U.N. aims to provide carbon neutral example

Reuters 12 Dec 07;

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - More countries should follow the examples of Costa Rica, Norway and New Zealand and aim to wipe out their contribution to climate change altogether, the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Wednesday.

"This is not peanuts, it's whole countries," UNEP chief Achim Steiner told a news conference.

The United Nations aims to go completely carbon neutral starting with the "small step" of offsetting the carbon footprints of U.N. officials attending December 3-14 climate talks in a luxury Indonesian island resort in Bali.

The U.N., which reckons it emits about 1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year mainly by burning fossil fuels for travel and running offices, could show how it can be done.

"It's important that the U.N. takes the lead ... how to achieve it," said Erik Solheim, environment minister for Norway, which aims to be climate neutral by 2050.

Among nations, Costa Rica is set to win the carbon neutral race by a mile, aiming to wipe all its emissions by 2021 in time for a 200th independence anniversary party, by planting trees and relying more on its brimming hydropower.

"Costa Rica will plant 5 million trees in 2007 and in 2008 the goal will be doubled," said Paulo Manso, head of the Costa Rica's negotiating team attending the climate talks.

About 190 nations are meeting in Bali to try and launch negotiations on a global climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2013.

Going carbon or climate neutral involves as far as possible cutting your emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, for example by switching from high carbon-emitting fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy such as wind and water.

For all the rest you pay someone else to cut emissions on your behalf. The trend has taken off among U.S. and European corporates ranging from Google to HSBC bank.

But such goals have drawn slurs of tokenism from some skeptics who point out that volunteers often have very low carbon emissions to start with, in contrast to heavy industry.

Costa Rica, Norway and New Zealand, which wants a carbon neutral energy sector by 2040, all have small populations and plentiful renewable energy resources, especially hydropower.

Several environmental groups have questioned the quality of carbon offsets available for sale under the U.N.-run Kyoto Protocol. It can be difficult to prove, for example, that sellers weren't planning to cut their emissions anyway.

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StatoilHydro says 25,000 bbl oil spilled in North Sea

John Acher, Reuters 12 Dec 07;

OSLO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - About 25,000 barrels of oil spilled into the Norwegian sector of the North Sea at the Statfjord oilfield on Wednesday, field operator StatoilHydro (STL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) and oil officials said.

The spill occurred in rough seas while oil was being loaded from a storage unit to a tanker, but the spillage has been halted, oil safety authorities said.

A meteorologist at the Storm forecasting centre said the spill may be drifting east to southeast. That could put it on a collision course with the southwest coast of Norway.

"This could be the second largest spill in Norwegian oil history," the Petroleum Safety Authority's (PSA) spokeswoman, Inger Anda, said. The biggest was a 75,000-barrel spill from the Bravo blowout in 1977.

By comparison, the Exxon Valdez tanker spilled about 240,000 barrels of crude off Alaska in 1989.

"During loading of oil from the Statfjord A platform in the North Sea about 4,000 standard cubic metres of oil was released into the sea," Norwegian energy group StatoilHydro said in a statement.

Neither production nor exports from Statfjord, the biggest oilfield ever found off Norway though now far off its peak, would be affected, StatoilHydro said.

Statfjord currently produces about 100,000 barrels per day and news of the spill initially helped to send oil prices higher.

The spill happened in rough weather while the tanker Navion Britannica was loading oil from a storage buoy, StatoilHydro said. The ship belongs to Vancouver-based tanker group Teekay Corp (TK.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Winds at Statfjord are for the moment around 45 knots, and seas are around seven metres (23 feet), StatoiHydro said.

The Statfjord field lies about 200 km (124 miles) offshore, west of the port of Bergen near the UK boundary line in the North Sea.

The PSA said it established an emergency response centre.

The Storm centre official said southerly near gale to gale winds were expected in the area for the next 24 hours and seas of 4-1/2 to 7 metres and the spill seemed to be drifting east to southeast, but that could not be immediately confirmed.

StatoilHydro shares rose despite the spill and traded up 1.4 percent at 165 Norwegian crowns ($30.36) at 1504 GMT, outperforming a 0.2 percent rise in the Oslo bourse benchmark index and a 1.1 percent rise in the DJ Stoxx oil and gas index . (Additional reporting by Wojciech Moskwa, Ole Petter Skonnord and Bart Noonan, Editing by Anthony Barker)

Large oil spill near North Sea oil platform: Norway
Pierre-Henry Deshayes, Yahoo News 12 Dec 07;

Thousands of tonnes of oil poured into the North Sea Wednesday as it was being piped from an offshore platform to a loading buoy, Norwegian authorities and the platform's operator said.

A plane, a helicopter and boats were scrambled to the scene in the Statfjord oilfield, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the Norwegian coast, to determine the extent of the spill and try to contain it, operator StatoilHydro said.

"There was a very large spill while transhipping oil from the platform to a ship," Inger Anda, a spokeswoman for the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway, told AFP.

According to preliminary estimates from the Petroleum Safety Authority, some 3,840 cubic metres, the equivalent of 24,150 barrels or 3,220 tonnes of oil, had spilled into the sea.

Norwegian oil giant StatoilHydro said the accident happened as oil was being pumped to the tanker Navion Britannica.

The leak occurred in a pipe between the platform and a nearby loading buoy where tankers dock to load up. The pipe and buoy were shut down to prevent any further leaks.

StatoilHydro estimated the size of the spill at some 4,000 cubic metres, which Anda said was the second largest in Norway's history.

With the wind conditions prevailing at the time, the oil was headed north, sparing the Norwegian coastline for the time being.

Meteorologist Oeyvind Breivik, interviewed by news agency NTB, said it was unlikely the oil would reach the Norwegian coast. A large part of the oil was likely to evaporate or sink in the coming hours, he said.

According to StatoilHydro, weather conditions were limiting efforts to clean up the spill, with winds of 45 knots and waves of seven metres (23 feet).

"We've stationed a boat at the scene and other boats are headed for the zone," StatoilHydro spokesman Oerjan Heradstveit told AFP.

"But the weather conditions are for the time being making it impossible to clean up the oil mechanically" with barriers and pumps, "and we may have to use (chemical) dispersal agents," he said.

Norwegian environmental groups expressed concern after Wednesday's accident.

"The oil spill is as big as all the small spills in the past 10 or 12 years put together," the head of the Norwegian branch of WWF, Rasmus Hansson, told AFP.

The green group said the accident occurred at a time when large numbers of sea birds, such as little auks and guillemots, were in the area.

"These are very vulnerable species, and they are already threatened by overfishing which deprives them of their nourishment," Hansson said.

Following the spill, WWF Norway demanded that StatoilHydro put an end to its lobbying to prospect for oil the length of the Norwegian coast.

Another environmental organisation, Bellona, said the accident showed that StatoilHydro's and the authorities' reaction capabilities were insufficient.

Norway's largest spill happened in 1977 when an explosion on the Ekofisk Bravo platform released 12,000 cubic metres of oil into the North Sea, the Petroleum Safety Agency said.

The Statfjord oilfield, one of Norway's largest, is located some 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Bergen, right on the boundary between the Norwegian and British sectors of the North Sea.

Norway is the world's 10th largest oil producer.

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Community raises awareness to save Indonesian mangrove

Jakarta Post 12 Dec 07;

“It is a dilemma. The locals need to develop their economy to lead a better life and sometimes development requires the clearing of forests,”

BADUNG, Bali (JP): For years the mangrove forests have protected the people of Tanjung Benoa village from flood and served as the foundation of their fishing economy. Tanjung Benoa is located on the west coast of the Nusa Dua tourist enclave.

The forest reduces tidal inundation and protects the beach from eroding, explained I. Wayan Kembar, one of the village’s elders.

The villagers have long believed the forest was divinely ordained, coming from the grace of the Creator. A wide variety of trees in the mangrove give animals a place to live and local residents, who are mostly fishermen, bountiful harvests .

It never crossed their minds that one day they would have to plant trees as the mangroves declined due to rapid development.

“This beach has never been planted since I first came here years a go. We have now begun planting trees as we have been taught about the many functions of the mangrove forest,” said

Kembar, while looking at a landscape of coastal terrain, where he has sown thousands of mangrove seeds.

An increasing urban population coupled with little public environmental awareness has had a serious impact on the mangrove population and extent. The construction of infrastructure in the mangrove area, particularly the Ngurah Rai bypass, has led to massive losses of mangrove forests with the areas turned over to housing and business centers. Mounting plastic waste is another serious threat to the mangroves.

The Badung forestry agency in 2005 said that out of a total of 627 hectares of mangrove forest, about 270 hectares (43.06 percent) were deteriorating, 180 hectares (28.71 percent) were borderline critical and a further 90 hectares (14.35 percent) were in a critical condition.

While claiming that the forests are generally healthy, the Bali Forestry Agency said that the mangrove forests in the southern part of Bali, spanning from Denpasar to Badung regencies, have declined from about 1,373 to 1,000 hectares for the sake of development.

It is also just a matter of time before state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura clears several hectares of mangroves to allow for the expansion of the runway at the Ngurah Rai airport, scheduled to commence after 2025.

“It is a dilemma. The locals need to develop their economy to lead a better life and sometimes development requires the clearing of forests,” said Tjok Agung Adnjana of the Badung office of the Indonesian Red Cross.

“For that reason, what we need to do is plant new trees in the mangroves to offset the destruction we have done.”

International Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement has helped Kembar and his fellow villagers cope with the adverse effects of an environment that is deteriorating due to human activities. The humanitarian organization, in cooperation with the local forestry agency, is helping Tanjung Benoa villagers to anticipate natural disasters by planting 10,000 mangroves in the village.

“As the world’s largest humanitarian organization, we are uniquely suited to mobilize communities on the critical issue of adaptation,” said Madeleen Helmer, who heads the Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Centre.

Calling for governments to prioritize risk reduction, the organization believes that the issue of adaptation is equally important as mitigation.

“Discussions about climate change are too focused on reducing future impacts, through cuts to carbon emission,” said Simon Missiri, the deputy head of the International Federation’s delegation at the United Nations climate conference.

“This is of course vitally important. But people are already suffering because of climate change,” he said

The Red Cross and the Red Crescent have helped the villagers in Tanjung Benoa plant 3,000 trees so far and the remaining 7,000 will be completed within the next six months. Most of the people involved in the reforestation program are children, with the hope they will see the benefit of what they are doing in the future.

“This is for our future,” 14-year-old Ni Luh Budi Riandani said as she planted the mangrove seeds along with dozens of the village’s younger generation. (Ary Hermawan)

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Indonesian mangroves and global warming

Sukristijono Sukardjo, Jakarta Post 12 Dec 07;

The majority of the world's mangroves lie in Indonesia and Indonesian mangroves contribute 27 percent of the world's mangrove area.

Because the mangrove forest grows at the interface between land and sea, the destruction of this ecosystem causes severe damage to both terrestrial and aquatic neighboring ecosystems.

Straddling two environments -- land and sea -- the frontal edge of the mangrove stand is characterized by thick vegetation, tangled roots and glutinous mud.

The soil is periodically waterlogged, rich in organic matter and therefore low in oxygen. Water and nutrients are abundant, but the water is salty. It is called the waterlogged forest.

The environment in which mangroves grow is harsh. Only a few of the mangrove species are normally seen at or close to the water's edge and that is why most people seem to find these forests somewhat monotonous.

The other members of the group tend to be hidden from view by those at the front, but nonetheless often cover large areas and are important in the general ecology.

Rarely are all species found in any one estuary. It is true to say, in fact, that no two estuaries are exactly alike. Like any other plant, each mangrove has its particular environmental preferences.

To the experienced eye, therefore, mangrove forests display far greater diversity than one might imagine and it is beginning to appear these differences may affect such things as fishing.

Only careful research will tell whether or not this is so.

To date, approximately 110 to 204 plants species being found associated with Indonesian mangroves and numerous species of micro flora (fungi, lichens, diatoms and algal), the associated fauna and the microbial species of the soils, waters and air. Some are still waiting a proper identification.

Walking in an Avicennia forest is hampered by a dense growth of short, woody pegs projecting from the soil. These are pneumatophores -- aerial extensions of the mangrove's roots. The prop-roots of Rhizophora spp stabilize the mangrove in soft mud and hold it against currents.

The roots of the living trees serve as hiding places for fish and as substrate for much-desired oysters. The seeds within the fruits will germinate before falling from the tree.

Viviparity, as this phenomenon is called, enables the young mangroves to root quickly.

Tidal forests contain distinctive vegetation zones, reflecting differences in the duration of inundation, the input of freshwater from the hinterland, salinity, geomorphology, human interference and other factors.

Indonesian mangroves grow in areas of high solar radiation and have the ability to take up fresh water from salt, so they are in an excellent position to achieve high primary productivity. Mangroves provide an interesting natural laboratory for ecologists and biologists.

Mangroves are also valuable outdoor classrooms and in the Suwung in Bali for example, boardwalks have been built allowing easy public access. The mangroves of Indonesia's coast are exhilarating to view and exciting to explore.

The republic's mangroves are one of the most important parts of the country's estuaries (as a major component of river-basin or river catchment) and a source of conflicts in terms of tropical ecosystems for the direct and indirect benefits it produces.

The mangrove forest plays many roles including a coastal stabilizer, dispersant of the energy of storms, tidal bores and winds.

It is also a convenient nursery area for fish, shrimp, crabs, mollusks. The role of mangroves in the cycle of nutrients and energy, which makes estuaries among our most important sources of seafood has been recognized only in recent years.

This is a considerable challenge which, if effectively pursued, could prove the only long-term means of sustaining an economically viable fishery.

Mangroves along the coasts of Indonesia are vital for global climate changes and also to South China Sea fishing, ecologists say.

The destruction of Indonesian mangroves by mankind, however, is progressing extensively and intensively in a massive manner. Also, the natural calamities at the present day play a significant role too. We should pay attention to the coastal environment, especially in Aceh, Sumatra Utara and Nias.

Conservation of the mangrove ecosystem is a way for "real lasting development. Because the mangrove forest grows at the interface between land and sea, the destruction of this ecosystem causes severe damage to both terrestrial and aquatic neighboring ecosystems.

The majority of the world's mangroves lie in Indonesia and Indonesian mangroves contribute 27 percent of the world's mangrove area. The time has come for Indonesia to establish a National Strategy for Mangrove Ecosystem Management in Indonesia (NSMEMI) that clearly states the values of mangroves resources to the nation, takes steps to keep our remaining mangrove forests and initiates the process of restoring the mangrove environment for the future.

A national policy must increase the role of resource management agencies in development projects and require that all development agencies prevent mangrove forest loss or fully mitigate such loss when it is unavoidable.

As a national policy develops and is implemented we will see significant changes that not only slow, and eventually stop, mangrove forests loss, but ultimately result in a reversal of mangrove loss.

The establishment and implementation of a national policy (e.g., for green belt, national parks, nature reserve, wildlife sanctuaries) on coastal resources in general and the mangrove ecosystem in particular, will not be easy task, but it is necessary one.

Mangroves mean too much to the national interest to be squandered for quick profits or political expediency. Instead, these tidal wetlands should be declared endangered habitats and given national recognition as a critical resource. The question is do we Indonesians have the will?

The writer is professor of mangrove ecology at the Center for Oceanological Research and Development, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta, Indonesia.

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Put biodiversity at centre of climate debate, says new survey

IUCN website 10 Dec 07;
New global survey of on-the-ground climate decision makers in 100+ countries launched

Bali, 10 December, 2007 (IUCN) – A fascinating picture has emerged from a unique survey of 1,000 climate decision-makers and influencers from across 105 countries conducted by GlobeScan, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the World Bank in the two weeks leading up to the Bali Climate Conference.

Key findings include:

High emphasis on the protection of biodiversity to help guide climate actions; relatively low emphasis on cost effectiveness.

Bio-fuels produced from food crops like corn have the least potential of 18 technologies for reducing carbon emissions over the next 25 years.

Decision makers expect half of their organizations’ reductions of carbon emissions over the next decade to come from energy demand management or efficiency improvements and not carbon capture.

While most decision makers rate climate change as a key factor influencing their professional activities, only 27% think a post-Kyoto agreement by 2009 is likely or very likely.

Unlike public opinion polls, the survey focuses on the views of professionals in a position to make or influence large decisions in their organizations and society. This focus, together with the survey’s large global sample, spread across all regions of the world and from governments at all levels, scientific institutions, business, and civil society, makes the survey unique.

“This landmark survey brings good and bad news for climate negotiations,” said Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of the World Conservation Union. “It is encouraging that sustainable development and biodiversity rate highest in importance for climate action, but this is not always reflected in the climate negotiations”.

IUCN Deputy Director General Bill Jackson said: "I am pleased that IUCN's Commissions were important participants in this survey because it helps to show what the world's most credible scientists are concerned about when it comes to climate change.”

Some of the other top-line findings of this survey of senior officials from governments at all levels, scientists, and business and civil society leaders, include:

• More than six in 10 (63%) report that climate is one of the top three factors affecting their organizations today.
• On average, two thirds (66%) of the resources their organizations currently allocate to climate is directed at mitigation (i.e., reducing emissions) and one third (34%) to adapting to the effects of climate change. In five years they expect adaptation to increase somewhat, changing this ratio to 60-40.
• In reducing their organization’s carbon emissions over the next 10 years, respondents expect half the reductions (48%) to come from energy demand management and efficiency improvements, a third (35%) to come from lower-carbon energy sources, and 18 percent from carbon capture and storage.
• Respondents look to their national government (92%) ahead of global institutions (76%) or more local-level governments (71%) for the public policies and leadership that their organizations need in order to implement climate solutions.
• When rating the potential role of 18 specific technologies “in reducing atmospheric carbon over the next 25 years without unacceptable side effects,” majorities give high marks only to solar, wind and co-generation (combined heat and electricity). The lowest rating is given to so-called first generation bio-fuels from food crops.
• Asked to rate various possible components of an adequate post-2012 global agreement, strong majorities give high ratings to inclusion of all major carbon-emitting countries (92% essential or important), commitment by wealthy countries to provide aid/technology transfer to assist developing countries meet targets (84%), legally binding targets for each signatory country (77%), and different types of commitments based on countries’ stage of development (76%).
• Respondents also make clear that climate actions must be taken within the framework of sustainable development (87% important), ensuring the protection of biodiversity (78%), appropriate burden sharing (75%), energy security (75%), and setting an agreed maximum carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere (74%).
• Respondents are neither pessimistic nor optimistic that a post-2012 global agreement will be concluded by the UN target of December 2009 needed to ensure a smooth transition.
  

Low faith in biofuels for climate
By Richard Black, BBC News 11 Dec 07;

Decision-makers in the climate change field have little faith in biofuels as a low-carbon technology, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) says.

Unveiled at the UN climate convention meeting in Bali, its survey suggests professionals have more confidence in bicycles than in biofuels.

The findings come as ministers assemble for the final part of the UN talks.

Conservation groups have highlighted the impact of climate change in the tropics and the Antarctic.

European negotiators at the two-week meeting in the beach resort of Nusa Dua are hoping that the meeting will launch a two-year process leading to a further round of binding cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, to come into force when the current Kyoto Protocol targets expire in 2012.

But delegates say much ground remains to be covered as ministers from nearly 190 nations arrive for the last three days of discussions under the UN climate convention (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol.

Fuelling doubts

"Technology must be at the heart of the future response to climate change," UNFCCC executive secretary Yvo de Boer declared at the talks.

But which technology? In a survey of 1,000 professionals in 105 countries, IUCN attempted to gauge which technologies inspired the most confidence.

The survey included people from governments, NGOs and industry.

Of 18 technologies suggested by IUCN, the current generation of biofuels came bottom of the list, with only 21% believing in its potential to "lower overall carbon levels in the atmosphere without unacceptable side effects" over the next 25 years.

Nearly twice as many were confident in the potential of nuclear energy, while solar power for hot water and solar power for electricity emerged as the most favoured low-carbon technologies.

Overall, respondents said increasing energy efficiency and reducing demand could produce more benefits than "clean" energy sources.

Although the EU and the US are attempting to boost the expansion of biofuels, recent evidence is equivocal about their potential.

Studies show they may produce only marginal carbon savings compared to conventional petrol and diesel.

In Indonesia and elsewhere, forests are being cleared for palm oil plantations, partly to produce biofuels. There is evidence that leaving forests intact results in greater climate benefits while protecting biodiversity.

Life at the extremes

Two presentations on the sidelines of the Bali conference have highlighted the impacts of climate change on the natural world.

Conservation International (CI) researchers took forecasts from the the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 2007 assessment of the Earth's likely climatic future, and calculated what those forecast trends would mean for areas safeguarded for nature, such as national parks and forest reserves.

They found that more than half of these zones were vulnerable to projected climate change. In 21 countries, mainly in the tropics, more than 90% of protected areas were vulnerable.

"We previously assumed that if the land is protected, then the plants and animals living there will persist," said Sandy Andelman, head of CI's Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring network.

"That may be wishful thinking."

WWF, meanwhile, looked at conditions at the Earth's other climatic extreme - the cold of the Antarctic peninsula.

This tendril of land that projects from the Antarctic towards the tip of South America is warming much faster than the global average.

According to WWF researchers, sea ice cover has declined by about 40% over the last quarter century.

"The research done over the last couple of years is that many penguin populations across Antarctica are in decline, with some dropping as much as 65%," said WWF's director-general Jim Leape.

"You are seeing a massive loss of sea ice in important parts of the continent, and that sea ice is crucial to the food web of Antarctica upon which these penguins depend."

Binding ties

Like other conservation groups, WWF is calling for the inclusion of binding targets for reducing carbon emissions in any agreement coming out of the Bali conference.

A draft circulating this week calls for industrialised nations to cut their emissions by 25-40% by 2020.

It is supported by the EU. But the US, Australia, Canada and Japan are arguing against the inclusion of concrete targets at this stage.

"To start with a predetermined answer, we don't think is an appropriate thing to do," US chief negotiator Harlan Watson has said.

But there is frustration among some developing countries at what they see as a lack of political will among the high emitters.

"If nobody shows the willingness to deal with the reduction of carbon emissions to a manageable level, then what are we doing here?" Brazilian delegate Thelma Krug told the AFP news agency.

Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo yon Monday, former US Vice-President Al Gore urged the US and China to "stop using the others' behaviour as an excuse for stalemate" and work together to find a mutually acceptable way of tackling climate change.

Mr Gore and his fellow Nobel laureate, IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri, will be in Bali for the ministerial talks, as will the new Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose recent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol injected fresh optimism into the UN process.

But three days of busy talks lie ahead if a deal is to be made.

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Cities Play the Green Card to Achieve Success

UNEP website 11 Dec 07;
UNEP/Cities Alliance/ICLEI report shows how to make cities more liveable, boost investment and help address climate change

"A modern city can only be truly successful if it can convincingly recognize its natural assets, create efficient water, energy and transport infrastructure, and protect its citizens from present and future impacts of climate change," Achim Steiner

Bali, Indonesia, 11 December 2007- From the use of horse-drawn carriages to solve public transport shortage in Bayamo, Cuba to an emissions trading scheme in Taiyuan, China, cities around the world are providing inspiring examples in the global quest for sustainability and the fight against climate change.

The report "Liveable Cities: The Benefits of Urban Environmental Planning", published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Cities Alliance and ICLEI -Local Governments for Sustainability, showcases 12 examples of cities around the world.

It explores various options for sustainable urban development ranging from practical tools and comprehensive policies to innovative market mechanisms.

"The report contains many 'take home' messages- environmental management can boost city budgets, prove a strong marketing tool for attracting investors and contribute to public health and poverty eradication," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner at the launch of the report today at the Local Government Climate Sessions at the UN Climate Conference in Bali, Indonesia.

"A modern city can only be truly successful if it can convincingly demonstrate its green credentials by recognizing its natural assets, creating efficient water, energy and transport infrastructure, and protecting its citizens in the face of present and future impacts of climate change," he added.

For example, the City of Bayamo in Cuba, faced with a situation where motorized transport was available to just 15% of local commuters, has in 2004 reverted to horse-drawn carriages. Horse-drawn services now take care of around 40% of local transport needs, demonstrating that motorized transport is not the only solution to a public transport problem.

The Municipality of Bohol in the Philippines has been using the ecoBUDGET© tool, an environmental management system that incorporates natural resources and environmental goods into budgeting cycles, to achieve the twin objectives of environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation.

Taiyuan, an industrial city in the coal belt of northern China, is addressing urban air quality problem by introducing a city-wide emissions trading scheme to help reduce sulphur dioxide (SO2) concentration in the atmosphere.

The report makes a strong case for the environment as the key asset for cities. For example, a 2006 survey of professionals working in Hong Kong revealed that almost four out of five professionals were thinking of leaving or new others who have already left because of the quality of the natural environment, while 94% ranked it as the top factor in selecting a place to live.

"Cities today have to be competitive. They operate in a global marketplace, competing with other cities and urban settlements around the world for investment. A city cannot compete, however, if it cannot offer investors security, infrastructure and efficiency. Hardly any city can offer these elements without incorporating environmental issues into its planning and management strategies," said Cities Alliance Manager William Cobbett.

"Today's cities only cover one-third of the urban area we will have in 2030. That gives city mayors and planners the opportunity to influence what kind of cityscape we will have in the future. At present, city sprawl is dominating the scene with tripling of space requirement for every doubling of city population. With bold leadership we can prevent slum proliferation and urban sprawl through building denser and more energy and transport efficient cities that will curb the negative trend of undermining the natural resource base the cities are built upon," he continued.

With an estimated 80% of greenhouse gas emissions originating in cities and three-quarters of urban settlements located in coastal areas at risk from sea-level rise, local governments are also increasingly involved in global efforts to address climate change.

"Through initiatives like ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection campaign and C40, cities around the world are taking the lead in cutting greenhouse gas emissions- some with targets above and beyond national commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Furthermore, climate change adaptation is top of the agenda for many developing country cities featured in this report, including the ancient city of Alexandria in the Nile Delta, South Africa's coastal jewel of Cape Town, and Asia's booming megalopolis of Bangkok," said ICLEI Secretary-General Konrad Otto-Zimmermann.

Over 65 cities and local governments are participating in the two-day Local Government Climate Sessions in Bali. These sessions, organized by ICLEI in collaboration with UNEP at UN Climate Conferences since 2005, give local authorities an opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the global climate change negotiations, as well as showcase their climate actions.

"As champions of the climate cause and centers for innovation, efficiency, investment, and productivity, cities are posed to play an increasingly prominent role in the international climate change debate. It is in cities that climate and sustainability solutions for more than half of the humanity will be found," concluded UNEP Executive Director Steiner.

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Peatlands are Quick and Cost-Effective Measure to reduce 10% of greenhouse emissions

UNEP website 11 Dec 07;
International community calls for urgent action to protect and restore peatlands- the world's most important carbon store.

Bali, 11 December 2007- Clearing, draining and setting fire to peatlands emits more than 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide every year - equivalent to 10% of global emissions from fossil fuels, according to Assessment on Peatlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change, the first comprehensive global assessment of the link between peatland degradation and climate change.

"Just like a global phase out of old, energy guzzling light bulbs or a switch to hybrid cars, protecting and restoring peatlands is perhaps another key "low hanging fruit" and among the most cost- effective options for climate change mitigation," said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Peatlands are wetland ecosystems that accumulate plant material under saturated conditions to form layers of peat soil up to 20m thick - storing on average 10 times more carbon per hectare than other ecosystems. Peatlands occur in 180 countries and cover 400 million hectares or 3% of the world's surface.

Steiner said, "the new Assessment, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), shows that peatlands are a critical part of the global climate regulation system, storing twice as much carbon as the biomass of the world's forests - a fact that has escaped the attention of many of the world's negotiators. Peatlands worldwide," he added, "are under severe threat from human activities and climate change especially permafrost, mountain and coastal peatlands".

UNEP and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) together with the GEF, the Global Environment Centre (GEC) and Wetlands International today called for the international community to take urgent action on to protect and restore peatlands through integration into climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Continued burning, degradation, drainage and exploitation of peatlands all over the globe particularly, in Southeast Asia due to forest fires, constitute a "time bomb" of massive amounts of below-ground stored carbon ready to be released in the atmosphere - which can undo much of the mitigation efforts already underway. The assessment identifies several other major areas in Northern Europe and Russia and North America with serious peatland degradation.

"The Assessment, compiled by an multidisciplinary expert team and, represents for the first time key information on the relationship between peatlands, biodiversity and climate change has been analysed on a global level."according to Faizal Parish - Director of Malaysia-based Global Environment Centre which coordinated the preparation together with Wetlands International.

Marcel Silvius of Wetlands International, which has been undertaking pilot projects for peatland restoration in China and Indonesia linked to the Assessment said, "Fortunately despite the high emissions from degraded peatlands, it is possible to drastically reduce emissions through very cost-effective water management, restoration and fire prevention measures"

"An Expert meeting organized by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) earlier this year concluded that investments in conservation and restoration of peatlands can be up to 100 times more cost effective as other carbon sequestration measures" said Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the CBD. "In addition to their climate functions - peatlands are also critical for biodiversity conservation with key species such as Orang Utan and crane species being found mainly in peatland areas."

He further added that peatlands also provide major ecosystem services and that in July of this year CBD Parties welcomed the assessment and have requested rapid follow up in partnership with the UNFCCC and other organizations. He concluded,"We now need to raise the profile of these ecosystems in the debate on linkages between wetlands, biodiversity and climate change as the conclusions of the assessment demonstrate one of the clearest opportunities for win-win outcomes. "and that, "the most important need is for this progress to be reflected in real changes to the policies, management and use of peatlands on the ground."

In South East Asia Governments have taken action by endorsing the ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy 2006-2020 (APMS) which outlines 25 objectives in 13 focal areas to prevent peatland degradation and fires in the region.

According to Faizal Parish, "Peatland fires in SE Asia have burnt 3 million ha of peatland in the last 10 years generating average emissions of 1.4 billion tonnes per year and regularly blanketing the region in smoke with major impacts on the health and livelihood of millions of people. Addressing these problems will solve key local issues as well as addressing global concerns. Similarly the destruction of mountain peatlands in Africa, Asia and Latin America threatens the water and food supply for large rural and urban populations."

"Permafrost and steppe peatlands are already being impacted by climate change," added Steiner. "Melting permafrost may increase methane emissions in some areas and enhance fires in others. Increasing temperatures and declining rainfall will reduce the area of peatland and enhance emissions. With proper management peatlands can be more resilient to climate change - but this needs to be adequately incorporated into climate adaptation strategies,"he said.

Marcel Silvius cautions "We need to avoid ill-advised climate mitigation measures on peatlands." "Cultivation of biofuel crops such as soy, oil palm or sugar cane on peatlands generates much more CO2 emissions than saved through fossil fuel substitution. Construction of windfarms and hydropower reservoirs on peatlands also generates significant emissions and large-scale development of biofuel feedstocks on peatlands is stimulating massive increases in emissions."

Read more!

Development threatens Morocco's wild shoreline

Tom Pfeiffer, Yahoo News 11 Dec 07;

Ecologists say a tragedy is unfolding in north Africa where construction firms are moving in on some of the last unspoilt stretches of Mediterranean coastline in the search for profits.

With Spain trying to preserve what remains undeveloped on its built-up shoreline, Morocco has stepped forward as a willing host for large-scale tourism development as it seeks to narrow the north-south wealth divide and lift millions out of poverty.

The cost, say environment campaigners, will be irreparable damage to the Mediterranean's wilder southern shores where urban and industrial expansion, rampant pollution and illegal sand extraction are already taking their toll.

Morocco wants to attract millions of extra tourists to a chain of seaside resorts being built by Spanish, Belgian and Dutch consortia and U.S. groups Kerzner and Colony Capital.

The first is under way in Saidia on Morocco's eastern edge, where Spain's Fadesa is turning a low-lying area of forests and dunes into 7 million square meters of shops, golf courses, hotels with 17,000 beds and 3,100 villas and flats.

On its British Web site, Fadesa promises "landscaped parks and green areas, as well as pleasant public spaces, (will) harmonize with the beautiful natural surroundings."

At the development last month, machines lumbered over a landscape of earthworks, workers' shacks and the tattered remains of what campaigners say was Morocco's only juniper forest.

"We call them the destroyers," said local environment campaigner Najib Bachiri. "They dug up 6 km of dunes and killed thousands of tortoises just so you can see the sea from the corniche."

In a statement, Fadesa said it had "put in place measures for the protection, recuperation and regeneration of the environment beyond what was demanded by Moroccan law."

BEACHES RETREATING

Seven out of 47 of Morocco's Mediterranean beaches have disappeared in recent years, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said in a report last year. In Algeria, of between 250 and 300 km (160 and 190 miles) of sandy beaches, 85 percent were retreating and losing sand.

In valleys throughout the Maghreb, new dams for irrigation are trapping sediment that once washed down to coastal areas to bolster important wildlife habitats.

Wildlife groups said Fadesa was given carte blanche to destroy the dunes that protected Saidia's hinterland from the sea and flatten all but a small patch of forest.

"They could at least have left some of the trees for the golf courses, but even they were uprooted," said Mohamed Benata, head of regional development association ESCO.

Fadesa has said the Saidia project will create 8,000 direct jobs and more than 40,000 indirectly in a poor region cut off since 1994 when Algeria closed its land border with Morocco.

Tourism Ministry officials said they wanted each new resort to make use of the local environment to attract higher-spending visitors, adding that they had enforced the most widely used international standards for preserving the natural habitat.

Some observers say Morocco made a mistake in allowing Fadesa to build close to the Moulouya wetland, the country's most important reserve for more than 200 species of birds, and fear the worst, given plans for up to a million visitors every year.

"It's too close to the mouth of the river which has the richest ecosystem," said Alaoui El Kebir of the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) in Rabat.

Saidia's unique habitat drew life from water seeping through the sand and collecting in marshy areas. Fadesa has built channels and barriers to drain water away from the buildings.

"Fadesa say the work will dry about 5 percent of the wetland but our calculations show it'll be more like half," said Benata.

MIGRATING BIRDS

Without the wetland, a vital stepping stone for hundreds of millions of migrating birds would be removed.

The EEA says several north African wetlands are threatened, including Lake Bizerta in Tunisia, the salt lake of Regahaia in Algeria and 23rd of July Lake in Libya.

Bachiri accuses Fadesa of flouting local laws by pumping water from the Moulouya river. Lorries could be seen last month on the river bank loading up with salty water then returning to the work site.

A spokesman for Fadesa said the company had presented an environmental impact study when tendering for the project, which the Moroccan government had accepted, and had implemented steps to protect and improve the environment beyond that required by Moroccan law.

ESCO's Benata said mega-projects such as Saidia were out of fashion in Europe -- Spain had begun copying a strategy pioneered on the French Riviera to reclaim land, demolish buildings and regenerate the ecosystem.

Once the Saidia development is complete, Fadesa is likely to sell the site to management companies. Years down the line, however, nature may regain control.

"We produced a flooding scenario which shows most of the Fadesa complex could be under water by 2050 as global warming raises sea levels," said Maria Snoussi, earth sciences professor at Mohamed V University in Rabat.

(Additional reporting by Sarah Morris in Madrid; editing by Sara Ledwith and Andrew Dobbie)

Read more!

After centuries of keeping water out, the Dutch now letting it in

Stephanie van den Berg Yahoo News 12 Dec 07;

"We have to give water space now, if we don't the water will claim the space later"

For centuries the low-lying Netherlands has fought to reclaim land from water by creating polders. Now, with flood risk increasing thanks to climate change, it is giving the land back.

As politicians and experts from around the world gather in Bali this week to discuss climate change and the problems of projected rising sea levels and extreme weather, the Dutch are already changing the way they manage water.

The Noordwaard polder in the south-western part of the Netherlands looks like any polder: a wide, flat tract with grassland and barren fields and a few farms behind a high dike that shields it from the Merwede river.

In 2015, large parts of this polder land will be left to flood.

"When we had flooding here in 1993 and 1995, it dawned on us that the climate was changing and we needed measures to increase security," Ralph Gaastra, in charge of a project to de-polder the Noordwaard, told AFP.

"Then we started seeing that you cannot continue indefinitely to level up dikes, we needed to look at other solutions."

In the Noordwaard polder the protective outer dike will be lowered by two meters (6.5 feet) so that the area will flood when the water level in the Merwede, a tributary of the Rhine river, is too high. In addition four channels will be dug to allow water to flow over into the polder.

Although this controlled flooding means most of the arable farms and some families living in the Noordwaard will have to move, it will ease the pressure on other more populated areas and lower the risk of flooding elsewhere.

For the Netherlands, the 2006 government plan called 'Room for the river' is a big turnaround. Instead of fighting to keep the land painstakingly away from water, the decision was made in 2005 to sacrifice certain areas to keep the rest safer from floods.

"Since 1850 you see on maps that we have been taking more and more land from the rivers, 'Room for the river' is the first step in reversing that movement," Wino Aarnink, the project's manager at the Dutch ministry of Transport and Water Managment, explained.

The Netherlands has 26 percent of land below sea level but some two-thirds of the country would flood regularly without the dikes and other flood protection.

"The Netherlands is the best protected delta area in the world and our ambition is to keep it that way, but also to minimize the effects when something does go wrong because it's never 100 percent safe," Aarnink said.

The so-called "de-polderisation" of the Noordwaard is expected to achieve a 30-centimeter (12-inch) drop in water levels at nearby Gorinchem.

In the Noordwaard area there are currently 26 farms and 49 houses. Gaastra said that roughly about a third of the houses will be demolished and most of the farms will have to move elsewhere because the land will no longer be suitable for arable farming, just for keeping livestock.

"One of the reasons the Noordwaard was chosen was that the people here wanted to cooperate and it was sparsely populated. In a more built-up area we couldn't afford buying everybody out," Gaastra said.

For the whole of the 'Room for the river', the ministry calculates that some 150 people will have to be moved to protect four million inhabitants.

Although most people living close to a river agree that new protective measures must be taken, it is a typical 'not-in-my-backyard' project, Aarnink said.

"Many people in the delta area are supportive, they remember the 1995 floods when 200,000 people had to be evacuated, but once we start demolishing houses in their area it's different."

To get the public behind the new approach, the Dutch ministry for transport and water management works with inhabitants to encourage them to come up with alternative solutions. It also launched a two million-euro a year advertising campaign to promote the turnaround in water management along the coast and in the rivers.

On a special website called the "The Netherlands lives with water", the ministry is emphatic: "We have to give water space now, if we don't the water will claim the space later".

Read more!

PM Lee: Climate change solutions must allow for diverse national circumstances

Channel NewsAsia 12 Dec 07;

BALI : Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says the post-2012 framework on tackling climate change cannot use a "one size fits all" approach.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the high-level segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in the resort island of Bali, Mr Lee says this is because a solution must take into account diverse national circumstances.

He adds that the post-2012 framework must have three guiding principles.

First, all countries must be committed to the framework with developed countries taking the lead.

This is because the developed countries are the biggest culprits in current and historical greenhouse emissions.

Second, the framework should recognise the vital importance of economic growth.

Tackling climate change, he says, must not affect governments' efforts in alleviating poverty, fighting diseases and malnutrition.

Mr Lee notes that some countries, especially those that deal with manufacturing or are transportation hubs which supply bunkers for ships and fuel for airplanes, will have a larger carbon footprint.

Penalising these countries would be counter-productive, because the activities would move to other countries.

This would lead to countries paying an economic price without reaping any environmental benefits.

Singapore, he says, has a vested interest in this as manufacturing, port and airport services are all important to its economy.

Third, the framework must take into account differences in national circumstances and constraints as countries vary in size, population and stage of development.

So to mitigate climate change with these in mind, Mr Lee suggests a few approaches that could be taken.

He says countries should pursue pragmatic and cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This includes exploiting technology to improve energy efficiency and reduce wastage, for example by using more public transport instead of cars, and not over-cooling or over-heating buildings.

Countries should also price energy properly and avoid subsidising over-consumption of fossil fuels.

Another approach is to protect the world's carbon sinks.

For example, slash-and-burn practices and the large-scale burning of peatlands should be stopped as they release massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

This requires responsible policies and commitment by the countries which own the forests.

Singapore, he says, supports the idea of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation proposed by Indonesia as well as regional initiatives like the Heart of Borneo project, which covers 220,000 sq km of forests in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The Republic is also working bilaterally with Indonesia to tackle peatland fires and develop sustainable land-clearing practices.

Beyond individual measures, Mr Lee said that it is necessary to set overall targets to reduce emissions.

Countries have to agree to this objective, negotiate a deal, and put in place policies to achieve the cuts.

And as climate change is a dynamic problem, Mr Lee says countries need an evolving, creative response that will exploit new technologies and adapt to new scientific discoveries.

This includes major investments in research on climate change and energy technologies like carbon storage, solar power, safe nuclear energy, or other low-carbon ways to power our future.

Even climate engineering should be explored fully.

Singapore, says Mr Lee, is strongly committed to this global research effort.

It's investing considerable sums to develop clean technologies like solar and water.

The country's also partnering China to build an eco-city in Tianjin, to testbed and demonstrate environmentally sustainable and economically viable approaches for urban development, which can be replicated in other Chinese cities.

Next year, Singapore will be hosting a World Cities Summit that will focus on environmental issues in urban settings.

Mr Lee notes that with global warming taking place, countries should also work on adaptation strategies.

Singapore and all the members of ASEAN are fully committed to the Bali roadmap and will do its part in this global effort. - CNA/ch

'Bold and creative' steps needed in new climate change roadmap: PM Lee
Loh Chee Kong, Today Online 13 Dec 07;

IT IS an old problem that has rocketed to the top of today's global agenda. And old perceptions and doctrines won't cut it anymore, if the issue is to be solved.

As the world's luminaries gathered at the United Nations' Climate Change Conference in Bali yesterday to witness declarations of support for a new battleplan, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon urged them to see the fight against global warming as an opportunity to develop green industries and overall sustainable growth — rather than an impediment to industrial development.

Backing this call, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong underlined the need for a "creative response" that takes into account small states' interests and "vital importance" of economic growth.

"Governments must deal with other vital priorities, including alleviating poverty, fighting diseases and malnutrition, and improving the lives of their peoples. All this requires economic growth and resources, which means continued dependence on energy and in particular on fossil fuels," he said.

Urging countries to plough more resources into climate change research and energy technologies, Mr Lee said countries have to start looking into "adaptation strategies" by tapping on technology.

"We also have to find ways to package and embed such technologies in everyday life, whether by making more efficient engines or by designing and building more eco-friendly climates," he said. "We cannot reverse global warming and restore conditions to the pre-industrial age. We must therefore adapt our societies to surviving in a warmer world, and apply our ingenuity and resolve to minimising the negative effects."

The Bali conference hopes to set the stage for a new green framework, to be drafted by 2009, to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd — who ratified the Kyoto Protocol last week just days after he swept to power on a green campaign, and who was greeted with sustained applause in his first international outing — stressed that the new roadmap had to live up to public expectations.

"The world expects us to deliver binding targets. It expects us all to pull together and do our fair share," said Mr Rudd, whose administration has pledged to reduce greenhouse gases emissions by 60 per cent — as compared to levels in 2000 — by 2050.

Mr Lee said the proposed roadmap should not penalise manufacturing-based countries and transport hubs — which include Singapore — as this would be "counter-productive".

He added: "The activities would just move to other countries less well suited to them. We would have paid an economic price without reaping any environment benefits."

Noting how public pressure had caused Australia's former Prime Minister John Howard to change his government's stand after a decade-long drought, Mr Lee cautioned that policy-makers around the world would face "tough choices", in spite of the heightened public awareness for the environmental cause.

He added: "It is a long way from general public sympathy to specific support for policies which will make a real impact, but these are encouraging signs of progress."

Along with Mr Rudd and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Mr Lee felt it "necessary" to set overall targets to reduce carbon emissions.

But the United States' representatives were not enthusiastic about such a move, even as the US and Indonesia announced their desire to work towards a debt-for-nature programme to fund the latter's efforts in tropical forest conservation.

With Australia's ratification, the US is the only major polluter yet to ratify the Kyoto agreement, which sought to commit countries to reduce carbon emissions.

Maintaining that such numerical targets would "divide countries further", Mr James Connaughton, a senior environmental adviser to US President George W Bush, reiterated: "We are seeking an approach to bring more countries together on a common platform."

Even at this preliminary stage of negotiations, any binding agreement to cut carbon emission — let alone setting numerical targets — is already shaping up to be a major stumbling block.

And green lobby groups were unimpressed.

Said Australian Stephanie Long, campaign coordinator for Friends of the Earth International: "We came to Bali with high expectations that industrialised countries would take the lead here and meet their historical obligations. All we have seen so far are empty agreements promising to deliver only if developing countries do more is unacceptable and unjustified."

PM's Bali call: Go green without sacrificing growth
Singapore leader cautions against 'one-size-fits-all' approach
Peh Shing Huei, Straits Times 13 Dec 07

NUSA DUA (BALI) - LEADERS threw their weight behind efforts to find a solution to the climate change crisis, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaking on the need to go green - but without economic growth being sacrificed.

He reminded delegates at a conference on climate change that a new international agreement to replace the existing Kyoto Protocol must also take diverse national circumstances into account.

Leaders and officials are meeting here to develop a blueprint and identify a clear route forward for negotiations on a new agreement to replace the Kyoto deal. The first 'commitment period' of the protocol ends in 2012.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon told representatives from 190 nations at the conference: 'The time to act is now.'

Leaders who spoke at the UN conference yesterday made it clear they were fully committed.

Newly elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - cheered by delegates for ratifying the Kyoto Protocol in his first act as Premier - said global warming was his government's 'top priority'; while Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare said procrastination is not an option any more.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose country is home to the world's third largest rainforest after Brazil and Congo, added: 'It is time to say what we mean, and mean what we say.'

Mr Lee, who arrived in Bali on Tuesday, said the post-2012 agreement must rest on three principles.

These are the commitment and participation of all developed and developing nations; a recognition of the importance of economic growth; and taking into account countries' different circumstances and constraints.

Mr Lee noted that countries had to deal with priorities such as alleviating poverty and improving the lives of their people. This required growth - and thus continued dependence on energy, including fossil fuels.

'This reality will not change in the foreseeable future, despite our best efforts to go green,' he said.

In a global economy where countries now specialise in providing goods and services, those involved in manufacturing or transportation hubs, for instance, naturally have a larger carbon footprint.

'Penalising these countries would be counter-productive, because the activities would just move to other countries less suited to them. We would have paid an economic price without reaping any economical benefits,' he said.

He also pointed to differences in size and stages of development of countries, and how some were endowed with renewable energy sources, while others - Singapore included - had no alternatives to fossil fuels.

'Given this wide range of situations of different countries, the post-2012 framework cannot use a one-size-fits-all approach,' he said.

Mr Lee called for pragmatic and cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as greater use of public transport. Also, the world's carbon sinks, such as forests, must be protected.

Clear targets to reduce emissions must also be set. At the same time, the solution to climate change must constantly evolve as the problem is also changing. This would mean a major investment in research and technology.

But even as leaders here examined the road forward, they were reminded of another global challenge - terrorism.

A minute's silence was observed at the conference for the 11 UN staff killed by car bombs in Algeria on Monday, with leaders, including Mr Lee, condemning these attacks in their speeches.

COUNTERING CLIMATE CHANGE: Innovation, adaptation way to go
Straits Times 13 Dec 07;

The following is Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's speech at the UN climate change conference in Bali yesterday

CLIMATE change is an enormous long-term challenge confronting mankind.

Scientists do not know how quickly it will happen, how severe it will be or all of its consequences. But the signs are growing - melting polar ice caps, vanishing glaciers, hotter and longer summers, more intense typhoons and hurricanes.

If we fail to address climate change, ecosystems and human societies could experience major disruptions over the next 50 to 100 years, and quite possibly sooner.

The Kyoto Protocol is a first collective attempt by the world to deal with climate change. It is an important start, but we have to build on Kyoto and do more.

The international community must work out a practical and effective approach after the first commitment period under Kyoto expires in 2012.

Let me propose three principles which I believe are essential for a post-2012 framework.

Collective effort

FIRST, the framework must have the commitment and participation of all countries, under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change auspices. The developed countries are responsible for the bulk of current and historical greenhouse gas emissions. They will have to take the lead in cutting emissions.

The developing countries, especially the emerging economies of Asia, are also becoming major emitters. Their populations are equally, if not more, vulnerable to climate change.

Rich or poor, all countries will have to do their part for the environment. Collectively, we share this problem and must solve it together.

Second, the framework should recognise the vital importance of economic growth. Poverty is not a solution to global warming. The problem of climate change has a long lead time, as do any countermeasures.

Meanwhile, governments must deal with other priorities, including alleviating poverty, fighting diseases and malnutrition, and improving the lives of their people.

All this requires economic growth and resources, which means continued dependence on energy and, in particular, on fossil fuels. This reality will not change in the foreseeable future despite our best efforts to go green.

If actions to mitigate climate change are to preserve growth, they should not undermine globalisation and the international division of labour.

In the world economy, some countries specialise in producing goods, while others supply more services. Those doing more manufacturing will naturally have a larger carbon footprint. Likewise for transportation hubs, which supply bunkers for ships and fuel for airplanes.

Penalising these countries would be counterproductive because the activities would just move to other countries less well suited for them. We would have paid an economic price without reaping any environmental benefits.

Singapore has a vested interest in this as manufacturing, port and airport services are all important to our economy. But we are not alone.

Third, the framework must take into account differences in national circumstances and constraints. Countries vary in size, population and development. Some are endowed with abundant clean and renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro or geothermal power, while others have no alternatives to fossil fuels.

Small states, especially developing ones, face the most severe constraints. They are more vulnerable to external shocks and natural disasters. They are often heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels and cannot easily diversify their energy sources. Even nuclear energy is infeasible for lack of safety distance.

Given this wide range of situations, the post-2012 framework cannot use a one-size- fits-all approach. An equitable solution must take account of diverse national circumstances. The smaller and more vulnerable countries in particular will need technical assistance to put in place effective adaptation measures.

Energy efficiency

BASED on these broad principles, let me suggest a few effective approaches to mitigate climate change.

First, we should pursue pragmatic and cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This includes exploiting technology to improve energy efficiency and cut wastage, for example, by using more public transportation instead of cars and not overcooling or overheating buildings.

We should apply economics to price energy properly and avoid subsidising overconsumption of fossil fuels.

Second, we need to protect the world's carbon sinks. Slash-and-burn practices and large-scale burning of peatlands release huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. We must stop these practices and the loss of forested areas.

This requires the continued attention and support of the international community as well as responsible policies and effective enforcement by the countries which own these forests.

Singapore supports the idea of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (Redd) proposed by Indonesia, and regional initiatives like the Heart of Borneo project, which covers 220,000 sq km of forests in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. We are also working with Indonesia to tackle peatland fires and develop sustainable land-clearing practices.

Third, beyond individual measures, I believe it is necessary to set overall targets to reduce emissions. Countries need to agree to this objective, negotiate a deal and put in place policies to achieve the cuts.

This will raise many complex issues. How much should we cut emissions by? How do we share the costs? What is the best way to cut - quantitative controls, carbon taxes or cap-and-trade schemes?

Should the measures be based on countries, or industry sectors such as aviation and shipping on a worldwide basis, or individual consumers? And how can we do all this while minimising disruptions to the global economy?

No country can volunteer to cut its own emissions if others do not join in. All countries must work together, but the major economies have to show leadership, as any viable solution requires their full commitment.

Fourth, climate change is a dynamic problem. Technology is changing, the global climate is changing and our understanding of climate change is also changing.

Hence, we need not just a one-time, complete solution, but an evolving, creative response that will exploit new technologies and adapt to new scientific discoveries.

This response must include a major investment in research on climate change and energy technologies, be it carbon storage, solar power, safe nuclear energy or other low- carbon ways to power our future. We also have to find ways to package and embed such technologies in everyday life, whether making more efficient engines or designing and building more eco-friendly cities. Climate engineering should be explored fully.

Singapore is strongly committed to this research effort. We are investing considerable sums to develop clean technologies such as solar and water. We are also partnering China to build an eco-city in Tianjin to testbed and demonstrate environmentally sustainable and economically viable approaches for urban development, which can be replicated in other Chinese cities.

Next year, Singapore will be hosting a World Cities Summit that will focus on environmental issues in urban settings.

Fifth, we should work on adaptation strategies. Climate change will take place despite our best efforts. We can, at best, slow down the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the next decades, but we cannot reverse global warming and restore conditions to the pre-industrial age.

We must therefore adapt our societies to surviving in a warmer world and apply our ingenuity and resolve to minimising the negative effects. The sooner we start doing this, the more affordable this task will be.

Political will

DEALING with global warming will be a long and difficult process. It will need political support from the populations of our countries, for we will face tough choices.

In Europe, climate change policy is already a major political priority. In Australia, public pressure forced former prime minister John Howard to change his government's stand after a severe decade- long drought.

Even in the United States, attitudes are shifting, helped no doubt by the film An Inconvenient Truth. It is a long way from general public sympathy to specific support for policies which will make a real impact, but these are encouraging signs of progress.

Singapore, and all the Asean members, will do their part. We are fully committed to an ambitious Bali road map that will deliver an effective post-2012 regime.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 12 Dec 07

It’s Getting Hot In Here
a blog by the Youth Climate Movement

Mandai development plans discussed
on this wildnews blog lots of comments on the issue

Singapore-only crab
Irmengardia johnsoni only found in Singapore
on the johora singaporensis blog

Banded Broadbill nesting
on the bird ecology blog

Daily Green Action: 11 Dec
Comments in Straits Times and others on the leafmonkey blog

Read more!

Indonesia may face food crisis in next 10 years: Minister

The Jakarta Post 11 Dec 07;

Indonesia may face a food crisis within the next 10 years should it fail to overcome the disparity between its rapidly growing population and its limited ability to expand arable land for food production.

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said Monday that with the population growth rate of between 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent a year, Indonesia needs to increase the annual production of the country's staple food of rice by at least 1.8 million tons by 2009.

Such a production increase requires another 600,000 hectares of paddy fields, while the country is at present in short supply of available arable land.

"The demand for more land can actually be fulfilled if there weren't so many land conversion for other purposes, such as for factories or housings," Anton told Antara at a workshop on food sustainability in Makassar.

"But the fact is that the availability of potential arable land is currently unavailable."

With Indonesia's current population growth creating such dilemmas of land usage, Anton said food production may face grave problems within the next 10 to 20 years if nothing is done.

Indonesia will also be unable to cut its dependency on importing food, including rice.

The republic has to import 1.5 million tons of rice this year to secure supply and stabilize prices. A total 1.17 million tons of the planned rice import has as of the beginning of November been distributed to the domestic market, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) said.

The country's production of unhusked rice is expected to reach 57.05 million tons this year, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported, which would be up 4.76 percent from last year.

Anton said efforts to address possible problems of food production in the future included to increase production using the currently available land through the government's agriculture revitalization program in every regency across the country.

The program is expected to reverse the recent production drop and increase it through better production methods, as well as through the renovation and restructuring of every available production means.

This includes better land use, increasing the amount of productive land managed by each farmer -- and resolve land disputes which are only hampering production.

Read more!

Wanted: Answers to Red Dye saga

Letter from Law Sin Ling, Straits Times Forum 12 Dec 07;

THE Ministry of Defence (Mindef) recently compensated car owners as well as farmers whose properties (cars and crops) were contaminated a little over two weeks ago by particles of red dye emitted during an open-air 'ground trial' conducted by the Republic of Singapore Air Force's Black Knights aerobatics team.

The ministry's move to placate the victims is understandable. It had previously announced that it was 'conducting further investigations' into the bungle, and that 'all reasonable claims arising from this incident will be considered'.

But how does Mindef assess the claims for compensation when it has yet to have a good measure of the extent of damage the airborne sediment inflicted on the farms, private/public properties and members of the public?

Mindef has hitherto not released any significant finding to render transparent the people behind the botch-up, and the magnitude.

Questions like the failure to appreciate meteorological factors (wind direction), chemical properties of the dye, and the preclusion of conducting the experiment in an enclosed environment, remain unanswered.

Hence one questions the basis of quantification of the compensation, and whether the amount is subject to further redress should additional damage be uncovered.

Another matter of grievance is the use of taxpayers' money to make compensation.

Lastly, Mindef was quick to assure the public that the dye in the fumes 'will not cause adverse health effects'. But there is no independent body to vouch for the claim that the dye particles would not result in health complications for the young and weak, such as infants and people with significant allergic reactions to the chemical in the dye.

Would Mindef be prepared to compensate anyone who suffers health degradation as a result of the dye? Would it reveal the chemical nature of the dye?

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Chek Jawa guided tours no longer free

From next month, groups of up to 15 will be charged $60
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 12 Dec 07;

COME next month, it will cost $60 for groups of up to 15 people to engage a tour guide to see Chek Jawa Wetlands' shoreline at close range.

So far, volunteers appointed by the National Parks Board (NParks) have played 'eco-guides' for free, extolling the mudflats' wonders.

NParks director of conservation Wong Tuan Wah told The Straits Times the new charge is nominal. 'It goes to the guides to help them pay their transport costs, recovers the administrative cost of organising the tours and helps control access to the area,' he said.

Mr Wong said the guided walks on the wetland shore - in Pulau Ubin - started in 2002 as an interim measure. Having guides keeps visitors from unintentionally trampling over small animals and growing plants.

Since then, NParks has spent $7 million on amenities to reduce the human impact on the shore, he added.

'It's our plan for sustainable management, to allow more people to appreciate the area they fought to save, without damaging it in the process,' Mr Wong said.

Chek Jawa Wetlands made news in 2001, when there was a strong petition urging the Government not to carry out reclamation work in the area.

Nature lovers spoke up for the area's unique ecosystem.

There are at least six habitats in Chek Jawa, including a rocky shore and seagrass lagoon, bounded by sandbars. Mangroves and coastal forests fringe the shoreline too.

At present, guides are given $14 by NParks to cover transport costs, and for their time.

Mr Wong said the new charge is for the one-hour guided tour, which is conducted only at low tide when much marine life is exposed. All other amenities are free. 'There are educational signs and visitors can conduct their own 'do-it-yourself' tour on the boardwalk using a brochure, any day of the week, from 8.30am to 6pm,' he said.

The new charge also seeks to avert 'no-shows'. The head of the Green Volunteers Network of the Singapore Environment Council, Mr Grant Pereira, who conducts free tours once a month on other parts of the island, says last-minute cancellations are common. 'When tours are free, it is very common for people to cancel at the last minute, but there should be waivers for certain groups, like the underprivileged,' he said. NParks said registered welfare organisations can request waivers by writing in.

Giving the thumbs up to the levy was volunteer guide for tours on Pulau Ubin, Ms November Tan, 26: 'If people are willing to pay a little, it will show they are committed to preserve what we have on Chek Jawa.'

One potential visitor said he understood the need for a fee. Mr Yong Teck Ming, 38, a financial consultant, said: 'Since I have the choice to walk about on my own, it's fair to pay for this service.'

But father of one, Mr Ho Wei Heng, 33, wondered how easy it is to gather a group of 15 for a tour: 'I'd probably join if they wanted a smaller group. Five would be manageable.'

About 20,000 people visit Chek Jawa annually.

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Singapore's great civil servants

Business Times 12 Dec 07;

CIVIL servants, particularly in the top echelons, while appearing to orbit around the ministers they serve, actually determine the trajectory for national policy. Their bosses, meanwhile, blissfully unaware, take all the credit. That is the familiar parody of government, so delightfully played out in the Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister TV series.

But what is the actual relationship between political leaders and their mandarins? And what should it ideally be? Obviously, there are as many answers to the first question as there are systems of government; and, some would argue, as there are levels of governance.

In truth, the public never fully knows, and there's usually an Official Secrets Act or its equivalent to keep it that way. So we depend on the occasional political biographies, interviews with the more outspoken government officials and comments by recently retired civil service chiefs to provide an insider's view of what really happens in the corridors of power.

Such insights can be both fascinating and eye-opening, as a recent talk by the redoubtable Ngiam Tong Dow illustrates.

Mr Ngiam, a former permanent secretary with the Finance Ministry, served with and for some of the sharpest minds in the various ministries over a career that spanned almost half a century. His candid recollections at the NUS Economics Alumni annual dinner last week were entertaining. But the best anecdotes are those that make the listeners think even as they laugh; and there was plenty of food for thought.

Policymakers might want to debate some of his strongly held opinions, such as his belief that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is focusing too heavily on the exchange rate as an instrument of monetary policy, and not enough on the interest rate. Mr Ngiam is also adamant that the most pressing issue facing Singapore - socially, economically and politically - is population. While there is no doubt that policymakers have given serious thought to population initiatives, most recently the moves to ease entry of overseas workers, a whole-hearted and holistic re-examination of the issue might not be a bad idea at all.

And there is no gainsaying a recurring theme of his speech, namely, the danger of over-dependence on models and statistics when setting major policy. Cost-benefit analysis may have served well in the Great MRT debate of the 1970s, but taking this mechanistic approach in the Great Marriage debate of the 1980s harmed more than it helped, as he points out. Abstract numbers need to be corroborated with the situation on the ground; a point seemingly obvious but too often overlooked under pressure.

But importantly, what comes through clearly is that - in contrast to Yes Minister - this country's political leaders and civil servants are capable and often brilliant, and they work together for the common good. And that is perhaps the biggest, and most comforting, insight of all.

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Blooming stupid: Why ocean fertilisation could do more harm than good

Hold back the geo-engineering tide
Kristina Gjerde, BBC News 11 Dec 07;

Projects that add nutrients to the world's oceans in order to create algal blooms that will absorb more carbon from the atmosphere are scientifically unsound, argues Kristina Gjerde, high seas policy advisor to the World Conservation Union.

In this week's Green Room, she calls on delegates at the UN climate conference to halt schemes that could do more harm than good.

Current proposals to combat climate change by stimulating phytoplankton or algal blooms in the ocean may violate fundamental principles of international law, as well as common sense.

Adding nutrients, such as iron or nitrogen, or pumping nutrient-rich deep waters up into surface waters in the hope that the resulting bloom will provide long-term storage of carbon dioxide, should not be considered as a potential solution to climate change.

We first need regulations based on credible science to ensure that the method is safe and effective, and that we can verify the results.

Two decades of scientific study have shown that ocean fertilisation offers a low probability of lasting benefits and a high probability of harm.



The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers ocean fertilisation as "speculative and unproven, and with the risk of unknown side effects".

Nevertheless, it continues to be touted as a simple solution to climate change.

Uncertain science

For such a practice to be effective in mitigating climate change, substantial amounts of additional carbon dioxide must reach the deep ocean and, ideally, be incorporated into the sediments.

Experiments to date have shown that the amount of carbon actually exported to the deep ocean is small and highly uncertain. At present, it is unlikely that significant and verifiable sequestration will occur.

For ocean fertilisation to be safe, and in compliance with international law, it must not harm the marine environment.

However, possible ecological effects include shifts in plankton community structure that could dramatically alter food webs, creation of dead zones deprived of oxygen as the excess plant life decays, and harmful algal blooms.

In addition, the bloom may affect areas far from the original site. One fertilised patch travelled 1,500 km in 19 days, while modelling studies show that adding nutrients to one area can lead to reductions in productivity in other areas.

Though it is difficult to predict with certainty, activities conducted in one nation's waters may affect the waters of another state, or the high seas. Similarly, activities on the high seas could impact not only the direct area, but also waters under national jurisdiction and control.

Furthermore, atmospheric scientists are concerned that artificially-stimulated blooms could exacerbate climate change by increasing the production of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide.

This may well offset any benefits from carbon dioxide reduction, while the marine ecosystem side-effects remain.

Moreover, additional atmospheric side-effects such as the production of methane, another important greenhouse gas, as well as other gases that are known to influence clouds and ozone, may also result.

Need for common sense

No evidence has been produced to allay these concerns. Difficulties in actually proving or verifying carbon dioxide sequestration, should it occur, make the current informal and unregulated market for carbon offsets vulnerable to unsubstantiated and unverifiable claims.

All this makes ocean fertilisation a highly unfit candidate for carbon credits.

Recently, a meeting on the international agreements that regulate dumping of wastes and other matter at sea (the London Convention and London Protocol) urged states to use the utmost caution when considering proposals for large-scale fertilisation operations.

It also stressed that "such large-scale operations are currently not justified".

The decision of governments at the London meeting could not be more timely, as some commercial operations are carrying out pilot projects of ever-increasing scale.

One company is already offering carbon offsets to the public on its website to support its work.

The recently published IPCC Fourth Assessment Synthesis Report again confirmed that the effects of climate change are real and that they are already upon us.

But in our efforts to find a quick fix, international law and common sense should not be the first victims.

The oceans are complex, dynamic, unpredictable and already vulnerable to the effects of climate change and acidification. We need mechanisms that will build their resilience, not undermine it.

Independent look

The concept of ocean fertilisation needs to be stringently scrutinised through independent peer-reviewed science, not left in the hands of entrepreneurs.

It should not be allowed to proceed until these two preconditions have been met:

* the benefits, if any, need to outweigh the risks to the marine environment
* we need to be able to independently verify and regulate any real, measurable, long-term carbon dioxide sequestration benefits, if they are found to occur

During the second week of the UN climate change conference in Bali, governments should apply similarly rigorous standards to all proposed "geo-engineering" solutions.

We don't need quick fixes to this global problem that may, in the long-term, cause far more harm than good.

Kristina M Gjerde is a high seas policy adviser to the World Conservation Union (IUCN)

The author would like to acknowledge the assistance of Rosemary Rayfuse from School of Law, University of New South Wales, and Mark Lawrence of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany.

This article is based on a forthcoming publication in the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law.

The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website

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Jakarta and its mangroves

Andrio Adiwibowo, Jakarta Post 12 Dec 07;

Even for many biologists, mangrove forests are still viewed as wastelands. Yet, the tidal flood late last month in Jakarta reminds us that if we don't respect these salt-water tolerant plant communities, it can turn our backyards into the wasteland.

Approximately 14 years ago, a team from the ecology laboratory at the Biology Department, School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia, made environmental assessments on the coastal areas of Jakarta and warned of the possibility of tidal floods.

The suggested solution was first to maintain mangroves as the core zone, and second to provide a buffer zone. Based on forestry regulations and conservation laws, the vegetation in this buffer zone should consist 60 percent of native mangrove plants, and the rest plants that can be utilized by the surrounding people.

This classic combination can guarantee the economic and ecology interests remain in harmony for the long term. If the plan is implemented, a repeat of the recent floods can be avoided.

Nevertheless, the plan was not implemented. Instead of providing a buffer zone, development encroached into the core zone, which was covered over by concrete.

A thesis in 1984 recorded the area of intact mangrove as 175 hectares. In 2004, a postgraduate thesis conducted in the same area found only 43 hectares remained. And it will keep shrinking, rather than increasing.

Just 25 percent of the mangrove forest remains. This means we are now three times more likely to see large floods than in the past and, ironically, we have no protection, are doing nothing, ignoring the warnings, just sitting and waiting.

Many explanations can explain the disaster and everybody will agree that all have one thing in common, which is they are caused by human enterprise. The recent flood is not a stand-alone disaster.

First, it is the loss of the mangrove forest. At the regional scale, it is linked to condition in the front yard of Jakarta, which is Jakarta Bay and the Thousand Islands archipelago. At the distance of 10 kilometers from Muara Angke to Pulau Untung Jawa, the sea floor has been clogged by sedimentation coming from the bay, ranging from 30 cm to 1 m in depth.

The dark color of the bay versus the living green color of the healthy sea captured by satellite supports this fact. As a result, the sea is losing its depth, and hence an increasing sea level. To the north, the coral reefs are each of the islands in the Thousand Islands chain has been destroyed, leaving no protection.

A scientific study reported remnant reef coverage ranging from just 5 to 30 percent. Not only have we lost the reefs, but also islands due to illegal sand mining. This provides a "toll way" for the massive sea current and facilitates the tide.

At a global scale, the mother of this disaster is, as we know, climate change. This is the living proof of global warming. The earth becomes hotter, the sea level rises and the land sinks. Looking at recent conditions, Jakarta Bay is a sitting duck for high tides and even tsunamis.

Since the colonial era, mangroves have been considered to play an important role in the development and the growth of the city. Jakarta and Rotterdam have one thing in common; some portion of both cities are located beneath sea level.

Nonetheless, the Dutch felt Batavia was far better off because it was already equipped with natural protection, mangrove forest, which they knew should be kept undisturbed and intact.

Most big cities in Indonesia, especially in Java, are located and developed in coastal areas. These cities are prone to natural disasters. Nevertheless, they made a common mistake.

They concentrated all their vital facilities near the coast, for instance, airports and power plants. Ironically, at the same time, they changed the coastal landscape as well.

This change could take the form of modest shrimp ponds to big real estate developments. In the name of development, they followed the basic rule, which is everything that doesn't have economic value should be gotten rid of, including, unfortunately, mangrove forests.

Since protecting mangrove forests is the same as protecting the whole country, the management should be on the national level. Therefore, the management, especially the cost, should not be borne completely by North Jakarta. The other municipalities, East, West, Central and South Jakarta, should also have to pay.

The ecological scenario is the developed north will convert back developed areas into mangrove forests, which means the north will lose economic opportunities and revenue. In this situation, the state together with the other municipalities in Jakarta should replace and subsidize the cost by providing free access to the education and health systems for people living in North Jakarta.

Mangroves can provide not only ecological value but also economic and even political value. By planting mangroves, and considering the length of Indonesia's coasts, we can offer a massive carbon emission service and debt swap, as well as strengthen our position on the global scale.

The writer is a lecturer in environmental management at the Department of Biology, School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia. He can be contacted at Andrio7897@yahoo.com.

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