CHALLENGES REMAIN IN RUN-UP TO COPENHAGEN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE – UN OFFICIAL

With only 144 days left until the start of the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen, greater efforts are needed to ensure that countries "seal the deal" on a new pact to slash greenhouse gas emissions, an official with the world body said today.

Countries attending the meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on 9 July made some headway on climate change, "but also highlighted areas where we have a lot to do before we reach agreement in Copenhagen," Janos Pasztor, Director of the Secretary-General's Climate Support Team, told reporters in New York.

Leaders of over one dozen developed nations attending the MEF meeting in L'Aquila, Italy, said they recognize that the global average temperature should not increase more than 2 degrees centigrade, which is "a critically important goal" which these nations had never endorsed explicitly before, he said.

They also agreed to set up a global partnership to spur the use of low-carbon technologies and to double public sector investment into research of these new technologies by 2015.

Further, the leaders said that financial resources for both mitigation and adaptation must be scaled up dramatically, and although the stopped short of specifying amounts, they did agree to consider a 'green' fund, Mr. Pasztor noted.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the cuts in greenhouse gas emissions proposed by the Group of Eight (G8) leaders, "while welcome, are not sufficient."

Underscoring that "the time for delays and half-measures is over," Mr. Ban stressed that "the personal leadership of every head of State or government is needed to seize this moment to protect people and the planet from one of the most serious challenges ever to confront humanity."

Heads of G8 countries agreed in L'Aquila to a long-term goal of reducing emissions by 2050, but Mr. Ban said that this target was not credible without "ambitious mid-term targets, and baselines.

"In order to achieve such a global goal, developed countries must lead by example in making firm commitments to reduce their emissions by 2020 on the order of the 25 to 40 per cent below 1990 levels that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tells us is required. It is disappointing to note that thus far, the mid-term emissions targets announced by developed countries in the MEF are not in this range."

To support countries in their bid to conclude a successor pact in December to the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012, Mr. Ban is convening a high-level summit – expected to be the largest climate change gathering this year – in New York on 22 September.

It is hoped that this summit can foster trust among world leaders, Mr. Pasztor said today, adding that "we will not be able to address climate change without that trust."
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UN CONFERENCE CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL PANEL TO WARN AGAINST DANGEROUS CHEMICALS

UN CONFERENCE CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL PANEL TO WARN AGAINST DANGEROUS CHEMICALS
New York, May 11 2009 11:00AM
A key speaker at a United Nations conference on managing the health risks posed by everyday chemicals has called for the world body to create an international panel of experts to help protect the public against the poisonous substances.

It has become increasingly urgent to manage chemicals in household products safely to protect children and future generations, stressed former Swedish Environment Ambassador Viveka Bohn at the opening of the second session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM2).

Although Governments and industry are responsible for tackling the health and environment problems caused by chemicals, Ms. Bohn said that scientists have a "key role to play in conveying and explaining to the public and to the politicians, clearly and objectively, the latest knowledge on the effects of exposure to chemicals, especially the 'cocktail' effect."

There is wide agreement that much more research is needed on the unpredictable impact of several chemicals found together, known as the cocktail effect.

In her address to the five-day conference in Geneva, read by her daughter Maria, Ms. Bohn pushed for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to pool scientific research on chemicals and to establish an international chemicals panel similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

In a related development, governments around the world banned nine chemicals on Saturday, adding them on the list of 12 substances already prohibited under the 2001 Stockholm Convention.

The Stockholm Convention targets hazardous pesticides and industrial chemicals that can kill people, damage the nervous and immune systems, cause cancer and reproductive disorders and interfere with normal infant and child development.

"We now have a clear signal that Governments around the world take seriously the risks posed by such toxic chemicals," UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

Adding the new chemicals to the Convention – administered by UNEP and signed by 152 governments – signals a shift reflecting "international concern on the need to reduce and eventually eliminate such substances throughout the global community," added Mr. Steiner.

The week-long Conference of the Parties (COP), held in Geneva from 4 to 9 May, also reached a decision on the endorsement of the DDT global partnership. While DDT is targeted for eventual elimination, the Convention recognizes that some countries will continue to use this pesticide to protect their citizens from malaria and other diseases.
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UN GATHERS EXPERTS TO HELP WEST AFRICAN FARMERS COPE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE

A United Nations-backed workshop aimed at identifying ways for West African farmers to limit the damaging effect climate change has on their livelihoods kicked off in Burkina Faso today.

West Africa, home to 43 per cent of the total population of sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in the world.

The region suffered a 20 to 40 per cent drop in rainfall from the mid to late 20th century, according to a UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

In addition, IPCC projections indicate that Africa is very likely to warm during this century, decreasing the length of growing seasons for farmers and cutting the potential size of harvests in West Africa.

For some countries yields from rain-fed agriculture could fall by up to 50 per cent by 2020, threatening the survival of large West African populations dependent on semi-subsistence farming.

The four-day climate change adaptation workshop, held in Burkina Faso's capital of Ouagadougou, will determine action that can be taken to alleviate the impact of global warming for farmers in the region.

Some 70 experts, brought together with the help of Spain by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), will discuss and recommend measures for the agriculture, livestock, forestry and fisheries sectors in West Africa to help them adjust to a changing environment.

"A principal WMO goal is to make farmers more self-reliant by better preparing them to cope with major issues influencing agricultural production," said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. "It will increasingly be necessary to use science to identify integrated adaptation and mitigation strategies for a range of agro-ecosystems."

Noting that sustainable agriculture holds the key to mitigate climate change through carbon storage and better use of carbon in crops, Peter Holmgren, Director of FAO Environment, Climate Change and Bioenergy Division, said that "millions of farmers around the globe could become agents of change helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Mr. Holmgren stressed that farmers, particularly in poor countries, should be involved in carbon sequestration, a strategy to be discussed at the workshop, as well as more efficient use of water; changing crop variety; altering planting schedules; improving pest, disease and weed management practices; and making better use of seasonal climate forecasts to reduce production risks.
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Scientists Must Raise Climate Alarm: Lord Stern.

The economic impact of global warming has been grossly underestimated and scientists must warn that inaction will spell disaster, top economist and climate change expert Nicholas Stern said on Thursday.

Stern told 2,000 climate scientists that they had failed to clearly tell humanity what it faces if global temperatures reach the upper range of forecasts made by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).

"You have to tell people very clearly and strongly just how difficult (a temperature rise of) four, five, six or seven degrees Celsius is," he said. "Billions of people would have to move and there would be very severe conflict," Stern told scientists at the Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen".

Stern told the conference that the global recession presents an opportunity to build a more energy-efficient economy. He said; "Coming out of this we have got to lay the foundations for a low-carbon growth, which is going to be like the railways, like the electricity, like the motorcars, this is going to be over the next two, three decades the big driver in investment"

LEADERS OF UN, US DECLARE 2009 THE YEAR OF CLIMATE CHANGE

LEADERS OF UN, US DECLARE 2009 THE YEAR OF CLIMATE CHANGE
New York, Mar 12 2009 6:00PM

With nations set to conclude negotiations on an ambitious new greenhouse gas emissions agreement this December, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United States President Barack Obama have stressed the need for 2009 to be the year of climate change.

Mr. Ban, who met with the "visionary" American leader earlier this week at the White House in Washington, told journalists in his monthly press conference at UN Headquarters today that they both agree that climate change poses an "existential threat."

The two men share a commitment that "2009 must be the year of climate change," he said, stressing the importance a comprehensive successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol – the legally binding emissions reduction regime whose first commitment period ends in 2012 – at December's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"With US leadership, in partnership of the United Nations, we can and will reach a climate change deal that all nations can embrace," the Secretary-General noted.

Reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate – have shown unequivocally that the world is warming, almost certainly due to human activity, with potentially disastrous effects including worsening drought in some regions and heavier rainfall in others.

Mr. Ban said today that he and Mr. Obama were of the same opinion that 'green' investments are an essential part of any stimulus package targeting the current global economic turmoil.

"If we are going to spend such tremendous sums of money, let us be smart about it," he said.

He said that during his two-day visit to Washington, climate change also dominated his discussions with key American officials, including Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Congressman Howard Berman, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Last week, the top UN climate change official said that he sees "enthusiasm" in the current US Government to pass laws to reduce gas emissions and a willingness to work towards a new global climate change pact.

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said he was "very much encouraged" following his recent meetings with officials in Mr. Obama's administration and members of Congress.

"There is, I believe, a huge enthusiasm and energy in both the House and the Senate to put cap and trade climate change legislation in place in this country," he added.

Mr. de Boer also underscored the willingness in the current US administration "to work towards an agreement in Copenhagen, to come with an ambitious domestic policy [and] to engage with international partners" to come to an accord.
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Sea Levels Rising Twice As Fast As Predicted.

Sea levels are predicted to rise twice as fast as was forecast by the UN only two years ago scientists said on Tuesday in a new warning about climate change. Rapidly melting ice sheets... are likely to push up sea levels by a meter or more by 2100, swamping coastal cities and obliterating the living space of 600 million people who live in deltas, low-lying areas and small island states.

The new estimate appears to significantly worsen the predictions of a report in 2007 by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which said sea level could rise by up to 59 centimeters this century. The IPCC estimate had been based largely on the expansion of oceans from higher temperatures, rather than meltwater and the impact of glaciers breaking into the sea.

Using the new model, 'we get a range of sea level rise by 2100 between 75 and 190 centimeters when we apply the IPCC's temperature scenarios for the future,' said climate expert Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Even if the world manages to dramatically cut the emission of greenhouse gases driving global warming, the 'best estimate' is about one meter (3.25 feet), he said.

UN-BACKED ROADMAP FOR HALVING AUTO EMISSIONS UNVEILED IN GENEVA

UN-BACKED ROADMAP FOR HALVING AUTO EMISSIONS UNVEILED IN GENEVA
New York, Mar 4 2009 1:00PM

With the world's car fleet expected to triple by 2050, a road map to halve greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles by that date was laid out today at the Geneva Motor Show by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and partner organizations.

The '50 by 50' Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) charts a strategy for the world to change to cleaner and more efficient cars, advocating that it be integrated into the financial support the auto industry receives during the financial crisis.

"Transport is a crucial sector in the transformation to a low-carbon, green economy," said Achim Steiner, Executive Director UNEP, which launched the initiative with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the FIA Foundation.

"We would urge the world's car and component makers to get on board to prove that they too are part of the solution," he added.

The GFEI road map shows how the reductions can be achieved using existing cost-effective technologies, with intermediate goals in 2020 and 2030, in line with suggestions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Objectives of the initiative for 2009 include regional assessments and launches in Europe, North America, Latin America, and in Asia, the start of four national pilot projects in different regions and the development of a fuel economy information-sharing campaign.
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