Overall, global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels increased 29% between 2000 and 2008 and 41% from 1990-2008, and the current concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is now at its highest in at least 2 million years, according to a new study in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The new report published this week by an international team of researchers who are part of the “Global Carbon Project” shows emissions trends through 2008 (including changes in emissions causes and in the amount of emissions remaining in the atmosphere) and brings up some major questions for the future as well.

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..and then takes a U-Turn the very next day!

In a reported letter to the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, the Indian Environment Minister proposed a radical shift in India’s stand on climate change–away from its national position on climate negotiations–which India has backed since 1990 and which was defended robustly even in UN talks in Bangkok earlier this month.

Minutes after the news spread, political parties sitting in the opposition were quick to respond. Within the next few hours, the Environment Minister issued a clarifying statement for national media and the entire Nation!

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181 of the world’s largest investors say that the climate agreement in Copenhagen needs to be strong and binding.

This is from companies managing over $13 trillion and is the largest such statement to date. Their proposals are even stronger than what most activist organizations are asking for.

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If we’re working with multinational companies to help them reduce their impacts on the environment, we have to make them see what’s in it for them. At heart, two things - a risk of greater costs, and an opportunity to generate new revenue streams. With the proliferation of local, inter-regional programs as well as federal programs designed to combat climate change, the most immediate implication for the multinational industry will be the cost of doing business.

One can see how regional cap and trade programs on carbon emitters, as well as carbon taxes in certain jurisdictions are without a doubt going to have an impact on the bottom line. The key challenge (and, more importantly from a business perspective, opportunity) is for multinational firms to plan for these changes, therefore giving them the opportunity to turn climate change related challenges into long-term competitive advantages.

Why is this of interest to the environmental community? The quickest way to move a business organization is by helping them determine that the path you are suggesting is one that will provide them with a business advantage, greater profits, and increased shareholder value. By speaking their language, “opportunity, risk, and fiduciary duty” environmentalists will have a much easier time working with the business community, instead of against.

Image credit: iStockPhoto

The numbers speak for themselves — we must make 2009 the showdown year for global warming action. There is no time to lose.

35%

Increase in the global carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1992.

388.57 ppm

Average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in May 2008, a record high.

541 – 970 ppm

The projected concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2100 under a business as usual scenario where we don’t dramatically reduce global warming emissions.

260 – 280 ppm

Average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere before industrial emissions.

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Four years, aka one presidential term, is all the time Obama has to save the Earth according to NASA scientist James Hansen.

Hansen testified to Congress over twenty years ago alerting the world that climate change was under way.  Five presidential terms later, Obama is left with a crisis of epic proportion.  Hansen warns:

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Nasa scientists have told government’s that a simple cut in worldwide emissions of soot could lead to a dramatic reduction in the effects of global warming, as well as preventing hundreds of thousands of deaths from air pollution.

Soot contains black carbon, thought to be the second largest cause of global warming after carbon dioxide. Whilst airborne, it it spread around the globe by wind, heating the atmosphere by absorbing and releasing warmth from the sun’s rays. When it falls to the surface it also darkens snow and ice in polar regions or high mountain ranges, further reducing the Earth’s ability to reflect solar radiation.

Cutting soot emissions has a virtually instantaneous effect since it disappears rapidly from the earth’s atmosphere, unlike CO2, which can linger for hundreds of years.

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The UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland is ground zero for world leaders looking to take the next steps in tackling global warming. The international conference is aimed at negotiating a new agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, and to be finalized in Copenhagen in December of 2009.

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The UN Climate Conference in Poznan, Poland, starting today is raising hopes and fears across the green spectrum. As reported in the Christian Science Monitor.

A year-long push to devise a new global climate-change treaty – one that picks up where the Kyoto Protocol leaves off – gets under way Monday in Poland, with delegates from more than 190 nations set to resume grappling with the thorny issues of how much more to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and who will pay.

The talks, in their first round, are focused on reducing human influence on climate from occurring, according to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). More or less, this means keeping global warming to about 2 degrees Celsius above pre industrial levels by the end of the century. Expectations however are low for this meeting.

President-Elect Obama’s pledge to reduce greenhouse gases to pre 1990 levels in the next 12 years notwithstanding, this group has a lot of challenges ahead. This first round of talks is primarily to develop working groups to tackle the various issues surrounding climate change in both developed and developing countries. But, with the global economic crisis on everyone’s mind, it will be hard to keep the conversation on track and work toward lower carbon emissions.

And while they are working to devise ways to reduce carbon emissions, they’ll create quite a few. AFP reports:

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An Obama presidency in the United States could pave the way for a common North American approach to environmental issues and any differences on trade could be worked out, Canadian Conservative Party officials said in a recent interview.

Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said that the Canadian government has quite a bit in common with Obama and sees the two countries as strong partners in protecting the environment. “On the environment issue, I’m pleased to see a similar approach between Canada and the United States, and that probably augurs well for a common North American approach to the environment,” said Cannon.

But can the Canadian federal government, now run by the Conservative Party, shed its reputation as somewhat of a laggard in the realm of environmental policy and help forge a new way forward in North American environmental policy?

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The committee entitled, “Bush Administration Environmental Record at Department of Interior and Environmental Protection Agency,” met today. Senator Barbara Boxer called the hearing to explore how the administration has held up with respect to environmental integrity. A driving force behind the committee was the denial of California’s petition to curb greenhouse emissions by allowing the state to regulate vehicular fuel efficiency. The hearing was also looking into a proposal to loosen rules protecting endangered species. You can watch a full video of the hearing here.

Boxer, who is chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, wasn’t too happy when two high-level officials at the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior failed to show up for the hearing.

“They’re cowardly and they have been a danger to the people of this country,” Boxer said.

Below is just a taste of what Bush and Co have been up to since taking office.

A History of Bush’s Environmental Record

• Proposed drilling of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - October 2000, this was a campaign trail proposition!
• Blocks safeguards on arsenic in drinking water, sulfur in diesel, and releases of raw sewage - January 2001, Inauguration Day
• Bush repudiates the Kyoto Protocol - March, 2001
• 178 Countries agree to Kyoto, Bush does not - June 2001
• Bush kills more of Clinton’s safeguards on drinking water - July 2001
• Bush cuts funds for renewables - February 2002
• Introduces “Clear Skies” initiative which allows for more air pollution - February 2002
• Bush denies EPA findings on Global Warming - June 2002
• Proposes removing wetland protections - January 2003
• EPA silences effects of global warming in environmental report - June 2003
• Creates “Healthy Forrest” initiative which allows more logging - December 2003
• Bush delays mercury reduction for 18 years - January 2004
• NASA scientists censored by Administration on global warming effects - October 2004
• Promises more funding for renewables in State of the Union, breaks the promise five days later - February 2005
• Bush supports House bill allowing more smog - October 2005
• Wants to lower the price of gas at the expense of air quality - April 2006
• Cuts funds for wind and geothermal energy - February 2007
• Bush blocks G8 plans to reduce global warming pollution - June 2007
• Bush opposes incentives for renewables - February 2008
• Bush censors reports on climate change, again - April 2008

Oh, and that image was specifically chosen for the “Dance of the Dwarfs” title. Made me think of our little “Decider.”

Image source: umjanedoan on Flickr

As such, indigenous groups from the Americas, Africa and Asia are worried that, if industrialized nations are allowed to purchase carbon rights from their forests, they will lose out, seeing ownership change hands without them even being consulted.

This is not an unlikely event, considering the total lack of room there is for indigenous peoples to have their say at these talks. “When you don’t have recognized status, you’re not existent. You’re not at the table,” said Kanyinke Sena, the Indigenous People of Africa Coordinating Committee’s Eastern Africa representative.

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Coal power plants can utilize solar to produce 15%-60% of the electricity. A higher quantity is possible, but requires significantly more modifications to be made to the coal boilers.

Solar Interface

Mirrors, called fresnal reflectors capture the sun’s rays and heat water in the tube above. Steam lines deliver the solar energy to the adjacent coal power plant where existing coal turbines are used to produce an electric current.

The ideal situation for retrofitting a coal power plant with solar includes:

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Bonnie Prince Charles, in a symbolic gesture, has converted his 38 year old Aston Martin rag top to run on ethanol, derived from English Wine.   Aides said the action was due to the pattern of Royal trips set by the Foreign Office.

Prince Charles Chief Aide, Sir Michael Peat is quoted as saying:

‘Charles only travelled two or three hundred miles a year in the Aston but he wanted it to be environmentally friendly. It just happened that our bioethanol supplier makes the fuel from surplus English wine.’

The Prince has been reducing his carbon footprint, already cutting carbon emissions by 12.5 percent, in line with the Government’s Kyoto target.  He has since doubled the target to a 25 percent reduction in emissions by 2018.

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Wikipedia

1. Asia — United Nations Climate Change Talks: “Kyoto II” climate talks open in Bangkok

“The first formal talks in the long process of drawing up a replacement for the Kyoto climate change pact opened in Thailand on Monday with appeals to a common human purpose to defeat global warming.

‘The world is waiting for a solution that is long-term and economically viable,’ U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said in a video address to the 1,000 delegates from 190 nations gathered in Bangkok.

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]]> http://ecoworldly.com/2008/04/05/10-top-environmental-headlines-of-the-week-2/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/03/13/is-kyoto-all-for-naught/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/03/13/is-kyoto-all-for-naught/#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:10:32 +0000 Joshua S Hill http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/03/13/is-kyoto-all-for-naught/ The life of someone looking to support the environment is a tough one, especially with news like this. The Kyoto Protocol was supposed to be Earth’s savior; or at least a benefit concert. But new information provided by the Chinese government has shown that by 2010 Chinese greenhouse gas emissions will have managed to eclipse the reductions achieved by all the countries underneath the Kyoto protocol.

Researchers at the University of California worked with the data and calculated that China’s emissions by 2010 will equate to at least 600 million metric tons greater than the countries was in 2000. Note the ‘at least’ in there, because according to the majority of the computer models, their emissions will actually be twice that figure.

Even hoping for the best possible scenario, the smallest figure calculated is five times as large as the 115.90 million metric tons in reductions that the US Energy Information Agency estimates will have been achieved by the Kyoto protocol members.

“The emissions growth rate is surpassing our worst expectations, and that means the goal of stabilizing atmospheric CO2 is going to be much, much harder to achieve,” says Maximillian Auffhammer of the University of California, Berkeley.

Prior to now, estimates have been focusing only on national data of pollution. However Auffhammer, and Richard Carson from the University of California, San Diego, used national data on pollution produced by Chinese provinces. The increased detail in the data has allowed them to make a more precise and horrifying calculation.

China, a country that is deemed a developing country under the United Nations, is thus not required to reduce its emissions under the Kyoto protocol. Of course it can agree too, and in the wake of the upcoming Olympic Games there has been some move to do so, but as of yet they have set no firm targets. As such, the UoC pair estimate that CO₂ emissions will rise by 11% per year over the next two years. Previous estimates ranged between 2.5% and 5%.

This most recent finding concerning China’s emissions comes only days after the world’s marathon record holder, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, declared he was an unlikely entrant in the 2008 Olympic marathon. “The pollution in China is a threat to my health and it would be difficult for me to run 42 kilometres in my current condition,” says Gebrselassie.

And while this only forced the Chinese government to reiterate that they pledge to have clean air for the summer games, it brings to mind a question: what are the Chinese sacrificing so that Games’ venues are clean?

New Scientist - China emissions to swamp Kyoto reductions by 2010

Photo Courtesy of fortes via Flickr

]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/03/13/is-kyoto-all-for-naught/feed/ http://ecoscraps.com/2007/12/03/day-1-in-bali/ http://ecoscraps.com/2007/12/03/day-1-in-bali/#comments Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:49:59 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://ecoscraps.com/2007/12/03/day-1-in-bali/ Australia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.

]]> http://ecoscraps.com/2007/12/03/day-1-in-bali/feed/ http://mariasurmamanka.greenoptions.com/2007/03/01/japan-ups-ethanol-made-from-biomass/ http://mariasurmamanka.greenoptions.com/2007/03/01/japan-ups-ethanol-made-from-biomass/#comments Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:42:24 +0000 Maria Surma Manka http://mariasurmamanka.greenoptions.com/2007/03/01/japan-ups-ethanol-made-from-biomass/ Under pressure to meet Kyoto Protocol targets and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, several ministries in the Japanese government have issued a report recommending increasing ethanol production from domestic biomass resources.

The report advises boosting ethanol made from wood waste and mass-produced grains to account for 38 million barrels, or about 6 percent of Japan’s annual gasoline consumption.

Currently Japan produces very little ethanol on its own and is heavily dependent on imported gasoline. Even so, the cost of ethanol continues to be an issue. In order to encourage use and development, the report proposes modifying the taxes on ethanol, which is mostly imported from Brazil. But even if Japan used the new super-harvest grains like rice and sorghum that can be planted in abandoned fiels, ethanol production costs may still be quite high.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised to increase the use of biomass in fuels as part of the island nation’s larger plan to shift away from fossil fuel use to slow global warming.

Japan needs to meet its Kyoto Protocol goal to cut its global warming emissions by 6 percent from 1990 levels by the 2008-2012 period. The agreement excludes emissions from biofuels like ethanol.

Reuters, via Planet Ark

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