Tiempo Climate Newswatch

It is with a great sense of loss that we report the death of Gerald Leach. Gerry died on Friday December 10th 2004 after a long illness.
He was a towering man, with an intellect to match, fully committed to his decades of work as an energy and development analyst.
Gerry was a much-valued contributor to Tiempo, appreciated for his comments as our "bemused observer," and recently became co-editor of the quarterly bulletin. We will sorely miss his insight, knowledge and wisdom.
Our thoughts are with his dearly loved family at this time. He was a man who celebrated and lived life to the full.

Mick Kelly and Sarah Granich

The Tenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taking place December 6th to 17th in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Opening the meeting, Argentina's environment minister Ginés González Garcia stressed the importance of additional assistance for poor countries to avoid climate impacts. The position of the least developed countries was expressed by a Tanzanian delegate: "for our countries, climate change is more catastrophic than terrorism." Environmental groups called for "urgent action from governments" to halt the change in climate that, they said, hit hardest at the poor. Greenpeace built a model of Noah's Ark in the centre of the city to pressure governments to respond to the climate threat.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Joke Waller-Hunter felt "pretty upbeat" as the conference began. The entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol "will make a huge difference to the mood in which this meeting takes place," she said. Harlan Watson of the United States State Department, argued that, despite not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, "we match or exceed what any other country is doing to address the issue." The United States is focusing on plans to improve energy efficiency, with the goal of reducing carbon intensity by 18 per cent by 2012. Analysts note that this goal represents a 13 per cent rise in national carbon emissions.

More information

• BBC
• Newsday
• BBC

• IPS
• Daily coverage, ENB

British scientists claim that "it is very likely that human influence has at least doubled the risk" of extreme weather events, such as the European heatwave of 2003. Peter Stott, of the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, and Dáithí Stone and Myles Allen of the University of Oxford modelled the likelihood of the 2003 heat wave taking place with and without any human influence. According to Stott, "we found that although the high temperature experienced in 2003 was not impossible in a climate unaltered by man, it is very likely that greenhouse gases have at least doubled the risk and our best estimate is that such a heatwave is now four times more likely as a result of human influence on climate."

The study may provide the basis for lawsuits as Pacific islanders blame the United States for global warming. "This is the kind of evidence that will help those seeking compensation," said Peter Roderick of Climate Justice. "One study is not going to create an entirely new area of jurisprudence," according to Steve Sawyer of Greenpeace, "but this is an important step." Others were less convinced. "Other legal questions about whether emitters should have foreseen damage, and their fault or negligence, will present formidable hurdles to claimants," commented study author Myles Allen and lawyer Richard Lord.

More information

• SciDev.Net, with link to Nature article
• Christian Science Monitor

• ENN
• Press release

The Brazilian government has released its inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, required under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. A matter of some controversy in Brazil, the report shows that the nation generated 1.03 billion tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent in 1994, about three per cent of global emissions. This makes Brazil one the world's largest polluters.

Burning of the Amazon and other forests accounts for three-quarters of the total. "It is now clear that Brazil's quickest way to reduce its contribution to global warming is fundamentally to change the process of occupation and land use in the Amazon," responded Greenpeace. Marina Silva, Brazil's Environment Minister, said that the government would not "escape from its responsibilities" to protect the environment. "The effort by the government to fight deforestation has to be significant to hit illegal activities."

More information

• ENN
• BBC