Water experts warn of Copenhagen blind spot

Professor Patricia Wouters, Director of the UNESCO Centre for Water
Law, Policy and Science, University of Dundee, today fired a shot across
the bows of climate change negotiators in Copenhagen, warning them not
to ignore one of the planet’s most vital natural resources of all -
water.
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Tags: clean water, climate change, copenhagen, drought, dundee, global warming, resource, scarce, university, water, water law

£50m to put developing countries at forefront of green energy revolution

Some of the world’s poorest nations will be thrust to the forefront of the global green energy revolution with the help of a £50 million commitment from the UK Government.

The funding, part of the UK commitment to provide “fast start” climate finance before 2012, will see the UK become the largest contributor to a £160 million global initiative to help boost the renewable energy sector in low-income countries.
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Tags: carbon emissions, copenhagen, geothermal, green energy, green energy revolution, hydroelectric, power plants, renewables, turbine, wind

AIR FORCE ONE EMMISSIONS FROM FLIGHT TO COPENHAGEN CLIMATE CONFERENCE TO BE OFFSET BY LIMEGREEN EARTH

LimeGreen Earth, Inc. announced today that it will offset the carbon emitted by President Obama’s flight on Air Force One to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The conference, which began on December 7, has brought together diplomats from 192 nations to discuss the global reduction of carbon emissions.
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Tags: air force one, carbon emissions, copenhagen, emissions, flight, lime green earth, obama, offset, trees

Copenhagen – the greenest major city in Europe

Copenhagen is the “greenest” major city in Europe, followed by Stockholm, Oslo, Vienna, and Amsterdam. This is the conclusion reached by a unique study of the environmental sustainability of 30 major cities in 30 European countries that Siemens presented during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. In addition to analysing these cities’ achievements and objectives in the area of environmental and climate protection, the European Green City Index makes the differences transparent. The study evaluates the 30 cities in eight categories: C02 emissions; energy; buildings; transportation; water; air quality; waste and land use; and environmental governance. “We support the cities’ efforts to achieve efficient climate protection by providing them with comprehensive standardised data,” said Dr. Reinhold Achatz, head of Corporate Research and Technologies, the central research unit of Siemens AG. London is ranked 11th in the study.
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Tags: city, climate protection, cop15, copenhagen, green, renewable energy, siemens

Copenhagen climate deal

COPENHAGEN CLIMATE DEAL HEADED FOR 3.5°C GLOBAL WARMING AND CLOSE TO 800 PPM CO2 EQUIVALENT GHG CONCENTRATIONS.

A sobering new assessment by the “Climate Action Tracker” (http://www.climateactiontracker.org) of the emission commitments and pledges put forward by industrialized and developing countries for the Copenhagen climate negotiations shows that the world is headed for a global warming of well over 3°C by 2100. Carbon dioxide concentrations are projected to be over 650 ppm, with total GHG concentrations close to 800 ppm CO2 equivalent.
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Tags: cabon, climate change, cop15, copenhagen, deforestation, emssions, global warming, greenhouse gas, ipcc, leaders, political

Tigers, Polar Bears And Blue Fin Tuna Among Most Threatened Species In 2010, Says World Wildlife Fund

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) today released its annual list of some of the most threatened species around the world, saying that the long-term survival of many animals is increasingly in doubt due to a host of threats, including climate change, and calling for a step up in efforts to save some of the world’s most threatened animals.

WWF’s list of “10 to Watch in 2010” includes such well-known and beloved species as tigers, polar bears, pandas, and rhinos, as well as lesser-known species such as bluefin tuna and mountain gorillas. WWF scientists say these, and many other species, are at greater risk than ever before because of habitat loss, poaching, and climate change-related threats. This year’s watch list includes five species directly impacted by climate change, as well as the monarch butterfly, the species at the center of an endangered biological phenomenon. Tigers are at the forefront of this year’s list, with the official Year of the Tiger slated to begin in February 2010.
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Tags: 2010, blue fin tuna, butterfly, climate change, copenhagen, endangered, gorilla, penguin, polar baears, rhinoceros, species, survival, threatened, tigers, turtle, walrus, world wildlife fund, wwf

The Carteret Islands disappearing from Ocean charts but full of hope.

Due to climate change, the Carteret Islands in north east Papua New Guinea are being submerged by the sea. As a result, the people that live on these tiny atoll islands have unwillingly found themselves on the front line of climate change and dependent upon the success or failure of the UN’s climate negotiations in Copenhagen. The residents of these islands urgently need practical help and financial support in order to evacuate from their ancestral islands, before they disappear under the sea and their homes cease to exist.
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Tags: carteret, carteret islands, climate change, copenhagen, islands, land disappearing, papua new guinea, rising sea levels, sea, tulele peisa

University awarded for taking action on climate change

The University of Sheffield has shown-off its green side after being awarded the Carbon Trust Standard for reducing its carbon intensity by 3.8 per cent over the past three years.

The Carbon Trust Standard is the world’s first carbon award that requires an organisation to take action on climate change by measuring, managing and reducing its carbon footprint to make real reductions year-on-year.

At the University, numerous initiatives have – and are being – undertaken to improve energy efficiency and drive down carbon emissions and it has been successful in obtaining grant aid to fund some of these schemes. These include improving the efficiency of motors in a large number of University buildings, making improvements to heating and lighting controls and insulating pipework and loft spaces. The initiatives will reduce carbon emissions at the University by around 800 tonnes per year.
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Tags: carbon trust, climate change, deborah meadon, dragons den, environment, hilary benn, university of sheffield

Climate Change Puts Trillions of Dollars in Assets at Risk Along U.S. Coasts

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the leading insurer Allianz SE released a report today warning that sea level rise could dramatically increase risks to buildings, transportation infrastructure and other assets exposed to severe storm surges in coastal areas of the U.S. The study estimates that current assets at risk to a 1-in-100-year storm surge amount to $1.4 trillion. A mid-century global sea level rise of 0.5 meters (20 inches), with an additional 0.15 meter (6 inches) localized rise along the northeast U.S. coast, could jeopardize assets worth close to $7.4 trillion.
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Tags: climate change, coast, coastal areas, rising, sea level, storm, world wildlife fund, wwf