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Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Week ending March 9th 2008



 

Featured sites

The Blue Carbon Portal brings together the latest knowledge and resources on the role of oceans as carbon sinks.

WalkIt provides walking routes between user-defined points in selected British cities, with an estimate of the carbon savings.

Joto Afrika is a series of printed briefings and online resources about adapting to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa.

And finally,

The CoolClimate Art Contest presents iconic images that address the impact of climate change.

More featured sites...

About the Cyberlibrary

The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary was developed by Mick Kelly and Sarah Granich on behalf of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development, with sponsorship from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

While every effort is made to ensure that information on this site, and on other sites that are referenced here, is accurate, no liability for loss or damage resulting from use of this information can be accepted.

The United States government has announced that it is ready to accept binding obligations on greenhouse gas emissions. Describing the presumption that the United States was only interested in setting voluntary emissions targets as "a myth," James Connaughton, who chairs the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said that "we are prepared to join in a binding international agreement, if that agreement includes the major economies including major developing economies."

Critics have repeatedly accused the United States of using the involvement of the major developing nations as a blocking tactic. "It isn't going to happen," said Stephan Singer of WWF. "Why should they [China and India] do something when the United States has done nothing for the last eight years?" In what may prove a significant development, Connaughton noted that it would be acceptable if China and India adopted "a series of goals" sector by sector, rather than an economy-wide goal. It is "highly likely," though, that the United States will accept a single national target. Daniel Price, assistant to President George W Bush for international economic affairs, said that any commitment would be part of a global agreement, which could be announced at the time of the G8 summit in July.

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The impact of climate change on fisheries represents an "emerging catastrophe of an unprecedented scale," according to Christian Nellemann of GRID-Arendal. Nellemann is chief editor of a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme on the state of the world's fisheries. "Efforts in the next two decades will determine the lives of hundreds of millions for centuries ahead," he continued. The number of marine dead zones, where oxygen is deficient, has risen from 149 in 2003 to over 200 in 2006, mostly in coastal waters.

The report, In Dead Water, warns that climate change could slow down ocean currents, which maintain water quality, nutrient cycling and the life-cycles of marine life in more than three-quarters of the world's fishing grounds. Higher sea-surface temperatures and ocean acidity threaten coral reefs, which are major fish nurseries. "In developed countries, the degradation of traditional fishing grounds will have commercial effects on the fishing industry sector and fleets," said Stefan Hain of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. "The effects in developing countries and SIDS [ Small Island Developing States] will be more direct, that is, on coastal communities and populations, which depend on marine resources for sustenance and livelihoods."

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The United Nations is considering revising its rules on Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects after evidence of attempts to take excessive profits. "This is a billion-euro market and attracts people not only interested in the environment but in the money," said Lex de Jonge from the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, who is vice-chair of the CDM Executive Board.

The problem is that projects are being put forward that would be very profitable even without the additional CDM revenue. The aim of the CDM is remove barriers, such as a lack of awareness of appropriate technologies, and to support projects that would not have been profitable otherwise. While it was unlikely that very profitable projects would be excluded a priori, one possibility would be to exclude, in some cases, new installations where the latest energy-saving technologies could easily be implemented, de Jonge said.

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Bright Ideas

GE cuts solar costs

General Electric plans to cut solar installation costs by half

Project 90 by 2030

Project 90 by 2030 supports South African school children and managers reduce their carbon footprint through its Club programme

Smart street lighting

Bath & North East Somerset Council in the United Kingdom has installed smart LED carriageway lighting that automatically adjusts to light and traffic levels

Longwood Gardens

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Public Gardens Association are mounting an educational exhibit at Longwood Gardens showing the link between temperature and planting zones

Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers

The energy-efficient Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers hotel is powered by renewable and sustainable sources, including integrated solar photovoltaics and guest-powered bicycles

El Hierro

El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands, plans to generate 80 per cent of its energy from renewable sources

Remarkables Primary School green roof

The green roof on the Remarkables Primary School in New Zealand reduces stormwater runoff, provides insulation and doubles as an outdoor classroom

Weather Info for All

The Weather Info for All project aims to roll out up to five thousand automatic weather observation stations throughout Africa

SolSource

SolSource turns its own waste heat into electricity or stores it in thermal fabrics, harnessing the sun's energy for cooking and electricity for low-income families

Wave House

The Wave House uses vegetation for its architectural and environmental qualities, and especially in terms of thermal insulation

Mbale compost-processing plant

The Mbale compost-processing plant in Uganda produces cheaper fertilizer and reduces greenhouse gas emissions

Frito-Lay Casa Grande

At Casa Grande, Frito-Lay has reduced energy consumption by nearly a fifth since 2006 by, amongst other things, installing a heat recovery system to preheat cooking oil

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Tiempo Climate Newswatch
Updated: April 12th 2013