Asia-Pacific Countries Share Win-Win Climate Change Solutions

Asia-Pacific Countries Share Win-Win Climate Change Solutions
Friday, 25 April 2008, 07:48 AM
Bangkok Meeting Launches “Asia-Pacific Gateway for Climate Change”



Bangkok (United Nations Information Services) – Countries from Asia and the Pacific, both developed and developing, are gathering in Bangkok to share experiences on “co-benefits approach to climate change” - win-win actions which cut greenhouse gas emissions while alleviating poverty.

The meeting today (23 April) is organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in cooperation with the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and the Japanese Overseas Environmental Cooperation Centre. About 50 participants are sharing good practices on “co-benefits”.

The use of landfill gas is an example. Decaying rubbish creates large amounts of greenhouse gases. When these gases are burned to generate electricity, their effect on the climate is reduced–creating a source of energy for development while mitigating climate change. Other examples of co-benefits projects are springing up across the region. In the Philippines, enhanced public transportation services are reducing commute times and carbon emissions at the same time. A project in Malaysia introduced innovative strategies for waste management which lower emission while at the same time reducing the build up of waste.

The Bangkok meeting also launches an Asia-Pacific Gateway for Climate Change and Development, a web-based platform for sharing experiences and information on “co-benefits” activities, and on adaptation actions. While mitigating the effects of climate change is important, some impacts are at this point inevitable. The importance of adapting to these impacts was recognized by the Bali Action Plan adopted last December. Participants at the meeting also explore ways of helping developing countries to make adaptations to climate change an integral part of their development efforts.

To take such actions, developing countries need to be able to assess their level of vulnerability, with access to accurate information such as data collected by satellites and up-to-date climate predictions. The Gateways is intended to provide a tool for developed countries and developing countries to share information on ways to address climate change, and a link between information exchange activities and substantive actions.

The meeting was opened by the Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Mr. Shigeru Mochida, and Japan’s Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Mr. Toshiro Kojima. Presentations are given by participants from China, Indonesia, Japan, the United States, Thailand, and from ESCAP and OECD, among others.

source: http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2008/apr/g22.asp

News of the day - Olympics - Beijing Targets Top Polluters In Games Plan

Olympics - Beijing Targets Top Polluters In Games Plan
CHINA: April 15, 2008

BEIJING - Beijing will close factories and force 19 heavy polluters to reduce emissions by 30 percent for two months around the Olympics and Paralympics to improve air quality for athletes, a Beijing official said on Monday.

The measures, which will run from July 20 to Sept. 20, are an attempt to fulfil the city's commitment to provide clean air for the Games, said Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau spokesman Du Shaozhong. "In case of extremely negative meteorological conditions or severe air quality, we will take even more stringent measures," Du told a news conference. "As for exactly what we will do, that will depend on the conditions at the time."

Du said further measures would be taken in neighbouring Tianjin, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Shandong, while details of the traffic restrictions aimed at taking half the city's cars off the roads would be released later. Government and plant officials in the other provinces have in the past said they have not received notice of specific closure plans.

The extent of the shutdowns will determine in part how much the Olympics will impact China's economy. "It remains to be seen whether production or consumption will be affected more" by shutdowns, including that of copper cable producers in the Beijing area, Edward Meir, metals analyst with MF Global, wrote earlier this month.

Among the 19 polluters are several plants run by Shougang Steel -- the city's worst offender -- as well as Yanshan Petrochemical Group, Jingneng Thermal power company and three other coal-burning plants, and Number 27 Locomotive Factory. The Eastern Chemical Plant of Beijing will be closed for the whole two months and companies involved in cement manufacture and quarrying in the South-west of the city will also be shut down.

Industrial coal-boilers that fail to meet emission standards -- the toughest in the world, Du said -- will be closed as will petrol stations and oil depots if they have not made sufficient strides to restrict the emission of petrol vapours. Any construction projects not scheduled to have completed excavations and concrete placement as well as site "greening and coverage" by July 20 will not be allowed to start work.

Du said the long-term work for reducing emissions was to the benefit of the companies and any compensation will be decided when they discuss their annual plans with local government. "In the short-term it will cost them, in the longer term it will accelerate the upgrade of their technology," he said.

"We do not deny the contribution these companies are making during the Olympics by reducing emissions and cutting or suspending production." Companies that shut down or restrict production for the two months would be exempt from pollution emission charges, Du added.

Story by Nick Mulvenney

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

Rich states failing to lead on emissions, says UN climate chief

Rich states failing to lead on emissions, says UN climate chief
Monday, 14 April 2008, 10:26 AM

Developing countries, including China and India, are unwilling to sign up to a new global climate change pact to replace the Kyoto protocol in 2012 because the rich world has failed to set a clear example on cutting carbon emissions, according to the UN's top climate official.


Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said too many rich countries, including the US, had failed to take the action needed to convince the developing nations to sign up to a deal in Copenhagen next year that could help to stabilise global emissions.

"You may not be able to get an agreement in one shot, let's say by Copenhagen, that sets you on the path of stabilisation in keeping with some kind of long-term target," Pachauri told the Guardian. "Looking at the politics of the situation, I doubt whether any of the developing countries will make any commitments before they have seen the developed countries take a specific stand."

He said there were "reasons for dismay" at the rich countries' failure to cut carbon emissions. "This really doesn't give anybody the conviction that those that had agreed to take action as the first step are really serious about doing so. And in several developing countries you get the feeling - in fact people state it very clearly - that these guys [rich countries] are going to shove the whole burden on to our shoulders. That's why it's necessary for the developed world to establish a certain credibility."

Pachauri said Germany had set a good example, with significant investment in renewable energy, and Britain had done "quite well". The UK is on track to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions as required under Kyoto, but will miss a separate domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide pollution by 20% on 1990 levels by 2010. If emissions from aviation and shipping are included, Britain's carbon dioxide emissions are higher now than in 1990.

Analysts say a new global deal needs to be agreed at the Copenhagen meeting for it to come into force by 2012, because it will take several years to be ratified by countries. If a new deal is not in place when Kyoto expires, then confidence in emerging carbon trading markets - seen as a key way to reduce greenhouse gas pollution - could collapse. Schemes such as the European emissions trading scheme, set up under Kyoto, force polluting companies to invest in carbon credits or cleaner technology, but rely on carbon caps continuing past 2012.

Pachauri, who is also director general of the Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi, India, said: "I don't think they [China and India] will come on board in the first round. I think they would like to see some level of ambition on the part of the developed countries before they make any voluntary commitments of their own."

Last year Pachauri, an economist and environmental scientist, collected the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, which it won jointly with the American former vice-president Al Gore. The IPCC analyses the state of climate science and issues reports that form the foundation for international action under the UN.

Any reluctance by China to participate in a new agreement would spell problems for the new US president, who could sign a deal in Copenhagen next year and then find it rejected by the US Senate. Several leading figures in the US have said the Senate would be unlikely to pass a new treaty that did not require China to act on its soaring carbon emissions. All three presidential candidates have promised stronger domestic action on global warming, and are expected to play a more constructive role in the search for a new international treaty than the Bush administration.

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, told an IPCC meeting in Budapest this week that it would be "very, very difficult" to reach an agreement. He warned that if the carbon emissions of China and India continue to grow at the same pace as their economies, mankind would be unable to prevent a critical level of warming.

Pachauri said there was still time for the developed countries to convince India and China to sign a new deal next year, but that it would require a series of "measures and actions" in the next few months.

He urged other rich countries to follow Europe's lead and set ambitious carbon reduction targets for the next 10 years. He said more money was needed to help poorer countries adapt to the likely impact of global warming, as well as "some tangible efforts to make technology transfer a reality".

Rich nations could help China to invest in more efficient coal power stations, for example. "If there was low interest financing of some of these measures, it would make it very attractive to developing countries."

Britain and the US have pledged support for new World Bank funds to support climate adaptation and technology transfer, but poorer countries and green campaigners are more sceptical, and would prefer the money to be administered through the UN. Rich countries have failed to keep similar promises in the past - only £90m of a promised £600m to pay for adaptation measures had been delivered to a Global Environment Facility fund by the end of last year.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/14/climatechange.carbonemissions