'An Inconvenient Truth' Wins Oscar
At the 79th Academy Award ceremony in Los Angeles, An Inconvenient Truth, directed by Davis Guggenheim, has won an Oscar for best documentary. Not because it is such a cinematic masterpiece, but because the subject, a wake up call to the public about the changing climate, is so important.
When he accepted the Oscar, main 'actor' in the documentary Al Gore said: People all over the world: we need to solve the climate crisis. We have everything we need to get started with the possible exception of the will to act. Thats a renewable resource lets renew it. An Inconvenient Truth also has won an Oscar for the best song; 'I need to wake up by Melissa Etheridge.
Former US president candidate Gore recently announced to organise a series of live concerts to get people in action to tackle climate change. The concerts will take place in July this year and will be bigger than Live Aid. Up until now, the following artists have promised to play at the concerts: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Snoop Dogg, Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, John Mayer, Faith Hill, AFI, Damien Rice, Keane, Korn, Lenny Kravitz and Snow Patrol.
EU Environment Ministers Call for Strong Action
All EU nations must back proposals to cut harmful emissions by 30% by 2020 or risk jeopardising the global effort to curb climate change, warn ministers. The call for unity among the 27-nation bloc is made by the UK Environment Secretary, David Miliband, and his Spanish and Slovenian counterparts. Failure to act would threaten efforts to get nations such as the US and China to agree to cap emissions, they say.
EU environment ministers discussed the proposals at the Environment Council in Brussels on 20 February.
The ministers write: "We all know that the current Kyoto deal does not go far enough... If we are going to avoid the dangerous impacts of climate change... then the EU must stand up and lead the debate on committing to further action."
They call for all members to endorse the proposals outlined by the European Commission in its strategic energy review. The review, published in January, calls for an international commitment among developed nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% from 1990 levels by 2020.
Speaking at the time, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "I urge the rest of the developed world to follow our lead, match our reductions and accelerate progress towards an international agreement on the global emission reductions."
However, international negotiations on the shape of the framework to replace the current Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, have struggled to reach a consensus. A number of nations have voiced doubts about the effectiveness of national emission limits.
In their article, David Miliband, Cristina Narbona and Janez Podobnik say that the EU has a responsibility to demonstrate its leadership and commitment. "Without such commitment, the global agreement we all need will slide further away from our grasp," they warn. "The window of opportunity is closing rapidly and a strong EU voice is necessary to provide the catalyst for UN discussions on taking effective action to cut emissions."
Google Earth - Atlas of Our Changing Environment
The Search engine Google is adding environmental content to its free geographic mapping and satellite photo tool Google Earth. The company has already begun integrating overlays on Google Earth utilizing content and data from the United Nations Environment Programme, the US National Park Service, Discovery Networks, National Geographic and the Jane Goodall Institute, among others.
Users can access the new environmental information by clicking on the 'Featured Content' checkbox in the Google Earth sidebar, and then a content provider to find out more about a particular geographic area.
The UNEP overlay, 'Atlas of Our Changing Environment', depicts and describes humanity's past and present impact on the environment. The primary focus is on environmental status and trends over the last 30 years, in terms of both physical and human geography. It provides before-and-after imagery and text detailing the fates of 100 areas of extreme environmental degradation around the world (such as sub-Saharan Africa and the Amazon rainforest) over the past three decades.
UNEP GEO Year Book 2007
The GEO Year Book 2007 is the fourth annual report on the changing environment produced by the United Nations Environment Programme in collaboration with many world environment experts.
The 2007 Year Book includes global and regional overviews of significant developments over the past year. It highlights linkages among ecosystem health, human well-being, and economic development; examines new thinking on the value of ecosystem services and the threat from ecosystem degradation; and describes recent research findings and policy decisions that affect our awareness and response to global change.
A special feature focus analyzes the intersection between environment and globalization where ecosystem services and the human well-being that depends on those services are affected by natural resource exploitation in response to global demands. The chapter also explores some of the innovative policy mechanisms that link global supplies of goods and services with sustainable development objectives.
The emerging scientific and policy challenges of nanotechnology are examined from an environmental perspective. Nanotechnology will bring environmental benefits but it is vital that we adopt appropriate assessment and legislative processes to address the unique challenges presented by nanomaterials and their life cycles.
MEPs Vote for European Recycling Society
Friends of the Earth Europe and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) have welcomed a vote in the European Parliament backing waste prevention and recycling as the key elements for dealing with waste in Europe. The environmental groups also congratulated MEPs for rejecting a misguided proposal to 're-brand' incineration, which would have promoted transporting and burning waste.
Dr Michael Warhurst, Waste and Resources Campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, said: "MEPs have supported European targets for recycling and waste prevention, which will help Europe's economy become more resource efficient, and reduce our impacts on climate change. Their support for clear legislation supporting prevention, reuse and recycling, and their insistence on a biowaste Directive, will make a real difference in creating a sustainable Europe. Now national governments must also support these important measures."
Doreen Fedrigo, EEB's Waste Policy Officer said: Parliament has today added its voice to those of many EU countries by rejecting the Commission's proposal to reclassify incinerators as 'recovery' facilities. This would have encouraged countries with strict, costly facilities, like Germany to export waste to cheaper ones, such as the newer Member States which might have become the 'burning grounds' of Europe. The Commission now needs to rethink its approach."
Parliament voted for each Member State to recycle 50 percent of municipal waste and 70 percent of industrial, manufacturing, construction and demolition waste by 2020. It also voted for Governments to set up separate collection of key recyclable materials, and for the European Commission to propose a Directive on Biowaste by June 2008. In addition, Parliament voted that EU countries should stabilise their waste production by 2012, challenging the out-dated idea that we must always produce more and more waste.
Friends of the Earth and EEB are, however, concerned at a number of other elements of the vote today, in particular a legal status for by-products that may create a loophole in the legislation.
Eighth Global Civil Society Forum
The 8th Global Civil Society Forum (GCSF-8) met from 3-4 February 2007, at the UN Office in Nairobi , Kenya . The meeting was organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) with support from the African Council for Communication Education. About 160 participants, representing civil society organizations (CSOs) from around 50 countries, attended GCSF-8.
The meeting addressed: the draft decisions of the 24th Session of the UNEP Governing Council (GC-24) / Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF); the programme of work of the GCSF Global Steering Committee; civil society participation in GC-24/GMEF; and the way forward to engage major groups in the work of UNEP. GCSF-8 also discussed policy issues related to four themes: water and the environment; gender and the environment; chemicals management; and globalization, ecosystem services and human well-being. GCSF-8 will forward to GC-24/GMEF a Global Civil Society Statement, addressing these four themes as well as overarching aims.
GCSF-8 constituted a milestone in the history of the GCSF. For the first time, participants engaged in active discussion with UNEP's Executive Director, allowing for a direct and open exchange of information and views. Another highlight was the concrete preparation of input into the GC/GMEF ministerial roundtables, to which civil society representatives have been granted access for the first time. At the end of the meeting, the general sense was that GCSF-8 fulfilled its objectives, having enabled and stimulated fruitful input into GC-24/GMEF, while encouraging future cooperation and dialogue.
Sevilla 2007: Taking the Commitments to the Streets
The Fifth European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns offers a unique opportunity to gain insights into the progress and achievements of European local governments in implementing the Aalborg Commitments and furthering local sustainability. The Sevilla 2007 Conference, taking place from 21 to 24 March 2007, pursues three key aims to highlight, discuss and accelerate local sustainability in Europe with the Aalborg Commitments as a central mechanism for progress. These are: firstly, how to implement the Aalborg Commitments activities within existing strategies and structures and looking at successes achieved with a special emphasis on targets; secondly, highlighting the initiatives of local governments, networks and practitioners to meet the challenges set by the Aalborg Commitments and to discuss how to achieve ambitious policy-making to accelerate local sustainability; and thirdly, focusing on how to achieve sustainable innovation in dialogue with citizens.
The Sevilla 2007 Conference includes numerous sessions where you can learn from and exchange with other cities and towns, many of them presenting pioneering experiences. Also, you can find out and attend specific demonstrations of tools that can support you to address the particular problems of your town or city.
EU and Car Industry Compromise on CO2 Cuts
The European Commission has proposed to force carmakers to make an 18% cut in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2012, by improving vehicle technology. Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said legislation was planned to ensure the average car emitted no more than 130g of CO2 per kilometre. The car industry has warned that the commission's plans could lead to job losses and factory closures.
But Mr Verheugen said the EU's approach must not lead to a shift of production abroad, or to European consumers being forced to buy smaller cars from non-European manufacturers. "The motor industry faces a major challenge. I would urge them to face up to it and not consider it a burden but consider it a positive challenge," he said.
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said that without the action the commission was proposing, the European Union would not meet its greenhouse gas emission targets under the Kyoto treaty, or any post-Kyoto commitments. He said EU member states had a major responsibility to encourage the purchase of fuel-efficient cars.
Mr Verheugen said a detailed impact assessment would be now carried out, and that discussions would continue with scientists, research institutes, manufacturers and other interested parties.
Legislation is likely to be drafted later this year. It will then need to be agreed by member states and the European Parliament.
Food Miles
The concept of 'food miles' presents an argument to buy goods which have travelled the shortest distance from farm to table, and to discriminate against long-haul transportation, especially air-freighted goods. The long-distance transport of food is associated with additional emissions due to increased transportation coupled with greater packaging, as well as negative impacts on local rural communities, and a disconnection between the public and local farming. Furthermore, food miles encapsulates, and is at the vanguard of, the climate change debate. In light of growing international concern over the speed and scale of climate change, the concept of food miles has captured public attention and apparently is changing some consumers behaviour, although only around one-third of shoppers know of the concept.
New Search Engine on Clean Energy Policy
A new search engine, named reegle, has been introduced to provide easy access and high quality information to facilitate the expansion of renewable energies and the efficient use of energy.
reegle is a one-stop-shop for high quality up-to-date information on clean energy policy, with a core objective of supporting the global advancement of energy efficiency and renewables. The website facilitates fast access to constantly updated information for politicians, project developers, companies, municipalities, banks, credit institutes and for all those interested in this issue.
reegle uses state of the art technology and derives its content from evaluated and preselected databases covering the following areas related to renewable energy and energy efficiency:
- Jurisdiction & Laws
- Policies & Measures
- Finance & Investment
- Reports & Analyses
- Latest News
- Stakeholders
The main objectives of reegle are to ensure a better information flow and to facilitate the understanding of the roles and activities of the many different initiatives and opportunities in the two sectors renewable energy and energy efficiency. reegle therefore aims to provide information and data on the various sub-sectors within renewable energy and energy efficiency at a global level.
IPCC Adopts Major Assessment of Climate Change Science
Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has adopted the Summary for Policymakers of the first volume of Climate Change 2007, also known as the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).
"Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis" assesses the current scientific knowledge of the natural and human drivers of climate change, observed changes in climate, the ability of science to attribute changes to different causes, and projections for future climate change.
The report was produced by some 600 authors from 40 countries. Over 620 expert reviewers and a large number of government reviewers also participated. Representatives from 113 governments reviewed and revised the Summary line-by-line during the course of the week before adopting it and accepting the underlying report. The findings are the first of four IPCC reports to be published this year.
The IPCC has been established by WMO and UNEP to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.
Global climate change is very likely to have a human cause. The IPCC said temperatures were probably going to increase by 1.8-4C (3.2-7.2F) by the end of the century. It also projected that sea levels were most likely to rise by 28-43cm, and global warming was likely to influence the intensity of tropical storms.
"We can be very confident that the net effect of human activity since 1750 has been one of warming," co-lead author Dr Susan Soloman told delegates in Paris.
"It is extremely encouraging in that the science has moved on from what was possible in the Third Assessment Report. If you see the extent to which human activities are influencing the climate system, the options for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions appear in a different light, because you can see what the costs of inaction are," said IPCC Chairman Dr Rajendra Pachauri.
Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said the findings marked a historical landmark in the debate about whether humans were affecting the state of the atmosphere. "It is an unequivocal series of evidence showing that fossil fuel burning and land use change are affecting the climate on our planet. If you are an African child born in 2007, by the time you are 50 years old you may be faced with disease and new levels of drought". He said that he hoped the IPCC report would galvanise national governments into action.
Eiffel Tower 'blackout' to Mark Report on Climate Change
The Eiffel Tower's 20,000 flashing lights have gone dark for five minutes on the night of 1 February at 19.55 CET, hours before scientists and officials released a long-awaited report on global warming.
The darkening of the landmark in the City of Light came at the urging of environmental activists such as the French NGO Allience pour la Planete, and was timed to coincide with the release of the major report warning that the Earth will keep getting warmer.
Ahead of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, pressure was building on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to convene an emergency summit of world leaders aimed at breaking a deadlock over cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Momentum for such a gathering is building after President Bush's acknowledgment in his 24 January State of the Union speech that climate change must be dealt with, and after the EU's 10 January proposals for a new European energy policy stressing the need to slash carbon emissions, U.N. Environment Program spokesman Nick Nuttall said.
Link Between Air Pollution and Otitis Media
Otitis media is one of the most common infections in young children, and it is also one of the main reasons children are taken to the doctor's. It consists in the inflammation of the middle ear, occurring as a result of infection and often causing pain and temporary hearing loss. In industrialised countries, it is the main reason children are given antibiotics and undergo surgery.
A recent study by European and American researchers, Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Otitis Media, assessed the relationship between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and otitis media in young children. To this end, the researchers estimated the outdoor concentrations of traffic-related air pollutants - nitrogen dioxide, fine particles (PM2.5), and elemental carbon - at the home addresses of approximately 3,700 and 650 infants in the Netherlands and Germany respectively. Air pollution exposure was analysed in relation to a doctor's diagnosis of otitis media in the first two years of life.
The results suggest a positive association between traffic-related air pollutants and the occurrence of otitis media. Indeed, the results indicated an elevated risk of otitis media in association with all the air pollutants studied, with associations reaching statistical significance in the larger Dutch studies. The researchers observed that, by two years of age, approximately 35% of the studied populations in both countries had at least one occurrence of otitis media.
Link Between Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease
Air pollution increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study by a team from the University of Washington. The researchers studied 66,000 women in and around 36 US cities, finding pollution levels varied between four to nearly 20 micrograms per cubic metre. Each 10 microgram rise was matched by a 76% rise in the chances of dying from heart disease or stroke.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, did not say whether women are more susceptible to pollution than men. However, women's coronary arteries are smaller and this might render them more vulnerable. For women living within, rather than between, cities, the risk more than doubled, increasing by 128%, with each step up in pollution levels.
Atmosphere and air pollution formed part of the thematic cluster of issues reviewed by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) fourteenth session in 2006. The fifteenth session of the UN CSD in 2007, will take policy decisions on practical measures and options to expedite implementation in the cluster of issues, which also includes energy, air pollution and climate change.
