Nations offer alternatives at climate pact talks

David Fogarty and Thin Lei Win, Reuters 30 Sep 09;

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Negotiators at U.N. climate talks on Wednesday tried to break the deadlock on finance and steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions as a string of reports warned of dire consequences from global warming.

Delegates from about 180 nations are meeting in the Thai capital to try to narrow differences over how to share the burden in the fight against climate change before a December deadline to agree on a broad outline of a pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Finance for poorer states to adapt to rising seas and greater extremes of weather and to green their economies will be key to an agreement that all nations can sign to succeed Kyoto after its first phase ends in 2012.

"People are getting more into the text, it's not procedural," said Michael Zammit Cutajar, the head of a key U.N. negotiating group, referring to 180-page draft text on a new agreement that negotiators are trying to trim down.

"It's not the pressing issues as much as it is in the way certain alternatives are put forward," he told Reuters.

"What I think is more interesting is that some really big political issues have come out into the open," said Zammit Cutajar, who heads a negotiating group looking at nations' long-term actions to brake the pace of climate change.

A second group is looking at ways for rich nations bound by emissions targets under Kyoto to toughen those targets, leading to a two-track negotiation process.

"One is the linkage between the two tracks of the negotiation with some parties that haven't said so clearly before saying we want this to end up with one agreement, not two," he said referring to the EU, though many developing nations resist this.

"And also we've seen the idea coming from the U.S., Australia and others that there should be a common framework in which mitigation actions are undertaken by all parties, different mitigation actions according to national circumstances and capabilities but the same legal framework."

Mitigation refers to actions to cut or limit greenhouse gas emissions, such as investing in wind farms, energy efficiency or clean-coal power stations.

He said a U.S. proposal involved an appendix bound by the same legal language in which all countries list what they are prepared to do. "So that finally has come on to the table. And these things have to be resolved before we have agreement."

The U.N. wants nations to settle on an outline on a new climate pact during a December 7-18 meeting in Copenhagen.

FOOD AND FLOODS

The United States never ratified Kyoto but delegates say the world's number two emitter is key to any deal and Democrats in the U.S. Senate are expected to unveil a bill aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next four decades.

Underscoring the growing threat from climate change, a World Bank study on Wednesday said poor countries would need to spend as much as $100 billion annually over the next 40 years to adapt to more extreme weather and rising seas.

Global warming will also cut into world grain yields and result in less food being available in the developing world in 2050, the International Food Policy Research Institute said in a report.

The Philippines also called on rich nations at the climate talks to toughen emissions cuts, saying the deadly floods brought about by a typhoon that hit the country this week was a taste of future effects of climate change on poor nations.

Indonesia on Wednesday pointed to progress at the Bangkok talks but didn't expect clarity on financing until Copenhagen.

"It doesn't look like it's going to be happening, though we do want to have it as soon as possible but other parties will take hostage some of the issues until their demand has been fulfilled," said Agus Purnomo, head of Indonesia's delegation.

"We'll see people releasing their hostages only the last six hours of the negotiation (in Copenhagen)," he told Reuters.

Large annual sums are a key demand for poor nations.

The chair of the G77 plus China negotiating group said rich nations must pledge at least 5 percent of their GDP over the next three to four decades to address the threats from climate change.

"The issue of finance and technology transfer are at the heart, in fact they are the first building blocks, for a successful architecture for a future deal," Lumumba D'Aping of Sudan told reporters.

(Additional reporting by Charles Abbott in Washington; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

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'Planned recession' could avoid catastrophic climate change

Britain will have to stop building airports, switch to electric cars and shut down coal-fired power stations as part of a 'planned recession' to avoid dangerous climate change.

Louise Gray, The Telegraph 30 Sep 09;

At the moment the UK is committed to cutting greenhouse gases by a third by 2020.

However a new report from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research said these targets are inadequate to keep global warming below two degrees C above pre-industrial levels.

The report says the only way to avoid going beyond the dangerous tipping point is to double the target to 70 per cent by 2020.

This would mean reducing the size of the economy through a "planned recession".

Kevin Anderson, director of the research body, said the building of new airports, petrol cars and dirty coal-fired power stations will have to be halted in the UK until new technology provides an alternative to burning fossil fuels.

"To meet [Government] targets of not exceeding two degrees C, there would have to be a moratorium on airport expansion, stringent measures on the type of vehicle being used and a rapid transition to low carbon technology," he said.

Mr Anderson also said individuals will have to consume less.

"For most of the population it would mean fairly modest changes to how they live, maybe they will drive less, share a car to work or take more holidays in Britain."

More than 190 countries are due to meet in Copenhagen in December to decide a new international deal on climate change.

Speaking at an Oxford University conference on the threat of climate change, Mr Anderson said rich countries will have to make much more ambitious cuts to have any chance of keeping temperature rise below four degrees C.

"If we do everything we can do then we might have a chance," he said.

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2050: Climate change will worsen the plight of the poor

FAO 30 Sep 09;
Future of agriculture and food security closely linked to climate change

30 September 2009, Rome - Poorest regions with the highest levels of chronic hunger are likely to be among the worst affected by climate change, according to an FAO discussion paper published today. Many developing countries, particularly in Africa, could become increasingly dependent on food imports.

While globally the impact of climate change on food production may be small, at least until 2050, the distribution of production will have severe consequences on food security: developing countries may experience a decline of between 9 and 21 percent in overall potential agricultural productivity as a result of global warming, the paper estimated.

The paper reported that climate change is among main challenges to agriculture in feeding the world's population, projected to reach 9.1 billion people by 2050.

At the same time, several agriculture-based mitigation options for climate change could generate significant benefits for both food security and climate change adaptation. Increasing soil carbon sequestration through forestry and agro-forestry initiatives and tillage practices, improving efficiency of nutrient management and restoring degraded lands are examples of actions that have large mitigation potential and high co-benefits.

Climate change is expected to affect agriculture and forestry systems through higher temperatures, elevated carbon dioxide concentration, changes in rainfall, increased weeds, pests and diseases. In the short term, the frequency of extreme events such as droughts, heat waves, floods and severe storms is expected to increase.

Emissions from agriculture account for roughly 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Seventy-four percent of emissions from agriculture and most of the technical and economic mitigation potential from agriculture - some 70 percent - are in developing countries.

The FAO paper notes that a climate change agenda will need to recognize and value agriculture's potential contribution to adaptation and mitigation through options that also safeguard its contribution to food security and development.

Impact on food security

Climate change will affect the four dimensions of food security: availability, accessibility, utilization and stability, notes the FAO paper.

In terms of availability, increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations are expected to have a positive effect on the yield of many crops, even though the nutritional quality of produce may not increase in line with higher yields.

Climate change will increase the variability of agricultural production across all areas, with increased frequency of extreme climate events. The poorest regions will be exposed to the highest degree of instability of food production.

On average, food prices are expected to rise moderately in line with increases in temperature until 2050. After 2050 and with further increases in temperatures, significant decreases in agricultural production potential in developing countries are projected and prices are expected to rise more substantially.

Climate change is likely to alter the conditions for food safety by increasing the disease pressure from vector, water and food-borne diseases. The result could be a substantial decline in agricultural productivity, including labour productivity, leading to increases in poverty and mortality rates.

Africa especially vulnerable

Agricultural and food production in many developing countries are likely to be adversely affected, especially in countries that have low incomes and a high incidence of hunger and poverty and are already highly vulnerable to drought, flooding and cyclone.

In Africa this could lead to an increased dependency in many countries on food imports. It has been estimated that climate change may reduce African potential agricultural output up to the 2080-2100 period by between 15 and 30 percent.

The strongest negative impact of climate change on agriculture is expected in sub-Saharan Africa. This means that the poorest and most food insecure region is also expected to suffer the largest contraction of agricultural incomes.

The climate is right

Adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change will be costly but vital for food security, poverty reduction and maintaining the ecosystem. The current impetus for investing in improved agricultural policies, institutions and technologies to meet both food security and energy goals, provides a unique opportunity to mainstream climate change related actions into agriculture, the paper notes.

It notes that, until recently, agriculture has largely remained a marginal issue in climate change negotiations, with some exception as regards deforestation and forest degradation mitigation activities. Among the reasons FAO identifies is that the scope of existing financing mechanisms has tended to exclude many agricultural activities, including many soil carbon sequestration activities.

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Best of our wild blogs: 30 Sep 09

2-4 Oct (Fri-Sun): Break the tradition. Spare the sharks.
from wild shores of singapore

RMBR Nature Guides Recruitment
(Deadline: 1st Oct 2009) from Habitatnews

New Taxon for Malaysia
from Butterflies of Singapore

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Hunters of speed and stealth
from The annotated budak

Prof Peter Ng on "Climate Change and Marine Biodiversity - Lessons from a Small Red Dot" from wild shores of singapore

Black-headed Munia mating
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Is There a "Moore's Law" for Cities?
World's Leading Experts Say "Yes" from The Daily Galaxy: News from Planet Earth & Beyond

Read more!

Every species on the planet documented in new Australian report

Sophie Tedmanson, Times Online 29 Sep 09;

Australian scientists have documented the planet’s entire known animal and plant species in a new report backed by Sir David Attenborough.

New discoveries among the 1.9 million species include 48 reptiles, eight frogs, eight mammals, 1,184 flowering plants and 904 insects, mites, spiders and scorpions.

The report, Numbers of Living Species in Australia and the World, found that in the past three years about 18,000 new species have been found globally each year. Of those, 75 per cent were invertebrates, 11 per cent were vascular plants and nearly 7 per cent vertebrates.

Sir David has described the identification and naming of species as “the very foundation of the natural sciences”.

“Unless we can be certain of exactly what organism we are considering, we cannot protect it, still less understand it,” he said.

“Listing species is the beginning of that essential process. So this report will provide a crucial reference point for all those who are acting to protect our planet for future generations.”

Compiled by the Australian Biological Resources Study, the report was described as a “fantastic contribution to the global fight to conserve biodiversity”, by the country’s Environment Minister, Peter Garrett.

"It also gives us new insight into how valuable Australia's plants and animals are, revealing we have even more unique mammals, reptiles and plants than we previously had thought,” he said.

But Mr Garrett conceded that there was still “a long way to go” to help manage the numbers of plant and wildlife species in Australia.

“We have discovered and named only about a quarter of Australia's estimated number of flora and fauna,” he said.

“We need this essential information to do a better job of managing our biodiversity against the threats of invasive species, habitat loss and climate change.”

In Australia it has been revealed that one in five species of mammals are in danger of becoming extinct. Of the 388 species scientists found naturally in Australia, 78 are listed as vulnerable, endangered or extinct in the wild.

In addition nearly 14 per cent of amphibians, 5 per cent of reptiles and 6 per cent of Australia’s birds are at risk.

However there was some good news for the country. In the past three years hundreds of new species have been discovered, while many were confirmed to be unique only to Australia.

World known species rises to 1.9 million, report says
Reuters 29 Sep 09;

CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - The world's only catalog of known plants and animals has listed 1.9 million species globally, a rise of 114,000 on a study done three years ago, Australian researchers said Tuesday.

The number of currently accepted and described species had jumped 6.3 percent from 1,786,000 last described in 2006, Australia's Environment Minister Peter Garrett said, releasing the Numbers of Living Species in Australia and the World report in Cairns.

"The report shows that the science of species discovery is alive and well," Garrett told reporters.

Australia held one of the most diverse collections, with 87 percent of its mammals and 93 percent of reptiles found nowhere else, including iconic kangaroos and koalas.

The report updated the number of Australian species for the first time in two decades, listing 48 new reptiles, eight frogs, eight mammals, 1,184 flowering plants and 904 new species of spiders, mites and scorpions.

But one in five species were at serious risk of extinction as Australia, the world's driest inhabited continent, experiences what scientists say is an unusually rapid pace of climate warming, Garrett said.

"We need this essential information to do a better job of managing our biodiversity against the threats of invasive species, habitat loss and climate change," he said.

Around 18,000 new species were being described each year by researchers, the study said, with 75 percent of those listed in 2007 being invertebrates, 11 percent plants and 7 percent listed as vertebrate animals.

The report said the job of cataloguing species was nowhere near complete, with the world's total number of species estimated at between 5 million and 50 million.

(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Secret life of plants and animals vital in warming struggle
Tom Arup, The Sydney Morning Herald 30 Sep 09;

THE world must invest more in identifying plants and animal species in the wake of climate change, the author of a new audit of global species has warned.

Arthur Chapman, an Australian researcher who has written the only report known to document all of the world's known species, said the extinction threat globally from climate change and other environmental pressures made it more important than ever to know what species existed.

He said a shortage of taxonomists - scientists who identify and classify species - in a number of key fields was slowing the global rate of identifying species.

Mr Chapman's Numbers of Living Species in Australia and the World report was released yesterday by the Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, in Townsville. The report collated existing scientific data and reports from a variety of countries, research bodies and official agencies.

It found that the world now has 1.9 million identified species, while Australia has identified just short of 150,000, just a quarter of all Australian flora and fauna.

It found the best estimates of all plants and animals species are 570,000 in Australia and 11 million worldwide.

Mr Garrett said yesterday that scientific research was alive and well in Australia and that the report showed that over the past three years "we've discovered 48 reptiles, eight frogs, eight mammals, 1184 flowering plants and 904 spiders, mites and scorpions.

"But we have a long way to go - we have discovered and named only about a quarter of Australia's estimated number of flora and fauna. We need this essential information to do a better job of managing our biodiversity against the threats of invasive species, habitat loss and climate change."

Mr Chapman told the Herald that Australia was one of 12 "mega-diverse" countries, and his report showed Australia had a greater rate of endemic species than first thought.

The report found that 90 per cent of mammals and reptiles found in Australia are endemic.

It also found that the 1541 of Australia's species are now listed as threatened with extinction, making up 9 per cent of the all threatened species on the planet. There are 16,956 threatened species globally.

The Greens senator Rachel Siewert said the alarming rates of threatened species in the report highlighted the urgency in protecting "flora and fauna from processes such as land clearing, inappropriate development, disease and feral plants and animals".

Ten percent of world's major species 'at threat'
Yahoo News 29 Sep 09;

SYDNEY (AFP) – The "Number of Living Species in Australia and the World" study found 0.9 percent of the world's 1.9 million classified species were at threat, including 9.2 percent of major vertebrate species.

Australia's government-funded Biological Resources Study, the world's only census of animal and plant life, found 20.8 percent of mammals were endangered, as were 12.2 percent of birds and 29.2 percent of amphibians.

Of reptiles, 4.8 percent were considered threatened, along with 4.1 percent of fish species.

"In Australia and around the world, biodiversity is under huge and growing pressure," said environment department secretary Robyn Kruk.

"The pressures are pervasive and chronic in many places; invasive species, habitat loss and climate change in particular."

Australia was found to be home to 7.8 percent of the world's known species. Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the study had shown its wildlife was highly unique, with 87 percent of mammals and 93 percent of reptiles found nowhere else in the world.

However, the study also showed Australian species accounted for 9.1 percent of the world's threatened flora and fauna, and Garrett said vigilance was essential.

"We have a long way to go, we have discovered and named only about a quarter of Australia's estimated number of flora and fauna," said Garrett.

"We need this essential information to do a better job of managing our biodiversity against the threats of invasive species, habitat-loss and climate change."

According to the report there were likely to be some 11 million species on Earth of which only 1.9 million had been discovered, with millions of invertebrates, fungi and other organisms yet to be found and named.

Read more!

Golf club lauded for greener greens

Keppel is among 10 winners of water conservation prize
Grace Chua, Straits Times 30 Sep 09;

GOLF courses are notorious for being environmental villains, what with their high water consumption and use of pesticides.

But Keppel Club, nestled in Pasir Panjang, not far from Sentosa, is trying to shake off that image.

Yesterday, the club scored a Watermark Award for its water conservation efforts, which include installing taps that shut off automatically and using rainwater to irrigate its greens.

Also, as the course nestles up against Berlayer Creek, a saltwater mangrove swamp, the club in 2006 adopted the area - conducting regular clean-ups there and protecting its bird and plant life.

The third annual Watermark Awards, given out by the water utilities board PUB, are for organisations and individuals who take water conservation seriously.

'I think this award is a form of recognition that shows golf clubs can be green,' said Keppel Club president Edwin Khew, who is also the chief executive of waste management company IUT Global.

'Hopefully we can encourage other golf courses to do the same,' he added.

Water conservation measures, Mr Khew estimated, have cut the club's water consumption by about 20 per cent.

Of the 10 award winners, three are individuals and three are schools like Elias Park Primary School in Pasir Ris, which adopted nearby Sungei Api Api. The school conducts regular clean-ups at the small river at Pasir Ris Park.

The remaining four awards went to organisations or companies such as Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, which uses new solvent-cleaning technologies to wash machine parts, thereby reducing the amount of water used.

The winners were selected from 46 nominees.

One of the individual award winners is Sembawang grassroots leader Peter Lo, 63. He recruits volunteers for waterway monitoring and to help residents install water-saving thimbles.

So far, he has gathered about 50 volunteers, and single-handedly installed more than 100 thimbles for needy residents.

The retired businessman explained that his Hong Kong childhood, with its severe droughts and water rationing in the 1960s, drove his desire to make every drop count.

'Everything we touch, even the rice we eat every day, is related to water. It's the most important natural resource,' he said.

10 win Watermark awards
Grace Chua, Straits Times 29 Sep 09;

GOLF courses are notorious for being environmental villains, with their high water consumption and pollution with pesticides.

But Keppel Club, nestled in Pasir Panjang not far from Sentosa, is trying to shake that image.

The club was awarded a Watermark Award on Tuesday for its water conservation efforts, such as installing automatic taps and recycled-water ponds to water its golf courses with rainwater.

The club's greens also nestle up against Berlayer Creek, a mangrove swamp. In 2006, it adopted the saltwater mangroves, conducting clean-ups there and protecting its bird and plant life.

The annual Watermark Awards, given out by water utility board PUB, are for organisations and individuals who go the extra mile for water conservation. This is the third time they are being awarded.

'I think this award from PUB is a form of recognition that golf clubs can be green,' said Keppel Club president Edwin Khew, who is also the chief executive of waste management company IUT Global.

'Hopefully we can encourage other golf courses to do the same,' he added.

Water conservation measures, Mr Khew estimates, have cut the club's consumption about 20 per cent.

Of the 10 award winners, three are individuals, three are schools like Elias Park Primary School in Pasir Ris, which adopted nearby Sungei Api Api, and four are organisations or companies like Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, which uses new technologies to wash machine parts and save water.

They were selected from 46 nominations.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times (above).

10 PUB Watermark awards given out
Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 29 Sep 09;

SINGAPORE : The largest number of the PUB Watermark Awards has been given out on Tuesday evening at the Marina Barrage.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim gave out 10 awards to recognise efforts in protecting and highlighting Singapore's precious water resources.

The 10 water champions are CapitaLand, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (GST) Singapore, Housing & Development Board, Keppel Club, Elias Park Primary School, St Anthony's Primary School, Nan Hua High School, Mrs Koh-Leong Swee Ling, Mr Peter Lo Shui Sung and Mr Frederick Yeo Lye Hock.

Recipients included property developers, recreation clubs, schools and companies. One recipient even developed a new technology to help save water. - CNA /ls

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Turning waste into gold

Straits Times 30 Sep 09;

THAT old computer circuit board, printer or mobile phone we throw away without a second thought is being turned into gold, as part of the national push to minimise waste here.

For the past four years, Centillion Environment and Recycling - which specialises in extracting precious metals like gold, silver and platinum from electronic waste - has been converting 200 tonnes of rubbish into 20kg of gold residue each week.

The company, which operates a 2ha facility in Tuas, sells the metals to the jewellery industry, where they are made into bracelets and rings.

This unique waste management process can now be witnessed by the public.

Yesterday, the National Environment Agency extended the two-year-old Programme for Environmental Experiential Learning, which provides exclusive one-day tours to a number of recycling facilities used to sort different types of waste - including electronic, wood and household rubbish. Collectively, more than 4,000 tonnes of these items are recycled daily.

Those interested in finding out the ins and outs of waste management can apply for the one-day tour, which is conducted once every three months. For more information, go to www.nea.gov.sg/sei

AMRESH GUNASINGHAM

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Singapore tanker aground in Mississippi

Business Times 30 Sep 09;

(WASHINGTON) A Singapore-flagged tanker carrying more than 2.2 million litres of crude oil ran aground in the Mississippi River in the early hours of Monday, the US Coast Guard said.

'The tank vessel Eagle Tucson was travelling upbound. It was at mile marker three on the lower Mississippi River' in Louisiana when it grounded at around 0745 GMT, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

Four tugboats were on the scene to try to shift the grounded tanker, and two more were heading towards the boat to try to help with the effort, Lloyds MIU Casualty Service reported.

Lloyds confirmed earlier reports from the US Coast Guard that there are 'no signs of oil leaking or water ingress'. The vessel was sailing from Puerto Jose in Venezuela to Chalmette, Louisiana, according to Lloyds.

The Eagle Tucson is registered to London-based AET Inc Ltd and sails under the Singapore flag, according to the Equasis website, which posts safety-related information about ships on the Internet. - AFP

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Samoa tsunami toll may exceed 100, hundreds injured

* 8.0 undersea quake triggers Pacific tsunami alert
* Reports people swept out to sea
* Villages flattened, search for bodies in sand
(Updates with latest death toll, quotes, changes dateline)

Michael Perry, Reuters 30 Sep 09;

SYDNEY, Sept 30 (Reuters) - A series of tsunamis smashed into the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa killing possibly more than 100 people, destroying villages and injuring hundreds, officials said on Wednesday.

A Pacific-wide tsunami warning was issued after a huge 8.0 magnitude undersea quake off American Samoa, with reports of a small tsunami reaching New Zealand and rising sea levels in several South Pacific island nations.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cancelled its warning, but Japan's Meteorological Agency issued a local tsunami warning for the country's eastern coast, warning of a possible tsunami of 50 cm (2 feet).

The Indian Ocean tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 killed about 230,000 people across 11 countries.

Shortly after local radio tsunami warnings were issued in American and Western Samoa, waves started crashing into the capital of American Samoa, Pago Pago, and villages and resorts on the southern coasts of the tiny island nations, witnesses said.

"It's believed as of now, there could be a number close to 100 deaths," said Ausegalia Mulipola, assistant chief executive of Western Samoa's disaster management office.

"They are still continuing the searches for any missing bodies in the area," Mulipola told Reuters, adding the southern side of the country's main island Upolu was the worst hit.

"There have been reports of villages, where most of the houses have been run over by the sea," he said.

"Some areas have been flattened and the tsunami had brought a lot of sand onshore, so there have been reports the sand has covered some of the bodies. So we need specialised machines to search for bodies that are burried under the sand."

In American Samoa, a U.S. territory, the death toll was officially 14, but could rise, said officials.

FIVE TSUNAMI WAVES

A series of five waves hit Pago Pago, swamping the harbourside business centre and temporarily closing the airport.

Yachtsman Wayne Hodgins, who has in Pago Pago harbour, said he had heard of people being swept away.

"There was a couple and a young boy, they were clinging to the lifestandard. The water came and went very, very quickly, but it was absolutely ferocious," Hodgins told American media.

American Samoa tourism chief David Vaeafe said water levels rose about three minutes after the tsunami warning, with small villages around the capital devastated.

"Access to Pago Pago has been closed. Water had come up to the first floor. The radio station was evacuated, a lot of damage, structural damage to the steel and brick structure," Vaeafe told Australia's Sky Television from Pago Pago.

There were reports of looting in Pago Pago as people flocked into supermarkets to stockpile supplies. Fishing boats not thrown onto reefs by the tsunamis moved out to open sea for safety.

The tsunami caused waves of 1.5 metres above normal sea level off American Samoa, according to the Pacific Western Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. But there were unconfirmed reports of waves taller than 4 metres.

Hundreds of people, including tourists, fled coastal homes and resorts to higher ground in both nations.

"As of right now, everybody is up in the high mountain ranges," said Senetenari Malele, announcer for local radio station Showers of Blessings in American Samoa.

Hundreds of people have been injured in the tsunamis.

"Injured people are being stabilised onsite by teams in the villages and will be brought over to the main hospital, but roads and communications are damaged," Western Samoa health chief Palanitina Toelupe told Reuters from the emergency ward of the country's main hospital in the capital Apia.

"So far, we are coping. We will definitely need help from overseas, but we will have to assess that later."

(Additional reporting by Adrian Bathgate and Mantik Kusjanto in Wellington, Rob Taylor and James Grubel in Canberra, Stacey Joyce in Washington, Bud Seba in Houston, Jim Christie in San Francisco, Peter Henderson in Los Angeles)

(Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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Increase in sea levels due to global warming could lead to 'ghost states'

David Adam, guardian.co.uk 29 Sep 09;

Global warming could create "ghost states" with governments in exile ruling over scattered citizens and land that has been abandoned to rising seas, an expert said yesterday.

Francois Gemenne, of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations in Paris, said the likely loss of small island states such as Tuvalu and the Maldives raised profound questions over nationality and territory.

"What would happen if a state was to physically disappear but people want to keep their nationalities? It could continue as a virtual state even though it is a rock under the ocean and its people no longer live on that piece of land."

Gemenne said there was more at stake than cultural and sentimental attachments to swamped countries. Tuvalu makes millions of pounds each year from the sale of its assigned internet suffix .tv to television companies. As a nation state, the Polynesian island also has a vote on the international stage through the UN.

"As independent nations they receive certain rights and privileges that they will not want to lose. Instead they could become like ghost states," he said. "This is a pressing issue for small island states, but in the case of physical disappearance there is a void in international law."

Experts say it is a matter of time before global warming drives up sea levels the one or two metres it would take to force permanent evacuation of islands such as Tuvalu, the highest point of which is four metres above water. Gemenne was speaking during a conference at Oxford University to discuss the implications of a catastrophic 4C rise in global temperature, which many scientists fear will occur. Presenting the results of the largest study of its kind into how climate change could drive migration, he said rich countries such as Britain had a responsibility to help people flee the worst impacts of rising temperatures.

"Industrialised countries have a duty to provide adaptation funding to make sure the costs of migration do not have to be met by the countries where the migration will happen," Gemmene said. Such migrants should not be considered "resourceless victims" and financial assistance needed to go beyond basic humanitarian aid and pay for infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. Up to a billion people could eventually be made to move because of climate change.

The study of 23 regions where environmental degradation has caused people to move had showed that fears of millions of people flooding across borders could be misplaced. Most movement was within countries, Gemenne said.

The poorest and most vulnerable people were often unable to migrate, the research showed. "The poorest people lack the social and economic capital to escape," said Gemmene. "This has very important policy implications. People will only move if policies are in place to allow them to do so."

In a 4C warmer world, migration must be considered as a pro-active adaptation strategy, he said, rather than a last ditch catastrophic consequence.

Simon Hales of the World Health Organisation told the conference that widespread population movement would also pose a significant risk to global health. Health protection in a 4C warmer world, he said, would require "substantial redistribution" of global resources such as food, water and energy.

Read more!

Two meter sea level rise unstoppable: experts

Gerard Wynn, Reuters 29 Sep 09;

OXFORD, England (Reuters) - A rise of at least two meters in the world's sea levels is now almost unstoppable, experts told a climate conference at Oxford University on Tuesday.

"The crux of the sea level issue is that it starts very slowly but once it gets going it is practically unstoppable," said Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist at Germany's Potsdam Institute and a widely recognized sea level expert.

"There is no way I can see to stop this rise, even if we have gone to zero emissions."

Rahmstorf said the best outcome was that after temperatures stabilized, sea levels would only rise at a steady rate "for centuries to come," and not accelerate.

Most scientists expect at least 2 degrees Celsius warming as a result of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and probably more. The world warmed 0.7-0.8 degrees last century.

Rahmstorf estimated that if the world limited warming to 1.5 degrees then it would still see two meters sea level rise over centuries, which would see some island nations disappear.

His best guess was a one meter rise this century, assuming three degrees warming, and up to five meters over the next 300 years.

"There is nothing we can do to stop this unless we manage to cool the planet. That would require extracting the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. There is no way of doing this on the sufficient scale known today," he said.

Scientists say that ice melt acquires a momentum of its own - for example warming the air as less ice reflects less heat, warming the local area.

"Once the ice is on the move, it's like a tipping point which reinforces itself," said Wageningen University's Pier Vellinga, citing various research.

"Even if you reduce all the emissions in the world once this has started it may be unstoppable. I conclude that beyond 2 degrees global average temperature rise the probability of the Greenland ice sheet disintegrating is 50 percent or more."

"(That) will result in about 7 meters sea level rise, and the time frame is about 300-1,000 years."

STORM

Delegates from about 190 nations are meeting in Bangkok to try to speed up U.N.-led negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol with a tougher climate pact.

Speakers in Oxford used history to back up their arguments on rising seas. Three million years ago the planet was 2-3 degrees warmer and the sea 25-35 meters higher, and 122,000 years ago 2 degrees warmer and 10 meters higher, they said.

"What we now see in Greenland, Antarctica could be a temporary phenomena but it could also be the start of what we saw 122,000 years ago," said Vellinga.

Sea levels have risen about 20 centimeters in the past century and that effect was accelerating, speakers said.

That rise was adding to storms such as that in the Philippines, although that single event couldn't be attributed to climate change, said Rahmstorf.

"Of course the flooding from a given storm event would be less severe if we hadn't added those extra centimeters."

About 40 million people worldwide live in flood plains, said Southampton University's Robert Nicholls. That is 0.6 percent of the global population and 5 percent of global wealth, because of valuable assets such as airports and power plants.

He was confident that coastal protection could hugely reduce lost land and assets. The cost of that speakers put at anywhere from 50 billion euros ($72.85 billion) a year by 2020 to up to $215 billion a year by 2100.

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Indonesia CO2 pledge to help climate talks: greens

David Fogarty, Reuters 29 Sep 09;

* Indonesia says to cut emissions by 26 percent by 2020
* Will make deeper cuts if rich nations give funding
* Greens say step is positive, puts pressure on rich nations

BANGKOK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Environmentalists on Tuesday welcomed Indonesia's pledge to substantially cut the growth of its greenhouse gas emissions, saying the promise could help talks on crafting a broader global pact to fight climate change.

Indonesia is the world's third largest greenhouse emitter and steps by big developing nations to curb their emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases are a key focus of U.N.-led climate talks under way in the Thai capital until Oct 9.

Delegates from about 180 countries are trying to narrow differences on emissions reduction targets, climate finance and transfer of clean-energy technology before a December deadline to try to seal a tougher pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol. [ID:nSP450470]

In a speech to G20 leaders on Sept. 25, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government was crafting a policy that would cut emissions by 26 percent by 2020 from "business as usual" (BAU) levels.

The policy would be a mix of stepping up investment in renewable energy, such as geothermal power, and curbing emissions from deforestation and changes in land use.

With international support, he said he was confident Indonesia could cut emissions by as much as 41 percent.

"This target is entirely achievable because most of our emissions come from forest-related issues, such as forest fires and deforestation," he said during a working lunch in the U.S city of Pittsburgh. Reuters obtained a copy of his speech on Tuesday.

"We are also looking into the distinct possibility to commit a billion ton of CO2 reduction by 2050 from BAU. We will change the status of our forest from that of a net emitter sector to a net sink sector by 2030."

In the jargon of international climate talks, "business as usual" levels refers to what would happen if emissions grew at the same rate as has accompanied economic growth in the past.

DESTRUCTION OF RAINFOREST

Indonesia is the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter, the country's National Climate Change Council says, mainly through loss of rainforests and forest fires. Slowing the pace of destruction is a key focus of climate negotiators trying to firm up ways to curb the pace of global warming.

Deforestation is responsible for about 20 percent of mankind's greenhouse gas emissions, so saving forests is a key part of the climate puzzle.

"This is extremely positive, that developing countries can commit to the world that this is the ambition level we are at, we can do," Kim Carstensen, head of conservation group WWF's global climate initiative, told Reuters in Bangkok.

"What's even more interesting and something that's been lacking in the negotiations is that they are willing to provide an additional 15 percent if they get financial support."

Greenpeace said Yudhoyono's comments would put pressure on rich nations to act faster on fighting climate change.

"This puts the focus firmly back on the developed world, most especially the countries who have been bleating that they won't move without the big southern emitters," said Paul Winn, Greenpeace international forest climate campaigner, in Bangkok.

"It also highlights the urgent need for financing to help developing countries take further action on climate."

Rich nations say developing nations need to include any emissions reduction steps into a post-Kyoto pact to ensure such measures can be monitored and verified. Developing countries would also need to make regular progress reports on such steps.

Developing nations are resisting this demand and say rich nations should pay substantial sums to help them adapt to the impacts of climate change and to pay for clean-energy technology. (Editing by Alex Richardson)

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