[News] from [guardian.co.uk]
[Environmnt > Climate change]
Migration is the only escape from rising tides of climate change in Bangladesh
Some 60% of Bangladesh is at risk of rising sea levels, contaminating fish stock, farmland and drinking water with salt
John Vidal in Moura, Bangladesh
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 December 2009 20.45 GMT Article history
At an impromptu meeting in Moura village on the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh last week, 30 families said that their only hope of survival was to become climate refugees.
"The tides come into the village every two weeks. Twenty years ago the sea was far away. Now it's a few yards and we fear that our children will die. We have lost our farmland and more than 50 people have already lost their homes to the rising sea. The drinking water is salty and there are no fish in the river. We all want to leave but where? We have no money, " said Hayaun Nesa Khatong.
At the rate that this stretch of the Bangladesh coast is being submerged there is little or no chance of Moura or many other nearby villages being habitable in five years. Unless the local government finds increasingly scarce land to evacuate them to, the villagers will have no option but to migrate. Most will go to the slums of Chittagong, 20 miles away, or to the capital Dhaka.
Five hundred miles away in India, on the other side of the Bay of Bengal, researchers in the oceanography department at the University of Jadavpur in Kolkata say dozens of islands in the Indian Sunderban region are being regularly flooded, threatening thousands. Unexpectedly fast sea level rises and storms are forcing the Indian government to consider evacuating nearly 70,000 people in the next five years.
These are people which developing countries have been saying privately that rich countries must take responsibility for. Now, ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit, Bangladeshi finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has raised the stakes by stating the point publicly. "We are asking our development partners to honour the natural right of persons to migrate. We can't accommodate all these people."
Rich nations could help by providing cash to relocate refugees in their own countries, or by accepting them as refugees. Wealthy countries are terrified by the thought of climate refugees being given legal access. Worldwide, nearly 10m people from Africa, south Asia and elsewhere are thought to have migrated or been displaced by environmental degradation, weather-related disasters and desertification in the last 20 years. The UN expects a further 150m people will have to move in the next 50 years.
Climate change cannot be unequivocally linked to individual weather events and specific mass migrations. But experts, including the UN's climate change science body and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say warming is increasing the number and severity of humanitarian disasters. The International Red Cross estimates there are now more than 400 weather-related disasters a year and almost 90m people need immediate assistance. This figure could be as high as 350m by 2050.
The majority of people displaced by more severe climates will be the extreme poor, whose meagre resources will mean moving within borders, often only short distances from home.
But the UN says 28 countries are now at extreme risk from climate change, of which 22 are in Africa. Eleven countries have more than 10% of their land within 5m of mean sea level and a similar number have all of their territory below 5m. Five would be entirely threatened by just a 1m rise in sea level.
Because most borders between both African and Asian countries are relatively porous, there is a distinct possibility that tens of thousands of people will try to migrate between countries.
Bangladesh, which is expecting its 165m population to increase by nearly 100m in the next 60 years, is the most vulnerable large country, with 60% of its land less than 5m above sea level.
[Environment > Copenhagen climate change congerence 2009]
Critic of west dropped before crucial Copenhagen climate summit talks
John Vidal
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 December 2009 20.45 GMT Article history
The US and Europe have been accused of employing underhand diplomatic tactics ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit after one of their strongest developing country critics was dismissed from a national delegation.
The Philippine government gave no official reason for dropping Bernarditas Muller, a key negotiator on behalf of the 130 G77 developing countries. But non-governmental groups said it was clearly linked to her long-standing opposition to US and European attempts to abandon the Kyoto protocol, the legal agreement that commits rich countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Muller, one of the world's most experienced climate negotiators, helped draft the Kyoto treaty in the 1990s, but western countries have regularly criticised her unyielding defence of developing countries' environmental interests. Earlier this year a senior British diplomat accused her of "single-handedly holding up" development in the Philippines and blocking progress in the climate talks.
Since then, the future of the Kyoto treaty has become a major issue at the Copenhagen talks, with developing countries determined to keep it but the US and Europe equally intent on replacing it with a weaker political agreement which they pledge would become legal later.
NGOs linked Muller's dismissal to Hillary Clinton's recent visit to the Philippine capital, Manila. Following the US secretary of state's visit, the Philippine president, Gloria Arroyo, took a noticeably more pro-American line on emission cuts.
In a joint statement, 20 environmental and development groups in Manila, including Oxfam, accused Arroyo of bending to pressure from America.
"The exclusion of Bernarditas Muller, a long-time diplomat, is a cowardly acquiescence to the US, EU, Japan, Canada and Australian pressures to eliminate vocal defenders of developing countries' interests from the negotiations," the statement said.
"The developed countries, led by the US, are maliciously neutralising Ms Muller and other outspoken critics from developing countries."
The statement added: "So-called 'climate ambassadors' have been making the rounds in developing countries, pitching promises of financial support for climate change adaptation programmes."
There is a long history of rich countries exerting strong pressure on developing countries in advance of major negotiations. Last month several negotiators were "recalled" from the climate talks in Barcelona after African countries staged a walkout.
Rich countries regularly use promises of money or influence to buy off countries who are perceived to stand in the way of their interests.
[Environment > Nuclear power]
Sellafield fined £75,000 for exposing staff to nuclear contamination
Contractors at nuclear plant received radiation dose while drilling through floor
Terry Macalister
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 December 2009 17.41 GMT Article history
The operator of Sellafield, Britain's biggest nuclear complex, was today handed a fine and legal costs totalling more than £100,000 following safety lapses which led to the radioactive contamination of staff.
The successful prosecution of Sellafield Ltd by the Health and Safety Executive will tarnish the reputation of an industry trying to win public confidence for a new generation of power plants.
The business, controlled by state-owned British Nuclear Group when the incident occurred in July 2007, has since been taken over by three private contractors, Amec, Areva and URS Washington, who work under the Nuclear Management Partners banner.
Carlisle crown court fined Sellafield Ltd £75,000 with a further £26,000 costs. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which owns the Sellafield site which the consortium manages, said the fine would be paid by insurers.
Mark Bassett, the HSE's superintending nuclear inspector, said he was satisfied with the "relatively high" penalty imposed. "Although the radiation doses in this case were below the statutory dose limits, they could potentially have been higher. They should have been zero," he said.
"The incident highlights the importance of Sellafield Ltd following its own arrangements for protecting workers, when undertaking potentially hazardous work with the risk of exposure to radiation. Sellafield Ltd should have properly assessed those risks, and then appropriately planned, organised and carried out the work."
Two contractors were drilling an area of floor, under Sellafield Ltd's supervision, when they were contaminated with plutonium by the dust produced from the drilling, some of which they inhaled. There was no immediate impact on their health although they received a significant radiation dose.
A spokesman for Sellafield Ltd said last night: "This incident happened more than a year before Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) took over control of Sellafield Ltd, bringing with them a wealth of experience and expertise from around the globe.
"Since arriving on site, the new management team has introduced a range of initiatives aimed at improving safety and performance and has focussed on ensuring disciplined professionalism in all that we do."
In the past Sellafield Ltd has been fined up to £500,000 for more serious safety lapses and the HSE recently warned that the chances of a major incident were still too high.
[Environmnt > Climate change]
Migration is the only escape from rising tides of climate change in Bangladesh
Some 60% of Bangladesh is at risk of rising sea levels, contaminating fish stock, farmland and drinking water with salt
John Vidal in Moura, Bangladesh
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 December 2009 20.45 GMT Article history
At an impromptu meeting in Moura village on the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh last week, 30 families said that their only hope of survival was to become climate refugees.
"The tides come into the village every two weeks. Twenty years ago the sea was far away. Now it's a few yards and we fear that our children will die. We have lost our farmland and more than 50 people have already lost their homes to the rising sea. The drinking water is salty and there are no fish in the river. We all want to leave but where? We have no money, " said Hayaun Nesa Khatong.
At the rate that this stretch of the Bangladesh coast is being submerged there is little or no chance of Moura or many other nearby villages being habitable in five years. Unless the local government finds increasingly scarce land to evacuate them to, the villagers will have no option but to migrate. Most will go to the slums of Chittagong, 20 miles away, or to the capital Dhaka.
Five hundred miles away in India, on the other side of the Bay of Bengal, researchers in the oceanography department at the University of Jadavpur in Kolkata say dozens of islands in the Indian Sunderban region are being regularly flooded, threatening thousands. Unexpectedly fast sea level rises and storms are forcing the Indian government to consider evacuating nearly 70,000 people in the next five years.
These are people which developing countries have been saying privately that rich countries must take responsibility for. Now, ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit, Bangladeshi finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has raised the stakes by stating the point publicly. "We are asking our development partners to honour the natural right of persons to migrate. We can't accommodate all these people."
Rich nations could help by providing cash to relocate refugees in their own countries, or by accepting them as refugees. Wealthy countries are terrified by the thought of climate refugees being given legal access. Worldwide, nearly 10m people from Africa, south Asia and elsewhere are thought to have migrated or been displaced by environmental degradation, weather-related disasters and desertification in the last 20 years. The UN expects a further 150m people will have to move in the next 50 years.
Climate change cannot be unequivocally linked to individual weather events and specific mass migrations. But experts, including the UN's climate change science body and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say warming is increasing the number and severity of humanitarian disasters. The International Red Cross estimates there are now more than 400 weather-related disasters a year and almost 90m people need immediate assistance. This figure could be as high as 350m by 2050.
The majority of people displaced by more severe climates will be the extreme poor, whose meagre resources will mean moving within borders, often only short distances from home.
But the UN says 28 countries are now at extreme risk from climate change, of which 22 are in Africa. Eleven countries have more than 10% of their land within 5m of mean sea level and a similar number have all of their territory below 5m. Five would be entirely threatened by just a 1m rise in sea level.
Because most borders between both African and Asian countries are relatively porous, there is a distinct possibility that tens of thousands of people will try to migrate between countries.
Bangladesh, which is expecting its 165m population to increase by nearly 100m in the next 60 years, is the most vulnerable large country, with 60% of its land less than 5m above sea level.
[Environment > Copenhagen climate change congerence 2009]
Critic of west dropped before crucial Copenhagen climate summit talks
John Vidal
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 December 2009 20.45 GMT Article history
The US and Europe have been accused of employing underhand diplomatic tactics ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit after one of their strongest developing country critics was dismissed from a national delegation.
The Philippine government gave no official reason for dropping Bernarditas Muller, a key negotiator on behalf of the 130 G77 developing countries. But non-governmental groups said it was clearly linked to her long-standing opposition to US and European attempts to abandon the Kyoto protocol, the legal agreement that commits rich countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Muller, one of the world's most experienced climate negotiators, helped draft the Kyoto treaty in the 1990s, but western countries have regularly criticised her unyielding defence of developing countries' environmental interests. Earlier this year a senior British diplomat accused her of "single-handedly holding up" development in the Philippines and blocking progress in the climate talks.
Since then, the future of the Kyoto treaty has become a major issue at the Copenhagen talks, with developing countries determined to keep it but the US and Europe equally intent on replacing it with a weaker political agreement which they pledge would become legal later.
NGOs linked Muller's dismissal to Hillary Clinton's recent visit to the Philippine capital, Manila. Following the US secretary of state's visit, the Philippine president, Gloria Arroyo, took a noticeably more pro-American line on emission cuts.
In a joint statement, 20 environmental and development groups in Manila, including Oxfam, accused Arroyo of bending to pressure from America.
"The exclusion of Bernarditas Muller, a long-time diplomat, is a cowardly acquiescence to the US, EU, Japan, Canada and Australian pressures to eliminate vocal defenders of developing countries' interests from the negotiations," the statement said.
"The developed countries, led by the US, are maliciously neutralising Ms Muller and other outspoken critics from developing countries."
The statement added: "So-called 'climate ambassadors' have been making the rounds in developing countries, pitching promises of financial support for climate change adaptation programmes."
There is a long history of rich countries exerting strong pressure on developing countries in advance of major negotiations. Last month several negotiators were "recalled" from the climate talks in Barcelona after African countries staged a walkout.
Rich countries regularly use promises of money or influence to buy off countries who are perceived to stand in the way of their interests.
[Environment > Nuclear power]
Sellafield fined £75,000 for exposing staff to nuclear contamination
Contractors at nuclear plant received radiation dose while drilling through floor
Terry Macalister
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 December 2009 17.41 GMT Article history
The operator of Sellafield, Britain's biggest nuclear complex, was today handed a fine and legal costs totalling more than £100,000 following safety lapses which led to the radioactive contamination of staff.
The successful prosecution of Sellafield Ltd by the Health and Safety Executive will tarnish the reputation of an industry trying to win public confidence for a new generation of power plants.
The business, controlled by state-owned British Nuclear Group when the incident occurred in July 2007, has since been taken over by three private contractors, Amec, Areva and URS Washington, who work under the Nuclear Management Partners banner.
Carlisle crown court fined Sellafield Ltd £75,000 with a further £26,000 costs. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which owns the Sellafield site which the consortium manages, said the fine would be paid by insurers.
Mark Bassett, the HSE's superintending nuclear inspector, said he was satisfied with the "relatively high" penalty imposed. "Although the radiation doses in this case were below the statutory dose limits, they could potentially have been higher. They should have been zero," he said.
"The incident highlights the importance of Sellafield Ltd following its own arrangements for protecting workers, when undertaking potentially hazardous work with the risk of exposure to radiation. Sellafield Ltd should have properly assessed those risks, and then appropriately planned, organised and carried out the work."
Two contractors were drilling an area of floor, under Sellafield Ltd's supervision, when they were contaminated with plutonium by the dust produced from the drilling, some of which they inhaled. There was no immediate impact on their health although they received a significant radiation dose.
A spokesman for Sellafield Ltd said last night: "This incident happened more than a year before Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) took over control of Sellafield Ltd, bringing with them a wealth of experience and expertise from around the globe.
"Since arriving on site, the new management team has introduced a range of initiatives aimed at improving safety and performance and has focussed on ensuring disciplined professionalism in all that we do."
In the past Sellafield Ltd has been fined up to £500,000 for more serious safety lapses and the HSE recently warned that the chances of a major incident were still too high.
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