[News] from [guardian.co.uk]
[Environment > Copenhagen Climate change conference 2009]
Copenhagen treaty was 'held to ransom', says Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown calls for reform of UN climate talks after Copenhagen talks end in weak agreement
David Adam, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 December 2009 17.56 GMT Article history
Gordon Brown today said a new global treaty on climate change had been "held to ransom" by some countries opposed to a deal in Copenhagen, and called for reform of the way such negotiations take place, including an international body to handle environmental stewardship.
The prime minister said the weak agreement reached in Copenhagen at the weekend after all-night deliberations was a "first step towards a new alliance to overcome the enormous challenges of climate change". He called on all countries to show greater ambition as part of a campaign over the coming months to turn the agreement into a legally binding treaty.
"The talks in Copenhagen were not easy and as they reached conclusion I did fear the process would collapse and we would have no deal at all," he said. "We must learn lessons from Copenhagen and the tough negotiations that took place. Never again should we face the deadlock that threatened to pull down these talks. Never again should we let a global deal to move towards a greener future be held to ransom by only a handful of countries."
Brown added: "One of the frustrations for me was the lack of a global body with the sole responsibility for environmental stewardship. I believe that in 2010 we will need to look at reforming our international institutions to meet the common challenges we face as an international community."
Brown said it was important for the UK and developing countries such as the Maldives and Bangladesh that support a legally binding deal to form an "alliance" to persuade sceptical nations including China to sign up. British officials said they misjudged the attitude of the Chinese government, which took a harder line than expected in Copenhagen and vetoed efforts to introduce carbon targets and a deadline to make the deal legally binding. Ed Miliband, energy and climate change secretary, said in yesterday's Guardian that China had led a group of countries that "hijacked" the negotiations.
China's premier, Wen Jiabao, insisted his government had played an "important and constructive" role.
Other nations, including Venezuela and Bolivia, tried to block the agreement being passed by the wider conference.
Miliband told a meeting in London today that the world could still agree on an ambitious and legally binding treaty by the end of the year. "It is important to convince China that it has nothing to fear from a legal treaty."
But he echoed Brown's criticisms of the process, and said the world needed to reassess the way the UN climate talks work. "The majority of countries want a legal treaty but unfortunately the UN doesn't work on a majority."
Ministers should have got involved earlier, he said. The Copenhagen talks spent so long arguing about process that it left little time to negotiate the substance of an agreement. Aides suggested Britain could push for a streamlined negotiation process over the next twelve months, with groups of countries asked to put forward a representative, rather than debate everything between all 193 states.
The Copenhagen deal requires countries to submit pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the end of January. Brown said that if all countries, including China and the US, showed greater ambition, then the promised cuts could leave the world within "striking distance" of limiting global warming to 2C.
He said: "We will need to harness the best of low carbon technology for the world to continue to grow, while keeping to our pledge made this weekend to limit the increase in global temperatures to 2C."
In a separate report, aid charity Oxfam called for an "overhaul" of the UN negotiating process.
Antonio Hill, Oxfam's climate change adviser, said: "The Copenhagen accord is hugely disappointing but it also reveals how the traditional approach to international negotiations, based on brinkmanship and national self-interest, is both unfit for pursuing our common destiny and downright dangerous."
He added: "There is too much at stake for this politics-as-usual approach. We must act quickly to address the shortfalls of these negotiations so that we can make up for lost time and tackle climate change with the decisiveness and urgency needed. This cannot happen again."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a global ambassador for the charity, said: "The failure of the political process in Copenhagen to achieve a fair, adequate and binding deal on climate change is profoundly distressing. A higher purpose was at stake but our political leaders have proven themselves unable to rise to the challenge. We must look to the future. Our leaders must regroup, learn and make good their failure for the sake of humanity's future."
[Culture > Art and design Photography]
Loan wolf? Prizewinning photographer faces fakery claims
José Luis Rodriguez accused of using tame, 'model' animal for close-up that won him prestigious £10,000 award
Robert Booth
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 December 2009 20.01 GMT Article history
It was billed as the moment when a wildlife photographer's remarkable patience was rewarded; an image which won him £10,000 and the year's most prestigious award.
But José Luis Rodriguez is now facing allegations that his startling close-up image of an apparently wild Iberian wolf vaulting a farmer's fence is in fact faked.
The judges of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife photographer of the year competition confirmed tonight they were reconvening to determine whether the Spanish photographer had used a tame and captive "model" animal in breach of competition rules.
They have been sent evidence, apparently from rival photographers, that the pictured animal is a wolf called Ossian who lives at a zoological park near Madrid. A wolf expert, quoted by Finnish nature magazine Suomen Luonto, which revealed the allegations, also said the wolf appears to have been trained to jump the gate, because a wild specimen is likely to squeeze between the bars.
Rodriguez could not be reached for comment, but a spokesman for the Natural History Museum, which runs the prize with BBC Wildlife Magazine, said he strongly denied any wrongdoing or breach of the competition rules.
"The museum is aware of an allegation as to the veracity of the photograph, Storybook Wolf, by José Luis Rodriguez, specifically that an animal model was used in breach of the competition rules," she said. "We are investigating this thoroughly with the judging panel and will report back in the new year once our investigations are completed. Mr Rodriguez strongly denies any wrongdoing or breach of the competition rules."
The rules of the competition, which attracted 43,000 entries, state that "images of captive animals must be declared. The judges will take preference to images taken in free and wild conditions".
Rodriguez had told the judges it took him a long time to find the ideal location, let alone a wolf that would jump a gate.
The text accompanying the winning photograph explained: "His chance came when he found a landowner who was happy to have both the wolves and José Luis on his property, and also had the ideal setting: a copse and an ancient, disused cattle corral.
"José Luis started by placing meat in the corral. Once he knew a male wolf was visiting regularly, jumping the gate, he began to introduce the bits of equipment needed to set up a camera trap … When the first transparencies arrived back from the lab, José Luis was overjoyed to find he finally had the picture he had dreamt of."
One wolf expert, Ilpo Kojola of the Finnish game and fisheries research institute, told the magazine that judging by the pictures provided in evidence against the Spaniard, Rodriguez's wolf appeared to be the tame Ossian. "The dark, scar-like sign under the right eye seems to be a unique mark of this individual," he said.
One judge, Rosamund Kidman Cox, told Luonto judges were looking at details such as differences between images presented of Ossian's right ear and that of the wolf in the photo. The picture of Ossian shows the ear apparently damaged and Kidman Cox speculated this may have been the result of a fight. "But until one bit of evidence can be verified I don't think it's possible to accuse the photographer of cheating," she said. "It's not 100%."
[Environment > Copenhagen Climate change conference 2009]
Copenhagen treaty was 'held to ransom', says Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown calls for reform of UN climate talks after Copenhagen talks end in weak agreement
David Adam, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 December 2009 17.56 GMT Article history
Gordon Brown today said a new global treaty on climate change had been "held to ransom" by some countries opposed to a deal in Copenhagen, and called for reform of the way such negotiations take place, including an international body to handle environmental stewardship.
The prime minister said the weak agreement reached in Copenhagen at the weekend after all-night deliberations was a "first step towards a new alliance to overcome the enormous challenges of climate change". He called on all countries to show greater ambition as part of a campaign over the coming months to turn the agreement into a legally binding treaty.
"The talks in Copenhagen were not easy and as they reached conclusion I did fear the process would collapse and we would have no deal at all," he said. "We must learn lessons from Copenhagen and the tough negotiations that took place. Never again should we face the deadlock that threatened to pull down these talks. Never again should we let a global deal to move towards a greener future be held to ransom by only a handful of countries."
Brown added: "One of the frustrations for me was the lack of a global body with the sole responsibility for environmental stewardship. I believe that in 2010 we will need to look at reforming our international institutions to meet the common challenges we face as an international community."
Brown said it was important for the UK and developing countries such as the Maldives and Bangladesh that support a legally binding deal to form an "alliance" to persuade sceptical nations including China to sign up. British officials said they misjudged the attitude of the Chinese government, which took a harder line than expected in Copenhagen and vetoed efforts to introduce carbon targets and a deadline to make the deal legally binding. Ed Miliband, energy and climate change secretary, said in yesterday's Guardian that China had led a group of countries that "hijacked" the negotiations.
China's premier, Wen Jiabao, insisted his government had played an "important and constructive" role.
Other nations, including Venezuela and Bolivia, tried to block the agreement being passed by the wider conference.
Miliband told a meeting in London today that the world could still agree on an ambitious and legally binding treaty by the end of the year. "It is important to convince China that it has nothing to fear from a legal treaty."
But he echoed Brown's criticisms of the process, and said the world needed to reassess the way the UN climate talks work. "The majority of countries want a legal treaty but unfortunately the UN doesn't work on a majority."
Ministers should have got involved earlier, he said. The Copenhagen talks spent so long arguing about process that it left little time to negotiate the substance of an agreement. Aides suggested Britain could push for a streamlined negotiation process over the next twelve months, with groups of countries asked to put forward a representative, rather than debate everything between all 193 states.
The Copenhagen deal requires countries to submit pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the end of January. Brown said that if all countries, including China and the US, showed greater ambition, then the promised cuts could leave the world within "striking distance" of limiting global warming to 2C.
He said: "We will need to harness the best of low carbon technology for the world to continue to grow, while keeping to our pledge made this weekend to limit the increase in global temperatures to 2C."
In a separate report, aid charity Oxfam called for an "overhaul" of the UN negotiating process.
Antonio Hill, Oxfam's climate change adviser, said: "The Copenhagen accord is hugely disappointing but it also reveals how the traditional approach to international negotiations, based on brinkmanship and national self-interest, is both unfit for pursuing our common destiny and downright dangerous."
He added: "There is too much at stake for this politics-as-usual approach. We must act quickly to address the shortfalls of these negotiations so that we can make up for lost time and tackle climate change with the decisiveness and urgency needed. This cannot happen again."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a global ambassador for the charity, said: "The failure of the political process in Copenhagen to achieve a fair, adequate and binding deal on climate change is profoundly distressing. A higher purpose was at stake but our political leaders have proven themselves unable to rise to the challenge. We must look to the future. Our leaders must regroup, learn and make good their failure for the sake of humanity's future."
[Culture > Art and design Photography]
Loan wolf? Prizewinning photographer faces fakery claims
José Luis Rodriguez accused of using tame, 'model' animal for close-up that won him prestigious £10,000 award
Robert Booth
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 December 2009 20.01 GMT Article history
It was billed as the moment when a wildlife photographer's remarkable patience was rewarded; an image which won him £10,000 and the year's most prestigious award.
But José Luis Rodriguez is now facing allegations that his startling close-up image of an apparently wild Iberian wolf vaulting a farmer's fence is in fact faked.
The judges of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife photographer of the year competition confirmed tonight they were reconvening to determine whether the Spanish photographer had used a tame and captive "model" animal in breach of competition rules.
They have been sent evidence, apparently from rival photographers, that the pictured animal is a wolf called Ossian who lives at a zoological park near Madrid. A wolf expert, quoted by Finnish nature magazine Suomen Luonto, which revealed the allegations, also said the wolf appears to have been trained to jump the gate, because a wild specimen is likely to squeeze between the bars.
Rodriguez could not be reached for comment, but a spokesman for the Natural History Museum, which runs the prize with BBC Wildlife Magazine, said he strongly denied any wrongdoing or breach of the competition rules.
"The museum is aware of an allegation as to the veracity of the photograph, Storybook Wolf, by José Luis Rodriguez, specifically that an animal model was used in breach of the competition rules," she said. "We are investigating this thoroughly with the judging panel and will report back in the new year once our investigations are completed. Mr Rodriguez strongly denies any wrongdoing or breach of the competition rules."
The rules of the competition, which attracted 43,000 entries, state that "images of captive animals must be declared. The judges will take preference to images taken in free and wild conditions".
Rodriguez had told the judges it took him a long time to find the ideal location, let alone a wolf that would jump a gate.
The text accompanying the winning photograph explained: "His chance came when he found a landowner who was happy to have both the wolves and José Luis on his property, and also had the ideal setting: a copse and an ancient, disused cattle corral.
"José Luis started by placing meat in the corral. Once he knew a male wolf was visiting regularly, jumping the gate, he began to introduce the bits of equipment needed to set up a camera trap … When the first transparencies arrived back from the lab, José Luis was overjoyed to find he finally had the picture he had dreamt of."
One wolf expert, Ilpo Kojola of the Finnish game and fisheries research institute, told the magazine that judging by the pictures provided in evidence against the Spaniard, Rodriguez's wolf appeared to be the tame Ossian. "The dark, scar-like sign under the right eye seems to be a unique mark of this individual," he said.
One judge, Rosamund Kidman Cox, told Luonto judges were looking at details such as differences between images presented of Ossian's right ear and that of the wolf in the photo. The picture of Ossian shows the ear apparently damaged and Kidman Cox speculated this may have been the result of a fight. "But until one bit of evidence can be verified I don't think it's possible to accuse the photographer of cheating," she said. "It's not 100%."
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