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Govt rejects dredging claims
Cheang Sokha and Sebastian Strangio, Phnom Penh Post 27 Oct 09;
ASENIOR official has denied that a large-scale sand-dredging operation in Koh Kong province is responsible for plummeting fish catches.
More than 300 fishermen from three districts gathered in Koh Kong town on October 19 to call for authorities to halt the operation, which they say has jeopardised thousands of local livelihoods.
“There is no oil spilling into the seawater that is causing the death of the fishes as the villagers are claiming,” said Lim Kean Hor, minister of water resources and meteorology and the chairman of the government’s commission on sand-dredging, which visited Koh Kong this week.
“All dredging operators are only authorised to operate in the estuaries with the full inspection of the commission.”
In March, the Post reported that thousands of tonnes of sand were being removed from coastal estuaries in Koh Kong and exported to Singapore as part of a joint venture between the Hong Kong-based Winton Enterprises and the LYP Group, reportedly owned by CPP Senator Ly Yongphat.
Local residents, however, remain unconvinced of the government’s oversight.
“The people who complained about the dredging operation are living in the area” and affected by it, said Ros Math, the chief of Group IV village in Dang Tung commune. “The company continues to dredge all day and sometimes at night as well.”
Paul Ferber, founder of Marine Conservation Cambodia, said that the past six months had seen a “huge increase” in the number of Koh Kong fishing trawlers detained by local authorities in Preah Sihanouk province, apparently driven south by declining fish catches.
“The word from the fishermen is that there is nothing to catch in the waters around Koh Kong. They’re struggling to keep their catches up,” he said.
Environmentalists say sand-dredging carries a high risk of long-term degradation to coastal areas.
“We are worried about the dredging of sand from Cambodia [and its export] to other countries,” said Om Savath, programme manager at the Fisheries Action Coalition Team, adding that the use of large pumps to remove sand from the sea bed could have a “strong” impact, including the disruption of fish spawning grounds.
Lim Kean Hor confirmed that 14 sand-mining concessions have been granted in coastal areas in Koh Kong, Preah Sihanouk and Kampot provinces.
The licences were awarded despite a ban on sand exports announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen in May and July this year.
Our role in creating clean transport
Success in widespread adoption of electric vehicles calls for unprecedented levels of partnership and cooperation
Marc Pomerleau, Business Times 28 Oct 09;
WHEN we see the latest concept electric vehicles under development, it is hard to believe that the electric car as an idea is in fact not new. In 1832, the Scottish inventor Robert Anderson invented the first crude electric carriage powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.
Eighty years later, Henry Ford introduced the mass-manufactured Model T, a vehicle developed in response to the demand to travel farther distances and the advent of the combustion engine powered by then cheap, newly discovered Texas crude, a development that would undermine the advancement of the electric vehicle as a viable commercial product; until now.
It would be a great understatement to say that the world has changed dramatically since the early days of the automobile. Yet much of the current mindset in the halls of power, both in government and industry, remains locked in a paradigm that has lost its relevance today.
What started as embryonic industry oil today has become the most profitable and powerful commodity and lobby the world has ever seen.
While the development of the oil industry has yielded tremendous advancements in so many areas of technology, our resulting dependence has brought with it an array of catastrophic impact.
Everything is connected
Most of the attention for or against clean energy solutions, such as the electric vehicle, centres on the debate around global warming as a real and present danger to the future of our planet and its people. Less talked about, but perhaps even more immediate in terms of threat, is the chokehold that our dependence on foreign oil has on our ability to make free and intelligent choices on how we manage both our political and economic future.
Both global warming and the need to break our addiction to a commodity approaching scarcity are converging. People are waking up after decades of denial. There is now scientific agreement on the gravity of problems we have created. The will to affect change is here. We know what must be done. We have the technology and know-how to apply it. Amidst all this change, both in circumstances and in the availability of relevant technologies, execution remains elusive. Something is missing.
Our prosperity has led us to forget what the ancients always knew: Everything is connected. Such is the evidence of how we came to face the problems we are confronting today. Now, the solution to our dilemma is no different - everything is connected. As I speak with the representatives of all the critical components required to transform our transportation system from an outdated, polluting system based on an addiction to a finite commodity controlled by the few to a near-zero carbon system based on cheap electricity, the silos of self-interest and limited thinking still exist.
The Plug-in Singapore 2009 conference will bring together all the critical voices needed to build an electric vehicle future not only for Singapore and the Asia Pacific but the entire planet. Plug-in Singapore 2009 is about an entire ecosystem of what is required to affect real change through the creation of an economically viable infrastructure that supports clean technology transportation, reduces the demand for a price-unpredictable and finite commodity (oil), and improves the quality of life for all.
So where do we stand today? Electric vehicles are rapidly coming on line, thanks in large part to the auto companies who are responding to grassroots efforts for alternatives to gas-powered vehicles and genuine concerns about the price of oil and the long-term viability of the combustion engine. However, widespread adoption and the transformation we require depend on the creation of supporting infrastructure.
Success rests on creative policy and the political will to make it happen. If the auto companies want to sell electric vehicles then they will also need to advocate for the creation of electric vehicle infrastructure for the consumers of these vehicles. In order to deploy an electric vehicle-charging infrastructure, the power companies must work with policymakers to develop micro grids specifically designed for this purpose.
All of this requires unprecedented levels of partnership and cooperation, and commitment fuelled by clear understanding of the critical nature of a common goal to working together to create a sustainable existence that recognises that everything and all of us are connected. With this support, policies will be put into place, consumers will be considered, electric vehicles will sell and reach critical mass and satisfy the needs of our planet and our people. We must always keep on top of the mind the big picture.
Let us remind ourselves of what is at stake:
# The combustion engine is responsible for 10 per cent of the total carbon output worldwide every year. Of particular concern is that this number is growing fast every year.
# In order for petrol-powered vehicles to reach cost parity with current electric vehicles, oil must drop to below US$10 per barrel. The reality is we are hostage to Opec which controls the world price for this finite commodity with prices that have fluctuated between just under US$40 and US$150 per barrel in just the last five months of 2008.
# Independence from the oligarchy of oil would reduce global conflict, create greater political transparency, stimulate new industry and free up resources to invest in new technologies.
Transformation to an electric vehicle world is the next imperative step in our technological and human development. It is our collective responsibility to take innovative steps together.
Absolute necessity
Plug-in Singapore 2009 is dedicated to move clean transportation into reality. The Singapore event is a major step for South-east Asia. It represents the first-ever conference that will host delegates and representatives from the three major legs of the stool that will make this vision a reality: industry (auto makers, component makers, power providers); the policy sector (government bodies such as Energy Market Authority, Land Transport Authority, Ministry of Trade and Industry, standards bodies and foreign governments); and consumers, whom all of you and your children represent.
Let us remember, clean transportation is not merely an attractive preference. Clean transportation is an absolute necessity. Clean transportation is not a hypothetical possibility. It is, if we are to survive, an absolute inevitability, an inevitability that requires all of us to take an active role in its creation. It is precisely challenges such as this that the human spirit and the highest angels of our nature were designed to conquer.
Such herculean tasks keep us humble while also offering opportunities to demonstrate our greatness. Now is the time. We each have a role to play. Let us unconditionally commit to creating a future we all know in our hearts must become reality.
The writer is the CEO of Cleantech Agency. He will be speaking at the upcoming Singapore International Energy Week 2009 (Nov 16 to 20), at the Plug-in Singapore 2009 conference
Evelyn Choo, Channel NewsAsia 27 Oct 09;
SINGAPORE: Singapore has welcomed a state-of-the-art recycling bin at the HortPark. Unassuming at first glance, the reverse vending machine – a common sight in Japan and Europe – is the first in Southeast Asia.
Rudy Fang, director of Recycle Management Enterprise, said: "We want to introduce this reverse vending machine to more people in Singapore. Let the public know that there's such a machine (that gives a) fantastic, fun, rewarding recycling experience. We want to help the government and the public build a recycling culture."
The machine compresses recyclable materials like used drink cans and plastic drink bottles. It has light sensors which determine the deposited object's shape, weight and material, and will reject the object if it does not comply with configured settings.
The cost of each unit is between S$30,000 and S$60,000, and the importers of the recycling bin have big aspirations.
"We have a big dream. In ten years, we'll probably end up setting up recycling centres in Singapore, which will be able to take a different kind of waste, not only cans and bottles. They can probably take glass or other plastic materials," said Fang.
While you will not be seeing these machines on the streets anytime soon, you can try them out at the Clean and Green Carnival at the HortPark this weekend. By depositing recyclable items, one can get a receipt in exchange to take part in a lucky draw.
More information on the carnival is available at the Clean and Green Singapore 2010 website.
- CNA/so
Pop, clunk, and your can's recycled
Straits Times 27 Oct 09;
POP a used plastic bottle into these reverse vending machines at the Clean and Green carnival this weekend, and you get a lucky draw coupon to win prizes such as refrigerators and air-conditioners.
But pranksters beware, these recycling machines are smart enough to reject foreign items or bottles which are still full.
Three of these machines will make their debut here on Friday and have been programmed to take in only aluminium or steel cans, as well as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles commonly used for drinks. Other items will be rejected and ejected through an opening.
These machines are able to recognise the items by their material, weight and even barcode. And when an item is accepted, a ticket will be dispensed and the bottle or can is then compacted within the machine.
While such contraptions are more commonly found in countries such as Japan and the United States, they are believed to be the first in South-east Asia, said director of Recycle Management Enterprise Rudy Fang, who brought in the machines.
He hopes organisations such as schools, shopping malls and private companies will bring in more of these machines, which cost between $30,000 and $60,000, to make recycling 'more fun' and to encourage a recycling culture.
The Clean and Green carnival, organised by the National Environment Agency, will be held at HortPark off Alexandra Road from Friday to Sunday. The machines can be found at the recycling point along the Green Product Fair walkway.
Yahoo News 27 Oct 09;
KATHMANDU (AFP) – Tigers will become extinct unless the international community unites urgently to find new strategies to ensure their survival, campaigners and scientists in Nepal said Tuesday.
Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal told the opening of a conference of 200 delegates from 20 countries that action by individual countries would not succeed.
"Global and regional solidarity and collective strategies armed with concrete actions are more necessary now than ever," he said, adding that poaching and habitat loss posed the most serious threat to tigers' survival.
Tiger hunting is illegal worldwide and the trade in tiger parts is banned under a treaty binding 167 countries, including Nepal.
But endangered species attract huge sums of money in China and elsewhere in Asia, with their body parts used in traditional medicines and aphrodisiacs while their skins are used for furniture and decoration.
Wildlife experts say a single tiger skin is traded for a maximum of about 1,000 dollars in Nepalese markets, but at least 10,000 dollars internationally.
World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who sent a video message to the forum, said that illegal activities of traders and poachers were "better organised" than policy makers and conservationists.
"At present the illegal trade in wildlife is estimated at over 10 billion dollars (annually) across Asia -- second only to weapons and drug smuggling," he said.
Mahendra Shrestha, programme director of the US-based Save the Tiger Fund, said only 3,200 tigers survived in the wild, down from 100,000 a century ago.
"We need strong law enforcement and regional cooperation," he said.
Nepal expands critical tiger habitat
WWF 27 Oct 09;
Kathmandu, Nepal - The Government of Nepal announced today an expansion of Bardia National Park in the Terai Arc Landscape by 900 sq km, which will increase critical habitat for tigers.
WWF welcomes the announcement, which was made at the inaugural session of the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal also stated that the government would establish a National Tiger Conservation Authority as well as a Wildlife Crime Control Committee saying, “The solutions will be area specific, but the future of conservation will depend upon how we act now and how we make tiger conservation and overall biodiversity much more valuable to the livelihoods of local communities.”
“This is indeed a great conservation initiative, which will certainly help in curbing illegal wildlife trade and poaching in Nepal,” said Anil Manandhar, Country Representative of WWF Nepal. “We are confident that by embracing innovative conservation strategies Nepal will succeed in doubling its number of endangered tigers.”
Earlier this year the first ever nation-wide estimate of the tiger population revealed the presence of 121 breeding tigers in the wild within four protected areas of Nepal. In order to ensure that these tiger numbers remain stable and start to increase, WWF and its partners called on the government to increase anti-poaching activities and habitat protection.
“In making these commitments at a global forum before the 12 other tiger range countries, the Government of Nepal has set an important precedent for others to follow,” said Mike Baltzer, Leader of WWF’s Tiger Initiative. “The next three days of the workshop are vital as countries and tiger experts band together to create a game-changing plan to save tigers in the wild.”
The Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop is the first in a series of political negotiation meetings occurring throughout the year and leading up to a final Heads of State Tiger Summit in September 2010, which is the Year of the Tiger.
The workshop is hosted by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal, co-organized and co-sponsored by the CITES Secretariat, Global Tiger Forum, Global Tiger Initiative, Save The Tiger Fund, World Bank.
World's tigers seen facing potential extinction
Gopal Sharma, Reuters 28 Oct 09;
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Tigers could become extinct in the wild in two decades unless the world ramps up conservation efforts to halt the decline in their population, wildlife experts said on Wednesday.
Barely 3,500 tigers are estimated to be roaming in the wild in 12 Asian countries and Russia compared with about 100,000 a century ago, experts and conservationists said.
Tigers are being illegally killed for their body parts and Asia is a hotspot for the illegal wildlife trade which the international police organization Interpol estimates may be worth more than $20 billion a year.
Skins sell as rugs and cloaks on the black market, where a skin can fetch up to $20,000 in countries like China.
Habitat destruction and depletion of prey base were other perils facing the "Asian heritage", conservationists said.
"A business as usual approach in tiger conservation will doom the tiger population in the next 15 to 20 years," Mahendra Shrestha, program director of the Washington-based Save the Tiger Fund told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference on tiger conservation.
He said law enforcement, patrols to stop poaching and the preservation of remaining habitat would improve the situation.
"There is hope. We can do it. It is not rocket science. It does not require a lot of new activities," Shrestha said.
"But there has to be strong political will to conserve tigers and also strong global international support for the activities of the tiger range countries."
Tigers still roam terrain in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
John Seidensticker, chief scientist at the Smithsonian National Zoo's Conservation Ecology Center, said tiger habitat had declined by 40 percent in the last decade due to destruction of forests.
"Our challenge is to make landscapes with tigers alive worth more than landscapes where tigers have been killed," Seidensticker said. "I think we have a decade from where we will slip from being caretakers to undertakers."
(Editing by Bappa Majumdar and Ron Popeski)
Tiger experts call for urgent action to save species
WWF 30 Oct 09;
KATHMANDU, Nepal – More than 250 experts, scientists and government delegates from 13 tiger range countries this week called for immediate action to save tigers before the species disappears from the wild, citing the urgent need for increased protection against tiger poaching and trafficking in tiger parts.
WWF welcomes the recommendations from the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop 2009, where organizers on Thursday stated in closing remarks that “without immediate, urgent, and transformative actions, wild tigers will disappear forever.”
The recommendations from the workshop include support for implementing a resolution related to tigers in the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), and to avoid financing development projects that adversely affect critical tiger habitats.
“These are a good start but the momentum from Kathmandu needs to be carried forward all the way to the Tiger Summit during the Year of the Tiger 2010 and beyond,” said Mike Baltzer, head of WWF’s Tiger Initiative. “The tiger range countries are clearly committed to saving their wild tigers and the world needs to extend unstinting support to this mission because once tigers are gone, they’re gone forever.”
There are only about 3,200 tigers left in the wild and WWF’s goal is to double that number by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger. Tiger populations are declining in face of massive poaching for illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss and fragmentation, and conflict with humans.
“I am convinced we are on the right road to saving tigers,” said Dr. Eric Dinerstein, WWF’s Chief Scientist, in his closing remarks to delegates from 20 countries at the conclusion of the meeting. “We will look back on this meeting as the dramatic turning point for conserving this magnificent species, its habitats, Asian biodiversity, and the billions of people who depend upon healthy natural landscapes for which tigers are the talisman.”
The Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop is the first in a series of political negotiation meetings occurring throughout the year and leading up to a final Heads of State Tiger Summit in September 2010, which is the Year of the Tiger.
The workshop was hosted by Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal, and co-organized and co-sponsored by the CITES Secretariat, Global Tiger Forum, Global Tiger Initiative, Save The Tiger Fund, and the World Bank.
WWF 27 Oct 09;
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: Almost 1000 hectares of degraded land in the area designated Heart of Borneo is to be restored as orangutan habitat, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between WWF-Malaysia and the State of Sabah yesterday.
The five year memorandum for the project - made possible with RM4.35 million ($US 1.27 million) grant from the ITOCHU Corporation of Japan - was signed during a regional forum on ‘Enhancing forest eco-systems and corridors within the Heart of Borneo
The 967 hectare area is in the North Ulu Segama landscape of Sabah, where some orang-utan populations had become isolated due to a combination of the natural barrier of the Ulu Segama River and logging and other activities.
Poor quality habitat is expected to lead to further organgutan population declines.
Opening the forum, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, said the State was very serious about conserving its forests and very committed to the Heart of Borneo, adding that 250,000 hectares of forest had already been set aside for conservation.
However, he said financing remained a crucial subject. To this end he thanked the Malaysian Federal government for its contribution of RM5 million ($US 1.47 million) to the Sabah Forestry Department to kick-start programme implementation - but indicated more help was needed.
“It is the hope of the Sabah state government that ‘friends’ from European countries and the USA can lend support to this endeavour,” he said.
WWF’s Heart of Borneo Initiative Leader, Adam Tomasek, congratulated the Sabah state government’s commitment to the Heart of Borneo and emphasised his gratitude to Japan’s ITOCHU Group for its generous contribution.
“These funds are vital for the restoration of a high priority landscape and long-term viability for orangutans. Healthy forest ecosystems are a priority for the three country Heart of Borneo initiative, and Sabah is providing a strong leadership example of working with the international community to realize this goal”
"ITOCHU's support is a clear sign of Japanese interest in the Heart of Borneo and as host of the 2010 UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference we look forward to profiling this growing partnership between governments and private sector," Mr Tomasek said.
MoU signed for restoration of Orangutan Habitat in Heart of Borneo (HoB)
WWF 27 Oct 09;
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, October 27 - A five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between WWF-Malaysia and the Sabah state government has been signed to restore 967 hectares of degraded land in the North Ulu Segama landscape, for the enhancement of orangutan habitat within the Heart of Borneo.
The MoU for the project - made possible with RM4.35 million contributed by ITOCHU Corporation of Japan - was signed during a regional forum on ‘Enhancing forest eco-systems and corridors within the Heart of Borneo in Sabah, Oct 26-27.
Opening the forum, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, said the State was very serious about conserving its forests and very committed to the Heart of Borneo, adding that 250,000 hectares of forest had already been set aside for conservation. However, he said financing remained a crucial subject. To this end he thanked the Malaysian Federal government for its contribution of RM5 million to the Sabah Forestry Department to kick-start programme implementation - but indicated more help was needed.
“It is the hope of the Sabah state government that ‘friends’ from European countries and the USA can lend support to this endeavour,” he said.
WWF’s Heart of Borneo Initiative Leader, Adam Tomasek, congratulated the Sabah state government’s commitment to the Heart of Borneo and emphasised his gratitude to Japan’s ITOCHU Group for its generous contribution.
“These funds are vital for the restoration of a high priority landscape and long-term viability for orangutans. Healthy forest ecosystems are a priority for the three country Heart of Borneo initiative, and Sabah is providing a strong leadership example of working with the international community to realize this goal”
"ITOCHU's support is a clear sign of Japanese interest in the Heart of Borneo and as host of the 2010 UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference we look forward to profiling this growing partnership between governments and private sector," Mr Tomasek said.
Hotli Simanjuntak and Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post 27 Oct 09;
Deforestation in Aceh has continued to worsen despite the signing of a logging moratorium that prohibits anyone from felling forest trees, a non-governmental organization said.
According to a report from Greenomics Indonesia (GI), Aceh has in recent years lost more than 200,000 hectares of forested areas, felled on a massive scale to meet the demand for timber for reconstruction programs following the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the province on December 26, 2004.
"The reconstruction process in Aceh has sparked illegal logging that has severely damaged forest cover. In just three years of reconstruction Aceh has lost around 200,000 hectares of its forests.
This is the fastest rate of deforestation in the world," said GI program coordinator Vanda Mutia Dewi on Monday.
According to Vanda, forest damage in Aceh had taken place despite the moratorium declared by Governor Irwandi Yusuf.
Based on a GI survey, forests took the most damage in areas most affected by the tsunami, especially along the west coast of Aceh, where during the reconstruction process, around 60,000 hectares of forest had been logged.
The worst damage occurred on Simeulue Island in South Aceh, where almost around 44,000 hectares of forest had been converted into oil palm plantations.
According to Vanda, illegal logging remained prevalent in Aceh following the end of the reconstruction program. Illegally felled timber is instead being smuggled into neighboring North Sumatra.
Vanda expressed hope that the Aceh provincial administration would be able to enforce the logging moratorium as well as consider the timber needs of residents living near forests.
Acting Aceh Legislative Council Speaker Hasbi Abdullah said environmental damage in Aceh had reached a point of grave concern, due to illegal logging.
According to Hasbi, if Aceh failed to halt illegal logging, in three to four years time it would suffer massive ecological damage that would threaten the livelihoods of everyone in the province.
Separately in Jambi, Batanghari Regent Syahirsyah S.Y. strongly condemned illegal logging, which had depleted forests in the regency, despite the fact that it is still covered by about 216,000 hectares, which accounts for around 42 percent of the regency's total area.
The remaining forested areas have further decreased due to illegal logging of natural forests.
"The practice of illegal logging has worsened and accelerated forest damage," he said.
About 118,000 hectares of Batanghari regency's 216,000 hectares of forested area is devoted to legal production forests.
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 27 Oct 09;
The government has warned local authorities to carefully review all carbon brokerage firms offering incentives such as huge financial benefits from the forestry sector for engaging in carbon trading.
Forestry Ministry official Wandojo Siswanto said over the weekend that many carbon brokers were now directly approaching regents and mayors, asking them to sign memorandums of understanding (MoU) to develop projects under the REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) scheme.
"They offer pledges that say the regencies or cities will get a lot of money from REDD projects but they provide no programs," he told a journalist training program in Bogor, West Java, on Saturday.
"Regents and mayors in Kalimantan and Sumatra have been offered such promises. The brokers who claimed to be carbon developers launch intensive campaigns to convince regents to sign the MoUs. But at the moment not a single cent goes to local administrations."
Wandojo said the brokers would then sell the MoUs on the international market as part of an elaborate money-making scheme.
The training, which aims to raise awareness of the Copenhagen climate conference in December, was jointly organized by WWF-Indonesia and the Society of Indonesian Environmental Journalists (SIEJ).
Wandojo, who is also head of the country's representative group for the forestry sector at the international climate change conference, declined to name the brokers involved, saying there were at least 20 international carbon brokers in Indonesia's forestry sectors.
"There are misperceptions about the REDD, particularly among local administrations who see carbon trading as something that could earn them some income. It makes it easy for the carbon traders to convince the regents and mayors," he said.
Wandojo admitted his office could not do much to resolve the problems since the regional autonomy had handed forest management to the local authorities.
The Copenhagen conference is likely to agree on REDD, an alternative scheme to cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow the onset of climate change.
Indonesia was the first country to issue a regulation on REDD, allowing indigenous people, local authorities, private organizations and businesspeople, both local and foreign, to run REDD projects.
Under the regulation, permits for REDD projects would only be granted to people who are certified to control forests.
The Aceh administration reportedly canceled an MoU with a carbon broker just minutes before its signing ceremony last year.
Delegates from all over the world are slated to gather in Copenhagen in December to decide on whether the REDD should be included in the new global climate agreement.
The new agreement would replace the existing Kyoto Protocol on emissions cut targets, which will expire in 2012.
Doddy Sukadri from the National Council on Climate Change (DNPI) said REDD projects had the potential to help the country cut about 2.3 million tons of emissions by 2030.
"But a lot of crucial issues related to the REDD scheme remain unresolved. We can look at difficult issues, especially regarding the scheme's financial sources, during the climate change conferences this year," he said.
The government has said that the REDD could be effective in Indonesia if the main drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, such as illegal logging and forest conversions, could be addressed properly.
With about 120 million hectares of rainforest, Indonesia is the world's third most heavily forested nation.
However, the deforestation rate is still high. About 1.08 million hectares is cleared each year by rampant illegal logging and forest fires.
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 27 Oct 09;
Greenpeace has set up a "climate defender camp" in Indonesian rainforest to protect forest from deforestation to help deal with the climate change.
The camp, placed in Kampar Peninsula in Sumatra, was aimed to bring urgent attention to the role that deforestation plays in driving dangerous climate change, a critical issue to be addressed at the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit in December.
“We are taking up position at the front line of forest and climate destruction to tell world leaders that to avert climate chaos they must tackle deforestation here and now,” Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace South East Asia forest campaigner said in his statement.
He said that would remain there for several weeks.
He said that much of forest that once surrounded the Peninsula has been destroyed to make way for plantations, largely for products like paper and palm oil, which are transported worldwide and used to make chocolate, toothpaste and so-called ‘climate-friendly’ biofuels.
Greenpeace is also calling on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to give the climate some breathing space by instigating moratorium on any further destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests or carbon rich peat soils they grow on.
Greenpeace asks EU to help Indonesia protect forests
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 28 Oct 09;
From its “climate defender camp” in Riau, Greenpeace Indonesia has called on world leaders to help Indonesia protect its forest and to cut emissions in its fight against climate change.
The Greenpeace activists placed two large banners with portraits of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy in a peatland area in Riau ahead of the European Union leaders’ summit scheduled for Thursday in Brussels.
“The EU has accumulated a historical carbon debt by fuelling deforestation and forest degradation abroad. It is now the responsibility of European leaders to commit to substantial public funding to stop the last remaining tropical forests from going up in smoke,” Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace South East Asia forest campaigner, said in a statement.
Indonesia hosts the world’s third largest forested area with about 120 million hectares of rainforest. But the country also has the highest deforestation rate in the world with about 1.08 million hectares lost to widespread illegal logging, forest fires and farmland conversion.
Indonesia has promised to cut its emissions from the forestry sector by 26 percent by 2020.
“President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s words [on emissions reduction target of 26 percent] are a sign of hope for the millions of people who are already suffering the impacts of climate change,” Shailendra Yashwant, campaign director for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said.
“He needs financial assistance from developed countries to turn his commitments into action. The EU leaders must show leadership as he has and put their money where their mouth is.”
Retailers complicit in environmental damage caused by industry, World Wide Fund for Nature says
Martin Hickman, The Independent 28 Oct 09;
Most British manufacturers and retailers including Boots, Morrisons and Waitrose have done little to limit the environmental damage done by the production of the world's cheapest vegetable oil, according to research published today.
In a survey of leading European food and household firms, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said that only Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer and a handful of other companies had made substantial progress towards sourcing sustainable palm oil.
Continental retailers came out worst in the survey of 59 firms, with many French, German and Dutch chains making no effort to prevent the huge problems caused by the oil's production.
Palm oil is found in chocolate, biscuits, cereals, soap, shampoo and dozens of other products, but is also widely used as a bio-fuel for cars and power stations. While providing much needed income for developing countries, it has led to severe deforestation, human rights abuses and loss of endangered wildlife in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Orangutans, the arboreal great apes now restricted to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, are threatened with extinction because of the loss of their habitats. Deforestation – of which palm oil is the biggest cause in Indonesia and Malaysia – also generates 20 per cent of global climate change emissions.
The WWF disclosed that 40 of the 59 companies had not bought any oil certified sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (Rspo) – which sets environmental standards for the £16bn-a-year industry, the most important of which is a ban on planting new oil palms in virgin forests.
Of 25 UK companies, 14 had not bought any Rspo oil – Aldi, Associated British Foods, Croda international, Boots, Warburtons, Britannia Food Ingredients, Waitrose, Morrisons, Jordans Ryvita, Northern Foods, Reckitt Benckiser, Co-op, Premier Foods and Tesco. Out of a maximum of 29 points, WWF scored them between 0 and 16.
However, seven British firms were among the best 10 performers Europe-wide, including Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer and Cadbury. Among foreign companies, Nestlé, ranked mid-table, this week committed to switching to 100 per cent Rspo oil by 2015.
The WWF said it hoped the naming and shaming would raise awareness of palm oil's environmental damage and encourage companies to act. Presently, companies have bought only 19 per cent of the 1.3m tonnes of certified oil.
The WWF believes palm oil will grow in importance in coming years, because production is forecast to rise by up to 10 per cent annually and the only place palm oil can be grown is in the tropics, home to the world's great rainforests.
"The top-scoring companies have shown what's possible, with some buying substantial quantities of certified oil, but now it's a question of whether the majority will follow," said Adam Harrison, WWF's senior policy officer for food and agriculture. "If they do, it will transform the market, giving producers the confidence to grow more sustainable palm oil. If they don't, there will be grave consequences for the environment."
Waitrose said it recognised the importance of the issue and expected to make progress in the next 12-18 months, while Morrisons said: "We are working with our suppliers to ensure palm oil used as an ingredient in our own label products comes from sustainable sources."
Lidl said it was working towards securing a sustainable supply by 2015, while Warburtons said that in addition to joining the Rspo it would take advice from the WWF on sustainable sourcing. Boots said it used only a small amount of derivatives that were not commercially available, "hence our score in this report which we do not feel reflects our commitment to this subject".
Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury's, which sources sustainable oil for its fish, biscuits and soap, said: "Much more work now needs to be done, and it is vital that other retailers and food manufacturers follow our lead to ensure that the rainforests are preserved for future generations."
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
* Established in 2003, the RSPO aims to stop environmental damage from palm oil. But not enough companies are paying the extra 10 to 20 per cent per tonne for this greener supply.
* By mid-2009, certified plantations were able to produce 1.75 million tons – one third of the EU's palm oil use. By this month, only 200,000 tonnes had been traded – 5 per cent of Europe's annual consumption.
Most European palm oil buyers fail sustainability test
WWF 27 Oct 09;
Gland, Switzerland – The majority of European palm oil buyers are failing to buy certified sustainable palm oil, despite its availability and the previous commitments by many companies to purchase it, according to a first assessment by WWF.
WWF’s Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard, released today, scored the performance of 59 of the most prominent retailers and manufacturers in Europe that buy and use palm oil in their products. The Scorecard comes as the world’s largest producers, buyers, and traders of palm oil gather for the 7th Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, held Nov. 2-4 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Scorecard reveals that 10 of those 59 companies have scored 20 or more points, and thus are considered by WWF to be showing real progress on their commitments to buy and use sustainable palm oil. They have joined the Roundtable, properly monitored their palm oil purchases, and have put in place and started to take action on commitments to buy certified sustainable palm oil.
WWF has been asking buyers of palm oil to commit to the RSPO since 2003, and while some of these companies show encouraging signs of stepping up their commitments and actions on sustainable palm oil, the majority of companies are not. 19 of the 59 companies scored between 0 and 3 out of 29 possible points, meaning that they have taken very little or no action to curb their use of non-certified palm oil and are failing to respond to the efforts that palm oil producers have made to achieve certification under the Roundtable
Meanwhile, a range of 28 companies scored between 5 – 20 points. While a few are showing progress many of these have only just begun to take action on responsible palm oil. While some have put policies and systems in place, often they have yet to start buying certified sustainable palm oil.
“WWF welcomes the action of those companies that have moved toward buying certified palm oil,” said Rod Taylor, Director of the Forests Programme at WWF International. “Although many companies have a long way to go, the performances of the top companies in the Scorecard signal to the rest of the industry that it is possible to turn commitment into action and transform the market.”
Further actions by these companies will be captured in the next version of the Scorecard, scheduled for 2011.
“However, WWF also acknowledges that even the top scoring companies in the Scorecard need to continue to raise their game if they are to use certified palm oil for 100% of their palm oil supply, which is the stated objective of many of these companies.”
“Because certified palm oil is now available, it is time to hold major palm oil users to account for their policies and actions,” Taylor said.
The growing demand for palm oil is adding to the already severe pressure on remaining rainforest areas of the world. The loss of forest in Indonesia is threatening the survival of species such as the orang-utan, the Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant. Forest loss and the draining of peatlands for palm oil plantations is also contributing to climate change and displacing local people who rely on the forest for food and shelter. Palm oil is one of the world’s fastest expanding crops in Southeast Asia as well as West Africa and South America.
It is because of threats like this that WWF worked with other NGOs and the palm oil industry to set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2003. Since then WWF has worked with the industry to ensure that the RSPO standards contain robust social and environmental criteria, including a prohibition on the conversion of valuable forests. Certified Sustainable Palm Oil has been available since November 2008 and provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environmental and social safeguards have been met during the production of the palm oil.
WWF opted to grade palm oil buyers after releasing figures in May showing that only a small percentage of the sustainable palm oil available on the market had been bought. Since then, the situation is starting to improve. Over the last year, RSPO certified plantations have produced over 1,000,000 tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), and over 195,000 tonnes have been sold to date. While this still represents only 19 percent of the available supply on average, the RSPO has reported that CSPO sales have been growing in recent months.
The scoring of companies was a two-step process that took six months to complete. In the first step, WWF evaluated the performance of companies based on publicly available data, such as corporate sustainability reports. WWF then sent a preliminary score to each company with a package of information to brief companies about the Scorecard, including details on the project’s objectives and the methodology. The companies were given the opportunity to submit additional information to WWF that might improve their scores.
The Scorecard will be published every two years and eventually will expand to include palm oil buyers in other markets around the world.
WWF Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard 1.25 MB pdf
Joe Palca, NPR 27 Oct 09;
Special genes inserted into crop plants have a way of leaking into the environment. That much scientists know for sure. What they're less certain about is what effect those genes have on plants growing in the wild.
Andrew Stephenson is interested in answering that question. He's a plant ecologist at Penn State University. Plant breeders put things called transgenes into plants to give them desirable properties such as disease resistance.
"People were concerned that when the transgene escapes into the wild populations, it will provide a fitness advantage," says Stephenson.
A fitness advantage means the wild plants, with this advantageous transgene, might grow out of control, mucking up the ecosystem.
Meet The Cucurbita
Stephenson studies a wild squash plant called cucurbita, the Texas gourd. It looks like a pumpkin plant, but with smaller leaves. The fruits are about the size of a baseball or softball, they're round or slightly pear-shaped, and they taste terrible.
Cucurbita shows up throughout the American Southwest and Mexico. Stephenson wanted to know what would happen when his wild gourd picked up a transgene that's used in cultivated squash to protect the crop from plant viruses.
So he purposely created a strain of Texas gourd with the transgene, and planted some next to the same gourd that didn't have the transgene. Then he waited for spring, when aphids would bring a plant virus to the field.
Stephenson reports in the journal PNAS that as the virus spread through the field, it only affected the Texas gourd without the transgene.
Enter The Cucumber Beetle
So at first, it looked as if scientists were right to worry that the transgene might give cucurbita a fitness advantage. But then, something strange happened. After the aphids arrived in the field, along came another pest: the cucumber beetle. These beetles carry a different plant disease ... not a virus, but bacteria
"These bacteria secrete an exopolysaccharide, a kind of snotlike stuff," says Stephenson.
When the beetles eat the gourd's leaves and flowers, this snotlike stuff gets into the plant's plumbing. This first causes the leaves to wilt, and then ultimately kills the plant.
But, surprisingly, the beetles don't seem to like the taste of the virus-infected cucurbita, so they tend to chew on the healthy plants protected by the transgene.
"As the virus spreads through the susceptible plants in the field, the beetles become increasingly concentrated onto the healthy transgenic plants," says Stephenson.
Yes, the plants are protected from the virus, but that makes them more vulnerable to the bacteria.
Stephenson says no one suspected that would happen.
The Fitness Advantage
Now in this particular case, the unintended consequences aren't bad. The wild gourd apparently won't grow out of control because if the transgene gives the plant a fitness advantage, the cucumber beetle takes that advantage away.
But Norman Ellstrand, a plant geneticist at the University of California, Riverside, says that is not what's important about Stephenson's research. "We know the transgene sometimes give us unexpected effects. And when you do an experiment like Stephenson's group did," says Ellstrand, "you see how complicated ecology really is."
Yahoo News 27 Oct 09;
SYDNEY (AFP) – A Thai-based firm put off a fourth attempt to stop a major oil leak in the Timor Sea off Australia's northwest coast on Tuesday due to technical problems, some nine weeks after the spill started.
PTTEP Australasia said equipment problems forced a delay until later this week, heightening environmentalists' concerns over the site where up to 2,000 barrels of oil, gas and condensate has been gushing daily since August 21.
"We have previously stated and the industry has acknowledged this is a complex operation," said company spokesman Jose Martins.
"We are attempting to steer accurately a relief well through deep, hard rock formations. This has taken longer than expected for technical reasons and not through a lack of resources or commitment."
The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) says thousands of marine animals are under threat from the spill and the chemicals used to disperse it, with 16 seabirds dying and species including dolphins and turtles exposed to the slick.
Environment minister Peter Garrett defended the delay in plugging the leaking Montara wellhead, saying it usually took between three and four attempts to complete such a "tricky and technically challenging" task.
But local conservationists urged the government to take charge of the spill, reportedly Australia's worst in 40 years, and protect pristine ocean environments from potentially damaging drilling activities.
"The Rudd government needs to show leadership and ensure that sensitive marine areas in the Kimberley (region) are not peppered with oil and gas wells," said Martin Pritchard, director of environmental group Environs Kimberley.
"We're talking about one of the world's few remaining virtually untouched oceans. We have an international obligation to protect what remains by putting them in marine sanctuaries," Pritchard added.
The WWF last week warned that wildlife was dying and "hundreds if not thousands of dolphins, seabirds and sea-snakes are being exposed to toxic oil" after surveying the spill area, 250 kilometres (155 miles) offshore.
An official government survey is yet to deliver its findings. PTTEP Australasia has agreed to pay for environmental monitoring of the area for at least two years.
Adrian Croft, Reuters 27 Oct 09;
LONDON (Reuters) - Germany, Spain and France have expressed interest in a pioneering Ecuadorean plan not to pump oil from under a tropical forest in return for international compensation, Ecuadorean officials said on Tuesday.
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, on a London visit, called for support for the Yasuni initiative, under which Ecuador would leave 850 million barrels of oil, worth $6 billion, underground as a contribution to countering climate change.
In return for not exploiting the oil in the environmentally rich area, the OPEC-member country is looking to other countries to pay it $350 million a year.
"We are proposing to the world that we will leave that oil underground. That means giving up on $6 billion, but we would thereby avoid polluting the planet," Correa said in a speech at the Chatham House thinktank.
Not touching the oil would avoid creating 410 million tons of carbon dioxide, Ecuador says.
Ecuador has launched a diplomatic offensive to promote its plan before U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
The left-wing Correa said that so far, the only progress toward international acceptance of the plan had been a German proposal to contribute $50 million a year for 13 years.
Foreign Minister Fander Falconi said the German support was conditional on Ecuador setting up a proposed international trust fund, into which countries would pay the money, and on a second country agreeing to give financial backing to the plan.
Falconi said the Spanish government had given strong support for the plan and Yolanda Kakabadse, a member of Ecuador's Yasuni commission, said the French government had expressed interest.
RUSSIAN VISIT
No talks are planned in Britain, where Correa is on a private visit, but the Ecuadorean delegation travels to Russia on Wednesday and will discuss the proposal there, Falconi said.
Ecuador says that foregoing oil drilling in a block that overlaps the Yasuni National Park would also protect two indigenous tribes living in isolation there.
The proceeds of the initiative would be used for clean energy projects and to alleviate poverty in Ecuador.
Ecuador also has more ambitious plans to invite other developing countries with energy resources -- such as other countries in the Amazon region, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Congo -- to form a consortium.
The consortium might then propose the creation of a new tradeable instrument, similar to carbon permits, that would put a value on carbon dioxide that was not emitted because resources were left in the ground.
During Correa's trip to Russia, Falconi said Ecuador would sign a strategic association agreement to promote cooperation on investment and technology transfer.
He said Ecuador had no plans to buy arms from Russia, although he said Ecuador would complete the purchase of two Russian helicopters, a deal he said had been negotiated over the past year.
Correa is a critic of Washington and an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is building up his military with Russian weapons.
Both socialist presidents object to a deal being negotiated between Colombia and the United States under which U.S. anti-narcotics operations will be launched from Colombian bases.
(Additional reporting by Sujata Rao; Editing by Stefano Ambrogi and David Brough)
Rina Chandran, PlanetArk 28 Oct 09;
AHMEDABAD - When night falls in remote parts of Africa and the Indian subcontinent, hundreds of millions of people without access to electricity turn to candles or flammable and polluting kerosene lamps for illumination.
Slowly through small loans for solar powered devices, microfinance is bringing light to these rural regions where a lack of electricity has stymied economic development, literacy rates and health.
"Earlier, they could not do much once the sun set. Now, the sun is used differently. They have increased their productivity, improved their health and socio-economic status," said Pinal Shah from Sewa bank, a micro-lending institution.
Vegetable seller Ramiben Waghri took out a loan to buy a solar lantern which she uses to light up her stall at night. The lantern costs between $66-$112, about a week's income for Waghri.
"The vegetables look better by this light, and it's cheaper than kerosene and doesn't smell," said Waghri, who estimates she makes about 300 rupees ($6) more each evening with her lantern.
"If we can use the sun to save some money, why not?"
In India, solar power projects, often funded by microcredit institutions, are helping the country reduce carbon emissions and achieve its goal to double the contribution of renewable energy to 6 percent, or 25,000 megawatts, within the next four years.
Off-grid applications such as solar cookers and lanterns, which can provide several hours of light at night after being charged by the sun during the day, will help cut dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the fourth biggest emitter's carbon footprint, said Pradeep Dadhich, a senior fellow at energy research institute TERI.
"They are reaching people who otherwise have limited or no access to electricity, and depend on kerosene, diesel or firewood for their energy needs," he said.
"The applications not only satisfy these needs, they also improve the quality of life and reduce the carbon footprint."
Sewa, or Self Employed Women's Association, is among a growing number of microfinance institutions in India focused on providing affordable renewable energy sources to poor people, who otherwise would have had to stand for hours to buy kerosene for lamps, or trudge miles to collect firewood for cooking.
SKS Microfinance, India's largest MFI, offers solar lamps to its 5 million customers, while Grameen Surya Bijlee (Rural Solar Electricity) Foundation helps fund lamps and home and street lighting systems for villagers in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
"Providing electricity is a government responsibility, but it's a gigantic task and the government alone cannot do it," said Shirish Garud, coordinator of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) in south Asia.
"In many cases, the end-user has no access to conventional banking and financial services, which is why we need MFIs."
The Aryavart Gramin bank has approved loans for the installation of 8,000 solar-home-systems in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and a key grain growing region.
In Africa too, micro-loans are bringing solar systems to homes, schools and cottage industry businesses in remote regions, off-the-grid. Poor people use money they would have spent on kerosene to pay back their loans for the solar devices.
BILLION LAMPS
Hundreds of millions of people in India have little or no access to electricity. Yet demand for power by industries in a country which saw its GDP at or above 9 percent in the three years to 2007/08 has taken a toll on capacity and infrastructure.
Of the 76 million homes in India that have no access to electricity, 65 million use carbon-emitting kerosene, according to REEP. Kerosene is highly flammable and the fumes are noxious. Every year thousands of people in developing countries die from accidents involving kerosene stoves and lamps.
Developing nations now emit more than half the world's greenhouse gases and that figure is set to rise.
In India, greenhouse gas emissions are expected to jump to between 4 billion tons to 7.33 billion tons in 2031. There is no figure for India's current greenhouse gas emissions.
Its per capita emissions, estimated at 1.2 tons, are expected to rise to 2.1 tons by 2020, according to a recent government-funded study.
India adds about 10 gigawatts of power every year and is likely to see a shortfall of as much as 21,000 MW as capacity expansion fails to keep up with demand, leading to more outages. Solar power will ease some strain on the grids.
In neighboring Bangladesh, the state-owned and private sector power plants can generate between 3,700 to 4,300 megawatts of electricity a day, against a demand of 5,500 megawatts, according to the state run power development board.
With only 40 percent of the country's people having access to electricity, microfinance institutions such as Grameen Bank have made a major push toward expanding the use of solar power.
Since 2001, 350,000 solar home systems have been installed in Bangladesh and 550,000 solar lanterns have been distributed, bringing solar power to around 4 million people.
"Right now 2.5 million people are benefiting from solar energy and we have a plan to reach 10 million people by the end of 2012," said Dipal Chandra Barua, managing director of Grameen Shakti, an offshoot of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Grameen Bank which encourages the use of alternative energy.
ALTERNATIVE POWER
In India, renewable energy makes up less than 3 percent of the country's total installed capacity, with wind accounting for much of this contribution.
Investor interest in solar is growing, and a new solar plan for the country is to be unveiled by December, around the same time as a global climate change summit in Copenhagen.
In western Gujarat state, which launched its own solar mission earlier this year, mega solar parks are planned. But even here, it is microfinance that is helping power lights and stoves in rural homes and small towns, where power outages are common.
REEEP, which is developing 10 renewable energy projects with microfinancing, estimates that 234 billion rupees ($49 billion) is needed to provide solar lanterns to 65 million rural homes.
This amount is less than half of the total subsidy the government provides to make kerosene affordable for the poor.
Some of this money will come from MFIs, who face a much smaller risk on the small, short-term loans for solar appliances. REEEP, along with energy research institute TERI, is spearheading the "lighting a billion lives" campaign, which seeks to replace kerosene and paraffin lanterns with solar devices.
Launched last year with partners including the Clinton Climate Initiative, it has so far covered more than 100 villages.
Sewa's Project Urja ("energy"), with funding from U.S.-based Lemelson Foundation, partners with India's Solar Electric Light Co (SELCO) to improvise lighting and cooking devices.
"It's cheaper, healthier and it's low maintenance," said Pinal Shah, in charge of energy projects at Sewa Bank, which has disbursed more than 6 million rupees ($124,000) in loans for solar appliances to about 10 percent of its 300,000 members.
SELCO's other devices include headlamps for midwives, solar lights for farmers breeding silk worms for India's silk industry and sewing machines powered by solar power.
In the congested Jamalpur neighborhood in Ahmedabad, Salma Mohammad's small corner shop is lit by a solar-powered battery that she bought with a loan of 33,000 rupees from Sewa Bank.
"This shop has helped me raise my children," she said. "The solar battery has improved our lives, given us much to be grateful."
($1=48 rupees)
(Editing by Megan Goldin)
Steve Holland, PlanetArk 28 Oct 09;
ARCADIA, Florida - President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced $3.4 billion in grants to help build a "smart" electric grid meant to trim utility bills, reduce blackouts and carry power generated by solar and wind energy.
It was the largest award made in a single day from the $787 billion stimulus package approved by Congress. The White House said the award will create tens of thousands of jobs while upgrading the U.S. electric grid.
Republicans have heavily criticized the stimulus as wasteful spending that has done little to reduce America's 9.8 percent jobless rate.
The grants, which range from $400,000 to $200 million, will go to 100 companies, utilities, manufacturers, cities and other partners in 49 states -- every state except Alaska.
Obama made the announcement after taking a tour of an array of 90,000 solar panels that line a grassy plain of cow pastures deep in the muggy heart of Florida, apparently more panels than there are people in Arcadia.
Obama, doffing his suit coat against the heat and humidity, told a crowd the program was an important investment in the types of clean energy he would like to foster in the United States to wean the country off carbon fuels.
He said the grants would go to private companies, utilities and cities and were aimed at creating a "smarter, stronger and more secure electric grid."
"At this moment, there's something big happening in America when it comes to creating a clean energy economy," Obama said.
Carol Browner, Obama's top adviser on climate change and energy issues, told reporters that the current grid system was outdated and dilapidated.
"Not only do we need to make the current system bigger and add more watts, but we need to make it function better," she said.
"MORE THAN A FACE-LIFT"
The grants will not be used to build new power lines, but improve the capabilities of the electrical system. "I would say it's more than a face-lift," Browner said.
The money will pay for about 18 million smart meters that will help consumers manage energy use in their homes, 700 automated substations to make it faster for utilities to restore power knocked out by storms and 200,000 smart transformers that allow power companies to replace units before they fail, thus avoiding outages.
The winning companies have secured an additional $4.7 billion in private money to match their government grants, creating $8.1 billion in total investment in the smart grid.
One of the winning companies is Constellation Energy's Baltimore Gas and Electric Co, which will receive $200 million in grants to add to $250 million in private funds to deploy a smart meter network for all of its 1.1 million residential customers.
Constellation Energy chairman Mayo Shattuck said the new technology would put the country on the brink of the "greatest transformations of the electric grid ever."
"This technology allows consumers to have the opportunity to reduce their bills and it allows utilities to increase their efficiency," Shattuck said.
The White House will act fast to get the money into the economy, with the funds expected to be in the accounts of the winning companies within 60 days. The projects themselves will last 12 to 36 months.
BGE customers can use the meters to view their electricity use in real-time, allowing them to run appliances when there is less demand on the grid and power prices are cheaper.
Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas and Electric Co subsidiary will get $28.1 million on top of the $32 million it plans to spend to connect 1.4 million smart meters.
(Editing by David Storey)
Obama unveils historic power grid reform
Yahoo News 27 Oct 09;
ARCADIA, Florida (AFP) – President Barack Obama Tuesday announced the largest modernization of the US electricity grid in history, in a 3.4-billion-dollar bid to launch a new era of renewable energy consumption.
The president toured the largest solar energy plant in the United States to unveil the program, under which 100 firms, manufacturers, utilities and cities were awarded grants worth from 400,000 to 200 million dollars.
The new plan will help build a nationwide "smart energy grid" to cut costs and improve reliability of the creaking system.
"We need to do more than just add solar megawatts to this electrical grid," Obama said, against a backdrop of rows and rows of solar panels sown like vines in the fields at the DeSoto solar energy plant in Arcadia, Florida.
"This grid... still runs on century-old technology. It wastes too much energy and costs us too much money and it's too susceptible to outages and blackouts."
Obama compared the current US electricity grid, plagued by breakdowns and outages to the national roads system built during the 1920s and 1930s.
Carol Browner, Obama's special assistant on energy and climate change predicted the program would have a "transformational impact on how electricity is generated, delivered, and consumed."
"We have a very antiquated system in this country. We need to upgrade that system, we need to modernize that system, and with it will come tremendous benefits for consumers and for our environment."
The grants keep a campaign promise from Obama's 2008 election campaign and are drawn from his 787-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan.
The program is in line with his vow to lead the global battle against bloated energy consumption and climate change, and to build a "green economy" to produce a new generation of jobs in an environmental revolution.
Administration officials battling the worst economic crisis for decades said the project would create tens of thousands of jobs and lay the foundation for a new green energy infrastructure in the United States.
The administration touted an analysis by the Electric Power Research Institute that estimated that the use of smart grid technologies could cut electricity use by more than four percent by 2030, saving 20.4 billion dollars.
Officials also said that the investment in the smart energy grid would allow companies to better draw electricity generated by solar power in the western United States and wind power from midwestern states for instance.
"I would say this is much more than just a facelift," said Browner.
"This is about really making something function in a modern way so that consumers can have better choices."
The program will also fund the installation of millions of smart meters in homes and businesses, which will help consumers regulate their own energy use.
Administration officials argue the plan will put the United States on a path to generate 20 percent or more of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
It will finance the installation of one million in-home displays, 170,000 smart thermostats and 175,000 load control devices to allow consumers to cut their energy use, the White House said.
Many of the projects are also supplemented by matching capital from private firms.
Yahoo News 27 Oct 09;
NEW DELHI (AFP) – India faces a mounting challenge to dispose of an estimated 420,000 tonnes of electronic waste a year that it generates domestically and imports from abroad, a green lobby group said Tuesday.
Priti Mahesh, senior programme officer with New Delhi-based Toxic Link, said there were no separate figures for e-waste generated by Indians and the amount imported, but the scale of the problem was growing.
"It is a major problem and growing at the rate of 10 to 15 percent annually. We think by 2010, the e-waste in India will go up to 800,000 tonnes," Mahesh told a conference on the subject in New Delhi.
Pollution control officials, who declined to give figures for the quantity of e-waste, said India had only six regular recycling units with an annual capacity of 27,000 tonnes.
The rapid advance of technology in mobile phones or televisions was behind the increase in waste, as well as increased demand from India's growing middle classes who see electronic appliances as important status symbols.
Most e-waste is dismantled by workers with bare hands that exposes them to carcinogenic metals including barium, lead, copper and cadmium, a study by the group showed.
"It's already a problem and on its way to becoming worse because 97 percent of waste gets recycled in hazardous conditions," Mahesh said.
Responding to these concerns, S. Saroj, a federal environment ministry official, said the government would bring in legislation to curb the imports of e-waste and regulate recycling.
"The draft law will be ready in the next four to six months," she said acknowledging the need for tighter control and monitoring of the sector.
Most of the waste from abroad came in the form of charity donations of old technology that finds its way to dumps or imports from countries like the United States, she said.
Michael Perry, PlanetArk 28 Oct 09;
SYDNEY - Australia needs to adopt a national policy to combat rising sea levels, which may see people forced to abandon coastal homes and banned from building beachside homes, said a parliamentary climate change committee.
The committee's report said that A$150 billion ($137 billion) worth of property was at risk from rising sea levels and more frequent storms.
Australia is an island continent with 80 percent of its 21 million people living on the coast. Authorities are split on adopting a policy of retreat or defense against rising seas.
The country's current coastal management policy is fragmented and authorities need to adopt a national policy to coordinate new coastal building codes, and relocation and evacuation plans, said "Managing Our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate" report.
Australia must examine the legal liability and insurance cover associated with property loss and damage due to climate change, improved early warning systems for extreme seas, and work to prevent the spread of tropical diseases such as dengue fever.
"The key message that emerged from the inquiry is the need for national leadership in managing Australia's coastal zone in the context of climate change," Jennie George, a government MP and committee chair, said in launching the report on Tuesday.
"This is an issue of national significance."
The report said thousands of kilometers of coast around Australia was at risk from rising sea levels and extreme weather events caused by climate change.
An estimated 711,000 homes were within 3 km (2 miles) of the coast and less than 6 meters (yards) above sea level.
Tropical Queensland state was the most at risk, with almost 250,000 buildings vulnerable. Next was the most populous state New South Wales (NSW) with more than 200,000. Coastal flooding and erosion already costs NSW around A$200 million a year.
The report called for a national policy which could see government authorities prohibit occupation of land or future building development on property due to sea hazards.
It called for building codes, including cyclone building codes, be revised to increase resilience to climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that a global rise in sea level of some 80 cm (31.5 inches) is possible by 2100.
But the report warned a mean sea level rise was not the major threat to coastal property, but more frequent storms and sea surges on top of higher sea levels posed the greatest risk.
"The gradual rise of sea level will continue to be almost imperceptible," it said. "Elevated sea levels will lead to an increase in the potential impact of extreme sea level events caused by storm surges and heavy rainfall."
(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
Australia coastal living at risk
BBC News 27 Oct 09;
Australians may have to leave coastal areas as rising sea levels threaten homes, according to a new report.
The parliamentary committee report says urgent action is needed, as seas are expected to rise by 80cm (31 inches).
About 80% of Australians live in coastal areas, and the report recommends new laws banning further development in coastal regions.
Correspondents say the authorities are divided over whether to retreat from rising seas or defend the coastline.
Coastal identity
The report, entitled Managing Our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate, urges the authorities to consider "the possibility of a government instrument that prohibits continued occupation of the land or future building development on the property due to sea hazard".
It estimates that Aus$150bn ($137bn) worth of property is at risk from rising sea levels and more frequent storms in future years.
There are almost 50 recommendations in the report, ranging from a national coastline plan and greater co-operation between different authorities to a revised building code to cope with storm surges and soil erosion.
It does not say the government should force people to move inland but proposes that an independent group look into whether the government could - and should - do just that.
Australia's major cities are all in coastal areas, as well as the homes of some six million people outside the main population centres, according to the report, which was issued late on Monday after 18 months of study.
Alan Stokes, the task force's executive director, said banning development in certain areas was necessary if the government wanted to prevent a major loss of life in the event of natural disasters such as tsunamis.
"There's no doubt Australia will remain and continue to be a coastal community," he said.
"But we may have to be a bit more considerate about which parts of the coast we develop further and which ones we don't," he added.
Last week the government reintroduced carbon trading legislation which was rejected in August and is among a package of bills aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25% by 2020.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, founded by the UN, estimates that a global rise in sea level of some 80cm is possible by 2100.
RISK TO AUSTRALIA'S COASTAL POPULATIONS
# Queensland: 250,000 buildings at risk
# New South Wales: 200,000 buildings at risk
# Western Australia: 94,000 buildings at risk
# Victoria: 80,000 buildings at risk
# South Australia: 60,000 buildings at risk
# Northern Territory: 900 buildings at risk
# Tasmania: 20% of coastline at risk
Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post 27 Oct 09;
Seaweed farmers in Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan islands, Bali, are suffering from changing sea conditions as a result of climate change.
Community development group Kalimajari, which assist seaweed farmers in Nusa Penida, said sea temperatures had increased by between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius in the last two years, causing the outbreak of a disease locally known as ice-ice, a condition that causes seaweed to decay.
“Farmers have been complaining about sea temperatures getting hotter, and have found the outbreak occurs every planting cycle,” I Gusti Agung Ayu Widiastuti, from Kalimajari, told a seminar on adaptation to climate change in coastal areas, in Sanur, Bali, on Tuesday.
She said the extreme changes in sea conditions had depleted stocks of Euchema seaweed, previously the most profitable species for farmers.
Seaweed production decreased from 500 tons in 2007 to 200 tons in 2008.
Seaweed farming is the main livelihood of people on the two islands. Normally, they earn between Rp 1.5 and 2 million each harvest period, but now they struggle to make ends meet.
Robin Pagnamenta, Times Online 27 Oct 09;
People will need to turn vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change, according to a leading authority on global warming.
In an interview with The Times, Lord Stern of Brentford said: “Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better.”
Direct emissions of methane from cows and pigs is a significant source of greenhouse gases. Methane is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a global warming gas.
Lord Stern, the author of the influential 2006 Stern Review on the cost of tackling global warming, said that a successful deal at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December would lead to soaring costs for meat and other foods that generate large quantities of greenhouse gases.
He predicted that people’s attitudes would evolve until meat eating became unacceptable. “I think it’s important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating,” he said. “I am 61 now and attitudes towards drinking and driving have changed radically since I was a student. People change their notion of what is responsible. They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their food.”
Lord Stern, a former chief economist of the World Bank and now I. G. Patel Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, warned that British taxpayers would need to contribute about £3 billion a year by 2015 to help poor countries to cope with the inevitable impact of climate change.
He also issued a clear message to President Obama that he must attend the meeting in Copenhagen in person in order for an effective deal to be reached. US leadership, he said, was “desperately needed” to secure a deal.
He said that he was deeply concerned that popular opinion had so far failed to grasp the scale of the changes needed to address climate change, or of the importance of the UN meeting in Copenhagen from December 7 to December 18. “I am not sure that people fully understand what we are talking about or the kind of changes that will be necessary,” he added.
Up to 20,000 delegates from 192 countries are due to attend the UN conference in the Danish capital. Its aim is to forge a deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to prevent an increase in global temperatures of more than 2 degrees centigrade. Any increase above this level is expected to trigger runaway climate change, threatening the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
Lord Stern said that Copenhagen presented a unique opportunity for the world to break free from its catastrophic current trajectory. He said that the world needed to agree to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to 25 gigatonnes a year from the current level of 50 gigatonnes.
UN figures suggest that meat production is responsible for about 18 per cent of global carbon emissions, including the destruction of forest land for cattle ranching and the production of animal feeds such as soy.
Lord Stern, who said that he was not a strict vegetarian himself, was speaking on the eve of an all-parliamentary debate on climate change. His remarks provoked anger from the meat industry.
Jonathan Scurlock, of the National Farmers Union, said: “Going vegetarian is not a worldwide solution. It’s not a view shared by the NFU. Farmers in this country are interested in evidence-based policymaking. We don’t have a methane-free cow or pig available to us.”
On average, a British person eats 50g of protein derived from meat each day — the equivalent of a chicken breast or a lamb chop. This is a relatively low level for a wealthy country but between 25 per cent and 50 per cent higher than the amount recommended by the World Health Organisation.
Su Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Vegetarian Society, welcomed Lord Stern’s remarks. “What we choose to eat is one of the biggest factors in our personal impact on the environment,” she said. “Meat uses up a lot of resources and a vegetarian diet consumes a lot less land and water. One of the best things you can do about climate change is reduce the amount of meat in your diet.”
The UN has warned that meat consumption is on course to double by the middle of the century.
Vegetarian diet is better for the planet, says Lord Stern
Meat wastes water, creates greenhouse gases and could become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving
David Batty and David Adam, guardian.co.uk 26 Oct 09;
Eating meat could become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving because of the impact it has on global warming, according to a senior authority on climate change.
Lord Stern of Brentford, former adviser to the government on the economics of climate change, said people will have to consider turning vegetarian to help reduce global carbon emissions.
"Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world's resources. A vegetarian diet is better," Stern said.
Farmed ruminant animals, including cattle and sheep, are thought to be responsible for up to a quarter of "man-made" methane emissions worldwide.
Stern, whose 2006 Stern Review warned that countries needed to spend 1% of their GDP to stop greenhouse gases rising to dangerous levels, said a successful deal at the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December would massively increase the cost of producing meat.
People's concerns about climate change would lead to meat eating becoming unacceptable, he predicted.
"I think it's important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating," he told the Times. "I am 61 now and attitudes towards drinking and driving have changed radically since I was a student. People change their notion of what is responsible. They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their food."
Stern, a former chief economist at the World Bank and now IG Patel Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, also warned that helping developing countries to cope with the adverse effects of global warming would cost British taxpayers about £3bn a year by 2015.
Meanwhile, an international effort to ensure that biofuel used by Britain and other western countries to tackle global warming does not damage the environment is on the brink of collapse.
The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an initiative of companies and campaigners, is divided over the need to control carbon emissions and could break up within days, insiders say.
Ministers last year introduced a demand on fuel suppliers to replace 2.5% of petrol and diesel sold with biofuel, at least 8% of which is currently palm oil.
The RSPO was established to set and enforce environmental standards for palm oil production, but has run into trouble after palm plantation companies in Indonesia and Malaysia blocked efforts to curb their greenhouse gas emissions.
"If this issue is not resolved and greenhouse gas emissions are not included in the standard, then I don't see how the RSPO can continue to act as a certifying body," said Marcus Silvius of environment group Wetlands International, who sits on the RSPO's working group on greenhouse gases.
Straits Times Forum 28 Oct 09;
I REFER to yesterday's report, "Nature lessons in the palm of your hand".
Organising a "high-tech nature ramble" at Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve is not the best way to teach students about nature. A smart phone is fun, engaging and even interactive, but the pedagogical value of any IT gadget must be considered carefully before it is adopted.
I do not doubt that smart phones are a hit with school children. However, to inculcate a love for nature, human presence and interaction are much more effective. In the first place, I doubt that a machine can impart enthusiasm, excitement and respect for flora and fauna like an impassioned human guide or teacher.
Besides, when embarking on nature walks, much more than mere content knowledge need to be imparted. Young students must learn how to handle the delicate natural exhibits, how not to startle the animals, how not to accidentally damage the fragile organisms and how to minimise noise and other pollution.
On-the-spot human demonstration and instruction are vital.
A large group of 100 children is also not an ideal way to conduct a nature ramble, and 100 smart phones emitting all kinds of sounds and signals will surely distress the birds and other inhabitants.
At a visitor centre, or at school before the excursion, the use of laptops and computers for background research is a good idea. Where a real-life walk in the park is not possible, IT gadgets also open up a world of possibilities. However, in many areas of education, few things can replace the human touch.
Sabrina Wong (Ms)
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