Best of our wild blogs: 17 Sep 09

BESG received a million hits
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Another Colugo Encounter
from Life's Indulgences

Bear Exchange II: Lok Kawi Zoo - Sepilok
from Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

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Singapore: Maersk ship grounds off Sebarok

PortWorld News 16 Sep 09;

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) says that the container ship Maersk Kendal ran aground on Wednesday at the Sebarok Beacon, less than a kilometre south of Sebarok island.
Sebarok island is situated some nine kilometres south of Singapore and houses oil storage tanks for tenants said to include Vopak and SPC, along with berthing for VLCCs, as its jetties are surrounded by deep waters.

The Maersk Kendal was transiting the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) from the east, bound for the Malaysian port of Tanjung Pelapas when it grounded.

Initial reports cited no injury or pollution.

Shipping in the TSS and adjacent waters has not been affected by the grounding, according to the MPA.

The MPA has broadcast navigational warnings to warn other vessels to keep clear of the Maersk Kendal and to navigate with caution.

According to separate maritime sources, the UK-flagged Maersk Kendal is an 84,771 deadwight tonne box ship owned and managed by the Maersk group and run by Maersk Line, with capacity for 6,188 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
Cowan Thant Zin, 16th September 2009 09:45 GMT


GROUNDING OF “MAERSK KENDAL” AT SEBAROK BEACON ON 16 SEPTEMBER 2009
MPA 16 Sep 09;

At about 0715hrs on 16 September 2009, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) received a report that a United Kingdom-registered container ship, MV "Maersk Kendal" ran aground at the Sebarok Beacon, about 0.7 km south of Sebarok island.

The "Maersk Kendal" was transiting the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) from the east, bound for the port of Tanjong Pelepas when she ran aground.

There are no reports of injury or oil pollution. Shipping in the TSS and adjacent waters has not been affected by the grounding. The MPA has broadcasted navigational warnings to warn other vessels to keep clear of the "Maersk Kendal" and to navigate with caution.

The vessel is in stable condition and the shipowners have arranged for a salvage company to attend to the grounded vessel. MPA will investigate the incident.

For media enquiries, please contact the MPA hotline at 6375-1643.

British ship runs aground
Straits Times 16 Sep 09;

A BRITAIN registered container ship ran aground in Singapore water on Wednesday morning, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

The vessel, MV 'Maersk Kendal' ran aground at about 7.15 am at the Sebarok Beacon, about 0.7 km south of the island.

MPA said the ship was transiting the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) from the east, bound for the port of Tanjong Pelepas when she ran into trouble.

The MPA said there were no reports of injury or oil pollution.

It added that shipping in the TSS and adjacent waters has not been affected by the grounding, and the vessel is in stable

condition.

The shipowners have arranged for a salvage company to attend to the grounded vessel.

Boxship runs aground off Pulau Sebarok
Vincent Wee, Business Times 16 Sep 09;

(SINGAPORE) Container vessel Maersk Kendal ran aground yesterday morning at the Sebarok Beacon but the vessel was in stable condition and awaiting salvage.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it received a report at 7.15am that the 6,200 twenty foot-equivalent unit (TEU) UK-flagged vessel had run aground at the beacon about 700 metres south of Pulau Sebarok. The island off the south coast of the main Singapore island houses a massive oil storage terminal.

Maersk Kendal was reportedly transiting the traffic separation scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Straits from the east, bound for the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in south-western Johor when it ran aground.

There were no reports of injury or oil pollution, MPA said. Shipping in the TSS and adjacent waters has not been affected and the MPA has broadcast navigational warnings to other vessels to keep clear of the vessel and to navigate with caution, it added.

The shipowners have arranged for a salvage company to attend to the grounded vessel. MPA said it will investigate the incident.

Container ship runs aground at Sebarok Beacon
By Shaffiq Alkhatib, 938LIVE Channel NewsAsia 16 Sep 09;

SINGAPORE: A container ship ran aground on Wednesday morning at the Sebarok Beacon, less than a kilometre south of Sebarok Island.

The United Kingdom-based "Mearsk Kendal" was bound for the port of Tanjong Pelepas in Johor when it ran aground.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said there are no reports of injury or oil pollution.

The vessel is in a stable condition and the shipowners have arranged for a salvage company to attend to it. Shipping in the surrounding waters is also not affected by the incident.

The MPA, which will investigate the incident, has broadcast navigational warnings to warn other vessels to keep clear of the site and navigate with caution.


- 938LIVE/so

Related links
See also Container ship runs aground near Pulau Jong on the wild shores of singapore blog.

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Right way to save turtles? Call cops

DJ Rod Monteiro finds hatchlings at East Coast Park. He is unable to get help from some animal groups. 21 out of 26 hatchlings later saved by animal activists, passers-by
Teh Jen Lee, The New Paper 17 Sep 09;

THEY are an endangered species, but the happy event of their hatching at East Coast Park almost ended in complete tragedy. At least five hawksbill turtles died on our shores yesterday morning.

Another 21 could have suffered the same fate if not for Radio 91.3FM deejay Rod Monteiro, 42, and a group of animal lovers. But what irked Mr Monteiro in his attempt to save the hatchlings is the runaround he was given when he tried calling for help.

He was jogging at East Coast Park near the National Service Resort and Country Club at 7am when he spotted a turtle hatchling on the jogging track.

Unusually, it was heading inland, and was more than 100m away from the shore. When Mr Monteiro looked around, he saw two others that had been run over on the cycling track and killed.

'I was sad,' said Mr Monteiro, who co-hosts The Married Men show. 'I (thought) that turtles are endangered.'

He eventually found 12 hatchlings and released 11 of them into the sea. He kept one in case Underwater World Singapore (UWS) or some scientific institution wanted them for research.

But when he called UWS, he was surprised that the assistant curator did not seem to share his excitement about the turtles.

He said: 'I was just told to release the ones I had found and that they were probably hawksbill turtles. From the way he spoke, it was as if the species was not endangered. When I checked online later, I confirmed that it was. Everywhere in the world, people are trying to save these turtles. Why are they taking it so lightly?'

All seven species of marine turtles are endangered.

Mr Monteiro next called the Nature Society Singapore (NSS) office. He was told to call the National University of Singapore's Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) - and was in turn told that RMBR couldn't help. The reason: They can't keep live specimens.

No one told Mr Monteiro that he should have called the police (999) in the first place.

That is the little-known standard operating procedure (SOP) jointly developed with the National Parks Board (NParks) by the Year of the Turtle 2006 Singapore committee.

This SOP states that the public should call the police whenever they see a marine turtle.

The police would immediately alert NParks, said committee chairman, Associate Professor C H Diong, of the Natural Sciences and Science Education department in the National Institute of Education.

The NParks officer-in-charge would go to the site - day or night - with a turtle rescue kit, which includes cordon tape and a pail.

Prof Diong said: 'If there are eggs found, the police will stand guard to prevent theft.

'NParks will contact me or another point person in NUS to assess if the eggs need to be relocated, which would be the case if they can be easily trampled...

'If, during the night, hatchlings are attracted to light sources and they are found heading landward instead of seaward, they may fall into drains or go into people's houses.

'In that case, NParks will collect them, count them and release them.'

Urgency

Eventually, Mrs Teresa Teo Guttensohn, the co-founder of Cicada Tree Eco-place, an environmental education group, was informed by NSS about the turtles.

She called Mr Monteiro at 10am.

He said: 'She was going to rush down and look for more hatchlings.

'There was an urgency in her voice. That was what I was looking for.'

About 15 people, including cyclists, passers-by and representatives from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) helped Mrs Guttensohn look for hatchlings.

Mrs Guttensohn, 46, who drove to the site from her home in Bukit Panjang, said: 'When I got the call about the turtles, I was actually going to the doctor because I have a sports injury.'

Measuring only about 5cm across, the hatchlings were hard to spot as they looked like dried leaves. But after about four hours, the group managed to find 26 hatchlings.

Five died from the heat or from being run over. The rest of the turtles were released at 12.30pm in the presence of NParks staff.

Mr Monteiro was heartened by their efforts. He said: 'I'm going to talk about this incident on air. The people I called should have known where to direct me. It's their job to know about wildlife in Singapore. If someone else found the turtles and let the matter go after the first call, all those turtles found by the rescuers would have died.'

A spokesman for UWS said they are aware of the arrangement to call the police. She said: 'Since the turtles were found near the sea, releasing them immediately may be a more expedient solution than waiting for the appropriate personnel to travel to the site.'

Prof Diong, who has been doing turtle research since the 1990s, said he will look into how the key partners of the Year of the Turtle committee, which includes UWS, RMBR and NSS, can be reminded of the SOP.

First sighting in 3 years

Hawksbill turtles are the only species of marine turtles that have been sighted in Singapore. Mr Monteiro's find is the first reported sighting in three years. There were no sightings in the whole of 2007 and 2008.

Related links
More about sea turtles in Singapore on the wild shores of singapore blog.

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Heritage sector booming as museum visitorship soars

938LIVE Channel NewsAsia 16 Sep 09;

SINGAPORE: Singapore's heritage sector is buzzing. For the first time, visitorship to Singapore's museums has crossed the six million mark.

Parliamentary Secretary for Information, Communication and the Arts, Sam Tan, said 6.58 million people visited the museums at the end of FY2008, up from 5.21 million in FY2007.

Mr Tan said some of the reasons behind the increase were quality programmes with mass appeal.

He said there was also growth in donations and loans to heritage-related causes. Between 2004 and 2008, such giving amounted to almost S$240 million.

Mr Tan said the steady emergence of new players, who have carved out niches for themselves in non-traditional areas such as heritage-related videos, trails and fashion, has also added to the vibrancy in the heritage sector.

He said these are strong indicators of the vast potential in Singapore's heritage industry.

- 938LIVE/ir

Private sector operators get 2 prime state sites to boost arts and heritage scene
Uma Shankari, Business Times 17 Sep 09;

TWO prime state properties earmarked to promote the arts and heritage scene in Singapore were awarded to private sector operators yesterday. The two sites, one in the Bras Basah area and the other near Dempsey, will host integrated museum and art facilities.

Daniel Teo & Associates Pte Ltd and Linda Gallery were awarded the leases to sites at 222 Queen Street, and 27A, 30B and 30C Loewen Road respectively from among nine proposals competing for the sites. The former site is located within the museum cluster at the Bras Basah-Bugis arts and entertainment zone while the latter is near the chic arts and lifestyle precinct of Dempsey.

Prime state properties set aside to boost the arts and heritage scene here were first made available by the National Heritage Board (NHB) and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) last October through a joint request-for-interest exercise to develop, operate and manage integrated museum and art facilities.

With lower start-up costs, it was envisioned that this would ease the entry of new players into the arts and heritage scene.

The property at 222 Queen Street, which is the former Catholic High Secondary School premises, will become Sinema at 222 Queen Street, a popular culture museum driven by films, revolving exhibitions, a theme cafe and bars. Daniel Teo & Associates will invest at least $2.5 million to refurbish the property.

And on Loewen Road, Linda Gallery's proposed museum will display its owner's collection of Asian contemporary art. There will also be a retail and F&B component, and as the property comes with a large land area, Linda Gallery has plans for an extensive garden. The company will spend about $2 million on the site.

'We are pleased that state-owned properties with rich heritage and history are able to find their fit as integrated museums of art and heritage for all to enjoy,' said SLA's director of land lease (private).

NHB's chief executive Michael Koh also said he was heartened that the private sector had stepped up to play its part in promoting Singapore's arts and heritage scene. Despite the still unsettled economic outlook, more than $14 million has been committed - mostly by the private sector - to develop the heritage and cultural sector.

'The heritage pie is set to grow further with more players from a range of industries - from museum and gallery management to publishing and films, fashion and the arts sectors - coming onboard,' NHB said in a statement.

The government agency also revealed yesterday that a record 6.58 million people visited Singapore's museums in FY2008 - a 26.4 per cent increase from FY2007.

Heritage buffs' favourite wins award for best blog
Serene Luo, Straits Times 17 Sep 09;

THIS nostalgia-themed blog is a favourite read for heritage buffs.

Writing under the online moniker of Laokokkok (informal Hokkien phrase for old and crusty), Mr Chris Yew Weng Heng delves into the history of old buildings and streets of Singapore, records practices of yesteryear, and puts up pictures of items most people would have long thrown out, on his blog.

This hobby won the 47-year-old the accolade of having Singapore's best individual blog at the Singapore Blog Awards 2009 last night. He was the oldest blogger to win as well, out of more than 1,500 entries in 10 categories received.

The awards, into their second year, were organised by Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) bilingual youth portal omy.sg. Mr Yew, who restricts himself to just two blog posts a month because 'I prefer quality to quantity', said he would even go to the extent of trawling flea markets at Sungei Road or pasar malam - which means night markets in Malay - to find items such as old razors or wind-up toys to feature on his blog.

The self-employed father of two also hoards his mother's collection of old maps, which often give him good leads, he said.

'Blogs are definitely a young people's thing,' he said, adding that he wanted to start one to have 'memories to relate to my grandchildren 20 years down the road'.

When he went on stage to receive his trophy, he received the loudest applause from the crowd, including a standing ovation from people of his generation, such as SPH's chief executive Alan Chan and artist and Cultural Medallion winner Tan Swie Hian.

Foreign Minister George Yeo, a fellow blogger and guest of honour at the event at the SupperClub nightclub in North Bridge Road, said to reporters that blogging and his dabbling in social networks like Facebook and Twitter let him stay in touch with the younger set.

In his speech, he said new technology such as blogs has not only changed the way people communicate, it has also created possibilities for people such as the handicapped, who can be 'liberated' and can 'roam the world', as well as 'contribute economically'.

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Vietnam minister seeks ban on sand exports

Business Times 17 Sep 09;

(HO CHI MINH CITY) Vietnam's construction ministry has asked Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to temporarily ban sand exports from November to ensure domestic supply and protect the country's environment from unrestrained production.

'We should halt sand exports until all provinces can provide specific information on reserves, exploitation capacity and plans to meet demand,' Le Van Toi, head of the ministry's Department for Construction Materials, said by phone from Hanoi yesterday.

He estimated that it may take several months for local governments to submit these reports.

Vietnam's sand exports surged from May as demand increased following Cambodia's ban on sand shipments, he said.

Unplanned dredging can cause landslides and river-bank collapses along the Mekong River in Vietnam's southern region, which provides the bulk of sand for export, Mr Toi said.

The ministry expects demand from local construction projects to rise in the coming years and domestic sand supplies may run out if exports continue at the current pace.

The South-east Asian country shipped nearly nine million cubic metres of sand in the first eight months this year, compared with a total 1.3 million cubic metres last year, Mr Toi said, citing figures from the Can Tho Customs Department, which handles most of Vietnam's sand exports.

Singapore was the biggest buyer so far this year, customs data show.

The country expects domestic demand to reach as much as 100 million cubic metres next year, 140 million cubic metres by 2015 and 197 million cubic meters by 2020, Mr Toi said, citing ministry forecasts.

Vietnam used 86 million cubic metres of sand last year, according the ministry's data.

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Call to probe sand transfer from Thailand to Singapore

Apinya Wipatayotin, The Bangkok Post 17 Sep 09;

A company's request to ship sand sediment to Singapore after dredging it needs more study, a local environmental group says.

The sediment could contain a high level of silica, which is protected under the law, the coordinator of the Andaman Organisation for Participatory Restoration of Natural Resources, Thanu Nabneon, said yesterday.

Singapore-based K and Sand Corp has offered to help the Tambon Bang Nai Sri Administrative Office in Phangnga's Takua Pa district clear sediment blocking the mouth of the Takua Pa River.

The company offered the service at no charge on the condition it was allowed to ship the sediment to Singapore, he said.

The firm could not be reached for comment but the Department of Mineral Resources confirmed the request had been made.

The sediment would be cleared from a site measuring 30 square kilometres and up to 11 metres deep, said Preecha Laochu, director of the Department of Mineral Resources' Geo-Technical Office.

Mr Thanu said the firm had asked a handful of state agencies for permission.

"The company claims the sediment has no value for industry and would not breach export regulations," Mr Thanu said.

"But if there is no economic value, why does the company offer to dredge it for free?

"We could lose over a million cubic metres of sediment, which could harm the coastline's ecological system.

"The area is an environment and natural resources protection zone, so an environment impact study is required for any activities which might harm the environment."

A Commerce Ministry regulation said sand containing over 75% silica oxide could not be exported.

The regulation was designed to preserve sand, which has economic value. Silica is a component used in making cement.

Mr Preecha said the Geo-Technical Office and the company planned to test the silicon level of the sediment.

"We have written to the company and the tambon office demanding a sediment sampling test. The department and company will share the cost," Mr Preecha said.

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Haze worsens in Singapore

PSI hits 64, the highest level recorded so far this year
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 17 Sep 09;

THE haze worsened yesterday, with the Pollution Standards Index (PSI) peaking at 64 - the highest level reached this year.

Although still in the moderate range, yesterday's air quality deteriorated from the previous day's, when the PSI - a measure of air quality - was 55. Visibility improved in the evening, thanks to a heavy downpour.

Satellite pictures yesterday showed 66 hot spots in Sumatra, spread across the provinces of Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra. A further four hot spots were counted in Kalimantan, although the weatherman said visibility there was impaired by cloud cover.

The National Environment Agency said that although slightly hazy conditions are expected over the next two days, showers are also anticipated and they could help alleviate the situation.

It also said that there was no need for people to take special precautions when air quality was in the moderate range.

A prolonged dry spell over Kalimantan and Sumatra has resulted in more burning being carried out to clear forest, with the fires producing the acrid pall that has blown across the region.

The situation may persist until the end of the year and is exacerbated by the development of an El Nino weather pattern bringing hotter and drier weather over the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

As Singapore braces itself for smog-filled days ahead, organisers of major events being staged here are on alert in case the situation worsens.

First up is the Formula One SingTel Singapore Grand Prix over the weekend of Sept 25 to 27, followed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in November.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said in Parliament on Tuesday that the haze situation would come under greater international scrutiny with these events being hosted here.

A spokesman for the Singapore GP said it would consult the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile - the world governing body of motorsport - and government agencies before making any collective decision regarding the event.

'If the haze causes visibility, public health or operational issues, the primary concern will always be the safety and wellbeing of participants both on and off the track,' she added, without elaborating.

Organisers expect crowds of 83,000 on each of the three days.

The chairman of Apec Singapore 2009's organising committee, Ms Koh Lin-Net, said a medical team would be stationed at all official events to attend to any delegate affected by the haze.

All Apec meetings are held indoors, she added, while contingency plans for outdoor social events will be activated if necessary.

More than 15,700 participants are expected to attend 123 events planned for the summit. Of these, 10,000 will be foreign visitors.

Meanwhile in Jambi, the head of the Natural Resources Conservation Centre Didy Wurdjanto told The Straits Times that a spell of drought stretching for more than a week has led to an intensification of slash-and-burn farming. 'The long dry days are what convinces people to use fires to clear the land,' he said.

He also said that government officials had stepped up enforcement on forest burning, and that under new regulations initiated last month, fire starters in Jambi can be fined up to 10 billion rupiah (S$1.4million) and jailed for up to 10 years.

'We are not playing around. If there is any evidence of fires set up by the district heads or businessmen, they will be prosecuted.'

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NOL goes green to cut fuel costs

Straits Times 17 Sep 09;

SHIPPING giant Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) is adopting a Singapore-designed clean fuel system for its vessels that could help the company make significant cost-savings.

NOL's container shipping subsidiary, APL, yesterday signed a five-year agreement in Singapore with Russian-led technology company Neftech to install the fuel system in 20 of APL's fleet of 139 vessels over the next year.

Fuel comprises more than half of a ship's operating costs, according to Neftech chairman Victor Levin.

While APL representatives did not give an estimate of how much the new system might save, one of Neftech's shareholders, Mr Lim How Teck, chairman of Certis Cisco, told reporters that it was expected to reduce costs by US$1.8 million (S$2.6 million) a year per ship.

NOL chairman Cheng Wai Keung said: 'In today's highly challenging business landscape, reducing costs, increasing efficiency and lessening the environmental impact of our operations are among the biggest challenges we face.'

The announcement follows NOL's introduction of a range of cost-cutting measures over the past year, including chief executive Ron Widdows and the directors taking a 20 per cent pay cut, the workforce being reduced by 9 per cent, and 15 container ships being laid up since December.

NOL, the world's seventh-largest box shipper, continues to reel from the collapse in trade.

Last month, it reported a record half-year loss of US$391 million, though the shipping sector now appears to be stabilising with the global economic recovery.

Neftech was incorporated in Singapore in 2007 and was founded by a group of Russian scientists focusing on a technology called cavitation, which helps to combust fuel more completely, reducing the amount of exhaust produced.

While it is majority-owned by Russians, it has attracted a slew of high-profile Singapore investors, including Mr S.P. Quek, chairman of China Auto Corporation, Mr Lim Ho Kee, chairman of Singapore Post, and Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, the former minister of transport.

ROBIN CHAN

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Arctic thaw and the politics of passage

Gwynne Dyer, The Straits Times 17 Sep 09;

EARLY next week, two German-owned container ships will arrive in Rotterdam from Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, having taken only one month to make the voyage. That is much faster than usual - but then, they did not take the usual route down through the South China Sea, past Singapore, round the bottom of India, through the Suez Canal (pay toll here), across the Mediterranean and up the west coast of Europe. They just went around the top of Russia.

It is the first-ever commercial transit of the North-east Passage by non-Russian ships, and it shortens the distance and duration of the sea trip between East Asia and Europe by almost a third. It is the melting of the Arctic sea ice that has made it possible, although, for the moment, it is possible only for a couple of months at the end of the summer melt season, when the Arctic Ocean's ice cover has shrunk dramatically. But it is a sign of things to come.

The voyage is more evidence that climate change is well under way, and will strike the Arctic region hard. But it also shows that all the fuss about the North-west Passage is irrelevant.

It is the North-west Passage, another potential short cut between Europe and East Asia that goes through the Canadian Arctic archipelago, that got the attention in the past few years. Although ice-breakers have traversed it from time to time, no ordinary commercial ship has ever carried cargo through it. But when the Russians put on their little propaganda show at the North Pole two years ago, the Canadian government had kittens.

In 2007, Mr Artur Chilingarov, a Russian scientist famous for his work in the polar regions and personal Arctic adviser to then Russian President Vladimir Putin, took a mini-sub to the North Pole and planted a Russian flag on the seabed. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper immediately flew to Iqaluit in the high Arctic and responded with a rabble-rousing speech.

'Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty in the Arctic,' he said. 'We either use it or lose it. And make no mistake: this government intends to use it.' He then announced a programme to build six to eight armed Arctic patrol vessels to assert Canadian control over the North-west Passage, and a deep-water naval base on Baffin Island to support them.

'I don't know why the Canadians reacted as they did,' Mr Chilingarov said a few months later in Moscow, and on the face of it he had a case. After all, Russia has no claims over any land or water body that might conceivably belong to Canada, and Canada makes no claim on the North Pole. But Mr Chilingarov actually understood the game that Mr Harper was playing quite well.

Canada's dispute over sovereignty in the North-west Passage is actually with the United States, not with Russia. The Russians have absolutely no interest in the North-west Passage, since they have their own rival North-east Passage. But the US used to believe that the North-west Passage could be very useful if it were ice-free, so Washington has long maintained that it is an international waterway which Canada has no right to control.

Canada disputes that position, pointing out that all six potential routes for a commercially viable North-west Passage wind between islands that are close together and indisputably Canadian. But Ottawa has never asserted military control over the North-west Passage until now, because to do so would risk an awkward confrontation with the US. However, if it can pretend that it is building those warships and that naval base to hold the wicked Russians at bay, and not to defy the Americans...

That is Mr Harper's game, and he now visits the high north every summer to re-assert Canada's sovereignty claims. But in the end, it will make no difference, because the North-west Passage will never become a major shipping route. The North-east Passage is just too much easier.

The problem for Canada is that all the routes for a North-west Passage involve shallow and/or narrow straits between various islands in the country's Arctic archipelago, and the prevailing winds and currents in the Arctic Ocean tend to push whatever loose sea ice there is into those straits. It is unlikely that cargo ships that are not double-hulled and strengthened against ice will ever get insurance for the passage at an affordable price.

On the other hand, the North-east Passage is mostly open water (once the ice retreats from the Russian coast), and there is already the major infrastructure of ports and nuclear-powered ice-breakers in the region. If the distances are roughly comparable, shippers will prefer the North-east Passage every time - and the distances are comparable.

Just look at the Arctic Ocean on a globe, rather than in the familiar flat-earth Mercator projection. It is instantly obvious that the distance is the same whether shipping between Europe and East Asia crosses the Arctic Ocean by running along the Russia's Arctic coast (the North-east Passage) or weaving between Canada's Arctic islands (the North-west Passage).

The same is true for cargo travelling between Europe and the west coast of North America. The North-west Passage will never be commercially viable.

The writer is a London-based independent journalist.

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Beach reclamation endangers marine biodiversity: Lampung, Indonesia

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post 16 Sep 09;

Homebound vacationers seeking to play on white sand or dive among coral reefs off Mutun Beach in Pesawaran regency, Lampung, will have to put their plans on hold.

A reclamation project is now underway along a 5.5-kilometer stretch of the shoreline, effectively closing off the beach to the public.

The beach is renowned for its marine biodiversity. It has traditionally drawn thousands of visitors during vacations, leading to heavy traffic jams in the area.

Local environmental activist Rizani said the reclamation project would damage the ecosystem in the area, killing all the biodiversity.

Private company PT Sarana Agro Industri Indonusa (SAII) is reclaiming the seashore to build a shipyard accessible to vessels of more than 30 gross tons in weight. The company is also dredging out the seabed to allow the big ships in.

“When the shipyard starts up, the seawater and whole marine area here will be contaminated with oil,” Rizani said.

Syamsul Rizal, head of the regional environmental agency, said SAII had already violated regulations by expanding its reclamation project. He said the local administration had allowed the firm to reclaim only 1.1 hectares of coastal area, but SAII had extended this to 5.5 hectares.

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Villagers plant trees to save Sunderban dykes

Shaoli Chakrabarty, The Times of India 17 Sep 09;

GOSABA (SUNDERBANS): Cyclone Aila, which devastated several islands in the Sunderbans and rendered thousands homeless, has taught an invaluable lesson to villagers. Disillusioned with inadequate government aid, villagers have learnt they have to be self-reliant and equip themselves better to face such calamities. Wisened, they are now preparing a bio-shield against storms: mangrove trees that will break the force of waves and protect embankments.

"There's no point waiting for the government to ferry in relief. We have to fend for ourselves and create indigenous protection mechanisms to save our habitat. We have now taken up the responsibility of collecting mangrove seeds to plant them along the stretch of the damaged embankments. The plantation will be done for a year followed by tending the saplings for two more years," said Sarathi Mandal (40) of Mathurakhand Kacharighat.

Watching brick embankments crumble to the hungry tide, villagers have now realized that mangroves provide the only protection to the dykes that are critical to the Sunderbans' survival. Since most islands are below sea level, the 3,500-km-long embankment is the only protection against incursion of saline water that can render farmland barren. Around 800 km of embankment was breached by Aila.

"Aila taught us the importance of mangrove stretches. Embankments that had mangrove plantations have weathered the storm while others have been breached. On September 17, the bhara kotal may trigger a further breach. There is real fear among villagers but we aren't waiting for help from the government. Instead, we have decided to roll up our sleeves and strengthen the embankment ourselves," said Amlamethi resident Rabin Mandal (50).

Marine scientists and geologists have warned that the estuarine delta is most vulnerable to the rising sea level due to global warming. Of the 102 islands here, the 54 inhabited ones have been systematically denuded, leaving them vulnerable to tidal surges and cyclones. And climate scientists predict cyclones will only become more frequent in the region.

A mangrove planting initiative was flagged off in February 2008 by the British High Commission to plug tidal breaches and restore greenery. The ?27,500 grant for the purpose led to the plantation of 400,000 mangroves along a 6-km stretch. Now, chastened by the Aila and seeing how vulnerable embankments are without the protection of mangroves, thousands have joined the initiative.

NGO Nature, Environment & Wildlife Society (NEWS), that partnered the British High Commission project, is now spreading awareness in other villages of the Sunderbans. Community participation in Sonagaon, Dulki, Mathurakhand and Amlamethi has prompted a mangrove sapling plantation drive. This drive is likely to be replicated in other parts of the Sunderbans as well.

Spontaneous meetings led to adoption of the programme whereby the village community, including women and children, decided to participate in the plantation drive without remuneration. Plans to plant seeds on mud-flats along 47-hectare bank and creating mangrove nurseries are also on the anvil.

Read more!

Elusive golden cat caught on film

Matt Walker, BBC News 16 Sep 09;

One of the most elusive of all wild cats has been photographed deep in the jungle of Uganda.

Three images of a wild African golden cat were taken by a digital infrared camera trap set up by biologist Dr Gary Aronsen of Yale University in the US.

To his knowledge, just one other image of a wild African golden cat has ever been published.

Although taken in black and white, the new photos reveal this particular golden cat actually has a dark coat.

The cat is so rare few researchers working in African forests have seen it.

A colleague of Dr Aronsen's has worked for years in Kibale National Park, Uganda where the photos were taken, and has seen the animal only once, while Dr Aronsen knows of only one other published photograph of the cat in the wild, taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Anecdotal evidence suggests that while many villagers and locals may see the cat crossing roads, or maybe raiding domesticates, there are just not that many researcher sightings. We're usually looking for other things."

As a result, says Dr Aronsen, there are no direct field studies of the African golden cat ( Profelis aurata ).

Most studies that have been done are based on scat analyses.

"There is very little known about this felid, what kind of habitat it prefers etc," he says.

"It is spread across equatorial Africa, but it is cryptic and we presume solitary, making observations few and far between."

The African golden cat is a medium-sized cat, about 80cm long, that lives within forest across central and west Africa.

Despite its name, its fur colour is variable and it can be either spotted or not.

"The golden cat is melanistic, meaning that its colour varies over its lifetime, and across the continent," explains Dr Aronsen.

"I was disappointed that the cameras could not give me more data on [the cat's] colour, but the images suggest it is a 'dark phase' cat."

It is one of two cat species known to live within Kibale National Park, the other being the serval.

Servals are slim, long cats, while the golden cat is muscular and compact.

Dr Aronsen originally set up his camera trap to take images of primates living within the park.

"For the most part, the cameras capture amazing images of elephants, monkeys, chimpanzees, duiker and buffalo. The cameras also can record movies, so you can see multiple animals in a group, such as chimpanzees."

But he was still surprised when it recorded three separate images of a golden cat, which are published in the African Journal of Ecology.

"That meant that the camera was located within the cat's core area," he says.

The images were taken in an old-growth forest patch located within a place called Mainaro, which is a patchwork of old-growth, regenerating, and replanted forests, Dr Aronsen explains.

"Given that three images were captured within an old-growth patch, I'd say that the Kibale golden cats may prefer this habitat. But the range of any cat is large, and so they can go anywhere to hunt."

Aronsen himself saw his first and only wild African golden cat this summer, when one looped along in front of his motorbike as he travelled to conduct field work in a remote area of replanted forest.

Read more!

Conservation in the 21st century: where are we?

IUCN 17 Sep 09

The latest analysis of the state of conservation has been published today by IUCN. The book, Conservation for a New Era, outlines the critical issues facing us in the 21st century, developed from the results of last year’s World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.

The landmark publication takes on the pressing issues of today and highlights the solutions to be found through investing in nature.

With the key Copenhagen climate change meeting just months away and the 2010 Biodiversity Targets from the Convention on Biological Diversity under the spotlight, the book is essential reading for today’s governments, businesses and decision-makers. It provides a snapshot of the current situation, split into 21 easy-to-read sections, as well as a roadmap for the future.

“Climate change is the top driver of change in today’s world and an increasing threat to biodiversity,” says co-author and IUCN Senior Coordinator, Dr Sue Mainka. “Decision-makers at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen this December should integrate the potential role that biodiversity can play in both mitigation of and adaptation to this urgent threat and optimize investments in nature that will pay dividends for generations.”

The full publication is available at: http://www.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2009-026.pdf

Read more!

Following Trash and Recyclables on Their Journey

Mireya Navarro, The New York Times 16 Sep 09;

Where does all the trash go?

Karin Landsberg, 42, a self-described “eco-geek” in Seattle, was so curious that she allowed researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology into her home last month to fish 12 items out of her garbage and recycling bins — a can of beans, a compact fluorescent light bulb — and tag them with small electronic tracking devices.

Her trash is now on its journey to the place where it goes to die or be reborn.

The Architectural League of New York went through a similar trash-tagging exercise as part of the same project when it moved its offices from midtown Manhattan to SoHo two weeks ago. Among the discarded items tagged were a coffee cup, a filing cabinet, a book shelf, a broken wine glass and an empty plastic liquid soap bottle.

“All they can tell me up to this point is that some of the stuff has gone through the Lincoln Tunnel,” said Gregory Wessner, director of digital programs and exhibitions for the league. “It is on the move. We’re really excited to know what happens.”

Through the project, overseen by M.I.T.’s Senseable City Laboratory , 3,000 common pieces of garbage, mostly from Seattle, are to be tracked through the waste disposal system over the next three months. The researchers will display the routes in real time online and in exhibitions opening at the Architectural League of New York on Thursday and the Seattle Public Library on Saturday.

One purpose of the project, said Carlo Ratti, director of the lab, is to give people a concrete sense of their impact on the environment, in a way that might lead them to change their habits.

“If you see where a plastic bottle ends up, a few miles down the road in a dump, you may want to get tap water or some other container for the water,” he said.

Collecting, transporting, storing and getting rid of garbage is a costly and often daunting task for cities. Lynn Brown, a spokeswoman for Waste Management Inc. — a company that runs both landfills and recycling centers nationwide and is helping to underwrite the tracking project with $300,000 — said garbage moves through a vast network of sites run by multiple contractors, which makes it challenging to find the most efficient way to handle it.

It also means hundreds of possible journeys for trash. “From a logistics standpoint, it’s a very complicated situation,” she said. “When you look at how waste is handled in different cities, it’s like snowflakes. It’s all different.”

Other factors are also in play in the travel of recyclables like metal and plastic, like price fluctuations that may make it cheaper for a company to ditch items than to recycle them, contamination that makes a can or paper useless, or human error in sorting or transporting material.

Even when an item is headed where it is supposed to go, “does it fall off the boat, or truck, or whatever?” said Ms. Landsberg, a transportation planner for Washington State. “Is the stuff actually made into something useful in this country? Does it all end up shredded and shipped to China, where who knows what happens to it?”

To answer some of those questions, the M.I.T. team is using battery-powered tags based on cellular phone technology.

The researchers say it will take several months to analyze the data generated by the cellular signals. But they have already noticed that while some trash reaches its destination in a couple of days, other items may take four or five weeks to wind their way to landfills or recycling and waste processing plants.

In Seattle, where the researchers have already tagged about 500 items, an aluminum can disposed of at a residence traveled 2.5 miles to a recycling facility in the city in just under two days.

In New York, where 50 items were tagged at the Architectural League’s offices, a recyclable plastic liquid soap container picked up at Madison Avenue and 51st Street traveled 18.3 miles over four days to Kearny, N.J., and is still en route, said Assaf Biderman, associate director of the M.I.T. lab.

The tracking has its limitations. Even though the tags have a battery life of two to six months and can report back from overseas, they can easily be crushed in transit inside garbage trucks and at processing facilities. Mr. Biderman said a paper cup taken from a Seattle residence sent signals for seven days before it went silent and is assumed to have been destroyed.

But the researchers say most tags are likely to travel far enough to show which items go where and how long it takes them to reach a destination, yielding information about inefficiencies in the waste management system.

In coming weeks the project is expected to gain an international component when 50 items are tagged in London, Mr. Biderman said.

Ms. Brown of Waste Management said her company hoped that the experiment could eventually help shorten or avoid overlaps in routes traveled by its 24,000 garbage trucks and to find more central locations for transfer and disposal.

Ultimately, she said, “we’re looking for ways to recycle more and to do it all more efficiently.”

Brett Stav, a senior planning and development specialist for the Seattle Public Utilities, which collects about 21,000 tons of trash and recyclables a day, said that aside from the help with logistics, he saw "tremendous educational value" in the experiment.

"There is this hidden world of trash and there are ramifications to the choices that people make," he said. "People just take their trash and put it on the curb and they forget about it and don’t think about all the time and energy and money put into disposing of it."

The point is well taken by Ms. Landsberg of Seattle, who is so environmentally conscious that she keeps a worm bin to compost her food waste.

“If I found out that it wasn’t going where I think it does, if it is less recycled than I hoped,” she said, ”I might think about buying less of it or doing without.”

“Maybe it is more about the reduce than the re-use.”

Read more!

Europe's farmers dump 3 million liters of fresh milk to protest low prices

Catherine Hornby and Bate Felix, PlanetArk 17 Sep 09;

AMSTERDAM/BRUSSELS - Dairy farmers sprayed about 3 million liters of fresh milk onto fields in Belgium on Wednesday, the latest high profile act in a European-wide protest over low milk prices.

Dairy farmers have blocked deliveries, held back supply and thrown away millions of liters of their produce as part of a campaign over what they argue is a failed liberalization and milk quota system.

They blame both the European Commission and local governments and about 7,000 liters of milk was dumped in front of German agriculture ministry buildings in Bonn on Saturday.

After a price spike in 2007, global dairy markets have declined with European producer prices falling to lows of about

20 (euro) cents per liter. Most farmers say about 40 cents per liter is needed to cover costs and generate a basic revenue.

Leaders of the protests say they want the European Union to freeze planned increases in production quotas and on Wednesday they demanded the creation of a pan-European institution to regulate the demand and supply of milk.

"It is really sad that we have to throw away the milk," Romuald Schaber, president of the European Milk Board, said at a demonstration in Belgium where protesting farmers watched hundreds of tractors spew milk over fields.

"Our demands were not heard by the politicians."

Belgian, Dutch and German producers have also prevented trucks from entering distribution and storage sites, and have given milk away for free to win public support.

The protesting dairy farmers want to create a monitoring agency in which all actors in the milk market including the farmer, consumers and politicians are represented.

In Spain, however, leading farm unions have called off protests by dairy producers after they signed an agreement on July 20 with the government and wholesalers to use collective agreements to buy milk at indexed prices.

EU ACTION

The European Commission, which is in charge of farm policy for the European Union's 27 members, denies its milk quota system, due to expire in 2015, is to blame for weak prices.

It has already taken steps to shore up dairy markets, including reinstating export subsidies and private storage.

Dairy farmer groups said about 40 percent of France's 90,000 producers were taking part in the strike, and that it was starting to hit manufacturers. France's main farm union FNSEA played it down, putting participation at 10 percent at most.

A spokesman for French dairy farmer group OPL, citing comments from dairy employees, said some processors planned to suspend production lines while others were seeking deliveries from abroad.

Protest leaders said falling milk prices have left many farmers facing bankruptcy.

"The more we work, the harder it is to pay our suppliers. It is just too difficult," said Anne Marcel, a French dairy farmer, choking back tears.

(Editing by Matthew Jones)

Read more!

World Food Aid At 20-Year Low, 1 Billion Hungry

Ismail Taxta, PlanetArk 17 Sep 09;

LONDON - Food aid is at a 20-year low despite the number of critically hungry people soaring this year to its highest level ever, the United Nations relief agency said Wednesday.

The number of hungry people will pass 1 billion this year for the first time, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) said, adding that it is facing a serious budget shortfall.

To date the WFP has confirmed $2.6 billion in funding for its 2009 budget of $6.7 billion.

"This comes at a time of great vulnerability for the hungry," the WFP said in a statement.

"Millions have been buffeted by the global financial downturn, their ability to buy food is limited by stubbornly high prices. In addition, unpredictable weather patterns are causing more weather-related hunger," the WFP said.

(Editing by Anthony Barker)

The Science of Hunger: What 1 Billion People Feel
livescience.com Yahoo News 16 Sep 09;

Despite a record level of people suffering from hunger, food aid is at a 20-year low due to the poor global economy, United Nations officials said today. The result: More than 1 billion people across the world will face hunger this year.

"For the world's most vulnerable, the perfect storm is hitting with a vengeance," said U.N. World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Josette Sheeran. So far this year, the agency has received less than half of the $6.7 billion it needs to feed 108 million people in 74 countries, Sheeran said.

While we're all familiar with the stomach grumblings and the pangs that come with a skipped or late meal, most people, especially in the developed world, know little about the more critical problems that prolonged hunger can cause.

What hunger does

For people who face chronic hunger, the effects can be measured in different ways, including under-nourishment and malnutrition.

Under-nourishment occurs when people don't take in enough calories to provide them with the energy just to meet their minimum physiological needs. Malnutrition is more of a measure of what people eat, versus how much. Malnourishment occurs when people don't get the levels of protein, micronutrients (such as vitamins) or other critical components in their food, according to the WFP.

Malnutrition is measured by looking at physical measurements of the body, such as height and weight at a given age.

Malnutrition can have serious effects on the body:

* Chronic malnutrition can stunt the growth of children.
* It can also cause children to be underweight for their age.
* An acute case can cause wasting, or severe weight loss.
* It can cause deficiency in key vitamins and minerals, such as anemia, or iron deficiency.
* The weight problems and deficiencies can increase susceptibility to disease.

Malnutrition can become a secondary issue when the body can't take up the nutrients in food because of diarrhea or other illnesses.

Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals exact their own toll on the human body:

* Iron deficiency, the most common form of malnutrition, affects billions worldwide. It can impede brain development.
* Vitamin A deficiency affects 140 million pre-school children in 118 countries. It is the leading cause of child blindness and can make people more susceptible to diseases. It kills one million infants a year, according to UNICEF.
* Iodine deficiency affects 780 million people worldwide. Babies born to iodine-deficient mothers can have mental impairments.
* Zinc deficiency results in about 800,000 child deaths a year. It weakens the immune systems of young children.

Who is hungry

While enough food exists to feed the world's entire population, the WFP estimates that the number of hungry in the world tops 1 billion, or about one in every six people - more than the populations of the United States, Canada and the European Union combined.

"We urgently need an additional $3 billion to meet those needs, which is less than 0.01 per cent of what was put on the table to stabilize the world financially," Sheeran said.

While disasters, such as floods or droughts, might cause temporary cases of hunger in populations, emergencies only account for about 8 percent of the world's hungry. Those who are most likely to face severe hunger are women, children and those living in rural communities, the WFP says.

Of the total amount of hungry people in the world, half are in Asia and the Pacific and one quarter are in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the WFP. Sixty-five percent live in just six countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.

The statistics (from the WFP) on those facing the results of hunger can be stark:

* An estimated 146 million children in developing countries are underweight.
* Every six seconds a child dies because of hunger and related causes.
* More than 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women.

Trends in hunger

While aid programs made inroads in combating hunger at the end of the 20th century, rising food prices have been negating those efforts, causing the number of hungry to rise again everywhere except in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The rising cost of food caused the number of hungry to jump by 75 million people in 2007 and 40 million people in 2008.

War, climate change, unshakeable poverty, poor farming practices, and over-exploitation of farming resources also contribute to the persistence of hunger, experts say.

Ways to prevent malnutrition include: improvement of water supplies, sanitation and hygiene; health education; improved access to healthy food for the poor; and insurance that industrialization and agricultural advancements don't contribute to the problem, according to the World Health Organization.

Read more!

More than 4.5m children will die if money for aid is diverted to climate change: Oxfam

Millions of children could die because cash for food aid is diverted to tackle climate change, Oxfam has warned.
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 16 Sep 09;

As part of a global climate change deal to be agreed in Copenhagen in December, the rich world is being asked to come up with billions of pounds to help developing countries cope with global warming. The money would be spent on helping poor countries adapt to increased risk of flooding and droughts.

Next week world leaders will meet at a UN Summit in New York to discuss where the money will come from and how much should be put aside.

However aid agencies are becoming increasingly concerned that the money will be diverted from existing funds to help countries deal with poverty, child malnutrition, Aids and other issues.

A new Oxfam report has warned that at least 4.5 million children could die, more than 75 million fewer children are likely to attend school and 8.6 million fewer people could have access to HIV/Aids treatment if aid is diverted to help poor countries tackle climate change.

Oxfam believe that £30 billion should be made available every year for climate change adaptation in addition to the 0.7 per cent of national income rich countries have already pledged as aid.

Barbara Stocking, Chief Execuctive of Oxfam Great Britain, said the money for climate change adaptation must not come out of development funds or millions more people will die.

”Forcing poor countries to choose between life saving drugs for the sick, schooling for their children or themeans to protect themselves against climate change is an unfair burden that will only exacerbate poverty”, she said.

“Stealing money from tomorrow’s schools and hospitals to help poor people adapt to climate change is neither a moral nor effective way of rich countries paying their climate debt. Funds must be increased not diverted”, she added.

Oxfam: 4.5 million children at risk of aid 'raids' to pay for climate change
People already go hungry, take children out of school or sell livestock because of climate-related problems, says agency
Press Association, guardian.co.uk 16 Sep 09;

At least 4.5 million children could die and tens of millions more could miss out on schooling if rich countries "raid" existing aid funding to pay for measures to help poor nations cope with climate change, Oxfam warned today.

The aid agency believes $50bn a year (£30bn) is needed to help developing countries cope with the impacts of global warming including droughts, floods, storms and rising sea levels.

And it says the money must be provided in addition to the 0.7% of GDP developed nations have pledged as aid to improve the lives of people in some of the world's poorest countries – or efforts to tackle poverty will stall.

A report by Oxfam warns that diverting $50bn from existing aid pledges to fund climate measures would lead to the death of 4.5 million children, while 75 million fewer youngsters would be likely to go to school and 8.6 million fewer people would have access to HIV/Aids treatment.

It could prove a major setback to efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals which aim to end hunger and poverty and boost education, health, gender equality and environmental sustainability by 2015, the report warns.

Oxfam said it was already seeing people going without food, pulling their children out of school or selling livestock to pay for debts caused by failing crops and other climate-related problems.

According to the aid agency, just three countries including the UK are in favour of additional funding for climate measures – and the issue could prove to be a deal breaker in the upcoming crunch talks aimed at agreeing global emissions cuts in Copenhagen in December.

A failure by developed countries to address the problems surrounding adaptation funding has led to distrust between the two sides and could undermine efforts to secure a deal to cut emissions.

Oxfam is also concerned that a Conservative government in the UK would divert existing aid provisions to pay for measures such as flood prevention and the introduction of drought-resistant crops.

Barbara Stocking, chief executive of Oxfam Great Britain, said: "Forcing poor countries to choose between life-saving drugs for the sick, schooling for their children or the means to protect themselves against climate change is an unfair burden that will only exacerbate poverty.

"Stealing money from tomorrow's schools and hospitals to help poor people adapt to climate change is neither a moral or effective way of rich countries paying their climate debt.

"Funds must be increased, not diverted," she said.

Oxfam wants to see a carbon market in which rich countries have to buy allowances to cover national emissions under a new global deal to slash greenhouse gases, with the money going towards paying for adaptation measures.

The scheme, similar to one which has been proposed by the Norwegian government in advance of Copenhagen, would avoid the "familiar problem" of developed countries failing to meet aid promises, the Oxfam report's co-author Robert Bailey suggested.

A spokeswoman for the Department for International Development (DfID) said: "Climate finance will be one of the most important and most challenging issues to be addressed over the coming years and that is why the UK are leading the way by offering new investment in addition to our existing aid commitments.

"In June the UK became the first country to publicly address the issue with the proposal for an annual $100bn global fund, to help developing countries both prepare for the impacts of climate change and build for a low-carbon future."

The shadow international development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, said: "We must tackle both the causes and the consequences of global climate change.

"As well as setting the framework for carbon markets, international agreements will be key to establishing additional support for adaptation.

"We believe that Britain must work towards an ambitious global deal at Copenhagen that will limit emissions and see substantial financial resources made available for adaptation."

Read more!

Q+A: How Will Japan's New Govt Tackle Climate Change?

Chisa Fujioka, PlanetArk 17 Sep 09;

TOKYO - Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has pledged to target a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, despite opposition from industry, which says the goal will hurt the economy.

The target, more ambitious than the previous government's, is premised on a deal on goals being agreed by major nations.

Following are questions and answers about the new government's climate policies:

HOW WILL CLIMATE POLICY CHANGE UNDER THE NEW GOVERNMENT?

Hatoyama has pledged to target a 25 percent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2020.

That is tougher than the previous government's 2020 goal of emissions 8 percent below 1990 levels for Japan, the world's fifth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter.

Hatoyama's Democratic Party says the tough target is needed for Japan to play a bigger negotiating role at U.N.-backed climate talks in Copenhagen in December so emerging nations such as China and India join a new climate pact that goes beyond 2012, when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends.

But the new government's emissions target faces resistance from industry as Japan struggles to shake off a deep recession. Top business lobby Keidanren is expected to oppose the Democrats' emissions target.

A report by the previous government argued that pursuing a 25 percent cut could hurt industries ranging from power generation, steel and cement firms to car and chemical makers, threatening jobs.

Environmentalists counter that the new target would open the way for new, clean energy industries and boost economic growth in the long term.

Japan's emissions rose 2.3 percent to a record in the year to March 2008, putting the country 16 percent above its Kyoto Protocol target.

HOW WILL THE DEMOCRATS TRY TO MEET THE EMISSIONS TARGET?

The government plans to create a domestic emissions trading market with compulsory volume caps on emitters, although details have yet to be thrashed out. Japan launched a national carbon market last year based on voluntary targets by companies.

The Democrats also plan to introduce a "feed in" tariff, or financial reward, for renewable energy to help expand capacity for clean energy sources and are considering a carbon tax to discourage polluters.

The party is aiming to boost renewable energy sources to about 10 percent of primary energy supply by 2020.

But the Democrats also want to eliminate highway tolls and abolish a decades-old surcharge of about 25 yen (27.5 U.S. cents) per liter on gasoline from April.

Those measures, aimed at easing the financial strain on voters, have been criticized by environmental groups which say they run counter to calls for greener lifestyles.

The abolition of highway tolls and a reduced gasoline tax would boost car traffic by 21 percent and increase carbon dioxide emissions by 9.8 million tonnes a year, according to an estimate by one think tank.

WILL THE DEMOCRATS BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS?

Analysts like the party's drive for change but worry about its plans to implement policies that have mass appeal, such as the cheaper gasoline plan, ahead of an election to parliament's less powerful upper house in mid-2010.

Climate change was not a big issue in the August 30 election, with voters more worried about the economy and jobs.

The new government would likely find it harder to introduce a carbon tax, for example, if it drags its feet because industry will have grown accustomed to lower gasoline prices after the party reduces the surcharge in April.

The party also faces a policymaking process that is often slow because ministries pursue different interests, although the Democrats have vowed to reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies.

(Editing by Rodney Joyce)

Read more!

China think-tank bleak on global climate goal

Chris Buckley, Reuters 16 Sep 09;

BEIJING (Reuters) - An international goal to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius appears unreachable even if China embarks on a vast effort to tame its growing greenhouse gas emissions, a Beijing think-tank has said.

The report cast doubt on the prospects for the world to stay within a commonly accepted threshold of dangerous climate change, to avoid worse droughts, floods and rising seas, two months after world leaders including China acknowledged the limit.

China's Energy Research Institute also underlined in its new report concerns among developing countries that a goal to halve global greenhouses gases by 2050, resisted by China and other emerging economies, may cramp their growth.

Even if China embraces rigorous low-carbon policies, the chances were slim that the world could achieve that goal, said the report released in Beijing Wednesday.

"According to our calculations, these goals don't in fact leave enough space for developing countries," Bai Quan, one of the researchers who wrote the report, told a meeting marking its release.

"You can't hang achieving this 2 degrees goal on China," said Dai Yinde, deputy director of the Institute, adding that it was up to the rich nations to lead with big emissions cuts of 90 percent or more by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.

Without these deep cuts, greenhouse gas concentrations are likely to rise this century so the average global temperature rises by around 2.8-3.2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, says the study.

China is the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from burning fossil fuels, and with enough money and tough low-carbon policies, those emissions could peak around 2030-35 and then by 2050 fall to the same level as 2005, the report found.

IMMERSED

Governments are immersed in negotiations seeking a new global treaty on fighting climate change by the end of 2009, and China with its bulging greenhouse gas output is a key player.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will present his government's general plans for tackling global warming at a United Nations meeting on climate change next week, the country's senior official on the issue said Tuesday.

Wednesday's new report, "China's Low Carbon Development Pathways by 2050," examines policy options that could help China avoid emissions levels that could tower over those of the United States, long the world's biggest emitter.

The report does not amount to government policy. But coming from a prominent institute that advises officials, it illuminates some of China's key concerns less than three months before the climate pact negotiations culminate in Copenhagen.

"This kind of research confirms the impression that China's position (on climate change) is shifting and there's a very healthy debate," said Jim Watson, an expert on energy policy at the University of Sussex who studies China's emissions.

"That's heartening. But the numbers are still really daunting," Watson said in a telephone interview before its release. "They just show the sheer scale of the challenge."

BIG COSTS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The new report builds on another recent report from the Institute that gave slightly different greenhouse gas growth scenarios.

If China adopts "low-carbon development," emissions from burning fossil fuels could peak at 2.4 billion tons of carbon a year by 2035 and then remain close to that level for at least 15 years. Under current trends they could reach 3.3 billion tons of carbon a year by 2050, compared with global carbon emissions of about 8.5 billion tons now.

Under an "enhanced low carbon scenario" of more stringent steps, China's emissions could peak at 2.2 billion tons around 2035 and fall to 1.4 billion tons in 2050. But achieving major reductions in emissions will carry a big cost, the report said.

A low-carbon growth path would cost about 1.7 trillion yuan ($249 billion) extra a year by 2030 for energy-efficient industry, transport and buildings, and similar levels in 2050, a graph and data in the study indicated.

China's current growth stimulus package amounts to 4 trillion yuan, including bank loans, spent across two years.

Bai, the researcher, said China could follow the low-carbon path described in the report only with intense difficulty, and the enhanced low-carbon path was virtually out of reach.

($1=6.83 yuan)

(Editing by Gerard Wynn)

FACTBOX: China think-tank energy, CO2 scenarios
Reuters 16 Sep 09;

(Reuters) - China's attempt to switch to a "low-carbon" form of economic growth will still see its total energy usage almost double by 2050, according to an major new study from a prominent Beijing energy think-tank.

"China's Low Carbon Development Pathways by 2050," issued by the Energy Research Institute, which is under the National Development and Reform Commission, examines China's energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions under four different development scenarios.

These scenarios are not forecasts, but models of what alternative policies and steps may be produce in energy-use and emissions.

(1) BASELINE SCENARIO

China proceeds with "business as usual," using the same routes to industrialization made by developed countries.

China will make technological advances to improve energy efficiency, and by 2050 consume about 7.8 billion tonnes of coal equivalent, up from 2.2 billion tonnes in 2005.

(2) ENERGY-SAVING "BUSINESS AS USUAL" SCENARIO

The ordinary model of economic development "undergoes certain changes" but no major technological breakthroughs are made in emission reduction technologies and "saving energy as a way of life" has not become popular. Annual energy consumption will stand at 6.7 billion tonnes of coal equivalent.

CO2 emissions from fossil fuel alone will rise to equal 3.2 billion tonnes a year of carbon in 2035, and 3.3 billion tonnes in 2050, compared to 1.7 billion tonnes in 2007.

(3) LOW-CARBON SCENARIO

China "takes the initiative" to change its model of economic development, "changing the patterns of production and consumption," applying large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology and aggressively pushing forward nuclear and renewable energy. Total energy consumption will reach 5.6 billion tonnes of coal equivalent.

Total CO2 emissions from fossil fuel are then likely to reach the equivalent of 2.4 billion tonnes of pure carbon a year in 2035, and about the same in 2050.

(4) ENHANCED LOW-CARBON SCENARIO

China works with developed countries to make major breakthroughs in emission reduction technologies, significantly reducing costs. Total energy consumption will reach 5.0 billion tonnes of coal equivalent in 2050.

Total carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel can then be held to 2.2 billion tonnes of pure carbon a year in 2035, and 1.4 billion tonnes in 2050.

Based on these scenarios, the Energy Research Institute gives the following estimates of energy consumption in the year 2050:

Unit 2008 2050 (2) 2050 (3) 2050 (4) Total energy bln T* 2.9 6.69 5.562 5.022 Per capita energy T* 2.1 4.6 3.81 3.4 Coal bln T 2.72 3.85 2.81 2.01 Petroleum bln T 0.368 1.25 0.77 0.7 Natural Gas bln cu m 77.8 501.3 496.8 477.0 Nuclear GW 9.1 300 350 420 Hydro GW 171.5 400 450 470 Wind GW 8.9 350 380 450 Solar GW >0.1 310 410 460

Notes:

(2) - Energy-saving scenario,

(3) - Low-carbon scenario,

(4) - Enhanced low-carbon scenario

* coal equivalent

Under each scenario, China's rate of economic growth would remain more or less the same, the report said, with per capita GDP projected to reach $22,000 (at year 2000 valuations) by 2050, compared to $1,445 in 2005. The rate of urbanisation will reach 79 percent, up from 43 percent in 2005.

The following table shows some of the 2050 indicators predicted by the report, compared to 2005 in China and the United States.

China 2005 USA 2005 China 2050 (2) China 2050 (3) Per capita GDP $1,445 $39,000 $22,000 $22,000 Steel output (mln T) 500 140 700 600 Car ownership* 24 808 420 388 Per capita energy (T) 1.72 11.3 4.58 3.81 Per capita CO2 emissions (T) 3.88 19.61 8.33 5.98 Notes:

(2) Energy-saving scenario

(3) Low-carbon scenario

* per 1,000 people

(Source: China's Low Carbon Development Pathways by 2050, Energy Research Institute)

(Reporting by David Stanway, Editing by Gerard Wynn)

Chinese government adviser warns that 2C global warming target is unrealistic
China's emissions unlikely to fall low enough because 2C target 'does not provide room for developing countries'
Jonathan Watts, guardian.co.uk 16 Sep 09;

Don't expect China to keep global warming below 2C, a senior government adviser warned in Beijing today at the launch of an influential report on the nation's prospects for low-carbon growth.

Even in a best-case scenario with massive investment in solar energy and carbon capture technology, Dai Yande, deputy chief of the Energy Research Institute, said China's emissions were unlikely to fall low enough to remain below the temperature goal recommended by the G8 and European Union.

His prediction will alarm those governments and scientists who warn that a rise more than 2C risks disastrous consequences in terms of food security, migration, sea-level rises and extreme weather events.

"You should not target China to fulfill the two degree target. That is just a vision. Reality has deviated from that vision," said Dai. "We do not think that target provides room for developing countries." China argues that its priority must be economic growth to relieve poverty among its vast population.

Dai – whose think tank works under the government's powerful National Development and Reform Commission – blamed rich nations for excessive consumption and for failing to reach the targets set at Kyoto.

"Twenty percent of the world's population takes 80% of wealth and emits 70% of greenhouse gases," he said. "I think two

degrees is a vision that is difficult to fulfill because few countries have reached Kyoto protocol targets, except the UK and some others in the EU."

Dai stressed that his comments are not official government policy, but they are consistent with a hardening of positions ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit in December.

Dai was speaking at the launch of the most influential study ever carried out in China on the possibility of the country moving toward a low carbon path of development.

The detailed study, which was conducted by 10 institutions including universities and the World Wildlife Fund, was built on a preparatory study published last month.

Under its most ambitious scenario, China's overall emissions would peak between 2030 and 2035, assuming generous financial assistance from rich nations, technological transfer, changed consumer habits, enormous investment in renewable energies and large-scale economic restructuring.

Dai said he thought it was unlikely that the two most optimistic scenarios could be achieved because of the huge cost of expanding solar and wind power and capturing carbon. Even under the least ambitious scenario China would have to invest 89.9 trillion yuan by 2050.

Professor He Jiankun, a co-author and the former executive vice president of Tsinghua University, said China faced huge obstacles in moving to a low carbon path because it was still in the midst of development. "There are a huge number of cities to be built. They will consume a large amount of steel and cement. This means that emissions will not be reduced for some time."

He said the report was not national policy, but it was a blue-print for change.

The WWF signed the recommendations and Yang Fuqiang, director of global climate solutions at the China office of WWF, said developing nations were making a "heroic" effort to reduce carbon. He added that governments in richer countries used the excuse of democracy to claim it was "politically impossible" to make bigger cuts.

He said China would suffer more than any other country as a result of climate change, but it was unlikely to shift direction on emissions any time soon.

"China emits most carbon in the world. We don't want this hat, but we may have to wear it for many more years," he said.

The Chinese state council is currently debating a major new plan for renewable energy and there is speculation that it will also announce a carbon intensity target in its economic plan for the first time, but they have yet to show their hand ahead of Copenhagen.

President Hu Jintao is expected to outline some measures at a major United Nations summit on climate change next week.

Until now, Beijing has focused its efforts on technological development. Dai said this was a hope, though it was a wild card.

"Technological innovation is hard to measure," he said. "Nobody could imagine in the 1960s that everyone would have a cellphone and internet access."

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Tackling climate change could earn Africa $1.5 billion

Kylie MacLellan, Reuters 16 Sep 09;

LONDON (Reuters) - Using Africa's vast agricultural resources to help tackle climate change could earn the continent $1.5 billion a year, a World Bank head said on Tuesday.

The region should also tap its underexploited renewable resources, particularly hydropower, to meet increasing energy demand and boost both growth and development.

"It is essential that climate change be viewed as a major development opportunity for Africa given the anticipated increase in the energy requirements as growth accelerates," the Bank's managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told a public lecture at the London School of Economics.

"Agricultural carbon sequestration could generate annual revenues of close to $1.5 billion," she said, adding that agricultural land management would need to be included in future climate pacts so Africa could benefit from the carbon market.

Carbon sequestration is the uptake and storage of carbon, for example by trees and plants which absorb carbon dioxide.

By 2030 an estimated 5.5-6 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent a year could be mitigated by agriculture with about 89 percent achieved by soil carbon sequestration, according to a U.N. climate change paper on agriculture last year.

Okonjo-Iweala added that only 8 percent of the continent's hydropower was currently being exploited, and that increasing the used of its renewable resources would help Africa meet growing demand for energy as growth picks up.

But she acknowledged climate change was also a big challenge for the continent, as rising temperatures mean the agricultural sector -- which employs around 70 percent of Africa's population -- is hit by more frequent droughts and flooding.

Although economic growth across Africa averaged over 5 percent a year between 2001 and 2008, it is expected to be below 3 percent this year as the global economic turmoil has hit trade and foreign direct investment.

Speaking about the challenges facing Africa as it at aims to get back on its pre-crisis growth trajectory, Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian foreign minister and minister of finance, said the continent needed to focus on labor intensive sectors, such as manufacturing, in order to accelerate growth.

"In many cases (the previous growth) didn't create jobs at a rate fast enough to absorb the large numbers of youths coming onto the job markets," she said, adding that attracting Chinese manufacturers could help tackle this problem.

"China is moving up the value chain in terms of its production and manufacturing, costs are increasing ... companies that are experiencing higher costs will find it profitable to relocate their plant and equipment to the (African) continent."

(Editing by Jon Boyle)

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Global investors call for binding climate policy

Timothy Gardner, Reuters 16 Sep 09;

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Banks, pension funds and other investment groups representing more than $13 trillion in assets called for a strong global agreement on climate policy on Wednesday, saying it would lead to a flood of investment into the low-carbon economy.

"Without the policies to encourage clean energy, investors are stuck at the starting gates," Mindy Lubber, the president of Ceres, a Boston-based coalition of investors and environmentalists, and the director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk.

More than 180 investor groups called for a global target of emissions reductions of 50 to 85 percent by 2050, including higher cuts by wealthy countries, and plans in developing countries to make measurable emissions reductions.

Many investors have complained that until climate policies are agreed upon it will be hard to finance and invest in billion dollar projects such as nuclear or natural gas-fired power plants.

The investors also called for revisions to the United Nation's Clean Development Mechanism, a Kyoto protocol program, that allows polluters in rich countries to claim emission cuts by investing in clean projects such as small hydropower and alternative energy in developing countries.

The call for action came ahead of a climate conference at the United Nations next week in which global leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and China's President Hu Jintao, are slated to talk about tackling climate change. The meeting is seen as a chance for leaders to break a deadlock between rich and poor countries on how to share the burden of cutting emissions blamed for global warming.

The gathering will come ahead of a U.N. meeting in Copenhagen in December where 190 countries aim to hammer out a new agreement to the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012.

In addition, the U.S. Senate hopes to pass its version of the climate bill that the House narrowly approved in June. The future of the bill is uncertain however.

Deep divisions between rich countries and rapidly developing ones such as China and India could keep a deal at Copenhagen at an arm's length.

Lubber said investors will keep up the pressure should the U.S. climate bill and global agreement fail this year.

"The plan is to stay the course and try harder next year, should there be no deal," she said.

Nicholas Stern, a former British Treasury official and World Bank chief economist, said the fact that the leaders of the top two greenhouse polluters, China and the United States, were coming to next week's U.N. meeting was a sign of progress. He said the Copenhagen meeting could at least end with a basic framework of where to go in the future, if no deal is struck.

Several European banks were among the investor groups calling for climate action, but there were fewer U.S. banks. Lubber said the U.S. banks were not as far along as European banks in recognizing climate change risks but were beginning to catch up, because they recognize opportunities in investing in alternative energy and efficiency.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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Global warming may bring tsunami and quakes: scientists

Richard Meares, Reuters 16 Sep 09;

LONDON (Reuters) - Quakes, volcanic eruptions, giant landslides and tsunamis may become more frequent as global warming changes the earth's crust, scientists said on Wednesday.

Climate-linked geological changes may also trigger "methane burps," the release of a potent greenhouse gas, currently stored in solid form under melting permafrost and the seabed, in quantities greater than all the carbon dioxide (CO2) in our air today.

"Climate change doesn't just affect the atmosphere and the oceans but the earth's crust as well. The whole earth is an interactive system," Professor Bill McGuire of University College London told Reuters, at the first major conference of scientists researching the changing climate's effects on geological hazards.

"In the political community people are almost completely unaware of any geological aspects to climate change."

The vulcanologists, seismologists, glaciologists, climatologists and landslide experts at the meeting have looked to the past to try to predict future changes, particularly to climate upheaval at the end of the last ice age, some 12,000 years ago.

"When the ice is lost, the earth's crust bounces back up again and that triggers earthquakes, which trigger submarine landslides, which cause tsunamis," said McGuire, who organized the three-day conference.

David Pyle of Oxford University said small changes in the mass of the earth's surface seems to affect volcanic activity in general, not just in places where ice receded after a cold spell. Weather patterns also seem to affect volcanic activity - not just the other way round, he told the conference.

LONDON'S ASIAN SUNSET

Behind him was a slide of a dazzlingly bright orange painting, "London sunset after Krakatau, 1883" - referring to a huge Asian volcanic eruption whose effects were seen and felt around the world.

Volcanoes can spew vast amounts of ash, sulphur, carbon dioxide and water into the upper atmosphere, reflecting sunlight and sometimes cooling the earth for a couple of years. But too many eruptions, too close together, may have the opposite effect and quicken global warming, said U.S. vulcanologist Peter Ward.

"Prior to man, the most abrupt climate change was initiated by volcanoes, but now man has taken over. Understanding why and how volcanoes did it will help man figure out what to do," he said.

Speakers were careful to point out that many findings still amounted only to hypotheses, but said evidence appeared to be mounting that the world could be in for shocks on a vast scale.

Tony Song of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California warned of the vast power of recently discovered "glacial earthquakes" -- in which glacial ice mass crashes downwards like an enormous landslide.

In the West Antarctic, ice piled more than one mile above sea level is being undermined in places by water seeping in underneath.

"Our experiments show that glacial earthquakes can generate far more powerful tsunamis than undersea earthquakes with similar magnitude," said Song.

"Several high-latitude regions, such as Chile, New Zealand and Canadian Newfoundland are particularly at risk."

He said ice sheets appeared to be disintegrating much more rapidly than thought and said glacial earthquake tsunamis were "low-probability but high-risk."

McGuire said the possible geological hazards were alarming enough, but just one small part of a scary picture if man-made CO2 emissions were not stabilized within around the next five years.

"Added to all the rest of the mayhem and chaos, these things would just be the icing on the cake," he said. "Things would be so bad that the odd tsunami or eruption won't make much difference."

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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World's oceans warmest on record this summer

Yahoo News 16 Sep 09

WASHINGTON – The world's in hot water. Sea-surface temperatures worldwide have been the hottest on record over the last three months, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday.

Ocean temperatures averaged 62.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the June-August period, 1.04 degree higher than normal for the period.

And for August the world sea-surface average was 62.4 degrees, 1.03 higher than usual, also the warmest for August on record, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center said.

The report is based on data back to 1880.

The combined land and water temperature worldwide was 61.2 degrees, third warmest on record for the three-month period. For August it was 58.2 degrees, fourth warmest.

Climate change has been raising the planet's average temperature steadily in recent decades. All of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 1997.

___

On the Net:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

Ocean surfaces have warmest summer on record, US report finds
• El Niño contributed largely to rise in temperatures
• Average temperatures rose to 16.9C
Suzanne Goldenberg, guardian.co.uk 16 Sep 09;

The world's ocean surfaces had their warmest summer temperatures on record, the US national climatic data centre said today.

Climate change has been steadily raising the earth's average temperature in recent decades, but climatologists expected additional warming this year and next due to the influence of El Niño.

Ocean surface temperatures were the warmest for any August since record keeping began in 1880. For the June to August summer months, average ocean surface temperatures rose to 16.9C (62.5F), which is 1.04F above the 20th century average, said the report from the climate centre, which is a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The world's combined average land and ocean surface temperatures were the second warmest on record for August, and the third warmest for the summer months.

"During the season, warmer-than-average temperatures engulfed much of the planet's surface," the centre said. Australia and New Zealand had their warmest August since records began.

However, central Canada and the United States were the exceptions, with unusually cool temperatures. "In some areas, such as the western United States, temperatures were much cooler than average," the report said.

The unusually warm summer temperatures for much of the world's oceans were due to El Niño, the periodic warming of the Pacific. If El Niño strengthens, global temperatures are likely to set new records, the report said. So far, 2009 has been the fifth warmest year on record.

Some scientists have suggested that, the effects of El Niño, coupled with warming due to climate change could well make the coming decade the hottest in human history.

Nasa predicted at the start of this year that 2009 and 2010 could see the setting of new global temperature records.

The report also noted the continuing retreat in Arctic sea ice over the summer. Sea ice covered an average of 6.3m sq kilometres (2.42m sq miles) during August, according to the national snow and ice data centre. That was 18.4% the 1979-2000 average.

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