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Archive for October 20th, 2010
Canada: Feds failing to meet legal obligations regarding oilsands, report says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
Postmedia News: The federal government is contributing to international controversy over the oilsands by failing to live up to its legal and constitutional responsibilities to regulate the industry, says a new report released on Wednesday. The analysis, Duty Calls: Federal responsibility in Canada's oilsands, highlights at least five different laws that require the government to act, not including its constitutional responsibilities toward aboriginal peoples. The report, produced jointly by ...
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World must start putting a value on nature
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
Telegraph: The ground-breaking move was suggested at a UN meeting of more than 190 countries in Nagoya, Japan to discuss the loss of wildlife around the world. Pavan Sukhdev, an economist based in London, was ordered to look at the value of nature in the same way British economist Nicholas Stern's famous 2006 report looked at the financial implications of climate change. His three year report said 'ecosystem goods and services', such as the medicines found in plants or oxygen provided by ...
Report: Climate change threatens emerging superpowers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
Business Green: Some of the "big economies of the future" are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, according to a new study published today. UK consultancy Maplecroft identified Bangladesh and India as the two countries facing the greatest risks to their populations, ecosystems and business environments after ranking 170 countries based on their exposure to climate-related natural disasters and their social, economic and political ability to adapt to a changing ...
Pavan Sukhdev’s foreword to The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
Guardian
New method yields more rice with less water: Oxfam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
Reuters: Rice farmers could boost their yields by 50 percent with a new method that uses less water Oxfam America said on Wednesday as climate change and drought threaten the staple crop. Growing rice -- considered the major calorie source for about half the world's population -- is water-intensive, accounting for as much as one-third of the planet's annual freshwater use, said Oxfam, a development group. Rice farmers normally rely on flooding their fields to keep seeds covered in water ...
Political action is needed to harness value of biodiversity
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
SciDev.Net: Protecting biodiversity can cut poverty, but policymakers need to give the poor more control of resources, says Dilys Roe. This week, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meet in Nagoya, Japan, to negotiate a new deal on conserving biodiversity. At the heart of the discussions is a draft strategic plan to guide the convention's implementation for the next 10 years. The ambitious plan includes more than 20 targets on issues such as public awareness, subsidy ...
Asia tops climate change’s ‘most vulnerable’ list
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
New Scientist: SEEKING to escape the worst effects of climate change? A comprehensive vulnerability index suggests you move to Scandinavia, Ireland or Iceland. And although Africa is often regarded as the most vulnerable continent, it finds that the teeming plains of Asia are at greater risk in the next 30 years. Ten of the 16 most vulnerable countries are in Asia (see map). The Climate Change Vulnerability Index was produced by Maplecroft, a British risk analysis firm. It has crunched data from ...
Study: Climate change to cause extreme world drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
USA Today: The United States and many other heavily populated countries could face extreme drought in the next 30 years unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, a new study finds. Warming temperatures associated with climate change will likely create increasingly dry conditions that have rarely, if ever, been observed in modern times, according to the study by Aiguo Dai, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The Colorado-based center is funded by National Science ...
Kyrgyzstan: Melting glaciers threaten Central Asia’s ecological and energy future
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
EurasiaNet: Glaciers in Kyrgyzstan are starting to recede at an alarming rate, and with them, the country's once limitless supply of fresh water -- and electricity -- is washing away. Downstream, river reservoirs this year were overflowing, causing authorities to lament the loss of precious water in summertime when it isn't needed to make electricity, EurasiaNet.org reported Monday. The change threatens to disrupt a vital cycle: the glaciers melt in the summer when the water fills up ...
Insects £134bn, coral £109bn – UN puts a value on nature’s resources
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2010
Independent: Nature and the services it provides are worth trillions of dollars annually to human society, and governments and businesses must formally recognise this to halt the continuing degradation of the natural world, a groundbreaking UN report said yesterday. The enormous economic value of forests, freshwater, soils and coral reefs, as well as the social and economic consequences of their loss, must be factored into political and economic policies in all countries, according to the new ...