Best of our wild blogs: 5 Aug 10

monkey business (Macaca fascicularis)
from into the wild

Anatomy of Fruits?
from The Biology Refugia

Noaa: The right answer to the wrong question?
from BBC NEWS blog

The Politics of Dispersants
from NYT blog

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The Sand Smugglers: Singapore and the illegal trade in sand

Singapore's business-friendly climate has seen the country grow by leaps and bounds -- literally. But it's all based on a murky, billion-dollar illegal trade in sand.
Chris Milton Foreign Policy 4 Aug 10;

The causeway linking Singapore to the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula is normally clogged with cars and trucks making the short international journey, but things got particularly bad on Feb. 1, when traffic came to a grinding halt. Thirty-seven trucks were abandoned where they stood on the Malaysian side, just yards away from a customs checkpoint, their drivers having simply walked away. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that they were carrying an illegal substance -- but not drugs, illegal migrants, or precious jewels. They were carrying sand.

Singapore's economy quite literally rests upon maintaining a huge and continuous supply of sand -- and smuggling has become a multibillion-dollar trade, driving a huge web of corruption and theft in a country renowned for honest business practices and corporal punishment.

The tiny island nation, one of the 20 smallest states in the world, has enjoyed a phenomenal economic boom since the 1980s. In the space of only 30 years its population has doubled and its GDP has exploded by more than 1,000 percent (making it now the wealthiest country in Asia). Singapore's economic success is largely based upon the phenomenal growth in its services industry. The country has taken advantage of two factors: its ability to process silicon for use in microchips and electronics, and its positioning as a regional business hub within Asia, connecting industrial leaders and business executives from across the continent.

But the boom times have come at a cost. The country has, quite literally, run out of space. Since Singapore's independence in the 1960s, its land area has grown from 581.5 to 710 square kilometers. By 2030, the country plans to expand by another 70 square kilometers. That would see Singapore's land area grow 30 percent from its original size, giving it the same area as New York City.

This added girth requires dumping a mind-boggling quantity of sand into the ocean, in what is known as land reclamation projects. To reclaim 1 square kilometer of land from the sea, up to 37.5 million cubic meters of sand are needed -- the equivalent of filling three and a half Empire State Buildings. Singapore's main airport is built almost entirely on reclaimed land, and one of the largest recent projects is the aptly named Marina Bay Sands project, a five-star hotel and casino on Singapore's shoreline whose major investors include the owners of the Las Vegas Sands Corp.

There are two types of sand generally used for land reclamation projects: sea sand, which is dumped into the ocean as filler, and river sand, which has a far finer granularity and is a central ingredient in concrete, which Singapore uses in vast quantities to fuel its monumental building program.

Although Singapore is itself an island nation, it ran out of its own sand many decades ago. Today the entire island consists of urban areas or protected-environment sanctuaries. This shortage has fueled a massive industry, worth at least $1 billion between 1998 and 2008. And it's only growing: In 2008 alone, according to its own figures, Singapore imported more than $273 million worth of sand, more than any other country in the world. But these numbers -- which account for only the legal trade in sand -- are only the tip of the iceberg.

This insatiable need for sand has created a slew of problems not often associated with this by-the-book country, which is rated by Transparency International as the third-least corrupt country in the world, behind only Denmark and New Zealand. In recent months, however, a number of illegal sand excavation activities have been traced back to Singaporean companies. Whether this smuggled sand entered Singapore through government collusion or willful ignorance is hard to ascertain, but questions are increasingly being asked about how much officials really know about the quantity and provenance of sand imports.

Until recently, the vast majority of it has come from right next door: Malaysia, which lies less than half a mile away across the Singapore Strait. And that's odd, as Malaysia has had a blanket ban on the export of river and sea sand for more than 10 years, since it discovered that materials for its own land reclamation projects were being illegally diverted to Singapore.

There are no hard figures regarding the extent of the illegal trade between Malaysia and Singapore. The best official figures available come from the United Nations' Comtrade database, which lists countries' declared trade figures for a variety of commodities. But even a cursory comparison of its data shows that something is drastically amiss. For example, in 2008, Singapore declared it had imported only 3 million tons of sand from Malaysia -- yet Malaysia's figures show that a staggering 133 million tons of sand were reportedly exported to Singapore despite the 10-year blanket ban.

It's hard to say whether either figure is accurate, but it's clear that vast quantities of Malaysian sand are being smuggled into Singapore. A recent report by the Malaysian civil servants union estimates that 41 percent of Malaysia's officials are involved in some form of corruption. Mohamad Khir Toyo, the former governor of Malaysia's most prosperous state, Selangor, has even insinuated that his successor is allowing the illegal trade to continue unhindered. "Sand is being stolen every day, and not a single lorry has been seized and no one has been charged," he said in May. "I suspect certain leaders from a certain party … are protecting the culprits."

In June, an investigation by the Malaysian newspaper the Star blew the lid off the sand smuggling trade. The paper's reporters followed a Malaysian dredging company working on the Johor River, about 50 miles inland from the Singapore Strait. The company had won a transport license by claiming it was shipping extracted sand internally, to the Malaysian ports of Tanjung Pelepas or Danga Bay. The shortest route to the destination, however, took ships through Singaporean waters. Once the sand was extracted, the barges sailed downriver to the Malaysia-Singapore border and passed through customs. The barges never made it to the claimed destination -- they simply stopped at the Singaporean jetty of Pulau Punggol Timur, presented freshly forged paperwork, and unloaded their cargo.

The newspaper estimates that around 3 million cubic meters of river sand have followed this route since 2007, making smugglers a cool profit of $77.8 million. Understandably, the Malaysian government is not pleased, having been deprived of $11.5 million in tax revenues. But the million-dollar question is how such massive shipments are able to reach Singapore without anyone being the wiser. For its part, the Singaporean government flatly denies that it condones the import of illegal sand.

"The documentation that sand suppliers are required to show include licenses to dredge or extract sand at specific sand locations in the source countries, draft survey reports, and bill of loadings," K. Senbagavalli, a spokeswoman at the Singaporean Ministry of National Development, said in an interview. "[We verify with] sand concession holders of source countries regularly that the documentation provided by the sand suppliers is authentic and accurate.... To date, the sand vendors have all been able to provide valid documented evidences of clearance from the source countries."

But this oversight depends on reliable paperwork -- and reliable officials -- throughout the supply chain. If corruption is as rife as it appears to be within Malaysia, the documents are not worth the paper they're printed on.

Although the black market Malaysian trade appears to be thriving, Singapore's addiction requires far more sand than one country can provide. And Indonesia, a vast and sprawling archipelago of more than 17,000 islands (the nearest of which to Singapore lies about six miles to the southeast), has jumped headlong into the breach. Many of Indonesia's islands that lie within easy reach of Singapore have few or no inhabitants -- and Singapore has taken advantage of this geography, going so far as to wipe some places entirely off the map.

Rapacious exploitation, which saw up to 77 percent of the world's sand dredgers operating in seas between Indonesia and Singapore, soon took its toll. By 1999, some islands had been mined so extensively that plans were being drawn up for sea walls to protect inland citizens from rapid erosion and rising seas. In 2003, Nipah island, which lies on the Singapore-Indonesia border, disappeared completely under the waves, "with only 3 to 4 palms trees visible to mark the island's location," according to the local NGO Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia.

Indonesia's export figures show that, in the five years before 2002, it shipped at least 150 million tons of sea sand to Singapore in total. But the black market probably accounts for at least double this figure: In 2003, smugglers excavated and shipped an estimated 300 million cubic meters of sand, worth $2.5 billion. In 2007, following Malaysia's lead, the Indonesian parliament issued a blanket ban on sea sand exports. It was completely ignored, even by the Indonesian government. Over the past five years, a further 24 islands are believed to have disappeared under the waves. Even if officials were serious about stamping out the trade, it's simply too easy to steal sand from Indonesia's thousands of miles of unguarded coastlines. All any would-be thief has to do is pick a remote spot where large and loud dredging equipment won't be easily spotted and work quickly under the cover of darkness. They can return to Singapore safely within a matter of hours and, using forged documents, unload the cargo.

And yet Singaporean officials still profess ignorance. Beyond the enormous variance in official import-export figures, there's simply no getting around the fact that Singapore's land mass has grown by leaps and bounds -- so the landfill is certainly coming from somewhere. Thus far, they've managed to escape the repercussions for a willing complicity in this trade by feigning surprise at bogus paperwork. For the time being, the trade is making all players happy and rich.

Singapore is poised for a bright future: It is booming economically and has positioned itself as a world leader in urban sustainability. But to fulfill that promise, however, it must first swallow an unpalatable truth -- that its prosperity has come at the cost of it neighbors' corruption and environmental destruction. Size isn't everything; the country's sterling reputation is now at stake.

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PUB launches e-games to educate children on the importance of water preservation

Milton Sau Channel NewsAsia 4 Aug 10;

SINGAPORE: National water agency PUB has launched two online games on their website as it marks the fifth anniversary of its mascot, Water Wally.

Children can learn to conserve water resources through these games.

One game teaches them to use water wisely while the second stresses the importance of keeping the reservoirs clean.

Director of PUB's 3P Network George Madhavan said the games will enhance their sustained efforts in school outreach programmes to encourage children to value water resources.

Water Wally was created in 2005 to raise the public awareness on water issues. - CNA/vm

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More sea turtles landing in Cherating

New Straits Times 5 Aug 10;

KUANTAN: Turtle conservation in Cherating has shown positive results as more landings are recorded every year and about half the number are females hatched at the sanctuary.

Efforts taken by the authorities since 1980s have increased the landings from about 100 in the late 1990s to 252 last year.

To date, 252,184 turtle hatchlings have been released at the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary and 18,596 were hatched last year.

State Fisheries Department director Datuk Mohamad Mat Saman said this was a significant achievement for the turtle sanctuary as it had maintained an average of 260 turtle landings per year for the past 10 years.

He added that a sanctuary in Tioman was also collecting and hatching about 6,000 turtle eggs every year.

Almost all the turtles that land in Cherating comprise the agar species (green turtle) while in Tioman, 60 per cent consist of green turtles. The remaining are penyu karah or hawksbill turtles.


"We receive support from the locals, especially fishermen and their families, who help collect turtle eggs and send them to the sanctuaries," Mohamad said.

He was speaking after the launch of a turtle awareness programme by Kuantan district officer Datuk Mariam Ismail at the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary near here yesterday. Present were Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (Tumec) head Syed Abdullah Syed Abdul Kadir and AquaWalk Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Simon Fong.

Mohamad said the number of dead turtles found in the state had dropped to two last year compared with 15 in 1999. Although there was no report of turtle eggs being sold in the state, he said the department had proposed a fine of RM500 as a deterrent.


At the event, four young green turtles were released into the sea, with one of them fixed with a satellite telemetry tracking device. The turtles were raised at the Aquaria KLCC after they were hatched at the turtle sanctuary in Cherating four years ago.

AquaWalk had donated the satellite tracking system while Tumec will bear the cost of the satellite connection service.

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Rare dolphins threatened by boat strikes, fishing gear

WWF 4 Aug 10;

Sydney, Australia: A new study by WWF into one of the world’s rarest and most threatened species has found two out of three snubfin dolphins in Roebuck Bay near Broome, Western Australia have been injured by boat strikes and fishing gear.
Snubfin dolphins are Australia’s only endemic dolphin species and are found only in Australia’s tropical northern waters. The species was not known to exist before 2005, when it was first scientifically described.

Of 161 snubfin dolphins identified in coastal waters around the tourist town of Broome, 124 were photographed and a staggering 63 per cent bore scars from vessel strikes, fishing nets and fishing lines.

Small whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as ‘small cetaceans’) are disappearing from the world’s oceans and waterways as they fall victim to fishing gear, pollution, and habitat loss – compounded by a lack of conservation measures such as those developed for great whales, according to a 2009 WWF report.

Small Cetaceans: The Forgotten Whales revealed that all small cetacean species for which the population trend is known are in decline, and inadequate conservation measures are pushing them toward extinction.

Small cetaceans fulfill a critical role in their environment, stabilising and ensuring a healthy and productive ecosystem. They also are part of the highly profitable whale and dolphin watching industry, which generates around US $2.1 billion each year worldwide.

“It’s startling to think that a rare population of Australia’s only native dolphin species would be carrying such a high number of injuries,” said Lydia Gibson, WWF-Australia’s spokesperson on tropical marine species.

“The area where these dolphins feed and breed is a hotspot for boating and fishing. Human activity is having a massive impact on the resident population of these rare dolphins.”

WWF researchers discovered the high incidence of snubfin dolphin injuries by chance as they documented the species in and around Roebuck Bay.

The study’s findings did not include snubfin dolphins that may have died from their injuries (unrecoverable due to strong tides, sharks and other scavengers), meaning the proportion of strikes could be far higher.

“Roebuck Bay’s shallow waters are popular for recreational boating activities. On top of this, coastal development, petroleum exploration, tourism and fishing increase the number of vessels in the area and add to the risk of these dolphins being injured,” Ms Gibson said.

ING DIRECT, Australia’s largest online bank, has funded WWF’s snubfin dolphin campaign since 2007, working closely with the conservation organisation on its snubfin projects, including the release of the latest report.

“It’s remarkable that of 12 international whale and dolphin injury studies, Australia manages to top the list as the country with the highest injury rate to dolphins species,” said David Breen, Head of Corporate Affairs, ING DIRECT.

“This new research shows that human activities are having a huge impact on the snubfin dolphin’s survival. We are dedicated to working with researchers to understand more about these remarkable creatures, to help safeguard them long into the future.”

Among many suggested reforms to help protect this population of snubfin dolphins, the WWF study recommends:

• Implementing speed limits of 5 knots around creeks, mangroves, seagrass and shallow areas of Roebuck Bay;
  
• Warning boaters to maintain a lookout for dolphins and other wildlife, and slowing to avoid them;
  
• Urging fishermen to recover monofilament line and nets, and not to fish inside mangrove areas due to high risk of line entanglement;
  
• Educating the public and asking them to help photograph and document local snubfin dolphins.

“Reform to boat regulation is critical to the snubfin dolphin’s survival,” said Ms Gibson. “Simple actions can help remedy this problem in Roebuck Bay.

“However, it is just as important for state, territory and federal governments to uplist the current conservation status of the snubfin dolphin to ‘threatened’, and rapidly identify and protect ‘hotspots’ of snubfin dolphins across northern tropical Australia.”

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Corridor Of Life For Sabah's Endangered Wildlife

Emin Madi Bernama 2 Aug 10;

KOTA KINABALU, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- The protected wildlife in Sabah is set to see better chances of survival, thanks to the `corridor of life' introduced by the Sabah state government.

The corridor of life is not only aimed at creating more forest for the wild animals to move about but also to complement the state government's goal of ensuring that 55 per cent of Sabah's total area has green cover.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the program would involve rehabilitation of the riparian reserve to create a passage for the wild animals to move about.

"Many people, especially owners of oil palm estates, plant crop right up to the river bank, thus blocking the passage for the wild animals," he told Bernama.

Riparian forest is a forested area adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary or canal that allows fragmented forest to be connected.

CORRIDOR OF LIFE

"We will be rehabilitating this area (riparian reserve) and we have given alternatives to all land owners to stop farming on riparian reserve because when they farm right at the river's edge, wild animals, especially elephants are unable to cross the river," he said.

The corridor of life is currently the focus in the Kinabatangan district, in the interiors of Sabah, which will involve the acquisition of a vast area to create the riparian reserve.

"We are buying up the land little by little and as far as possible we try to encourage Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to raise fund themselves because we want the ownership to be shared by everyone.

Masidi noted that the implementation of the programme would be done in collaboration with the state Wildlife Department and the Land and Survey Department, the two department with enforcement powers.

EXTINCTION

"Enforcement means if for any reason a farmer or plantation company encroaches into the riparian reserve, they have actually committed an offence under the Land Ordinance.

"So that enforcement will be done by the Land and Survey Department," he said.

The whole idea of the corridor of life is to allow wild animals to move from one place to another to search for food and also to give them the opportunity to propagate.

"Animals are increasingly losing their habitat and are being pushed further into the jungle and worse still, the opening up of land leads to the fragmentation of forests.

"Therefore, it becomes a problem for the animals to move from one place to another to look for food and when they encroach into plantations they become the target of planters and poachers," he said adding that sun bear is one of the most endangered species in the state.

FOREST RESERVE

Masidi pointed out that the Malua Forest Station with an area of 144,320 hectares (328,000 acres) is one of the state's most significant conservation programme dedicated for the wild animals.

"We also have the Danum Valley and the Wild Animal Sanctuary at Sepilok covering 5,000-6,000 hectares.

"About 50 per cent of the forest in Sabah is already protected and we are rehabilitating another two per cent of logged area to turn them into protected areas," he said.

The government's long term objective is to make sure 55 per cent of the state remains covered with jungle. In order to do that the state government will increase the number of forest reserve.

In fact, the State Assembly's sitting last April approved another 10,000 hectares of forest reserve and that is the surest way of saving the wild animals.

"The other one, we have also introduced planting limits preventing people from planting right on the river bank. Many people know that but plantation owners plant up to the river bank, thus blocking the passage for the animals," he said.

"So if people ask what have we done to save Sabah's endangered species, we have provided them the natural habitat so that they can multiply without the fear of being hunted or threatened.

"We want the next generation to have the opportunity see the sight of these animals in their natural habitat and not in history books or in some animal books. I think we need to leave a good legacy for our future generations," he said.

PROTECTED SPECIES

According to the Sabah's Wildlife Department, the endangered species are mostly found in the Tabin Wildlife Forest in Lahad Datu and Ulu Segama, about 400km from the state capital. Others wander in various part of the state.

Its Director Laurentius N. Ambu said the deer is the protected species most in danger of being hunted for its meat, skin or horn.

Other protected species like the elephants, Sumatran rhinoceros, Orang Utan and monkeys, including proboscis, are killed mostly because they encroach into farmland.

Sabah is divided into four major wildlife habitat types, they are coastal and mangrove forest, dipterocarp forest, heath limestone forest and montane forest.

Under the State's Wildlife and Conservation Enactment 1997, wild sanctuaries are the strongest conservation category for fauna, flora and genetic resources and habitat.

-- BERNAMA

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Forestry moratorium may hit Indonesian mining projects

Business Times 5 Aug 10;

Indonesia has drafted rules for a 2-year ban on forest clearing permits

(JAKARTA) Several coal and mining projects in Indonesia with a combined value of US$14 billion may face delays as a forest moratorium could make it harder for them to obtain forestry land-use permits, mining associations said yesterday.

Newmont Mining Corp, BHP Billiton, and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, are among the companies whose projects in Indonesia may be affected, officials said.

Newmont's Indonesia unit has plans to develop the Elang copper reserve in Sumbawa island, while BHP Billiton has the Maruwai coal project in Kalimantan, and Freeport operates the giant Grasberg copper mine in Papua.

Indonesia has drafted rules for a two-year ban on permits for forest clearing, after signing a US$1 billion climate aid deal with Norway aimed at avoiding greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation.

One of the clauses in the draft states that permits to convert peatland and natural forests that have already been issued will continue to be valid.

However, another section states that 'there will be an assessment of the economic impact and revocation of permission to convert peatland and cessation of issuing new permits'.

The moratorium, if applied, would make it harder for miners to obtain forest land-use permits and they may risk having their existing forest permits revoked, said Priyo Pribadi Soemarno, executive director of the Indonesia Mining Association.

'We support the moratorium but we see an attempt to review permits that have been awarded and this is negative for investment,' Mr Soemarno told reporters on the sidelines of a mining seminar, adding that there are more than eight mining projects with a combined value of US$14 billion which may face delays.

'This means existing projects will face obstacles to proceed. Investment that has been planned may be delayed,' he said.

'Freeport also may face problem as it still needs to process its forestry permit to develop Grasberg,' he said.

Freeport owns 90.64 per cent of PT Freeport Indonesia, which operates the huge Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua province, while the Indonesian government owns the remainder.

Indonesia's forestry ministry in February said it has asked Freeport to submit a request to use land in a protected forest area.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has vowed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 41 per cent from business as usual levels by 2020.

The vast majority of Indonesia's emissions are caused by the clearing of carbon-rich natural and peatland forests so curbing deforestation is seen as a quick win.

Daniel Murdiyarso, senior scientist at the West Java-based Center for International Forestry Research said the moratorium on the issue of new permits to clear natural and peatland forests could affect many production forests.

'So if your mining concession is intersecting with production forest then it's very likely they will be affected. Most of the mining sectors, especially coal, will be affected.'

Indonesia has said existing permits would be honoured but Mr Murdiyarso said it was unclear if the exemption applied if the firms planned to clear the forest after the moratorium comes into effect in January 2011.

There was a risk that the delayed start date could act as a perverse incentive to clear before 2011.

'It could be 'hurry up, hurry up!'. It's hard to stop people doing that while the chance is still there,' he said, adding that industry may pressure the government to be more flexible about the new ban. -- Reuters

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China to invest 15 billion dollars in green cars

Yahoo News 4 Aug 10;

SHANGHAI (AFP) – China plans to invest more than 100 billion yuan (14.8 billion dollars) over the next decade to boost the development of energy-saving vehicles, state media reported Wednesday.

The country aims to become the world's top market for green autos with annual sales and production of more than 15 million units, the Shanghai Securities News said, citing an industry ministry proposal.

Of the subsidies 50 billion yuan will be used to support development of energy-efficiency and alternative energy technologies, the report said

The draft plan is likely to be submitted to the State Council, or cabinet, for approval by the end of the month, the newspaper said.

China said in June it would subsidise purchases of alternative energy vehicles in five cities including Shanghai on a trial basis amid efforts to reduce emissions, save energy and spur the development of green technology.

It has also announced plans to offer subsidies of 3,000 yuan for purchases of cars that have 1.6 litre or smaller engines and consume 20 percent less fuel than current standards.

China To Invest $15 Billion Over 10 years For Green Autos: Paper
Fang Yan and Ken Wills PlanetArk 5 Aug 10;

The Chinese government will invest more than 100 billion yuan ($14.8 billion) to subsidize its fledgling environmentally friendly car industry over the next 10 years, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.

According to a draft plan worked out by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 60 billion yuan will be invested in the development of energy-saving technologies, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

The remainder is earmarked to fund the construction of infrastructure to support energy-saving vehicles in select cities, among other projects, it said.

The government also wants to foster three to five major makers of energy-efficient cars and two to three parts makers that can supply them, it added.

Beijing unveiled plans in June to offer nationwide subsidies of 3,000 yuan for purchases of cars with 1.6 liter engines or smaller and that consume 20 percent less fuel than current standards.

The programme is estimated to cover more than 4 million such vehicles by 2012, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, said.

China will also hand out subsidies to buyers of electric cars and plug-in hybrid models in five select cities, including Shanghai.

The move is aimed at raising consumer's interest in cars that use less energy and create less pollution than traditional models, but it is unlikely to jump-start the fledgling industry in the short term due to high battery costs as well as inadequate charging and maintenance networks in the country, analysts said.

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Saudi Arabia to seek compensation for climate pact oil losses

Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing nations stake claim to projected $19bn losses if oil production declines due to global climate deal
John Vidal guardian.co.uk 4 Aug 10;

Saudi Arabia, which has the world's largest oil reserves and earned nearly $300bn in fossil fuel exports last year, will seek financial compensation for any loss it incurs if and when production declines after a new climate change agreement is reached.

The move, which was confirmed by UN officials at the UN climate talks in Bonn this week, matches demands made by the world's poorest countries for money to adapt to climate change.

Saudi Arabia and some other Opec oil-producing countries claim that they will have to adapt their economies to a world which uses less oil and say they could lose as much as $19bn a year if countries are forced to cut fossil fuel use. Their argument is that they have only oil and sand as resources and it would be unfair to penalise them. Saudi Arabia first raised the idea of compensation for lost oil revenues at climate talks in Bangkok last year, in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate summit.

The principle of compensation for countries economically or socially affected by climate change has been established in the UN talks, but there is deep unease that the country which first denied man-made climate change and has long fought a new climate agreement should benefit from money intended to help poor countries.

Delegates from Aosis, the Alliance of Small Island States, this week said that it was "absurd" to allow Saudi Arabia to claim adaptation money.

"It goes against the spirit of the talks, which is to help the poor adapt to something they did not cause," said one diplomat who asked not to be named.

"Besides, the small pot of money expected to be made available [by rich countries] would be seriously diminished if countries like Saudi Arabia are allowed to claim," he said.

Saudi Arabia's plan to claim money is also questioned following a major study by the International Energy Agency last year which found that oil-producing countries would not lose money for many years. This was strongly disputed by the Saudi delegation.

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Cash-strapped Philippines government battling storm loans

IRIN Reuters AlertNet 4 Aug 10;

MANILA, 4 August 2010 (IRIN) - The perennially cash-strapped Philippines government is struggling with massive loans tied to climate change mitigation efforts after storms struck the country late last year, officials said.

Multilateral lending institutions, as well as the UN and foreign governments, lent the Philippines US$1.09 billion to address disasters blamed on climate change, according to data obtained by IRIN from the Senate's environment committee, which is now looking into how the funds were spent and whether repayments could affect the country's budget.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who is heading the inquiry, said funds to help the Philippines get back on its feet after tropical storm Ketsana and typhoon Parma in late 2009 should come in the form of grants and not loans tied to certain conditions.

The back-to-back storms killed more than 1,000 people and affected more than 10 million, according to government data. A third typhoon, Mirinae, exacerbated the emergency situation in October; most of those affected belonged to the third of the country's 92 million who live on less than $1 a day. [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89921]

Not our doing

"We must stop the current practice of seeking concessional loans even as they come with very low interest rates from developed economies for our adaptation and mitigation efforts," Enrile told reporters recently.

"We must also avoid foreign grants that impose conditions for the same purposes. If it becomes necessary for us to borrow money from foreign lenders, we must see to it that project loans are not blended with climate-related programme loans."

He said the government must instead ensure that climate change be a key priority reflected in the national budget.

"The tremendous damage we suffer due to the effects of climate change is not our own doing," Enrile said. "[It arises] from acts done by developed and industrialized countries. We are the victims, why should we pay back monies and assistance that they extend to us for adaptation and mitigation measures?

"Instead of loans and charitable grants, developed countries must pay actual compensation to developing countries," he said.

Little left in fund

The controversy over the loans comes as the Philippines is grappling with its cash position, with President Benigno Aquino admitting shock after finding out upon assuming office on 30 June that last year's typhoons had nearly depleted the country's disaster fund of $44 million.

"Of this minuscule amount, at a time when the rainy season has yet to set in, 70 percent was already spent," Aquino said, adding that the funds were mismanaged by the previous administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who stepped down after nine years in power.

Part of the problem is that funds from donors were also partly used to bridge the huge budget deficit, according to evidence uncovered by the Senate. For instance, a 150 million euro ($198 million) loan from Agence Française de Développement was spent to service the deficit, which had risen by 12.1 percent in the first three months of the year to $3.04 billion.

"At the very least, 20 percent of the loan should have been earmarked for its intended purposes, especially at this time when the country is beginning to experience another season of violent typhoons and storm surges," said Heherson Alvarez, who heads the Climate Change Commission.

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Climate deal loopholes 'make farce' of rich nations' pledges

New research reveals carbon emissions from rich nations could actually rise under loopholes in the proposed UN climate deal
John Vidal guardian.co.uk 4 Aug 10;

Rich countries have been put on the back foot after new research showed that current pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions could be wiped out by gaping loopholes in the UN climate change treaty put forward in Copenhagen last year.
Developing countries have argued strongly for minimum 40% emission cuts from industrialised nations by 2020. But new analysis from the Stockholm Environment Institute and Third World Network (TWN), released at the latest UN climate talks in Bonn, showed that current pledges amounted to only 12-18% reductions below 1990 levels without loopholes. When all loopholes were taken into account, emissions could be allowed to rise by 9%.

The research factored in four separate loopholes that are known to exist, but which countries have so far failed to address in the negotiations. These include land use and forestry credits, carbon offset credits gained from UN Clean Development Mechanism schemes, surplus carbon allowances accumulated by former Soviet countries and international aviation and shipping emissions, which are not currently included in emission reduction schemes proposed by countries.

"Industrialised countries pledged a modest reduction in their emissions at the Copenhagen talks last year, but the these loopholes would actually allow them to grow them substantially well into the future," said Sivan Kartha, senior scientist at the Stockholm Institute.

"This means they [rich nations] need not do anything to hold emissions. They could accumulate huge amounts of credits to continue business as usual," he said.

"The more we look into the loopholes the worse it gets. The whole thing begins to look like a farce", said Lim Li Lin, a legal specialist with TWN.

In a separate submission to governments, Pablo Solon, Bolivia's ambassador to the UN, claimed that industrialised countries were filling all the available atmosphere with carbon pollution, and preventing poor countries from developing. Solon quoted peer-reviewed research by leading Nasa scientist Jim Hansen and the German government's Advisory Council on Global Change which, he said, showed that the world had a "budget" of 750 gigatonnes of CO2 over the next 40 years if it sought a 66% chance of holding temperature rises to under 2C. The world had a smaller budget of just 420GT of CO2 if it wanted to stay below 1.5C, as more than 100 countries have so far demanded.

"With the current pledges on the table, we have calculated that the Annex 1 (industrialised) nations are going to spend the whole [carbon] budget of the next 40 years in the next 10 years," Solon said. "What is on the table has no relation to any target that [rich countries] have established. It is like a salary. If you spend it all in the first week then you have nothing left for the rest of the month."

"Copenhagen demonstrated disastrously low levels of ambition and rich countries are trying shamelessly to wriggle out of even the weak commitments they have made," said Asad Rehman, international climate change campaigner at Friends of the Earth. "The science is clear. Developed countries must stop trying to hide behind technicalities hidden in the negotiations," he said.

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