The Protocol explicitly aimed at phasing-out substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – found in products such as refrigerators, foams, and hairsprays – in order to repair the thin gassy-shield that filters out the sun’s harmful, ultra-violet rays. By 2010, close to 100 ozone-depleting substances, including CFCs, will have been phased-out globally.
Without the decisions taken 20 years ago, atmospheric levels of ozone-depleting substances would have increased ten-fold by 2050. This could have led to up to 20 million additional cases of skin cancer and 130 million more cases of eye cataracts, not to speak of damage to human immune systems, wildlife, and agriculture.
But this is only part of the story that we celebrate on the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (September 16). Over the past two years, it has been established that the Montreal Protocol has also spared humanity a significant level of climate change, because the gases that it prohibits also contribute to global warming.
Indeed, a study in 2007 calculated the climate mitigation benefits of the ozone treaty as totalling the equivalent of 135 billion tons of CO 2 since 1990, or a delay in global warming of 7-12 years.
So the lessons learned from the Montreal Protocol may have wider significance. Scientists now estimate that somewhere close to 50% of climate change is being caused by gases and pollutants other than CO 2, including nitrogen compounds, low-level ozone formed by pollution, and black carbon. Of course, a degree of scientific uncertainty about some of these pollutants’ precise contribution to warming remains. But they certainly play a significant role.
Meanwhile, many of these gases need to be curbed because of their wider environmental impact on public health, agriculture, and the planet’s multi-trillion dollar ecosystems, including forests.
Consider black carbon, a component of the soot emissions from diesel engines and the inefficient burning of biomass cooking stoves that is linked to 1.6 million to 1.8 million premature deaths annually as a result of indoor exposure and 800,000 as a result of outdoor exposure. Black carbon, which absorbs heat from the sun, also accounts for anywhere from 10% to more than 45% of the contribution to global warming, and is also linked to accelerated losses of glaciers in Asia, because the soot deposits darken, ice making it more vulnerable to melting.
One study estimates that 26% of black carbon emissions are from stoves for heating and cooking, with more than 40% of this amount from wood burning, roughly 20% from coal, 19% from crop residues, and 10% from dung.
Some companies have developed stoves that use passive air flows, better insulation, and 60% less wood to reduce black carbon emissions by around 70%. Mass introduction of such stoves could deliver multiple green-economy benefits.
While CO 2 can remain in the atmosphere for centuries, other pollutants, including black carbon and ozone, remain for relatively periods – days, weeks, months, or years – so that reducing or ending emissions promises almost immediate climate benefits.
The international community’s over-arching concern must be to seal a serious and significant deal at the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December to curtail C0 2 emissions and assist vulnerable countries to adapt. If the world also is to deploy all available means to combat climate change, emissions of all substances that contribute to it must be scientifically evaluated and urgently addressed.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Need for holistic approach to climate change negotiations
First, we all want to see a reduction in overall global greenhouse gas emissions. Second, we must do all we can to deliver a sustainable energy future that enables both developed and developing countries to reap the benefits of economic development and social progress. And third, we must ensure mitigation response measures and emission reduction commitments are fair and just, taking into account historical responsibility of Annex I countries, the huge developmental needs of developing countries as well as the adverse impacts of climate change and of response measures, including the adverse impacts on fossil fuel exporting countries.
The goal is to effectively and efficiently marry these issues to facilitate the full and sustained implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and to enable the post-2012 Annex I commitment period to be a success.
From the perspective of reducing emissions, it is crucial to be “comprehensive” and take into account all green-house gases. It should be remembered that 43 per cent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions stem from gases other than carbon dioxide (CO 2 ).
When looking at the world’s energy future, it is clear — according to most experts and projections — that fossil fuels will continue to satisfy the majority of the world’s total energy needs for the forthcoming decades, with oil remaining the leading source.
That is not to say that other energies will not play a role. They will. But because they are starting from a low base, this role will be modest. And of course, energy efficiency has its role to play.
It is critical that the world addresses the net emissions of all greenhouse gases, draws on cost-effective abatement options including reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, utilizes carbon sinks, and takes advantage of the full range of technologies available.
From a technology perspective, it is evident that any serious effort to achieve low net emission paths must include the use of cleaner fossil fuel technologies. Perhaps the single best available technology to reduce net CO 2 emissions in this respect is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The IPCC has stressed that CCS has the potential to meet up to 55 per cent of the global cumulative mitigation effort by 2100.
These types of technologies require the coordinated support of governments, and given that Annex I countries have the financial and technological capabilities, there is a need for them to assume leadership. This could be via the development, deployment, diffusion and transfer of these technologies and the promotion of large-scale demonstration projects.
This is nothing new. Indeed, the Kyoto Protocol states that “developed countries should take the lead in international action to combat climate change by fully implementing their obligations of reducing emissions and of providing additional financing and the transfer of cleaner, low-emission and cost-effective technologies to developing countries.” The Bali Action Plan of December 2007 also calls for enhanced action on technology transfer.
The crucial issue of “obligations” also brings to mind the importance of looking at cumulative CO 2 emissions from a historical perspective. In 2006 Annex I countries accounted for almost 80 per cent of cumulative CO 2 emissions since 1900, and by 2030 they will still have contributed two-thirds.
Bringing this together, it is essential that these core issues are taken into account and that the future focuses on the overall goal of sustainable development, recognizing that priorities might vary for different people.
For developing countries, poverty alleviation, economic development and social progress are the overriding priorities and it is clear that people in such nations will need more energy, not less, to meet these needs. Climate change is providing these countries with yet more challenges and additional vulnerabilities, although they have contributed little to the current situation.
It is a key to success, therefore, to take on board the valid interests of all stakeholders and remember the principle of “common, but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”.
As we approach the Copenhagen meeting, we must remember the spirit that brought together the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. We reached agreement after years of negotiation because everyone had a stake, but perhaps more importantly, everyone perceived that their issues were recognized and taken on board.
This must be brought to the fore in Copenhagen. Agreements reached should be comprehensive and balanced, taking into account the past, present and the future; the fulfilling of current commitments; and the needs of those least able to help themselves.
The goal is to effectively and efficiently marry these issues to facilitate the full and sustained implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and to enable the post-2012 Annex I commitment period to be a success.
From the perspective of reducing emissions, it is crucial to be “comprehensive” and take into account all green-house gases. It should be remembered that 43 per cent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions stem from gases other than carbon dioxide (CO 2 ).
When looking at the world’s energy future, it is clear — according to most experts and projections — that fossil fuels will continue to satisfy the majority of the world’s total energy needs for the forthcoming decades, with oil remaining the leading source.
That is not to say that other energies will not play a role. They will. But because they are starting from a low base, this role will be modest. And of course, energy efficiency has its role to play.
It is critical that the world addresses the net emissions of all greenhouse gases, draws on cost-effective abatement options including reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, utilizes carbon sinks, and takes advantage of the full range of technologies available.
From a technology perspective, it is evident that any serious effort to achieve low net emission paths must include the use of cleaner fossil fuel technologies. Perhaps the single best available technology to reduce net CO 2 emissions in this respect is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The IPCC has stressed that CCS has the potential to meet up to 55 per cent of the global cumulative mitigation effort by 2100.
These types of technologies require the coordinated support of governments, and given that Annex I countries have the financial and technological capabilities, there is a need for them to assume leadership. This could be via the development, deployment, diffusion and transfer of these technologies and the promotion of large-scale demonstration projects.
This is nothing new. Indeed, the Kyoto Protocol states that “developed countries should take the lead in international action to combat climate change by fully implementing their obligations of reducing emissions and of providing additional financing and the transfer of cleaner, low-emission and cost-effective technologies to developing countries.” The Bali Action Plan of December 2007 also calls for enhanced action on technology transfer.
The crucial issue of “obligations” also brings to mind the importance of looking at cumulative CO 2 emissions from a historical perspective. In 2006 Annex I countries accounted for almost 80 per cent of cumulative CO 2 emissions since 1900, and by 2030 they will still have contributed two-thirds.
Bringing this together, it is essential that these core issues are taken into account and that the future focuses on the overall goal of sustainable development, recognizing that priorities might vary for different people.
For developing countries, poverty alleviation, economic development and social progress are the overriding priorities and it is clear that people in such nations will need more energy, not less, to meet these needs. Climate change is providing these countries with yet more challenges and additional vulnerabilities, although they have contributed little to the current situation.
It is a key to success, therefore, to take on board the valid interests of all stakeholders and remember the principle of “common, but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”.
As we approach the Copenhagen meeting, we must remember the spirit that brought together the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. We reached agreement after years of negotiation because everyone had a stake, but perhaps more importantly, everyone perceived that their issues were recognized and taken on board.
This must be brought to the fore in Copenhagen. Agreements reached should be comprehensive and balanced, taking into account the past, present and the future; the fulfilling of current commitments; and the needs of those least able to help themselves.
Moment in History for “Green Revolution
The evolution of human civilization, with the three revolutions, has given the humankind a power that far exceeded its expectation. What we are seeing now is the humankind putting itself under a fatal threat by the act of its own. The threat is the kind that the humankind has never experienced before, in scale and in magnitude.
Of course, the threat is the anthropogenic climate change. What IPCC scientists have advised us on this matter is clear: they are almost sure climate change is manmade; the pace is faster than they previously expected; and the consequences are direr than they previously estimated. We have to listen to their voices.
The world is now witnessing the adverse impacts of climate change on global environment, and the Korean Peninsula is not the exception. The Korea Meteorological Administration announced that the Korean Peninsula has undergone a temperature rise of 1.7 degree Celsius for the past 100 years. The areas for cultivation of major crops are moving up north, and the catch of fish is no longer that of the past. The walleye pollock, which had been the most popular fish in the East Sea of the Korean Peninsula is no longer observed, and the void is now filled with tones of jellyfish and other exotic tropical fish species rarely seen in Korea in the past. Obviously the environment is changing, and it is changing rapidly. We must act now.
Arnold Toynbee depicted humankind’s history as the history of responses to the challenges. Global climate change is a huge challenge to the human civilization, and it has to be met with a commensurately huge response. And we need heroes – heroes to meet with this challenge and bring about the new revolution.
Copenhagen in coming December is a unique moment and place in history where the heroes and heroines of the world gather together to meet with this historical challenge of the world. The humankind has to come up with a challenging commitment to save itself as one unity of global citizens.
We need political heroes. They have to convince their people that bold actions are needed and some level of sacrifice is unavoidable so that we can get to a better place with new level of prosperity.
We need science and technology heroes. They have to come up with new innovative ways of producing energy and consuming it efficiently, and their efforts will be met with due respect and compensation.
We need business heroes. They will bring about business innovations to move forward to a green economy. If the international targets and rules have been set, they are the leaders of this global history.
Indeed, we need heroes everywhere. Every person at every corner of the planet has to be part of this global “Green Crusade.”
Korean government last year has initiated the nationwide campaign called “GreenStart Campaign.” It invites all members of our country to be part of this global effort. It helped greatly to enhance people’s awareness of the problem and willingness to participate in solving the problem.
“GreenStart Campaign” is just one aspect of Korea’s efforts for green revolution. The Korean government has adopted “Low-Carbon Green Growth” as the leading national agenda for the coming decades. A large portion of government spending will be put into green technologies and industries to move into green economy, and now business is responding to this national agenda with announcement of huge scale investment plans on green businesses.
Korea holds a rather unique position in the global scene. It was completely ruined by the Korean War (1950-1953). However, it rose again through the diligence of its people and with help of international society, and now Korea is an OECD member country and its economy is relatively strong and still growing.
With this historical background, Korea is now poised to be part of this global endeavor, and will try to play the bridging role between developed and developing countries. With its strong technological driving force, Korea will also try to be a solution provider and innovation creator.
There is a saying in traditional Korean medicine that an illness is an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and make amendments to our way of life. Climate change is a serious illness to the planet and to the human civilization. Fortunately, it is relatively in the early stage and we still have chances to correct it. Maybe climate change is an opportunity given to humankind to reflect on its civilization and redirect the course of evolution.
Once again, Copenhagen is a unique place and moment in history for the humankind to initiate the fourth revolution, “the Green Revolution.” I invite you to be part of it.
Of course, the threat is the anthropogenic climate change. What IPCC scientists have advised us on this matter is clear: they are almost sure climate change is manmade; the pace is faster than they previously expected; and the consequences are direr than they previously estimated. We have to listen to their voices.
The world is now witnessing the adverse impacts of climate change on global environment, and the Korean Peninsula is not the exception. The Korea Meteorological Administration announced that the Korean Peninsula has undergone a temperature rise of 1.7 degree Celsius for the past 100 years. The areas for cultivation of major crops are moving up north, and the catch of fish is no longer that of the past. The walleye pollock, which had been the most popular fish in the East Sea of the Korean Peninsula is no longer observed, and the void is now filled with tones of jellyfish and other exotic tropical fish species rarely seen in Korea in the past. Obviously the environment is changing, and it is changing rapidly. We must act now.
Arnold Toynbee depicted humankind’s history as the history of responses to the challenges. Global climate change is a huge challenge to the human civilization, and it has to be met with a commensurately huge response. And we need heroes – heroes to meet with this challenge and bring about the new revolution.
Copenhagen in coming December is a unique moment and place in history where the heroes and heroines of the world gather together to meet with this historical challenge of the world. The humankind has to come up with a challenging commitment to save itself as one unity of global citizens.
We need political heroes. They have to convince their people that bold actions are needed and some level of sacrifice is unavoidable so that we can get to a better place with new level of prosperity.
We need science and technology heroes. They have to come up with new innovative ways of producing energy and consuming it efficiently, and their efforts will be met with due respect and compensation.
We need business heroes. They will bring about business innovations to move forward to a green economy. If the international targets and rules have been set, they are the leaders of this global history.
Indeed, we need heroes everywhere. Every person at every corner of the planet has to be part of this global “Green Crusade.”
Korean government last year has initiated the nationwide campaign called “GreenStart Campaign.” It invites all members of our country to be part of this global effort. It helped greatly to enhance people’s awareness of the problem and willingness to participate in solving the problem.
“GreenStart Campaign” is just one aspect of Korea’s efforts for green revolution. The Korean government has adopted “Low-Carbon Green Growth” as the leading national agenda for the coming decades. A large portion of government spending will be put into green technologies and industries to move into green economy, and now business is responding to this national agenda with announcement of huge scale investment plans on green businesses.
Korea holds a rather unique position in the global scene. It was completely ruined by the Korean War (1950-1953). However, it rose again through the diligence of its people and with help of international society, and now Korea is an OECD member country and its economy is relatively strong and still growing.
With this historical background, Korea is now poised to be part of this global endeavor, and will try to play the bridging role between developed and developing countries. With its strong technological driving force, Korea will also try to be a solution provider and innovation creator.
There is a saying in traditional Korean medicine that an illness is an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and make amendments to our way of life. Climate change is a serious illness to the planet and to the human civilization. Fortunately, it is relatively in the early stage and we still have chances to correct it. Maybe climate change is an opportunity given to humankind to reflect on its civilization and redirect the course of evolution.
Once again, Copenhagen is a unique place and moment in history for the humankind to initiate the fourth revolution, “the Green Revolution.” I invite you to be part of it.
Easy peasy visas
Anyone who has ever struggled with visa forms and deadlines will understand what a huge task it is to make sure that the many COP15 delegates who need a Danish visa receive one in time.
To make the process easier for delegates and to make sure that all applications are processed in time, Denmark has set up special visa facilitation arrangements.
Unique international collaborations let delegates apply for Schengen-visas which are valid for longer periods than normally granted. This saves the trouble of getting sepearate visas for the run-up UN climate change talks in various European locations and COP15 itself.
A stellar example of this is an agreement with Germany and Spain, which let delegates attending the climate change talks in Bonn and Barcelona apply for Schengen-visas to cover both those talks and COP15.
France has also agreed to receive applications for Danish visas at their embassies in countries belonging to the group of Small Island Developing States, such as Fiji and the Comoros, where Denmark has no visa issuing missions. Climate questions are especially important to these low-lying coastal countries, because they are very vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters.
Danish embassies around the world also take part in the special arrangements. Delegates attending the UN summit in New York City on September 22 will as a special measure be able to apply for a Danish visa directly at the Danish General Consulate in the city.
And for the first time ever, visa applications will be received outside an official mission. At the UN climate change talks in Bangkok later this month, a stand functioning like a Danish 'mini embassy' will be set up, allowing delegates to apply for visas on the spot.
Representatives from COP15 logistic unit and the Consular Service will be at the stand ready to help, and with a hotline to the Danish Immigration Service.
To make the process easier for delegates and to make sure that all applications are processed in time, Denmark has set up special visa facilitation arrangements.
Unique international collaborations let delegates apply for Schengen-visas which are valid for longer periods than normally granted. This saves the trouble of getting sepearate visas for the run-up UN climate change talks in various European locations and COP15 itself.
A stellar example of this is an agreement with Germany and Spain, which let delegates attending the climate change talks in Bonn and Barcelona apply for Schengen-visas to cover both those talks and COP15.
France has also agreed to receive applications for Danish visas at their embassies in countries belonging to the group of Small Island Developing States, such as Fiji and the Comoros, where Denmark has no visa issuing missions. Climate questions are especially important to these low-lying coastal countries, because they are very vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters.
Danish embassies around the world also take part in the special arrangements. Delegates attending the UN summit in New York City on September 22 will as a special measure be able to apply for a Danish visa directly at the Danish General Consulate in the city.
And for the first time ever, visa applications will be received outside an official mission. At the UN climate change talks in Bangkok later this month, a stand functioning like a Danish 'mini embassy' will be set up, allowing delegates to apply for visas on the spot.
Representatives from COP15 logistic unit and the Consular Service will be at the stand ready to help, and with a hotline to the Danish Immigration Service.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Kenyan adaptation estimated to cost billions
The government of Kenya hopes to take advantage of the UN conference on climate change this December to attract international financing for an ambitious scheme.
”In Copenhagen, Kenya will be expecting an equitable and effective global climate deal that will apply the principle that the polluter pays,” Environment Minister John Michuki tells All Africa.
Among other consequences of climate change, Kenya has seen declining rainfall, which in turn has led to lower resources for hydropower and scarcity of water for agriculture and consumption.
”In Nairobi, the effect of climate change has been felt by people who dig bore holes because they now have to sink the holes as far as 600 meters to one kilometer to hit the water table,” says John Nyaoro, director for water resources at the Water Ministry.
The ministries for environment and for wildlife are currently working on the details of an investment program to cost ”at least Sh80 billion (109 billion US dollars) every year over the next twenty years” to mitigate and adapt to climate change. According to All Africa, investments on this scale can only take place if private investments and donor financing are attracted.
”In Copenhagen, Kenya will be expecting an equitable and effective global climate deal that will apply the principle that the polluter pays,” Environment Minister John Michuki tells All Africa.
Among other consequences of climate change, Kenya has seen declining rainfall, which in turn has led to lower resources for hydropower and scarcity of water for agriculture and consumption.
”In Nairobi, the effect of climate change has been felt by people who dig bore holes because they now have to sink the holes as far as 600 meters to one kilometer to hit the water table,” says John Nyaoro, director for water resources at the Water Ministry.
The ministries for environment and for wildlife are currently working on the details of an investment program to cost ”at least Sh80 billion (109 billion US dollars) every year over the next twenty years” to mitigate and adapt to climate change. According to All Africa, investments on this scale can only take place if private investments and donor financing are attracted.
Nobel Prize winner: Don’t rely on wind technology
When Europe runs out of fossil fuels in 40 to 60 years, wind energy is inefficient and too unstable to deliver the energy needed. Therefore it is deeply abortive when countries like Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom rely on wind technology, says Jack Steinberger, German-American physicist and former Nobel Prize winner, in an interview with Berlingske Tidende.
Steinberger is one of the keynote speakers at the Nordic Climate Solutions Conference that opens today in Copenhagen. In definite terms, he criticizes Denmark and other European countries for heavily investing in wind power instead of solar power.
“It is only windy enough 40 to 45 percent of the time. Often, you will not be able to satisfy European energy needs using wind. In the desert, the sun is shining perhaps 95 percent of the time, which of course is much more stable,” Jack Steinberger argues, according to Berlingske Tidende.
According to Jack Steinberger, it is still not possible to store wind energy in a sustainable way, and that is an almost insuperable obstacle.
Today at the conference, architects with Gottlieb Paludan will present a way of storing wind power by using a hydrothermal technique, Berlingske Tidende reports.
In short, the Danish architects suggest the building of small, artificial islands. The largest part of each island will consist of a water basin that can be emptied by pumps powered by the wind energy produced at night. On windless days, seawater will be channeled back into the basin through turbines, thus generating power.
Steinberger is one of the keynote speakers at the Nordic Climate Solutions Conference that opens today in Copenhagen. In definite terms, he criticizes Denmark and other European countries for heavily investing in wind power instead of solar power.
“It is only windy enough 40 to 45 percent of the time. Often, you will not be able to satisfy European energy needs using wind. In the desert, the sun is shining perhaps 95 percent of the time, which of course is much more stable,” Jack Steinberger argues, according to Berlingske Tidende.
According to Jack Steinberger, it is still not possible to store wind energy in a sustainable way, and that is an almost insuperable obstacle.
Today at the conference, architects with Gottlieb Paludan will present a way of storing wind power by using a hydrothermal technique, Berlingske Tidende reports.
In short, the Danish architects suggest the building of small, artificial islands. The largest part of each island will consist of a water basin that can be emptied by pumps powered by the wind energy produced at night. On windless days, seawater will be channeled back into the basin through turbines, thus generating power.
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