Himalayan nations to hold first climate talks

South Asian ministers will gather in Nepal next week for talks on the threat that climate change poses to the Himalayas and to the 1.3 billion people dependent on water flowing from the mountains.
Experts say the Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming rate and with months to go before a key summit in Copenhagen, mountain nations are hoping to highlight the myriad of problems facing the region.
Climate change campaigners refer to the Himalayas as the "third pole" and say the melting glaciers are the biggest potential contributors to rising sea levels after the north and south poles.
But until now Himalayan governments have not come together to lobby for ambitious emission reduction targets at December's Copenhagen summit, which aims to seal a new international climate change accord.
"Nepal's message needs to be heard, and the message of the mountains needs to be heard," said World Bank water and climate expert Claudia Sadoff, who is helping Nepal's government organise the August 31-September 1 conference.
"The Himalayas have their own very real set of challenges, but there are also a lot of adaptation and mitigation opportunities in the mountains."
Glaciers in the Himalayas, a 2,400-kilometre (1,500-mile) range that sweeps through Pakistan, India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, provide headwaters for Asia's nine largest rivers, a lifeline for the 1.3 billion people who live downstream.
But temperatures in the region have increased by between 0.15 and 0.6 degrees Celsius (0.27 and 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade for the last 30 years, and the effects are already being felt.
In Nepal and Bhutan, the melting glaciers have formed vast lakes that threaten to burst, devastating communities downstream.
Low-lying Bangladesh has always been prone to flooding, but leading environment scientist Atiq Rahman said the speed at which the Himalayan glaciers were melting meant floods were now "more frequent and more vigorous".
Last year Nepal suffered its driest winter in 40 years, bringing the first widespread forest fires the country has experienced and destroying crops that depend on the winter rains.
Campaigners say that while the effects of climate change on low-lying South Asian countries such as Bangladesh and the Maldives are now well known, there is little international awareness of the vulnerability of the Himalayan region.
"The general impression is that the Himalayas are huge, impregnable, pristine spaces no one can hurt. But the fact is that they are melting," said Tariq Aziz, leader of the WWF's Living Himalayas initiative.
"The Himalayas are not just mountains. They are a source of sustenance for millions and their most valuable commodity is water."
Nepal's government, which has invited environment ministers from across South Asia to attend the talks, said it hoped to "take a regional voice on climate change to Copenhagen".
"The glaciers are melting and the temperatures are rising in the Himalayas," said environment secretary Uday Raj Sharma.
"This will ultimately affect people's livelihoods not only in Nepal but also downstream."
Some observers have expressed concern that India, which opposes binding carbon emission cuts, will drown out the voices of smaller countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh at the Copenhagen talks.
New Delhi does not plan to send anyone from the national government to next week's conference in Nepal, an absence that will inevitably weaken any message that comes out of the talks.
India's environment secretary Jairam Ramesh recently expressed scepticism as to whether the melting of the Himalayan glaciers is caused by climate change, saying more research was needed.
But campaigners say the world cannot afford to wait for concrete evidence before acting to mitigate the effects of the melting glaciers.
They say poor mountain states such as Nepal and Bhutan need urgent international assistance to adapt to the changes and to build early warning systems necessary to prevent devastation from flooding or drought.
"There is still debate on the magnitude of the effects of climate change but the consensus is that already, man-made emissions have created temperature increases," said Simon Lucas, climate change adviser to Britain's Department for International Development in Nepal.
"We already know it is the poorest people who will be worst affected, and the number of people impacted in South Asia will be simply enormous."

Millions in Nepal facing hunger as climate changes

Changing weather patterns have dramatically affected crop production in Nepal, leaving farmers unable to properly feed themselves and pushing them into debt, Oxfam International said in a report released in Katmandu. The British aid agency described the situation as "deeply worrying." "Communities told us crop production is roughly half that of previous years ... Last year many could only grow enough (food) for one month's consumption," said Oxfam's Wayne Gum, adding that less precipitation has been forecast this winter, which will make the situation worse. More extreme temperatures, drier winters and delays in summer monsoons have all compounded the situation, the report said. More than 3.4 million people in Nepal are estimated to require food assistance, and food stocks in farming communities will last only a few months, it warned. Oxfam said Nepal will likely suffer more frequent droughts because of climate change. River levels will decline due to the reduced rainfall and glacial retreat, making it harder to irrigate crops and provide water for livestock.

Australia’s winter turns into summer

Normally, August is one of the coolest months in Australia, but not this year. Some regions had their warmest 2009 day in the winter month of August - hotter than any summer day. Now the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has issued a "special climate statement", confirming that the month of August is set to be the hottest August ever recorded, and if weather forecasts for the next few days are correct, ”August 2009 is almost certain to be Australia’s warmest August on record,” it says in the statement. August 2009 has seen highly abnormal heat over large parts of Australia and average minimum temperatures have been above normal in all states. According to Perth Now, the hot weather is caused by a lack of cold outbreaks bringing air from the Southern Ocean, as well as clear skies and a lack of moisture.

Indonesia is ready for a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

In most countries, the CO2 emissions are caused by coal-fired power plants and the burning of fossil fuels. In Indonesia, four-fifths of the emissions come from the degradation of peatland and the logging of forest cover. However, if the country receives international support, it is ready to slow down the cutting of its trees, pursue reforestation and protect peatland areas. Preserving forests is cheap compared with cutting emissions from industry and electricity generation, the Financial Times reports. According to the newspaper, Indonesia has held out a conditional promise of a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. The promise would be a far more ambitious target than other developing countries have considered and on a par with the most ambitious rich nations. Next week, Indonesia is expected to release a draft strategy on reducing emissions, ahead of December's climate change conference in Copenhagen, the Financial Times reports.

100 days to go: UN calls for climate action

With exactly one hundred days to go to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen (COP15), the United Nations calls for millions of online signatures for a climate petition and launches the first-ever Global Climate Week as part of its Seal the Deal! campaign. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leading the call for communities around the world to take advantage of Global Climate Week from September 21-25 to encourage leaders to seal a fair, balanced and effective climate agreement. "Time is running out. Scientists warn that climate impacts are accelerating. Now more than ever, we need political leadership at the highest level to ensure we protect people and the planet, and to catalyze the green growth that can power the 21st century economy,” Ban said in a statement on Friday. "With just 15 negotiating days remaining before the start of COP15, now is the time for people in every corner of the world to urge their governments to seal a fair, effective and ambitious deal in Copenhagen,” he added. Professor Nicholas Stern, Economist and author of the influential Stern Report on the Economics of Climate Change, said:'The United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 will be the most important international gathering since the end of the Second World War. We have now just 100 days left before that meeting to put in place all of the elements of a strong international agreement."WWF on Friday issued a statement saying that “with only 15 scheduled negotiating days left and 170 pages of draft text still a long way from becoming a final proposal, momentum from outside the climate negotiations is going to be crucial”. "World leaders, many of whom will meet several times next month, need to take charge of the process on the basis that climate change is an economic, development and security issue as much as an environmental one," said Kim Carstensen, Leader of the WWF Global Climate Initiative. According to Reuters, environmental organizations, trade unions, religious groups, scientists, anti-poverty campaigners and others representing tens of millions of people teamed up on Friday to put pressure for curbs on greenhouse gas emissions."Time is running out," said Kumi Naidoo, chair of the Global Campaign for Climate Action of the "TckTckTck" campaign, meant to refer to the sound of a clock ticking as the UN meeting draws closer.

Historical weather data loses significance

Climate change has made historical weather data an inaccurate guide to fisheries, forestry, transport and tourism, as well as efforts to fight diseases such as malaria. "The past is no longer a good indicator of the future," says Michel Jarraud, director-general of the World Meteorological Organization according to Reuters. "This traditional knowledge is no longer adapted. It's exactly because your grandfather did this that you shouldn't do it, because the context has changed... this is something completely new - to make decisions not on facts or statistics about the past, but on the probabilities for the future," he says. Next week, about 1,500 policy-makers, researchers and corporate leaders will meet at the third World Climate Conference. The overarching theme of the conference is "Climate prediction and information for decision-making".

Every second Copenhagener will ride a bike in 2015

In Copenhagen, one in three citizens commute by bicycle to work or school every day. However, the goal is even higher, city officials say. The conference city has just announced its vision to become the world's best city for cyclists, and the Danish capital will inspire even more Copenhageners to use their bikes. In 2015 at least half the population of the city will cycle to work or their place of education every day, predictions say. "For people here, going on a bicycle is a bit like brushing your teeth, you don't think much about it!" says Andreas Rohl, who is in charge of the city's cycling program. According to the BBC, the city has worked consistently to improve conditions for cyclists. "We are very focused on the safety. Since the mid-1990s, we have reduced the risk of having an accident when you travel by bike by 65 percent. The health effect of going on a bicycle is seven times higher than the actual risk of going on a bike," Andreas Rohl tells BBC.