China Carbon Credits A Boon Amid Market Slump: Camco

PlanetArk 24 Apr 09;

BEIJING - China should be praised for its lead role in a U.N.-backed scheme to cut carbon emissions and efforts to cap its flow of credits should be resisted, a leading British-based clean-energy project development firm said.

China and its big state-owned firms have been accused of exploiting the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to boost earnings from clean-energy projects that were already viable, thus flooding the market with cheap and dubious carbon credits.

Proposals have been made in Europe to cap the volume of offsets supplied from China.

But China is effectively being singled out for the successful way it has adapted to the CDM, Anders Brendstrup, managing director for China for Camco, told Reuters.

"They should be praised, not criticized, for this success," he said. Camco is one of the larger CDM project developers and advisers in China.

The CDM, part of the Kyoto Protocol, was set up to allow rich countries meet mandated U.N. emissions targets by investing in clean-energy projects in the developing world in return for tradable offsets called certified emission reductions (CERs).

Projects in China have produced more than 40 percent of all CERs issued under the scheme to date.

Each CER represents a ton of greenhouse gas emissions saved from being emitted and the offsets are given by the United Nations to projects provided they meet strict criteria and pass a rigorous verification process.

China has a third of the 1,593 CDM projects registered by the United Nations to date and hundreds more Chinese projects are in the CDM pipeline. Only registered projects can eventually be issued with CERs.

Several thousand other CDM projects from developing nations are in the process of being validated or seeking registration. Not all applications will succeed and earn CERs, leading to fears that the total flow of U.N. offsets will be less than the official forecast of 2.9 billion by 2012.

TURMOIL

The flow of credits has been hit by turmoil on financial markets along with worries about whether the CDM will even exist after 2012, when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends, Brendstrup said.

"It is clear project developers are finding it very difficult to finance their projects, and therefore there are many that are not being built," he said.

"Only eight months ago now, they had initial agreements with banks but many of these agreements are not being re-evaluated or even withdrawn and this is when they stop happening. There will be a huge slowdown in the supply of credits."

CERs, currently trading around 11 euros ($14.3) a ton on the European Climate Exchange, are mostly bought by European companies such as power firms, steel and cement makers to meet emissions targets under the EU's emissions trading scheme. Japanese firms are also buyers.

Brendstrup noted that most of the projects now getting underway are the ones backed by state-owned or big private firms, and the smaller companies are the ones struggling the most.

Critics of the CDM have focused on the key concept of "additionality," which ensures that carbon trading revenues are allocated only to projects that would otherwise have been unprofitable.

The brutal impact of the financial crisis showed that the principle has been applied with rigor, he said.

Negotiations are now underway to draw up a broader replacement for the Kyoto Protocol. World leaders gather in Copenhagen in December to try to agree the outline of what a post-Kyoto pact might look like.

If the talks stall, that will throw the CDM into uncertainty since the scheme only runs up to 2012, although a number of projects will continue to issue CERs well beyond that.

"We do believe that all the projects that have been started before will continue to receive CDM revenue after 2012, and most investors expect them to continue. But of course, it is an uncertainty for both the developers and the financiers," he said.

(Editing by David Fogarty)

Read more!

Pollution in Chinese cities 'extremely severe'

Yahoo News 23 Apr 09;

BEIJING (AFP) – Air pollution in China's cities remains very serious, state media on Thursday quoted a minister as saying, amid an ongoing battle to clean up the skies in the world's largest coal-consuming nation.

"There is the potential for serious air pollution incidents to happen, and the air environment situation is extremely severe," environmental protection minister Zhou Shengxian told parliament, the official People's Daily said.

"The difficulties in managing air pollution are intensifying, and environmental regulations as well as protection systems need to be further strengthened," he said Wednesday.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of coal and its appetite for the cheap fuel is growing as its economy expands, according to the Energy Bulletin, a website that monitors global energy supplies.

In 2006, the World Bank said that 16 out of 20 of the world's worst polluted cities were in China.

A recent report by the state Xinhua news agency, citing a survey conducted in November last year in 320 cities, said the average air quality in two out of five Chinese cities ranged from "polluted" to "hazardous".

Zhou said car exhaust fumes also played a large role in air pollution in the country's big and medium-sized cities, the report said.

China's worst air pollution was concentrated in the Yangtze River delta, which includes Shanghai, and the Pearl River delta -- the manufacturing hub in the south of the country that is home to Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Air pollution in the capital Beijing, nearby Tianjin and surrounding Hebei province is also bad, he said.

But Zhou said there had been improvement in some cities in China, without listing any specific locations.

The China Daily reported at the start of the month that Beijing's air quality was improving as a result of post-Olympics traffic control measures that had seen about 900,000 cars taken off the roads every weekday.

China To Meet 2010 Pollution Targets: Minister
PlanetArk 24 Apr 09;

BEIJING - China is on track to meet its pollution targets by 2010 even though it is still struggling to deal with its coal-dependent energy sector, the country's environment minister has reported to parliament.

By the end of 2010, China aims to cut the emissions of major pollutants by 10 percent compared with 2005 levels.

In a report delivered to China's parliament on Wednesday, minister Zhou Shengxian said annual sulfur dioxide emissions are projected to hit 22 million tons by 2010, 10 percent lower than the 2005 baseline, but with 70 percent of China's energy needs still met by coal, the challenges remain daunting.

"We cannot bring down the high level of atmospheric pollution, which has been brought about by an energy structure dominated by coal," he said in the report posted on the ministry's website.

Zhou noted that pollution continued to blight China's urban areas, with particulate matter and sulfur dioxide emissions still "at a relatively high level," and eastern coastal cities also suffering heavy amounts of ash haze and ozone pollution.

Pollution also remains a serious problem in the Yangtze and Pearl river delta regions, as well as in the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan area of northern China.

The regions cover only 6.3 percent of China's total land area but are responsible for 40 percent of the country's total coal consumption and produce 50 percent of the its steel, Zhou said.

He said that China would continue to eliminate obsolete steel smelters, power plants and paper mills over the course of 2009, and was currently drawing up new emission reduction targets for the 2011-2015 period.

(Editing by Ken Wills)

Read more!

Rich Nation Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rise In 2007

Michael Szabo and Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 24 Apr 09;

LONDON/OSLO - Greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized nations rose by nearly one percent in 2007, led by strong gains in the United States, official data showed.

Carbon emissions from countries signed up to the Kyoto Protocol climate pact edged up by 0.1 percent in 2007, mainly due to rises in Japan and Canada.

"The numbers are ... a bit depressing," said Knut Alfsen, research director at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, saying they showed a failure to shift away from fossil fuels. "It shows that we are not able to de-link economic growth from emissions."

Although 2007 carbon dioxide (CO2) figures from a few economies including Australia and Ukraine were not yet available, comparing like-for-like figures showed emissions from countries with targets under Kyoto were 14 percent below 1990 levels, exceeding their goal of a 5 percent reduction by 2012.

The full 2007 data including the U.S. and Turkey, which do not have targets under Kyoto, showed that industrialized emissions were 2.1 percent below 1990 levels.

Under Kyoto, 40 or so developed countries committed in 1997 to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels between 2008-2012. Since then, the U.S., historically the world's biggest emitter, has decided not to ratify the treaty.

U.N. climate scientists warn that rising atmospheric CO2 levels will cause global temperatures to increase, which in turn could trigger widespread disease, famine, flooding and drought.

Experts said global emissions are likely to fall in 2008 and 2009 due to lower industrial production and fossil fuel consumption as a result of the economic downturn, but they stressed that more needs to be done to prevent world temperatures from rising by over 2 degrees Celsius, a dangerous threshold according to scientists.

Barry Brook, a climate change professor at the University of Adelaide in Australia, said that even if the recession cuts emissions in developed nations, global atmospheric CO2 levels will continue to be high and "probably still higher in 2009 than in any other year before."

"The Chinese and Indian economies, for instance, are not contracting -- they're just not growing as fast. It would take a massive and sustained global recession to noticeably curb emissions growth without directed energy policy," he added.

Brook said most nations "have virtually no chance" of meeting cuts of 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 that UN scientists say are needed to avert the worst of global warming.

RESULTS

The U.N. data showed that like-for-like industrialized emissions grew by 145 million tonnes in 2007, with the U.S. accounting for over 100 million tonnes of that. The U.S. emitted 7.1 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2007.

The biggest percentage increases came from Estonia and Turkey, with emissions up by 14.8 and 12.0 percent respectively.

Germany saw the largest net decrease, cutting its CO2 by 23.9 million tonnes or 2.4 percent, while tiny nation state Liechtenstein and renewable energy leader Denmark made the deepest percentage cuts, chopping CO2 by 10.8 and 6.2 percent.

The 27-nation European Union cut its emissions by 1.4 percent to 5.03 billion in 2007, 12.3 percent below 1990 levels.

Nearly half of signatory nations have already hit their Kyoto goals, though much of this can be attributed to economic restructuring and the closure of industry in eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union, rather than through investment in cleaner energy or energy efficiency.

Canada's emissions have grown alongside its economy, boosted by stronger energy prices, though Ottawa has said it is unlikely to reach its 6 percent Kyoto reduction target. Canada's emissions rose by 4 percent in 2007, putting the country's CO2 at 29 percent over 1990 levels.

With a rise of 2.3 percent in 2007, Japan is also significantly above its own 6 percent reduction target, but is buying emissions rights from other nations that have cut CO2.

(Editing by William Hardy)

Read more!

Geoengineering could dim lights on solar power

New Scientist 23 Apr 09;

PUMPING aerosol particles into the atmosphere to create a sunshade could take a heavier toll on solar power generation than expected.

For every 1 per cent of the sun's rays deflected into space, the average output of solar systems that rely on direct sunlight would drop by 4 to 5 per cent, says Daniel Murphy at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado. Geoengineers propose scattering 1 to 2 per cent of sunlight.

Aerosols scatter the light that hits them, but only 20 to 25 per cent of that is reflected into space. The rest reaches the ground as diffuse light. Since this light doesn't come directly from the sun, it isn't collected by solar systems that concentrate sunlight onto thermal power generators or high-efficiency solar cells. Their optics track the sun during the day and focus an image of it onto the power-generating elements, so they can produce much more power than flat solar cells.

Losses could reach 20 per cent in the late afternoon during summer, Murphy warns, because more light is scattered when the sun is lower (Environmental Science and Technology, vol 43, p 2784).

Research has previously shown a sunshade could also trigger droughts in some regions.

Read more!

Europe’s new buildings get welcome push to produce as much energy as they use

WWF 23 Apr 09;

Brussels, Belgium – WWF has welcomed a European Parliament vote today that proposes a 2019 deadline for all new houses, offices and shops built in the European Union to produce the same amount of energy they consume. The deadline will be 2016 for all new public buildings.

“We commend the vision of the legislators in making zero net energy buildings the cornerstone of the revised directive,” said Arianna Vitali Roscini, WWF’s Policy Officer for energy conservation in buildings.

“Technically and economically there is nothing standing in the way of an earlier deadline for all new constructions, which could help the EU achieve the 2020 emissions reduction targets.”

The vote, revising a law aiming at improving energy performance in buildings, needs to be confirmed by the Council of the Ministers later this year.

“There is huge potential for buildings to consume less energy and produce renewable energy on site” Vitali Roscini said.

“Promotion of energy efficiency is a winning strategy for Europe. It improves energy security, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, encourages technology development and creates new jobs. This is a structural change within reach, it is up to political will to make it happen.”

WWF is also satisfied that energy efficiency standards will apply to all major renovations, not only to those of surfaces above 1,000 square meters, as it was in the previous law. This is particularly relevant because existing constructions represent the majority of the European building stock (approximately 25% of residential buildings in Europe were built before 1945).

In Europe buildings use 40 per cent of energy and are linked to 36 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Much of that energy and CO2 can be saved with better insulation, improved heating and cooling systems, double glazing, efficient lighting and smart meters.

This week WWF has organised an exhibition at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to showcase the new generation of efficient buildings in France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Romania and the United Kingdom.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 23 Apr 09

Draft Blue Plan seeks your feedback
on the Singapore Celebrates our Reefs blog

Doing something "special" for Earth Day
on the Midnight Monkey Monitor

12 May 2009: Rhett Butler (Mongabay.com) on “Communicating conservation science online” on Otterman speaks

Dove in green
on the annotated budak blog

Tiger Shrike takes a moth
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Red-bearded Bee-eater taking a cicada
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Towards a Cleaner Electricity Supply
on AsiaIsGreen

Earth Day with the Public Service Division
on the wild shores of singapore blog

National Environment Agency’s 3R Fund Opens For Applications
on the Zero Waste Singapore blog

Gallup Polls on Public Awareness of Global Warming
on AsiaIsGreen

Singapore named best seaport in Asia
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Read more!

Singapore continues to grow on everybody else's land

Mister Sandman, Bring Me Some Sand
Janeman Latul, Asia Sentinel 23 Apr 09;

It may just have been that Lee Kuan Yew wanted to be more than the mayor of a relatively small Asian city, befitting his status as an Asian statesman, but for four decades, the Lion City has been growing inexorably. Indonesian companies want to help. They are fighting a 2007 ban on sand extraction and, according to the country's trade ministry, they may be getting some traction. The ministry is reviewing the ban.

"So far we are trying to get responses from the public," said Albert Yousuf Tobagu, director of mining export commodities at the ministry. "We are including regional administrations and relevant government institutions as part of our recommendation to the ministerial meeting to make a decision on whether or not to lift the export ban on sea sand."

Surrounded entirely by water, Singapore has grown from only 581.5 sq km in 1960 to at least 650 sq km today, and it expects to grow by another 100 sq. km by 2030, according to the government. The city-state's population has grown inexorably as well, from 1.67 million in 1960 to well over 4 million today, with the government seeking leibensraum to expand for housing estates and other facilities and for commercial and recreation space.

The sand is being hauled in by the barge-load from Indonesia, Cambodia and Malaysia, although Indonesia has banned sand exports as environmentally catastrophic, with entire islands being turned into atolls and is said to be growing concerned that Singapore's burgeoning growth will threaten the national boundaries set by its sprinkling of nearby island.. Malaysia has also banned sand sales to Singapore.

The Singapore embassy in Jakarta declined comment to Asia Sentinel in March that it is taking sand from either Cambodia or Indonesia although the government acknowledges that it needs sand to grow. Asked where the sand was coming from, an embassy official said: "We have our own sand stockpile," although he wouldn't say where that was located.

The environmental protection organization Global Witness wrote the government in Singapore last October asking about its role in Cambodian sand extraction. In a bid to show plausible deniability, Global Witness was told: "Singapore uses land sand for construction purposes, and sea sand for land reclamation projects. Both types of sand are imported by contractors from other countries. The import of sand is a purely commercial activity and the Singapore Government is not involved.

"The Singapore Government does not impose restrictions on where the sand contractors source for supplies, but we expect the contractors to abide by the laws of the source country governing the extraction, processing and transport of sand, as well as environmental regulations. Our trade records show that some of the imported sand used in construction and reclamation projects originate from Cambodia. Singapore ceased imports of land and sea sand from Indonesia since 2007 and 2003 respectively."

In what grew into a diplomatic flap, Indonesia banned sea sand shipments to Singapore in 2007 in what insiders said was an attempt to force the island republic into signing an extradition treaty so that Indonesia could reel in a flock of bankers who stole as much as US$13.5 billion dollars in bank recapitalization funds in the wake of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. Although the treaty was agreed in the wake of the sand embargo, it was never signed after objections in the Indonesian legislature.

Singapore has long styled itself as an Asian equivalent of Switzerland, maintaining strict banking secrecy laws that have allowed Burmese generals to bank there with impunity. More than that, Singapore has been leery of Indonesian intentions ever since Indonesia's then-president, Sukarno, staged what he called "konfrontasi" in an unsuccessful attempt to take over the entire island of Borneo between 1962 and 1966. Singapore was part of Malaysia at the time.

Singapore denies the extradition treaty or a corollary defense treaty had anything to do with the sand ban. The bankers have never come home.

When Trade Minister E Mari Pangestu instiuted the ban in 2007, as many as 24 sand-exporting companies threatened a class-action lawsuit against the government in an effort to reverse the ban then, and has been fighting it ever since. At that time, sand was also being exported to South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, causing environmental havoc in Indonesia.

And, while exports may have dipped from Indonesia, they haven't stopped by any means, environmentalists say. Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia, or Walhi, a local environmental watchdog, says that the entire Nipah and Sebaik islands have almost disappeared in the Riau region. Before the ban, Tulang in the Karimun Island chain, hs lost 32 meters of beach to sand thieves. Illegal activity in North Sumatra — particularly on the Cermin and Labu beaches — has continued despite the ban, with dredgers sucking up as much as 7,000 cubic meters of sand per hour, environmentalists say. Dredging has also gone on unabated in the Benkulu, Bangka Belitung, Lampung and West Sumatra, according to Walhi.

Environmentalists say Indonesia shouldn't even discuss the possibility of lifting the ban.

"This is a nightmare for Indonesians and the environment, how could they do that?" said Muhammad Tegus Surya, chief advocate for Walhi. "We cannot let this happen. The damage is really huge and it is not equal to the profit."

When the restriction was imposed, sand was also being exported to South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, causing environmental havoc in Indonesia. As many as 24 sand-exporting companies threatened a class-action lawsuit against the government then.

"The sea sand exporters association has pushed the government to lift the ban," said Aji Sularso, director general for sea resources at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in a telephone interview. "However, I think several ministries, including the Foreign Ministry, have not agreed to it because we have to evaluate whether the damage from lifting the ban is smaller compared to keeping it."

The association was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.

As exports dropped from Indonesia, they appear to have increased dramatically from Cambodia, according to a report by the environmental group Global Witness, in a detailed report issued in February and titled "Country for Sale."

In the report, Global Witness estimated sand dredging in Cambodia's Koh Kong Province to be worth US$8.6 million in Cambodia and retailed for US$35 million a year in Singapore, with the entire operation controlled by Ly Yong Phat, a Cambodian senator and tycoon.

"When Global Witness investigators visited the area, they found a complex situation with multiple sand suppliers and buyers. The common denominator, however, was that all those interviewed claimed that sand taken from the area was destined for Singapore," the report said.

In three days, the report said, the giant vacuum pumps could suck up enough sand to fill a 15,000-tonne ship.

According to reports from local residents and workers, the ships appeared to be operated by mainland Chinese in military uniforms without insignia. However, Global Watch reported, the Chinese are not the only operators exporting to Singapore from Koh Kong. Malaysian and Korean companies are involved in sand extraction for Singapore as well, the report said.

Read more!

Indonesia debating whether to continue ban of sand exports to Singapore

Tide Turning On Sea Sand Export Debate?
Janeman Latul & Teguh Prasetyo Jakarta Globe 22 Apr 09;

Indonesia’s Trade Ministry on Wednesday said it was evaluating whether or not to continue a 2007 ban on the export of sea sand to Singapore, a prohibition which has strained relations between the two countries.

“So far we are trying to get responses from the public,” said Albert Yousuf Tobagu, director of mining export commodities at the ministry. “We are including regional administrations and relevant government institutions as part of our recommendation to the ministerial meeting to make a decision on whether or not to lift the export ban on sea sand.”

When the restriction was imposed, sand was also being exported to South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, causing environmental havoc in Indonesia. As many as 24 sand-exporting companies threatened a class-action lawsuit against the government then.

“The sea sand exporters association has pushed the government to lift the ban,” said Aji Sularso, director general for sea resources at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in a telephone interview. “However, I think several ministries, including the Foreign Ministry, have not agreed to it because we have to evaluate whether the damage from lifting the ban is smaller compared to keeping it.”

The association was unavail able for comment on Wednesday.

Although Aji said exports have fallen dramatically, environmentalists say illegal dredging has hardly abated since Trade Minister Mari Pangestu instituted the ban on sand barges.

Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia, or Walhi, a local environmental watchdog, said that the entire Nipah and Sebaik islands have almost disappeared in the Riau region. Before the ban, Tulang in the Karimun Island chain, has lost 32 meters of beach to sand thieves.

Illegal activity in North Sumatra — particularly on the Cermin and Labu beaches — has continued despite the ban, with dredgers sucking up as much as 7,000 cubic meters of sand per hour. Dredging has also gone on unabated in Benkulu, Bangka Belitung, Lampung and West Sumatra, according to Walhi.

Environmentalists say Indonesia shouldn’t even discuss the possibility of lifting the ban.

“This is a nightmare for Indonesians and the environment, how could they do that?” said Muhammad Tegus Surya, chief advocate for Walhi. “We cannot let this happen The damage is really huge and it is not equal to the profit.”

Surrounded entirely by water, Singapore has grown from only 581.5 sq km in 1960 to at least 650 sq km and expects to grow by another 100 sq km by 2030 to accommodate housing estates and other facilities. The country has been using Indonesian sea sand to expand their land area.

Widespread reports in 2007 said the country had banned sand exports in an attempt to force Singapore into signing an extradition treaty so Indonesia could have access to corrupt bankers who fled Jakarta in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. These bankers took with them millions of dollars in funds meant to recapitalize Indonesia’s banks.

Singapore has steadfastly denied that Indonesia used the ban in an attempt to force them to sign an extradition treaty and said it has observed the ban.

Albert said his office on Tuesday met with government officials from the Bengkulu regional administration, one of the major sea-sand producing regions, and representatives from the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs. Some regional administrations, especially from sand-producing coastal regions oppose the lifting of the ban because excavation has led to silting of their ports.

Read more!

Indonesia wants climate change efforts to pay more attention on ocean

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post 22 Apr 09;

Indonesia expects the upcoming World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado in May 11-15 to produce a joint declaration incorporating the importance of sea into climate change adaptation program.

It also expects that the country participants will agree on technology transfer and corporation, as well as information exchanges, to help each country adapt with the ongoing climate change.

A total of 121 countries have confirmed their participation in the event, which is one of the world's biggest environmental events of the year.

Over 4,900 people, including heads of states, senior government officials, experts and observers, and NGO activists will gather in the North Sulawesi capital of Manado for the conference, which will be followed by the regional environmental event Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit.

The CTI Summit will be attended by heads of six nations home to the so-called coral triangle, comprising Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Solomon Islands.

"We hope that (what is produced in) the Manado Ocean Declaration will be incorporated into talks during the UNFCCC COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen in December," Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi said in a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on the WOC and CTI Summit preparation at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday.

"Surely we have to work hard in this context; to determine what's next after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. With the Manado Ocean Declaration, we hope that the ocean dimension will later on play a more significant role in (any new agreement) after the Kyoro Protocol," he added.

Freddy added that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had hoped that the country's organization of the two events would improve the current image of Indonesia as one of the biggest emmittors of greenhouse gases.

Regarding the CTI, Freddy said donor countries had granted US$70 million through the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) for the conservation of coral reefs, marine resources and ecosystem of the region.

Indonesia, he added, has received $40 million from the United States alone for the same purpose, and aims at getting the largest portion of the GEF funds for being an initiator to the CTI.

Indonesia also wants the secretariat of the CTI to be built in North Sulawesi.

The CTI Summit is expected to produce regional action plans that can be implemented in each country member.

North Sulawesi governor HS Sarundajang said his region was ready to welcome participants of the two big events, saying infrastructure and facilities such as roads, bridges, electricity, clean water, as well as land, sea and air transportation had been prepared.

He added that the number of flights to and from Manado would be also increased.

Guests will be served in 18 star-rate hotels with 1,862 rooms and 24 nonstar-rate hotels with 719 rooms.

Sarundajang also said the two big events were expected to boost economic growth of eastern Indonesia, particularly that of North Sulawesi.

Placing Oceans on Climate Agenda Major Goal of WOC
Fidelis E. Satriastanti, The Jakarta Globe 24 Apr 09;

The government hopes to lobby foreign delegates to incorporate marine and coastal issues into the global climate change agenda during the upcoming World Ocean Conference in Manado, North Sulawesi Province, an official said on Friday.

Up to 5,000 people from 121 countries are expected to attend the conference, to be held May 11-14. A summit for the six-nation Coral Triangle Initiative follows on May 15.

“In one part of the [draft agreement for the conference], we urge the Adaptation Fund Board of the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] to incorporate oceans and coastal areas into climate change adaptation programs,” said Gelwynn Jusuf, deputy secretary of the WOC.

“However,” he continued, “this is just an initial idea which would require the support of all delegations.”

The Adaptation Fund was established under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to help provide developing countries with the technologies needed to cope with the effects of climate change.

The Kyoto Protocol, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries to 5 percent below 1990 levels, is due to expire in 2012.

A climate change conference to be held in Denmark in December is expected to produce an international agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that would replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Gelwynn said that further discussions about what kinds of marine or coastal adaptation measures would be needed, or what kind of funding scheme would be required, had not been formally hammered out by delegates.

“We have not really come to terms on what kind of adaptation scheme would be suitable, but the issue will be open for discussion at the conference,” he said.

“The adaptation scheme is much more open for debate because developed countries are quite resistant to talk about mitigation if there is still no solid proof” of a connection between oceans and climate change.

Gelwynn said that Indonesia had recently been conducting climate change-related marine research to prepare the country for the Manado conference.

“We have been doing lots of research on oceans, which included many areas, like the impact on people’s livelihoods, rising sea levels, and fish populations,” he said.

“Our researchers will be presenting their studies along with other world ocean experts at the symposium” attached to the WOC.

The International Ocean Science Technology and Policy Symposium is expected to run in Manado from May 12-14.

So far, 860 delegates from 30 countries have confirmed their participation in the symposium.

Gelwynn said that climate change research on oceans and coasts had mainly focused on the ocean’s potential to emit carbon, rather than on the potential for oceanic carbon absorption.

“We all know that is still debatable, but the symposium would be a good opportunity to listen to what experts have to say,” he said.

Read more!

Activities held in Singapore to celebrate Earth Day

Otelli Edwards, Channel NewsAsia 22 Apr 09;

SINGAPORE: Several "green" activities were rolled out in Singapore on Wednesday to inspire environmental awareness on Earth Day, an important event that was celebrated worldwide.

Among the activities were free rides for the day on bus services 16, 70, 100. These buses ply the densely populated heartlands and central business district from morning to midnight.

Electronic maker Panasonic kicked off the fare-free day to encourage an alternate green commute. The aim was to slash carbon emission.

The bus-ride will also initiate a drive to collect "eco ideas" on ways to save the environment.

Over at Pasir Ris Park, 120 students from Woodlands Ring Secondary took part in a cleanup exercise of mangrove swamps.

Also looking to do its bit is CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School, by saying 'no' to plastic bags.

It will give out iPledge cards to track the number of plastic bags saved when students refuse them when making purchases.

- CNA/ir

Read more!

Recycling efforts get $8m boost

NEA launches fund on Earth Day, marked by tree-planting, clean-ups
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 23 Apr 09;

THE National Environment Agency (NEA) yesterday launched an $8 million 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) Fund for Earth Day, to encourage waste minimisation and recycling projects here.

It can be used to offset up to 80 per cent of the cost, capped at $1 million, of starting projects for recycling waste in landed homes, food and beverage outlets, and schools.

It can also be used to start projects to recycle waste like used household batteries, which are currently not recycled.

Speaking at the fund's launch, Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, said: 'Just as we have relied on technology to solve our water challenge, we will also take this route to encourage recycling.

'Ultimately, we hope to change the perception of waste to that of a resource that can be utilised.'

A spokesman for the NEA told The Straits Times that 20 companies, including waste collectors and recycling companies, had expressed interest in applying for the fund.

Dr Yaacob hailed Earth Day, marked yesterday, as a 'very important day in the environmental calendar'.

'Singapore is no different from other countries in facing environmental challenges,' he said.

'On this day, I ask all Singaporeans to play their part and continue to find ways and means to maintain the environmental achievements that we have achieved over the last 40 years.'

A slew of activities to mark the occasion were organised yesterday.

Some 120 students from Woodlands Ring Secondary School helped clean up the mangrove swamps at Pasir Ris Park.

More than 165 trees were planted around the island in activities organised by the National Parks Board.

Footwear and apparel company Timberland Singapore also had a team of 110 volunteers, customers and employees plant 100 trees, including the Tembusu species, at MacRitchie Reservoir.

Households also got in on the act.

Over the last three months, the South West District has held a reality TV-style competition that saw five shortlisted families transform their homes into greener living spaces.

Organised by 3M Singapore in partnership with the South West Community Development Council, the homes were retrofitted with energy-efficient appliances.

These actions saved the five families $430 in utility bills altogether.

Mr Tan Chuan Shin, whose family walked away with a cash prize of $3,000 yesterday, said the competition was an opportunity to learn more about environmental conservation and reduce his bills at the same time.

'We are thrilled to receive the cash prize and will continue to practise the simple energy-saving habits at home,' he said.

$8m recycling fund
Channel NewsAsia, Today Online 23 Apr 09;

An $8-million Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Fund has been launched as part of Earth Day, to co-pay up to 80 per cent of the costs of new projects that can lead to waste minimisation and product recycling.

The fund is open to all companies and Singapore-registered organisations. The Regent Singapore, for one, plans to apply. Since it launched its recycling programme in 2007, the hotel has cut the amount of waste by more than 40 per cent and seen disposal costs reduced by 12 per cent a year.

The hotel’s director for engineering Lee Baharuddin said: “We are looking for machinery that can compact all the recycled waste, as we currently use almost 200 waste bins in the hotel.”

Read more!

Success Stories: Cleaning Up Planet Earth

Robin Lloyd, livescience.com Yahoo News 22 Apr 09;

Cleaner air, cleaner water and cleaner-burning gasoline - which means less brain-toxic lead in our blood - are the major achievements of the modern environmental movement, but global climate change looms as the elephant in the living room, experts say.

Let's start with the good news on this anniversary of Earth Day.

"After almost 40 years, the environment is significantly improved in many ways from the condition it was in on the first Earth Day in 1970," said Eric Goldstein, a lawyer with the National Resources Defense Council.

Not everyone agrees with this level of optimism but here is where progress has been made.

Thanks to the Clean Water Act, which went into effect in the 1970s, more of the nation's rivers and lake waters are swimmable, fishable and drinkable. The laws limit the discharge of toxic chemicals and sewage from factories and industry into the nation's water, including wetlands, sloughs and prairie potholes.

The air you breathe

Thanks to the Clean Air Act, legislation started in the '50s and strengthened in the '60s, '70s and beyond, more of our air is breathable, or healthier to breathe. The laws limit allowable emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O, and other gases from motor vehicles and gasoline (via evaporation). They also deal with reducing smog and acid rain.

Thanks to efforts to phase out leaded gasoline (as part of the Clean Air Act), fewer children suffer from lead-induced retardation and other developmental problems. Tetraethyl lead was a gas additive that made engines run smoother, but it also built up in the soil and air, and thus caused harmful, toxic levels in children's blood stream. Leaded gasoline was phased out totally in the United States by the mid-1990s. Blood lead levels have been cut in half.

Thanks to the banning of the insecticide DDT and the Endangered Species Act, both initiated in the early 1970s, numerous bird species have been protected from extinction, including the bald eagle.

Numerous federal regulatory oversight and safety agencies - such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - have helped forge more federal laws and policies to protect the environment.

"And millions of acres of parkland and other ecological sensitive places have been protected," Goldstein added.

But it's hard to get straight optimism from anyone who studies or advocates for the environment.

"Of course, you can see the glass as half full and half empty, because there are many significant challenges that remain," Goldstein said. "And of course global warming is first and foremost, and the most critical. And despite the progress, there has also been increasing loss of species around the world, threats to the health of our oceans; there is water scarcity in many parts of the world and haphazard development patterns."

A little-discussed downside: U.S. gains in clear air and water often come at the expense of other nations, Drexel University sociologist and environmental scientist Robert Brulle said. We export our toxin-producing manufacturing to places such as Canada, Mexico and China where there are looser environmental policies. We clean up our act, their air and water gets dirtier.

And lately?

Most of the above landmarks were primarily achieved starting in the 1970s, leaving some to ask, "What have you done for me lately?"

The hold-up in progress these days is that early tree huggers tackled the low-hanging fruit first, Brulle says. Now the harder stuff - global issues like global warming, biodiversity loss, deforestation - remains to be solved. Also, the grass-roots movement is less powerful and less empowering. It's hard to get on the board of a lot of these organizations, other than say the Sierra Club, National Audubon Society or the Center for Health, Environment & Justice.

Nowadays, a lot of organizations - there were 1,339 that operated nationally and reported to the IRS in 2003, according to Brulle - give citizens a "free ride." Just give money. No need to write a letter, attend a rally or lecture, or change one's lifestyle.

Meanwhile, the environmental movement has a total annual income of $2.7 billion, Brulle said.
And some of the organizations do good work by focusing on buying and preserving land to protect ecological habitats, but this does nothing today for the more pressing issue of global climate change, he says.

"You can buy an ecosystem, but shifts in climate change will destroy the ecosystem as it exists," Brulle said.

As an example, Brulle points the finger at the Nature Conservancy, which commanded about 19 percent of all environmental income dollars in 2003 by his calculation.

"Do we want to be putting 19 percent of [donations] income on a strategy that is really about buying land?" Brulle said. "That is not going to address global climate change and biodiversity losses ... the strategy has failed."

Brulle's picks for where to put your environmental dollars - the Sierra Club (for which he is an unpaid advisor; he likes how they effectively connect individuals with national concerns), Center for Health, Environment & Justice (he likes their highly local work) and 350.org.

The real challenge

About 62 percent of Americans refuse to accept that global climate change is a problem, despite a consensus among scientists that it is. And that's a problem.

"The biggest challenge that the environmental movement faces in the next two to three years - climate change, climate change and climate change," Brulle said.

Sure, shrinking global biodiversity and the link between toxic chemicals and human health loom, but these pale in comparison to the threat of climate change, he said.

It's easy to see that oil spills are bad for the environment. The trick with climate change is getting people to visualize it, the goal of a new book, "Climate Change: Picturing the Science" (W. W. Norton & Co., 2009), which shows photos of melting ice and permafrost, and of rising sea levels in Venice and Miami, as well as other evidence that brings the problem to life.

An exhibition of the photos is on display today in Manhattan on the outside corner of the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue.

History and what's to come

Environmentalism was a non-partisan issue for most of the nation's history. Richard Nixon and Theodore Roosevelt both were environmentalists. The gulf between the two parties' positions on the environment started in the mid-1970s and has widened steadily ever since, an analysis by Brulle shows.

Brulle is less than optimistic about significant or major changes, except in a few areas. A big wilderness preservation bill was passed last month in Congress. And we'll soon become a more energy efficient nation, as part of President Obama's push for more "green jobs."

Also management of overfishing is improving and will continue to do so with Oregon State University marine biologist Jane Lubchenco as the new chief of NOAA, he said.

Ohio State University sociologist J. Craig Jenkins also is guardedly optimistic for our environmental future.

"Trying to run a transportation system based on 'Hummers" took a long time to develop and will take equally long to restructure," he said.

He predicts significant changes in our energy use and patterns in the areas of transportation, home heating and industrial energy use, if only due to rising energy costs. The United States currently ranges from non-competitive to among the worst in the world in these areas (especially in transportation and domestic energy use).

New housing designs, new methods of generating electricity and new transportation methods are on the horizon, he said, also due to rising costs.

"These will also have global warming benefits," he said. "The big unknown is whether the latter benefits will be enough to matter."

Perhaps an even bigger overhaul, not a bigger or better movement, is required to solve our environmental woes, according to "Bridge at the Edge of the World" (Yale University Press, 2008) by James Gustave Speth, dean of Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Efforts to deal with environmental deterioration are failing across the board, Speth says. His solution is to look at capitalism and our political system, reorient our values away from economics and toward human and natural ecology, and reinvent a new way of living on the planet.

Read more!