UN talks locked on 'loss and damage'

By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, BBC News

UN climate negotiations are bogged down in a dispute over who will take legal responsibility for the loss and damage caused by climate change.

Rich countries say they will strongly resist this move.

Secretary general Ban Ki-moon opened the ministerial segment of the talks in Warsaw, Poland with a warning that the world was facing the wrath of a warming planet.

Mr Ban called on delegates to respond with wisdom, urgency and resolve.

He told delegates that climate change threatens current and future generations, referring to the recent disaster in the Philippines as an example of the extreme weather the world can expect more of.

He had recently visited Iceland and was told that it may soon be a land without ice thanks to rising temperatures.

He called on the negotiators to speed up their discussions that aim to secure a new global treaty in 2015.

However talks here in Warsaw are on familiar territory, the old divide between rich and poor countries over who has responsibility for curbing warming and critically, who will pay for the damage caused by climate change.

Many developing countries are working hard to adapt to climate change often with aid from richer countries.

But campaigners say those funds alone are not enough, because weather events are becoming more extreme and often overwhelm the steps poorer countries have taken.

This was exactly what happened in the Philippines says Dr Saleemul Huq, the director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development.

"The Philippines is adapted to typhoons, the people have shelters and they went to them," he said.

"In normal circumstances you would have heard nothing about it, but in this case they died in the shelters because it was a super typhoon of unprecedented magnitude.

"That's loss and damage, you can't adapt to that."

At last year's UN talks in Doha the parties agreed that by the time they met in Poland, an "international mechanism" to deal with loss and damage should be established.

It has re-opened old wounds of division between rich and poor. The wealthier countries are fighting hard to have any legal responsibility for compensation diluted or removed. But according to Harjeet Singh from Action Aid, this time they won't get away with it.

"There is a lot of pressure on the rich countries, they recognise there is a challenge, but they are keeping their eyes closed, I don't think that will work anymore, they have to deliver," he said.

But not everyone is so sure about that. Many campaigners fear that the influx of politicians will mean a compromise deal will be done.

"I don't think we're likely to see some grand scheme materialise that addresses [loss and damage]," said Paul Bledsoe, an expert on energy and climate with the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

"I think reparations is the right word, in my view it's what's being sought, on issues like slavery or war reparations, historically they have a very difficult time occurring."

Mr Bledsoe believes the most likely outcome is that the richer nations will increase their commitments on finance in return for kicking the legal mechanism into the long grass.

The scale of the monies needed to help countries adapt to climate change was underlined here in Warsaw with a report that Africa would need $350bn annually if global warming rises to between 3.5 and 4C.

The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) report says that Africa is already facing costs of between $7-$15bn a year by 2020.

But if action to cut carbon emissions is delayed, then the total costs could reach 4% of Africa's GDP by 2100.

UN talks locked on 'loss and damage'

Planet At The Limit - GEF

Climate change is a reality affecting all of us. Time is no longer on our side and we need to act now.

This is the main message of the new GEF documentary, a film that presents the reality of climate change but also highlights the work the GEF supports to mitigate or reverse global warming and help people adapt to the impacts of a changed climate. The film illustrates the linkages to climate change in the work GEF supports in other environmental focal areas, demonstrating synergies across the various fields of GEF investments.

Using improved plumbing technology can protect public health, say experts

By Akriti Shrivastav

Lack of training of plumbers may put people’s lives at risk, says Indian Plumbing Association that hosted the Tenth World Plumbing Conference in Delhi

Improvement in plumbing technology and services can improve public health and the environment in future, said experts on plumbing, attending a two day event in New Delhi, ending November 15—the 10th World Plumbing Conference. The meet deliberated on different aspects of plumbing, sanitation and water safety in the country and abroad.

The conference outlined objectives of achieving professional standards of plumbing, betterment of the quality of technical plumbing education and training. “The theme of this year’s conference is environment, health and hygiene because a plumber protects the health of millions,” said Gurmeet Singh Arora, chairperson of Indian Plumbing Association (IPA), Mumbai Chapter.

A lot of water goes waste in leakages from taps and pipelines if plumbing is not done right, the experts said. “Just by tightening of leaking taps in 1,666 households in Mumbai, we saved 414,000 litres of water between 2007 and 2008,” said Aabid Surti, chairperson of Drop Dead Foundation, a non profit based in Mumbai. Surti said that the event allowed him the opportunity to propagate his idea of saving every drop and understanding its importance.

Sudhakaran Nair, president of IPA, said 75 per cent of plumbers in India are working in the unorganized sector and lack training. It causes high levels of unsafe installations which may put lives of many people at risk. “Unless there are stringent regulatory and administrative checks, we cannot ensure sanitation which is linked to the health of the people,” added Nair. IPA hosted the triennial meet.

The experts also voiced their concerns on the non-existing coordination between different government agencies at the centre and the state governments. The most highlighted issue was the inactivity of the global plumbing industry with regard to various alarming global problems and initiatives that could be taken to change the situation.

The experts at the conference noted the improvement in knowledge sharing on the subject over the years. “I see enormous differences. The stakeholders are better organized and more involved at policy level and are beginning to be more assertive about making their voice heard,” said Mala Rao from University of East London.

The conference ended on a positive note where the need to continue to communicate, advocate, educate and innovate was understood and emphasis was laid on the cooperation in working of industries and governments. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that we are going to do things differently right away, but it allows the exchange of ideas and receive knowledge from one another and incorporate these ideas into our undertakings,” said Shayne La Combre, CEO of Australia based Pluming Industry Climate Action Centre.

Using improved plumbing technology can protect public health, say experts

COP19: Christiana Figueres on climate & coal summit

Ambition is what's needed in Warsaw

By Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation

What do the U.N. climate talks in Warsaw need more: greater ambition or a deal everyone can sign?

Marcin Korolec, Poland’s environment minister and the president of the negotiations, has made clear he wants progress towards a new agreement to curb climate change that every country feels comfortable with.

“I promise you transparency. I promise you an inclusive process. Those are my top priorities,” he said in an opening statement this week. As countries move towards a 2015 deadline for a new global deal, “I will spare no effort to find a consensus,” he said.

But with climate-changing emissions still growing - despite 20 years of negotiations and agreements to limit them - should inclusion be the top priority in Warsaw?

“It’s ambition that’s needed, from my point of view,” says Saleemul Huq, a senior fellow on climate change at the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development.

Right now, “everybody is willing to do something” - a big change from the 2009 Copenhagen talks, when many countries were still refusing to budge - “but the cumulative amount that comes to is insufficient,” he says. “So raising the ambition collectively of everyone is the key. The issue of inclusion has already been solved. Ambition has not.”

Despite the perpetually slow pace of negotiations, greater ambition in cutting greenhouse gas emissions is also getting easier to achieve.

As countries around the world become convinced of the need to act - due to worsening extreme weather, such as Super Typhoon Haiyan which hit the Philippines just before the start of the talks, or other evidence that climate change is taking hold at home - they are ramping up renewable energy initiatives, launching efforts to adapt, and finding that none of it is as impossible as they once thought.

‘IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE’

"One of the consequences of countries tackling climate change emissions at home, in domestic policy, is they learn to do it, and see it’s not rocket science,” says Huq, a native of Bangladesh, a country widely considered as a leader in climate adaptation. “That creates a feedback loop,” where things that had to be pushed at first - like installing solar panels – soon spread because they’re good for everyone, he says.

Even the poorest and most vulnerable countries – which once insisted they had no obligation to cut their own emissions – are stepping up. Many small islands are making pledges to become carbon neutral, out of a desire to stop importing expensive diesel fuel, and a willingness to curb climate change.

“Their emissions don’t amount to a hill of beans, but they’re doing something about them,” Huq notes. “It’s a different, much more positive mindset we have now. Even the smallest polluters are saying, ‘We want to do something ambitious, and we want everyone else to do the same.’”

But is that growing ambition making it into the negotiating rooms in Warsaw? “Not necessarily,” Huq admits. The problem is that negotiators tend to have fixed positions. No major developed countries have increased the ambition of their emissions reduction commitments so far in Warsaw, for instance.

What is needed to change that is support at a higher political level, Huq says.

That may seem a big ask, with Australia’s new conservative government announcing this week it would step away from a 15 percent emissions reduction goal in favour of a lower 5 percent goal, and would try to repeal the country’s carbon tax.

But Australia “is an outlier”, Huq argues. Look instead, he says, at China and the United States, where political leaders are moving more aggressively to confront climate change.

Trigg Talley, the U.S. lead negotiator at the talks, insisted this week that his country wouldn’t budge beyond its “already ambitious” goal to cut emissions 17 percent from 2005 emissions levels.

Still, “what you’re getting now are negotiating positions,” Huq insists. “It doesn’t reflect the real strategy."

Ambition is what's needed in Warsaw

United Kingdom finances Ethiopia’s green economy program

By New Business Ethiopia.

United Kingdom’s aid agency DFID Ethiopia is set to finance 15 Million pounds to support Ethiopia’s government ambition plan to build a Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) by 2025.

These funds are committed to the CRGE Facility, and will be used to support the implementation of the Sector Reduction Mechanisms process: to generate and fund high quality strategic investments that respond to the priorities of the Government of Ethiopia.

The ministry of finance and economic development of Ethiopia and DFID Ethiopia will sign the agreement this morning (November 8, 2013) in Addis Ababa.

The finance will be used to support the Government of Ethiopia to build a Climate Resilient Green Economy across different sectors. “This transformative approach developed by the Government of Ethiopia will provide a clear example of green economic transformation, not only in Africa but across the world,” the ministry said in its press statement," the ministry said in its statement.

“Ethiopia is one of the world’s fastest growing countries. At the same time, it is highly vulnerable to climatic variability and extremes. Ethiopia has the ambition to become a middle-income country by 2025, but will not follow a traditional development pathway–characterized by carbon intensification, inequitable development and serious environmental degradation.”

"Ethiopia is committed to building a climate resilient green economy. This commitment means that growth in Ethiopia is better for all, able to withstand the shocks and stresses and contributes to the imperative global goal of dramatic and sustained declines in emissions and a successful de-coupling of economic growth from emissions, the ministry further stated."

Ethiopia will eradicate poverty and provide adequate services to our population, and achieve our economic ambitions with zero net growth in Green House Gas emissions, where it is supported to do so, the ministry noted.

Investment Areas

Over sixty priorities for investment have been identified that will enable Ethiopia to both grow its economy while minimizing emissions. In addition, climate resilience strategies are being finalized to identify the costs of climate change and prioritize investments to reduce vulnerability.

To help Ethiopia secure additional investment, from both public and private sources, and to help leverage and manage these resources, the Ethiopian Government has established the CRGE Facility. The CRGE Facility will allow Ethiopia to aggregate resources from a range of sources and deploy it in strategically and effectively.

Funds are pooled within the Facility and programmed out to government led strategic priorities. These investments are designed to be catalytic and to leverage the impact of limited public funds on broader development investments.

The Sector Reduction Mechanism (SRM) is the government process for implementing the CRGE. The SRM does two things. It is expected to help Ethiopia to leverage finance by packaging up financing opportunities into Sector Reduction Action Plans (SRAPs).

While it is anticipated to systematically builds the Ethiopian Government’s capacity to plan and implement a transformation to a Climate Resilient Green Economy.

United Kingdom finances Ethiopia’s green economy program

The Sickest Places in the World

By Stephen Leahy

Parts of Indonesia, Argentina and Nigeria are among the top 10 most polluted places on the planet, according to a new report by U.S. and European environmental groups.

They are extraordinarily toxic places where lifespans are short and disease runs rampant among millions of people who live and work at these sites, often to provide the products used in richer countries.

“People would be shocked to see the conditions under which their lovely jewelry is sometimes made,” said Jack Caravanos, director of research at the New York-based Blacksmith Institute, an independent environmental group that released the list Monday in partnership with Green Cross Switzerland.

In Kalimantan, Indonesia, local people extract gold using mercury, which is both poisonous and a potent neurotoxin.

“They do this processing inside their homes, not realising the danger,” said Bret Ericson, senior project director of the Blacksmith Institute.

Blacksmith has gone into those homes and measured mercury levels 350 times higher than what is considered safe, Ericson told IPS.

This directly affects the health of 10 to 15 million people, Ericson said. “It is also a huge source of mercury pollution worldwide.”

Once released into the environment, mercury can end up in fish and other foods people eat anywhere on the planet. Low-cost, mercury-free methods for gold mining do exist but this knowledge is not widespread, he said.

The Top Ten Toxic Threats report is the latest in a series of annual reports documenting global pollution issues. The list is based on the severity of the health risk and the number of people exposed.

Previous reports have documented that the disease burden of pollution is comparable in scope to tuberculosis or malaria, posing a threat to 200 million people. Globally, one-fifth of cancers and 33 percent of disease in children can be blamed on environmental exposures, but this is far higher in low income countries, the report notes.

The Blacksmith Institute has conducted more than 3,000 initial risk assessments in 49 countries since the last list of polluted sites released by the two groups in 2007. Some sites listed in 2007, such as the lead battery recycling site in Haina, Dominican Republic, have been fully remediated.

“The good news is countries like India have come to grips with their pollution problems,” said Ericson. India has imposed a “Clean Energy Cess” or coal tax to help fund a clean energy fund of up to 400 million dollars which will inventory and clean up contaminated areas.

However, one of the emerging issues around toxic hotspots are clusters of poorly-regulated small-scale industries now found in many countries. There are more than 2,000 industries along the Citarum River in Indonesia, contaminating an area 13,000 sq km in size with lead, mercury, arsenic and other toxins, the report found.

“Clean-up is beginning thanks to a 500-million-dollar loan from the World Bank, but it will take a decade or more to complete,” said Ericson.

Near Buenos Aires, Argentina an estimated 50,000 small-scale industries dump a toxic mix of chemicals and metals into the air, soil and water. At least 20,000 people living along the Matanza Riachuelo river are exposed to dangerous levels of toxins, the report shows. The World Bank is also funding a major clean-up, with Blacksmith providing technical support.

Some toxic hotspots are so big and so badly polluted it will cost billions of dollars and take decades to clean up, said Stephan Robinson of Green Cross Switzerland.

“There are places that will be on our list for many years,” Robinson told IPS.

Russia has two of these. Russian authorities have finally acknowledged the issue and set aside three billion dollars to clean up Soviet-area legacy sites. One of these is Dzerzhinsk, a city of 300,000 people where chemical weapons like sarin, VX gas, mustard gas, and phosgene were manufactured for 50 years. At least 300,000 tonnes of waste from their manufacture were disposed of in the groundwater.

Birth defects are very common and the average lifespan of residents has fallen to the low forties. The situation is similar in Siberia’s Norilsk region, where the world’s biggest nickel smelter has killed all the trees within a 30-km radius.

“There has been lots of talk about improving pollution controls in Norilsk but not much action,” said Robinson.

A new site that will be on the list for years is the very polluted Niger Delta in Nigeria. Millions of barrels of oil have been spilled over the years and a U.N. study found two-thirds of the sites tested to be highly contaminated. Petroleum and its byproducts are very toxic, and when combined with poor nutrition, are a major unrecognised health threat for the 30 million people who live there, the report noted. The U.S. has been the major export destination for Nigerian oil.

The Sickest Places in the World