Ban Urges World to Forge ‘Green New Deal’
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the world’s leaders to launch a new Global Compact entailing a “Green New Deal” that creates jobs and fights climate change by investing in renewable energy and technological development.
“Climate change threatens all our goals for development and social progress. Indeed, it is the one true existential threat to the planet,” he told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in a speech that drew parallels from the Global Compact of corporate responsibility launched 10 years ago by then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the same hall.
“On the other hand, it also presents us with a gilt-edged opportunity. By tackling climate change head-on we can solve many of our current troubles, including the threat of global recession. We stand at a crossroads. It is important that we realize we have a choice. We can choose short-sighted unilateralism and business as usual. Or we can grasp global cooperation and partnership on a scale never before seen.”
Just as Mr. Annan had launched a Compact that sought to give a human face to the global market, challenging business to embrace universal principles such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so now the time has came for what Mr. Ban called “Global Compact 2.0.”
“We live in a new era. Its challenges can all be solved by cooperation – and only by cooperation,” he said, stressing how the earlier compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, involves over 6,000 business participants in more than 130 countries, pioneering new standards of “best practice” in human rights and labour law, helping to protect the environment, fight against corruption and promote health, education and infrastructure.
“Now, a new set of crises prompts a renewed sense of mission,” he declared. “Our times demand a new definition of leadership – global leadership. They demand a new constellation of international cooperation – governments, civil society and the private sector, working together for a collective global good.
“Some might say such a vision is naïve. That it is wishful thinking. Yet we have inspiring examples proving the contrary,” he added, citing the critical role of business in the 1960s Green Revolution that lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty in Asia, the global vaccination campaign that eradicated smallpox by 1979, and solid progress in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, polio and malaria.
“But we must break the tyranny of short-term thinking in favour of long-term solutions. This will demand a renewed commitment to core principles. A new Global Compact,” he added, noting new United States President Barack Obama has made a clear commitment to re-energizing the American economy by boosting the “green economy.”
Mr. Ban cited initiatives already underway under the old Global Compact, such as “Caring for Climate,” the world’s largest business-led project on climate change in which chief executives disclose their carbon emissions and commit to comprehensive climate policies, and the “CEO Water Mandate” advancing water stewardship through drip irrigation and water harvesting.
“Today with the economic downturn and climate change, the stakes for companies have never been higher. But for businesses with vision, the rewards are equally high,” he said. “The green economy is low-carbon and energy-efficient. It creates jobs. Investment in sustainable technologies will turn today’s crisis into tomorrow’s sustainable growth.”
At another session in Davos, Mr. Ban pushed for a climate change communication initiative that will explain, educate and ask for global engagement, leading to success at the UN climate change conference slated to be held in December in Copenhagen, where negotiations on a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol are slated to end.
UNEP Executive Director Calls for US Leadership on Climate
The "Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference: Making a Down Payment on the Green Economy" convened in Washington, DC, US, from 4-6 February 2009. Speaking at the conference, Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), highlighted the economic and employment implications of climate change, drew attention to the related initiatives launched by UNEP in 2008 (the Global Green New Deal and Green Economy initiatives), and called on the US to champion the international cause of the Green Economy and of a transition to a low-carbon society.
Steiner added that unchecked climate change promises to be the greatest market failure of all time and addressed: the potential in the geothermal sector; the need to encourage innovation; the need for a “transformational new deal” in Copenhagen; and the current crisis as an opportunity to create markets that balance financial, human and environmental capital.
Agenda for a Sustainable America
“Sustainability” is quickly becoming a household word in the United States. Public alarm over climate change has helped to make sustainable development a major public policy issue and a topic of growing importance in the daily lives of Americans. This book is a comprehensive assessment of U.S. progress toward sustainable development and a roadmap of necessary next steps toward achieving a sustainable America.
Packed with facts, figures, and the well-informed opinions of 41 experts, it provides an illuminating “snapshot” of sustainability in the United States today. And each of the contributors suggests where we need to go next, recommending three to five specific actions that we should take during the next five to ten years. It thus offers a comprehensive agenda that citizens, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and government leaders and policymakers can use to make decisions today and to plan for the future.
Sustainable development holds enormous promise for improving the quality of life for Americans over the coming decades. Agenda for a Sustainable America describes what we need to do to make the promise a reality. It assesses trends in 28 separate areas of American life—including forestry; transportation; oceans and estuaries; religion; and state, local, and national governance. In every area, contributors reveal what sustainable development could mean, with suggestions that are specific, desirable, and achievable. Their expert recommendations point the way toward greater economic and social well-being, increased security, and environmental protection and restoration for current and future generations of Americans. Together they build a convincing case for how sustainable development can improve our opportunities and our lives.
ILO Trains Policy Makers on Green Jobs
The International Training Centre (ITC) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) organized a pilot training under the umbrella of the Green Jobs initiative for about 20 policy makers from Asia, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe, from 9-13 February 2009, at the UN Staff College in Turin, Italy.
The aim of the training was to provide participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to get actively involved in, and influence national policies on, the employment opportunities and social aspects of a changing climate and environment. During the week, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Climate Change programme was invited to conduct a training session on climate change adaptation in practice.
Green Jobs is an initiative of the ILO, the UN Environment Programme, the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Employers Organization that seeks to promote decent jobs that lead to a sustainable economy while preserving the environment for future generations.
National Accounts of Well-Being
The New Economics Foundation (nef) has set out a radical proposal to guide the direction of modern societies and the lives of people who live in them. In contrast to a narrow focus on economic indicators, it calls for governments to directly measure people’s subjective well-being: their experiences, feelings and perceptions of how their lives are going. These measures should be collected on a regular, systematic basis and published as National Accounts of Well-Being. They provide a new way of assessing societal progress, based on people’s real experience of their lives.
The report National Accounts of Well-Being: Bringing Real Wealth Onto the Balance Sheet sets out the details of nef's case for governments to systematically measure and report on the well-being of their populations. Using the latest findings from the field of well-being research, it demonstrates how the case for national well-being measures is closely linked to the history of economic national accounting. It describes how a framework for National Accounts of Well-being was developed from European Social Survey data and presents the resulting findings, to show how National Accounts of Well-being can provide a new, more meaningful measure of national success and help governments take decisions to improve the lives of their citizens.
Mayors Commit to Exceeding EU Climate Goals
Over 350 cities united in a pledge to reduce their CO2 emissions by more than the EU's 20% target for 2020 at the launch ceremony of the Covenant of Mayors this month, with EUR15 million in financial support from the European Investment Bank in the pipeline.
The Covenant of Mayors, a European Commission initiative, recognises that cities have a responsibility to contribute to the fight against climate change, as around 80% of CO2 is emitted in urban areas.
The Covenant commits its signatories to producing sustainable energy action plans, which must detail how they plan to reach the promised emissions reductions both in the public and private sectors of the city concerned. The mayors will then have to report on implementation progress at least every two years.
EU-Wide Survey of Pollutants in River Waters
A Europe-wide survey of rivers and streams has tested water samples for a range of polar organic pollutants. The study highlights the problems associated with the persistence of industrial pollutants and monitoring emerging pollutants.
The continual entry of organic pollutants derived from personal care products, pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals via wastewaters into rivers and streams is a cause for concern. Little is known about the long-term, potentially toxic effects of these increasingly complex mixtures of pollutants. Water-soluble compounds can also contaminate ground and drinking waters.
The survey was conducted by collecting water from 122 sampling points from over 100 bodies of water throughout Europe in autumn 2007, representing a range of sizes, from small streams to large rivers. They were in varying states of cleanliness, from unspoilt to contaminated. 27 European Countries, most of which were EU Member States, were covered.
The research team, led by the European Commission's independent Joint Research Centre (JRC), identified the concentrations of the target pollutants and the number of times they were detected in rivers. Relatively speaking, the most frequently detected compounds at noteworthy concentrations were benzotriazole, tolytriazole (which are anti-rust substances), caffeine, carbamazepine (a drug used for the treatment of epilepsy) and nonylphenoxy-acetic acid, a degradation product of industrial surfactants used in cleaning products. These agents are suspected to disrupt the reproductive functions of humans and wildlife - known as so-called 'endocrine disrupting compounds'. The study detected only low concentrations of pesticides. However, the sampling was conducted in the autumn when few pesticides are used.
Rivers with the relatively highest amounts of perfluorinated acids (PFOS and PFOA), were identified. These chemicals are major industrial pollutants and can persist in the environment. They have been detected in human blood worldwide. The study suggests that the Rivers Po in Italy, Danube, Scheldt in Belgium and the Netherlands, Rhone in France and the Wyre in the UK contained significant amounts of PFOA, although not all major European rivers were tested. PFOS was found in similar amounts, but its emissions were more widely distributed throughout Europe.
Overall, the cleanest water was sampled from areas with a low population density. Only 10 per cent (11 of the 122 samples) of the samples contained virtually no chemicals.
The study also highlights the need to anticipate environmental problems stemming from the use of chemicals in Europe. In this context the new European legislation REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances), which requires companies to provide data on the amounts of chemicals used and to perform environmental risk assessments, will contribute also to the quantitative and qualitative understanding of water pollution.
Productlife
Productlife is a 'wikispace', the aim of which is to identify and disseminate information relating to the life span of consumer durables: products such as clothing and footwear, vehicles, domestic appliances, consumer electronics, furniture, floor coverings, musical instruments, sports equipment, jewellery, clocks and housewares. Optimising product life spans is a crucial element of the debate on sustainable consumption and production.
The Productlife wiki is designed to enable anyone registered as a member to shape the content of the website. A Forum on product life spans allows you to raise issues, ask questions and exchange experiences with others. This is a space for discussing general issues about different categories of short-lived products - durables, semi-durables, low quality products and disposables. You can also contribute to the website by developing Case studies of good practice and bad practice (i.e. products designed for durability or planned obsolescence).
The World's Water 2008 - 2009
Published every two years, The World's Water provides both detailed analysis of the most significant trends and events and up-to-date data on water resources and their use. They are essential references for water resources specialists, resource economists, planners, students, and anyone concerned with water issues.
The sixth volume in this series, The World’s Water 2008-2009, is now available. The authors address the ever-more-pressing issues of our use and misuse of the world’s freshwater resources. Topics range from peak water, China’s water crisis, and climate change impacts and adaptations, to updates on the Millennium Development Goals, business reporting on water, and urban water use efficiency. Twenty new data tables provide a definitive resource for everyone concerned with sustainable water use, including the eye-opening chart of “The Water Content of Things.”
Major Increase in Renewable Energy by 2020 in Germany
Wind, biomass, water, solar and geothermal energies will together represent a 47% share of Germany's total electricity consumption by 2020, according to the country's renewable energy agency.
The amount of electricity produced from renewable sources will grow three-fold in the next decade, according to a study predicting the industry's development presented by the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) and the Renewable Energies Agency.
The industry says renewables can provide a secure power source even at times of peak demand, allowing Germany to avoid having to import additional natural gas and even to diminish its use for electricity generation by up to 12%. This could save the country €22.6 billion in 2020 alone, it says.
Moreover, developing green electricity will have a wider positive impact on the economy, the study argues. It estimates that the number of jobs in the renewables sectors in Germany will double to 500,000 by 2020, while society will simultaneously avoid having to spend millions recovering from climate-related damage. The overall savings resulting from greater renewables capacity will thus far exceed the investment needed to build the additional production capacity, the report concludes.
Nevertheless, further development is crucial for reaching Germany's 18% renewable energy target, which was set by the EU as part of a collective commitment to raise the share of renewables in the bloc's energy mix to 20% by 2020.
The renewables industry also promotes itself as an alternative to nuclear power, stating that the growth in production capacity will make extending the lifetimes of nuclear plants unnecessary. In fact, BEE President Dietmar Schütz warned that if Germany were to backtrack on its decision to abandon nuclear power, it would automatically violate legally-binding obligations regarding renewable energies and threaten investment security in the sector.
Leading scientists Call for Immediate Action to Stop Ocean Acidification
More than 150 leading marine scientists from 26 countries are calling for immediate action by policymakers to reduce CO2 emissions sharply so as to avoid widespread and severe damage to marine ecosystems from ocean acidification. They issued this warning in the Monaco Declaration, released on 30 January.
The scientists note that ocean acidification is already detectable, that it is accelerating. They caution that its negative socio-economic impacts can only be avoided by limiting future atmospheric CO2 levels.
Prince Albert II of Monaco has urged political leaders to heed the Monaco Declaration as they prepare for climate negotiations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this year. “I strongly support this declaration, which is in full accord with my efforts and those of my Foundation to alleviate climate change,” he said.
The Monaco Declaration is based on the Research Priorities Report developed by participants at last October’s 2nd international symposium on The Ocean in a High-CO2 World, organized by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP), with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and several other partners.
Environmental Impacts of Urban Waste Management
Towns and cities generate huge volumes of waste that are often disposed of as landfill. In a new study, Life Cycle Assessment of Urban Waste Management: Energy Performances and Environmental Impacts, researchers explain that sorting urban waste into organic and inorganic streams, which can be turned into energy and fertiliser, offers a much more efficient and environmentally friendly solution.
Each year, 1.3 billion tonnes of waste is thrown away in the EU1. In several European countries, the main way of disposing of this waste is in landfill sites. In Greece, Portugal, the UK, Ireland, Finland, Italy and Spain more than half of all waste ends up as landfill. Aside from the negative environmental impacts of landfill, including heavy metal leaching and slow release of greenhouse gases, landfill sites are in short supply. Alternative waste management strategies are therefore urgently required.
Using the city of Rome as a case study, landfill was compared with four alternative waste management options:
- landfill without biogas treatment
- landfill with collection of biogas to burn for electricity production
- direct incineration of waste with electricity recovery
- a scheme where waste is sorted into organic and inorganic streams at landfill sites, and ferrous metals are recycled.
In each case, the researchers calculated how much new waste was generated by the waste disposal process itself, how much energy the process required and how much it generated, and the estimated global and local emissions. The results suggest landfill represents the worst waste management strategy both in terms of environmental impacts and energy performance. The data reveal that even incinerating waste is a better option than landfill.
Separating organic and inorganic waste, proved most effective in terms of reducing environmental impacts and energy performance. In this case, organic waste is turned into biogas and fertiliser, and inorganic waste is converted to Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) which is burned to generate electricity. This scenario could lead to an 80 per cent reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill. In terms of global warming potential, this scenario has a positive effect on net greenhouse gas emissions (because the electricity and biogas produced can replace fossil fuels). For comparison, under the landfill alone scenario, one year's worth of waste from Rome produces an estimated global warming potential equivalent to 1910 kt CO2 (mainly in the form of greenhouse gases emitted from the landfill site). If the waste is separated into streams, there is a net reduction in global warming potential equivalent to 345 kt CO2 from one year's worth of waste.
Although none of the options evaluated provide a full solution to the waste disposal problem, the researchers suggest that the fourth scenario is currently the most viable. This scheme produces twice as much energy as the direct incineration scheme and is the most energy efficient. From an environmental perspective, the same scheme offers the best solution, as the only remaining waste to enter landfill is burnt inorganic waste, which will not decompose further after disposal. In contrast, organic waste directly disposed of in landfill will continue to decompose for thousands of years, releasing greenhouse gases.
FAO Calls for Sustainable Farming to Reduce Agriculture’s Carbon Footprint
Speaking at the fourth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture (CA), held early this month, in New Delhi, India, Shivaji Pandey, Director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Plant Production and Protection Division, called on the world’s farmers to adopt CA practices to ensure sustainable yield growth and reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint.
Pandey explained that global trends in yield growth are declining because current practices of agricultural intensification often affect soil, water, biodiversity and other ecosystem services needed for agricultural production. CA farming seeks to avoid these effects by reducing tillage and promoting permanent soil cover and diversified crop rotations to ensure optimal soil health and productivity. At the same time, CA reduces carbon emissions from agriculture and improves carbon sequestration in the soil. He stressed that sustainable intensification of agriculture is imperative to achieve progress in the fight against hunger and poverty while ensuring environmental sustainability, and urged governments, donors and other stakeholders to provide policy and financial support to promote CA, such as training, participatory research, building strong farmers’ organizations, and making available and encouraging local manufacturing of newly-developed CA equipment.
International Organizations' Statement on the Global Economic Situation
After a meeting held on 5 February 2009, in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Heads of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank issued a joint statement on the global economic situation, in which they stress the need for the worldwide fight against climate change to remain “a top priority.”
In the statement issued at the end of the meeting, the five organizations commit to strengthen their cooperation in support of “a stronger, cleaner and fairer economy,” and outline five fields of action. On climate change, they underscore that the Copenhagen conference of December 2009 must “lay the groundwork for the global efforts needed to curb climate change,” and call for a shared commitment to ambitious global climate targets on the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities. They also underline the need to build a network among the various international organizations that deal with climate protection and governments.
Assessing Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change
Assessing the vulnerability of human populations to global environmental change, particularly climate change, is now the main imperative of research and international action. However, much of the research into vulnerability is not designed to feed directly into decision making and policy, creating a gap between the knowledge created by researchers and what is required by decision makers.
Assessing Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change seeks to rectify this problem and bridge the gap. It discusses vulnerability as the central theme and brings together many different applications from disaster studies, climate change impact studies and several other fields. and provides the most comprehensive synthesis of definitions, theories, formalization and applications to date, illustrated with examples from different disciplines, regions and periods, and from local through to regional, national and international levels. Case study topics cover sea level rise, vulnerability to changes in ecosystem services, assessing the vulnerability of human health and 'double exposure' to climate change and trade liberalization amongst other issues. Research outcomes stress that science-policy dialogues must be transparent to be effective and concentrate on a mutual understanding of the concepts used. A key research finding is that the most useful information for decision makers is that which shows the separate causes and drivers of vulnerability, rather than presenting vulnerability in an aggregated form. The book concludes with a unifying framework for analysing integrated methodologies of vulnerability assessment and guiding how research and policy can be linked to reduce vulnerability.
