Tiempo Climate Newswatch

China has called on the developed nations to commit one per cent of domestic product to assist poorer countries in cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. The financial support, which would largely cover the transfer of green technology, could amount to more then US$300 billion a year. Even such large funds "might not be enough," said Gao Guangsheng of the National Reform and Development Commission. He observed that the developed nations had not fulfilled "some of the promises they made in the past very well."

In a new policy paper on climate change, China repeats its longstanding position that developed countries should take the lead in reducing emissions in view of their historic responsibility and current high level of emissions. It does, though, conclude that developing countries "should actively adopt adaptation measures, reduce their emissions to the lowest degree and fulfill their duties in addressing climate change."

"If we want to tackle climate change challenges, we must look to the untapped potential of the soil to sequester carbon," according to Luc Gnacadja, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). "By doing that, we are improving biodiversity of the soil ecosystem and improving the productivity of the soil, therefore impacting the livelihoods of affected populations," he continued. He argued that tackling desertification and land degradation could help address ongoing global crises. For example, improving land productivity will also boost the capacity to produce more food and therefore tackle the issue of food security. "An ecosystem is like a bank account," he noted. "If we keep on withdrawing, and we don’t invest by feeding the soil and enabling it to regenerate, we are moving towards bankruptcy."

Experts met late October in West Lafayette, Indiana, in the United States, under the auspices of the United Nations, to discuss how the agriculture sector could benefit from funding available through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). "This is a win-win-win opportunity," said Theodor Friedrich from the Food and Agriculture Organization. "We have a chance to slow climate change, help poor farmers make a better living and improve soil health and productivity all at the same time." At present, though agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, it receives little funding through the CDM. Approaches such as no-till Conservation Agriculture could retain significant amounts of carbon in the soil.

"If our demands on the planet continue to increase at the same rate, by the mid-2030s we would need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles," concludes James Leape, head of WWF International. Leape was speaking at the launch of the latest WWF Living Planet Report, which documents the world's evolving ecological footprint. The depletion rate of natural resources now exceeds the planet's capacity to regenerate by 30 per cent.

"We are acting ecologically in the same way as financial institutions have been behaving economically - seeking immediate gratification without due regard for the consequences," commented Jonathan Loh of the Zoological Society of London. The nations with the largest ecological footprint per person are the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Kuwait, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand.