Clearing the misconception about (GHG) emissions, Ramesh said that India is the third largest country in GHG emission volume after the US and China but the climate change is a result of the cumulative impact of GHG in the planetary atmosphere.
India is not negotiating or re-negotiating United Nation’s Framework of Convention, but is negotiating emission targets. Briefing the media about India’s approach to Climate Change, Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh said India has no role in building Green House Gases (GHGs). Clearing the misconception about (GHG) emissions, Ramesh said that India is the third largest country in GHG emission volume after the US and China but the climate change is a result of the cumulative impact of GHG in the planetary atmosphere.
This accumulated GHG is mainly the result of carbon-based industrial activity in developed countries over the past two centuries. UNFCCC does not require developing countries to take on any commitments on reducing their GHG emissions, despite this India will not allow its per capita GHG emission to exceed the average per capita emissions of the developed countries.
The Minister explained, this effectively puts a cap on our emission, which will be lower if our developed country partners choose to be more ambitious in reducing their own emissions.
Making this more clear the Minister said India can not be described as a so called “major emitter”. India’s per capital CO2 emission are currently only 1.1 tons, when compared to over 20 tons for the US and in excess of 10 tons for most OECD countries. The Minister added that the US and China account for over 16% each of the total global emissions, while India trails with just 4%, despite its very large population and rapid growing economy. Thus, India is way down in international ranking.
Talking about major climatic variability which India faces today, Ramesh pointed out that we have already observed warming of 0.40 C from 1901-2000 and receding glaciers in Himalayas at accelerating pace. This also can be due to natural processes, he added. Other expected changes are increase in rainfall by 15-40 %,more warming over land, maximum in North India, relatively greater warming in winter and post monsoon seasons and increase in mean temperature by 30C to 60C.
Ramesh emphatically said that we must stop looking at climate change issue as an international issue, we must look at it as a domestic and local issue .It is related to land productivity, food security and energy conservation. He said we might have political differences with our neighbors including Pakistan but on climate change we, all SAARC countries, are together and speak with the same concern.
Highlighting India’s position on Climate Change, the Minister affirmed quoting Prime Minister’s statement that India’s per capita emission levels will never exceed that of the per capita emission level of developed countries. India cannot and will not take emission reduction targets because poverty eradication and social and economic development are first and over-riding priorities. He further said that each human being has equal right to global atmospheric resources. Common but differentiated responsibility is the basis for all climate change actions, he added. Throwing light on India’s primary focus, Environment Minister said that India’s primary focus is on “adaptation” and not “mitigation”. He made it clear that mitigation can be accepted in few areas. Only those nationally Appropriate Mitigation actions (NAMs) can be subject to international monitoring, reporting and verification that are enabled and supported by international finance and technology transfer. He also explained that India wants a comprehensive approach to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) and advocates REDD that includes conservation, afforestation and sustainable management of forests. Ramesh announced with pride that 227 scientists and 98 institutions, Univercities, IITs, CSIRs etc are involved in National Programme on Climate Change. He informed that India advocates collaborative research in future low-carbon technology and access to intellectual property rights (IPRs) as global public goods.
Referring to some issues of concern, Ramesh said differentiation amongst developing countries sought to be introduced by alternative multilateral forums and parallel bilateral negotiations. Ambiguity in responsibility for finance and technology transfer, sectoral approaches to mitigation actions outside Bali, move to limit scope of Clean development Mechanism (CDM),impose trade penalties on countries that do not accept limits on global warming pollution are other issues of concern. Referring to this trade penalty Bill passed by US House of Representatives before the US Senate proposes to impose trade penalties , Jairam said India will not accept any legally binding emission Reduction target as it will jeopardize our energy conservation, agricultural and food security, transport etc.
Giving India’s contribution to Climate Change negotiations, Ramesh said we are actively involved with G77 and China to evolve common position on negotiations. We have made 9 submissions to UNFCCC on finance, technology, forestry and other areas. We have worked with China, Brazil, South Africa and 33 other countries to present a joint proposal for emission reduction targets by Annex1 countries in second commitment period.
Talking about efforts of 8 National Missions, the Minister said that they are in different phases of operation. Besides this, other 24 critical initiatives are in the anvil for which detailed plans and an institutional framework is being prepared
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Environment ministers to meet in Greenland
Around 30 environment ministers and delegates from the world's biggest polluters are set to meet in the Danish territory of Greenland on Tuesday ahead of the larger UN climate summit in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.
The informal meeting is taking place in Ilulissat on Greenland's west coast and Danish Climate Minster Connie Hedegaard said it will aim to "change points of view and go further in its conclusions than those in other forums."
The United States, Germany, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, India and Brasil, are all attending the four-day "Greenland dialogue", an annual meeting on a climate change first held by Denmark four years ago in the same town.
Only China has not confirmed if it will send a delegation so far and Danish media have speculated that Beijing is still upset about a visit by the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to Copenhagen last May.
A spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy in Denmark told AFP they were still deciding whether to attend.
A number of African countries will also be at the meeting including Sudan, Tanzania and Mali.
The previous meeting was held in Argentina last year, with Sweden hosting the talks in 2007.
According to an American study published last summer, the Ilulissat glacier, a UNESCO-listed site, lost 94 square kilometres (60 square miles) of surface area between 2001 and 2005 due to global warming.
The informal meeting is taking place in Ilulissat on Greenland's west coast and Danish Climate Minster Connie Hedegaard said it will aim to "change points of view and go further in its conclusions than those in other forums."
The United States, Germany, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, India and Brasil, are all attending the four-day "Greenland dialogue", an annual meeting on a climate change first held by Denmark four years ago in the same town.
Only China has not confirmed if it will send a delegation so far and Danish media have speculated that Beijing is still upset about a visit by the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to Copenhagen last May.
A spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy in Denmark told AFP they were still deciding whether to attend.
A number of African countries will also be at the meeting including Sudan, Tanzania and Mali.
The previous meeting was held in Argentina last year, with Sweden hosting the talks in 2007.
According to an American study published last summer, the Ilulissat glacier, a UNESCO-listed site, lost 94 square kilometres (60 square miles) of surface area between 2001 and 2005 due to global warming.
Zambia: RB Launches National Policy on Environment
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda yesterday launched the National Policy on Environment (NPE) and called on Zambians to embrace and implement strategies of the policy, which include issues of climate change.
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Mr Banda also said that the Government had embarked on an awareness campaign on environmental issues targeting policy makers and vulnerable communities in rural areas. In a speech read for him by Tourism Minister Catherine Namugala during the launch in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Banda said the policy sought to promote sustainable environmental protection.
The president said the policy would ensure that economic activities were conducted in a manner that did not undermine the integrity of ecosystems. He said the overall vision of the policy was to provide a framework for the management of the environment and natural resources and protect future generations.
"I would like to appeal to the public to embrace and implement strategies of the NPE which include emerging issues such as that of climate change, " he said. Mr Banda called on cooperating partners to work with the Government and participate in the translation of policy strategies into viable programmes and projects.
The president said Zambia faced daunting environmental threats and challenges, which included climate change, deforestation, land degradation and loss of biological diversity, wildlife depletion and environmental pollution.
He said recent studies in Zambia indicated that there was increasing pressure on the country's natural resources, including forests with the current rate of deforestation being estimated at 250,000 to 300,000 hectares per annum.
Mr Banda said there were more than 30 legislative instruments enacted over a decade ago and some of them had been reviewed several times to address the conservation of biodiversity and protection of the environment.
The launch was attended by Cabinet ministers and cooperating partners
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Mr Banda also said that the Government had embarked on an awareness campaign on environmental issues targeting policy makers and vulnerable communities in rural areas. In a speech read for him by Tourism Minister Catherine Namugala during the launch in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Banda said the policy sought to promote sustainable environmental protection.
The president said the policy would ensure that economic activities were conducted in a manner that did not undermine the integrity of ecosystems. He said the overall vision of the policy was to provide a framework for the management of the environment and natural resources and protect future generations.
"I would like to appeal to the public to embrace and implement strategies of the NPE which include emerging issues such as that of climate change, " he said. Mr Banda called on cooperating partners to work with the Government and participate in the translation of policy strategies into viable programmes and projects.
The president said Zambia faced daunting environmental threats and challenges, which included climate change, deforestation, land degradation and loss of biological diversity, wildlife depletion and environmental pollution.
He said recent studies in Zambia indicated that there was increasing pressure on the country's natural resources, including forests with the current rate of deforestation being estimated at 250,000 to 300,000 hectares per annum.
Mr Banda said there were more than 30 legislative instruments enacted over a decade ago and some of them had been reviewed several times to address the conservation of biodiversity and protection of the environment.
The launch was attended by Cabinet ministers and cooperating partners
Creating a Safe School Environment
Action Steps for StudentsStudents have an important role to play in ensuring that their schools are safe and orderly. They can take steps to help make their schools places where learning can take place without disruption and without the fear of being victimized or bullied. They can:
Participate in, or help develop, student government organizations and guidelines that promote a drug- and gun-free, safe, and orderly environment for learning.
Volunteer to serve on decisionmaking or advisory committees such as the group developing the overall Safe School Plan.
Become advocates for programs such as peer mediation, conflict resolution, peer assistance leadership, teen courts, or anger management.
Reduce conflict situations rather than making them worse. Practice good citizenship, and treat peers and teachers with respect.
Report weapon possession, drug use or sale, bullying threats or intimidation, victimization, gang activity, or vandalism to school authorities and parents.
Learn the consequences of gang involvement and alcohol, drug, and gun use and the methods for resisting alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. Use this understanding to help other students avoid alcohol or drug use or seek help if they are already involved in alcohol or drugs.
Follow the school code of conduct, understand that rules are made for everyone, and recognize the consequences of violating the rules.
Whenever possible, travel with others to and from school and to special school events. Students must always be aware of their surroundings.
Work with teachers, principals, and other students in developing a community service program, where students give back to the community in a positive manner.
Encourage their parents to come to the school and be involved in activities that support the school.
Serve as a big brother/big sister, tutor, or mentor for a younger student.
Action Steps for ParentsParents play a key role in ensuring that their children are safe and drug-free. Without the active support and participation of parents, schools and communities cannot be safe. Parents have to be part of a school's effort to create an orderly, respectful environment. Some of the actions parents can take to assist schools are:
Set standards of behavior, limits, and clear expectations for children both in and out of school and develop mutually agreed-upon rules about homework, extracurricular participation, grades, curfews, chaperoned parties, and places that are off limits.
Teach standards of right and wrong and demonstrate these standards through example.
Discuss with their children the school's discipline policies, reinforcing the belief that school rules support the rights of all students to attend schools with disciplined environments safe from influences of violence and alcohol or substance abuse.
Encourage their children to talk about school, their social activities, their interests and problems, and even their walk to and from school.
Be involved in their children's school life by reviewing homework, meeting their teachers, and attending school functions such as parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings, class programs, open houses, plays, concerts, and sporting events.
Build a network of other adults with whom they can talk about school safety issues and alcohol and drug use.
Join a community association to ensure that issues related to alcohol, drugs, and violence are made part of the organization's agenda and that community groups work together to create a safe school corridor by supervising walking routes to and from school.
Talk to their children about the consequences of drug and weapon use, gang participation, and violence and ensure that firearms that parents keep in the home or automobile are unloaded and inaccessible to children. Other dangerous weapons should also be kept out of the reach of children.
Work with the school to develop a comprehensive Safe School Plan that incorporates a clearly articulated statement to students, parents, and the community regarding what will and will not be tolerated and that also provides a strong emphasis on programs to prevent violence and the use of alcohol and drugs.
Monitor the programs their children watch, the video games they play, and the music they listen to regularly. Take time to explain to their children the actual nature and consequences of what is being said and done.
Encourage their children to participate in school-sponsored, after-class activities to help limit the amount of time their children spend watching television.
Participate in, or help develop, student government organizations and guidelines that promote a drug- and gun-free, safe, and orderly environment for learning.
Volunteer to serve on decisionmaking or advisory committees such as the group developing the overall Safe School Plan.
Become advocates for programs such as peer mediation, conflict resolution, peer assistance leadership, teen courts, or anger management.
Reduce conflict situations rather than making them worse. Practice good citizenship, and treat peers and teachers with respect.
Report weapon possession, drug use or sale, bullying threats or intimidation, victimization, gang activity, or vandalism to school authorities and parents.
Learn the consequences of gang involvement and alcohol, drug, and gun use and the methods for resisting alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. Use this understanding to help other students avoid alcohol or drug use or seek help if they are already involved in alcohol or drugs.
Follow the school code of conduct, understand that rules are made for everyone, and recognize the consequences of violating the rules.
Whenever possible, travel with others to and from school and to special school events. Students must always be aware of their surroundings.
Work with teachers, principals, and other students in developing a community service program, where students give back to the community in a positive manner.
Encourage their parents to come to the school and be involved in activities that support the school.
Serve as a big brother/big sister, tutor, or mentor for a younger student.
Action Steps for ParentsParents play a key role in ensuring that their children are safe and drug-free. Without the active support and participation of parents, schools and communities cannot be safe. Parents have to be part of a school's effort to create an orderly, respectful environment. Some of the actions parents can take to assist schools are:
Set standards of behavior, limits, and clear expectations for children both in and out of school and develop mutually agreed-upon rules about homework, extracurricular participation, grades, curfews, chaperoned parties, and places that are off limits.
Teach standards of right and wrong and demonstrate these standards through example.
Discuss with their children the school's discipline policies, reinforcing the belief that school rules support the rights of all students to attend schools with disciplined environments safe from influences of violence and alcohol or substance abuse.
Encourage their children to talk about school, their social activities, their interests and problems, and even their walk to and from school.
Be involved in their children's school life by reviewing homework, meeting their teachers, and attending school functions such as parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings, class programs, open houses, plays, concerts, and sporting events.
Build a network of other adults with whom they can talk about school safety issues and alcohol and drug use.
Join a community association to ensure that issues related to alcohol, drugs, and violence are made part of the organization's agenda and that community groups work together to create a safe school corridor by supervising walking routes to and from school.
Talk to their children about the consequences of drug and weapon use, gang participation, and violence and ensure that firearms that parents keep in the home or automobile are unloaded and inaccessible to children. Other dangerous weapons should also be kept out of the reach of children.
Work with the school to develop a comprehensive Safe School Plan that incorporates a clearly articulated statement to students, parents, and the community regarding what will and will not be tolerated and that also provides a strong emphasis on programs to prevent violence and the use of alcohol and drugs.
Monitor the programs their children watch, the video games they play, and the music they listen to regularly. Take time to explain to their children the actual nature and consequences of what is being said and done.
Encourage their children to participate in school-sponsored, after-class activities to help limit the amount of time their children spend watching television.
How is Wildlife Affected by Global Warming?
Most researchers agree that even small changes in temperature are enough to send hundreds if not thousands of already struggling species into extinction unless we can stem the tide of global warming. And time may be of the essence: A 2003 study published in the journal Nature concluded that 80 percent of some 1,500 wildlife species sampled are already showing signs of stress from climate change.
How Global Warming Affects WildlifeThe key impact of global warming on wildlife is habitat displacement, whereby ecosystems that animals have spent millions of years adapting to shift quickly. Ice giving way to water in polar bear habitat is just one example of this.
Another, according to The Washington Post, is the possibility that warmer spring temperatures could dry up critical breeding habitat for waterfowl in the prairie pothole region, a stretch of land between northern Iowa and central Alberta.
Affected wildlife populations can sometimes move into new spaces and continue to thrive. But concurrent human population growth means that many land areas that might be suitable for such “refugee wildlife” are already taken and cluttered with residential and industrial development. A recent report by the Pew Center for Global Climate Change suggests creating “transitional habitats” or “corridors” that help migrating species by linking natural areas that are otherwise separated by human settlement.
Shifting Life Cycles and Global WarmingBeyond habitat displacement, many scientists agree that global warming is causing a shift in the timing of various natural cyclical events in the lives of animals. Many birds have altered the timing of long-held migratory and reproductive routines to better sync up with a warming climate. And some hibernating animals are ending their slumbers earlier each year, perhaps due to warmer spring temperatures.
To make matters worse, recent research contradicts the long-held hypothesis that different species coexisting in a particular ecosystem respond to global warming as a single entity. Instead, different species sharing like habitat are responding in dissimilar ways, tearing apart ecological communities millennia in the making.
Global Warming Effects on Animals Affect People TooAnd as wildlife species go their separate ways, humans can also feel the impact. A World Wildlife Fund study found that a northern exodus from the United States to Canada by some types of warblers led to a spread of mountain pine beetles that destroy economically productive balsam fir trees. Similarly, a northward migration of caterpillars in the Netherlands has eroded some forests there.
Which Animals Are Hardest Hit by Global Warming?According to Defenders of Wildlife, some of the wildlife species hardest hit so far by global warming include caribou (reindeer), arctic foxes, toads, polar bears, penguins, gray wolves, tree swallows, painted turtles and salmon. The group fears that unless we take decisive steps to reverse global warming, more and more species will join the list of wildlife populations pushed to the brink of extinction by a changing climate
How Global Warming Affects WildlifeThe key impact of global warming on wildlife is habitat displacement, whereby ecosystems that animals have spent millions of years adapting to shift quickly. Ice giving way to water in polar bear habitat is just one example of this.
Another, according to The Washington Post, is the possibility that warmer spring temperatures could dry up critical breeding habitat for waterfowl in the prairie pothole region, a stretch of land between northern Iowa and central Alberta.
Affected wildlife populations can sometimes move into new spaces and continue to thrive. But concurrent human population growth means that many land areas that might be suitable for such “refugee wildlife” are already taken and cluttered with residential and industrial development. A recent report by the Pew Center for Global Climate Change suggests creating “transitional habitats” or “corridors” that help migrating species by linking natural areas that are otherwise separated by human settlement.
Shifting Life Cycles and Global WarmingBeyond habitat displacement, many scientists agree that global warming is causing a shift in the timing of various natural cyclical events in the lives of animals. Many birds have altered the timing of long-held migratory and reproductive routines to better sync up with a warming climate. And some hibernating animals are ending their slumbers earlier each year, perhaps due to warmer spring temperatures.
To make matters worse, recent research contradicts the long-held hypothesis that different species coexisting in a particular ecosystem respond to global warming as a single entity. Instead, different species sharing like habitat are responding in dissimilar ways, tearing apart ecological communities millennia in the making.
Global Warming Effects on Animals Affect People TooAnd as wildlife species go their separate ways, humans can also feel the impact. A World Wildlife Fund study found that a northern exodus from the United States to Canada by some types of warblers led to a spread of mountain pine beetles that destroy economically productive balsam fir trees. Similarly, a northward migration of caterpillars in the Netherlands has eroded some forests there.
Which Animals Are Hardest Hit by Global Warming?According to Defenders of Wildlife, some of the wildlife species hardest hit so far by global warming include caribou (reindeer), arctic foxes, toads, polar bears, penguins, gray wolves, tree swallows, painted turtles and salmon. The group fears that unless we take decisive steps to reverse global warming, more and more species will join the list of wildlife populations pushed to the brink of extinction by a changing climate
How Do Humans Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Global Warming?
Question: How Do Humans Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Global Warming?
Answer: Throughout most of human history, and certainly before human beings emerged as a dominant species throughout the world, all climate changes were the direct result of natural forces.
Industrial Age Accelerates Global WarmingThat changed with the start of the Industrial Revolution, when new agricultural and industrial practices began to alter the global climate and environment. Before that time, human activity didn’t release many greenhouse gases, but population growth, deforestation, factory farming, and the widespread use of fossil fuels are creating an excess of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.
Science Links Global Warming to Human ActivityIn February 2007, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), representing the work of 2,500 scientists from more than 130 countries, stated that human activity "very likely" has been the primary cause of global warming since 1950. (In science, nothing is ever claimed to be "certain" or absolute, which leaves open the possibility of further research and discovery, but the term “very likely” indicates more than 90 percent certainty and is considered virtual confirmation.)
The IPCC report also said that human activity has been a major contributor to climate change since the start of the Industrial in the mid-1700s.
Answer: Throughout most of human history, and certainly before human beings emerged as a dominant species throughout the world, all climate changes were the direct result of natural forces.
Industrial Age Accelerates Global WarmingThat changed with the start of the Industrial Revolution, when new agricultural and industrial practices began to alter the global climate and environment. Before that time, human activity didn’t release many greenhouse gases, but population growth, deforestation, factory farming, and the widespread use of fossil fuels are creating an excess of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.
Science Links Global Warming to Human ActivityIn February 2007, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), representing the work of 2,500 scientists from more than 130 countries, stated that human activity "very likely" has been the primary cause of global warming since 1950. (In science, nothing is ever claimed to be "certain" or absolute, which leaves open the possibility of further research and discovery, but the term “very likely” indicates more than 90 percent certainty and is considered virtual confirmation.)
The IPCC report also said that human activity has been a major contributor to climate change since the start of the Industrial in the mid-1700s.
What Causes Global Warming?
Scientists have determined that a number of human activities are contributing to global warming by adding excessive amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide accummulate in the atmosphere and trap heat that normally would exit into outer space.
Greenhouse Gases and Global WarmingWhile many greenhouse gases occur naturally and are needed to create the greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth warm enough to support life, human use of fossil fuels is the main source of excess greenhouse gases. By driving cars, using electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heating our homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Deforestation is another significant source of greenhouse gases, because fewer trees means less carbon dioxide conversion to oxygen.
During the 150 years of the industrial age, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 31 percent. Over the same period, the level of atmospheric methane has risen by 151 percent, mostly from agricultural activities such as raising cattle and growing rice.
The Consequences of Global WarmingAs the concentration of greenhouse gases grows, more heat is trapped in the atmosphere and less escapes back into space. This increase in trapped heat changes the climate and alters weather patterns, which may hasten species extinction, influence the length of seasons, cause coastal flooding, and lead to more frequent and severe storms.
Global Warming FAQ Index:
What Causes Global Warming?
What are Greenhouse Gases?
How Do Humans Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Global Warming?
Are Levels of Greenhouse Gases Increasing?
Is Global Warming a Hoax?
Greenhouse Gases and Global WarmingWhile many greenhouse gases occur naturally and are needed to create the greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth warm enough to support life, human use of fossil fuels is the main source of excess greenhouse gases. By driving cars, using electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heating our homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Deforestation is another significant source of greenhouse gases, because fewer trees means less carbon dioxide conversion to oxygen.
During the 150 years of the industrial age, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 31 percent. Over the same period, the level of atmospheric methane has risen by 151 percent, mostly from agricultural activities such as raising cattle and growing rice.
The Consequences of Global WarmingAs the concentration of greenhouse gases grows, more heat is trapped in the atmosphere and less escapes back into space. This increase in trapped heat changes the climate and alters weather patterns, which may hasten species extinction, influence the length of seasons, cause coastal flooding, and lead to more frequent and severe storms.
Global Warming FAQ Index:
What Causes Global Warming?
What are Greenhouse Gases?
How Do Humans Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Global Warming?
Are Levels of Greenhouse Gases Increasing?
Is Global Warming a Hoax?
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