Via: FreeSpeech

The InterAcademy Council, an umbrella group for various national academies of science from countries around the world, concluded that IPCC has changed little since its inception 20 years ago. In order to avoid future mistakes, such as the controversial 2007 claim about the disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 and improve the organization’s transparency, the committee suggested a sweeping reform of the Panel.

The review, which took nearly four months to be completed, examined every aspect of how the IPCC’s periodic climate science assessments are prepared, including the use of non-peer reviewed literature and the reflection of diverse viewpoints. The review also examined institutional aspects, including management functions as well as the panel’s procedures for communicating its findings to the public.

Amongst the suggestions by the 12 scientists that took part of the review are the creation of an executive board to follow closely Rajendra’s decision and the appointment of a renowned scientist to take over a director role. These will be debated at IPCC’s next meeting in October when the organization will be launching its fifth report on climate change.

IPCC published a release on its website saying “it will be strengthened by the IAC review and by others of its kind this year. We already have the highest confidence in the science behind our assessments. We’re now pleased to receive recommendations on how to further strengthen our own policies and procedures … By overwhelming consensus, the scientific community agrees that climate change is real. Greenhouse gases have increased markedly as a result of human activities and now far exceed pre-industrial values.”

Via: ICID+18

Organized by the Center for Management and Strategic Studies of the Brazilian Government, ICID+18 gathered government representatives and over 2,000 global experts to discuss climate change and identify actions to promote sustainable development in semi-arid regions.

These regions tend to be the world’s poorest and most conflicted areas. Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said at the event that military intervention in those areas is more damaging to the inhabitants of these regions than the problems caused by climate change.

“Sending troops to preserve the political interests of rich countries in such areas will not solve the problems,” he said. Sachs, who is also Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, warned that we are very close to an irreversible climate condition for the planet, and “everyone will be affected equally.”

In these dry regions, he suggested that “it would be more useful for military engineers to teach how to dig wells for water than to develop war artifacts.”

Sachs asked to receive a copy of the Letter of Fortaleza, a summary document of recommendations from ICID+18, to incorporate into the next meeting of the UN Security Council in September.

“I’m sure that the suggestion will be embraced by Secretary Ban Ki-moon, who is sensitive to climate issues worldwide,” he said.

Sachs also suggested the creation of a body bringing together leaders and governments of countries from arid and semi-arid regions to pressure the developed countries to devote more resources, support, science and technology to their areas, as a way to help resolve their problems. These conflicts, “although local, reflect on everybody,” said Sachs.

During the conference, Secretary of Climate Change and Environmental Quality Branca Americano of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment announced that the national Climate Fund will invest around US$ 114 million in adaptation and mitigation programs in Brazil in 2011.

She said the Brazilian semi-arid regions are a priority for the allocation of funds, especially for projects to adapt to climate change. “We view adaptation as an opportunity to act, and this is essential because climate change will hit the region in a severe way,” she warned. The steering committee of the Climate Fund will be installed by the end of the year.

For more information, visit ICID+18

The day the group of journalists I was visiting Brazil with by an invitation of Apex, a trade and investment agency, arrived in Brasilia for a series of meetings with government officials, the news was good. The country had managed to reduce deforestation in the Amazon region by 47% between August 2009 and May 2010, compared with the previous year. It went down from 1,142 square miles during the 2008/2009 period to 604.3 square miles over the last year. It still sounds like a lot, but when you consider that in 2004, a peak deforestation year, 10,588 square miles of Amazonian forest was destroyed, the number represents a drastic reduction. But the ravaging goes on. In June, another 66.4 square miles of forest were destroyed.

163 road in the Amazon (Photo: Antonio Pasolini)

But during our lunch meeting, Ibama was in celebratory mood and the topic was the fight against deforestation, Brazil’s chief concern in terms of preservation, since it accounts for 75% of its carbon emissions. Therefore, curbing deforestation is key to meeting emissions reduction targets (around 37% by 2020) agreed up at the COP15 in Copenhagen last October.

We are given a presentation by George Porto Ferreira, the coordinator of Ibama’s environmental zoning and monitoring, who tells us about the organization’s Remote Sensing and Geographic Information systems. That’s how Ibama surveys the vast Amazon region, thanks to technology developed by Brazil’s space agency INPE and Japan’s Advanced Land Observing Satellite. There are two main methodologies: Prodes and Deter, which is fortnightly in terms of delivery. It has become more efficient, but it’s less so on cloudy days. Information received from INPE is sent to ground staff on the same day. These use a cross-reference system to set the priorities, according to location and scale of deforestation.

Via Mongabay

Some would argue that deforestation has gone down due to economic reasons. With a stronger currency and the global credit crunch, Brazilian commodities have gone up in price, and demand has decreased accordingly. But Ibama likes to think it is winning the war.

“Deforestation has decreased in pace with economic growth, which is a reason to celebrate”, says Director of Environmental Protection Luciano Evaristo. “It is possible to reduce deforestation because there is no need to destroy the environment in order to grow economically.”

Luciano believes better technology has been crucial. “10 years ago, Ibama did not have the technology. Now the actions are coordinated and we are able to reach the most critical areas. There are 244 operations planned for this year in the Amazon region”, he says. Although the Amazon is priority, other biomes, such as Cerrado (savannah, with a 48% deforestation rate) and Pantanal (flood plains, 15% destruction rate), among others, are also about to get more attention. “It goes beyond wildlife. It’s also about climate security.”

One of the problems that Ibama faces is shortage of ground staff. It has 1,400 officers working on a rotating shift basis, covering an area that is bigger than the whole of Western Europe. At any one time, there are 700 to 800 officers on the ground. Luciano acknowledges the need for more staff, but that depends on the government, he says. He estimates 4,000 ground workers would be ideal.

To be fair, it’s hard to pinpoint what an ideal number of enforcement officers would be, many of whom risk their lives to protect the forest, in such a vast area. Therefore, other tactics apart from enforcement are necessary. Luciano says confiscating culprits’ assets has proven more successful than fining lawbreakers, since fines rarely get paid (less than1%). Withdrawing credit from those who’ve been prosecuted is also part of a strategy mix.

Besides all the high-tech, state-of-the-art paraphernalia to monitor the Amazon, the Brazilian government is resorting to other methods of forest preservation. The one we get to see firsthand might be the best answer to the problem. The national sustainable forest management program, which is a key component of Brazil’s strategy to fight deforestation, is creating a model that preserves the forest and gives local people a better living standard. The Ministry of Environment, Izabella Teixeira, reminded us that there are 25 million living in the Amazon region and that they need something to do. When authorities remove illegal activity, it needs to be replaced with a sustainable option.

Via Mongabay

And that’s exactly what’s being attempted at Mambé, a pioneer sustainability project in one of the Amazon’s 41 national forests (“flonas”). The trip to Brazil included a visit to the Tapajós National Forest (600,000 hectares) in the western Pará, one of the vast states in the Amazon region. The project was set up in 2005 with national and international funding and it helps over 7,000 members of 24 forest communities to explore timber sustainably. The project covers an area of 30,000 and each production unit (UPA) is explored once and then left to rest for 25 to 40 years. In 2009, Ambé grossed over US$2 million by auctioning timber to local companies.

Before being taken on a guided tour of the project, we met some of cooperative members who told us about their work and the improvements to their living standards (cooperative members earn roughly twice as much as non-members) and showed us some of the craftwork they produce with forest resources. Particularly attractive are the goods made out of ‘vegetable leather’, which is used to make bags, sandals and decorative items. Phyto-therapeutic oils such as copaiba and andiroba are also a staple of their output. Some of the oils can be used applied to cosmetics as well.

Vegetable leather goods (Photo: Antonio Pasolini)

“Tapajós National Forest is a good example of how to balance conservancy and community productivity”, says Mauro Pires, who works for the government’s anti-deforestation office. “Projects have to abide by a law that regulates public forests, which also guides how concessions are issued and management carried out. By the end of the year, there will be around 640,000 hectares worth of concessions issued under this law.”

In practice, sustainable exploitation of the forest means that only selected, large tress can be timbered and they will have to be replaced. This way, no clearing is made and biomass and biodiversity are not affected, says Mauro. An inventory of the area is made before the planning and the extraction itself are carried out.

After all the presentations, we were finally taken on a walking tour of Ambé. No doubt the place is just a sample of the grandeur of the Amazon forest, which is humanly impossible to penetrate in its pristine, wild state. So reserves are the only way to get a taste of the forest experience. But what an experience it is! Despite the fact that no wildlife is anywhere to be seen – most of the rainforest animals are nocturnal, we were told – the feeling of being amidst such majestic flora is magical.

Visit to Ambé, a pioneer community-led, low-impact forest management project located in the Tapajós National Forest in the Amazon region (West Pará). The project was set up in 2005 and it helps over 7,000 members of 24 communities to explore the forest in a sustainable way. Visit http://www.energyrefuge.com/blog/tag/amazon-trip to read articles related to Brazil and the environment.

Curbing deforestation is no easy task for any country, especially when the area in question spans 1,930,510.8 square miles (the Amazon accounts for 59% of Brazil’s territory, especially a developing one). But preserving biomes is not a choice, but an obligation if we want to have a future. All official representatives we spoke to in Brazil confirmed that livestock is the main driver of deforestation. Consumers abroad finance the destruction as livestock becomes hamburgers and frozen meat products – for every quarter pound hamburger made from rainforest cattle, fifty square feet of rainforest was cleared (the same as a small kitchen).

Cattleranching in the Amazon. Via:Flickr Creative Commons

Forests are shrinking all over the world – 3.1 percent between 2000 and 2005, according to a study published in the Annals of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). That’s about 386,102 square miles. It’s a huge area and it’s impossible to figure out the number of beings – human and non-human – who lost their homes and lives in the process.

To quote Brazil’s Climate Change Embassador, Sérgio Serra from the meeting we had with him on July 22, “the concept of conquering land has to change”. The world has a huge challenge in its hands, but it could be an opportunity to create a new, sustainable and juster global order. Like the Brazilian Minister of Environment, Izabella Teixeira, said during our press conference, “what we need is an alliance between all people in the world. We have to overcome prejudices and establish a dialogue”. Government and corporate action alone will not do. As citizens, we all have a role to play with the choices we make and the way we see and interact with the world. That’s the main lesson I brought home from the Amazon.

Disclosure: Energy Refuge’s trip to Brazil was sponsored by Apex, a governmental agency that promotes trade and investment in Brazil, with funding provided by Petrobras, Eletrobras and Banco do Brasil.

Watch related video:

Brazilian Climate Change Ambassador, Sérgio Serra

“The fact that so many people interpreted COP15 as a failure makes everyone guilty of that”, says Serra during a meeting with the press attended by Energy Refuge last Thursday (22) in Brasília, the capital of Brazil. “Expectations were irrationally high”, he concludes and adds: “One of the bad consequences of COP15 was that some countries saw it as undemocratic. It left some scars. We don’t think the Copenhagen agreement is the real answer, but we would get nowhere if we didn’t focus on transparent solutions.”

Serra believes the current mood is more sober and the outlook for COP-16 next December in Cancun more realistic. He worries that the public and the media’s interest has waned, though. “If there is less pressure, negotiators will not deliver as much”, he warns.

“Here in Brazil we are focused on getting positive results in Cancun. We are in a comfortable position because we put forward at COP15 a set of mitigation actions. We are quite consensual inside the country”, Serra says.

Alongside other emerging countries, Brazil has formed BASIC, which stands for Brazil, South Africa, India and China, a non-negotiating group of countries from the G77 in similar situations. “We are not a breakaway group”, Serra emphasizes. “Our meetings are to exchange ideas.”

BASIC met on Sunday and yesterday (25-26) in Rio de Janeiro to discuss international climate change efforts and pinpoint areas in which progress can be made in the run-up to COP16 .

Climate equity was the focus of the meeting. One of the approaches agreed upon considers the elements for an equitable and balanced outcome in Cancun, covering, for example, different initiatives which could be supported by fast-start finance.

Keeping global temperature increase below 2oC with regard to pre-industrial levels was another highlight of the meeting. Measures should consider the social and economic needs of developing countries. A global goal for emission reductions should be preceded by the definition of a paradigm for equitable burden sharing.

BASIC ministers emphasized the importance of the unity of the Group of 77 and China and its role in multilateral negotiations, including in the construction and strengthening of the climate change regime. They also pointed to the need of a distinction between MRV (Measurable, Reportable, Verifiable) of emission reductions commitments by developed countries and MRV of nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMA) by developing countries. The next meeting of the BASIC group is scheduled for October in China.

“Cancun will be just another step towards a final result. One of the reasons is because the Americans will not be ready”, says Serra. “There is a wait-and-see mood in relation to America”, he added, still unaware that, just as he spoke to us, the international media had started reporting that American congress had postponed an effort to pass broad legislation to fight climate change until September, making it harder for the country to be ready for December.

“The answer is not a limited agreement between the biggest polluters, because countries that are affected have to be part of the negotiation”, says Serra, who believes fast-tracking financing will boost confidence in the process. He has confidence in his own country, though. “We have been ambitious about deforestation even before that was talked about”, he says. “We have some credibility to broker deals.”

Disclosure: Energy Refuge’s trip to Brazil was sponsored by Apex, a governmental agency that promotes trade and investment in Brazil, with funding provided by Petrobras, Eletrobras and Banco do Brasil.

Source: Green Citizen

EREC is the umbrella organisation of the European renewable energy industry, trade and research associations active in the field of photovoltaics, small hydropower, solar thermal, bioenergy, ocean & marine, geothermal, wind energy, and solar thermal electricity. The renewable energy industry in Europe has an annual turnover of more than €70 billion (US$93 billion) and employs more than 550,000 employees.

The report looks at how renewable energy impacts on Europe’s energy supply system and the carbon emissions it generates, and highlights the economic, environmental and social benefits of renewable energy. The report also includes policy recommendations as to how to exploit Europe’s renewable energy potential.

According to EREC, “Europe’s demand for energy is increasing in an environment of high and unstable energy prices”. Dependency on foreign supplies and climate change make the case for bold action to tackle the “climate and energy dilemma with a clear commitment to a 100% renewable energy future by 2050”.

To download an executive summary of the report, please go here. For a full report, please go here.

A new survey conducted by Globescan found that “public concern about climate change is at its highest level” since the company began international tracking in 1998. The poll, carried out in conjunction with the BBC World Service poll, was conducted in 23 countries and listened to over 24,000 adults. Nearly two thirds of those polled say climate change is a “very serious” problem.

Despite the global recession, an average of 61% of respondents support their governments making investments to address climate change, even if these investments hurt the economy (these include investments in renewable energy).

While it seems that most of the world is taking climate change seriously, the two largest emitters of CO2 retain a more complacent attitude. While the Chinese are the most likely to support government investments to address climate change even if these harm the economy (with 89% in favour), only 52% of Americans feel the same way. Also, the percentage of American (45%) and Chinese citizens (57%) who see climate change as “very serious” is below the 23-country average of 64%.

Overall, an average of 44% of respondents say they want their government to “play a leading role in setting ambitious targets to address climate change” at Copenhagen. Numbers get quite high in Europe: 62% in the UK, 57% in France, and 55% in Germany. Pressure for government action at the COP15 is also high in non-EU countries such as Canada (61%), Australia (57%), Japan (57%), and Brazil (53%). And this is where China and the U.S. become less enthusiastic about COP15.

49% Chinese favour a “moderate approach” involving “only gradual action” over a “leadership approach” (37%) in Copenhagen. In the United States, 36% favour a “moderate approach” and 14% oppose any agreement. Only 46% of Americans want their government to show leadership.

Via Renewable Energy Focus

The first two days of the COP15, the Copenhagen climate summit designed to produce a binding treaty whereby the international community will commit itself to reduce carbon emissions, has been plagued with controversy. That is because of a leaked Danish document that allegedly favors the rich and takes from the poor, who will be more heavily burdened to cut emissions.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, the chief negotiator for the G77, a group of 130 developing nations including China, said rich nations have a stronger moral obligation to cut greenhouse gases. While he defends that a substantial amount of money should be paid to poorer nations, money transferring alone is not the solution and would amount to paying someone to become ill.

On the renewable energy front, the Associated Press writes that General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt yesterday told a renewable conference on renewable energy he hoped COP15 would prompt the United States to “develop a green energy policy to grow the economy”.

The Amazon, of course, is a topic that needs to be addressed at the COP15 and it’s being discussed today during a panel called “Amazon Fund – a practical application of REDD initiatives”. The presentation will explain how this fund is being managed and how approved projects will contribute to reduce deforestation.

Protest at COP15

Source: COP15 website

Renewable energy is a big part of the negotiation process in Copenhagen as any deal that comes out of this event will include policies to wean the world off fossil fuels and other pollutants and switch to green sources of energy. Helping poor nations to adapt to climate change is also a big part of the deal.

According to the same report, this first week will be spent on refining a “complex text of a draft treaty. But major decisions will await the arrival next week of environment ministers and the heads of state in the final days of the conference, which is due to end Dec. 18”. That’s when Obama will be present at the event.

The UK’s Guardian newspaper has created a liveblog on the conference which is worth following. If you enjoy Twitter, the microblogging website is abuzz with Copenhagen-related chat.

Now, if you enjoy art and creativity, I’d suggest a visit to the New Life Copenhagen website, an art festival and social experiment organized by the artist-run community Wooloo.org. The festival takes place in thousands of Danish homes during the COP15. It is hosting more than 3,000 climate activists with private families in Copenhagen, but does not involve any actual exhibitions or physical works of art. Instead, the organizers have invited participants to live together – “and to live in new ways”. Sounds like an interesting experiment.

Energy Refuge is looking forward to see what the outcome of this conference will be. With so many people involved and enormous interests at stake, COP15 really is a box of surprises. Let’s just hope the health of the planet as we know will be prioritized.

The joys of open access internet television …

In the run-up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference (also known as COP15), When delegates to the conference are set to negotiate the successor to the Kyoto Protocol, YouTube, in a collaboration with the Government of Denmark, created the “Raise your voice” page to increase awareness of climate change.

Two videomakers have won the opportunity to be part of part of COP15 and attend the live debate from CNN and YouTube in person. But there’s still time to send a question on climate change by uploading a video until December 14.

Of course, renewable energy plays a big part of the debate so have a look at the videos and see for yourself what people across the globe are saying about climate change.

The preservation of the world’s remaining forests is one of the most pressing issues we face today. Forests are also home to most of the world’s wildlife as well as some of the remaining indigenous populations. Besides, the felling of trees releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and wreaks havoc with weather conditions, water sources, rainfall etc. Renewable energy alone will not save the planet. Halting forest loss is known to be one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Tropical rainforests are the focus of major concern as they are targeted by cattle ranchers, loggers and palm oil plantations, to name some of the most ferocious causers of devastation. Global deforestation stands at roughly “13 million hectares per year, or 36 football fields a minute. It generates almost 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions”, says WWF.

Earlier this week, the Brazilian government announced a 45.7 percent fall in deforestation rates of the Amazon forest within the country’s borders. The period measured was August 2008 to July 2009. While this sounds like good news, 7,008 square kilometres of forest were cleared. That is 80 times the size of Manhattan, surely not a small area and probably not quite accurate since the figures released are preliminary. Once they are consolidated, they are likely to go up (last year they did by 1,000 square kilometres).

Greenpeace welcomed the news but said deforestation rates are still too high. The organization said that it is Brazilian society that must get credit for a reduction in the deforestation of the Amazon. “Brazilians have for years demanding action to protect the Amazon, forcing governments to introduce measures in order to decrease the size of the disaster. And when governments abide by the law, deforestation rates fall”, said Paulo Adario, head of the Amazon campaign.

The organization added that actions carried out by the Public Ministry of the Amazonian state of Pará played a major role in deforestation reduction. These included freezing cattle ranching in the state with the highest rates of deforestation, and the implementation of an initiative called “Moratória da Soja” to guarantee the forest-friendliness of the product. The global financial crisis also contributed to decrease demand for products that come out of the Amazon, such as meat, soy and wood.

And while Amazon deforestation may have decreased for now, the Cerrado region, a savanna area of two million square kilometers in Brazil’s heartland, lost more than 20,000 square kilometers of forest over the last year, still according to WWF. The situation there has become so critical that it prompted Brazil’s biggest TV network, Rede Globo, to broadcast a documentary about it. It was aired last night and you can see one of the clips below. The voice-over is in Portuguese but the imagery gives an idea of the beauty of the region and how agribusiness is eating into it.

We can all help by making sure we only buy products that are green certified. By eliminating demand for forest-unfriendly products (watch out for palm oil, which is very common and is destroying Indonesian forests), we can play a role in preserving one of the world’s biggest treasures: its forests.