World Emissions Must be Halved by 2050: Scientists

2007-12-06

Climate scientists call for world to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50 percent by 2050, to keep global warming below a 2 degree C increase.

The Bali Declaration, a petition from at least 215 climate scientists, released at the Bali UNFCCC conference, calls for human-caused greenhouse gas emissions to peak within 15 years and be halved by 2050, in order to keep average global warming below a 2 degree C increase on the pre-industrial temperature.

The petition urges government leaders to take radical action to slow global warming because "there is no time to lose".

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Deep GHG Cuts by Australia Would Need Swift Policy Change

2007-12-06

The Australian delegation at the UN climate talks in Bali has indicated Australia could back emission cuts for developed countries of between 25 and 40 per cent by 2020.

But such cuts would require swift and wide-ranging policy change, say experts.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Developed Countries Should Commit to Deep GHG Cuts: EU, UN

2007-12-06

With the Bali UNFCCC conference under way, the EU and the UN are pushing developed countries to commit to 25 to 40 percent greenhouse gas emission cuts (on 1990 levels) by 2020.

Goal: to keep the average global temperature from rising 2 to 2.4 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Developing Nations Need Assistance to Reduce Emissions: China

2007-11-30

Beijing is reluctant to set itself international targets to fight climate change without financial and technological assistance from industrialized countries, says Chinese official.

Developed countries should offer [on] favorable terms or give for free the environmentally friendly technology that developing countries desperately need.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Cycling Ministers to Offset Bali Emissions

2007-11-30

Indonesia plans to make ministers from around the world use bicycles to get about at the U.N. talks on climate change in Bali to help offset the event's carbon emissions.

We want people to leave their cars at the main gate and switch to bicycles. To prevent people from melting in the sun, we will ask everyone to wear light clothes and short sleeves, said an Indonesian official.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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US and EU Propose Free Trade in Climate-Friendly Technologies

2007-11-30

The United States and European Union launched a proposal in world trade talks on Friday aimed at countering global climate change by removing trade barriers for climate-friendly technologies and environmental services.

By eliminating tariff and nontariff barriers to environmental goods and services, particularly clean energy technologies, we can lower their costs and increase global access to and use of these products, say US trade officials.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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ANU Experts Propose Climate Action Plan

2007-11-22

Three of the Australian National University's leading climate policy researchers have prepared an action plan for the incoming government.

Australia should adopt aggressive targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases, but the magnitude of those targets is a matter for society to debate.

Urban Ecology News

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Greenhouse Emissions Must Peak by 2015: IPCC

2007-11-18

World greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2015 to limit global temperature rises to 2.0 to 2.4 Celsius over pre-industrial times, says IPCC report.

Warming could lead to some impacts that are abrupt or irreversible. About 20-30 per cent of species will be at increasing risk of extinction if future temperature rises exceed 1.5 to 2.5 Celsius.

Urban Ecology News

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Climate Change Threatens Asian Development

2007-11-12

Asia will be hit especially hard by climate change, from China and India to tiny Pacific islands, and decades of human development across the continent will be pushed into reverse, says "Up in Smoke" report.

To prevent catastrophic global warming, wealthy countries must dramatically reduce their "luxury" greenhouse gas emissions, so that the (increasing) "survival" emissions of people in poor countries do not cause disaster.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Jobs at Risk from Climate Change: UN

2007-11-12

Millions of jobs worldwide could be casualties of climate change, but responding to climate change will create new jobs, UN officials say.

According to the heads of the United National climate and weather agencies:

Global warming could decimate the world fisheries sector, threaten the tourism industry and cause widespread job losses among those displaced by its impacts.

But, says Achim Steiner of the UN Environment Program:

Scores of new jobs would be created in the environment technology sector as countries work to avoid and lessen the effects of climate change.

Global warming and the need to respond to climate change is becoming a major impulse for innovation and efficiency gains.

Labour union leaders have called for clear long-term strategies to help uprooted workers.

As Joaquin Nieto of Sustainlabour points out:

We are talking about a major change, as substantial as the industrial revolution. The problem is the jobs that will be created will not be created at the same time, or in the same place, as the ones that are lost.

Links

Source: Millions of Jobs at Risk from Climate Change: UN. Laura MacInnis. Reuters. 2007.11.12

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Rising Demand Will Increase Food and Oil Prices

2007-11-09

Rising demand for food in developing countries will increase global food and oil prices.

According to Credit Suisse, global demand for food and biofuels will grow at about 3.3 per cent per annum - compared with the historic average of 2.3 per cent. So the outlook is for agricultural, commodity and oil prices to carry on rising. The $100 barrel of oil could be just the start.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Address Climate Change to Stimulate Economy: Bill Clinton

2007-11-01

The shift to a green economy is the biggest economic opportunity facing the United States since the military build up to World War Two, says Bill Clinton.

Clinton: Initiatives to combat global warming, such as the retrofit of old buildings, and switching to more fuel-efficient cars, will create jobs and boost wages. America must prove to China, India and other developing nations that addressing the climate change problem will stimulate their economies.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Australia Scores Badly on Emissions Growth

2007-11-01

Australia is the ninth biggest contributor to increased global carbon emissions, a new World Bank report has found.

The bank report shows that between 1994 and 2004, Australia's annual emissions of carbon dioxide (the world's main greenhouse gas) increased by 107 million tonnes, or 38 per cent.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Now or Never to Save the Planet: UN

2007-10-26

The future of humanity is at risk unless serious global environmental issues are addressed quickly and thoroughly, says UN report

The 4th Global Environment Outlook report (GEO 4) released today by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) lists global warming, the extinction of species, dwindling fresh water supplies, loss of forest cover, pollution, and depleted fish stocks as major problems.

We are affecting the environment on a global scale, but lack the institutions necessary to deal with this.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Carbon Sinks Weaken as Emissions Grow

2007-10-23

Human activities are releasing carbon dioxide faster than ever, while the natural processes that normally slow its build up in the atmosphere appear to be weakening, says report.

The report notes that:

Carbon dioxide emissions were 35 percent higher in 2006 than in 1990, a much faster growth rate than anticipated. But the land and oceans' ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere is declining due to droughts and changing wind patterns.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Climate Change War We Must Fight

2007-10-23

The planet's ability to absorb the impact of humans is at its limits.

In an opinion piece in The Age, Ian Dunlop said:

Before casting their votes next month, Australians should reflect long and hard on the real priorities the nation faces. These are not tax cuts, industrial relations, the economy, interest rates or the stockmarket, but the very survival and sustainability of our society and the planet.

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Source: Climate Change is a War that We Must Fight. Ian Dunlop. The Age. 2007.10.23

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Steep Decline in World Oil Production Predicted

2007-10-22

World oil production has peaked and will halve by 2030, according to a report released by the Energy Watch Group.

The report warns that extreme shortages of fossil fuels will lead to wars and social breakdown.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Coal-Fired Power Plant Rejected on Greenhouse Concerns - Kansas

2007-10-19

Coal-fired electricity generator rejected due to carbon dioxide emissions.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment yesterday became the first government agency in the United States to cite carbon dioxide emissions as the reason for rejecting an air permit for a proposed coal-fired electricity generating plant, saying that the greenhouse gas threatens public health and the environment.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Public Transport vs Tax Cuts - Sydney

2007-10-18

Two thirds of Sydneysiders want good public transport before tax cuts - ACF

70% of repondents in a recent survey of Sydney residents said they wanted the Federal Government to spend more of its budget surplus on public transport and less on tax cuts.

Refer: Urban Ecology News.

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Greenhouse Abatement in Waste Management

2007-10-17

Greenhouse emissions can be substantially reduced at moderate costs through better waste management, says report.

The report, "Potential for greenhouse gas abatement from waste management and resource recovery activities in Australia", released by the Waste Management Association of Australia, shows that improving waste management and recycling could deliver an abatement or saving of nearly 38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions - a 6.7 percent cut in national greenhouse emissions.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Nobel Peace Prize 2007 to IPCC and Al Gore

2007-10-12

Peace Prize awarded for efforts to raise awareness about climate change and how to respond to it.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel peace Prize 2007 to the Intergovernmental Planel on Climate Change and Al Gore "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change".

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Japan Recommends Urban Centralisation to Curb Global Warming

2007-08-24

Japanese Ministry of the Environment recommends the centralization of cities to curb global warming and improve urban amenity.

In Japan residential areas and large-scale retail stores are being built in the suburbs and even public facilities such as city halls and hospitals are being transferred to the suburbs. Such decentralization prevents people leading convenient lives without driving their own cars.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Paris Bike Share Scheme

2007-07-17

New bike-share scheme introduced in Paris.

On the Velib' bike rental scheme, bicycles can be picked up and dropped off at a number of self-serve docking stations around the city using a pre-paid access card.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Slowing Global Warming - Bigger than Moon Shot

2007-06-06

Slowing global warming will take more effort and require more cooperation than putting a man on the moon, says CEO.

Cutting greenhouses gases to beat global will take more effort than the United States put into landing a man on the moon in the 1960s, and it's more important, says Peter Darbee, chief executive of PG&E Corp, California's largest electricity supplier. When we set out to the moon, we only needed the cooperation and collaboration of a portion of the people, he said. The challenge of global warming will require an unprecedented level of cooperation, collaboration and alignment by all people .

Source: Climate Challenge Bigger than Moon Shot: PG&E . Bernie Woodall. Reuters. 2007.6.6

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Tackling Climate Change - Only Growth Strategy: Bloomberg

2007-05-15

Tackling climate change is the only sensible pro-growth strategy for the long term, says New York Mayor.

New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, speaking at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit today, said:

We do not need to choose between preventing climate change on the one hand, and promoting growth and development on the other. Because tackling climate change is the sensible - indeed the only - pro-growth strategy for the long term.

Cities consume 75% of the world's energy, and produce 80% of its greenhouse gases. So while global warming clearly requires action at the national and international levels, those of us in city government can and must also take a leading role.

London, Stockholm, and Singapore have taken the lead in experiments with congestion pricing of auto traffic, while cities from Paris to Shanghai to Delhi are moving forward with major, modern mass transit improvements. Chicago is dramatically greening its streets with thousands of new trees, and Berlin is leading the way in greening the roofs of that great city's buildings.

Even though [cities] contribute so heavily to climate change, [they] also tend to be among the most environmentally friendly, sustainable places on earth.

Because our stores often are within walking distance of our homes - because so many of our citizens commute to work and school by mass transit - Because our houses and apartments also tend to be relatively compact and built close together, our carbon footprint is reduced.

New York City climate change policy includes the following:

• Reduce New York City's global warming emissions 30 percent by 2030.
• Reduce City government emissions 30 percent over the next ten years.

Hence:

• Encourage the use of cleaner burning heating fuels. Offer incentives for the use of more efficient heating and cooling systems and appliances.
• Replace old and heavily polluting power plants with newer, more efficient generators.
• Promote the greater use of renewable power.
• Decrease transport related CO2 emissions. Reduce the number of vehicles on our streets and highways. Expand our transit system. Introduce congestion pricing on the streets of Manhattan below 86th Street.
• Encourage and employ emerging technologies, from increased use of solar energy to safe and clean nuclear power, to the wider distributed generation of power by fuel cells. But we can't count on the technology of the future to do what needs to be done, urgently, today.
• Prepare for the consequences of the global warming that has already occurred, including rising sea levels and the possibility of more intense coastal storms.

Bloomberg:

The costs of adapting to and reversing climate change pale in significance compared to the potentially catastrophic financial, social, and environmental price of inaction.

To avoid such immense calamity, what is required now is a new global ethic of responsibility toward one another, and toward the future of God's good earth.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior said in 1961: "The great problem today is that we have allowed the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live." Our scientific genius has shrunk time and distance and "made of this world a neighborhood. Now, through our moral and spiritual development, we must make of it a brotherhood."

Links

Source: Keynote Address. Michael Bloomberg. C40 Large Cities Climate Summit. 2007.5.15

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Stern Challenges Australia to Make Deep Cuts on Greenhouse

2007-03-28

Nicholas Stern calls on Australia to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent on 1990 levels by 2020, and 60 to 90 percent by 2050.

Stern, chief author of the Stern Report on the Economics of Climate Change, is in Australia as part of a world tour, encouraging countries to act on global warming and climate change.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

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Business the Answer to World Poverty

2007-03-19

Report proposes private sector strategies as a way to reduce world poverty.

According to a report issued by the World Resource Institute and the International Finance Corporation:

Well supplied, competitive markets would help the four billion people earning less than $3,000 better meet their needs, and increase their productivity and income. In regions with poorly developed markets, goods and services are often more expensive, of lower quality, or more difficult to access than in regions with developed markets.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

Question: Can markets help spread prosperity without increasing overall resource consumption?

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Brisbane Climate Change and Energy Report

2007-03-12

Report considers how Brisbane should respond to global warming.

The Climate Change and Energy Taskforce Final Report - A Call for Action, released today by the Brisbane City Council, considers how Brisbane could be affected by climate change, and how such challenges may provide economic opportunities.

Challenges include:

• higher temperatures, drought, larger storm surges, gusting winds and bushfires.
• higher oil prices - given Brisbane's reliance on oil for both personal mobility and freight movement.
• greenhouse emissions permit trading - given that Brisbane is a high per capita emitter of greenhouse gases compared to many other world cities.

Opportunities include manufacturing of water-efficient technologies.

Links

Refer: Climate Change and Energy Taskforce Final Report - A Call for Action (PDF). Brisbane City Council. 2007.3

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EU Call: Deep Cuts on Greenhouse

2007-03-09

European Union calls for cuts in greenhouse emissions by developed countries to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020.

The European Council, meeting this week, called upon developed countries to commit to collectively reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to around 30% below 1990 levels by 2020, with the aim of further reducing their emissions to 60% to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

Question: Will Australia take up the challenge?

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Global Warming Technofixes: Dust and Mirrors

2007-01-27

Dust and Mirrors. An answer to global warming? Or a distraction from the real issue?

The US Government is proposing giant space mirrors and reflective dust pumped into the atmosphere as ways to tackle global warming. But this may be a distraction from the real issue - reducing (US) greenhouse emissions.

Refer: Urban Ecology News

Question: Will a myriad of small-scale technology applications be enough to stop global warming? Or will we end up resorting to grand projects with uncertain consequences?