ChinaDialogue News

Brazil opposes carbon-intensity plan

China Dialogue — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:58:00 -0400

Brazil wants historic emissions of rich and poor nations -- rather than “carbon intensity” proposals linked to GDP -- to be the basis for new greenhouse-gas pollution targets, the country's top climate negotiator told Reuters. China, India and South Africa also will back the historic-emissions proposal in upcoming talks, José Miguez said, adding that “the greenhouse effect is not caused by emissions” but by their accumulation in the atmosphere.

Miguez, who heads Brazil's Interministerial Commission on Global Climate Change, said his country is not yet proposing targets for emissions cuts under the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol because developed nations should take the lead. “We are proposing that the second period of commitments be based on the historic responsibilities of each country,” he said.

Brazil opposes carbon-intensity proposals that measure emissions per dollar of gross domestic product because they favour larger economies and risk allowing continued emissions increases as economies grow. “It's the proposal backed by the US, Japan and Germany,” Miguez noted. “It's good for countries with big GDPs.”

Because of deforestation in the Amazon rain forest, Brazil will play a key role in the United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December. About one-fifth of the greenhouse-gas emissions caused by humans are linked to deforestation. Half of Brazil's total emissions – about 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually – are released through deforestation, Miguez said.

Brazil is against projects in which developed countries offset their own emissions by purchasing rights to carbon stored in trees as they grow. “Our position is that we're opposed to carbon markets for preventing deforestation,” he told Reuters. “People confuse this by saying we want to continue deforestation, which is false.”

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Ice near Greenland at “800-year low”

China Dialogue — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:49:00 -0400

Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean between Greenland and the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago is now at its lowest level since the 13th century, according to research published in the journal Climate Dynamics, according to ScienceDaily. The Danish findings are based on nature’s own climate “archive” – ice cores and tree rings – as well as ships’ log books and harbour records.

“We have combined information about the climate found in ice cores from an ice cap on Svalbard and from the annual growth rings of trees in Finland, and this gave us a curve of the past climate,” said Aslak Grinsted, a geophysicist with the Centre for Ice and Climate at the University of Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute.

By combining the curve of the climate with actual historical records of the distribution of the ice, researchers have been able to reconstruct the extent of the sea ice all the way back to the 13th century. Although the 13th century was a warm period, scientists said, the calculations show that there never has been so little sea ice as in the 20th century.

“There was a sharp change in the ice cover at the start of the 20th century,” according to Grinsted, when the ice shrank by 300,000 square kilometres in the years from 1910 to 1920. Sudden changes have occurred throughout time, he noted, and in the last few years very little ice extent has been recorded. “We see that the sea ice is shrinking to a level which has not been seen in more than 800 years,” he said.

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China rejects US bill’s tariff plan

China Dialogue — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:54:00 -0400

China said it opposes part of a landmark bill in the United States Congress to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, Reuters reported. Tariffs should not be imposed on countries that do not cut their emissions, according to vice-foreign minister He Yafei, who reiterated: “We are firmly against such attempts to advance trade protectionism under the pretext of climate change.”

“It is not conducive to world economic recovery and it serves nobody's interest,” He said of the tariff proposal. The US House of Representatives narrowly approved legislation last week that calls for the country's first limits on pollution linked to global warming. One provision of the bill could impose tariffs on imports from countries that do not make similar reductions. The bill still must be considered by the US Senate.

President Barack Obama also has expressed reservations about the tariff measure. His administration wants the climate bill to become law by the end of the year, when negotiations for a new international agreement to reduce greenhouse gases are held in Copenhagen.

On the sidelines of next week's Group of Eight (G8) meeting in Italy, both the United States and China will attend the Major Economies Forum on Climate and Energy. That meeting of 19 nations and the European Union -- which together produce 80% of the world's greenhouse gases – likely will be devoted to the world economic crisis.

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Turkey may restart Ilisu dam project

China Dialogue — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:35:00 -0400

Turkey plans to resume work on the controversial Ilisu hydroelectric dam project on the river Tigris, following a six-month funding suspension, the Guardian reported, quoting environment minister Veysel Eroglu. Campaigners against the dam – who believed it had sustained a potentially fatal blow last December -- argue that it would displace tens of thousands of people, destroy habitats and drown priceless archaeological treasures.

German, Swiss and Austrian institutions announced at the end of last year that they were withholding finance because questions about the dam’s environmental and social impact had not been addressed. The governments agreed that 150 World Bank conditions on the environment, heritage sites, neighbouring states and human relocation must be met.

Turkey says the dam – which is planned to generate 1,200 megawatts of electricity -- is an essential part of a plan to bring economic prosperity to the country’s south-east, long blighted by conflict between the army and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters. Planned in the 1980s, the Ilisu project -- due for completion in 2013 -- is part of a wider network of dams known as the South-eastern Anatolia Project.

Eroglu said that the necessary funds would be made available and that “important work” had been carried out to bring the dam into line with international standards. His statement was not immediately confirmed by the project’s backers.

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Nigeria “cursed” by oil, report says

China Dialogue — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:42:00 -0400

The pollution caused by a half-century of oil extraction in Nigeria is one of the world's most disturbing examples of the curse of natural resources, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a study by Amnesty International. Environmental pollution in Nigeria's southern oil region, the organisation said, had deprived tens of millions of people of their basic rights to safe food, clean water and good health.

“People living in the Niger Delta have to drink, cook with, and wash in polluted water; they eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins -- if they are lucky enough to still be able to find fish,” said the report, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta.

It added: “After oil spills the air they breathe reeks of oil, gas and other pollutants; they complain of breathing problems ... but their concerns are not taken seriously.” Farmland in the region, one of the most important wetlands on earth, also is being destroyed by oil spills, the report said.

Amnesty blames both the government and multinational oil companies – Shell is the largest operator in Nigeria -- for the abuses. “Their poverty, and its contrast with the wealth generated by oil, has become one of the world's starkest and most disturbing examples of the resource curse,” Amnesty said.

Oil spills, waste dumping and gas flaring are endemic in the delta region, where at least 60% of the people depend on the natural environment for their livelihood. Africa's most populous country, Nigeria is the world's eighth-largest exporter of crude oil. It relies on oil for more than 90% of its export revenue.

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Germany ranked best in G8 on climate

China Dialogue — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:20:00 -0400

Canada was ranked last among the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrialised nations in addressing climate change, while Germany came first in an assessment by the environmental organisation WWF and the German insurance company Allianz, Agence France-Presse reported. Issued ahead of next week’s annual G8 meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, the assessment listed the United Kingdom second, followed by France.

It criticised Canada for greenhouse-gas emissions that are surging “far above” the country’s obligations under the current United Nations climate treaty, the Kyoto Protocol. Canada’s mid- to long-term emissions targets were deemed “inadequate”, the assessment said, adding: “A plan to curb emissions was developed last year but has not been implemented. The Kyoto target will stay completely out of reach.”

Filling out the list of eight were Italy, ranked fourth, followed by Japan, Russia and the United States. Thanks to the climate policies initiated by president Barack Obama, the United States moved up a notch, from last place in 2008.

Despite their rankings, the report said, the top three countries still are two-thirds short of what they could achieve.

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Permafrost melt “is climate threat”

China Dialogue — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:54:00 -0400

The amount of carbon locked away in the frozen soils of the earth’s far northern hemisphere is double previous estimates and rapid melting could accelerate global warming, Reuters reported, citing a new Australian study. A four-year examination of the latest research on permafrost, data from new drilling projects and the release of previously unpublished Russian data led to a rethink of carbon levels.

Permafrost -- deep layers of frozen soil near the surface – lies in large areas of northern Russia, Canada, the Nordic countries and the American state of Alaska. In some places, climate change already has triggered its rapid melting, releasing the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. More of the gases is expected to be released, driving up temperatures, as the world gets warmer.

“Massive amounts of carbon stored in frozen soils at high latitudes are increasingly vulnerable to exposure to the atmosphere,” according to Pep Canadell of the Global Carbon Project at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. “The research shows that the amount of carbon stored in soils surrounding the North Pole has been hugely underestimated.” The study is published in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

Canadell said: “Projections show that almost all near-surface permafrost will disappear by the end of this century, exposing large carbon stores to decomposition and release of greenhouse gases.” Permafrost at the southern limit of northern China has all but disappeared over the past 20 years, he told Reuters. On a recent trip to the area, Canadell said, local people told him that the permafrost, once 20 centimetres below the surface, now was several metres down.

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CO2 “can increase toxicity” of crops

China Dialogue — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:39:00 -0400

Staple foods such as cassava, on which millions of people depend, become more toxic and produce much smaller yields in a world with higher carbon-dioxide levels and more drought, Reuters reported Australian scientists as saying. The findings, the researchers noted, underscore the need for cultivated plant varieties, or cultivars, that are resistant to climate change.

To study the effect of climate change on plant nutritional quality and yield, a team led by Ros Gleadow of Monash University tested cassava and sorghum under a series of scenarios. The species belong to a plant group that produces chemicals called cyanogenic glycosides, which break down to release poisonous cyanide gas if the leaves are crushed or chewed. About 10% of all plants and 60% of crop species produce such chemicals.

Gleadow's team grew cassava and sorghum at three different levels of carbon-dioxide (CO2) -- at about 360 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere, at about 550 ppm and at 710 ppm. Current levels are just under 390 ppm.

In cassava, Gleadow told Reuters, “what we found was the amount of cyanide relative to the amount of protein increases”. At double current CO2 levels, the toxin level was much higher, while protein levels fell. Humans and cattle need protein to break down the cyanide. However, a 50% or greater drop in the number of tubers caused the most concern, according to Gleadow. Although the levels of toxin in the tubers did not increase with CO2, she said, the tubers were fewer and smaller.

About 750 million people in Asia, Africa and Latin America currently rely on cassava as a staple. “If we're going to adapt in the future to a world with twice today's CO2,” Gleadow told Reuters, “we need to understand how plants are working, how they are responding and what cultivars we need to develop” over the next 20 to 30 years.

Similar results were found in the team's study of a type of sorghum fed to cattle in Australia and Africa.

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Seagrass ecosystems facing losses

China Dialogue — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:32:00 -0400

The first comprehensive assessment of the state of seagrass meadows around the world shows the damage that human activities have done to the economically and biologically essential areas, the journal Nature reported. The meadows are among the most threatened ecosystems on earth, scientists say, with loss rates comparable to those of mangroves, coral reefs and tropical rain forests.

Data reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that more than a quarter of the world's seagrass meadows have been lost since records began 130 years ago. Additionally, the rate of that decline has grown from less than 1% per year before 1940 to 7% per year since 1990.

“Our report of mounting seagrass losses reveals a major global environmental crisis in coastal ecosystems, for which seagrasses are sentinels of change,” wrote study author Frederick Short, of the University of New Hampshire, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Seagrass -- flowering plants that evolved from terrestrial ones -- support unique wildlife such as green turtles and dugong. They also act as a vital nursery for fish, supporting populations for coral reefs and commercial fisheries. The meadows further help to stabilise sediment and provide coastal protection, as well as trapping carbon and helping in nutrient transportation.

The vast majority of the decline, experts say, is attributable to human activity, such as nutrient and sediment pollution and the introduction of invasive species. Seagrasses also are likely to be affected by climate change.

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DNA map helps track ivory smugglers

China Dialogue — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:38:00 -0400

Using a genetic map of African elephants, scientists have pinpointed the areas where smugglers are killing elephants to supply the global ivory trade, the Observer reported. The discovery that most recently seized tusks came from animals in two reserves on the Tanzania and Mozambique borders suggests that a handful of cartels are responsible for most of the illegal trade, the scientists said.

“The vast majority of poaching is being carried out by a few big organisations -- possibly one or two major syndicates -- that are targeting one area,” said Sam Wasser, director of the University of Washington's Centre for Conservation Biology, where the DNA map was developed. “It is grim, but it also suggests we can target our anti-poaching efforts very specifically by focussing efforts on these regions.”

Tanzania is presently at the centre of the slaughter for ivory, with the focus on the Selous and Niassa reserves. The extent of the trade is seen in recent interceptions of thousands of elephant tusks in separate raids in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan. Demand for ivory is growing in increasingly wealthy and industrialised parts of Asia, where it often is considered a status symbol by the middle classes.

Ivory prices have soared from US$200 a kilogramme in 2004 to more than $6,000. Scientists estimate that 8% to 10% of Africa's elephants are being killed annually to meet the demand for ivory.

The technique used by Wasser's team involves two separate sets of analyses. DNA “fingerprints” from dung samples and tusk sections are compared to pinpoint an elephant's origin. About 1,500 tusks found in raids on docks in Hong Kong and Taiwan all were traced by Wasser's method to the Selous and Niassa reserves.

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