Ease patent protection of climate-friendly equipment and goods that embed climate-friendly technology.
The proposal comes from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD. It aims at helping developing countries adapt to the consequences of climate change, but also to support their contribution to climate change mitigation.
“It is important that all developing countries, including the poorest, have the capacity to build these technologies themselves,” UN economist Detlef Kotte says in an interview before releasing a 217-page report on the issue, which he wrote with several colleagues, according to Bloomberg.
The proposal entails that companies like windmill maker General Electric Co. or hybrid-car manufacturer Toyota Motor Corp. could be forced to unveil their technologies. Also at stake are technologies to genetically modify crops resistant to droughts brought on by global warming, writes London-based Chatham House Environment Director Bernice Lee in an e-mail, according to Bloomberg.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
White House Advisor Van Jones Resigns, but Should Not Quit
White House environmental advisor Van Jones resigned late Saturday [September 5, 2009] amid escalating controversy over some of his past statements, actions and associations, citing a "vicious smear campaign against me" that threatened to disrupt President Obama's agenda.
"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in a statement announcing his resignation. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."
"I have been inundated with calls—from across the political spectrum—urging me to 'stay and fight,'" Jones continued. "But I came here to fight for others, not for myself. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future."
Jones' decision to refocus attention on critical issues by removing himself as a target is a standard political maneuver, but it's likely to be only marginally successful. While Jones' resignation does take him out of the line of fire and provides one less distraction, it doesn't guarantee his detractors will stop trying to sideline major national issues by stirring up minor ones.
Ironically, Jones never sought nor expressed any desire for a high-level government job. From all reports, he was more surprised than anyone when President Obama asked him to join the White House Council on Environmental Quality as special advisor on green jobs, enterprise and innovation. He was waging an ongoing battle for civil rights and environmental justice, and outlining a vision for how a sustainable green economy could lift minority communities out of poverty, hopelessness and despair.
I'm not defending or denouncing the controversial things Jones may have said and done. So many things have been distorted, taken out of context, or offered as direct quotes when they are actually third-hand attributions that it's hard to get at the truth.
Frankly, I don't care that much. Most of the actual allegations leveled against Jones are pretty minor, despite the efforts of right-wing commentators and politicians to paint them as indicators of much bigger problems. I'm more interested in his ideas and his track record in turning those ideas into effective programs to fight poverty while helping the environment.
When President Obama invited Jones to join his "green team," a lot of people wondered whether, as a government employee, Jones could possibly remain the effective leader and advocate that got him the job in the first place. With the door to government service firmly closed for now, that question is moot. Yet, my guess is Jones will continue to work on the social and environmental problems that have engaged him for so long, to protest injustice, and to share his vision for a better world.
Government, and all of us, would be wise to listen.
"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in a statement announcing his resignation. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."
"I have been inundated with calls—from across the political spectrum—urging me to 'stay and fight,'" Jones continued. "But I came here to fight for others, not for myself. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future."
Jones' decision to refocus attention on critical issues by removing himself as a target is a standard political maneuver, but it's likely to be only marginally successful. While Jones' resignation does take him out of the line of fire and provides one less distraction, it doesn't guarantee his detractors will stop trying to sideline major national issues by stirring up minor ones.
Ironically, Jones never sought nor expressed any desire for a high-level government job. From all reports, he was more surprised than anyone when President Obama asked him to join the White House Council on Environmental Quality as special advisor on green jobs, enterprise and innovation. He was waging an ongoing battle for civil rights and environmental justice, and outlining a vision for how a sustainable green economy could lift minority communities out of poverty, hopelessness and despair.
I'm not defending or denouncing the controversial things Jones may have said and done. So many things have been distorted, taken out of context, or offered as direct quotes when they are actually third-hand attributions that it's hard to get at the truth.
Frankly, I don't care that much. Most of the actual allegations leveled against Jones are pretty minor, despite the efforts of right-wing commentators and politicians to paint them as indicators of much bigger problems. I'm more interested in his ideas and his track record in turning those ideas into effective programs to fight poverty while helping the environment.
When President Obama invited Jones to join his "green team," a lot of people wondered whether, as a government employee, Jones could possibly remain the effective leader and advocate that got him the job in the first place. With the door to government service firmly closed for now, that question is moot. Yet, my guess is Jones will continue to work on the social and environmental problems that have engaged him for so long, to protest injustice, and to share his vision for a better world.
Government, and all of us, would be wise to listen.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Copenhagen failure would damage world trade
Should the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change fail to agree this December, it could have severe harmful effects on international trade, warns the World Trade Organisation chief.
Not only would temperatures continue to rise with a range of threats to populations if no international accord on climate change is found, but the international system of trade would also be jeopardized.
“I sincerely hope that (agreement) will happen in Copenhagen. If it doesn’t happen, our job at the WTO will become more difficult,” Pascal Lamy, head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) tells the Financial Times.
He refers to the trend that some countries impose taxes or similar measures on goods from countries with lower standards in climate protection. This trend will only grow stronger if a new, more comprehensive agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol does not come in place.
“Going-alone measures will not achieve the desired results. Relying on trade measures to fix global environmental problems will not work. I am of the firm conviction that the relationship between international trade and climate change would be best defined as a follow-up to a consensual international accord on climate change that successfully embraces all major polluters,” says Pascal Lamy.
Not only would temperatures continue to rise with a range of threats to populations if no international accord on climate change is found, but the international system of trade would also be jeopardized.
“I sincerely hope that (agreement) will happen in Copenhagen. If it doesn’t happen, our job at the WTO will become more difficult,” Pascal Lamy, head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) tells the Financial Times.
He refers to the trend that some countries impose taxes or similar measures on goods from countries with lower standards in climate protection. This trend will only grow stronger if a new, more comprehensive agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol does not come in place.
“Going-alone measures will not achieve the desired results. Relying on trade measures to fix global environmental problems will not work. I am of the firm conviction that the relationship between international trade and climate change would be best defined as a follow-up to a consensual international accord on climate change that successfully embraces all major polluters,” says Pascal Lamy.
Japan tightens up on climate targets
Japan’s next Prime Minister considers a new carbon tax and a domestic emissions trading market to reach a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gasses. COP15 host Connie Hedegaard congratulates Japan on its "strong leadershipThe Japanese Prime Minister in waiting, Yukio Hatoyama, declared today that he will aim for a 25 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2020 compared with 1990 levels. The target is a huge step forward compared to his predecessor’s. In June, outgoing Prime Minister Taro Aso unveiled an eight percent reduction during the same time frame.
”It is one of our pledges stipulated in our (election) manifesto so we need the political will to aim at its realization by utilizing all policy tools,” Hatoyama said in a speech today during the Asahi World Environment Forum in Tokyo, according to Japan Today.
He added that Japan would ”aim to establish a fair and effective international framework involving all major countries in the world”, indicating an intention to strongly urge other countries to set ”ambitious goals” in cutting emissions.
According to Reuters, his Democratic Party considers a new carbon tax. It also plans to create a domestic emissions trading market and introduce a ”feed-in” tariff for renewable energy to help expand capacity for clean energy sources.
Denmark’s Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard, who hosts December’s UN climate conference in Copenhagen (COP15), congratulates Japan on its ”strong leadership”:
”For a long time, everybody has been waiting for everybody in the international [climate] negotiations. Now Japan has taken a big step forward by setting an ambitious target, and I hope it will inspire other countries to follow,” she says in a statement.
The environmental group WWF also welcomes the ”courage” of the Japanese Prime-Minister-elect.
“Japan used to be the country driven by industry groups, but now we see a new Prime Minister with true leadership”, says Takamasa Higuchi, CEO of WWF Japan.
Kim Carstensen, the leader of the WWF Global Climate Initiative, says “the decision by an important player such as Japan to do more and get serious about low carbon future can help break the deadlock between developed and developing countries”.
“The climate negotiations are at a critical point and we need urgent progress to get a fair, ambitious and binding deal in Copenhagen this December.”
”It is one of our pledges stipulated in our (election) manifesto so we need the political will to aim at its realization by utilizing all policy tools,” Hatoyama said in a speech today during the Asahi World Environment Forum in Tokyo, according to Japan Today.
He added that Japan would ”aim to establish a fair and effective international framework involving all major countries in the world”, indicating an intention to strongly urge other countries to set ”ambitious goals” in cutting emissions.
According to Reuters, his Democratic Party considers a new carbon tax. It also plans to create a domestic emissions trading market and introduce a ”feed-in” tariff for renewable energy to help expand capacity for clean energy sources.
Denmark’s Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard, who hosts December’s UN climate conference in Copenhagen (COP15), congratulates Japan on its ”strong leadership”:
”For a long time, everybody has been waiting for everybody in the international [climate] negotiations. Now Japan has taken a big step forward by setting an ambitious target, and I hope it will inspire other countries to follow,” she says in a statement.
The environmental group WWF also welcomes the ”courage” of the Japanese Prime-Minister-elect.
“Japan used to be the country driven by industry groups, but now we see a new Prime Minister with true leadership”, says Takamasa Higuchi, CEO of WWF Japan.
Kim Carstensen, the leader of the WWF Global Climate Initiative, says “the decision by an important player such as Japan to do more and get serious about low carbon future can help break the deadlock between developed and developing countries”.
“The climate negotiations are at a critical point and we need urgent progress to get a fair, ambitious and binding deal in Copenhagen this December.”
Consequences of climate change has a bad taste
Now and then, animals experience heat stress during transport to the abattoir, and the quality of the meat is affected. Cattle begin to suffer heat stress already at 20 degrees Celsius and pigs at 31 degrees. In the future, heat stress among farm animals may be more common, New Scientist reports.
”The one thing we can be sure of is that they'll experience those harmful temperatures more often with climate change,” says Neville Gregory of the Royal Veterinary College in Hatfield, UK.
Over a decade, Neville Gregory has studied how meat quality varies with the temperature at which animals are kept. His findings are published in Food Research International this month, and they are not particularly appetizing. Heat-stressed pork meat ”resembles soggy white blotting paper”, and a rump steak will taste blander and look darker, ”almost mahogany in colour, or umber, and in the worst case, black,” he tells New Scientist.
”The implications of global warming for animal production have not been given much thought...Hopefully, this paper will stimulate some much-needed debate among policy makers,” urges Peter Hansen, an animal scientist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, according to New Scientist
”The one thing we can be sure of is that they'll experience those harmful temperatures more often with climate change,” says Neville Gregory of the Royal Veterinary College in Hatfield, UK.
Over a decade, Neville Gregory has studied how meat quality varies with the temperature at which animals are kept. His findings are published in Food Research International this month, and they are not particularly appetizing. Heat-stressed pork meat ”resembles soggy white blotting paper”, and a rump steak will taste blander and look darker, ”almost mahogany in colour, or umber, and in the worst case, black,” he tells New Scientist.
”The implications of global warming for animal production have not been given much thought...Hopefully, this paper will stimulate some much-needed debate among policy makers,” urges Peter Hansen, an animal scientist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, according to New Scientist
Global warming is a wake-up call
Climate change is not only about rising temperatures. It may alter the geology of the Earth dramatically, scientists say.
Earthquakes, avalanches and volcanic eruptions may increase, when our Earth faces a warmer future. According to a report by international groups of researchers to be presented at a London conference next week, the impact of climate change is rather dramatic.
”Not only are the oceans and atmosphere conspiring against us, bringing baking temperatures, more powerful storms and floods, but the crust beneath our feet seems likely to join in too,” says Professor Bill McGuire, Director of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London. McGuire is one of the organizers of the Climate Forcing of Geological Hazards conference, which will open on September 15.
Melting glaciers will set off avalanches, floods and mud flows in the Alps and other mountain ranges, and disappearing Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets threaten to let loose underwater landslides, triggering tsunamis, the Guardian reports.
”Global warming is not just a matter of warmer weather, more floods or stronger hurricanes. It is a wake-up call to Terra Firma,” McGuire says, according to the Guardian.
Earthquakes, avalanches and volcanic eruptions may increase, when our Earth faces a warmer future. According to a report by international groups of researchers to be presented at a London conference next week, the impact of climate change is rather dramatic.
”Not only are the oceans and atmosphere conspiring against us, bringing baking temperatures, more powerful storms and floods, but the crust beneath our feet seems likely to join in too,” says Professor Bill McGuire, Director of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London. McGuire is one of the organizers of the Climate Forcing of Geological Hazards conference, which will open on September 15.
Melting glaciers will set off avalanches, floods and mud flows in the Alps and other mountain ranges, and disappearing Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets threaten to let loose underwater landslides, triggering tsunamis, the Guardian reports.
”Global warming is not just a matter of warmer weather, more floods or stronger hurricanes. It is a wake-up call to Terra Firma,” McGuire says, according to the Guardian.
Green tax on tourism to help finance Maldives climate plan
Budget constraints and lack of funding from foreign investors have prevented the vulnerable island state from moving forward with its ambitous plans to become carbon neutral within a decade.
The president of the Maldives Mohammed Nasheed said Monday he plans a $3-a-day green tax for all tourists at its popular island resorts to help pay for the country's ambitious goals in fighting climate change.
Budget constraints have so far kept the government from moving forward with its plan to become carbon neutral, as it awaits foreign investors willing to pay for green development projects.
The country's tourism ministry says the Maldives had 683,012 tourist arrivals in 2008.
Since taking office last year, Mohammed Nasheed has emerged as an important voice on the impact of climate change amid fears that within a century, rising ocean levels could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago. Its islands average 7 feet (2.13 meters) above sea level, making the Maldives the lowest-lying nation on Earth.
Nasheed has announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland if the 1,192 low-lying coral islands are submerged. He also has promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade.
The president of the Maldives Mohammed Nasheed said Monday he plans a $3-a-day green tax for all tourists at its popular island resorts to help pay for the country's ambitious goals in fighting climate change.
Budget constraints have so far kept the government from moving forward with its plan to become carbon neutral, as it awaits foreign investors willing to pay for green development projects.
The country's tourism ministry says the Maldives had 683,012 tourist arrivals in 2008.
Since taking office last year, Mohammed Nasheed has emerged as an important voice on the impact of climate change amid fears that within a century, rising ocean levels could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago. Its islands average 7 feet (2.13 meters) above sea level, making the Maldives the lowest-lying nation on Earth.
Nasheed has announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland if the 1,192 low-lying coral islands are submerged. He also has promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade.
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