Best of our wild blogs: 11 Nov 10

13 Nov (Sat): "Capture the moment in Nature" A Talk on Nature Photography at Pulau Ubin from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

Overnight Trip to Pulau Jong, Pulau Semakau and Pulau Hantu from Soaring c-eagle

Butterfly Re-Introduction - Boon or Bane?
from Butterflies of Singapore

Stonefish at Tanah Merah!
from wild shores of singapore

Fascinating Moths @ FH
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Ficus villosa and birds
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Final Visits to Mandai Orchid Garden
from Macro Photography in Singapore

The shy heron
from Life's Indulgences

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Volunteerism at an all-time high in Singapore

Vimita Mohandas Channel NewsAsia 11 Nov 10;

SINGAPORE : The economic downturn last year did not affect Singaporeans' generosity.

A recent survey by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) showed that they opened their wallets even wider.

Total donations crossed the billion dollar mark at S$1.07 billion, rising more than 11 per cent from 2008, when the last survey was done.

NVPC said that while the number of donors had fallen, the amount donated had increased.

And it seems that a larger proportion of donors live in HDB flats compared to private housing.

The survey also found that the time spent on volunteering has doubled to 89 million hours in two years.

The percentage of people volunteering their time rose by a quarter to more than 23 per cent.

And more youth are stepping up, with a participation rate of 36 per cent among those between 15 and 24 years of age.

NVPC's Chief Executive Laurence Lien said this generation of youth is more socially conscious and aware of volunteer work.

On the rise in donations, Lien said during the deep economic uncertainty, people are more aware of the needs around them. - CNA /ls

Singaporeans still give despite tough times
Poll finds people were more generous with their time and money over the past two years
Radha Basu, Straits Times 12 Nov 10;

EVEN as the nation navigated through tough economic times, Singaporeans were more generous with their time and money than ever before, a biennial survey tracking individual giving revealed yesterday.

The time spent on volunteering has doubled in two years, and close to one in four here volunteers now.

Total donations have also crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time. Public confidence in charities, however, has declined marginally.

The survey, commissioned by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), made the estimates based on a poll of 1,815 people aged 15 and above. It has been carried out once every two years since 2000.

Announcing the results at a press conference, NVPC chief executive Laurence Lien said he was 'delighted' that more people than ever before 'stepped up to the challenge to give more of their time and money'.

The jump in volunteerism is especially significant when compared with earlier surveys. In 2008, volunteer hours declined marginally.

'During the deep economic uncertainty, people saw needs more obviously,' said Mr Lien, elaborating on possible reasons for the robust results. 'They relooked their priorities and served these needs, giving their money or time.'

With the economy slowing down, people could also have had more free time on their hands to take part in volunteer activities, said Mr Lien.

Companies, too, may have increased volunteering opportunities for staff when there was a slowdown in work activities last year. The launch of the SG Cares website, an NVPC portal, also made it easier for people to look for volunteering opportunities.

But as in the past, most people here still prefer volunteering 'occasionally' - or at least once a year - rather than weekly or monthly. The average number of hours served by such occasional volunteers jumped to 45 from around 20 hours in 2008.

While volunteering is on the rise in all age groups, younger people - aged between 15 and 24 - are leading the charge. Rates among this group surged from 23 to 36 per cent.

Singapore Institute of Management student Tan Woon Lu, 20, is among young folk who began volunteering recently.

She says she read about the SG Cares website in the news and logged on to begin signing up for volunteer events. In less than six months, she has spent around 40 hours volunteering. Among other things, she has given free lessons to children from poor families and helped organise karaoke sessions for the mentally disabled.

'Helping others makes life richer, gives it more meaning,' said the youngest of three children of an artist and a housewife. 'I don't want to live a life where I'm concerned only about me, me and me.'

While the results of the survey are promising, the fact remains that Singapore still has a long way to go before it can catch up with Western nations with a rich tradition of giving.

For example, in Britain, four in 10 people volunteer. Britain also defines volunteering more narrowly - limiting it to only those above 16 who volunteer formally, like with a charity group.

NVPC's director for sector development Kevin Lee clarified that Singapore's volunteerism rates include those who volunteer informally.

'Helping a disabled neighbour regularly would constitute informal volunteering,' said Mr Lee. 'But holding a door open for someone would not.'

Donations, too, continued to rise despite the recession. And while fewer people donated money, those who did gave more. Average donations per person have gone up to $331 from $300 in 2008. Roughly six in 10 gave to religious groups.

Conducted by research company Nielsen, the survey asked respondents how much they gave to causes that are tax-deductible and those that are not.

Interviews were conducted between April and August this year and respondents were asked about how much time and money they had donated over the past 12 months.

While the Government routinely makes public actual donations made to Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs), for which donors get tax deductions, the NVPC survey is the only survey that estimates the amounts that individuals give to hundreds of religious and other groups that are not IPCs. Only about one in four of the 2,000 charities here has IPC status.

Yet while people may be giving more money and time to good causes, public confidence in charities declined marginally.

That is not surprising, given news reports on investigations into two high-profile groups - City Harvest Church and Ren Ci - that receive donor dollars, said Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a charity that helps migrant workers.

'As long as charities remain transparent about accounting issues, they have nothing to worry about,' said Mr Gee.

In keeping with the results of the survey, TWC2 has seen a rise in giving from volunteers. When a project to feed out-of-work migrant workers was in danger of running out of money, a volunteer single-handedly raised $22,000 in two weeks. 'That was simply astounding,' said Mr Gee.

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NEA launches anti-littering programme aimed at youths

Lian Cheong Channel NewsAsia 10 Nov 10;

SINGAPORE : There has been an increase in the number of youths caught littering over the last few years.

In 2006, 1,835 persons below the age of 21 were caught littering compared to 4,278 last year.

A survey by the National Environment Agency (NEA) two years ago also showed that over 40 per cent of the nearly 1,800 Primary 4 to Junior College students interviewed said they would leave rubbish behind in cinemas, parks and beaches.

To counter this, the NEA has launched a new "anti-littering campaign" aimed at students.

The Students Embrace Litter-Free (SELF) programme was launched by Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources, Amy Khor, on Wednesday at the Anchor Green Primary School.

35 schools will be participating in the programme, which will get students to conduct clean-up activities in and around their schools.

SELF also plans to use role play to help students understand the consequences of littering.

Dr Khor said: "We are starting this at the school level because we believe we need to inculcate such habits from young so that they will internalise it and become second nature."

- CNA/al

Little ones to clean up after litterbugs
Straits Times 11 Nov 10;

A NEW anti-littering campaign targeted at schoolchildren aims to make them take greater responsibility for their surroundings.

The Students Embrace Litter-Free (Self) programme, launched yesterday by Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor, will also encourage primary schools to adopt public spaces like parks, stadiums and beaches, where pupils will conduct clean-up activities at least twice a year.

Previously, such initiatives were confined to school compounds or done elsewhere on an ad hoc basis, said a National Environment Agency (NEA) spokesman.

For a start, 26 primary schools have indicated an interest in the Self programme, which is not compulsory for now.

Earlier this year, a pilot programme involving nine primary schools had pupils cleaning up parks and bus stops around their respective schools.

NEA data shows an increase in the number of young litterbugs caught. Last year, 4,278 people under the age of 21 were caught, up from 1,835 in 2006.

An NEA survey of 1,800 schoolchildren from Primary 4 to junior college two years ago showed more than 40 per cent saying they would leave rubbish behind in cinemas, parks and beaches.

Speaking at the launch, Dr Khor said environmental ownership has to go beyond 'checking our homes for mosquito breeding, or recycling our own waste'.

The NEA spokesman said: 'It is hoped that with such programmes, students will think twice when they next have a piece of rubbish in their hands, to remember not to litter.'

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Change in the air for Singapore's pollution index?

PSI does not measure a smaller type of pollutant found in haze
Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 11 Nov 10;

THERE could be a change in how the haze is measured in Singapore, and it may come as early as next year.

An ongoing review by the authorities could spell the end of the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) for Singapore, which has been the main indicator of air quality for the past two decades.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) told The Straits Times that it is studying other indexes and the review will be completed by next year.

'We are looking at the types of pollutants they (other calculations) may take into consideration, that the PSI may miss out on,' said Mr Joseph Hui, director-general of the environmental protection division at the statutory board.

The PSI does not measure a smaller type of pollutant found in the haze, the PM2.5, exposure to which may cause heart attacks and other forms of cardiovascular deaths.

The PSI was adopted by the Republic 19 years ago; it was devised by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The PSI measures air quality on a scale of 0 to 400. Public health advisories are issued only when a reading exceeds 100, which puts it in the'unhealthy' range.

In 1999, the USswitched to the Air Quality Index (AQI), which also picks up smaller dust-like particles in the air, like PM2.5, as well as emissions from vehicles with diesel and petrol engines.Information on air quality is relayed to the public using a colour-coded scale based on readings that vary from 0 to 500.

There is no international consensus when it comes to air quality indexes. Malaysia, for instance, uses the Air Pollution Index (API) which also measures the PM2.5 levels in the air.

NEA has said the PSI had served Singapore well during haze episodes when it needed to issue public health advisories.

Climate scientists say a switch is timely, given the annual haze episodes, the latest of which struck last month when the air quality crept into the unhealthy range based on the PSI.

When choosing an index, countries have to weigh the risk factors peculiar to them. In Singapore's case, it is the haze, said Assistant Professor Koh Tieh Yong, who teaches at Nanyang Technological University's School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.

Climatologist Matthias Roth from the National University of Singapore said what is missing with the PSI is the regular reporting of smaller particulate matter such as PM2.5.

'It has been known for a long time that it can be harmful. A better measure of the detrimental effects on health will be in line with the present focus of research,' he said.

NEA's Mr Hui said that if the agency adopts a new index, it will make sure it is easy for the public to understand. 'The public has been used to the PSI all these years, so with any new measurement, they must be able to correlate.'

Indexes measure different particles
Straits Times 11 Nov 10;

AIR quality indexes generally measure the amount of five known pollutants: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone and particulate matter.

But they differ in the types and sizes of particles they measure.

'The interpretation would be that if indexes measure different things, then the corresponding health effects will also differ,' said climate scientist Koh Tieh Yong of Nanyang Technological University.

Health experts have linked exposure to PM2.5, a pollutant that is 30 times thinner than the width of a human hair, to heart attacks and other forms of cardiovascular deaths. It can penetrate deeper into the lungs and carry more concentrated toxic substances, such as metals and endotoxins, compared to PM10, which is larger.

The National Environment Agency monitors PM2.5 levels through 11 weather stations across the island, although this information is not made available to the public on its website daily.

Instead, the agency gives a yearly average reading, which is found in its annual report.

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Singapore study on impact of ship emissions

Straits Times 11 Nov 10;

THE National Environment Agency (NEA) has engaged a consultant to study the impact of emissions from ships that navigate Singapore waters.

Although the Republic is one of the world's busiest ports, with as many as 1,000 ships calling at any one time, it is not known exactly how much pollution they contribute, said Mr Joseph Hui, director-general of the environmental protection division of the NEA.

So the agency has engaged a consultant to study the impact, the results of which could be released by the end of this year.

Mr Hui was speaking at the ongoing Better Air Quality Conference at the Suntec Convention Centre.

Scientists such as Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh from the Asian Institute of Technology have said industry fuel standards around the world lag behind those of the auto industry, for example.

This is partly due to the fact that shipping takes place out at sea, away from populations who can readily see the impact that emissions have on the environment.

Most ships run on bunker fuel, which is cheaper than distillate but more polluting, with pollutants such as sulphur.

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PetroChina, Chevron defer SRC's green gasoline project in Singapore

Move comes as refineries continue to grapple with challenging market
Ronnie Lim Business Times 11 Nov 10;

OIL giants PetroChina and Chevron - equal joint owners of Singapore Refining Company (SRC) - have decided to defer their US$300-400 million upgrading investment to build a 'green' gasoline and in-house cogeneration plant at the Jurong Island refinery.

PetroChina secured a refining foothold here through its S$3.2 billion acquisition of Singapore Petroleum Company in 2009. And the two partners in the 290,000 barrels per day SRC refinery apparently made the decision to hold off on the project just weeks ago, after having earlier revived planning for it in January.

They started front-end engineering design (FEED) on the investment - already delayed by 12 months because of the 2009 global downturn - and were expected to make the final investment decision on the project once the FEED was completed at around this time.

'It's been deferred but not cancelled,' a source told BT, adding that the various parties involved, including contractors, have been informed.

No new timeframe has been set yet, the source added, saying 'it's up to the two SRC partners to decide'.

The ultra-low sulphur gasoline plant was intended to further treat the 25,000 bpd of gasoline currently produced by the SRC refinery's catalytic cracker into 'green' gasoline of up to Euro IV specification. This has a maximum sulphur content of 50 parts per million (ppm), compared to gasoline currently sold here of Euro II specification, where the maximum allowable sulphur content is 500 ppm.

The investment includes a 60-70 megawatt in-house cogen plant which would supply the refinery with its own utilities like steam, cooling water and electricity.

The deferment of the SRC project comes as Singapore refineries continue to grapple with a challenging market, as well as competition from new refineries including in China and India.

BP's Global Indicator Margin measure shows that while Singapore refinery margins have recovered from negative numbers like minus US$1.47 a barrel in Q4 last year, and from below US$1 levels in Q1 and Q2 this year, it remains relatively lacklustre at US$2.34 in Q3 and US$2.43 in Q4 to-date.

Chevron just a week or so ago reported a 1.6 per cent decline in third-quarter net profit to US$3.77 billion, due to growing expenses and a weak dollar.

Mike Wirth, Chevron's executive vice-president for global downstream, reportedly said: 'In the refining sector, we continue to see pretty tepid demand growth... Some parts of the world are certainly showing decent demand growth, others are not.'

He was confident about long-term prospects for Asia, where Chevron has major refining interests, but he said Asia was not uniform, with demand weak in Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea.

Also reporting at the same time, PetroChina, on the other hand, saw its Q3 net profit rising by 13 per cent to US$5.21 billion, buoyed largely by demand in China's strong economy.

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Carbon pricing in Singapore: Good first step on long road

Charging for pollution will encourage people to behave in greener ways
Jessica Cheam Straits Times 11 Nov 10;

ENVIRONMENTALISTS must have pricked up their ears when Singapore last week declared its intention to put a price tag on carbon if all countries pledge to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

It is still early days yet. Such a global deal has not been struck and it is unclear just what form this carbon price will take. But the important thing is that the Republic is willing to play its part as a global citizen in putting a price on pollution, and is taking a vital step on the journey to energy diversity.

But first, back to basics. Carbon refers to the greenhouse gases or carbon dioxide emissions generated when you use fossil fuels to generate energy. These gases pollute the atmosphere.

Most daily activities generate carbon. But while users pay for the energy used, that price does not include the cost of the pollution in the form of worsening air quality, deterioration of the natural environment and climate change, for example.

In economic parlance, pollution is a 'negative externality' - a bad side effect of an economic activity that affects everyone but which no one pays for. The result is that no one has an incentive to reduce activities that cause pollution.

The only way to change this is to factor in the costs of such externalities and put a price on them. For example, if turning on the air-conditioner for one night costs $1 in energy but results in pollution that costs the economy 20 cents, the cost of that night of cool comfort to you should be $1.20.

The failure to put a price on pollution has been labelled the 'greatest market failure of all time' by former United States vice-president Al Gore and British economist Nicholas Stern.

This was an issue that emerged last week at the Singapore International Energy Week, where policymakers and business leaders discussed energy-related issues. It took place just as governments across the globe are preparing for the next round of United Nations climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of the month.

They are racing against the clock to ink an agreement before the current treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, expires in 2012. The current agreement binds developed nations such as Japan and those in Europe to reducing their carbon emissions by a certain amount.

Negotiators are trying to iron out details for a treaty to bind all nations to legal carbon reduction targets beyond 2012.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the conference that a price on carbon will be introduced in Singapore if there is such a global climate change deal inked by all countries.

While experts think it unlikely that the Cancun conference will result in a binding agreement, it is just a matter of time before countries impose some sort of carbon pricing.

The fact is that energy prices look set to rise for the foreseeable future, so many countries will have to eventually look at effective ways to force cutbacks in consumption.

Also, if not at Cancun, the world is bound to reach such an agreement sooner or later - perhaps in South Africa, where next year's UN talks are due to be held.

As Mr Lee noted in his speech, it is not enough to push for efficiency gains in an economy, or wait for a change in consumption patterns in society.

There are two ways that governments can impose a charge on carbon. The first is a carbon tax, which is a tax levied on the carbon content of fuels.

The other way is a cap and trade system that European countries and New Zealand use. There is a cap on the amount certain industries can pollute, beyond which companies have to pay extra. If they pollute less, they gain carbon credits which can then be sold, contributing to the company's profits.

Singapore can use either or both mechanisms. Energy prices would then take into account 'not just the price of extracting and producing the fuel, but also the social cost of carbon emissions', as the Prime Minister put it.

For Singapore, a move to carbon pricing makes sense, both environmentally and economically.

But putting a price on carbon will also lead to higher costs for both households and businesses. The latter may also raise prices, passing on costs to consumers.

Higher cost is an unavoidable, short-term consequence of carbon pricing. My view is this bitter pill is best swallowed quickly, in order to reap the benefits to follow.

For consumers, a carbon price or tax could be just the thing that levels the playing field between environmentally friendly products, which are often costlier, and more polluting ones.

The financial impact of a carbon price will be very real, but it can be phased in gradually, as the goods and services tax was. The impact on lower-income households can be cushioned with grants.

For industries, a carbon price will raise business costs for sure. This is why Singapore cannot afford to move ahead of everyone else.

But it will provide a very strong incentive in driving efficiency and innovation in energy usage - in much the same way that the water conservation tax has driven innovation in water treatment.

Industries will be more motivated to audit their manufacturing operations and buildings to ensure no energy is wasted, thus lowering costs and becoming even more competitive.

A carbon trading industry could also flourish in Singapore, adding to our financial services sector.

The taxes raised can help Singapore fund renewable energy projects and further cement its position as a clean technology hub for Asia.

At the same conference, Mr Lee also talked about Singapore's attempt to diversify its energy sources. If solar power becomes as cheap and reliable as fossil fuels, or if nuclear becomes a feasible source of energy, Singaporeans' energy bills could see a reversal in prices eventually, as we tap on cleaner sources and liberate our economy from its dependence on fossil fuels.

That long-term goal takes political will and the right monetary incentives to nudge behaviour in the right direction. Putting a price on carbon is an excellent first step on that journey.

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Fireflies sanctuary gazetted in Malaysia to deter illegal farming activities

Elan Perumal and Stuart Michael The Star 11 Nov 10;

THE firefly sanctuary at Kampung Kuantan in Selangor has become a protected area after its 1,104ha land was gazetted as restricted zone by the Selangor government.

State environment committee chairman Elizabeth Wong told the state assembly yesterday the area had been gazetted under Section 48 of the Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (LUAS) Enactment 1999.

She said the gazetting was implemented from July 2, 2009 and the area covered the river banks and river reserves.

“The move was in line with the state’s aim to preserve the unique fireflies in Kampung Kuantan,’’ she said, in her reply to a question from Saari Sungip (PR-Hulu Kelang).

Wong said the fireflies had been under constant threat from farmers who had been carrying out activities along the river banks, including planting oil palm and banana trees.

“They have also been chopping down nipah branches to use its leaves to weave attap roofs,’’ she said.

She said the state had received feedback from environment groups and the public on the dwindling fireflies.

“We are concerned about the illegal activities that have been going on along the river banks and nearby areas.

“With the gazetting exercise, we hope to prevent illegal activities including farming and jungle burning in the area,’’ she said, adding that the move was also aimed at protecting the quality of the river water.

Besides that, Wong said LUAS would be putting up notice boards at strategic spots to warn the public against being involved in illegal activities in the protected zone.

As part of the move to promote the firefly sanctuary, Wong said, brochures would be distributed to visitors.

“We hope to protect the fireflies and keep the attraction alive since this is unique to the state,’’ she said.

After Wong’s reply, state assembly speaker Teng Chang Khim told exco members to keep their replies short and adhere to assembly regulations.

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Jakarta 'wrong' on spill damage

Paige Taylor The Australian 11 Nov 10;

THE company being sued over last year's Montara oil spill claims environmental reports back its claims no oil reached the Indonesia coast.

Thai-owned PTTEP is being pursued by the Indonesian government for $2.4 billion in compensation over the spill.

Oil and condensate poured into the Timor Sea for 74 days after the Montara wellhead blew out in August last year.

Yesterday, a spokesman for the Australian subsidiary of Thai-owned PTTEP said the company was anticipating fines over the spill, and had received documents on October 13 relating to Indonesia's claim for compensation.

Officials from Jakarta have already held talks in Perth with PTTEP Australia, which has asked to meet next month with the Indonesian official leading the claim for compensation, Deputy Environment Minister Masnellyaiti Hilman.

The company yesterday detailed key findings of three surveys from the Montara monitoring program agreed to by the company and the federal government, including a series of coastal water samples from Broome and Darwin that showed no identifiable oil contamination.

The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities is expected to publish the survey results within days. The samples were taken between November 9 and 18 last year.

A water sample in Darwin port was found to contain oil but the concentration was too low to find out if the oil came from the Montara spill, a process called "fingerprinting".

One of the surveys, conducted by Asia Pacific Applied Science Associates, found that oil "did pass into Indonesian water, albeit for relatively short period, but did not enter inshore waters or impact shorelines".

Modelling concluded the movement of dispersed oil was localised. The area with hydrocarbons on the surface was a maximum of 11,183sq km on any given day.

Those conducting the survey did not have access to the Indonesian coast.

Environmental group WWF has claimed the slick killed sea life and damaged the Indonesian fishing industry.

Activists in West Timor claimed catches were down 80 per cent. Indonesia claims the spill spread to East Nusa Tenggara, one of its poorest provinces.

It is also blamed for ruining seaweed farms in Rote.

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Nuclear Plant Not Viable For Malaysia, Says Researcher

Bernama 10 Nov 10;

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- Plans to build a nuclear plant by 2020 under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) will not be viable for in terms of cost, according to a reseacher under the Brain Gain Malaysia Programme.

"With past trends as indications, the total investment cost needed to build a nuclear plant would be twice the cost allocated initially," said David Jacobs, an independent energy policy consultant and researcher at the Environmental Policy Research Centre of Freie Universitat, Berlin.

"Previously, there was a nuclear power plant which was planned in Finland with an expected cost of 2.5 billion euros, but the final cost escalated to 5.0 billion euros," he said at the third Malakoff Community Partnerships Energy Expert Series here Wednesday.

He added that it took a couple of years more to actually bring the plant on line.

According to the ETP handbook, the cost of building the twin-unit nuclear plant will require an investment of RM21.3 billion by 2020.

Under the Brain Gain Malaysia programme, Jacobs was attached with Universiti Tenaga Nasional's Institute of Energy Policy and Research for six weeks.

"While cost of building a nuclear plant is on the rise, the cost for renewable energy is going down at the same time," Jacobs said.

"Authorities should conduct more economic viability analysis before starting the nuclear plant project. It would make much more sense to extend the renewable energy fund for development in that sector," he said.

According to Jacobs, Malaysia should set a much more ambitious goals on its long-term renewable energy plans.

"With Malaysia targeting to achieve 25 per cent of total usage of renewable energy by 2050, other countries would be in the 60 to 70 per cent range by that time," he said.

Jacobs said the 5.5 per cent target Malaysia has set by 2015 could definitely be achieved and the country should set higher targets.

"The one per cent Feed in Tariffs (FiT) for development of renewable energy should be higher in the region of two to five per cent," he said.

"Authorities should educate and gain the society's support for the development of renewable energy as it does not only involve cost but also more intrinsic benefits along the way."

He added that plans to increase electricity tariffs by one per cent for FiT should be implemented by January next year so that it would be effective by July 2011.

-- BERNAMA

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Rising seas: Retreat a reality for Kiribati people

Nicky Park, AAP Sydney Morning Herald 10 Nov 10;

Dimitry Murdoch's family has been living on the low-lying islands of Kiribati for generations.

The prospect that his children may be forced away, as their homeland disappears, is a sadness he can barely express - but it's a reality in this collection of atolls in the central Pacific, none more than three metres above sea level.

Rising sea levels, salt water inundation and severe coastal erosion are forcing the 100,000 people of Kiribati to retreat steadily from the shoreline, and island leaders fear they are running out of time.
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"I don't think there's a future for Kiribati, I don't think there will be a country in about 20, 30 years from now," said Mr Murdoch, taking a break from his duties as a delegation assistant at the Tarawa Climate Change Conference (TCCC) on Wednesday.

"It does make me sad, it is a concern."

Mr Murdoch, 20, said he had seen the sandy coast erode, homes flood, crops fail to grow in salty soil and fresh water supplies diminish.

Villagers were constantly moving their homes further inland and building barriers of stones to escape the rising tides, he said.

"I think we're at this stage, going out of the country should be considered as the best option," he said.

The president of Kiribati, Anote Tong, on Wednesday said Kiribati must prepare for all possible eventualities as climate change threatened the nation.

"One of which may be the need to relocate our people", he told ABC radio.

Earlier, Mr Tong told reporters, We are running out of time, and as long as the global community continues to debate, it might be too late for some countries.

"For some of our local communities it is too late.

"We've had to move them because we cannot protect them so we've had to move them somewhere else.

"How much longer will that somewhere else be there, until we are actually going beyond our shores?

On Island Of Kiribati, At-Risk Nations Sign Climate Declaration
NPR 10 Nov 10;

Fifteen countries signed a declaration today in Tarawa, the capital of the tiny island nation of Kiribati, recognizing the increasingly dire situation faced by small island countries due to climate change. The Ambo Declaration, named for the village where Kiribati's Parliament House is located, is the final product of the Tarawa Climate Change Conference — a gathering that Kiribati President Anote Tong hopes will spotlight how vulnerable his nation is to any rise in sea levels and severe weather.

A main goal of the conference was to put a human face on climate change before much larger United Nations climate talks in Mexico later this month. The people of Kiribati showcased their traditions, gathered for speeches and had pre-school children do a climate change poetry slam.

In his opening remarks, Tong called climate change the greatest moral challenge facing humanity today. He talked about villages in Kiribati that have been forced to move because of coastal erosion.

"We face unending claims for assistance to rebuild homes and to repair damages by unusually high tides, which we, of course, do not have the resources to do," he said.


That was another goal of the conference: to goad developed countries into providing funds for climate change adaptation projects — sea walls, for example — in places like Kiribati.

Australia, New Zealand and Japan pledged to sign the Ambo Declaration, as did several small island states including the Maldives, Fiji, and the Marshall Islands. After some disagreement, China also came on board. This was a triumph for Kiribati, which has had strained relations with China since becoming friendly with Taiwan.

At the start the of the conference, delegates from the U.S., European Union, United Kingdom and France all said they couldn't actually agree to or sign anything. They stayed quiet as other delegates here debated the issue.

Tong said he was "not surprised, but I remain disappointed" by those nations' actions. "I would have liked to see firmer commitment."

Brian Reed is NPR’s first Above the Fray Fellow. He's reporting in the Pacific nation of Kiribati and will be filing some dispatches while he's off in one of the most remote countries on earth. Click here for his other dispatches.

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Climate progress possible in Cancun despite problems: UN

Yahoo News 10 Nov 10;

PARIS (AFP) – World climate talks resuming in Mexico shortly could recover lost momentum by crafting a deal on four big issues, including the outlines of a fund to muster hundreds of billions of dollars in aid, the UN climate chief said on Wednesday.

"Everything I see tells me that there is a deal to be done," said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The meeting to take place in the resort city of Cancun from November 29 to December 10 is the annual conference of the 194 parties to the UNFCCC.

It caps a miserable year for the United Nations' forum on climate change, stymied by a near-fiasco at last December's Copenhagen summit where world leaders had been expected to approve a post-2012 pact and by belt-tightening in many countries.

The future treaty will, at best, be completed only at the end of 2011, say sources at the negotiations.

Figueres, however, said Cancun could unlock "a mutually agreeable deal to get action started" in four important areas.

These were: measures to cope with climate change, the transfer of clean technology from rich economies to poorer countries, curbing carbon emissions from forest loss and creating a new fund for long-term climate financing.

Progress in Cancun would be a springboard for "bigger and better agreements every year," she argued, adding though that compromise was essential.

"I'm not going to underestimate the political gaps that still need to be bridged," she said.

Figueres pointed to three major areas of discord: burden-sharing on reducing carbon emissions that drive climate change; the future of the UNFCCC's Kyoto Protocol after pledges expire at the end of 2012; and how to count and monitor national pledges of action.

Even so, a spirit of pragmatism now infused talks after the Copenhagen setback, she told reporters in a teleconference from Bonn.

"Countries have actually learned for themselves... that there is no such thing as one all-encompassing solution," Figueres said.

"They also seem to be setting out to develop the building blocks upon which they can build realistic action on the ground, because countries really need results on the ground right now. And I don't see them veering away from that in any sudden way."

The climate fund would be the biggest star in a constellation of institutions to help finance emissions reductions or shore up defences against worsening drought, floods and rising seas.

In Copenhagen, rich countries set the goal of channelling up to 100 billion dollars a year in climate aid from all sources by 2020. They also promised a total of 30 billion in "fast-start" aid from 2010 to 2012.

Figueres said debate over the still-unnamed fund was whether the entity should be formally launched in Cancun and then its architecture agreed, or the other way round.

Even so, "there is consensus about the need to establish a fund, there is also consensus about the need to have a trustee and to have a government structure around the fund," she said.

"I am confident that the differences that are still on the table about the fund can be ironed out."

Mexico urges India, China to support Cancun talks
Yahoo News 10 Nov 10;

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Mexico urged China and India and the world's other major greenhouse gas emitters to support UN-backed talks on climate change that it will host later this month in the resort city of Cancun.

The appeal came after officials from 35 countries and regional groupings met in New Delhi ahead of the year-end UN talks to try to build on an accord hammered out at marathon talks in Copenhagen widely regarded as a flop.

"We cannot be responsible for the final results as the talks are a UN event," Mexico's Environment Secretary Juan Elvira Quesada told reporters after the two-day meeting in the Indian capital.

"But we hope to have the support of India and China for a balanced outcome to the talks," Quesada said.

Last December's conference in Copenhagen fell short of delivering the binding treaty that nearly all nations say is needed to spare the planet from the ravages of global warming.

Cancun will host negotiators from November 29 to December 10 who are set to discuss a binding agreement on reducing carbon dioxide emissions that will replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in December 2012.

However, all the major players appear to have given up on the goal of a treaty by year's end that would establish a plan to reduce emissions enough to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the target of the Copenhagen Accord.

One of the major hurdles is a disagreement between the United States and China -- the world's two top greenhouse gas emitters -- on slashing carbon dioxide emissions.

Developing nations including India have resisted a legally binding treaty, arguing that wealthy nations bear primary responsibility for climate change.

Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh assured support but called for "practical" methods to sort out the thorny issue of intellectual property rights linked to sharing climate-saving technologies.

"We are not the deal-busters and we want to be part of the solution at Cancun," Ramesh said.

"In Cancun we need a decision on what the technology mechanism would look like, how will it be governed and how it is going to be financed," he said.

Mexico has said it is striving to bring countries which felt excluded from the Copenhagen climate talks into the negotiations for this year's summit.

Climate Talks Seek Complex, Interlocked Deal: U.N.
Alister Doyle PlanetArk 11 Nov 10;

U.N. climate talks starting in Mexico this month will seek a complex set of interlocking deals to slow global warming but will fall well short of a new treaty, the U.N.'s climate chief said on Wednesday.

Christiana Figueres said that governments had lowered their sights for the November 29-December 10 talks in Cancun, Mexico, after the Copenhagen summit in December 2009 failed to reach a sweeping new U.N. pact to slow climate change.

Even so, almost 200 nations faced a balancing act in Cancun, where governments were aiming for a less ambitious but still complex package deal.

"This is a complex process and it's going to be a slow process," she said of efforts to work out a new accord to slow increasing greenhouse gas emissions that threaten more floods, heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels.

In Cancun, governments will seek to agree measures including a new "Green Fund" to handle long-term aid, actions to help developing nations adapt to climate change, a new mechanism to share clean technologies and ways to protect tropical forests.

"I don't hear any party saying that there would be a possibility to only to pick out some of the components and move those forward," she told a telephone news conference. "What I hear from the parties is the need for a balanced package."

"A Cancun deal isn't going to solve the whole problem," said Figueres, a Costa Rican who heads the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat.

COPENHAGEN

She said that she was confident a deal could be done in Cancun, given compromise by all sides. She did not spell out the risks of the talks collapsing if one element failed.

The Copenhagen summit fell short of a treaty partly because countries insisted that nothing could be agreed until everything was agreed -- including deep cuts in emissions by developed nations that have been toned down for 2010.

Figueres also said that U.S. President Barack Obama should stick to a plan to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 even though he has lost the chance of legislating cuts after Republican gains in mid-term elections.

"The world certainly expects the United States to live up to that pledge," she said. She said Obama had the option of regulating cuts via the Environmental Protection Agency.

She said that pledges by all nations were too weak to meet a goal set in a non-binding Copenhagen Accord to limit a rise in world temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F). Temperatures have already risen 0.7 C over pre-industrial times.

She said that developed nations in Cancun had to do more to firm up their pledges for greenhouse gas cuts until 2020 -- many such as the European Union or Australia have promised ranges for cuts that depend on the ambition of others.

Among disputes before Cancun are on how to set up a "Green Fund," meant to channel funds to developing nations to help them cope with climate change and meant to reach $100 billion a year from 2020.

Figueres said there were differences over whether it was best to take a "political decision" in Cancun to set up the fund and then design how it would work, or to design the fund first.

The United States insisted at preparatory talks in Mexico last week that the design had to come first -- a view at odds with many other nations, diplomats said.

"I am confident that the differences that are still on the table can be ironed out," Figueres said of the Green Fund.

India: Cancun Will Test Climate Talks' Credibility
Matthias Williams PlanetArt 11 Nov 10;

U.N. climate talks in Cancun will be the last chance for nations to agree on thorny issues such as technology transfers and will test the dialogue's credibility, India's environment minister said on Wednesday.

Nations must reach a consensus on sharing green technology between rich and developing countries and resist the temptation to cling to old positions "like a mantra," Jairam Ramesh told a news conference after a two-day climate meeting in New Delhi.

Nations were so divided on intellectual property rights (IPR) for costly technology that some saw it as an essential ingredient of a deal, while others refused to talk about it, he said.

"We have to find a middle path because these two extreme positions have held back an agreement for too long, and frankly we are running out of time," Ramesh said.

"Cancun is the last chance. The credibility of the entire climate change negotiating system is at stake. If you do not get a set of operational and meaningful decisions at Cancun, everybody is going to get sick and tired of us."

Prospects for the November 29-December 10 climate change talks in the Mexican resort of Cancun have dimmed in recent months because of near-deadlock in the 194-nation negotiations over how to share the burden in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Ramesh had earlier hosted a climate meeting in the Indian capital, drawing on delegates from 35 countries including China, the United States, Mexico and the European Union, as well as a host of smaller developing countries.

The focus of the meeting was to push agreement for a mechanism to develop and transfer technology to tackle climate change. The meeting pushed for such a mechanism to be a "key deliverable" at Cancun, a statement said.

Reaching an agreement in Cancun to extend the Kyoto Protocol was a make-or-break issue for developing countries and would determine the outcome of any future discussions, Ramesh said.

Some nations want the Kyoto Protocol extended into a second period, others such as Japan and the United States, which never ratified Kyoto, want a new treaty. Many developing nations back an extension to Kyoto because it enshrines wording that allows poorer nations to take voluntary steps to curb emissions.

Last year's U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen failed in its goal of working out a legally binding treaty.

"We must have a practical approach to solve the problems in front of us and not repeat positions like a mantra," Ramesh said.

(Editing by C.J. Kuncheria)

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