Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Japan will propose a sector-specific approach to emissions reductions as a basis for a post-Kyoto Protocol agreement at the G8 Summit in July. The proposal identifies eight sectors, each broken down into various industries, with emission reduction goals to be established based on indicators for each industry. There would be no nation-specific emissions cap. The Japanese proposal will be discussed at the Bangkok Climate Change Talks 2008, later this month.

A government-private sector panel in Japan has identified 21 cutting-edge technologies that, with support, could help achieve the goal of halving global greenhouse gas emissions from current levels by 2050. The technologies include near-zero emissions coal-fired power plants, advanced nuclear power, fuel cell vehicles, biofuels, steelmaking with hydrogen and next-generation lighting systems. The panel estimates that about 60 per cent of the 2050 target could be achieved if these technologies are widely adopted.

"A window of opportunity to act [on climate change] is now open," concludes a new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). "Regardless of the ethical, of the moral, of the social, of the political consequences, simply looking at it from the business and the economic point of view, it is a better idea to start right away focusing on the environment," said OECD secretary general Ángel Gurria. The report demonstrates that environmental protection is "affordable," it can be achieved without a significant impact on economic growth.

The report, Environment Outlook to 2030, recommends green taxes to encourage environmentally-sound technologies and practices. "We need forward-looking policies today to avoid high costs of inaction or delayed action over the longer term," it concludes. The report calls for technology transfer to the developing world and stresses the importance of international cooperation. "If we do not have everybody, and that includes every single developed country but also Brazil, China, India, South Africa, Indonesia etc, it will obviously not work," Gurria said. "When a body such as the OECD says that on a range of environmental issues we need to act globally and we need to act now, then it is clear that as communities, countries and companies we need to roll up our collective sleeves and get on with it," said James Leape of WWF.

Greenhouse gas emissions from shipping is three times higher than previously thought, according to the leaked results of a new study by International Panel on Climate Change scientists. The study estimates that global shipping emissions stand at twice those attributed to the aviation industry and predicts a rise of 30 per cent in shipping emissions by the year 2020.

"This is a clear failure of the system," said IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri. "The shipping industry has so far escaped publicity. It has been left out of the climate change discussion. I hope [shipping emissions] will be included in the next United Nations agreement. It would be a cop-out if it was not. It tells me that we have been ineffective at tackling climate change so far," he concluded.