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Planet Earth



	Developing Countries should be paid for Eco Disasters By Martin Khor* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint GENEVA (IDN) - The 20 billion U.S. dollar put aside by BP to pay for the effects of the Gulf oil spill contrasts with the lack of accountability of big firms that cause environmental harm in developing countries. In a widely publicised move in June, the United States President Barrack Obama succeeded in getting the oil company BP to set aside $20 billion into a fund to meet claims for compensating losses arising from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It is extraordinary that a giant company has been pressurised by a government to agree to pay so much.
	No Need to Despair on Biodiversity By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) - Humankind will suffer annual losses of 'natural capital' valued at between 1.3 to 3.1 trillion Euros, if 'business as usual' deforestation and land use change continue, according to United Nations' latest estimates. These stupendous figures exceed the total financial capital lost to Wall Street and City banks during 2008, their worst year in history.
	Rendezvous with Planet Earth By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BERLIN (IDN) - 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. And we all have a rendezvous with Planet Earth this year. In order that as many of us as possible feel encouraged to make it to the venue at the right point in time, the United Nations has launched some of the most innovative initiatives.
	CITES Regulates Billions Worth Wildlife Trade By Indira Srivastava IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) - Global wildlife trade has increased significantly since 1975, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed. But not a single one of some 34,000 species listed by the Convention has become extinct as a result of boost in trade.
	Finland Also Favours More Nuclear Energy By Brenda Sorensen IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis STOCKHOLM (IDN) – The Nordic countries appear to be undergoing a renaissance of nuclear energy. Within three weeks of the Swedish parliament permitting new atomic power plants from 2011, neighbouring Finland's legislators have given the go-ahead for two new atomic reactors.
	Learn To Live With Less So That Others Can Continue Living By Mannava Sivakumar* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint GENEVA (IDN) – The impacts of climate change are now nowhere more visible than on the lives of billions of poor farmers around the world. In the last 50 years the world population has more than doubled -- from 3 billion in 1959 to 6.7 billion in 2009. According to the International Labour Organization, the economically active population in the world grew from 1.89 billion in 1980 to 3.21 billion in 2009. A large majority of this increase has occurred in the developing countries. While the economically active population in the more developed regions grew from 519 millions in 1980 to 623 million in 2009 . . .
	Low Carbon a Shared Challenge for Asia and Europe By Shada Islam* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BRUSSELS (IDN) – It's no secret: international efforts to curb global warming continue to divide Asia and Europe. European and Asian governments did not see eye to eye at the climate change summit held in Copenhagen last December, and as preparations intensify for another international meeting on global warming -- this time in Cancun, Mexico -- at the end of the year, prospects for a credible and enforceable agreement remain elusive.
	Water Security at Extreme Risk in Africa and Asia By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) – Clean, fresh water supply, which is fundamental to life and health -- regardless of nationality, age, gender, profession or status -- is at "extreme risk" in four African countries: Somalia, Mauritania, Sudan and Niger.
	'Green Growth Opportunities Are Under-Reported' By Yvo de Boer * IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BONN (IDN) - Climate change is at the front of political leaders' minds, on the agendas of corporate boardrooms, and reflected in the hopes and fears of billions of people around the world. Without the media to report what is happening in the field of climate change, this simply would not have been the case. Around 3,500 media representatives came to Copenhagen . . .
	'Don't Grab – Invest in Land' By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis ROME (IDN) - There is a genuine alternative to land acquisitions in developing countries that would benefit both big investors and small farmers, claims new research. It shows how agricultural investments in developing nations can be structured as alternatives to large-scale land grabbing.
	The Trillions Worth Soil Biodiversity By Luc Gnacadja* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BONN (IDN) - Six to ten inches (18-25 cm) of topsoil are all that stand between us and extinction. There's far more to this than food. The things that live in and grow from this irreplaceable and finite resource also keep us clothed, the air and water clean, the land green and pleasant and the human soul refreshed. Only now are we starting to comprehend how the tiny life forms in soil sustain productivity and the greater environmental balance.
	BP Cries 'Uncle' and Agrees to Create $20 Billion Claims Fund By Ernest Corea IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - Less than 24 hours after President Barack Obama delivered an address to the nation on the relentless consequences of the BP (British Petroleum) disaster in the Gulf of Mexico -- a disaster that has already adversely affected four Gulf states -- BP management cried "uncle". They made a passable show of contrition and went along with Obama's demand for generosity.
	Miles to Go For Solid Progress in Climate Change Talks By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) - Sanguinity mingled with scepticism as the latest round of global climate change talks concluded on June 11, with the UN's top official Yvo de Boer -- who is being succeeded by Christiana Figueres -- cautioning against bringing in "legal rigour" in the negotiations. IUCN’s Claire Parker welcomed "the renewed spirit of cooperation and confidence governments showed in Bonn", Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) warned that U.S. intransigence was threatening vital progress in the talks.
	There is something Systemic about the Oil Spill By Julio Godoy IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint BERLIN (IDN) - If the world needed a symbol of the dimensions of the environmental catastrophe the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico embodies, then it was this: Dozens of pelicans, the archetypical bird of the area, oil-soaked, condemned to dying before our eyes. Before us, helpless spectators, horrified by British Petroleum's deeds.
	Getting the Oceans on Radar Screens By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) - But for the World Oceans Day, that "continuous body of water" covering about 71 percent of the Earth's surface will be hardly on anyone's radar screen. In fact, the United Nations too started focussing worldwide attention on the oceans only in 2009 by marking June 8 as the World Oceans Day.
	BP Disaster Could Destroy a Way of Life and End a Heritage By Ernest Corea IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - Viceroys, lesser officials, military commanders, and commercial barons of the empire on which it was believed the sun could never set would have envied the speed with which their distant descendants at British Petroleum (BP) have made their mark internationally, with maximum visibility and public attention.
	Growth Potential Tangos with High Disaster Risk By Erna Wolf IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) - Bangladesh, Indonesia and Iran are most at risk from extreme weather and geophysical events, according to a new study ranking 229 countries on their vulnerability to natural disasters.
	The Farce Called 'Responsible' Soy By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BRUSSELS (IDN) - Civil society organizations are calling for phasing out industrial plantations of soy and instead promoting agro-ecological farming systems of local crops.
	Planet Earth worth Multiple Trillions By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsFacts (IDN) - What the 'Mother Earth' is worth to its inhabitants is no longer a mystery. 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)', hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and a myriad of other recent reports and initiatives are providing a glimpse of the value of the Earth's natural assets and their role in development.
	Restoring Ecosystems Pays Off By Jerome Mwanda IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) - Ruthless exploitation of nature has triggered a situation that dwarfs the impact of the financial and economic crisis that continues to hold the world economy to ransom. But there is a way out, says a new report compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The report says that restoring lost and damaged ecosystems . . .
	Developing Countries Resist World Bank Power Play By Karen Orenstein* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint (IDN) The U.S., other developed countries, and the World Bank aim for control of climate finance at UN negotiations, but many developing countries and civil society are pushing back. The Copenhagen Accord, a controversial document “taken note of” but not adopted by parties to the UNFCCC in December 2009, set out parameters for climate finance which have largely shaped the debate in 2010.
	The Water Winners and Allies By Erna Wolf IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BONN (IDN) - The critical importance of water for human development and international peace has been underlined by the announcement of two prestigious awards and launch of a 'coalition' to coincide with the climate change talks under way in Bonn, Germany. The eminent Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) announced on June 2 the Cambodian Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) as the winner of . . .
	An Illusion Called the Carbon Capture and Storage By Brenda Sorensen IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis COPENHAGEN (IDN) – High expectations are being placed on a new technology that would capture and store carbon and help mitigate climate change. But a new report says that the technology known as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) cannot work wonders and bring about required reductions in CO2 emissions that are known to contribute to global warming.
	Cities Show the Way to Climate Adaptation By Nirupa Mayer IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BONN (IDN) – Local government leaders set their own course for cities adapting to climate change as the Bonn Climate Change talks of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) opened May 31.
	Remembering the Three Rio Conventions By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) – The botched UN conference in Copenhagen may prove to be a blessing in disguise by way of correcting the imbalance that has favoured climate change but nearly ignored desertification and biodiversity that are two other centerpieces of the three ‘Rio Conventions’ emerging from the Earth Summit in June 1992.
	Rwanda Global Host of World Environment Day By Jerome Mwanda IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) – The East African country Rwanda will be the global host of the World Environment Day (WED) on June 5, which has ‘Many Species. One Planet. One Future.’ as the central theme focussing on globe’s wealth of species and ecosystems in line with this year’s UN International Year of Biodiversity. “Rwanda’s combination of environmental richness, including rare and economically-important species. . .
	Dunkirk Battles for Greener Futures By Indira Srivastava IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BRUSSELS (IDN) – Situated in northern France, Dunkirk was one of the critical battlefields in 1940 in Second World War. Seventy years since, it has decided to ‘battle’ for greener futures in European cities and towns. From May 19 to 21 it hosted the largest European event dedicated to local sustainable development. More than 1,500 local government leaders from all over Europe as well as representatives from European
	Supporting Developing Countries to Green Their Industries By Ernest Corea IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – The eco-disaster in the Gulf of Mexico – caused by a lethal explosion on an oil rig operated by British Petroleum (BP) – has destroyed lives, disrupted livelihoods, and created potentially long-lasting threats to a swath of ecosystems.
	Bringing Clean Energy to the Poor By Clive Banerjee IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis VIENNA (IDN) – A new report has called for a global campaign in support of Energy for Sustainable Development, focusing on improving access to modern energy services and enhancing energy efficiency, as well as raising awareness about the essential role of clean energy in reaching the MDGs while addressing climate change, promoting economic growth and conserving natural resources and biodiversity. The report issued by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC) on April 28 in New York wants the campaign to ensure that energy is made an integral part of the MDG review process in 2010
	Business Throws Entire Forests in the Toilet By Babukar Kashka IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) – The good news is that access to sanitation has improved in developing countries. The bad news is that paper manufacturing companies are riding the tide dumping entire forests down in water closet in the form of toilet paper.
	Brisk Business on the Green Front By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TOKYO (IDN) – While the fate of global climate change negotiations hangs in balance since the botched Copenhagen summit four months ago, brisk activity is being unfolded around the world to face environmental challenges, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and powering growth for a global green economy.
	Trucking Safe with Ecology in the Pouch By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsFeature* TOKYO (IDN) - Like the kangaroo pouch pocket that provides a place of shelter for the young after they are born, the truckers of Tokyo’s legendary Nagai Transportation Company move their cargo with great care. No surprise therefore that the kangaroo is the logo of the company that celebrates “60 years of good faith and gratitude”. \| Read in Japanese at http://www.polyglot.indepthnews.net
	Oxfam America Falls Prey to GM Temptation By J. Chandler IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TORONTO (IDN) – “I never resist temptation because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt me”: this citation from George Bernard Shaw’s Apple Cart does not hold true for Oxfam America. In its quest of long-term solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice, the eminent organization has set “a very dangerous precedent” by endorsing agricultural biotechnology as a viable solution for resource poor and subsistence farmers in developing countries.
	‘New and Additional Money Will End Climate Deadlock’ By Indira Srivastava IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) - In run-up to the UN climate change negotiations April 8-11 in Germany, a British think-tank has shown a way out of the present standoff. The meetings in Bonn will be the first formal round of talks since the controversial Copenhagen conference in December 2009.
	Shrinking Aral Sea Sends Shockwaves By Raushan Valikhanov IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NUKUS (IDN) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s flying tour of the Aral Sea area has highlighted the woes caused by one of the greatest environmental catastrophes ever recorded. He witnessed the shocking sight when he flew over it on April 4, 2010.
	Parliamentarians Vow Support For Indigenous Peoples By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsSpecial MANILA (IDN) – The concerns of the indigenous peoples, at the heart of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), are considered of vital significance by parliamentarians of the countries of Asia-Pacific. The region hosts some 70 percent of the indigenous peoples, who are among the poorest of the world and often the most marginalized and disadvantaged in their countries.
	Of Indigenous Peoples, Climate Change And Rural Poverty By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsSpecial MANILA (IDN) – They constitute some four percent of the global population. They are spread around the world in 70 countries, from the Arctic to the South Pacific. Their numbers add up to somewhere between 300 and 370 million, equal to or outnumbering the inhabitants of the United States of America.
	Preparing For Climate Change On Way To Cancun By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis TOKYO (IDN) - More than 100 countries have stated that they wish to be associated with the contentious Copenhagen Accord emerging from the climate change conference in December 2009. The United Nations top climate change official Yvo de Boer deems this as a clear indication that the international community wants to move forward.
	Stop Blaming the Cow, Please! By Stefano Colombo IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis ROME (IDN) – When top managers of giant oil and industrial companies or major car-makers eat a good steak, they probably rejoice twice – thanks to the meal of course but also because cows are now blamed for being the major single source of greenhouse gases. They would have ample arguments: international organisations, including the United Nations, estimate that cows and livestock in general are responsible for around 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, more than the transport industry, which is said to be responsible for 13 percent.
	Lighting A Billion Lives For Rural Citizens By Prakash Joshi IDN-InDepth NewsFeature NEW DELHI (IDN) - Seizing on its experience with renewable energy technology and its deep understanding of rural needs, TERI (The Energy Research Institute), in 2007, made a commitment to eradicate the crucial aspect of energy access through a targeted campaign called ‘Lighting a Million Lives’.
	UN Warns Against Over-Dependence On GMOs By Maria Luisa Vargas IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis MEXICO CITY (IDN) - Some nine billion people are expected to inhabit the planet earth by 2050. This growth forecast is giving rise to the question how the growing number of people will be fed. The biotech industry sees no problem at all. In its view, the way out of the current impasse and toward meeting future requirements is in the deployment of genetic engineering. But the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) does not share this view.
	Green Energy The Only Non-Exploited Resource In Africa By Babukar Kashka IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) – Paradoxically, Africa -- the continent most exploited by giant corporations that plunder its natural resources, and the one which contributes the least to global warming -- is now urged to further produce green energy and implement more climate-friendly projects. In fact, a Nairobi-based UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report for the three-day (March 3-6) Second African Carbon Forum, stresses that Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world in developing renewable energy projects with initiatives aimed at producing clean and ‘green’ energy remaining largely under-exploited.
	IPCC Remains Credible Despite Minor Errors By IDN Global Desk By IDN Global Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has come under severe attack for some minor errors in its extensive 2007 report on climate change. But, on the whole, the IPCC’s conclusions remain indisputable: Climate change is happening now and human activity is causing it. There is no alternative for countries around the world to adapt to at least some climate change, including sea level rise, changes in precipitation, disruptions to agriculture, and species extinctions.
	‘Climate Change is Killing People in Drylands’ Ramesh Jaura talks to UN Assistant Secretary General Luc Gnacadja IDN-InDepth NewsInterview BERLIN (IDN) - “Enhancing soils anywhere enhances life everywhere,” says UN’s top official Luc Gnacadja, who is tasked with combating land degradation and drought – not only in Africa, the most vulnerable continent, but all along the drylands belt running from Latin America through Sahel and Asia.
	New Signals For A Global Climate Change Accord By Kamala Viswanathan IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis JAKARTA (IDN) - A landmark conference in Indonesia has rekindled a momentous proposal for the establishment of a World Environment Organisation tabled at the UN General Assembly Special Session some thirteen years ago.
	‘Great Green Wall’ To Halt the Spread of the Sahara By Jerome Mwanda IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis DAKAR (IDN) – A gigantic wall stretching over thousands of kilometres is being erected in Africa, which has no parallels in human history except the Green Wall of China designed to hold back the Gobi desert. The African fence -- named the 'Great Green Wall', which will run through 11 countries -- is purported to halt the southward advance of the Sahara.
	No Tigers In The Year Of The Tiger By Babukar Kashka IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) – Nearly half of the world celebrated with China the start of the Year of The Tiger, while almost the other half enjoyed parties, exchanged presents on Saint Valentine’s Day and danced in carnivals. But probably a few thought that very day, Feb. 14, that tigers have practically disappeared from the face of Earth.
	Illicit Wildlife Trade Third Largest After Arms, Drugs By Babukar Kashka IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) - With an estimated value of up to 20 billion dollars a year, the booming illegal trade in wildlife, which is vital to the whole system of life including human life, is reported to be the world’s third largest illicit business after arms and drugs.
	UN Atomic Energy Agency Combats Malnutrition By Clive Banerjee IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis VIENNA (IDN) – More than six million children in developing lands die of malnutrition every year. Keen to remedy this unacceptable situation, a United Nations agency has started an ambitious project.
	The Way Forward After Copenhagen By Martin Khor* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) - The global negotiating framework for climate change is in a state of flux because of the confusing manner in which the Copenhagen Conference ended last December. The way forward is to quickly resume the negotiations in the multilateral arena of the UNFCCC and its two working groups. The UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) Copenhagen Conference ended in some disarray and confusion because of a clash between two processes taking place.
	The Big Man-Made Ways Of Killing Dolphins By Babukar Kashka IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) - Fishing, noise, gillnets, traps, weirs, longlines, trawls, plastic debris, chemicals, seismic surveys, oil exploration, and military sonars are just some of the biggest killers of the world’s whales, dolphins and porpoises. All are man-made. The result is that 86 per cent of all toothed whale species are at risk. The news about this unnoticed but steady killing of species jumped after less than one month since the launch of the UN International Year Of Biodiversity 2010.
	Nuclear Divorce, Italian Style? By Roberto Bianchi IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis ROME (IDN) - The nuclear resurgence in Italy -- triggered by the adoption of new energy legislation in July 2009 -- is set to burst like a soap bubble in the wake of an inter-regional body rejecting the energy policy pursued by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government. With an eye on regional elections on March 28, Berlusconi himself is expected to drop the pro-nuclear stance so as to win the polls. This outlook is a source of concern to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Its Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said in Rome on February 3 that “a clear integrated long-term vision for the energy sector” including nuclear power was necessary.
	“Please Cut Emissions and Help Us Adapt” Tatjana Baumann Talks To IPCC Agronomist DR. RAMADJITA TABO IDN-InDepth NewsInterview BERLIN (IDN) – Africa is profoundly vulnerable to climate change though the entire continent produces only four per cent of the global total carbon dioxide emissions, says Dr. Ramadjita Tabo, an eminent agronomist from the Chad and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. In an interview with IDN correspondent Tatjana Baumann during a visit to Germany in January, Dr. Tabo -- who is Deputy Executive Director of FARA -- said that a continent which is hardly contributing to global warming should not be asked to take “more or less the same level of measures as the developed countries”.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: Developing Countries Advised Caution BY IDN CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) - While China, Brazil, South Africa and India say they will disclose by January 31 the voluntary steps they would take to help reduce global warming, an intergovernmental policy think-tank is asking developing countries to observe caution when considering how to respond to the Copenhagen Accord. The agreement was brokered by the United States, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa at the UN conference on climate change last year.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: Heavyweight Investors Urge Action BY IDN GLOBAL DESK IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) - As the UN climate change secretariat prepares for the first global round of post-Copenhagen meetings at its headquarters in June in Bonn, an international coalition of investor groups is calling for concluding a legally-binding agreement this year.
	BIODIVERSITY: Variety Of Life - Breaking, Diminishing, Vanishing BY BABUKAR KASHKA IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NAIROBI (IDN) - Don’t call it biological diversity or biodiversity if you don’t wish -- just call it variety of life, which is the same thing. So, please don’t run away from understanding it -- it is not horribly technical or toughly scientific. And it is fascinating. Perhaps a first approach to it is to just remember that the natural environment provides the basic conditions without which humanity could not survive. Then, life on the blue planet is contained within the biosphere -- a thin and irregular envelope around the Earth’s surface, just a few kilometres deep around the radius of the globe.
	DEVELOPMENT: Dream and Reality BY JULIO GODOY IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BERLIN (IDN) - In his unclassifiable book Invisible Cities, Italian writer Italo Calvino tells the story of Leonia, a fictive city inhabited by insatiable people, who readily confess that their main passion is the enjoyment of new, different things. Every evening, the inhabitants of Leonia throw away the debris of their day's glowing "new, different" goods. The city is surrounded by growing mountains of these yesterday's leftovers -- it is these mountains which make the city invisible from outside.
	NOT-SO-WONDERFUL COPENHAGEN: The View from Washington BY ERNEST COREA IDN-InDepthNews Service WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - The concluding moments of COP15 (the fifteenth conference of parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, better known as the Copenhagen Conference) were overshadowed here by, of all things, the local weather.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: A History, Of Sorts, Is Made BY RAMESH JAURA IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) – Copenhagen will probably go down in the history of climate diplomacy as a synonym for disaster, evoking memories of ‘something is rotten in the state of Denmark’. But this is not why a history, of sorts, has been made in Copenhagen. The real reasons are different. International conferences by their very nature are not known to end up in failure, with zero results. But COP15 -- the fifteenth conference of parties to the UN Framework Convention in Climate Change (UNFCCC) -- distinguishes itself from other UN conferences in that its outcome is subject to interpretation.
	VIEWPOINT: Deadlock at Copenhagen at Half Way Mark BY MARTIN KHOR* IDN-InDepthNews Service (IDN) - With only days to go before political leaders arrive, the Copenhagen climate summit is in the grip of a deadlock over the future of the global climate regime More than half way through the UN Copenhagen Climate Conference, the fate of the meeting lies in the balance between partial success and outright failure. The conference has just completed its first week. The more difficult and tense part will come this second week, when a hundred Presidents and Prime Ministers are expected to attend on Dec. 17 and 18.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: Bhutan Pledges Carbon Neutrality BY NEDUP TSHERING* IDN-InDepthNews Service THIMPHU (IDN) – The under-reported Bhutan’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to combat climate change recognizes that the landlocked South Asian nation is highly vulnerable to climate change. With its fragile ecosystem, glacier lake outburst floods in the northern mountains constitute an ever-present threat. Of the 2,674 glacial lakes in Bhutan, 24 are considered to be potentially dangerous, says a new report.
	CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: ‘We All Breathe the Same Air’ BY ERNEST COREA IDN-InDepthNews Service WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently made the legally required determination that will enable it to crackdown on green house gas (GHG) emissions. EPA’s positive move is likely to have improved, even slightly, America’s credibility as a partner in climate change negotiations. President Barack Obama and EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson have both said that they prefer legislative solutions to the problems of climate change.
	GLOBAL ECONOMY: ‘Over $1 Trillion Invested in Green’ BY J. CHANDLER IDN-InDepthNews Service TORONTO (IDN) - Private investors from industrialised and emerging economies have invested a record amount of more than 1.248 trillion USD ($1,248,740,645,993.00) since 2007 in promoting technological innovation and resource efficiency that will accelerate environmentally and socially sustainable industrial growth and economic development throughout the world.
	COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE: Denmark Bashed For Bias BY RAMESH JAURA IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) – The Danish government has achieved the dubious distinction of becoming the first in the history of climate negotiations to be bashed for “bias and secrecy” in its role as president of the conference of parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As climate negotiations opened in Copenhagen Dec 7, some 25 civil society organisations around the world issued a statement strongly criticising the Danish government "for acting in a biased, manipulative and non-transparent manner".
	COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE: $200 Billion Could Make the Difference BY RITA SELANDERS IDN-InDepthNews Service COPENHAGEN (IDN) - While the World Future Council is calling upon the delegates of UN climate conference Dec. 7-18 to surpass the “pitifully poor promises to date” and unleash the Zero Carbon Economy, Oxfam International says $200 billion could mean the difference between success and failure in Copenhagen.
	COUNTDOWN TO COPENHAGEN: China Shows the Way BY JEROME MWANDA IDN-InDepthNews Service NAIROBI (IDN) – China is showing the way to combating climate change both by announcing cuts in CO2 emissions and assisting African countries in development of clean energy. This has evoked praise from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). On Nov. 26 China's State Council announced that the country would reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent compared with the level of 2005.
	COUNTDOWN TO COPENHAGEN: Misinformation or Disinformation? BY RAMESH JAURA IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) – Call it misinformation or disinformation. The industrialised countries are insisting that the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and that the foundations of a new treaty, the so-called post-Kyoto agreement, should be laid at the forthcoming UN climate change conference. Nothing could be further from the truth. “The Kyoto Protocol is not yoghurt, it does not have an expiry date,” says a senior negotiator.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: Bureaucracy Way Out of ‘Catch 22’? BY JULIO GODOY* IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) - Catch 22, the title of the novel by U.S. author Joseph Heller, has become since the books publication in the early 1960s a synonym of for a no-win situation. The title refers to a fictive, absurd military rule, which in the novel states that soldiers who declare themselves insane must be healthy to do so and consequently have no excuse to fulfil their dangerous army missions. However, in its popular interpretation, catch 22 epitomises the perplexity of a situation in which whatever you do is wrong.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: When Will They Walk The Talk? BY JAYA RAMACHANDRAN IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) - There is so much gloom and doom after Barcelona and St. Andrews that a catastrophic climate change appears inevitable. Some seem to envision the planet Earth being smashed to the smithereens if the milestone Copenhagen conference fails to reach a legally binding agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol that holds the ground until 2012.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: Blowing Hot and Cold BY JAYA RAMACHANDRAN IDN-InDepthNews Service BARCELONA (IDN) – As the milestone UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen draws closer, hot and cold blowing is gathering momentum. This became obvious as the last negotiating session before the Conference kicked off Nov. 2 in Barcelona, Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) called on President Obama to earn the Nobel Prize he was given for his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy.
	DEVELOPMENT: Who Is Afraid of ‘Hunger Reports’? BY RAMESH JAURA IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) - Hunger is far from ‘sexy’ -- and yet it is the central theme of two new reports published two days ahead of the World Food Day Oct. 16 when conforming to the “same procedure as every year” the well-fed of planet earth juggle statistics as if these were crystal balls predicting ways toward a hunger-free world.
	Q&A: ‘Agriculture Key To Food Security And Climate Change’ IDN-InDepthNews Service interviews IFAD President Kanayo F Nwanze BERLIN/ROME (IDN) – “Agriculture is the vital link between the two burning issues of feeding a growing population and preserving the planet we live on.” says IFAD president Kanayo F Nwanze. It is crucial, therefore, that the deal expected to emerge from the landmark climate change conference in Copenhagen recognises that connect, Nwanze says in an e-mail interview with IDN-InDepthNews Service and Global Perspectives – a journal for international cooperation.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: ‘The Energy Pathway to Green Growth’ BY RAMESH JAURA IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) - As the international community girds up its loins for the landmark climate change conference this December in Copenhagen, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has issued a stern warning against persisting in business-as-usual attitude. At the same time, it shows “the energy pathway to Green Growth”. "If the world continues on the basis of today's energy and climate policies, the consequences of climate change will be severe," said Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of Paris-based IEA, releasing part of a World Energy Outlook (WEO) on Oct. 6 in advance of the full report.
	Parliamentarians Urge Greater Efforts on Land Degradation BY UWE HOLTZ* IDN-InDepthNews Service BONN/BUENOS AIRES (IDN) - Besides the tasks of maintaining peace and avoiding wars between and within countries, our planet is faced with two challenges in this century: the fight against poverty and against climate change through sustainable development paths -- challenges which are sharpened by the current economic crisis and cannot be tackled without addressing food security and desertification issues. This was one of the important outcomes of a Round Table for Parliamentarians in Buenos Aires in parallel with the ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
	TOWARD COPENHAGEN: 'A Deal is Possible' IDN-InDepthNews Service (IDN) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosted a dinner Sep. 22 for leaders to discuss how to translate the political momentum from that day's historic summit into concrete progress that will lead to success at Copenhagen in December.
	TOWARD COPENHAGEN: 'Biodiversity is Critical' BY JAYA RAMACHANDRAN IDN-InDepthNews Service GENEVA (IDN) - Biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides are under increasing threat from climate change, warns IUCN, the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,000 government and NGO members and volunteer experts in some 160 countries.
	UNITED NATIONS: Seeking Momentum of Support For Two Key Issues BY ERNEST COREA IDN-InDepth News Service WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - Climate change and nuclear disarmament will be dominant issues at the United Nations this month, the opening month of the UN General Assembly’s 64th annual session which commenced on Sept. 15.
	TOWARD COPENHAGEN: Developing Nations Reject ‘Climate Protectionism’ BY RAMESH JAURA IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) – In run-up to a critical global conference coming December in Denmark, the developing countries are not inclined to “suffer the slings and arrows” of a new and dangerous form of trade and technology protectionism fast emerging in the name of Climate Change. On way to Copenhagen, they are determined to “take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them”. In fact they have no option other than opposing strong winds and rough seas on way to the United Nations climate change negotiations Dec. 7-18.
	TOWARD COPENHAGEN: Rich Nations Owe Two-Fold 'Climate Debt' BY JAYA RAMACHADRAN IDN-InDepthNews Service BRUSSELS (IDN) - Rich industrialised countries owe a ‘climate debt’ for causing global warming that is mostly impacting the poor and vulnerable of the world. This view is gaining ground as the international community heads for the United Nations climate change conference Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: 'A Global Budget Will Ensure Success in Copenhagen' BY RAMESH JAURA IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) - An independent scientific group claims to have found a new approach to cutting the Gordian knot -- that the sluggish climate negotiations have come to symbolise -- and achieving a global climate treaty at the UN conference this December in Copenhagen.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: A New Chapter in Global Diplomacy? BY JAYA RAMACHANDRAN IDN-InDepth News Service BERLIN (IDN) - India, China and 53 African countries – together home to more than half of the world's population -- have opened what may turn out to be a new chapter in the history of international climate diplomacy as the clock ticks down to Copenhagen.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: No 'Divine Rights' of the Industrial Rich BY RAMESH JAURA IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) "What we're talking about is a profound change of industrial civilisation. It would be surprising if there weren't stumbling blocks," said Sweden's lead climate negotiator and chairman of the EU working group, Anders Turesson, wrapping up the latest round of informal negotiations in Bonn.
	AFRICA: Humanitarian Disaster Feared As Desertification Spreads BY LILLIAN ALUANGA* IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN/NAIROBI (IDN) - Environmental experts are warning of an impending humanitarian disaster in Africa, emerging from creeping desertification. If unchecked, it would undo remarkable social and economic progress achieved over decades and wipe millions off the face of the continent.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: It Takes Two To Untie the Gordian Knot BY RAMESH JAURA IDN-InDepthNews Service BERLIN (IDN) – Forging a durable global consensus on a new climate accord reminisces of a highly intricate knot that, according to an ancient Greek legend, resisted all attempted solutions until Alexander the Great cut through it with a sword.
	ENVIRONMENT: Polluters Must Inform Citizens BY RAMESH JAURA BERLIN (IDN) – A new international treaty requiring industries to inform citizens about the nature and quantity of pollutants they emit into the air will enter into force on October 8, some two months in run-up to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: Funding Remains a Major Challenge BY RAMESH JAURA BERLIN (IDN) - UN's top climate change official Yvo de Boer has expressed the hope that the forthcoming informal negotiations August 10-14 in Bonn will give governments "a great opportunity to make further concrete and substantive progress on the key issues" that need to be resolved to reach an agreed outcome in Copenhagen in December.
	UNITED NATIONS: Onto the New Multilateralism Bandwagon BY RAÚL DE SAGASTIZABAL* MONTEVIDEO (IDN) - The international financial agencies’ reform bids have now been supplemented by an United Nations overhauling initiative. Additional resources, tougher powers for the organization, are the scheme’s mainstay. Strikingly enough, the idea stepped to the fore in a context where the developing countries were wondering whether it made any sense for them to keep making contributions to international political organizations, such as the UN. . .
	CLIMATE CHANGE: 'Put Agriculture on Copenhagen Agenda' BY RAMESH JAURA BERLIN (IDN) – Though climate negotiators from around the world still have a long way to go before reaching a solid agreement on a multitude of issues inextricably liked to global warming, they are being asked to add agriculture to their backpacks as they get ready for the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen this December.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: Half Full And The Nearly Empty Glass BY RAMESH JAURA BONN (IDN) - UN's top climate official, Yvo de Boer, is not shy about showing his emotions. But he knows that in diplomacy it is more rewarding to speak of a glass that is at least half full. Climate activists, however, have reason to focus on the glass that is nearly empty.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: Activists Plan Massive Disruption in Copenhagen BY JAYA RAMACHADRAN BONN (IDN) - A new group of activists is threatening to cause massive disruption of the UN climate change conference December 7-18 in the Danish capital Copenhagen.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: China Tables Tough Agenda For Copenhagen BY RAMESH JAURA BERLIN (IDN) - With an eye on the critical Copenhagen climate change conference in December, China is asking industrial countries to slash their greenhouse gas emissions by no less than 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. In a new document posted on the website of the country's economic policy-making National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China is also calling upon the rich countries to provide at least 0.5 to 1 percent of their annual gross domestic product to help developing countries grapple with climate change.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: 'Honour ODA Commitments' BY JAYA RAMACHANDRAN STOCKHOLM (IDN) - The International Commission on Climate Change and Development has urged donors to honour their ODA commitments. Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Chair of the Commission Gunilla Carlsson said, local ownership is key and that new and additional money for adaptation is needed together with effective global funding mechanisms to help people adapt to the already visible effects of climate change.
	CLIMATE CHANGE: The Anchorage Agenda of Indigenous Peoples BY J CHANDLER TORONTO (IDN) Indigenous peoples from around the world have called upon the developed countries to reduce their emissions by at least 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 95 percent by 2050.
	DEVELOPMENT: 'Somalia Tragedy Rooted in Depletion of Natural Resources' BY JAYA RAMACHANDRAN SYRACUSE, Italy (IDN) The Somalia tragedy – highlighted by the hijacking of ships in the Gulf of Aden – is rooted in depletion of the natural resources of an eastern African country that has been torn by civil strife since 1991.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Bonn Talks Signal Start of Serious Negotiation BY JAYA RAMACHANDRAN BONN (IDN) – The first round of international global warming talks since the disappointing Poznan conference last December concluded here April 8, signalling that a lot needs to be done over the next eight months to ensure a strong agreement in Copenhagen.
The Global Green New Deal BY RAMESH JAURA [IDN] When UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a Green New Deal at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznañ last December, the uninitiated thought he was presenting a new concept that would work for all nations, rich as well as poor, in the face of both climate change and the global economy.
Renewables Go Global BY RAMESH JAURA [IDN] Renewables have indeed gone global. The newlyfounded world-organisation International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) already represents over two and a half billion people, over a third of the global population. After India joined IRENA as its 76th member, the number of people living in its member states and thus directly impacted by the agency rose to more than 2.5 billion.
Forward, Hopefully Past the Hurdles BY RAMESH JAURA [IDN] Despite scepticism about the Bali roadmap, the international community has come a long way in hammering out a truly global response to the serious threat posed by climate change. But the global climate diplomacy is faced with several hurdles that must be overcome in the next two years. These involve changing the hearts and minds of the ruling elite in both the developed and developing countries.
	'Bali Conference Very Much a Make or a Break' BY RAMESH JAURA [IDN] International negotiations beginning Dec. 3 in Bali are crucial for saving our planet from the devastating effects of global warming, says Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).