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News
News Archive
Non-Annex I (NAI) Newsletter
Edition 1-May 2008
Edition 2-April 2004
Edition 3-February 2003
United Nations Climate Change Conference - 4 to 9 October 2010 in Tianjin, China
The fourteenth session of the AWG-KP and the twelfth session of the AWG-LCA will take place from Monday, 4 to Saturday, 9 October 2010 at the Tianjin Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center (MJCEC), Tianjin, China. The above-mentioned sessions will be preceded by preparatory meetings of the Group of 77 and China, the African Group, the small islands developing States and the least developed countries from Tuesday, 28 September to Sunday, 3 October 2010.
Further information on the conference can be found here
United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali,2007(Earth Negotiations Bulletin)
Published by thebInternational Institute for Sustainable Development(IISD)
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UN Breakthrough on climate change reached in Bali
Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia-12 December 2007
187 countries meeting in Bali on Saturday agreed to launch negotiations towards a crucial and strengthened international climate change deal.
Press Release
Press briefing by Yvo de Boer at Carbon Forum Asia: Start of negotiations for post-2012 agreement crucial for health of the planet
Singapore 6 November 2007
The UNFCCC Executive Secretary told stakeholders at the Carbon Forum Asia tradefair and conference that the negotiations need to begin this December to avoid a gap between the end of the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period and whatever agreement comes next. “We’ve seen several positive signals, such as the statements made by heads of state at the Secretary-General’s high level event in September in New York, and broad agreement by ministers who met in Indonesia just a few weeks ago. Nonetheless, we must stay focussed, and achieve a formal launch of negotiations in Bali in December, one that sets out a timetable and a means for moving forward,” Mr. de Boer said.
Press Release
Nobel Peace Prize for IPCC and Al Gore
The 2007 Award
Calling for a sharper focus on actions that could address climate change, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the IPCC, and former US Vice President Al Gore. “Action is necessary now, before climate change moves beyond man’s control.”
•The joint award, according to the Committee, was for “efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”
•“Through the scientific reports it has issued over the past two decades,” the Committee stated, “the IPCC has created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming. Thousands of scientists and officials from over one hundred countries have collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of the warming.“
•And Al Gore, the Committee said, “is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted.”
Environment minister's joy overflows
12 December 2005-MONTREAL
Environment Minister Stéphane Dion appeared positively giddy when, just after dawn on Saturday morning, he banged down his gavel to close the United Nations conference on climate change.
more
Plan to extend Kyoto
11 December 2005-MONTREAL
Delegates from 157 countries wound up a tense, all-night negotiating session by agreeing to draft a new, long-range plan to combat climate change.The deal, which Environment Minister Stephane Dion dubbed the Montreal Action Plan, calls for binding commitments to cut greenhouse emissions beyond 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires.Details must be worked out in new talks, but the agreement will give new credibility to the much-criticized Kyoto process.
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U.N. climate talks agree to push Kyoto forward
10 December 2005-(Reuters) Environment ministers agreed at U.N. talks on Saturday to begin a new round of negotiations to decide the shape of the Kyoto Protocol after the first phase ends in 2012.Following are highlights of their decisions.The 157 countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol agreed:
-- to start "a process to consider further commitments" for developed nations beyond 2012, when a first phase of curbs on carbon dioxide runs out.
more
New UNFCCC publication confirms decreases in greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries, highlights the challenges ahead
17 November 2005 - In its new publication, the United Nations Climate Change secretariat confirms that developed countries, taken as a group, have achieved sizable emission reductions. Compared to the 1990 levels, overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of these countries were down 5.9% in 2003. But the secretariat warns that further efforts are required to sustain these reductions and to cut the emissions further.
more
Costs, stakes, uncertainties high in climate change debate
While the recent implementation of the Kyoto Protocol marked a key milestone, international accord on how best to address climate change remains elusive, as doomsday scientific forecasts clash with thorny political realities. No one knows exactly how, when or where global warming will play out. And in diplomatic circles, the "who" and "what" may be most significant, as in which countries -- citizens and companies included -- will bear the greatest burdens to control greenhouse gas emissions...
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Canada to host annual climate change conference
Canada will host the first Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Montreal in conjunction with the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention. The Conference will take place from 28 November to 9 December 2005 at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal.
more
AVOIDING DANGEROUS CLIMATE CHANGE: A SCIENTIFIC SYMPOSIUM ON STABILIZATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES
February 2005
The question of when climate change could become “dangerous” was discussed by experts attending a major scientific symposium in England. The International Symposium on the Stabilisation of Greenhouse Gases – ‘Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change’, held from 1-3 February in Exeter, was sponsored by the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at the request of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This event sought to advance scientific understanding of and encourage scientific debate on the long term implications of climate change, the relevance of stabilization goals, and technological options to reach such goals. One paper argued that serious impacts will accelerate once average temperatures rise by 2°C above pre-industrial levels. According to new research from a WWF study, global temperatures could hit that mark as soon as 2026. Another report warned of up to 150 million “environmental refugees” in the coming decades as people are displaced by sea level rise, flooding, and storms. Participants were also briefed on evidence that Africa could bear the brunt of global warming, as malnutrition, hunger and diseases such as malaria start to spread. Tony Blair has promised to make climate change and Africa two of his highest priorities during the UK’s G8 Presidency this year. Research was also presented from the British Antarctic Survey showing that the West Antarctic ice sheet could be disintegrating. If this happened, global sea levels could rise by 16 feet(5 meters). According to the Steering Committee’s report of the meeting, an underlying theme of the conference was “the extent to which it might be possible to identify an optimum response [to climate change], avoiding both dangerous impacts and unacceptable mitigation costs.” The Committee highlighted participants’ view that “major investment is needed now in both mitigation and adaptation. The first is essential to minimize future impacts and the latter is essential to cope with impacts which cannot be avoided in the near to medium term.”
Official conference website
KOBE CONFERENCE AGREES ON DISASTER REDUCTION ACTION PLAN
January 2005
Negotiators attending a major UN conference on disaster reduction have agreed on a ten-year plan to build the resilience of countries and communities to disasters. They also adopted a statement on the recent Indian Ocean tsunami aimed at reducing the risks of such disasters in future.The UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR), which was held from 18-22 January 2005, in Kobe, Japan, took place just weeks after an earthquake-tsunami in the Indian Ocean led to the deaths of over 200,000 people and the loss of livelihoods of millions living in the region. The conference also coincided with the tenth anniversary of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which took over 6,000 lives in Kobe. The aim of the conference was to increase the international profile of disaster risk reduction, promote its integration into development planning and practice, and strengthen local and national capacities to address the causes of disasters that hamper development in many countries. During the meeting, disagreements surfaced over the link between disasters and climate change. The U.S. and some of its allies questioned climate change as the major contributing factor to the increasing number of natural calamities across the globe, while other delegates, particularly those from the EU and the small island developing States, insisted on the important causal link between increasing hazards and climate change. The dispute was eventually resolved when an eleventh hour deal was struck acknowledging both climate change and variability in the outcome of the meeting. By the end of the conference, two outcome documents had been successfully negotiated: one entitled “Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters: Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015,” and the Hyogo Declaration. Delegates also took note of the “Review of the 1994 Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World and its Plan of Action” and adopted a “Common statement on the Special Session on the Indian Ocean Disaster: Risk Reduction for a Safer Future.” With the meeting coming in the wake of one of the most devastating disasters in a century, the general perception among observers and experts seems to be that participants were able to address the urgent needs of the disaster’s aftermath effectively, while also maintaining a strong focus on the long-term goal of reducing disaster risk and vulnerability.
Earth Negotiations Bulletin
NASA: 2005 could be warmest year recorded
February 11, 2005 Posted:CNN
A weak El Nino and human-made greenhouse gases could make 2005 the warmest year since records started being kept in the late 1800s, NASA scientists said this week.
While climate events like El Nino -- when warm water spreads over much of the tropical Pacific Ocean --affect global temperatures, the increasing role of human-made pollutants plays a big part."There has been a strong warming trend over the past 30 years, a trend that has been shown to be due primarily to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," said James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, based in New York.
The warmest year on record was 1998, with 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third, respectively.Short-term factors like large volcanic eruptions that launched tiny particles of sulfuric acid into the upper atmosphere in 1963, 1982 and 1991 can change climates for periods ranging from months to a few years.Last year was the the fourth-warmest recorded, with a global mean temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 Celsius), which was about 1.5 degrees warmer than the middle of the century, NASA scientist Drew Shindell said in an interview.Average temperatures taken from land and surfaces of the oceans showed 2004 was 0.86 degrees Fahrenheit (0.48 Celsius) above the average temperature from 1951 to 1980, according to Hansen.The spike in global temperatures in 1998 was associated with one of the strongest El Ninos of recent centuries and a weak El Nino contributed to the unusually high global temperatures in 2002 and 2003, NASA said.
Carbon dioxide, emitted by autos, industry and utilities, is the most common greenhouse gas. Hansen also said that the Earth's surface now absorbs more of the sun's energy than gets reflected back to space.That extra energy, together with a weak El Nino, is expected to make 2005 warmer than 2003 and 2004 and perhaps even warmer than 1998, which had stood out as far hotter than any year in the preceding century, NASA said in a statement.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday the current weak El Nino will diminish and end during the next three months.
Kyoto Protocol comes into force
The Kyoto Protocol, which aims to slow global warming, has come into force seven years after being agreed
Some 141 countries - who account for about 55% of greenhouse gas emissions - have ratified the treaty, which pledges to cut these emissions by 5.2% by 2012. However, the US and Australia have abstained for economic reasons, and developing countries such as China and India are outside its framework. Kyoto, in Japan, is hosting the main ceremony to mark the occasion.The treaty has come into force 90 days after Russia's crucial decision to ratify it in November 2004. Russia's entry was vital, because for the treaty to work, it has to be ratified by nations accounting for at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions. This target was only met after Russia joined.Individual targets
The protocol, which became a legally binding treaty at midnight New York time (0500 GMT) on 16 February, demands a 5.2% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from the industrialised world as a whole, by 2012. Each country has been set its own individual targets according to its pollution levels. Growing developing countries China and India are outside the framework, a fact pointed out by US President George W Bush when he abandoned Kyoto as one of his first acts when taking office in 2001. Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued a statement welcoming the treaty but also calling on non-signatories to rethink. "From now, we have to build a system in which more nations will work together under the common framework to stop global warming," he said. Hiroyuki Hosoda, Japan's chief government spokesman, said: "We have been calling on the US to join. But the country that is the world's biggest emitter has not joined yet, and that is regrettable." Environmentalists plan to hold protests around the world to mark the treaty coming into force - with many targeting the US. The main ceremony to mark the entry into force of Kyoto will be held in the ancient Japanese capital where the treaty was reached in 1997. Speakers include Nobel Peace prize winner Wangari Maathai. Ms Maathai, an ecologist and Kenya's deputy environment minister, said the Kyoto Protocol would require not just efforts from governments and businesses, but also a change in the way people lived.Tough goals
"One of the reasons why some of the countries don't want to support the Kyoto Protocol is exactly because they don't want to reduce their over-consumptive life pattern," Ms Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, said. "One way of reducing that over-consumption is by learning to reuse a lot of the resources that we use and just throw away." But even for countries that have signed up to Kyoto, meeting the goals could be difficult. Canada, one of the treaty's first signatories, has no clear plan for reaching its target emission cuts. Far from cutting back, its emissions have increased by 20% since 1990. And Japan is also unsure it will be able to meet its legal requirement to slash emissions by 6% from 1990 levels by 2012. "Japan will make all efforts to respect the rules of the Protocol," said Takashi Omura, of the Japanese environment ministry. "It will neither be easy nor insurmountable."RUSSIAN, CANADIAN LEADERS DISCUSS MOSCOW'S RATIFICATION OF KYOTO PROTOCOL
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien discussed prospects for Russia's ratification of the Kyoto protocol, deputy head of the Kremlin administration Sergei Prikhodko said following today's meeting between the two leaders in Bangkok."We have achieved progress in this sphere, however, our experts have some questions to answer and, besides, our partners have to relieve our concerns for the consequences of the protocol ratification for Russia's economy," he said.
http://en.rian.ru
EU Emission Trading Unlikely By 2005
Deutsche Bank (D24.WA) said Monday that it doesn't see E.U. countries starting to trade greenhouse gases emission certificates by 2005 as planned."It won't be possible to respect the timeframe," a bank report said, adding that although the delay was regrettable, it "shouldn't call emission trading into question".
E.U.-wide trading in carbon dioxide emissions is scheduled to start in January 2005, with other gases to follow. Member countries are set to present an allocation plan to the E.U. Commission by March 2004, capping the emission of greenhouse gases by facility and allocating free certificates for the first trading period.
http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com
Call for carbon tax in Ireland
Sustainable Energy Ireland wants Ireland's Greenhouse Gas emissions reduced by recommending the introduction of carbon taxes. It is also recommending a programme of incentives that recognise the cost of energy related greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate a reduction through fuel switching and energy efficiency. It believes if a carbon tax is implemented, some of the revenue raised could be put towards a further reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable Energy Ireland says the way such a system is implemented in Ireland would determine how behaviour changed.Climate change and US agriculture: benefits dwindle as the picture sharpens
Computer-based simulations of U.S. agriculture show that, by the year 2060, the benefits of climate change to American croplands could be less than previous work had indicated. A team of scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities found that finer-scale simulations tend to reduce projected benefits and increase projected losses for a wide range of crops across most parts of the nation.The team's findings, which appear in the September issue of Climatic Change, are being reprinted this month by Kluwer Academic Publishers as a monograph entitled "Issues in the Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Agriculture." NCAR scientist Linda Mearns is the editor and lead investigator.
www.seedquest.com
15.10.03 EU emission trading "could cover aviation" (ENDS Environment Daily)
The so-far muted debate on whether emissions trading should apply to the EU aviation sector leapt forward on Monday when environment commissioner Margot Wallstrِm welcomed a proposal by British airport operator BAA to integrate aviation into the bloc's emission trading scheme as a "possibility [that] merits serious consideration".www.seedquest.com
Organic Agriculture Yields New Weapon Against Global Warming: Groundbreaking study proves organic farming counters greenhouse gases
Kutztown, PA .. After 23 years of field studies on organic farming practices, researchers at The Rodale Institute® have announced exciting new findings with profound implications in the battle against global warming. The Rodale Institute's groundbreaking Farming Systems Trial®, the world's longest running study of organic farming, has documented that organic soils actually scrub the atmosphere of global warming gases by capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide and converting it into soil material. This is the first study to differentiate organic farming techniques from conventional agricultural practices for their ability to serve as carbon "sinks."www.enn.com
Ninth Conference of the parties to the UN Framework Convention On Climate Change:1-12 December 2003.(NEW)
UNFCCC COP9 Highlights-1 Dcember 2003:The Ninth Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP-9) and the Nineteenth Sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI-19) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA-19) opened on Monday, 1 December, in Milan, Italy. In the morning, delegates heard opening statements and addressed organizational matters in the COP Plenary. In the afternoon, the opening sessions of the SBI and SBSTA were held. Participants discussed organizational matters, the Third Assessment Report (TAR) of the IPCC, methodological issues and non-Annex I national communications. In the evening, Parties convened in contact groups on the IPCC TAR and non-Annex I national communications.
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12222e.html
UNFCCC COP9 Highlights-2 Dcember 2003:
Delegates to COP-9 continued to convene in meetings of the SBSTA and SBI, and in contact and informal groups. The SBSTA considered methodological issues, including LULUCF, development and transfer of technology, good practices in policies and measures (P&Ms), research and systematic observation (R&SO), and cooperation with relevant international organizations. The SBI discussed financial matters, including the programme budget for 2004-5 and the SCCF, as well as: capacity building; UNFCCC Article 6 (education, training and public awareness); implementation of UNFCCC Article 4.8 and 4.9 (adverse effects); and non-Annex I national communications. A contact group on methodological issues met in the evening to address the review of methodological work under the UNFCCC and Protocol
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12223e.html
UNFCCC COP9 Highlights-3 Dcember 2003:
On Wednesday, delegates to COP-9 convened in morning meetings of the SBSTA and SBI, and throughout the day in informal consultations and contact groups. SBSTA discussed cooperation with relevant international organizations, cleaner or less-greenhouse gas-emitting energy, implementation of Protocol Article 2.3 (adverse effects of P&Ms), activities implemented jointly (AIJ) and the Brazilian proposal for differentiated emissions reduction targets according to the impact of their historic emissions on temperature rise. SBI addressed the programme budget for 2004-5. Several contact groups met to discuss draft conclusions and COP decisions.
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12224e.html
UNFCCC COP9 Highlights-4 Dcember 2003:
Parties to COP-9 continued their deliberations in COP and SBI Plenary meetings, and in several contact groups and informal meetings. The COP considered national communications from Annex I Parties, and the report of the CDM Executive Board (EB). The SBI met in the afternoon to take up organizational matters related to its agenda, non-Annex I national communications and progress on the implementation of decision 5/CP.7 (implementation of UNFCCC Article 4.8 and 4.9 on adverse effects). SBI contact groups met on the programme budget for 2004-5 and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). SBSTA contact groups were held on LULUCF good practice guidance, the IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR), methodological work and development and transfer of technology.
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12225e.html
UNFCCC COP9 Highlights-5 Dcember 2003:
On Friday, delegates to COP-9 convened in several contact groups to deliberate draft conclusions and COP decisions. SBI contact groups discussed non-Annex I national communications, capacity building, the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) and progress on implementation on decision 5/CP.7 (implementation of UNFCCC Article 4.8 and 4.9 on adverse effects). SBSTA contact groups discussed research and systematic observation (R&SO), the IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR), good practice guidance on LULUCF, and sinks in the CDM. A contact group convened by the COP on Annex I national communications also met.
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12226e.html
UNFCCC COP9 Highlights,6-8 Dcember 2003:
On Saturday, 6 December, and Monday, 8 December, Parties to COP-9 met in several contact groups to continue their deliberations. Numerous informal consultations were also held. On Saturday, delegates considered: capacity building; technology transfer; the programme budget for 2004-5; good practice guidance on LULUCF; research and systematic observation (R&SO); non-Annex I national communications; the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF); and sinks in the CDM. On Monday, Parties discussed: R&SO; good practice guidance on LULUCF; implementation of decision 5/CP.7 (implementation of UNFCCC Article 4.8 and 4.9 on adverse effects); non Annex-I national communications; methodological issues; and the programme budget for 2004-5.
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12227e.html
UNFCCC COP9 Highlights-9 Dcember 2003:
Delegates to COP-9 met Tuesday to adopt SBI and SBSTA conclusions and approve draft COP decisions. In the morning and afternoon, contact groups met to discuss non-Annex I national communications, implementation of decision 5/CP.7 (implementation of UNFCCC Article 4.8 and 4.9 on adverse effects), methodological work and sinks in the CDM. In the afternoon and evening, Parties convened in SBSTA and SBI Plenaries to adopt draft conclusions, with SBSTA completing its work. Informal consultations also took place throughout the day.
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12228e.html
UNFCCC COP9 Highlights-10 Dcember 2003:
On Wednesday, the high-level segment of COP-9 opened. Delegates heard statements from heads of UN bodies and specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs. In the afternoon, the first high-level round-table took place, focusing on "climate change, adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development." In the evening, the SBI met to adopt conclusions and agree draft COP decisions and to complete its work. Contact groups on implementation of activities under decision 5/CP.7 (implementation of UNFCCC Article 4.8 and 4.9 on adverse effects) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) were also held.
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12229e.html
UNFCCC COP9 Highlights-11 Dcember 2003:
On Thursday, the second and third high-level round-table discussions took place. Ministers and heads of delegation addressed "technology, including technology use and development and transfer of technologies" and "assessment of progress at the national, regional and international levels to fulfill the promise and objective enshrined in the climate change agreements, including the scientific, information, policy and financial aspects." Consultations undertaken on behalf of COP-9 President Persányi on the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) continued throughout the day.
http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb12230e.html
2002, Iran's Climate Change Office, Tehran, Iran
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