Global warming expert raises concerns for tourism industry

29 April 2008 - BANGKOK (AFP) — Nobel Peace Prize recipient Rajendra Pachauri Tuesday warned tourism industry chiefs they need to reduce their impact on climate change as consumers become more environmentally aware.
"The tourism industry, for its own sake, will have to adapt," Pachauri said to more than 200 Asia Pacific airline, hotel and tourist company chief executives at a conference on tourism and climate change.

"I would appeal to you and urge you to take steps so that you are seen not as the problem but as part of the solution," the head of the UN's Nobel prizewinning climate panel said in a pre-recorded video. Global warming has the potential to melt ski resorts out of business and drown island getaways with rising sea levels, Pachauri told the first Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) climate change conference. More>>>

Climate change could force 1 billion from their homes by 2050

Tuesday, 29 April 2008 - As many as one billion people could lose their homes by 2050 because of the devastating impact of global warming, scientists and political leaders will be warned today.

They will hear that the steady rise in temperatures across the planet could trigger mass migration on unprecedented levels. Hundreds of millions could be forced to go on the move because of water shortages and crop failures in most of Africa, as well as in central and southern Asia and South America, the conference in London will be told. There could also be an effect on levels of starvation and on food prices as agriculture struggles to cope with growing demand in increasingly arid conditions. Rising sea levels could also cause havoc, with coastal communities in southern Asia, the Far East, the south Pacific islands and the Caribbean seeing their homes submerged. More>>>

Global Warming Consensus

Ronald Bailey points to an interesting survey by the Statistical Assesment Service (STATS) on global warming. It is a survey of the views of climate scientists. Here are some of the findings:

• Ninety-seven percent of the climate scientists surveyed believe “global average temperatures have increased” during the past century.
• Eighty-four percent say they personally believe human-induced warming is occurring, and 74% agree that “currently available scientific evidence” substantiates its occurrence. Only 5% believe that that human activity does not contribute to greenhouse warming; the rest are unsure.
• A slight majority (54%) believe the warming measured over the last 100 years is not “within the range of natural temperature fluctuation.”
• A slight majority (56%) see at least a 50-50 chance that global temperatures will rise two degrees Celsius or more during the next 50 to 100 years.
• Based on current trends, 41% of scientists believe global climate change will pose a very great danger to the earth in the next 50 to 100 years, compared to 13% who see relatively little danger. Another 44% rate climate change as moderately dangerous.
• Seventy percent see climate change as very difficult to manage over the next 50 to 100 years, compared to only 5% who see it as not very difficult to manage. Another 23% see moderate difficulty in managing these changes. More>>>
  

World Facing Huge New Challenge on Food Front

"Food security will deteriorate further unless leading countries can collectively mobilize to stabilize population, restrict the use of grain to produce automotive fuel, stabilize climate, stabilize water tables and aquifers, protect cropland, and conserve soils.
Stabilizing population is not simply a matter of providing reproductive health care and family planning services. It requires a worldwide effort to eradicate poverty. Eliminating water shortages depends on a global attempt to raise water productivity similar to the effort launched a half-century ago to raise land productivity, an initiative that has nearly tripled the world grain yield per hectare. None of these goals can be achieved quickly, but progress toward all is essential to restoring a semblance of food security." — Lester Brown, President, Earth Policy Institute. More >>>

The Washington Post called Lester Brown "one of the world's most influential thinkers." The Telegraph of Calcutta refers to him as “the guru of the environmental movement.” In 1986, the Library of Congress requested his personal papers noting that his writings “have already strongly affected thinking about problems of world population and resources.”

Climate a “Life and Death” Issue for Native Peoples

UNITED NATIONS - 24 April 2008 - Leaders of the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples are calling for the United Nations to include their voices in its future talks on climate change.

“Both the climate change and its solutions are concerns for indigenous peoples,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chairperson of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Currently, the Forum, which includes 16 representatives — eight nominated by governments and eight by indigenous representatives — is holding its seventh annual meeting in New York. The meeting is being is being attended by more than 3,300 delegates from around the world.

“The indigenous peoples contribute the smallest ecological footprints on Earth,” according to Tauli-Corpuz, “but they suffer the worst impacts from climate change and mitigation measures, such as the loss of land and biofuel production.”
Despite representation from nearly 500 aboriginal groups worldwide, the Forum is not empowered to enact laws; it can only advise the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), a 54-member U.N. body, whose members are elected by the General Assembly every three years.

Last year in September, the General Assembly passed a historic resolution calling for the recognition of indigenous peoples’ right to control their lands and resources, but fell short of saying the “Universal Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples” was legally binding.
Indigenous leaders they want both the governments and private corporations to incorporate the declaration into their national economic, political, cultural and environmental policies, so that indigenous people can participate in the process of development in a meaningful way. More >>>

UN Climate Change Official: More Incentives Needed for Developing Countries

Beijing - 24 April 2008 -The top U.N. official on climate change says industrialized countries need to offer more incentives to China and other developing countries to reduce gas emissions. Daniel Schearf reports for VOA from Beijing that China is fast overtaking the United States as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses, believed by many scientists to be warming the planet.

The U.N. official in charge of the framework convention on climate change, Yvo de Boer, says wealthy nations need to offer advanced technology and financial incentives to reduce China's gas emissions. China has sought to reduce its energy consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases, but has fallen short of its own targets.

China's energy needs have been growing along with its booming economy, and the government needs fast growth to maintain stability.
De Boer said the government is making efforts, but it is trying to perform a delicate balancing act. More >>>

Climate change - are we doing enough?

23 April 2008 - Are plans to cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent enough to stave off the worst effects of climate change?

The latest draft of the Climate Change Bill may be riddled with unclear and insufficient targets for carbon reduction, but its defenders across all parties agreed that it’s the best option at the moment for meeting the ambitious 60 per cent reduction in carbon emissions promised by Gordon Brown last year.

The issues were debated by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, Conservative spokesman Peter Ainsworth, Lib Dem Steve Webb, and Friends of the Earth (FoE) director Tony Juniper at a joint FoE/Evening Standard event in central London on 22 April. The bill has been amended by the House of Lords, and will be put to the Commons within this legislative year. More >>>