Green Options

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And England aren’t even playing

“The lakeside of Zürich will be one big toilet during the month of June“, remarked my colleague as we discussed the forthcoming Euro 2008 football championship - the highlight for many European sport’s fans until the 2010 Football World Cup -  which is being hosted in Switzerland and Austria this year.

Having seen the aftermath last year’s World Cup hosted in Germany, I fully appreciated his warning on the amount of sick, urine and broken glass that is likely to be left in the wake of thousands of high (and sometimes low) spirited fans. Living in the epicentre of this event I’m looking forwards to some aspects of the revelry, although I’ll be closing the shutters on the windows and I’ve increased the insurance on the car should it be turned into a bonfire.

Choi Seung-kuk, the Secretary General of Green Korea, one of South Korea’s largest environmental organizations, has officially bowed out as an Olympic torch bearer. In a press interview this morning, Mr. Choi cited China’s aggression in Tibet as his main reason for refusing to carry the Olympic torch when it arrives in Seoul, the capital city, on April 27.

For China, having one of the leaders of Asia’s environmental movement refuse to carry the Beijing Olympic torch must sting. After all, China is jumping through hoops to carry out the Beijing Olympics as the Green Olympics. They are decreasing pollution by planting trees, recycling wastewater, paying car owners not to drive, and more. In addition, the games themselves will be carbon neutral.

Following are the top international environmental news for during the week of April 13 - 20. See an archive of top international environmental news here.

Asia

Two “Extinct” Species Discovered

First there was Swinshoe’s softshell turtle, and then the Javan Elephant. Is this more commonplace than we might believe?

Frankly, no. Despite the occasional hubbub over an animal science has lost track of– say, the Coelacanth– we’ve witnessed something extraordinary. Swinshoe’s turtle was previously believed to be extinct in the wild, with only three remaining in captivity, and therefore every one of these 300-pound turtles is a critical find.

Continue reading: Environmental Graffiti. Hot in media: Stumble Upon.

There has been talk recently of boycotting the 2008 Beijing Olympics for any number of valid reasons. Whether it is for the freedom of Tibet, the atrocities in Darfur, or China’s environmental policies.

However, what would be achieved by boycotting the Olympics? Is China going to step back and say, “Whoa… the United States is right. We are all messed up and need to change.” Probably not.

And who are we to tell another country that they aren’t perfect? If the Olympics were here, who would be boycotting our games?

As a child I was led to believe that the Olympics were a coming together of different cultures and nations for the sake of sport and international cooperation. And in fact that WAS part of the basis for reinventing the Olympics in the first place. As the father of modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin once said,

“May joy and good fellowship reign, and in this manner, may the Olympic torch pursue its way through ages, increasing friendly understanding among nations, for the good of a humanity always more enthusiastic, more courageous and more pure.”

Of course, I grew up and found that most of my dreams and fantasies taught to me by society were pure poppycock. But do all of our childhood misconceptions about the world have to be disproved? I mean, Santa Claus is a given, but what about the concept of peace on earth and goodwill towards man?

The Chinese plan to use cloud seeding to prevent rain during the Beijing Summer Olympics opening ceremonies. The chances of rain on Aug. 8 are close to 50%.

Source: LA Times

The 2008 Olympic torch relay will cover more than 85,000 miles and visit 23 cities before reaching Beijing. Covering that kind of ground (and ocean) will require the help of Air China, burning an estimated 464,400 gallons of fuel and emitting 5,500 tons of carbon dioxide in the process.

See the story from Wired’s Autopia.

In case you missed them the first time around, here are the top 10 international environmental headlines that made news in the blogosphere for the week of March 31 - April 6.

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.

The Olympic Games brings together nations and competitors from all corners of the world, binding all together in the ideals of sport. But however noble, an event as large as the Olympics has the potential for significant environmental impacts - thousands of people travelling from all over the world, combined with the heavy construction required to develop the games’ infrastructure can make quite an ecological dent.

Worse still, in many places heavy traffic and additional stress placed on local infrastructure threatens to exacerbate existing environmental concerns. With the possibility of some athletes wearing face masks to avoid inhaling excessive pollution, Beijing is working hard to improve its air quality ahead of the games, even going so far as to close 10% of the city’s petrol stations and fitting the remainder with devices to prevent escape of petrol fumes whilst motorists fill up.

The International Olympic Committee has warned that some events may even have to be postponed if Beijing’s notorious smog is deemed to thick, and similar concerns have been voiced over the London Olympics due to be held in 2012.

But what are the benefits, and do they outweigh the costs?

Image source: BusinessWeek.com

With Beijing getting all spic and span for the 2008 Olympic Games, a host of ideas are being considered for the Olympic Forest Park, a multimillion-dollar, 680-hectare green space planned for the northern portion of the city. Besides serving as the venue for Tennis, Archery, and Hockey, the area will also include a massive man-made mountain and a lake in the shape of a dragon. Since Beijing is not the type

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