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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on September 5th, 2008 UNEP NEWS RELEASE - 2008/31 KYOTO/NAIROBI, 5 September 2008–A plan to list as a World Heritage Site an The initiative, to be supported by funding from the Government of Italy, Dams upstream on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which feed the fabled UNEP estimated then that these wetlands would be completely lost within The World Heritage management support plan, announced at the end of a ***
With the collapse of the Saddam Hussein Government in mid-2003, local The UNEP marshland management project, which commenced in 2004 with funding These include environmentally-friendly methods that are providing safe A Marshland Information Network has been established. Training in During this meeting, the Iraqi Ministry of Environment also requested UNEP MEAs range from the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Montreal Narmin Othman, the Iraqi Environment Minister who is in Japan for the “Because of what Saddam Hussein did, the marshlands were in danger of “Now we have 50 to 60 per cent of the marshlands back we can look forward Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, “The work in the Iraqi marshlands may have been unique and challenging for *** Chizuru Aoki of UNEP’s International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) This will include pilot projects on community-wide ecosystem management and According to UNESCO, the earliest that Iraq could envisage a submission to “It is essential that we continue to work with the Iraqi partners, UNESCO, *** FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: The Iraqi Marshland Project: http://marshlands.unep.or.jp/ UNEP’s Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch Iraq Reports: Downloadable maps and images at www.unep.org? For more information, please contact: Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson and Yukio Yoshii, Senior Liaison Officer, UNEP International Environmental Habib El-Habr, Director and Regional Representative, UNEP Regional Office *********************************** ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on September 3rd, 2008 Op-Ed Columnist Thomas Friedman, The New York Times, September 3, 2008 (written September 2, 2008) .
*** So please, students, when McCain comes to your campus and flashes a few posters of wind turbines and solar panels, ask him why he has been AWOL when it came to Congress supporting these new technologies. *** “One of McCain’s last independent policies putting him at odds with Bush was his opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” added Pope, “yet he has now picked a running mate who has opposed holding big oil accountable and been dismissive of alternative energy while focusing her work on more oil drilling in a wildlife refuge and off of our coasts. While the northern edge of her state literally falls into the rising Arctic Ocean, Sarah Palin says, ‘The jury is still out on global warming.’ She’s the one hanging the jury — and John McCain is going to let her.” Indeed, Palin’s much ballyhooed confrontations with the oil industry have all been about who should get more of the windfall profits, not how to end our addiction. *** Barack Obama should be doing more to promote his green agenda, but at least he had the courage, in the heat of a Democratic primary, not to pander to voters by calling for a lifting of the gasoline tax. And while he has come out for a limited expansion of offshore drilling, he has refrained from misleading voters that this is in any way a solution to our energy problems. I am not against a limited expansion of off-shore drilling now. But it is a complete sideshow. By constantly pounding into voters that his energy focus is to “drill, drill, drill,” McCain is diverting attention from what should be one of the central issues in this election: who has the better plan to promote massive innovation around clean power technologies and energy efficiency. Why? Because renewable energy technologies — what I call “E.T.” — are going to constitute the next great global industry. They will rival and probably surpass “I.T.” — information technology. The country that spawns the most E.T. companies will enjoy more economic power, strategic advantage and rising standards of living. We need to make sure that is America. Big oil and OPEC want to make sure it is not. ***
So, college students, don’t let anyone tell you that on the issue of green, this election is not important. It is vitally important, and the alternatives could not be more black and white. ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 28th, 2008 A Holiday in Iran: IPS Interview With Blogger and Globe-Trotter Michelle May. Reported on Roberto Savio’s Blog. OAKLAND, California, Aug 26, 2008 (IPS) - When Michelle May, an avid traveler, returned to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport after a seven-week trip to Iran this summer, she says she was closely questioned and her luggage searched after officials read on her customs card that she had been to the Islamic Republic. When May asked why she was being subjected to such scrutiny, a customs agent said, “They were the ones who attacked us.” “This response embarrassed me as an American — to think that there are people in my country who still today are so confused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and who perpetrated them,” May told IPS correspondent Omid Memarian in an interview. The number of U.S. citizens who visit Iran is less than a 1,000 a year. During her 10-week trip in June and July, May posted pictures of herself with ordinary Iranian people on Facebook, a popular social networking website, and continuously updated her blog, drawing considerable comments and attention. Although U.S. citizens are not allowed to travel in Iran without an official government-approved tour guide with them at all times, May used her Irish passport and was able to travel independently. May, 35, has traveled to 48 countries over the past decade. Her latest journey included Iran’s northern Caspian Sea and border region with Turkmenistan, to Kurdistan along the border of Iraq, and finally to the dangerous region of Baluchistan. *** Excerpts from the interview follow: IPS: How were you welcomed in Tehran’s International Airport, as an American, and at JFK airport, as somebody who was coming back from a member of the “axis of evil” club? MM: In Tehran, I quickly passed through immigration and customs, with fellow passengers helping me carry my luggage, and kind smiles from chador-clad female Iran customs agents. In contrast, back home at JFK I was treated with great suspicion. One customs agent even asked me if the U.S. government had given me “permission” to go to Iran. In fact, I do not need my government’s “permission” to go to Iran. Given the fact I have passed through customs over 100 times in my life and never been searched at all until now leads me to suspect that I was treated this way simply because I was coming from Iran. IPS: What was your impression about Iranians’ opinion of the United States and Americans? MM: Time and time again I was told by Iranians of varying walks of life that they “love” Americans and they badly want a “relationship” with Americans. I never felt unwelcome and I never felt unsafe. In fact, most people I spent time with seemed to be “proud” of me — for lack of a better word. Many expressed that they wished there were more American tourists. IPS: What were their opinions of U.S.-Iran relations? MM: Many expressed that regardless whether they agree with the U.S. government or not, their feelings about my government’s acts have no bearing on how they view the individual people of America. Many said they were sad that they could not have more relations with the everyday people of America due to serious visa constraints on both sides prohibiting much tourism. IPS: As a woman you have to wear a hijab headscarf and mantou, which covers your body. What was your feeling about it and also the women in different parts of Iran? MM: At the end of two months, I had gotten used to it and see its benefits — just as many women of Muslim countries do. It is a great deterrent for unwanted male attention, it shelters you from the intense sun, and lastly, it takes the guesswork out of what to wear each day. In different parts of the country, the hijab changes. In some parts like Kurdistan, and Baluchistan the hijab is much more colourful and casual. While in urban centres black seems to dominate though many times it comes in the form of a skin-tight mantou, in addition to extremely heavy makeup, and bleach blond hair popping out from under the headscarf. The Iranian hijab is open to personal interpretation, unlike other countries in the region. IPS: You traveled from Iran’s Baluchistan, which has been a target by rebels in recent years, groups like Jondollah, who have carried out a series of kidnappings. Weren’t you afraid of being kidnapped? MM: Everyone told me I should be afraid, but I was also told that if I went that I would have a police escort with me anytime I left my guest house, as well as a police motorcade if I decide to travel from one city to the next. I went and found this to in fact to be true. The police made sure that nothing happened to me. IPS: What do people think of these groups? MM: The people I spoke with are scared of them and do not travel to that region because of these groups. Those who believe that the U.S. is funding these groups are angry that an outside force is disrupting the peace in their country. IPS: Do they follow the U.S. elections? MM: Yes. Many expressed they felt [Democrat Barack] Obama was a man of peace and therefore the man for the job, while others felt that [Republican John] McCain was their preference since he has a “heavy hand”. I was surprised to meet some people who agree with the interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan; however, the majority of people I met are very sad about what is happening to their neighbours. They know that the outcome of November’s elections may affect them. IPS: What’s people general opinion about their government, and particularly President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? MM: Most people I met said they do not feel that Ahmadinejad represents them. Most said that since he came to power their country has gone backwards and that they are suffering, especially economically. They do not simply blame him, however; most I met blame the mullahs who they feel truly call the shots. IPS: What kind of people did you meet, and how religious did you find ordinary people in different cities to be? MM: I met a variety of people, but most I met do not consider themselves to be “very religious.” Still, they love Islam and the Koran, yet they do not go to mosque every day; among the younger set, I did not meet many who even pray every day. The “very religious people” I did meet were very kind and open to me; they seemed very tolerant. IPS: What are major differences you saw in Iran versus neighbouring countries? MM: From what both Sunni and Shiite people told me, it seems Shiite people are more modern in dress, and more flexible in their interpretation of their religion than their Sunni neighbors. Women also are more present in Shiite society, and seem to be a bigger part of the workforce than the neighbouring countries I have been to. At night-time, society is very alive — parks are packed with families enjoying meals and music; women are out late, laughing, enjoying themselves, and even smoking hookah ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 28th, 2008 We visited him on his boat right here in New York, then later in Tel Aviv. He was one of a kind. His bringing ice cream to the children of Gaza did not end the will to fight - but showed that it is possible to be humane. If not the Palestinians and the Egyptians - there were hundred of thousands of Israelis that understood him. His spirit continues to be present at the Uri Avneri round table - every Friday night at least. A coincidence - his death was announced on the day Barak Obama assumes the leadership of the Democratic Party of the US. We wonder what he would have said and post also the following tidbit: And the New York Times correspondent from Jerusalem wrote the following version: ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 26th, 2008 Climate conference makes progress on key dispute. By (AP) Published: 2008-08-23, ACCRA, Ghana.
Under the Kyoto pact, only 37 industrial countries committed to meet specific targets. Together, they were required to cut emissions by an average 5 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. The United States refused to participate in the Kyoto regime because it excluded China and other large newly powerful economies from any obligation. Korea, which is not one of the 37, surprised delegates by announcing that next year it will adopt a target for reducing its carbon emissions by 2020, but declined to give specifics. Earlier this year, South Africa also said it would embrace self-imposed targets, peaking its emissions by 2025.
*** But financing remains unresolved and it was unclear how governments would move forward, she said. Japan, which advanced the proposal earlier this year to a chorus of criticism, said it was pleased with the response in Accra after it dropped several components that aroused objections. Developing countries had feared the Japanese proposal was a backdoor device to impose binding targets that would limit their economic development. “That is a great advancement compared with the beginning of this year,” Japanese delegate Jun Arima told the conference. —————— From: sniffenj at un.org UNEP NEWS RELEASE Meanwhile, New Assessment of Clean Development Mechanism Shows ACCRA/NAIROBI, 26 August 2008 —
*** The report acknowledges that some subsidies or mechanisms, whether in the A case in point are feed-in tariffs that have kick-started a renewable The report also accepts that there may be cases where some subsidies can, The report also cites the case of Chile where well-devised subsidies have *** The new UNEP report– Reforming Energy Subsidies: Opportunities to Here Governments have gathered to continue negotiations under the Bali Road *** CDM Takes Off in Sub-Saharan Africa: The CDM, part of the Convention’s Kyoto Protocol agreed in 1997, allows These can range from wind and biomass energy projects to ones that tap There has been concern that the benefits of the CDM, a contrasting example The main countries benefiting to date have been the rapidly developing The new figures, compiled by the UNEP Risoe Centre on Energy, Climate and These include an oil well, gas flare reduction project in the DRC and a In Kenya new projects include a 35MW extension of geothermal, hot rocks, Mr. Steiner added: “Whereas fossil fuel subsidies are an example of a Here UNEP, along with partners including the UN Development Programme Other measures have included awareness-raising among banks and industry The UNEP Risoe Centre has been monitoring global trends in CDM investment “Excluding South Africa, there were only six CDM projects in five This still remains low compared to a global tally of close to 3,500 CDM “As new policy drivers and planned capacity development activities bear These could cumulatively generate over 65 million certified emission “Compared to CDM prodigies like India, Africa is poised to be the late —————————- Notes to Editors:
It says that Russia has the largest subsidies in dollar terms amounting to Iran comes second with around $37 billion; six countries, spending in The report can be downloaded at www.unep.org For more information, please contact: Nick Nuttall, Spokesperson/Head of ========= Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 20th, 2008
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