Green Options

According to a new report published by the Worldwatch Institute, global emissions caused by the “lifecycle and supply chain of animals raised for food”  are much higher than previously thought.   Environmental advisers Jeff Anhang and Dr. Robert Goodland, report previous estimates of greenhouse gases caused by livestock were in fact, underestimated.   

The Chinese delegation attending the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop has reportedly claimed China’s tiger farms supply ‘medicine’ to 60 countries.

A shocking article from Nepal’s Republica says that the Chinese delegation attending the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop claims China “cannot put an end to its tiger farming as medicine produced from tiger parts is supplied to 60 countries”.

Tiger farming in China - breeding tigers for slaughter to sell body parts - denounced by World Bank.

The World Bank has debunked the notion that tiger farming could benefit conservation of the species and stated that tiger farming “could even drive wild tigers closer to extinction.”

Dr. Susan Lieberman, director of the species program at WWF, welcomes the World Bank’s support: “Stopping all trade in tiger parts, and phasing out these tiger farms, is of the utmost urgency if the tiger is to survive in the wild.”

World Bank Director, Keshav Varma added: “Commercial trading in tiger parts and its derivatives is not in the interest of wild tiger conservation.”

“Worldwide, less than 8% of folks are responsible for 50% of emissions”, according to Professor Stephen Pacala of Princeton, co-author of Stabilization Wedges.

This group has a higher annual income than even the average American. But the US has the highest per-capita energy consumption rate of any nation, out-consuming the five most populated nations combined. Quite recent studies have confirmed what many already knew: that more affluent people consume more energy, and generate more green house gas (ghg) emissions. Thus, making significant cuts in ghg (to slow warming trends and mitigate climate change) without big cuts in this group’s ghg emissions is a major challenge.

The impact of greenhouse gases on global warming in the short term, and the possibility of severe climate change in the medium to long term, promise to create significant and lasting hardships for everyone. But these hardships will fall hardest on the world’s poorest, who are the ones least responsible for ghg-induced climate change.

Mot of the developing countries have refused to accept emission reduction goals but with the proposed financial help from developed nations they can certainly set renewable energy targets for themselves.

The World Bank recently released a report criticizing the water sharing regime between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Will water become a new flashpoint in the region?

Jordan is planning on building a companion piece to the Red-Dead Canal while the World Bank study is on-going. In its place is a Jordan-only proposed desalination plant in Aqaba that will pump saline brine into the Dead Sea.

World Bank has noted that any mandatory emission reduction targets could slow down India’s economic growth but India must consider voluntary sectoral emission reductions as developed nations have agreed to provide monetary and technical assistance.

The World Bank approved a loan to the Brazilian government for the improvement of environmental management programs.

Focus areas for the programs are forests, water conservation, and energy efficiency. (Climate change will be addressed with an integrated approach that includes all aspects of the programs.) For example, destruction of the Amazon rainforest causes biodiversity loss and contributes to climate change, so decreasing deforestation protects biodiversity and prevents additional global warming.

An introduction to the Steady State Economy. Should this be the way globalisation goes? Read the article then add your thoughts below.

Previous posts in the “New Economic Architecture Required” series have looked at Wealth & Value, Money & Debt and Growth & Competition.

What these very brief analyses have shown is that we, the human race, are living beyond our means.

A Steady State Economy may be a way of bringing our consumption back into line, eliminating boom and bust in the process.

A small group of protesters attracted plenty of attention on the streets outside the World Bank’s recent meeting in Washington DC by painting oil barrels and lumps of coal green.

A spokesperson was on hand to explain how the protest represents the World Bank’s excessive greenwashing:

Don’t be fooled. The World Bank has great environmental rhetoric… but when you look at what they actually do, you find that they’re financing the greatest causes of climate change: fossil fuels.

Check out the video bellow the jump. It may be the closest coal will ever get to being “green.”