Global climate change treaty in sight after Durban breakthrough

The world is on track for a comprehensive global treaty on climate change for the first time after agreement was reached at talks in Durban, South Africa in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Negotiators agreed to start work on a new climate deal that would have legal force and, crucially, require both developed and developing countries to cut their carbon emissions. The terms now need to be agreed by 2015 and come into effect from 2020.

"I salute the countries who made this agreement. They have all laid aside some cherished objectives of their own to meet a common purpose – a long-term solution to climate change," said Christiana Figueres, theUnited Nations climate chief.

Chris Huhne, the UK's energy and climate secretary, said the deal would ensure the European Union's efforts to tackle global warming were matched by others. "We know that we are working very hard on this, but we need to be sure that other countries are working just as hard – that's very important for our industry and our competitiveness," he said.

But Huhne also acknowledged that the hard work was only beginning, because following the agreement struck in Durban, governments face four gruelling years of horse-trading over how far and how fast each country should cut its carbon, in order to flesh out the bones of the deal.

Two weeks of talks — the last 60 hours of which was a single marathon negotiating session, with officials holed up in a conference centre through three nights with scarcely a break — ended with a surprise decision struck during a tea break just before dawn on Sunday.

A small huddle of key ministers were ordered to meet for 20 minutes and thrash out their differences. With tempers rising and the talks minutes from being abandoned, the chair, South African foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, ordered China, India, the US, Britain, France, Sweden, Gambia, Brazil and Poland to meet in a small group or "huddle". Surrounded by nearly 100 delegates on the floor of the hall, they talked quietly among themselves to try to reach a new form of words acceptable to all.

The agreement – dubbed the "Durban platform" – is different from the other partial deals that have been struck during the past two decades, with developing countries, including China, the world's biggest emitter, agreeing to be legally bound to curb their greenhouse gases. Previously, poorer nations have insisted that they should not bear any legal obligations for tackling climate change, whereas rich nations – which over more than a century have produced most of the carbon currently in the atmosphere – should.

Another first is that the US, the second biggest emitter, also agreed that the new pact would have "legal force" – a step it flirted with in 1997 with the Kyoto protocol, but abandoned as Congress made clear it would never ratify that agreement.

All of the world's biggest economies and emitters already have targets to cut emissions between now and 2020, when the new deal would come into force.

But those targets are voluntary, not legally binding. This is a crucial difference for the EU and many others, who fear that voluntary targets are too easy to wriggle out of.

However, the deal did little to address the scale of emissions cuts needed, and environmental groups said this was a huge failing.

Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF-UK, said: "Governments have salvaged a path forward for negotiations, but we must be under no illusion — the outcome of Durban leaves us with the prospect of being legally bound to a world of 4C warming. This would be catastrophic for people and the natural world. Governments have spent crucial days focused on a handful of specific words in the negotiating text, but have paid little heed to repeated warnings from the scientific community that much stronger, urgent action is needed to cut emissions."

Lord Stern, former World Bank chief economist and author of the landmark 2006 review of the economics of climate change, said: "The outcome of the summit is a modest but significant step forward. The decision to move towards a unified system, with all countries having some form of legal commitments, removes an important obstacle and could allow, for example, the US to play a more participative and constructive role in the future."

The agreement reached also ensured that developing countries will soon begin to gain access to billions of pounds in finance from the rich world to help them move to a green economy and cope with the effects of climate change.

SOURCE:http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/11/global-climate-change-treaty-durban

'Hybrid' plankton could solve world's food problem, global warming

A type of microscopic plankton, which has features of both animals and plants, as well as containing nearly all essential nutrients for human beings, and absorbs carbon dioxide, may be the key to solving some of the world's most toughest problems, scientists say.

The single-celled organism, known among scientists as "euglena," is only 0.05 millimeters in length, but contains 59 different nutrients, including minerals, vitamins and nine types of amino acids vital for human beings.

According to Mitsuru Izumo, 31, president of Euglena Co., a venture company dedicated to euglena research and its development, one gram of the plankton's powder -- made of some 1 billion euglena -- contains the same amount of iron found in 50 grams of spinach and the same amount of folic acid found in 50 grams of saury. It also produces docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an essential component of the human brain, which is usually found in blueback fish.

Euglena's richness in nutrients, a lack of an acute taste and smell, makes it a potential food component. In fact, Euglena Co., founded through a collaboration between the University of Tokyo and private businesses, began producing and selling euglena-based food supplements in 2007. However, contrary to the company's expectations, the products were not well accepted, especially among women. With its name in Japanese meaning "green bug," the image most people had of the organism was often associated with larva, says Izumo.

Things changed for the company, however, in 2009 when it partnered with the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) and produced euglena cookies, which quickly topped the ranking of the museum's bestselling goods. Since then, the company has received offers for the manufacturing of 25 processed foods, including hamburgers, noodles and Japanese liquor.

Euglena Co. is currently manufacturing food supplements that may serve as a panacea for malnutrition in developing countries.

"With the world's continuously increasing population, it is quite probable that one day euglena may become the last food resource that is able to sustain human beings," says Yoshihisa Nakano, professor emeritus at Osaka Prefecture University, who has succeeded in breeding a mouse solely on euglena.

According to Nakano, euglena is a plant-animal "hybrid" organism that accumulates nutrients through photosynthesis, while at the same time moves like an animal by twisting itself. It can also absorb carbon dioxide and effectively produce oxygen.

"If we place an euglena-cultivating tank on Mars, where carbon dioxide and dry ice exist together, after 100 years we would have the same environment as Earth because euglena can feed itself and produce oxygen. I often share this dream with my students," says Nakano.

While this may indeed seem like a dream to many, euglena has in fact already been used in aerospace research. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began observing the plankton in the 1970s, as part of its research on potential self-sufficiency in space. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), in partnership with Osaka Prefecture University, has already confirmed that euglena can divide and multiply even in zero-gravity environments.

In addition to being abundant in nutrients and being potentially useful in space, scientists also see a bright future for euglena-led environmental protection efforts. Since 2010, Sumitomo Joint Electric Power Co. has launched a series of exhaust gas-filtration experiments at a thermal power station in Ehime Prefecture. Contrary to other plants, which easily die due to the high carbon dioxide concentration found in exhaust gas, euglena's growth was accelerated even more than in regular atmospheric conditions, proving scientists' theories that it effectively absorbs carbon dioxide.

"We will perform the same experiment in a larger tank and hope to put our results into practice as soon as possible," a Sumitomo Joint Electric Power Co. official commented.

If euglena is applied in the feeding of livestock and the production of biofuel, it can create a new type of effective ecosystem, scientists say.

SOURCE:http://mdn.mainichi.jp/features/news/20111225p2a00m0na011000c.html

Global Warming Could be Irreversible in -5 Years

Yes, that would be negative 5 years. Well, this actually comes from a pseudo news source, The Onion. Unfortunately, the folks over at The Onion seem to understand global warming and climate change much better than the mass media. Here’s the first part of the piece (full piece onThe Onion):

GENEVA—A new report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned Monday that global warming is likely to become completely irreversible if no successful effort is made to slow down the trend before 2006.

Unless greenhouse-gas emissions are drastically reduced by then, the report concludes, it will be too late to avoid inflicting a grave environmental catastrophe upon future generations.

“We have absolutely no time to waste,” said Dr. William Tumminelli, lead author of the report, which stresses it is utterly crucial the world cut its carbon footprint in half by the year 2000. “If we wait until 1998 or even 1995 to really start doing something about climate change, our planet’s rising temperature will already have set in motion a series of devastating and irreparable long-term consequences. We need to have strict international rules in place well ahead of 2006 or, to be blunt, many of the earth’s inhabitants will be doomed.”

“The situation could not possibly be more urgent,” Tumminelli added.

The IPCC report—the most comprehensive study of its kind ever undertaken—estimates the failure to address global warming immediately could result in sea levels rising 6 inches by the end of the 20th century, 2000-2009 being the hottest decade ever recorded, and roughly half the Arctic ice cap melting by 2011.

(Note: Yeah, the latter two have already occurred. –ZS)

Even before 2006, when the report indicates the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will reach “entirely unmanageable levels,” scientists confirm the likelihood of an alarming increase in the frequency and sever­ity of hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and droughts, which could lead to death tolls in the hundreds of thousands.

(Note: Yep, occurring. -ZS)

“Climate change is the deadliest crisis currently facing humanity, so needless to say, we can expect it to be the dominant issue of the 2000 presidential election,” Brookings Institution political analyst Gloria Leting said. “It stands to reason that, as the world’s foremost producer of greenhouse gases, the United States will want to take the lead in preventing this disaster while we still have time.”

“We can also count on hearing U.S. Senate candidates make firm campaign promises to ratify the Kyoto Protocol as soon as they take office,” continued Leting, referring to the U.N. accord that aims to enforce emission standards starting in 2005. “Our elected officials realize Americans don’t want to suffer the embarrassment of not being among the first nations to approve such an vitally important agreement.”

(Note: Yeah, that didn’t happen.)

Read the rest of the piece on The Onion.

Let’s hope someone invents a time machine or we get off our asses right now and start taking serious action to stop global warming and runaway catastrophic climate change. (That means you, too!)

Source: http://planetsave.com/2011/12/15/global-warming-could-be-irreversible-in-5-years/

Mixed response to global warming agreement

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet has praised the outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Duban as a significant breakthrough in tackling global warming.

The conference has agreed to begin negotiations on a new accord which would put all nations under the same legal regime.

Representatives of 194 countries agreed to move towards a new agreement to replace the existing Kyoto Protocol.Mr Combet said the outcomes in the South African city are good news for the environment.

"They set the world on a path of long-term action to tackle climate change through a regime with wide global coverage and strong environmental effectiveness," he said in a statement.

"They will complement Australia's carbon price mechanism by boosting confidence in global mitigation efforts, providing a sound basis for investment in clean energy and stimulating growth in carbon markets."

Mr Combet said agreement at Durban, which included improved transparency and better monitoring of emissions reduction, would add momentum to climate change action underway around the world.

"The transparency measures are especially welcome because they will ensure countries deliver on their new emissions reduction pledges," he said.

Mr Combet said the new agreement was an important first step towards a comprehensive agreement covering all major economies.

"If this agreement is concluded it will see developing countries take on obligations, allowing the world to move on from the Kyoto Protocol's unsustainable divide between developed and developing countries and ensuring all nations do their fair share to cut global emissions," he said.

The agreement in Durban also received praise from the Climate Institute.

The institute's deputy CEO Erwin Jackson said the outcomes were "real progress".

"For the first time, all major greenhouse gas emitters will be negotiating as equal partners towards a legal agreement by 2015," Mr Jackson said in a statement.

"Never before have all major carbon emitters, including China and the US, agreed to have pollution commitments captured by a single legal agreement."

However, the institute warned that all countries, including Australia, will have to build on their existing actions and increase commitment to reduce the carbon output.

Greenpeace has labelled the outcome a win for polluters and a loss for the people.

The environmental group said it was clear that governments had listened to polluting corporations rather than people who want to end dependence of fossil fuel.

"The grim news is that the blockers, led by the US, have succeeded in inserting a vital get-out clause that could easily prevent the next big climate deal being legally binding," Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said in a statement.

Mr Naidoo said the global climate regime amounts to nothing more than a voluntary deal that has been put off for a decade.

"This could take us over the two-degree threshold where we pass from danger to potential catastrophe," he said.

Greenpeace said Australia did not push hard enough for a better outcome.

"Australia arrived in Durban with reason to be proud, having succeeded in putting a price on domestic carbon pollution," Greenpeace Australia representative Paul Winn said in a statement.

"But our political leadership failed to prosecute the argument for a fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement when it was needed," he said

Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/national/mixed-response-to-global-warming-agreement-20111211-1opiv.html#ixzz1gD3IykSB

SOURCE:http://www.watoday.com.au/national/mixed-response-to-global-warming-agreement-20111211-1opiv.html

UN climate meet clears landmark deal to combat global warming

After days of emotional debate that saw India and the EU clash over a planned roadmap, UN climate talks today reached a landmark deal under which the European Union will place its current emission-cutting pledges inside legally-binding Kyoto Protocol and all major emitters will be forced to act against global warming.

The crucial negotiations here closed after running nearly 36 hours beyond their schedule, amid criticism by many delegates who felt the host government lacked urgency and strategy.

As per the agreement reached at the 194-party conference, the countries agreed to start negotiations on a new pact that would put all nations under the same legal regime that would come in force by 2020. The pact was described by the chair as balanced.

There was applause in the main conference hall when South Africa's International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, brought down the long-awaited final gavel, BBC reported.

Talks on a new legal deal covering all countries will begin next year and end by 2015, coming into effect by 2020. Management of a fund for climate aid to poor countries has also been agreed, though how to raise the money has not.

Under the deal, the European Union will place its current emission-cutting pledges inside the legally-binding Kyoto Protocol.

The decision was delayed due to a dispute between the EU and India over the precise wording of the "roadmap" for a new global deal.

Earlier, the EU said the developed nations do not want India to harm its economy but insisted the country still needs to agree to a legally binding treaty.

"We would never dream of asking India to harm its economy," EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told PTI. "We fully recognise India's right to grow and we are fully aware that India has lot of development needs and needs to access energy."

"But the challenge is that we just think that a treaty in the world of the 21st century must have the same legal value for everyone," she added. "We would never ask India to take the same kind of responsibilities as the developed world."

The roadmap originated with the EU, the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), which all were concerned that without a new legal pact eventually covering emissions from all countries, particularly fast-growing major emitters such as China, the global average temperature since pre-industrial times will rise by more than 2C, the internationally-agreed threshold.

"If there is no legal instrument by which we can make countries responsible for their actions, then we are relegating countries to the fancies of beautiful words," Karl Hood, Grenada's Foreign Minister, said on behalf of Aosis.

"While they develop, we die; and why should we accept this?"

SOURCE:http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_un-climate-meet-clears-landmark-deal-to-combat-global-warming_1624192