[News] from [guardian.co.uk]
[Environment > Climate change]
India challenges US over 'measly' climate change efforts
Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, says the US must move more forcefully to reduce emissions
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 October 2009 18.48 BST Article history
India demanded today that America step up its "measly" efforts to combat global warming – or risk jeopardising an international deal to avoid catastrophic climate change.
The challenge from Delhi's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, and recent moves from China, mark a deliberate ratcheting up of the pressure on Barack Obama to move more forcefully to reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions.
It comes barely 24 hours after Democratic leaders introduced a climate change bill in the Senate which – they hoped – would convince the international community that America was prepared for to take strong action.
But Ramesh dismissed the bill, which proposes to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, compared to 2005 levels. He said it was too little to persuade India to make serious commitments of its own at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen that aims to seal a global treaty.
India – like other major developing countries – has been demanding that rich, industrialised countries pledge cuts of 25% to 40% in Copenhagen in December.
"The bill that was with the Senate yesterday talks about a 20% cut on 2005 levels, which is really only a measly 5% reduction on 1990 levels," Ramesh told a US-Indian energy conference in Washington, put on by Yale University and The Energy and Resources Institute in Delhi.
He added that America and other developed countries had to commit to deep emissions cuts in the next decade – not by 2050 – if they wanted to see India and China take serious action to contain the rise in their future emissions, as their surging economies expand.
"If we are serious about climate change we should stop talking about 2050. I laugh when countries put up numbers for 2050," Ramesh said.
However, he was almost immediately rebuffed by Obama's climate change envoy, Todd Stern, who said that such a narrow focus on 2020 actions could wreck the prospects of reaching a deal at Copenhagen. "We can talk about that all the way to Copenhagen and for the next two or three years and get nothing done," Stern said. "We have to be practical."
Ramesh's comments were the most forceful expression of a new diplomatic push by India to avoid being cast as the spoiler of the Copenhagen process. Ramesh insisted, however, that India was well aware of the threat posed to its own people by the change in rainfall patterns and rising sea levels brought by climate change. This summer saw the worst monsoon since 1972, a major setback for a country which remains heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture.
India sees its economic growth as non-negotiable, given the large number of citizens it wants to lift out of poverty. In the past fortnight, India has offered to undertake a series of measures that would see it embarking on a less polluting course of future growth – but these are firmly tied to action from America.
Ramesh spelled out some of those commitments in an interview with the Guardian last week. They include: legislation on fuel efficiency for cars by 2011 and new building efficiency by 2012, getting 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020; and expanding forest cover. India also plans to get 15% of its electricity from nuclear power by 2020.
But Ramesh ruled out any possibility that India would agree to an absolute cap on emissions in the future. "N-O, No," he said. The position was endorsed by RK Pachauri, who heads the IPCC. "Obviously you are not going to ask a country that has 400 million people without a lightbulb in their homes to do the same as a country that has splurge of energy," he told the conference."
[Environment > Wildlife]
Australia rejects proposal for crocodile safaris to prevent attacks on humans
Minister allows harvesting of eggs and culling of crocodiles for meat, skins, teeth and skulls to curb growing populations
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 October 2009 10.46 BST Article history
Australia's environment minister rejected a proposal for crocodile safari hunting today, but increased the number of eggs and animals that can be harvested to cull their population and make the country's north safer for people.
Environment minister Peter Garrett said the five-year management plan would allow Australia's Northern Territory to continue exporting crocodile products "on an ecologically sustainable basis".
Both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles were hunted to near extinction but have become plentiful in the tropical north since they became protected by federal law in 1971.
In March, after a spate of crocodile attacks killed four people, the Northern Territory government submitted a draft management plan that included crocodile safaris for paying clients, with quotas on the number of the reptiles that could be killed by tourists or trophy hunters.
Garrett said he gave the idea careful consideration but could not approve it.
"I am of the view that safari hunting is not a suitable approach for the responsible management of crocodiles," he said in a statement.
The approved management plan allows an initial maximum harvest of 50,000 eggs — up from 35,000 in the previous plan — and 400 juveniles, 500 hatchlings and 500 adults for farming, food and export. The egg quota could increase if the population supports it, Garrett said. The plan also allows for the removal of crocodiles that are a threat to people or livestock.
"I am satisfied that the harvest of crocodiles and eggs proposed in this management plan will ensure the population remains at a sustainable level, and includes adequate measures to prevent any long-term drop in population," Garrett said.
The Northern Territory is estimated to have 80,000 saltwater crocodiles, the highest number in any region in Australia. Saltwater crocodiles, the world's largest reptile, grow up to 23 feet (seven metres) long. They are more likely to attack humans than the smaller freshwater crocodiles that also inhabit the area.
Northern Territory minister for parks and wildlife Karl Hampton welcomed the new management plan but said in a statement that safaris would have helped the indigenous community, and his territorial government would "continue working toward approval for safaris in the future."
The management plan is revised every five years.
Currently, collected eggs and captured crocodiles are harvested for meat, skin, teeth and skulls. The Northern Territory has exported an average of about 6,000 saltwater crocodile skins to other parts of Australia and the world each year for the last six years.
[Environment > Copenhagen climate change conference 2009]
Lily Allen and Duran Duran launch celebrity climate campaign track
The first global music petition, a re-recording of Midnight Oil's Beds are Burning, is aimed at pressuring world leaders at Copenhagen
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 October 2009 17.07 BST Article history
Over 60 musicians, including Duran Duran, Lily Allen and Bob Geldof, today launched the world's first digital musical petition: a re-recording of the Midnight Oil song, Beds are Burning, aimed at pressuring world leaders to make a hard-hitting deal over climate change at December's Copenhagen summit.
Described by Kofi Annan as "the Band Aid for the internet generation", the song is the first time such a long list of world celebrities has recorded a campaign track in protest of global warming and climate change. It is also the first ever global music petition: the track is available free online and downloading it automatically adds the listener to the campaign petition: "Tck Tck Tck, Time for Climate Justice".
The music and film stars – ranging from Fergie, Mark Ronson and the Scorpions to Youssou n'Dour and the French Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard – see the song as part of a global movement to force world leaders to strike a better deal than that made at Kyoto. Already 1.3 million people have signed the petition for a binding deal at Copenhagen. The song hopes to add millions to that list. Each individual who downloads the track and video, will become a "climate ally" alongside supporters such as the archbishop Desmond Tutu. The song was conceived as a post-Live Aid approach to digitally reach as many listeners as possible in the shortest time.
The Australian band Midnight Oil specially rewrote their 1987 hit Beds Are Burning with lyrics warning against the impending climate change disaster. The band waived their rights, enabling the song and its video to be downloaded for free. The track was recorded in studios in Paris, London and New York and cut together in less than a few months.
Annan, the former UN secretary general who now heads Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum, which backs the campaign, said the theory was that the celebrity music initiative could "create such a noise our leaders won't be able to ignore it".
Already politicians have rushed to endorse the petition, including Gordon Brown, Ed Miliband and Peter Mandelson, who called for British business to come on board.
Annan said the drive would be successful if the critical mass of global listeners adding their name to the petition forced world leaders to act fast for an urgent post-Kyoto agreement.
[Environment > Climate change]
India challenges US over 'measly' climate change efforts
Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, says the US must move more forcefully to reduce emissions
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 October 2009 18.48 BST Article history
India demanded today that America step up its "measly" efforts to combat global warming – or risk jeopardising an international deal to avoid catastrophic climate change.
The challenge from Delhi's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, and recent moves from China, mark a deliberate ratcheting up of the pressure on Barack Obama to move more forcefully to reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions.
It comes barely 24 hours after Democratic leaders introduced a climate change bill in the Senate which – they hoped – would convince the international community that America was prepared for to take strong action.
But Ramesh dismissed the bill, which proposes to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, compared to 2005 levels. He said it was too little to persuade India to make serious commitments of its own at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen that aims to seal a global treaty.
India – like other major developing countries – has been demanding that rich, industrialised countries pledge cuts of 25% to 40% in Copenhagen in December.
"The bill that was with the Senate yesterday talks about a 20% cut on 2005 levels, which is really only a measly 5% reduction on 1990 levels," Ramesh told a US-Indian energy conference in Washington, put on by Yale University and The Energy and Resources Institute in Delhi.
He added that America and other developed countries had to commit to deep emissions cuts in the next decade – not by 2050 – if they wanted to see India and China take serious action to contain the rise in their future emissions, as their surging economies expand.
"If we are serious about climate change we should stop talking about 2050. I laugh when countries put up numbers for 2050," Ramesh said.
However, he was almost immediately rebuffed by Obama's climate change envoy, Todd Stern, who said that such a narrow focus on 2020 actions could wreck the prospects of reaching a deal at Copenhagen. "We can talk about that all the way to Copenhagen and for the next two or three years and get nothing done," Stern said. "We have to be practical."
Ramesh's comments were the most forceful expression of a new diplomatic push by India to avoid being cast as the spoiler of the Copenhagen process. Ramesh insisted, however, that India was well aware of the threat posed to its own people by the change in rainfall patterns and rising sea levels brought by climate change. This summer saw the worst monsoon since 1972, a major setback for a country which remains heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture.
India sees its economic growth as non-negotiable, given the large number of citizens it wants to lift out of poverty. In the past fortnight, India has offered to undertake a series of measures that would see it embarking on a less polluting course of future growth – but these are firmly tied to action from America.
Ramesh spelled out some of those commitments in an interview with the Guardian last week. They include: legislation on fuel efficiency for cars by 2011 and new building efficiency by 2012, getting 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020; and expanding forest cover. India also plans to get 15% of its electricity from nuclear power by 2020.
But Ramesh ruled out any possibility that India would agree to an absolute cap on emissions in the future. "N-O, No," he said. The position was endorsed by RK Pachauri, who heads the IPCC. "Obviously you are not going to ask a country that has 400 million people without a lightbulb in their homes to do the same as a country that has splurge of energy," he told the conference."
[Environment > Wildlife]
Australia rejects proposal for crocodile safaris to prevent attacks on humans
Minister allows harvesting of eggs and culling of crocodiles for meat, skins, teeth and skulls to curb growing populations
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 October 2009 10.46 BST Article history
Australia's environment minister rejected a proposal for crocodile safari hunting today, but increased the number of eggs and animals that can be harvested to cull their population and make the country's north safer for people.
Environment minister Peter Garrett said the five-year management plan would allow Australia's Northern Territory to continue exporting crocodile products "on an ecologically sustainable basis".
Both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles were hunted to near extinction but have become plentiful in the tropical north since they became protected by federal law in 1971.
In March, after a spate of crocodile attacks killed four people, the Northern Territory government submitted a draft management plan that included crocodile safaris for paying clients, with quotas on the number of the reptiles that could be killed by tourists or trophy hunters.
Garrett said he gave the idea careful consideration but could not approve it.
"I am of the view that safari hunting is not a suitable approach for the responsible management of crocodiles," he said in a statement.
The approved management plan allows an initial maximum harvest of 50,000 eggs — up from 35,000 in the previous plan — and 400 juveniles, 500 hatchlings and 500 adults for farming, food and export. The egg quota could increase if the population supports it, Garrett said. The plan also allows for the removal of crocodiles that are a threat to people or livestock.
"I am satisfied that the harvest of crocodiles and eggs proposed in this management plan will ensure the population remains at a sustainable level, and includes adequate measures to prevent any long-term drop in population," Garrett said.
The Northern Territory is estimated to have 80,000 saltwater crocodiles, the highest number in any region in Australia. Saltwater crocodiles, the world's largest reptile, grow up to 23 feet (seven metres) long. They are more likely to attack humans than the smaller freshwater crocodiles that also inhabit the area.
Northern Territory minister for parks and wildlife Karl Hampton welcomed the new management plan but said in a statement that safaris would have helped the indigenous community, and his territorial government would "continue working toward approval for safaris in the future."
The management plan is revised every five years.
Currently, collected eggs and captured crocodiles are harvested for meat, skin, teeth and skulls. The Northern Territory has exported an average of about 6,000 saltwater crocodile skins to other parts of Australia and the world each year for the last six years.
[Environment > Copenhagen climate change conference 2009]
Lily Allen and Duran Duran launch celebrity climate campaign track
The first global music petition, a re-recording of Midnight Oil's Beds are Burning, is aimed at pressuring world leaders at Copenhagen
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 October 2009 17.07 BST Article history
Over 60 musicians, including Duran Duran, Lily Allen and Bob Geldof, today launched the world's first digital musical petition: a re-recording of the Midnight Oil song, Beds are Burning, aimed at pressuring world leaders to make a hard-hitting deal over climate change at December's Copenhagen summit.
Described by Kofi Annan as "the Band Aid for the internet generation", the song is the first time such a long list of world celebrities has recorded a campaign track in protest of global warming and climate change. It is also the first ever global music petition: the track is available free online and downloading it automatically adds the listener to the campaign petition: "Tck Tck Tck, Time for Climate Justice".
The music and film stars – ranging from Fergie, Mark Ronson and the Scorpions to Youssou n'Dour and the French Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard – see the song as part of a global movement to force world leaders to strike a better deal than that made at Kyoto. Already 1.3 million people have signed the petition for a binding deal at Copenhagen. The song hopes to add millions to that list. Each individual who downloads the track and video, will become a "climate ally" alongside supporters such as the archbishop Desmond Tutu. The song was conceived as a post-Live Aid approach to digitally reach as many listeners as possible in the shortest time.
The Australian band Midnight Oil specially rewrote their 1987 hit Beds Are Burning with lyrics warning against the impending climate change disaster. The band waived their rights, enabling the song and its video to be downloaded for free. The track was recorded in studios in Paris, London and New York and cut together in less than a few months.
Annan, the former UN secretary general who now heads Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum, which backs the campaign, said the theory was that the celebrity music initiative could "create such a noise our leaders won't be able to ignore it".
Already politicians have rushed to endorse the petition, including Gordon Brown, Ed Miliband and Peter Mandelson, who called for British business to come on board.
Annan said the drive would be successful if the critical mass of global listeners adding their name to the petition forced world leaders to act fast for an urgent post-Kyoto agreement.
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