemicals can amount to billions of dollars a year, but countries at the United Nations conference agreed they are so dangerous that alternatives must be found."Just five years after this convention came into force, we will have nine new chemicals added to the list of those that the world community agrees we need to control and ultimately get rid of," said Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which hosted the conference.Donald Cooper, executive secretary of the Stockholm Convention, set out why the banned substances were exceptionally dangerous: They cross boundaries and are found everywhere, from the Tropics to polar regions; they persist for long periods in the atmosphere, soil and water, and take years to degrade; they accumulate in bodies; they accumulate in food chains.The chemicals can damage reproduction, mental capacity and growth and cause cancer, he said."In most cases the question is not simply how do we control them, but how we eliminate them," he told a news briefing on Friday.QUESTION OF TIMINGThe conference had been scheduled to wrap up on Friday, but officials wrangled into Saturday over the details.Cooper said governments at various stages of economic development differed about how fast they should be phased out, especially when there are no alternatives.One of the newly proscribed chemicals is a pesticide called Lindane. It has been replaced in agriculture, but in some countries it is still used to tackle head lice and so will be phased out over five years instead of the standard one year.Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) appears in a wide range of products from electronics components to fire-fighting foam, and trade in it amounts to billions of dollars a year. With no alternatives to some of its applications, it will be restricted rather than eliminated immediately.Steiner said the challenge was to resolve two conflicting objectives -- harnessing the power of science and the chemicals industry and dealing with its negative impact.Sometimes the conflict is not obvious.The inventor of the pesticide DDT won a Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1948 because of its efficacy in killing mosquitoes that transmit malaria. DDT has since been found to be toxic and is banned as a pesticide for crops as one of the original "dirty dozen" under the Stockholm Convention -- but it is still widely used to fight malaria.On Wednesday, UNEP and the World Health Organisation announced a plan to rid the world of DDT by 2010 by developing environmentally friendly ways to fight malaria.In some cases banning the chemicals will have little economic impact as they are no longer used, and the question is of managing and disposing of them.But even where they are still widely traded, the bans will create business opportunities in the search for alternatives."This is not an economic disruption, it is rather an investment in public health with perfectly compatible economic opportunities, but we have to give the right incentives," he said.The meeting also agreed to coordinate its work more closely with two other environment conventions -- the Basel Convention on transporting hazardous waste and the Rotterdam Convention on trade in hazardous chemicals. A conference of all three will be held in February 2010.
Global warming is the biggest environmental threat of our lifetime.
Leading scientists around the world agree that man-made greenhouse gases from fossil fuels are causing global warming. Effects are already being seen worldwide. And long-term consequences are devastating, pointing to a darker future each day we fail to act.
But if each of us takes action — in our homes, in our communities, and in our nation — there is still time to reduce global warming pollution and help safeguard our environment for birds, wildlife, and our children.
Get the facts: Learn the basics on global warming, from impacts and results, to causes and solutions.
Impacts on Birds & Wildlife: Like canaries in the coal mine, birds are an important indicator of our planet's health. See how Global Warming is affecting bird species and other wildlife. Check out Audububon's Birds & Climate Change online as well for even more details.
Be Part of the Solution: Every individual action counts. Learn how you can make energy conservation part of your daily life — and how it will help.
Speak out: Become an advocate for sound energy policy- in INDIA, in your state and in your community.
Global Warming Quiz: Think you already know the facts from fiction? Take our quiz and find out!
Replacing ten 100W light bulbs with CFLs reduces the same amount of carbon dioxide that an SUV emits over a year over the course of the bulbs’ lifetime! Be sure to read the Global Warming factoid on each page to learn even more.
But if each of us takes action — in our homes, in our communities, and in our nation — there is still time to reduce global warming pollution and help safeguard our environment for birds, wildlife, and our children.
Get the facts: Learn the basics on global warming, from impacts and results, to causes and solutions.
Impacts on Birds & Wildlife: Like canaries in the coal mine, birds are an important indicator of our planet's health. See how Global Warming is affecting bird species and other wildlife. Check out Audububon's Birds & Climate Change online as well for even more details.
Be Part of the Solution: Every individual action counts. Learn how you can make energy conservation part of your daily life — and how it will help.
Speak out: Become an advocate for sound energy policy- in INDIA, in your state and in your community.
Global Warming Quiz: Think you already know the facts from fiction? Take our quiz and find out!
Replacing ten 100W light bulbs with CFLs reduces the same amount of carbon dioxide that an SUV emits over a year over the course of the bulbs’ lifetime! Be sure to read the Global Warming factoid on each page to learn even more.
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