Tigers found at record altitude in boost for survival hopes

Yahoo News 20 Sep 10;

LONDON (AFP) – A television crew filmed a "lost" population of tigers living at a higher altitude than any others known, raising hopes of linking isolated groups of the big cats across Asia, the BBC said Monday.

The cats were spotted roaming in the hills in the remote Himalayan nation of Bhutan by a conservationist and a team from the BBC's Natural History Unit at a height of 4,100 metres (13,450 feet), said the broadcaster on its website.

"Tigers are thought of as jungle creatures and there is pressure on their habitats from all sides. Yet we now know they can live and breed at this altitude which is a safer habitat for them," said tiger expert and conservationist Alan Rabinowitz, who led the expedition.

The team set up hidden cameras wedged into gullies and trees for six weeks to capture the first hard proof that the animals could live at such high altitude, following earlier anecdotal evidence, the BBC said.

The footage shows a male tiger and a female tiger at 4,100 metres and other tigers living at 3,000 metres, it added. Colour footage shows one tiger sniffing the air, while a night shot shows one of the animals prowling.

The female is lactating, suggesting they are breeding, said BBC cameraman Gordon Buchanan, who set up the camera traps that automatically filmed any creature that moved in front of them.

He said he was "convinced that there must now be cubs somewhere on this mountain."

"This is such a significant discovery for tiger survival," he said. "The fact they can live here is just so important, for tigers in the wild, for their future."

Rabinowitz said the discovery would boost an ambitious plan for a "corridor" across Asia in which tiger populations are safe from humans.

"Bhutan was the missing link in this tiger corridor," he said.

Conservation group WWF says numbers of tigers have plunged to fewer than 3,200 from 100,000 over the past century.

Thirteen "tiger-range" countries are to meet in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in November to discuss plans to double the number of wild tigers by 2022.

Lost tiger population discovered in Bhutan mountains
Matt Walker BBC News 20 Sep 10;

A "lost" population of tigers has been filmed living in the Himalayas.

The discovery has stunned experts, as the tigers are living at a higher altitude than any others known and appear to be successfully breeding.

Their presence in the Bhutan highlands has been confirmed by footage taken by a BBC natural history camera crew.

Creating a nature reserve around the tigers could connect up fragmented populations across Asia, preventing the extinction of the world's biggest cat.

Tigers are known to live in the Himalayan foothills of Bhutan, though little is known about them, or how many there are.

However, leading tiger expert Dr Alan Rabinowitz, formerly of the World Conservation Society and now President of Panthera, a conservation organisation dedicated to safeguarding big cat species, suspected that tigers may also be living at higher altitude, following anecdotal reports by villagers suggesting that some were roaming as high as 4000m (13,000ft).

So, together with a BBC film crew, he decided to investigate by journeying to Bhutan to seek proof that such mountain tigers did indeed exist.

Dr Rabinowitz enlisted the help of BBC wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan, who has filmed wild cats worldwide for more than 10 years.

Under Dr Rabinowitz's direction, Mr Buchanan trekked up into the mountains, where he then set a series of camera traps, that would automatically film any creature moving in front.

The team left the traps at an altitude of between 3,000m and 4,100m, above which trees start being unable to survive.

Three months later, he returned to see what they had caught on camera.

The cameras recorded a wealth of wildlife, including red foxes, jungle cats, monkeys, leopards, Himalayan black bear, tarkin, serow, musk deer and even a red panda.

This is the only place on earth known to have tigers, leopard and snow leopards all sharing the same valley.

It is remarkable to have these three big cats sharing their range.

Most extraordinarily, the cameras took footage of two wild tigers, one male and one female, a discovery that moved Mr Buchanan to tears.

The images are the first known footage of tigers in the remote mountains of Bhutan and the first hard evidence that tigers are capable of living at that altitude.

This find was made in close collaboration with Bhutan Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, with help and guidance from forest guard Phup Tshering.

"The fact they can live here is just so important, for tigers in the wild, for their future," said Mr Buchanan, on seeing the footage for the first time.

The large male tiger, sighted at an altitude of 4,100m is recorded scent-marking, confirming that the tiger pair are living within their own territory, and not just passing through.

The female tiger, sighted at the same altitude, can also be seen to be lactating, strongly suggesting the tigers are breeding at that altitude.

Further footage shows tigers living lower at an altitude of 3000m.

The discovery, which is broadcast this week as part of the BBC One programme Lost Land of the Tiger was made by the same BBC team that discovered a new species of giant rat living on the slopes of a remote volcano deep inside the jungle of Papua New Guinea.

Dr Rabinowitz and the BBC team are not revealing the exact location of the tigers, in order to prevent them being found by poachers.

Tigers used to roam across Asia, now only pockets remain. There are estimated to be as few as 3,000 left in the wild, due to poaching and habitat loss.

The discovery of tigers living at altitude in Bhutan could be crucial to one scheme proposed to help save the species from extinction.

Known as a "tiger corridor", the idea is to connect up many of these surviving isolated and fragmented groups.

That would allow individual tigers to move between populations, allowing them to breed more widely, bolstering the genetic diversity of those surviving.

It would also offer some tigers sanctuary from human towns and villages and the increasing pressures they bring.

The Tiger Corridor Initiative, promoted by the conservation organisation Panthera, hopes one such major corridor could extend along the foothills of the Himalayas from Nepal into Bhutan and northern India, then through to Myanmar, stretching across 2000km with an area of 120,000 sq km. The ambition would then be to connect it to another corridor spanning Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, terminating in Malaysia.

"The significance of finding tigers living so high in Bhutan is that it means that huge areas of Himalayas, that people didn't think were natural places for tigers to live, can now be included in the tiger corridor," says Jonny Keeling, a BBC producer who helped track and film the big cats.

"Bhutan could act as tiger nursery from which tigers could breed safely and spread out to re-populate forests of some of the surrounding countries."

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Extreme Heat Puts Coral Reefs at Risk, Forecasts Say

Justin GIllis New York Times 20 Sep 10;

This year’s extreme heat is putting the world’s coral reefs under such severe stress that scientists fear widespread die-offs, endangering not only the richest ecosystems in the ocean but also associated fisheries that feed millions of people.

From Thailand to Texas, corals are reacting to the heat stress by bleaching, or shedding their color and going into survival mode. Many have already died, and more are expected to do so in coming months. Computer forecasts of water temperature suggest that corals in the Caribbean may undergo drastic bleaching in the next few weeks.

What is unfolding this year is only the second known global bleaching of coral reefs. Scientists are holding out hope that this year will not be as bad, over all, as 1998, the hottest year in the historical record, when an estimated 16 percent of the world’s shallow-water reefs died. But in some places, including Thailand, the situation is looking worse than in 1998.

Scientists say the trouble with the reefs is linked to climate change. For years they have warned that corals, highly sensitive to excess heat, would serve as an early indicator of the ecological distress on the planet caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases.

“I am significantly depressed by the whole situation,” said Clive Wilkinson, director of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, an organization in Australia that is tracking this year’s disaster.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the first eight months of 2010 matched 1998 as the hottest January to August period on record. High ocean temperatures are taxing the organisms most sensitive to them, the shallow-water corals that create some of the world’s most vibrant and colorful seascapes.

Coral reefs occupy a tiny fraction of the ocean, but they harbor perhaps a quarter of all marine species, including a profusion of fish. Often called the “rain forests of the sea,” they are the foundation not only of important fishing industries but also of tourist economies worth billions.

Drastic die-offs of coral were seen for the first time in 1983 in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean, during a large-scale weather event known as El Niño. During an El Niño, warm waters normally confined to the western Pacific flow to the east; 2010 is also an El Niño year.

Serious regional bleaching has occurred intermittently since the 1983 disaster. It is clear that natural weather variability plays a role in overheating the reefs, but scientists say it cannot, by itself, explain what has become a recurring phenomenon.

“It is a lot easier for oceans to heat up above the corals’ thresholds for bleaching when climate change is warming the baseline temperatures,” said C. Mark Eakin, who runs a program called Coral Reef Watch for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “If you get an event like El Niño or you just get a hot summer, it’s going to be on top of the warmest temperatures we’ve ever seen.”

Coral reefs are made up of millions of tiny animals, called polyps, that form symbiotic relationships with algae. The polyps essentially act as farmers, supplying the algae with nutrients and a place to live. The algae in turn capture sunlight and carbon dioxide to make sugars that feed the coral polyps.

The captive algae give reefs their brilliant colors. Many reef fish sport fantastical colors and patterns themselves, as though dressing to match their surroundings.

Coral bleaching occurs when high heat and bright sunshine cause the metabolism of the algae to speed out of control, and they start creating toxins. The polyps essentially recoil. “The algae are spat out,” Dr. Wilkinson said.

The corals look white afterward, as though they had been bleached. If temperatures drop, the corals’ few remaining algae can reproduce and help the polyps recover. But corals are vulnerable to disease in their denuded condition, and if the heat stress continues, the corals starve to death.

Even on dead reefs, new coral polyps will often take hold, though the overall ecology of the reef may be permanently altered. The worst-case situation is that a reef dies and never recovers.

In dozens of small island nations and in some coastal areas of Indonesia and the Philippines, people are heavily dependent on reef fish as a source of protein. The death of corals is not immediately lethal to the fish, but if the coral polyps do not recover, scientists say the reef can eventually collapse, and the associated fishery will become far less productive.

Research shows that is already happening in parts of the Caribbean, though people there are not as dependent on fishing as those living on Pacific islands.

It will be months before this year’s toll is known for sure. But scientists tracking the fate of corals say they have already seen widespread bleaching in Southeast Asia and the western Pacific, with corals in Thailand, parts of Indonesia and some smaller island nations being hit especially hard earlier this year.

Temperatures have since cooled in the western Pacific and the immediate crisis has passed there, even as it accelerates in places like the Caribbean where the waters are still warming. Serious bleaching has been seen recently in the Flower Garden Banks, a marine sanctuary off the Texas-Louisiana border.

In Thailand, “there some signs of recovery in places,” said James True, a biologist at Prince of Songkla University. But in other spots, he said, corals were hit so hard that it is not clear young polyps will be available from nearby areas to repopulate dead reefs.

“The concern we have now is that the bleaching is so widespread that potential source reefs upstream have been affected,” Dr. True said.

Even in a hot year, of course, climate varies considerably from place to place. The water temperatures in the Florida Keys are only slightly above normal this year, and the beloved reefs of that region have so far escaped serious harm.

Parts of the northern Caribbean, including the United States Virgin Islands, saw incipient bleaching this summer, but the tropical storms and hurricanes moving through the Atlantic have cooled the water there and may have saved some corals. Farther south, though, temperatures are still remarkably high, putting many Caribbean reefs at risk.

Summer is only just beginning in the Southern Hemisphere, but water temperatures off Australia are also above normal, and some scientists are worried about the single most impressive reef on earth. The best hope now, Dr. Wilkinson said, is for mild tropical storms that would help to cool Australian waters.

“If we get a poor monsoon season,” he said, “I think we’re in for a serious bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef.”

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Fish or frankenfish? FDA weighs altered salmon

Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Yahoo News 21 Sep 10;

WASHINGTON – Genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as the conventional fish appears to be safe, an advisory committee told the Food and Drug Administration Monday. But they argued that more testing may be needed before it is served on the nation's dinner tables.

If the FDA approves the sale of the salmon, it will be the first time the government allows such modified animals to be marketed for human consumption. The panel was convened by the agency to look at the science of the fish and make recommendations on its safety and environmental impact.

Ron Stotish, chief executive of the Massachusetts company that created the salmon, AquaBounty, said at Monday's hearing that his company's fish product is safe and environmentally sustainable.

FDA officials have largely agreed with him, saying that the salmon, which grows twice as fast as its conventional "sisters," is as safe to eat as the traditional variety. But they have not yet decided whether to approve the request.

Critics call the modified salmon a "frankenfish" that could cause allergies in humans and the eventual decimation of the wild salmon population. Representatives from consumer, environmental and food safety groups asked the agency to decline the company's application to market the fish, saying it is untested.

The advisory committee agreed with the FDA that the company has presented compelling evidence that the fish is safe. But members raised several concerns about the data, saying many of the sample sizes were too small and how healthy the fish will be after many years of breeding.

It is still unclear whether the public will have an appetite for the fish if it is approved. Genetic engineering is already widely used for crops, but the government until now has not considered allowing the consumption of modified animals. Although the potential benefits — and profits — are huge, many people have qualms about manipulating the genetic code of other living creatures.

Part of the hearing focuses on labeling of the fish. It is possible that if the modified salmon is approved, consumers would not even know they were eating it. Current FDA regulations require modified foods to be labeled as such only if the food is substantially different from the conventional version, and the agency has said that the modified salmon is essentially the same as the Atlantic salmon.

If approved, the fish could be in grocery stores in two years, the company estimates.

Approval would open the door for a variety of other genetically engineered animals, including a pig that is being developed in Canada or cattle that are resistant to mad cow disease. Each would have to be individually approved by the FDA.

"For future applications out there the sky's the limit," said David Edwards of the Biotechnology Industry Association. "If you can imagine it, scientists can try to do it."

AquaBounty says it would be the first in the world to market genetically engineered fish. The company submitted its first application for FDA approval in 1995, but the agency did not decide until two years ago to consider applications for genetically engineered animals — a move seen as a breakthrough by the biotechnology industry.

Genetically engineered — or GE — animals are not clones, which the FDA has already said are safe to eat. Clones are copies of an animal. In GE animals, the DNA has been altered to produce a desirable characteristic.

In the case of the salmon, AquaBounty has added a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone all year long. The engineers were able to keep the hormone active by using another gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout that acts like an on switch for the hormone, according to the company. Conventional salmon produce the growth hormone only some of the time.

In documents released ahead of the hearing, the FDA said there were no biologically relevant differences between the engineered salmon and conventional salmon, and there is a reasonable certainty of no harm from its consumption. FDA scientists said Monday there are very few differences between the modified and conventional fish.

Critics have two main concerns: The safety of the food to humans and the salmon's effect on the environment.

Because the altered fish has never been eaten before, they say, it could include dangerous allergens, especially because seafood is highly allergenic. They also worry that the fish will escape and intermingle with the wild salmon population, which is already endangered.They would grow fast and consume more food to the detriment of the conventional wild salmon, the critics fear.

The FDA tried to allay both of those concerns Monday, saying the fish shouldn't cause any allergies not already found in conventional salmon and that there is little chance they could escape.

Critics speaking at the meeting said they were concerned about the unintended consequences of approval, arguing the FDA is relying on too little data.

Wenonah Hauter, director of the advocacy group Food & Water Watch, said the FDA process is inadequate because it allows the company to keep some proprietary information private. Modified foods are regulated under the same process used for animal drugs.

"With all due respect, we don't believe a veterinary advisory committee is the appropriate place to discuss these food safety issues," Hauter told the panel.

European nations have been much more cautious in embracing engineered foods. Ruediger Rosenthal, a spokesman for Bund-Friends of the Earth Germany, said it is unlikely the modified fish would make it across the Atlantic for sale as many Europeans are very skeptical of genetically modified foods.

AquaBounty CEO Stotish countered his product has come under more scrutiny than most food.

"This is perhaps the most studied fish in history," he said. "Environmentally this is a very sustainable technology."

The company has several safeguards in place to quell concerns. The fish would be bred female and sterile, though a small percentage might be able to breed. They would be bred in confined pools where the potential for escape would be low.

In its environmental analysis of the fish released earlier this month, the FDA agreed with the company that there are enough safeguards in place.

Stotish says the fish would be bred in better conditions than many of the world's farmed salmon and could be located closer to towns and cities to help feed more people. The company has also said the increase in engineered salmon production could help relieve endangered wild salmon populations.

The company is also arguing that the fish do not need to be labeled as genetically engineered. Stotish said, "The label could even be misleading because it implies a difference that doesn't exist."

___

Associated Press writer David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.

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Sub-zero seed preserves bid to save orchids

Oscar Nunez Olivas Yahoo News 20 Sep 10;

SAN JOSE (AFP) – Scientists from around the world gathered in Costa Rica this month to exchange ideas on ways to make sure orchids, among the world's most popular flowers, will still be around for the next generation to enjoy.

Many of the orchids of the future, mere seeds today, are in a deep slumber inside glass vials in sub-zero temperature cared for by botanists with a group that has an acronym that sounds like a secret spy group: the OSSSU, or Orchid Seed Stores for Sustainable Use.

Hugh Pritchard, a British scientist with the Millennium Seed Bank Project -- an international plant conservation project coordinated by the Britain's Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew -- said that the OSSSU hopes to build a network of seed banks around the world to preserve orchid seeds.

The initial focus will be on the 250 species of the 35,000 orchid species in danger of extinction, Pritchard told AFP.

"One of the factors is over-exploitation of species in the forests with commercial ends; another is climate change that is expected to accelerate the extinction of many species over the next 40 years," Pritchard said.

Specialists from 23 countries belonging to the OSSU concluded a five-day meeting on the subject here on Friday.

The project encourages scientists in each country to freeze large amounts of seeds of their native species at temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit).

"The seeds will serve in the future for species re-introduction projects, habitat restoration and other sustainable uses," Pritchard said.

Orchid seeds measure mere micrograms, so millions can be stored in vials in small freezer.

"Theoretically, a representative sample of seeds from all of the world?s orchid species could be stored in a space no larger than that occupied by a few domestic refrigerators," Pritchard wrote in an article with co-author Philip Seaton in the October 2008 edition of Orchids magazine.

"Thus, seed banks can provide a means of preserving maximum genetic diversity in a minimum space, and at relatively little cost," the authors wrote.

Ecuadoran biologist Eduardo Sanchez said that at the meeting, scientists from each country had their own ideas on the best ways to preserve their species.

In Ecuador, for example, Cuenca University has decided to germinate 35,000 of the most marketable orchid species, then sell 10,000 of them at cut-rate prices to saturate the market and lower the demand.

They will then plant the remaining 25,000 in forests near rivers, at botanical gardens and at the university itself to encourage both eco-tourism and an appreciation for the flower, Sanchez said.

Tiiu Kull at the Estonian University of Life Sciences said there is a small number of orchid species in Estonia compared to the varieties found in tropical regions, but they are extremely rare and in danger of extinction.

In the Philippines there are native orchid species that are on the verge of extinction because they are being used as base for the production of hybrids which are grown by the tens of millions for commercial use, said University of the Philippines - Los Banos professor Lilian Patena.

Two earlier OSSSU workshops were held in China and Ecuador, both in 2007.

The scientists also exchanged technical advice on how best to run seed banks.

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UNEP Report: Green Economy can reduce poverty and help meet Millennium Development Goals

UNEP 20 Sep 10;

New York, 20 September 2010 - Investing in clean energy, sustainable transport, forests and environmentally-friendly agriculture is essential, if internationally-agreed goals to reduce poverty are to be achieved.

This is among the central conclusions of A Brief for Policymakers on the Green Economy and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (pdf), launched today as heads of state and ministers meet at the UN Headquarters to review progress to date - five years before the MDG deadline of 2015.

Environmental degradation is making it more difficult for governments to achieve Millennium Development Goals such as improving maternal health, providing safe drinking water and combating hunger and disease.

Conversely some countries and communities are finding that environmental improvements, catalyzed by deliberate policy choices; smart investments and often private sector partnerships can be a big part of the solution, the new study claims.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said: "There is rapidly growing evidence that accelerating a transition to a low carbon, resource efficient, employment-generating Green Economy may not only be the key to meeting sustainability challenges of the 21st century, but also provide a considerable contribution to meeting other MDGs.

The report - compiled by UNEP's Green Economy team - cites numerous cases where green strategies are paying multiple dividends in respect to the eight MDGs.

Policies and investments in Costa Rica have triggered an expansion of protected areas and national parks, now covering over 25 per cent of the country's total land area.

* Since this strategy was adopted there has been a boom in eco-tourism attracting over one million visitors a year and generating USD $5 million annually in entrance fees alone. Studies indicate that communities living in or near national parks have higher wages, employment rates and lower rates of poverty.

The report, prepared for this week's UN Summit on MDGs in New York, also spotlights China's energy policy as set out in the country's 11th five year plan covering 2006-2010. The plan has fuelled a rapid rise in renewable energy manufacturing and installation.

* China is now the world's second biggest user of wind power and the biggest exporter of photovoltaics (devices that covert solar energy into electricity). 10 per cent of households have solar water heaters and 1.5 million people are employed in China's renewables sector, with 300,000 of those jobs generated in 2009 alone.

Creative and forward-looking urban planning, allied to sustainable transport policies, have allowed the Brazilian city of Curitiba to grow more than six fold while simultaneously improving mobility and quality of life.

* The average area of green space per person has risen from one square metre to around 50 square metres; 45 per cent of journeys are made by public transport; excessive fuel use due to congestion is 13 times less per person than in Sao Paulo and the lower levels of air pollution result in health benefits for local citizens.

In Nepal, 14,000 Forest User Groups have reversed the deforestation rates of the 1990s through community-based policies which include setting harvesting rules, product prices and the sharing of profits.

* Between 2000 and 2005, the annual forested area of Nepal increased by 1.3 per cent, soil quality and water supplies are better managed and local employment has risen.

Uganda, a country where 85 per cent of the working population is employed in agriculture, has turned to organic production to boost exports and incomes. Farm-gate prices for organic vanilla, ginger and pineapples are higher than for conventional produce.

* Since 2004, the number of certified organic farmers has grown from 45,000 to over 200,000 and the area of land under organic cultivation from 185,000 hectares to close to 300,000 hectares.

Mr Steiner said: "The underlying task of the 21st century is to provide a secure and sustainable way of life for a world population that over the next four decades will increase in size by a third. It was this challenge that in September 2000 led world leaders to adopt the eight MDGs".

"On current trends it is likely that achieving all the MDGs by 2015 will be missed. In part because the responses so far have been embedded in a 20th century approach to a new century's challenges," he added.

"The Green Economy puts a fresh lens on the challenges and a spotlight on the multiple cost effective economic and social opportunities from investing and re-investing in modern clean-tech energy systems up to natural resource management of the planet's ecological infrastructure. In doing so, it addresses the economic, social and environmental objective of sustainable development and underscores the wealth of choices and options for sustained progress that meets the realities of our time," said Mr Steiner.

Some Key Points from the Report - Environmental Sustainability and the MDGs Inextricably Intertwined

The report, A Brief for Policymakers on the Green Economy and the Millennium Development Goals, underlines that the environmental goods and services that underpin the global economy - and in particular the GDP of the poor - are shrinking at a rapid rate.

It underscores how this loss of ecological infrastructure is undermining not only MDG7 on environmental sustainability but most if not all of the other MDGs and their associated targets.

Coral reefs in the Caribbean for example have declined by 80 per cent and globally 30 per cent of mangroves have been lost in the past two decades.

Both these ecosystems provide coastal defenses, tourism revenues and other services and income for local communities.

In addition they are nurseries for fish upon which a billion people rely directly for protein. The fate of coral reefs and mangroves are thus closely linked to the achievement of several MDGs, including MDG1 on hunger.

Forests are key sources of drinking water and nutrients for agriculture while providing essential goods such as wild foods and medicines.

Thus the fate of forests links to MDG1 on hunger, MDGs 4 and 5 on health and several targets of MDG7 such as halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water.

The rate of deforestation is slowing. In the past decade the annual loss of forest has averaged 13 million hectares, compared with 16 million hectares a year during the 1990s.

But this rate is still causing lasting environmental damage and currently close to 30 countries have lost 90 per cent of their original forest cover.

Investing and re-investing in forests would not only assist in meeting the aforementioned MDGs, but also in reducing greenhouse gas emissions linked with deforestation.

While there is no specific MDG for energy, the report points out that providing clean energy will underpin the success of many of the goals, both directly in terms of sustainable development and indirectly if climate change, linked to the burning of fossil fuels, is left unaddressed.

For example 14% of the population of developing countries and around a fifth of their urban dwellers live in low-lying coastal regions and are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels, coastal flooding and soil erosion.

Subsidies - A Possible Source of Additional MDG Funding

One way of financing the achievement of the MDGs is through re-directing subsidies.

Fossil fuels for example still attract over US$500 billion a year in government subsidies - and there is abundant evidence that these subsidies rarely reach the poor, despite the best intentions of governments.

* In Indonesia in 2005, 60 per cent of fuel subsidies went to the richest 40 per cent of the population

* In 2003, Argentina's gas subsidies went to the far south of the country - home to just three per cent of Argentina's poor.

* In Mongolia, some 85 per cent of a recent 'life-line' heating tariff went to the 'non-poor'.

Investing all or part of these subsidies in renewable energy technologies, such as solar and wind, could trigger new kinds of employment, faster access to electricity and greater social equity - a better overall standard of living.

There would be benefits for the environment including improvements in air pollution alongside an estimated six per cent cut in annual greenhouse gas emissions.

There are other green economy approaches: In Bangladesh a subsidiary of the Grameen Bank - Grameen Shakti - has pioneered microfinance to assist local people in buying solar heating systems.

Some 20,000 'green' jobs, many of which have been for women, have been generated, with an aim of creating 100,000 new jobs by 2015. The project thus meets many of the MDGs including MDG3 relating to gender equality.

Similar arguments are made in respect to fisheries where subsidies total some US$27 billion a year and are part of the reason why fish stocks in many parts of the world are in decline.

Re-directing around US$8 billion of these subsidies into improved management measures such as marine protected areas, tradable quotas, the retiring of vessels and the retraining of fisher-folk, could boost catches and conserve stocks.

The report also points to the multiple benefits from other policies, for example those that promote the certification of biodiversity-friendly agricultural products.

With the right backing, the market for such products could be worth US$210 billion by 2020 up from US$40 billion in 2008, generating new income flows while conserving the planet's natural capital.

Notes to Editors:

Launched in 2008 at the height of the global financial and economic crisis, UNEP's Green Economy Initiative provides macroeconomic analysis on policy reforms and investments in key sectors that can contribute to economic growth, creation of jobs, social equity and poverty reduction, while addressing climate risks and other ecological challenges. The Initiative undertakes a wide-range of research and provides advisory services to more then 20 countries interested in moving towards a green economy.

This report is one of in a suite of special briefs that draws on the preliminary findings of its flagship publication, the Green Economy Report, which is scheduled to be released in early 2011.

To download a copy of the report, visit: http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy

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World powers to tackle climate amid skepticism

Yahoo News 20 Sep 10;

NEW YORK (AFP) – The 17 nations responsible for 80 percent of carbon emissions blamed for global warming will seek to unblock stalled climate negotiations this week but analysts expect little progress.

The two-day Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate kicks off Monday and will include top government envoys, including US special envoy for climate change Todd Stern.

US President Barack Obama launched the meetings to facilitate climate talks in the wake of last year's disappointing United Nations conference in Copenhagen.

The successor conference to the Copenhagen meet is set for this November in Cancun, Mexico.

"I don't think anyone is expecting any major announcement," said Michael Levi, an analyst with the Council on Foreign Relations.

"This is a working meeting... a lot of important players are at the same place at the same time" during the United Nations General Assembly, he told AFP.

Levi said the envoys would not seek to resolve the fierce debate over climate change but rather find ways to better define the issues, acknowledging the Cancun meeting would likely be another stalemate.

"No one is going to crack a big deal at this," he added.

Environmentalist Bill McKibben, co-founder of the environmental group 350.org, said the US Congress's failure to pass a law to combat climate change made it "very difficult" to clinch a strong agreement in Cancun.

"I think that the next two years will be a disappointing time in terms of actions and that we will have to use that time to build a powerful movement to get real action the next time there will be a political window that opens up," he added.

Levi warned that a period of uncertainty could follow the November mid-term legislative elections in which Republicans are poised to retake control of the House of Representatives from Obama's fellow Democrats and to increase their numbers in the Senate.

Last June, the House approved a bill that would launch the country's first nationwide "cap-and-trade" system that restricts carbon emissions blamed for global warming and allows trading in credits.

The Senate has yet to offer companion legislation, amid opposition from Republicans and Democrats from states dependent on the coal and hydrocarbon industries.

"Real change contradicts the business model of the fossil fuel industry," McKibben said, saying the industry was too powerful for Congress to effectively tackle reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. He urged more global action to create a "mass movement" in support of cutting emissions.

In October 2009, his 350.org organized a major day of political action, with 5,245 protests and other events across 181 countries.

Environment ministers from 45 countries are also scheduled to meet in Geneva in September at the invitation of the Swiss and Mexican governments.

And negotiators from the 194 signatories to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change are to meet in Tianjin, China for a final preparatory round of talks in October.

Next week's New York talks will include representatives from Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States.

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Best of our wild blogs: 20 Sep 10

Join us - Chek Jawa Boardwalk trip on 25 Sep 2010
from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

25 Sep (Sat): Migratory Bird talk and guided tour at Sungei Buloh
from wild shores of singapore

Reef Survey@Raffles Lighthouse
from Psychedelic Nature

Monkey Baby Boom!
from Crystal and Bryan in Singapore

Birdwatching at Semakau with Dr Ho Hua Chew
from Urchin's World

After Rain @ Upper Seletar Reservoir
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

A pair of common kingfishers @ Japanese garden 翡翠
from PurpleMangrove

Determining which birds cause airplanes to crash
an interview with a feather expert from Mongabay.com news

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Get Singapore shipping lines to use cleaner fuel, like in HK

Straits Times 13 Sep 10;

I REFER to last Thursday's report ('Maersk turns to cleaner fuel in HK') which said that Danish shipping giant Maersk Line will switch to cleaner, low-sulphur fuel when its ships make port calls in Hong Kong - which is about 850 times a year.

This will cost the company an extra US$1 million (S$1.34 million) a year, but it is worth it - for the people of Hong Kong.

The article went on to explain that the bunker fuel widely used by the shipping industry 'has high nitrogen and sulphur content, making it significantly more noxious than other types of fuel'.

It sounds terrible, and indeed it is. Sulphuric emissions contain microscopic particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs. They are invisible and potentially more harmful than the large-particle haze we can see.

Since Jan 1 this year, Europe has required ships in its waters to use the cleaner fuel. The United States and Canada will do the same from 2012.

Asia has lagged behind.

It continues to allow dirty fuel and leaves it to the shippers to voluntarily switch to the cleaner variety. It is commendable that Maersk Line has done this in Hong Kong.

Now, how about us? Will Maersk and other shipping companies switch to cleaner fuel here too?

It all comes down to costs. A Maersk spokesman admitted: 'If we chose to switch to low-sulphur fuels all over the Asian region, it would give us a serious competitive disadvantage.'

Maersk said it was singling out Hong Kong partly because of calls for action from Civic Exchange, a public policy institution that is active on environmental issues, and also because of the proximity of the port to a densely populated city.

Singapore also should require all ships using our waterways and berthed in our port to use low-sulphur fuel. Are there plans to do so?

Perhaps the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the other relevant authorities can comment.

Larry Haverkamp

Singapore in forefront of steps to curb ship-linked pollution
Straits Times 20 Sep 10;

WE THANK Mr Larry Haverkamp for his letter ('Get shipping lines to use cleaner fuel, like in HK'; Sept 13), about using low-sulphur fuel. Singapore is one of the few Asian countries which is party to all the annexes of Marpol - the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) convention for the prevention of ship-source pollution, including air pollution.

Marpol signatories have agreed to a timetable for the progressive reduction of sulphur oxide emissions from ships. From January 2012, the global sulphur cap for marine fuel oil will be cut to 3.5 per cent from the current 4.5 per cent; and reduced progressively until it reaches 0.5 per cent from January 2020, subject to a feasibility review.

The timetable takes into account the complexities involved in changing the fuel type globally and the preparation needed by countries, shipping companies and marine fuel oil suppliers.

Beyond Marpol, harbour craft in Singapore's port waters already use marine distillate fuels such as marine gas oil, which have low sulphur content.

Ships at anchor or alongside berths also use low-sulphur fuel like diesel for their auxiliary engines.

We welcome shipping firms which are ready to take the lead in using low-sulphur fuel for their main engines in the approaches to the Singapore port.

We also actively support research and development in maritime environment protection and clean technologies under the $100 million Maritime Innovation and Technology Fund.

Together with the Nanyang Technological University, we have a maritime clean energy research programme that promotes green, carbon-neutral energy management solutions.

Capt M. Segar
Group Director (Hub Port)
Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore


Maersk to Use Cleaner Fuel in Its Hong Kong Shipping
Bettina Wassener The New York Times 7 Sep 10;

HONG KONG — Aiming to reduce noxious fumes in one of the most densely populated parts of Asia, the Danish shipping giant Maersk Line said Tuesday that its ships would switch to low-sulfur fuel when at berth in Hong Kong — a move it hopes will help quicken regulation in Asia.

Maersk makes about 850 port calls a year to Hong Kong. The company estimated the voluntary switch from cheap, polluting bunker fuel to the cleaner fuel, which costs about $250 more a ton, would cost an extra $1 million a year.

“We feel this is a good investment to get the ball rolling,” Tim Smith, chief executive of Maersk Line’s North Asia operations, said in an interview. “The wheels of government turn very slowly here, and we hope that our initiative will help accelerate regulation and prompt others to follow suit.”

Bunker fuel, widely used by the shipping industry, has high nitrogen and sulfur content, making it significantly more noxious than other types of fuel.

Emission regulations require ships to use far cleaner fuel while they are in waters around much of Europe, including the North Sea and the English Channel, and a similar policy will come into force along the United States and Canadian coastlines in 2012.

No such regulations apply along Asian coastlines, however, in part because of the complex research and international liaison work that is needed to bring about a coherent framework for the industry.

Maersk said it was singling out Hong Kong for the move to cleaner fuel partly because of calls for action from Civic Exchange, a public policy institution that is active on environmental issues, and partly because of the proximity of the shipping industry to the densely populated city.

Shipping emissions are a major contributor to the poor air quality in Hong Kong and the wider Pearl River Delta, which carries heavy global shipping traffic. Pollution in Hong Kong regularly soars above levels deemed safe by the World Health Organization.

Maersk said the move would reduce its emissions of sulfur and particulate matter — tiny particles that can penetrate deep into the lung when inhaled — in Hong Kong by at least 80 percent.

Other shippers are expected to follow Maersk’s example under a voluntary industry charter that has been agreed to in principle by many leading companies and is expected to be officially announced next month.

Arthur Bowring, the managing director of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, who helped push for the charter, said he was “very pleased” with Maersk’s move and the wider support that was signaled Tuesday at a meeting of industry representatives on the topic of cleaner fuels in Hong Kong.

“We see this as a first step that will hopefully lead to wider regulation,” he said. “We like regulation, because it creates a level playing field. It’s a very odd situation, under which the industry is pushing the government for action, rather than the other way round.”

A spokesman for Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department, Felix Leung, said by e-mail that the government welcomed the shipping companies’ initiative to switch to low-sulfur fuel.

Going green ahead of schedule
Progress on environmental issues can be made via cooperation, not just legislation
David Hughes Business Times 20 Sep 10;

SOMETIMES, it can seem that debates on environmental issues affecting shipping are really only the concern of the European countries, the US and a few others.

In fact, Singapore is very concerned with environmental issues and is investing significantly in this area. Moreover, as Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore group director (Hub Port) M Segar pointed out in a letter to The Straits Times this week, Singapore is one of the few Asian countries that is party to all the annexes of Marpol - the International Maritime Organization (IMO) convention for the prevention of ship-source pollution.

Capt Segar was responding to a letter to the newspaper that had been prompted by the actions of major container shipping line Maersk.

At the start of this month, Maersk Line vessels began using low-sulphur fuel while at berth in Hong Kong. The company said that its move marked the first voluntary fuel-switch scheme in Asia and would cost it US$1 million a year. It said that based on experience in California, Houston and elsewhere, it was ready to act fast with other shipping lines when the Civic Exchange, a local business NGO, and Hong Kong's environmental authorities explored the possibility of a local fuel switch.

Air pollution has long been a concern in the Chinese territory, and the Hong Kong Shipowners' Association was notable in supporting Intertanko when it proposed that the whole commercial fleet switch to distillate fuel.

Sulphur reduction

This initiative prompted local letter writer Larry Haverkamp to suggest a similar initiative here.

Singapore is a strong supporter of IMO, and Capt Segar pointed out that Marpol signatories, including, of course, Singapore, have agreed to a timetable for the progressive reduction of sulphur emissions from ships. From January 2012, the global sulphur cap for marine fuel oil will be cut to 3.5 per cent from the current 4.5 per cent, and reduced progressively until it reaches 0.5 per cent from January 2020, subject to a feasibility review.

So sulphur levels will come down, and in fact, harbour craft in Singapore's port waters already use marine distillate fuels such as marine gas oil, which have a low sulphur content. Ships at anchor or alongside berths also use low-sulphur fuel such as diesel for their auxiliary engines.

But it looks like the door is open to voluntary initiatives to move faster. In an apparent nod to the Hong Kong approach, Capt Segar said: 'We welcome shipping firms that are ready to take the lead in using low-sulphur fuel for their main engines in the approaches to the Singapore port.'

The important thing here is that progress on environmental issues can be made through cooperation, rather than simply relying on legislation. And along these lines, several major industry players in London are joining forces with environmental groups to work together on issues including climate change, rising fuel costs, new patterns of global trade and other challenges.

Ambitious project

Maersk Line, Gearbulk, BP Shipping, Lloyd's Register and ABN Amro announced this week that they are working with Forum for the Future and WWF on an ambitious project that aims to chart a course to a sustainable future. Forum for the Future describes itself as the the UK's leading sustainable development NGO, while the WWF is an international organisation working on issues ranging from species and habitat survival to climate change.

According to its founding members, the new project - the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) - will examine the challenges and opportunities that face the industry over the next 30 years and what it needs to do to ensure that, by 2040, it is robust and profitable with a strong record of social and environmental responsibility.

'Shipping plays a vital role in global trade and affects the lives of billions of people around the world,' said Jonathon Porritt, founder director of Forum for the Future. 'Smart shipping companies can see the way the wind is blowing in terms of today's pressing sustainability issues, and leadership of this kind is crucial to the future success of the whole industry.'

Clearly, the idea is to make this project a global one. Given changing attitudes, in Asia now, as well as elsewhere, this does not sound as far-fetched as it would have just a few years ago.

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Up close with sea turtles in Sarawak

Nancy Nais New Straits Times 20 Sep 10;

SEMATAN: It was shortly after 9pm following a downpour in Pulau Talang-Talang Besar when a dark shape was seen making its way up the beach.

Word quickly spread around the island that a turtle was coming to nest.

Lights were switched off and noises reduced to a minimum so that the creature would not be frightened away.

Pulau Talang-Talang Besar is one of Sarawak's turtle islands located within the Talang-Satang National Park, off the coast here, about 100km from Kuching.

For a group of media personnel invited by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) for an overnight stay on the island in conjunction with the launch of its turtle adoption programme, it was the chance of a lifetime to get up close with one of nature's rarest creatures.

As the turtle was laying its eggs, SFC employees went to work measuring its size and checking it for identification tags.

The turtle was slightly over a metre long and had a tag on each flipper, which means it had nested on the island in the past.

After the turtle had made its way back to the sea, the nest was dug up and the eggs counted and transferred to a hatchery.

"The eggs must be transferred in less than two hours after being laid. Otherwise, they will not have a chance of incubating," said SFC marine biologist, James Bali.

He added that it was necessary for the turtle eggs to be moved to the hatchery because of the high nest density on Pulau Talang-Talang Besar's small beach.

A number of baby turtles, which had hatched during the night, were also released into the sea.

Hatchlings were released either at night, or early in the morning to reduce the threat of predation.

Bali said about 2.86 million hatchlings were released from Sarawak's turtle islands in the past 40 years.

However, only 2,859 of them were expected to have grown into mature turtles because scientists estimated that only one out of every 1,000 hatchlings reached maturity.

"This is why conservation is important as it takes so many hatchlings to produce one mature turtle."

SFC has introduced a turtle adoption programme to spread awareness on turtle conservation and get the nature-loving public actively involved.

Its general manager, Wilfred Landong, said the Sarawak Sea Turtle Volunteer Programme was the first in the world and a unique eco-tourism initiative run by SFC.

Open from May to September, the programme allows volunteers to participate in Sarawak's turtle conservation efforts by spending four days at the turtle conservation station on Pulau Talang-Talang Besar.

"Upon arrival on the island, volunteers are briefed on the conservation programme before being allocated tasks, or areas of responsibility.

"Duties include beach patrols to locate turtle arrivals, monitoring turtle nesting activity, tagging and measuring turtles, transferring eggs to the hatchery, releasing hatchlings, data recording and other on-site conservation activities," Landong said.

However, he added that there were only 12 slots available under the programme, with each slot limited to six people.

He said the minimum cost of participation was RM600 per person for Malaysians and RM1,200 for non- Malaysians, inclusive of food, lodging and transport.

The fee included a RM200 donation for adopting a turtle and participants would receive a certificate with the tag number of their adopted turtle.


Read more: Up close with the turtles http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/23TUR/Article#ixzz101VVyXlG

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Malaysian officers in cahoots with illegal traders to be weeded out

Florence A. Samy The Star 20 Sep 10;

PETALING JAYA: The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) will undergo a shake-up to weed out officers who are in cahoots with illegal wildlife traders.

The department has been dogged with allegations of corruption among its enforcement officers following the arrest of infamous wildlife trader Anson Wong recently.

Natural Resources and Environ­ment Minister Datuk Douglas Ug­­gah Embas said this was among the measures being taken to plug loopholes and enhance enforcement in the department, which had come under fire from conservationists.

“We have set up an internal au­­dit. We are reviewing the standard operating procedures, legislation and departmental structure,” he said.

Asked if Perhilitan officers had been helping illegal wildlife traders, Uggah said: “Those are some of the issues we are looking at.

“We do not condone anyone who breaks or fails to enforce the law. We will take stern action.”

Uggah, who acknowledged that illegal wildlife trade was a very lucrative business, urged the public to come forward if they had evidence of such collaboration so that action could be taken.

He said experts and non-governmental organisations would be brought in as part of the process to review current procedures in the department.

The ministry, particularly Perhilitan, had been heavily criticised following Wong’s arrest for trying to smuggle out 95 boa constrictors without a permit.

Wong, who was caught at the KL International Airport on Aug 26 while on transit from Penang to Jakarta, was sentenced on Sept 6 to six months’ jail and fined RM190,000 by the Sepang Sessions Court.

Many groups, however, were unhappy with the sentence. Wong had previously been sentenced to 71 months’ jail by the United States for illegal wildlife trafficking.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers has since appealed against the sentencing for the latest offence.

Following Wong’s arrest, the Penang National Park and Wildlife Department director was reportedly transferred to another state effective Oct 1.

International magazines such as National Geographic had highlighted Malaysia in their articles as the so-called “hub” for illegal wildlife trafficking.

Uggah said the ministry was working with several agencies, including Rela, the military, police and Maritime Enforcement Agency, to strengthen enforcement against illegal wildlife trade.

“We want to identify the poachers’ hotspots and the outlets they use to illegally bring in and out animals. We are accused of being a hub but if you study carefully, we are not,” he said.

Tougher action, Uggah added, would be taken against those who operated zoos without a licence to prevent these from being used as a front for wildlife trade.

“Currently, there is no law that allows us to license zoos. Thus, our zoos are operating without licences.

“The new (Wildlife Conservation) Act will empower us to license zoos so that it adheres to international zoo standards. If we are not happy with any zoo, we can close it down,” he said, adding the Act was expected to be gazetted and enforced by year-end.

Author: Wong is like a leopard that never changes its spots
Yuen Meikeng The Star 20 Sep 10;

PETALING JAYA: Convicted smugglers like Anson Wong should be denied licences to sell or possess wildlife if the authorities are serious about putting an end to illegal trafficking.

American writer Bryan Christy said Wong, or anyone related to him, should not be given any more licences by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhi­litan) in order to protect endangered species.

Christy, who wrote an expose on Wong entitled “The Kingpin” in the National Geographic magazine, said the man should have been given a tougher sentence, given his history as a wildlife smuggler.

“Certainly, his sentence sends a weak message. But an even weaker message is the fact that Perhilitan did not catch him nor did the Customs Department. An airline employee did,” Christy said in an email interview.

Christy did not believe that Wong, despite being jailed six months and fined RM190,000 for trying to smuggle 95 snakes without a permit recently, would change his ways.

“Absolutely not. He did not clean up after serving more than five years of his sentence in the US, and some of those years were in a Mexican prison,” said Christy, who is also the author of The Lizard King, a book on wildlife smuggling.

Christy urged the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to reform Perhilitan from the top down and exercise its responsibility as the country’s management authority for wildlife as governed under the Convention on Interna­tional Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

“It should stop coming up with weak ‘audit committee’ proposals to ‘oversee’ Perhilitan, and stop asking it to investigate itself. It should start taking real action. It is embarrassing,” he said.

Christy said he was convinced the leadership in Perhilitan was the biggest barrier to wildlife conservation in Malaysia and an even bigger obstacle than Wong.

“All you have to do is look at how they respond when a smuggler like Wong is exposed.

“They did not ask who failed to stop him. They asked who dared to expose him. “They did not apologise for failure. They said they never had any evidence. That is failure,” said Christy.

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China a beacon for foreign clean tech firms

Allison Jackson Yahoo News 19 Sep 10;

TIANJIN, China (AFP) – In a laboratory in northern China, technicians are breeding billions of micro-organisms in test tubes to create enzymes -- proteins that can turn plant waste into clean-burning biofuels.

The facility near the port city of Tianjin belongs to Novozymes, a Danish biotechnology company and one of a growing number of foreign firms in China benefiting from Beijing's massive investment in green energy.

"The situation has never been better," Michael Christiansen, president of Novozymes China, told AFP in an interview.

Beijing has pledged to spend 738 billion dollars developing clean energy over the next decade as it seeks to meet a target of generating 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources -- mainly wind and water -- by 2020.

China's vast market, deep pockets and favourable policies for clean technology -- a key theme of last week's World Economic Forum's "Summer Davos" in Tianjin -- are attracting a growing number of foreign companies which face a severe funding shortage in their home markets due to the global crisis.

"I think China is seen as a very good market to commercialise technology at scale and there is a great market to try to generate long-term competitive advantage around clean technology," Ernst & Young analyst Ben Warren told AFP.

China leapfrogged the United States to become the most attractive market for renewable investment this year, the global accounting firm said in a report published this month.

It was also the most attractive market for investment in wind power after Beijing announced plans to launch 90,000 mega-watts of wind capacity by 2015, the report said.

Beijing's pledge last year ahead of global climate talks in Copenhagen to reduce carbon intensity -- the measure of greenhouse gas emitted per unit of economic activity -- by 40-45 percent by 2020 based on 2005 levels has been a beacon to foreign companies, analysts said.

"Things are tough for companies here (in the West) -- we have a shortage of debt financing," said Nicholas Parker, executive chairman of US-based clean technology research firm Cleantech Group.

"The money for deployment, for building wind farms or for building a factory where you tend to use debt financing, has dried up due to the crisis on Wall Street. That shortage doesn't exist in China."

Local government officials -- threatened with the loss of their promotion if they fail to meet energy reduction targets -- are falling over themselves to attract foreign investment in clean technology, offering firms free land and money for research and development.

State-owned banks also offer loans to green technology firms at much lower interest rates than those available in the United States, according to a report by US think tanks Breakthrough Institute and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

"China currently has what seems like the most aggressive incentives for production of renewable energy and the closest thing to a coherent policy," said Michal Meidan, an analyst at political risk research firm Eurasia Group.

Demand for financing in the clean energy technology industry could reach two trillion yuan (297 billion dollars) in the next decade, the China Daily reported this month, citing a government official.

To meet these growing needs for money, China could create a market for yuan-denominated "green bonds" to support the environmentally friendly sector, said Gao Cailin, a finance official in the northeastern province of Jilin.

China -- whose pollution woes have been worsened by decades of rampant economic growth -- is pushing harder than Western governments to develop clean energy technology because it is "mission critical", said Parker.

"This is essential in China whereas Western countries think maybe today, maybe tomorrow," he said.

Despite its eagerness for foreign investment, Beijing has sought to protect certain domestic industries such as wind power from overseas competition.

"They only let companies in when they think they can benefit from it," said Thomas Maslin, an analyst at IHS Emerging Energy Research.

Foreign companies also face significant challenges in China such as the lax protection of intellectual property and policies favouring Chinese companies.

Novozymes has been in China for 15 years and now counts the market as its second biggest after the United States, underlining the potential for growth in the world's second-largest economy.

"China has the interest and the policies and the funding to drive green technology," said Christiansen.

"This is not the flavour of the day -- it will last for many, many years. We are just seeing the start of it."

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Congo Among Nations Advancing On Forest Carbon

Alister Doyle PlanetArk 20 Sep 10;

Nations including Democratic Republic of Congo are making surprise progress toward taking part in a $200 million project for slowing deforestation from late 2010, World Bank experts said.

They also said Latin America, with forested nations around the Amazon, had strong incentives to take part since most of the continent's greenhouse gas emissions came from deforestation and shifts in land use, rather than use of fossil fuels.

"We intend to start operations later this year," Benoit Bosquet, lead carbon finance specialist at the World Bank, told Reuters of the Carbon Fund, part of a facility that involves 37 forested developing nations and 14 donors.

The fund, a public-private project for which the World Bank is trustee, so far has pledges totaling $50 million and aims for a total $200 million.

"Some unlikely countries are coming out of the starting blocks, for example in central Africa," Bosquet said in a telephone briefing.

Democratic Republic of Congo was making strong progress, for instance, in defining plans and consulting local communities and indigenous peoples, he said. Five million people died in a 1998-2003 war and the country is still plagued by insecurity.

Elsewhere in Africa, Ghana was among those advancing well and in Latin America, Mexico and Costa Rica were among those with furthest progress, he said.

Burning of forests to clear land accounts for up to a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions from human sources blamed for stoking global warming, according to U.N. estimates.

Trees soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide as they grow. The world is trying to set up a mechanism to reward countries that slow deforestation as part of a future U.N. deal to slow global warming.

CROP YIELDS

The Carbon Fund project would not just focus on safeguarding forests but also related projects such as improving crop yields to reduce pressures to burn forests. Cash could also encourage a phase-out of some damaging farm subsidies.

Ethel Sennhauser, the World Bank's sector manager for agriculture, Latin America and the Caribbean, said that 66 percent of emissions from the region were from deforestation and changes in land use, against a world average of 20 percent.

"No other region will have such a big incentive as Latin America," she said of the schemes, known as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation).

A total of $4 billion worldwide has been committed to projects to slow deforestation by nations led by Norway.

At last year's U.N. Copenhagen climate summit, which disappointed many nations by failing to agree a U.N. treaty to slow global warming, developed nations promised "fast-start" climate aid for the poor approaching $30 billion for 2010-12.

The $4 billion "is a very important part of the fast-start funds," said Sergio Jellinek, World Bank manager of external affairs for Latin America and the Caribbean. "REDD+ was one of the bright spots of the Copenhagen discussions."

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