Blog Log, 26 July 2009 (continued)
from Pulau Hantu
Saving the Grey Heron
from Biodiversity Singapore
A Little Toddy Cat
from Life's Indulgences
A family of Olive-winged Bulbuls
from Bird Ecology Study Group by BESG
Mangroves at Mamam, Pulau Ubin
from wild shores of singapore
Sweet exchange
from The annotated budak
Monday Morgue: 3rd August 2009
from The Lazy Lizard's Tales
Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia 2 Aug 09;
Mr Goh asked the National Development Minister how much more land can be reclaimed for Singapore, and how will he deal with the problems of over-crowding?
SINGAPORE: Singapore has come a long way in 50 years of self-government, but Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said Sunday the city-state's success has created its own set of problems.
Calling them the perils of success, Mr Goh threw down 10 challenges for Cabinet Ministers and Singaporeans for the next generation to be equally successful.
Singapore's economy has grown a whopping 125 times in the last 50 years, from S$2 billion to S$250 billion.
However, SM Goh warned guests at the Marine Parade National Day Dinner that keeping up the pace will be even more challenging for the next generation, compared to the problems he faced as Prime Minister.
Among 10 major challenges identified by Mr Goh, is keeping up the pace of high economic growth in an increasingly competitive world.
Mr Goh asked the National Development Minister how much more land can be reclaimed for Singapore, and how will he deal with the problems of over-crowding?
For the Health Minister, can lifestyle diseases like diabetes and heart problems be eradicated like typhoid and polio, while keeping health care costs affordable?
He asked the Transport Minister if he could satisfy the next generation's demand for convenient, punctual congestion-free travel while meeting their expectations of affordable fares and ERP charges.
Overall, while people of different faiths mix well, Mr Goh said Singaporeans are getting more religious and the society must be wary of compartmentalisation.
Said the Senior Minister: "The next generation must never forget that no matter how harmonious our multi-racial, multi-religious society is today, ours is a society with inherent cracks. We have successfully glued the various pieces together through purposeful, practical integration policies but the fault-lines remain."
Mr Goh said he did not intend to spoil the mood of the celebration with all the questions. Instead he wants people to think about the new challenges facing the nation which will largely be borne by the next generation of Singaporeans.
The Senior Minister also expressed some optimism, saying the next generation has four factors in its favour - ample financial resources, a growing talent pool, strong political leadership and a cohesive society.
- CNA/yb
The 10 perils of success
Esther Ng, Today Online 3 Aug 09;
THEY are the problems spawned by success, and in Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong's view, "even more challenging than the ones" he faced as Prime Minister of Singapore for 14 years.
For instance, when one's economy has shot from $2 billion to $250 billion in just 50 years, can the next generation maintain the growth?
And "how do you convince Singaporeans that their lives will get better", when they are already living in modern, quality housing? Back in 1959, citizens lived in slums and squalor. "It was a big jump in our standard of living when we moved into three-room HDB flats with modern amenities," he said; he himself had lived without electricity or modern sanitation.
Where he used to cycle 10km every day - under the hot sun, or occasionally drenched in a downpour - from his Pasir Panjang home to Raffles Institution, "today, students travel in air-conditioned comfort by cars, buses or MRT", he said.
"Even when they walk, they have linkways to protect them from the sun and rain."
Thus the challenge for the Transport Minister: How to satisfy the next generation's demands for comfort, convenience, congestion-free and affordable travel, all at the same time?
At a National Day dinner in Marine Parade last night, instead of dwelling on the achievements of 50 years of self-government, Mr Goh - who was Prime Minister from 1990 to 2004 - threw down what he called 10 challenges, what he called "perils of success", for Singaporeans and their leaders.
What he spent most time on, however, was an issue that also dogged the founding fathers: How to ensure Singaporeans of different faiths mix and respect each other's beliefs?
More than one Minister has noted with concern in recent months that Singaporeans have been getting more religious. The danger, in Mr Goh's view: Some may end up forming enclaves, socialising less with those of other faiths.
"If we do not make a conscious effort to mix, over time, Singapore will be a society compartmentalised by religion," he warned. And this makes for a powder keg.
We do not have a serious problem now, but the next generation should remember that "rising religiosity which encroaches on our common secular space, or worse, the practice of other religions, must result in a push-back by the rest".
No matter how harmonious our society is today, "ours is a society with inherent cracks. We have successfully glued the various pieces together through purposeful, practical integration policies but the fault-lines remain", he warned.
'Courageous team' at the helm
For specific ministers, Mr Goh laid down other gauntlets. Recounting how his own father died of tuberculosis at age 36, he said the diseases of today's affluent lifestyles - like diabetes and cancer - are the Health Minister's challenge to stamp out, while keeping costs down.
For the Manpower Minister and NTUC secretary-general, it is to design training programmes and Workfare schemes for grandparents, "maybe even great-grandparents", as the labour force ages. And how can the minister who chairs the committee on ageing issues find ways to support so many senior citizens?
For the Minister for National Development, the question was how to avoid overcrowding the island - but on the flip side, how could parents, schools, families, the Education Minister and, indeed, the Prime Minister, ensure the renewal of the population with the young and the talented?
Dwelling on two problems that have occupied Singapore in recent years - a low fertility rate and a brain drain - Mr Goh said he considered the chipping away of the "talent pyramid ... one of the most serious challenges" for Singapore's survival that needed immediate resolution.
Nevertheless, there were factors in Singapore's favour too - including its ample financial resources, investment in education and research, and outstanding political leadership.
Praising the younger team in charge these days, who are "constantly scanning the horizon for potential problems" and "working the ground", Mr Goh said: "They have shown themselves to be not only innovative and creative in solving problems, but also courageous and forward looking, for example, in evolving our political system to meet the aspirations of the next generation."
Singapore faces perils of success: SM Goh
But the country has strengths to overcome these challenges, he says
Emilyn Yap, Business Times 3 Aug 09;
(SINGAPORE) Singapore is facing 'perils of success' across economic and social fronts which leaders today must address, according to Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
'Our success creates its own set of problems,' he said at the Marine Parade National Day Dinner last night. These issues are even more challenging than the ones he faced when he was Prime Minister, he added.
Mr Goh highlighted 10 challenges confronting Singapore's leaders and the next generation. Key among them are how the country can maintain high economic growth, continue to raise living standards, and convince citizens that their lives will get better. Singapore will have to deal with land constraints as it grows, he underlined.
Transportation poses another challenge - Singaporeans will demand comfortable, convenient and smooth travel which is also affordable, he said.
Health care is also a concern, especially when diseases linked to an affluent lifestyle such as cancer and diabetes have become more common. Would it be possible to stamp out these diseases and keep healthcare costs down, he asked.
Mr Goh was also concerned about low birth rates and the ageing population. Senior citizens have to be supported; older workers may need new training programmes or Workfare and Job Credit schemes; while ideas are needed to encourage the young to marry and have children.
There are worries even when it comes to education. With more students going abroad, how will Singapore ensure that most will return home and contribute or at least stay bonded to the country, he asked.
The last question he posed was how Singaporeans of different faiths will continue to integrate and respect one another's faith.
While there are numerous challenges, Mr Goh believes that the next generation of Singaporeans will have ample financial resources to deal with them. The country also continues to invest in education and innovation, and is drawing talented foreigners to its shores.
Another plus - Singapore has forged a cohesive society and national identity, while its system produces leadership that has the will and ability to look after the country's interest, he added.
SM: Guard against religious enclaves
Rising religiosity may lead people to mix only with others of same faith
Clarissa Oon, Straits Times 3 Aug 09;
SENIOR Minister Goh Chok Tong sees a potential danger arising from Singaporeans becoming more religious.
It can lead to people of the same faith mixing only with each other, which over time could result in 'compartmentalisation of our society by religion', he said.
Should this happen, there is a great possibility of religious misunderstanding and conflict, he said at a National Day dinner in Marine Parade yesterday, in a speech on the challenges facing the Singapore of tomorrow.
Mr Goh's signalling of the need for social cohesion and inter-religious harmony is the second in two days by a top government leader.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng did so on Saturday, citing conflicts outside Singapore such as last month's violent clashes between Uighur Muslims and Han Chinese in China's Xinjiang province.
Their messages reinforce a concern flagged in the past month by a few other members of the Cabinet.
Yesterday, Mr Goh spelt out the fundamentals that must stay un-changed for Singapore to guard against fomenting tensions.
It has a secular government which represents Singaporeans of 'all beliefs, including those without a religion'.
'Hence, as a principle, public institutions or private organisations which receive public funding are not permitted to impose or advocate any religious belief or practice.
'This must remain the foundation of our inter-religious harmony,' he stressed.
For that reason too, there are policies ensuring public housing estates and schools remain common secular spaces, 'where nobody is made to feel uncomfortable whatever his colour or beliefs'.
Mr Goh pointed out that the Government sees religion as a positive force in society, giving 'spiritual guidance to help us cope with a fast-changing world'.
However, rising religiosity may lead people, unwittingly, to form religious enclaves, unless a conscious effort is made to continue socialising with people of other faiths, he said.
If such religiosity 'encroaches on our common secular space, or worse, the practice of other religions, (it) must result in a push-back by others'.
The theme of growing religious fervour made up a substantial part of Mr Goh's speech, which made the key point that in Singapore's successes 'are embedded the seeds of new challenges'.
The economy, for one, has grown 125 times from $2 billion half a century ago to $250 billion today.
This dramatic growth has given rise to new socio-economic challenges.
Mr Goh identified 10, to be borne largely by the next generation.
They range from maintaining high economic growth to social issues such as minimising urban congestion.
He also cited other problems, such as raising the birth rate and providing affordable care and jobs for the future elderly in Singapore.
However, Mr Goh is confident that the next generation can tackle the new challenges.
They have four factors in their favour: Ample financial resources, a growing talent pool, strong political leadership and a cohesive society enjoying racial and religious harmony for four decades.
But Mr Goh warned against taking it for granted, saying 'ours is a society with inherent cracks'.
Grassroots leaders interviewed shared his concern.
However, Residents' Committee member Edward Chua, 49, cautioned against overstating it because 'religious people can be trusted to exercise their faith responsibly and for the good of society'.
On the other hand, Mr R. Kalaichelvan, treasurer of the Marine Parade Community Complex, felt 'we must send a clear message to everyone that we have a secular society, and religion can only be practised in the private space'.
The exception would be if there are opportunities where religious groups can work together, then they should be brought into the common space, said the 51-year-old.
Singaporeans urged to 'stick together'
Stay united in face of threats, say DPM Teo, Vivian Balakrishnan
April Chong , Victoria Vaughan, Straits Times 3 Aug 09;
TWO ministers yesterday urged Singaporeans to band together and not let differences in the community be exploited for ill intentions.
A week before the country celebrates its National Day, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, speaking at a National Day dinner at the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, reminded Singaporeans of the need to be vigilant in the face of terrorism.
'One of the objectives of these extremists is to use religion in the wrong way in order to split societies apart. We must realise this and...make sure we put in even more effort to understand our neighbours and friends and reach out to one another.'
In the same vein, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan also called for Singaporeans to 'stick together as one family and community' at a Cashew constituency National Day dinner last night.
Dr Balakrishnan said there would always be the temptation to split apart on the basis of race, language and religion; especially with the influx of new residents and foreigners working here.
'We must not discriminate. We must learn to live and let live. We must learn to accept people with open hearts,' he said, while reminding the 1,000 residents at the dinner that their forefathers had also once been newcomers to the island.
Both ministers were also optimistic the economic gloom was clearing up.
Mr Teo, who called the downturn a snow storm where everything was frozen, said: 'The economy has stopped falling, we are now bouncing along the bottom. Whether we will come up again sharply is not so clear yet, so we will have to see how the economy, especially the demand for our goods and services in Europe and America, turn out over the next six months.'
He said Singaporeans can face the future with confidence as the Republic is ready to bounce back. Despite the dismal economic scene, recent investments in biomedical and green energy areas will help the country grow, he added.
Dr Balakrishnan noted that property prices have started to move, with properties in the neighbourhood fetching healthy prices.
'But throughout all these, people are still working hard, people are still looking after their families and people are still sticking together,' he said. 'The economic downturn will pass.'
Ten challenges ahead for Singapore
Straits Times 3 Aug 09;
1. How to maintain high economic growth and improve living standard?
2. How to convince Singaporeans their lives will get better?
3. How to satisfy transport demands of the next generation?
4. How to stamp out new diseases and keep health-care costs down?
5. How to design job training programmes and wage supplement schemes for low-income older workers.
6. How to get younger Singaporeans to marry and have children?
7. How to support the growing elderly population?
8. How to deal with scarce land resources?
9. How to bond Singaporeans overseas to their homeland?
10. How to ensure Singaporeans of different faiths continue to mix with one another and respect one another's faith?
Singapore's plan to invest in farms overseas draws mixed reactions
Ho Lian-Yi, The New Paper 3 Aug 09;
FOOD produced abroad in operations owned by Singaporeans and aimed at Singaporean dining tables?
On Friday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said Singapore needs to look at investing in overseas food zones.
The purpose: To produce food for Singaporeans and the host country.
The rationale: To ensure that when food supplies are threatened, Singapore can depend on alternative sources.
Mr Lim Hongzhuang, 25, a Singaporean who runs a farm in Negri Sembilan in Malaysia, sees the plan by the Ministry of National Development as a good one.
But any attempt to procure foreign farmland must be executed very carefully. 'It has to be under the radar and tactful,' he said.
Political risk
There is a 'political risk', he added. Even if a foreign government is willing to lease or sell the land, the locals may ask: 'Why are you giving our land away?'
The object must be very clear - that you are not interested in owning the land, just the produce, he said.
Currently, he said he exports only 10 to 15 per cent of his produce (mostly vegetables like eggplants and ladyfingers) to Singapore.
Singapore imports a wide range of food produce, he said, adding: 'I have to compete with all these people. So for my security, I have to make sure I have a strong local market in Malaysia.'
But he added that while the Government could ensure supply stability, a private farmer like him has to think about price stability as well.
'No one will sell (something for) $1 because the government tells you to, when the market price is $2,' he said.
Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim, who runs the Bollywood Veggies organic farm in Singapore, said she was pleased that the Government is seriously looking at food sources at home.
But she doesn't believe that going overseas to secure food sources is going to work.
'A contract is only a piece of paper. Don't forget, when China starts buying everything they'll sell to China, they won't sell to you.'
Instead of looking overseas, she suggested growing local herbs and produce like papayas, bananas and coconuts in our HDB estates.
Singapore Management University law lecturer Eugene Tan said securing farmland overseas is not a new thing.
He said the priority should go to basic needs, which has already been pointed out - like chicken, pork, fish, eggs, leafy vegetables and rice.
'We don't need farmland for venison, right?' he said.
The big question mark, he said, is when there's a food crisis, which is when countries may decide to be nationalistic and protectionalistic.
'My personal view is that having farmland closer to Singapore is desirable, but you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket, so you want a variety of sources.
'The benefit of Malaysia and Indonesia is that they are close, but when relations get a bit tense you never know what may happen.
'But if you look at other South-east Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, they are a bit farther, but not as far as Australia,' he said.
More rich countries eyeing farmlands in Third World
POORER countries in Africa and Asia are more open to investments by rich countries in farmland.
Africa is especially popular. Land there is cheap and, in some regions of the mostly impoverished continent, extremely fertile, ABC News reported on Friday.
US investment management company BlackRock has set up a US$200 million ($289m) agriculture fund and set aside US$30m to buy farmland.
Renaissance Capital, a Russian investment company, has bought more than 100,000 hectares in Ukraine.
Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs have pumped money into pig breeding operations and chicken farms in China. These investments include the legal rights to the farmland.
South Korean conglomerate Daewoo plans to lease land half the size of Belgium in Madagascar to grow five million tonnes of corn a year by 2023, the BBC reported.
The company will also grow palm oil on another 120,000ha of leased land on the island off the African coast.
With food becoming scarce, it is turning into the new oil - the commodity du jour.
Worldwide grain reserves have dropped to a historic low since the beginning of last year, resulting in a price explosion.
But this has not stopped poorer countries from wanting to be bought over.
Ethiopia's prime minister has said that his government is 'eager' to provide access to hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland.
Turkey's agriculture minister has told foreign investors: 'Choose and take what you want.'
Even Pakistan, which is waging a war against the Taliban, is jumping on the bandwagon. The government has staged a road show in Dubai to attract sheikhs with tax breaks and exemptions from labour laws.
What do these countries hope to get out of this deal? The development and modernisation of their ailing agricultural sectors. They expect rich countries to inject technology, capital and knowledge, modern seed and fertiliser - all the things that poor countries lack.
Feed the world
Then there is the bigger hope that foreign investments in Africa and Asia can eventually produce enough food for a planet soon to be populated by nine billion people.
But there can be problems. Because of the political sensitivity of modern-day land grab, it is often only the country's head of state who knows the details of the deal.
In some cases, provincial governors have already auctioned off land to the highest bidder. For instance, in Laos and Cambodia, even the governments no longer know how much of the territory they still own.
Over-fertilising, deforestation, over-consumption of water, reduction of ecological diversity and the loss of local species are real problems.
And when the soil becomes depleted after a few years, many investors simply move on. Land is so cheap that they are not forced to value sustainable farming practices.
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 3 Aug 09;
A coalition of civil society groups has demanded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono take firm action to stop deliberately lit forest fires, which have affected carbon-rich peat lands in many provinces.
Greenpeace and WWF Indonesia said forest fires, which are a problem every dry season, continue to rage in Riau, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
“In Riau, the forest fires have entered their third month but no concrete action has been taken by the government to stop them. We predict such fires will continue to increase this month,” Zulfahmi, a forest campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
He said that most forest fires were lit on purpose to clear land for palm oil or paper plantations.
“President Yudhoyono needs to wake up to the climate crisis and take action by declaring a moratorium on deforestation,” he said.
He said that Yudhoyono would be among eight key world leaders who have an historic opportunity to lead global efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change at a UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December.
“To show his intent, the President should ensure a fire-free season this year and stop palm oil and paper companies from burning and destroying forests,” he said.
“Only then can the forest protection fund start to flow from developed countries to provide sustainable solutions to forests and people, encourage biodiversity and win the global battle against climate change,” he said.
Greenpeace recorded 2,800 fire hot spots in Riau in July alone.
The peat land fires have a larger environmental impact than dry land fires, as they generate thick smoke and haze and emit a huge amount of carbon.
The clearing, draining and burning of peat lands emits more 3 billion tons of Carbon Dioxide per year, equivalent to 10 percent of global emission from fossil fuels, according to assessment on peat lands, biodiversity and climate change.
Peat lands store about 10 times more carbon per hectares than other ecosystems.
Zaulfahmi said that Greenpeace had deployed a 15-person team to work with local communities to stop the fires in Kuala Cinaku, Southern Riau.
“But, we have only managed to contain fires in 10 hectares close to palm oil concessions, where fire recently claimed over 1,000 hectares of land,” he said.
He said the Greenpeace firefighters were denied access to put of fires on concession land owned by various palm oil companies.
The WWF’s coordinator of forest fires, Hariri Dedi, said that as of August 1, there were 705 fire hot spots across the country, including 186 in West Kalimantan, 175 in South Kalimantan, 123 in Jambi and 97 in Riau.
“The amount of forest fires has been increasing at an alarming rate,” he said.
As of July 17, the WWF has detected nearly 10,000 hot spots across the country, mostly in Riau and West Kalimantan.
A 1999 law made setting fire to forest land illegal. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and Rp10 billion (US$1 million) in fines of penalties.
“But, the enforcement of the law is too weak,” Hariri said.
Forest fires are an annual occurrence across the country during the dry season. In 2006, 145,000 hots pots were detected, making it the second worst season since 1997.
Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post 2 Aug 09;
Illegal lodging and baseless industry development are major factors leading to the widespread damage of mangroves in Central Java, says the provincial forestry agency.
Data from the agency shows that 96.95 percent of a total of 35,338 hectares of mangrove land are damaged, 61 percent of which is suffering from serious devastation.
Head of the agency, Sri Puryanto Karto Soedarmo, said Sunday that tourism and residential development conducted without proper environmentally-based conservation measures had caused the mangroves to be depleted quickly.
To anticipate further devastation, around 350 participants from the International Mangrove Jamboree planted 60,000 mangrove seeds alongside an aquaculture pond at Mangunharjo village, Semarang, on Sunday.
“Mangrove conditions around Semarang coastal areas are becoming worrisome. From the village's 226 hectares of land, for instance, only 70 percent of them are still able to produce,” said Abdul Aziz, head of the event organization.
Mangrove damage reaches 97% in Central Java
Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post 7 Aug 09;
Thousands of hectares (ha) of mangrove forest in northern coastal areas have been seriously damaged due to fish farms, residences, industries, tourism and illegal logging, an official has said.
Data at the Central Java Forestry Office showed of the total area of 35,338 ha of mangrove swamps, 61 percent were severely damaged and 33 percent slightly damaged.
Office head Sri Puryono Karto Soedarma said mangrove damage was attributed to conversion into fish farms, residence, industry and tourism development that was not based on conservation, including illegal logging.
He expressed his full support for the International Mangrove Jamboree, which was held in Mangunharjo subdistrict in Tugu district, Semarang on Aug. 1 and 2, in which 350 participants planted around 60,000 mangrove seedlings around fish farms in the area.
"I participated in the jamboree to gain experience on how to cultivate mangrove," said Amri Kumandara from the fishery school of Semarang's Diponegoro University.
A participant from Germany, Sebastian, who is affiliated with the Indonesia International Work Camp supported planting mangroves.
"The mangrove can save the coast from abrasion. That's why I joined the event."
His colleague, Marius, agreed.
"The organization that I am affiliated with asked me to be involved in the program. I'm very happy to work with many people to save the coast."
The participants came from various circles, such as local and foreign activists, students from state and private universities, high school students, civil servants and employees from the private sector.
The jamboree was held jointly by the Coastal Community and Environment Empowerment Society (Lepaas), Indonesia International Work Camp, Central Java PKBI and Diponegoro University.
Central Java provincial secretary Hadi Prabowo, who inaugurated the jamboree, said mangroves could serve as a buffer against tides, while from the biological aspects, mangrove swamps could act as spawning grounds for shrimps, fish and crabs.
"That's why mangrove swamps must be preserved."
Indonesia is home to 89 mangrove species, or the largest number of mangrove species in the world, found along its coast, such as the bakau, api-api, pedada, tanjang, nyirih, tenger and buta-buta.
Indonesia has the largest mangrove forests, in terms of size, which are rich in bio-diversity, spanning 3.2 million hectares.
However, more than 50 percent are damaged. Indonesia dominates 75 percent of mangrove forests in Asia and 37 percent on the global level.
The mangroves are mostly found along the coasts of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua.
Sri Puryono said his office would set up mangrove banks in Semarang, Pemalang, Batang and Rembang.
" Mangrove preservation is essential to prevent coastal abrasion and erosion." Data at the Central Java Environmental Agency showed 112.03 kilometers (km), or 3,240.24 ha of the 486.03 km of coastline in the north coast has been damaged by abrasion, while 115.35 km, or 663.40 ha by coastal accretion. The extent of mangrove damage accounted for 2,642.97 ha.
Agency head Djoko Strisno said coastal abrasion could be overcome by building wave barriers and coastal belts and mangrove reforestation.
International Mangrove Jamboree organizing committee head Abdul Azis said the event was held given the alarming rate of mangrove damage, especially along the coast of Semarang.
"Mangrove, a habitat for marine life and a barrier against tides, is depleting. From the 226 ha of fish farms in Mangunharjo subdistrict in Semarang previously, now only 70 ha remain and are still producing."
Emily Beament, The Independent 2 Aug 09;
More habitat needs to be created for butterflies to stop the declines in some of the UK's most well-loved insects, conservationists urged today.
Veteran botanist David Bellamy warned that butterflies were the canary in the coal mine for the health of the natural world, but the "good news" was they would return if provided with the right habitat.
Prof Bellamy is backing efforts by butterfly expert Clive Farrell to create a "butterfly world" just off the M25, complete with a tropical butterfly dome and an array of wildflower meadows to attract and support native species.
Mr Farrell said butterflies had been hit by the past two summers of bad weather, but they could bounce back under the right conditions.
Butterflies were good indicators of a healthy countryside, and creating the right habitat was not just important for them, he said.
"If you get it right for butterflies you get it right for virtually all nectar and pollen-eating species, such as bees, which are so important for the food chain."
And he said: "If you can have butterflies and moths in a scarred landscape at the junction of the M1 and M25 it will be a wonderful thing."
The scheme's first phase, Future Gardens, has seen the creation of a series of 12 show gardens outside St Albans, Herts, which aim to highlight sustainable gardening, along with acres of wildflower meadows, to provide habitat for butterflies, bees and bugs.
The meadow areas were stripped of topsoil before they were planted to take off weed seeds such as nettles and allow the wildflower annuals and perennials to thrive.
In one part, shaped like giant butterflies antennae, south and north facing banks have been created to provide varied habitats, while elsewhere the site has been planted with scrub, grasses and butterfly-friendly plants such as buddhlea.
The project's chief landscape designer Ivan Hicks said he hoped people would be able to take home ideas for butterfly friendly gardening to their own back yards.
He said the show gardens were full of "ideas to steal", while the meadows could also teach people about wildflowers and providing insect-friendly habitat.
Prof Bellamy said the wildflower meadows at the Butterfly World project would be able to show the 15.5 million people who could easily travel to the site that it was possible to "put butterflies back into our lives".
"They are there to show people if you can give them the right habitat they will come back on their own."
He said: "When I was a kid in war-torn London I could see butterflies all the time, I could pick a bunch of wildflowers for my mother on her birthday, but most of these things have gone.
"We can't live on this Earth all by ourselves, we need the biodiversity.
"If we lose these things we're in really, really bad trouble. But it's not rocket science to get them back, that's the good news."
He said he even wanted to see glow worms back in St Albans - and in every park in London.
Mr Farrell is hoping to find a major investor to help him complete the £27 million scheme, which will deliver a tropical dome complete with Mayan ruins and 10,000 butterflies.
He said the tropical butterflies in the dome - which aims to be the third biggest in the UK after the Millennium Dome and the would be "messengers from the rainforest".
"Our visitors will become more engaged with where these butterflies come from and how important it is to conserve it."
As for the future of butterflies in the UK, many of which have been in decline in recent years, "the British do love their gardens and flowers and wildlife, so there's always hope there," he said.
Audrey Mcavoy, Associated Press Yahoo News 2 Aug 09;
HONOLULU – Wrecking coral will cost you in Hawaii.
A Maui tour company is paying the state nearly $400,000 for damaging more than 1,200 coral colonies when one of its boats sank at Molokini, a pristine reef and popular diving spot. Another tour operator faces penalties for wrecking coral when it illegally dropped an anchor on a Maui reef.
The state plans to sue the U.S. Navy to seek compensation for coral ruined when a guided missile cruiser the length of two football fields ran aground near Pearl Harbor in February.
The fines began issuing fines two years ago as part of its efforts to punish those who damage a resource critical to Hawaii's fragile environment and tourism, the state's No. 1 industry.
"People are going to have to be more careful out here, because it if keeps getting damaged, we're going to lose it," said Laura Thielen, chairwoman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, which decides how much to fine. "We have to take some very strong action or else it's going to be too late."
Hawaii is home to 84 percent of all coral under U.S. jurisdiction. About 15 percent of U.S. coral is in state waters surrounding the main Hawaiian islands from Niihau to the Big Island. Another 69 percent is in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — a stretch of mostly uninhabited atolls President George W. Bush made a national marine monument in 2006.
Coral reefs provide vital habitats for fish, help protect shoreline areas during storms, and support a thriving snorkeling and scuba diving industry.
Experts say coral reefs in the marine monument are in good shape. But those near population the main Hawaiian island population centers are under pressure from sediment found in runoff, overfishing and invasive algae.
Careless ocean users, who can kill a 500-year-old coral in five minutes, are another danger.
"Each one may be considered fairly small. But when you add them together, then the impact gets to be even greater," said University of Hawaii coral reef expert Richard Richmond.
Kuulei Rodgers, a Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology assistant researcher, said injured corals will have a harder time recovering from global warming and rising levels of carbon dioxide the oceans are absorbing amid growing greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's the same as if when a disease hits people, it's the weaker ones that will normally be the ones that suffer the high mortality," Rodgers said.
The state imposed its first-ever fine for breaking coral in June 2007, when it ordered Lahaina-based tour operator Crystal Seahorse to pay $7,300 for illegally entering a natural area reserve and breaking 11 coral specimens there.
Hawaii had the legal authority to impose such fines before, but instead preferred to simply educate offenders about reefs and have them assist with the cost of restoration. It shifted course after realizing this wasn't prompting people to take necessary precautions around coral.
Maui Snorkel Charters, which runs tours under the name Maui Dive Shop, is paying the largest fine assessed so far.
In 2006, its Kai Anela tour boat headed to Molokini with 15 snorkelers and a captain armed with just three days of training. No tourists were hurt when the ship sank after developing mechanical problems, but the company tripled the original coral damage area by bungling salvage attempts.
The state's staff biologist estimates the area will take 80 years to recover.
Maui Snorkel Charters is paying $396,000 in a settlement, with part of the money up front and the rest in installments through 2011. The company apologized, and the Kai Anela is back in service.
The Navy is another target, for coral wrecked over a 6- to 10-acre area when the USS Port Royal ran aground. The Navy has already spent nearly $40 million on ship repairs and some $7 million restoring the reef, including dispatching scuba divers to help reattach more than 5,000 broken coral colonies.
Florida, which has 2 percent of U.S. coral — the most of any state after Hawaii — is also moving to shield the resource.
Under the newly passed Coral Reef Protection Act, approved by the Legislature this year, Florida may fine culprits up to $250,000 and sue offenders for unlimited compensatory damages. Until the law, which took effect July 1, Florida had to seek compensation through the courts.
The federal government has in the past fined offenders millions of dollars for coral wrecked in marine sanctuaries.
Tori Cullins, co-owner of Wild Side Specialty Tours in Waianae, supports fines.
"Unless you hit people in the pocketbook, I don't think it's going to matter much," said Cullins, who operates marine mammal viewing tours.
___
Associated Press writer Brian Skoloff in West Palm Beach, Fla. contributed to this report.
Mary Pemberton, Associated Press Yahoo News 2 Aug 09;
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Yukon River smokehouses should be filled this summer with oil-rich strips of king salmon — long used by Alaska Natives as a high-energy food to get through the long Alaska winters. But they're mostly empty.
The kings failed to show up, and not just in the Yukon.
One Alaska river after another has been closed to king fishing this summer because significant numbers of fish failed to return to spawn. The dismally weak return follows weak runs last summer and poor runs in 2007, which also resulted in emergency fishing closures.
"It is going to be a tough winter, no two ways about it," said Leslie Hunter, a 67-year-old store owner and commercial fisherman from the Yup'ik Eskimo village of Marshall in western Alaska.
Federal and state fisheries biologists are looking into the mystery.
King salmon spend years in the Bering Sea before returning as adults to rivers where they were born to spawn and die. Biologists speculate that the mostly likely cause was a shift in Pacific Ocean currents, but food availability, changing river conditions and predator-prey relationships could be affecting the fish.
People living along the Yukon River think they know what is to blame — pollock fishery. The fishery — the nation's largest — removes about 1 million metric tons of pollock each year from the eastern Bering Sea. Its wholesale value is nearly $1 billion.
King salmon get caught in the huge pollock trawl nets, and the dead kings are counted and most are thrown back into the ocean. Some are donated to the needy.
"We do know for a fact that the pollock fishery is slaughtering wholesale and wiping out the king salmon stocks out there that are coming into all the major tributaries," said Nick Andrew Jr., executive director of the Ohagamuit Traditional Council. "The pollock fishery is taking away our way of living."
Since 2000, the incidental number of king salmon caught has skyrocketed, reaching over 120,000 kings in 2007. A substantial portion of those fish were bound for western Alaska rivers. If those fish had lived, an estimated 78,000 adult fish would have returned to rivers from the Pacific Northwest to Western Alaska.
Efforts to reduce bycatch are not new. In 2006, bycatch rules were adopted allowing the pollock fleet to move from areas where lots of kings were being inadvertently caught, thereby avoiding large-scale fishing closures. Then, 2007 happaned, and it was back to the drawing board.
Last April, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the organization that manages ocean fish, passed a hard cap on the pollock fishery. Beginning in 2011, the portion of the fleet that participates in the program is allowed 60,000 kings a year. If the cap is reached, the fishery shuts down. Those who don't participate have a lower cap — 47,591 fish.
The loss of the kings is devastating village economies. These are the same Yukon River villages where spring floods swept away homes, as well as boats, nets and smokehouses. There's no money to buy anything, Andrew said.
"It is crippling the economy in all of the rivers where we depend on commercial fishing for income," he said.
Bycatch plays a role but is not the only reason for the vanishing kings, said Diana Stram, a fishery management plan coordinator at the council.
Herman Savikko, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist, agreed. He pointed to changing ocean currents, plankton blooms and even the carnivorous nature of salmon. River conditions could be changing, too, he said.
A lot isn't known about what happens to king salmon in the ocean, Savikko said. "Once the fish enter the marine environment it just is a big black box," he said.
In a good year, Kwik'pak Fisheries L.L.C. in Emmonak on the lower Yukon employs between 200 and 300 people. This summer, only about 30 people have been hired. Kwik'pak is the largest employer in the region.
General manager Jack Schultheis said when the king fishery was shut down, the summer chum salmon run was curtailed as well, even though a good number of chums were returning to the river.
The lower Yukon villages are economically devastated, he said.
Fishermen used to get between $5 million and $10 million from the fishery. Last year, it was $1.1 million.
That means instead of making between $20,000 and $30,000 in the 1970s, fishermen are making just a few thousand dollars now, and that in villages where fuel costs $8 a gallon, milk is $15 a gallon and a T-bone steak costs $25, he said.
It's hard to see the villages in such economic hardship but the Yukon should be managed conservatively until the problem of the disappearing kings is better understood, Schultheis said.
"For 50 years, it was an extremely stable fishery," he said.
Deborah Claude Yahoo News 2 Aug 09;
RENNES, France (AFP) – For the second consecutive year, the French shellfish industry has been plunged into crisis, with a mystery ailment decimating stocks of young oysters.
In 2008 French oyster farmers saw between 40 and 100 percent of their baby oysters wiped out, a far higher mortality than usual in the summer months.
Scientists at Ifremer, the French institute for the exploitation of the sea, pointed the finger at the virus OsHV-1 (Ostreid herpesvirus 1), which is associated with bacteria and flourishes in warmer weather.
This summer is seeing the same phenomenon, Jacques Sourbier, regional president of the national shellfish producers' body in the Loire told AFP, saying it appeared to be "every bit as worrying and serious as last year."
He was reluctant to give any precise figures as data was still being collated.
But oyster farmers are reporting a mortality rate of young oysters between 50 and 80 percent.
"It began in the south in April... and has since gone up the coast as far as Normandy," Maxime Sion from the organisation of Loire producers told AFP.
The Poitou-Charentes coast, half-way up France's Atlantic coastline, was hit in May, with a mortality rate of 80 percent, according to regional shellfish producers' official Francois Patsouris.
Stephan Alleaume, president of the producers in Britanny in northwest France, put mortality among baby oysters at between 35 and 89 percent around Cancale, which is reputed for its oysters.
This week, Ifremer and maritime ministry experts carried out tests on deep water oyster beds in the bay of Quiberon, on the southern part of the Breton coast.
All the available data would be known in about a fortnight said Sourbier, "but we have already asked the government for the same level of help as last year."
In 2008 the national committee for agricultural insurance estimated losses at more than 184 million euros (260 million dollars) and granted producers 36.9 million euros in aid with an exceptional compensation rate set at 20 percent.
"Broadly speaking producers can get over one year of very high mortality, but they can't get over two, especially as the market rates are very low," said Sion, who feared that many oyster farmers would go out of business.
Producers have been lobbying Ifremer to put more resources into getting to the bottom of what is killing the oysters.
In a report at the end of July, Ifremer said analyses confirmed "the widespread presence of the OsHV-1 virus, which has been associated with episodes of mortality of young Pacific oysters for several years."
It said it was urgently looking for solutions, of which one would be to select species resistant to the virus.
Last year was France's worst crisis since the native European or Portuguese oyster was virtually wiped out nearly 40 years ago. Since then most oyster farms have restocked with the Pacific "creuse" oyster.
France is the biggest oyster producer in Europe and fourth in the world after China, Japan and South Korea. Its 15,000 to 20,000 oyster farmers produce around 130,000 tons of oysters a year.
Noise and vibration coming from large turbines are behind an increase in heart disease, migraine, panic attacks and other health problems, according to research by an American doctor
Margareta Pagano, The Independent 2 Aug 09;
Living too close to wind turbines can cause heart disease, tinnitus, vertigo, panic attacks, migraines and sleep deprivation, according to groundbreaking research to be published later this year by an American doctor.
Dr Nina Pierpont, a leading New York paediatrician, has been studying the symptoms displayed by people living near wind turbines in the US, the UK, Italy, Ireland and Canada for more than five years. Her findings have led her to confirm what she has identified as a new health risk, wind turbine syndrome (WTS). This is the disruption or abnormal stimulation of the inner ear's vestibular system by turbine infrasound and low-frequency noise, the most distinctive feature of which is a group of symptoms which she calls visceral vibratory vestibular disturbance, or VVVD. They cause problems ranging from internal pulsation, quivering, nervousness, fear, a compulsion to flee, chest tightness and tachycardia – increased heart rate. Turbine noise can also trigger nightmares and other disorders in children as well as harm cognitive development in the young, she claims. However, Dr Pierpont also makes it clear that not all people living close to turbines are susceptible.
Until now, the Government and the wind companies have denied any health risks associated with the powerful noises and vibrations emitted by wind turbines. Acoustic engineers working for the wind energy companies and the Government say that aerodynamic noise produced by turbines pose no risk to health, a view endorsed recently by acousticians at Salford University. They have argued that earlier claims by Dr Pierpont are "imaginary" and are likely to argue that her latest findings are based on a sample too small to be authoritative.
At the heart of Dr Pierpont's findings is that humans are affected by low-frequency noise and vibrations from wind turbines through their ear bones, rather like fish and other amphibians. That humans have the same sensitivity as fish is based on new discoveries made by scientists at Manchester University and New South Wales last year. This, she claims, overturns the medical orthodoxy of the past 70 years on which acousticians working for wind farms are using to base their noise measurements. "It has been gospel among acousticians for years that if a person can't hear a sound, it's too weak for it to be detected or registered by any other part of the body," she said. "But this is no longer true. Humans can hear through the bones. This is amazing. It would be heretical if it hadn't been shown in a well-conducted experiment."
In the UK, Dr Christopher Hanning, founder of the British Sleep Society, who has also backed her research, said: "Dr Pierpont's detailed recording of the harm caused by wind turbine noise will lay firm foundations for future research. It should be required reading for all planners considering wind farms. Like so many earlier medical pioneers exposing the weaknesses of current orthodoxy, Dr Pierpont has been subject to much denigration and criticism and ... it is tribute to her strength of character and conviction that this important book is going to reach publication."
Dr Pierpont's thesis, which is to be published in October by K-Selected Books, has been peer reviewed and includes an endorsement from Professor Lord May, former chief scientific adviser to the UK government. Lord May describes her research as "impressive, interesting and important".
Her new material about the impact of turbine noise on health will be of concern to the Government given its plans for about 4,000 new wind turbines across the country. Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, has made wind power a central part of his new green policy to encourage renewable energy sources. Another 3,000 are planned off-shore.
Drawing on the early work of Dr Amanda Harry, a British GP in Portsmouth who had been alerted by her patients to the potential health risk, Dr Pierpont gathered together 10 further families from around the world who were living near large wind turbines, giving her a cluster of 38 people, from infants to age 75, to explore the pathophysiology of WTS for the case series. Eight of the 10 families she analysed for the study have now moved away from their homes.
In a rare interview, Dr Pierpont, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told The Independent on Sunday: "There is no doubt that my clinical research shows that the infrasonic to ultrasonic noise and vibrations emitted by wind turbines cause the symptoms which I am calling wind turbine syndrome. There are about 12 different health problems associated with WTS and these range from tachycardia, sleep disturbance, headaches, tinnitus, nausea, visual blurring, panic attacks with sensations of internal quivering to more general irritability.
"The wind industry will try to discredit me and disparage me, but I can cope with that. This is not unlike the tobacco industry dismissing health issues from smoking. The wind industry, however, is not composed of clinicians, nor is it made up of people suffering from wind turbines." The IoS has a copy of the confidential manuscript which is exhaustive in its research protocol and detailed case series, drawing on the work of leading otolaryngologists and neurotologists – ear, nose and throat clinical specialists.
Some of the earliest research into the impact of low-frequency noise and vibrations was undertaken by Portuguese doctors studying the effects on military and civil personnel flying at high altitudes and at supersonic speed. They found that this exposure may also cause the rare illness, vibroacoustic disorder or VAD, which causes changes to the structure of certain organs such as the heart and lungs and may well be caused by vibrations from turbines. Another powerful side effect of turbines is the impact which the light thrown off the blades – known as flicker – has on people who suffer from migraines and epilepsy.
Campaigners have consistently argued that much research hitherto has been based on written complaints to environmental health officers and manufacturers, not on science-based research. But in Denmark, Germany and France, governments are moving towards building new wind farms off-shore because of concern over the potential health and environmental risks. In the UK there are no such controls, and a growing number of lobbyists, noise experts and government officials are also beginning to query the statutory noise levels being given to councils when deciding on planning applications from wind farm manufacturers. Lobbyists claim a new method of measuring is needed.
Dr Pierpont, who has funded all the research herself and is independent of any organisation, recommends at least a 2km set-back distance between potential wind turbines and people's homes, said: "It is irresponsible of the wind turbine companies – and governments – to continue building wind turbines so close to where people live until there has been a proper epidemiological investigation of the full impact on human health.
"What I have shown in my research is that many people – not all – who have been living close to a wind turbine running near their homes display a range of health illnesses and that when they move away, many of these problems also go away."
A breakthrough into understanding more of the impact of vibrations came last year, she said, when scientists at Manchester University and Prince of Wales Clinical School and Medical Research Institute in Sydney showed that the normal human vestibular system has a fish or frog-like sensitivity to low-frequency vibration. This was a turning point in understanding the nature of the problem, Dr Pierpont added, because it overturns the orthodoxy of the current way of measuring noise. "It is clear from the new evidence that the methods being used by acousticians goes back to research first carried out in the 1930s and is now outdated."
Dr Pierpont added that the wind turbine companies constantly argue that the health problems are "imaginary, psychosomatic or malingering". But she said their claims are "rubbish" and that medical evidence supports that the reported symptoms are real.
Case study: 'My husband had pneumonia, my father-in-law had a heart attack. Nobody was ill before'
Jane Davis, 53, a retired NHS manager, and her husband, Julian, 44, a farmer, lived in Spalding, Lincolnshire, until the noise of a wind farm 930m away forced them to leave
"People describe the noise as like an aeroplane that never arrives. My husband developed pneumonia very quickly after the turbines went up, having never had chest problems before. We suffer constant headaches and ear nuisance. My mother-in-law developed pneumonia and my husband developed atrial fibrillation – a rapid heartbeat. He had no pre-existing heart disease. Our blood pressure has gone up. My father-in-law has suffered a heart attack, tinnitus and marked hearing loss.
" I understand this can be regarded as a coincidence, but nobody was ill before 2006."
The defence: 'Wind turbines are quiet and safe'
The British Wind Energy Association, UK's biggest renewable energy trade association, said last night: "One of the first things first-time visitors to wind farms usually say is that they are surprised how quiet the turbines are.
"To put things in context: the London Borough of Westminster registered around 300,000 noise complaints from residents in 2008, none from wind turbines. The total number of noise complaints to local councils across the country runs into millions.
"In contrast, an independent study on wind farms and noise in 2007 found only four complaints from about 2,000 turbines in the country, three of which were resolved by the time the report was published.
"Wind turbines are quiet, safe and sustainable. It is not surprising that, according to a DTI report, 94 per cent of people who live near wind turbines are in favour of them. There is no scientific research to suggest that wind turbines are in any way harmful, and even many of the detractors of wind energy are honest enough to admit this.
"Noise from wind farms is a non-problem, and we need to move away from this unproductive and unscientific debate, and focus on our targets on reducing carbon emissions."
Phil Hazlewood Yahoo News 2 Aug 09;
POINAD, India (AFP) – Rajni Ramakan Patil has a message for the energy companies that want to build coal-based power stations on the land that she and two generations of her family have farmed for more than 50 years.
"Even if you give us gold, we won't leave this place. This is our land," she said.
Rajni and five other families from the village of Poinad cultivate a small parcel of land on the flat and fertile plains near the coastal town of Alibag, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of the western city of Mumbai.
The land, used for sowing rice crops and growing vegetables like okra and white onions, is among 8,500 acres (3,400 hectares) earmarked for the construction of four giant thermal power plants.
Activists opposed to the development fear it could destroy the livelihoods of thousands of people in the area, pollute the clean air and soil and create health problems among the poor farmers and their families.
"They only know how to sow, how to manage fields, how to harvest, how to fish," said Satish Londhe, who is spearheading the villagers' fight against the proposals.
The situation in the lush foothills of the Western Ghats mountain range embodies the problem facing India: how does it meet the increasing demand for energy as the country's population explodes and economic growth continues.
According to the International Energy Agency, more than half of the world's energy demands by 2030 will come from India and its fellow emerging economic powerhouse China.
But while China was reportedly building two new power stations per week, India's energy infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with rapid growth.
Some 400 million people currently lack regular electricity and even where it is available power cuts can be daily occurrences.
Maharashtra Energy Generation Ltd, a unit of India's largest private utility firm Reliance Energy Ltd, Tata Power and the other companies involved in the proposed plants say the 7,700 megawatts produced will ease supply problems.
The villagers and environmentalists supporting them accept the need for more electricity but question whether coal is the answer.
With concern about high levels of greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, they want renewable energy, which currently supplies about 25 percent of India's electricity, to be given greater priority.
According to Greenpeace India, wind, solar and tidal power could provide up to 35 percent of the country's power by 2030, with less environmental damage and social consequences.
"People don't want the project," said Vishnu Mhatre, a medical doctor who runs a clinic near the proposed power plant sites. "They want change but they don't want pollution.
"They want electricity but electricity can be provided by wind or other renewables."
But India -- the world's third-biggest producer of electricity from fossil fuel -- appears set on coal, which at present provides just under 55 percent of the country's power.
The ministry overseeing the industry maintains that coal will continue to take "centre stage of India's energy scenario" in the years to come, calling it a "unique ecofriendly fuel service to (the) domestic energy market".
Retired Admiral L. Ramdas, a former chief of the Indian naval staff, lives in Alibag with his wife, Lalita, who sits on the board of directors of Greenpeace International.
He called for more use of wind power and energy storage and described the potential displacement of thousands of farmers at a time of chronic food shortages in some parts of rural India as a "crazy, crazy situation."
The fight between India's fabled "common man" and at least two of its biggest corporate beasts might seem unevenly matched, but there is a precedent for a victory against the odds.
Proposals for another power plant in the southern state of Karnataka were shelved after popular protests.
"Even a project delayed is a limited victory," said Ramdas. "We will carry on. We will wear them out. They won't wear us out."
Straits Times 3 Aug 09;
THE Group of Eight climate action agenda calling for an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050 has been rightly criticised as mere hot air. Without any specific short-term targets or a roadmap, lofty declarations like the one made in L'Aquila could end up as ineffective as the Kyoto Protocol. The only concrete 'achievement' of the G-8 was its commitment to keep mean temperature under 2 deg C over pre-industrial levels - essential to prevent irreversible disruption of the global climate system.
While G-8 officials were congratulating themselves for reaching an agreement on emission cuts by 2050, scientists were looking at alarming satellite images showing that Arctic ice has shrunk considerably over the past four years. Nasa scientists have said that a recovery in the thickness of perennial Arctic ice was unlikely.
The other G-8 'achievement' - in setting a 2-degree warming target - would still spell disaster for developing nations dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Governments have been coy about spelling out what such a rise in temperature might mean for countries' food supplies.
Columnist Gwynne Dyer, quoting an unpublished study by an Indian think-tank done on behalf of the World Bank, concluded that a 2 deg C increase would result in India's agricultural production falling by a whopping 25 per cent. If this estimate is even half accurate, it underscores the urgency of adopting mitigating policies. However morally justified, the refusal of developing countries to join in a global effort to counter global warming amounts to shirking their responsibility as co-managers of the planet.
Developing countries bear the heavy responsibility of lifting their millions out of poverty - and right now, that can be accomplished only by burning the fossil fuels that cause global warming. The responsibility for finding a way out of this conundrum lies mostly with developed nations, but developing countries cannot hide behind the argument that the West bears sole historical responsibility for the problem.
At a recent Tallberg Forum in Sweden, interestingly titled How On Earth Can We Live Together?, former Costa Rican president Jose-Maria Figueres summed up the response needed to face the multifarious challenges posed by global warming as 'three decouplings'.
First, decouple growth from carbon emissions: Contrary to the common belief that reducing carbon emissions is a costly undertaking, significant gains can be made through the efficient use of energy. The development of renewable energy and associated technologies also opens up good business opportunities while mitigating the effects of climate change.
Second, 'we have to decouple our personal satisfaction from over-consumption', he said, pointing to the carbon cost of excessive consumption in the developed world. 'In our world today, one billion people over-consume and are wasteful, and six billion people do not have enough.'
The third challenge is to 'decouple our political and democratic participation from the context of the nation state'. This, of course, is the toughest challenge. Voters elect their leaders to deliver welfare exclusively to them, not to other regions. Yet, given the close integration and interdependence of the world, Mr Figueres says: 'We need to understand that the governments that we elect at local, regional and national levels are ever more members of a global community of governments that need to coordinate actions among themselves so that we all can live better lives.'
However logical, Mr Figueres' call for the election of partners in a global government will inevitably be met with yawns. The timidity of the G-8 leaders in refusing to provide a medium-term target is evidence of their focus on electoral support back home. Vague promises to cut emissions in the future satisfy their global posturing without incurring any political cost.
Meanwhile, global temperatures continue to rise and the glaciers continue to shrink. Mother Nature was quite clearly not a signatory at the summit at L'Aquila.
The writer is editor of YaleGlobal Online
Posts
visitors since Nov 07