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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 8th, 2008 The World Values Survey is available at: www.worldvaluessurvey.org www.happyplanetindex.org
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 7th, 2008 From: munekata at iges.or.jp Call for Abstracts: Climate-Friendly Transportation Strategies in Asia: Overcoming Obstacles to Co-benefits. Selected authors will be invited to contribute full-length papers for a multi-chapter book project. Selected authors will also be sponsored to attend the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand and present their findings at a pre-event panel scheduled for 11 November 2008. Due Date: 1 September 2008 Rising rates of motorization in developing Asia have become a source of concern outside and inside the region. Outside the region this concern stems from projections that carbon emissions from Asia’s transport sector could triple by 2025. Inside the region it stems from projections that urban air pollution levels, fuel costs, and commuting times could increase just as sharply over the same period. The key to altering these projections may lie in integrated transportation policies. Integrated transportation policies are so named because, rather than focusing on either developmental or climate goals, they pursue both objectives simultaneously. Integrated policies therefore have the potential to be more cost-effective than isolated climate or developmental policies. A number of studies have demonstrated this potential by estimating the developmental benefits of integrated policies. These benefits are commonly referred to as co-benefits. The values of co-benefits are often found to be significant in developing Asia, which would presumably draw interest from regional policymakers. But while the influence of this research seems likely to expand, thus far its impacts on policies have been limited. This book project seeks to determine why these potentially sizable impacts have yet to materialize in developing Asia’s transport sector. More concretely, the project’s main goal is to understand the opportunities for and obstacles to maximizing the co-benefits of transportation policies in developing Asia. A second goal is to propose countermeasures based on that assessment. Abstracts should focus on one of the following three themes. Analytical Framework: Papers should identify categories of transportation policies with significant co-benefits and barriers to realizing those benefits. Papers may focus on technical, financial, political, and social barriers. Analytical frameworks offering explanations for why some categories of policies are more likely to succeed than others are encouraged. Case Studies: Papers should examine specific projects/programmes/ policies where the co-benefits have or have not materialized in developing Asia. Submissions should highlight the actors, interests and institutions that contributed to the case’s performance. Comparative case studies are encouraged. Co-benefits in the Post-2012 Climate Regime: Papers should explore opportunities for recognizing and rewarding transportation co-benefits in the post-2012 climate regime. Insights into how the post-2012 climate regime could strengthen the design and implementation of integrated transportation policies are encouraged. The IGES Climate Policy Project will acknowledge receipt of all submissions by email. Notification of selected abstracts will be made by 15 September 2008. The authors of selected abstracts will be asked to submit the draft version of full paper by 5 November 2008. This call for abstracts is open to policy practitioners, scholars, and students from both developed and developing countries. The focus of study should be Asia; cases outside the region can be used for comparative purposes. About the Climate Policy Project at IGES The mission of the project is to recommend effective climate policies for sustainable development in Asia in this era of evolving global climate regime. In Phase 4 of its research (April 2007-March 2010), the project is conducting research on four sub-themes: market mechanisms, adaptation, climate regime beyond 2012, and co-benefits. This call for papers is specifically designed to assist the work of the sub-themes of climate regime beyond 2012 and co-benefits. For additional details of the project, please refer to http://www.iges.or.jp/en/cp. For additional details regarding this call for abstracts, please contact: Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 4th, 2008 Israeli startup turns Asia’s three-wheelers green. A snazzy green Yamaha RS100T motorcycle with a sidecar will be the greenest taxi in the Philippines in the near future. The vehicle will be fitted with three compact cylinders of natural gas, using technology developed by Israeli-American company, Energtek.
With oil prices skyrocketing, and increased concern about pollution, Energtek’s proprietary ANG technology is a breakthrough for countries where two and three-wheeled vehicles predominate. During the past year, Energtek has successfully entered three Asian markets - the Philippines, India, and Indonesia.
* * * Ban on polluting vehicles Tricycles or vespas are relatively low-cost to buy, but - and this is a big drawback — they emit high levels of smoky pollution when powered by gasoline. In a drastic measure to try to control pollution, the Philippine government is about to put a ban on the use of highly polluting two-stroke vehicles, powered with gasoline. “Energtek’s technology provides a solution for two million tricycle drivers to continue to operate their vehicles, preventing them from suffering a significant loss of livelihood…” says Ariel P. Lim, the Philippine President’s Special Advisor for Public Transport Affairs. Last Wednesday, Energtek signed an agreement with the Philippine National Oil Company to convert half a million three-wheeled vehicles to natural gas within three to four years. Energtek will buy the gas from stranded wells in the province of Isabela, and use its technology in a multi-phase conversion project, dubbed “the world’s first commercial ANG project.” It hopes to convert 50,000 tricycles within 18 months. This initiative is expected to generated revenues of $20 million in vehicles equipment sales and $40 million in annual gas sales. Inventive contributions: He’s not the only well known name at the company. Prof. Yuri Ginzburg, the company’s CTO, is a world expert in the automotive industry, and a specialist in alternative fuel systems. Eliezer Sandberg, chairman of the board, is a former Israel Minister of National Infrastructure. Investors in the company include a major Swiss bank, a UK Fund, and an Austrian investment company that specializes in the energy field. Energtek is the first company to produce a cost-effective Adsorbed Natural Gas (ANG) system. ANG technology is a storage system that adds solid nano-porous activated carbon material (like the kind used as filters in fish tanks) to adsorb (not absorb) natural gas (NG). Molecules of methane stick close together on the material becoming a dense film. These molecules are then compressed into less space while using a third less pressure than typical Compressed NG systems. With more gas power capacity in each tank, driving ranges are increased. Three cylinders (which look like scuba diving tanks), with eight liters each, contain enough fuel for 100-120 kilometers of driving. In the past, alternative storage systems have proved more expensive than the vehicles, and Energtek’s unique ANG technology application is the first that has passed road tests in the Philippines and India. “Natural Gas is abundant but often ’stranded,’ not easily accessible,” explains Zaidenberg. “Our innovative technology is not dependent on pipelines. Unlike oil, natural gas does not have to be refined.
“The cost of natural gas using our ANG technology and Fast Interchangeable Tanks (FIT) is about half the cost of gasoline,” says Zaidenberg. Retrofitting vehicles to use natural gas only takes a few hours. “The owner gets back his investment ($250 to $350) in a few months because of huge savings in fuel,” says Zaidenberg. The banks will also offer micro-financing schemes. An even larger marker is India with 80 million motorcycles and two and three-wheelers. Earlier this year, Energtek signed a joint venture with Confidence Petroleum in India, setting up a subsidiary with exclusive rights to commercialize Energtek’s NG technology across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The $25 million investment/financing deal includes transport of mobile pipes for industrial use of NG, and providing NG for automotive fleets, as well as scooters and motorcycles. Energtek has also recently announced a similar $25 million joint venture with DML PTE, a prominent Indonesian manufacturer of transportation and energy management systems. In Indonesia, the government is set to cut gasoline subsidies by 35 percent. Low-income owners of 35 million two and three-wheeled vehicles will be hit hard. The Joint Venture with DML PTE will commercialize Energtek’s technology in Singapore, and Malaysia as well as Indonesia. Revenues are expected to surpass $100 million. *** What about cars and trucks? “We are developing a storage system for four-wheeled vehicles,” Zaidenberg confirms. “The marine market is also a huge target.” “We have the right technology at the right time,” adds Zaidenberg. “Just think a short time ago we were just five guys with technology, no business. Now we have a business that is worldwide. Even Iran, the third largest oil producer is converting to gas.” Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 3rd, 2008 Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008 Fukuda vows action on oil, terror: Anticlimactic Cabinet reshuffle casts doubt on prime minister’s ability to tackle tough issues
New crew: Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and his new Cabinet head for a photo session after holding their first Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence on Saturday.
On diplomacy, Fukuda stressed the importance of a strong Japanese-U.S. alliance but also vowed to create an open relationship to work “together” with Asia-Pacific countries. “As a nation that actively cooperates to realize peace, I will cooperate with the international society in the ‘war on terrorism,’ ” Fukuda’s statement said, adding that he will also devote himself to resolving the North Korea’s nuclear, missile and abduction issues. *** The key issue for the upcoming extraordinary Diet session is whether Fukuda and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will forcefully extend the Maritime Self Defense Force’s activities in the Indian Ocean to refuel multinational naval ships engaged in counterterrorism operations. The special antiterrorism law that enables the MSDF activities will expire in January. The LDP’s coalition partner, New Komeito, is backed by Japan’s largest lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai. As an advocate of peace, it has been expressing increasing reluctance to help the LDP force the extension through the Diet. “As a ‘peace-cooperating nation,’ I will promote international cooperation like peacekeeping operations, antiterrorism measures and rehabilitation aid,” Fukuda told a news conference Friday evening after the reshuffle. The comments were interpreted as an intention to extend the refueling activities. *** On domestic issues, Fukuda especially expressed concern over the recent surge in prices and the aging society due to a low birth rate. “To solve the two issues, we need to continue economic growth for more employment and an increase in income,” Fukuda said. On Friday evening, Fukuda reshuffled his Cabinet for the first time since he was appointed prime minister in a bid to boost the stagnant support rate of his Cabinet. Most of his previous Cabinet ministers were selected by Fukuda’s nationalistic predecessor Shinzo Abe, who quit abruptly last September. Despite calls from within the LDP to have Fukuda choose his own ministers, Fukuda continued on for 10 months mostly with Abe’s handpicked ministers. But critics say that despite strong expectations, Fukuda’s picks were not that exciting and that is doubtful the new Cabinet lineup will give Fukuda the public support he needs to proceed.
————- Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008 Compiled from Kyodo, Staff report WASHINGTON — A U.S. Navy submarine began leaking water with trace amounts of radioactivity during a port call in late March in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, U.S. Navy officials said Friday. - Leaving a trail: The Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Houston UNITED STATES NAVY. The leak was found on the USS Houston, a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, after it went to Hawaii for routine maintenance last month, the officials said, confirming a CNN television report earlier. The officials said the amount of radiation leaked into the water was very low, but the Navy alerted the Japanese government on Friday (Japan time) because the submarine had docked in Sasebo during its travels around the Pacific. The incident comes at a time when the Navy is trying to smooth over a problem with a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, which is due to replace the aging, conventionally powered Kitty Hawk this summer as the sole U.S. carrier based in Japan. In Tokyo, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday it was notified by the Navy that the radiation has “no effects on the environment and human bodies,” with a senior Japanese official saying it is “not a level that should be deemed problematic.” The ministry, however, came under fire for not disclosing the information sooner after the U.S. government notified it about the leak Friday afternoon in Japan. The ministry did not communicate it to the concerned local governments because “we judged there was no need to immediately report it since it would not have any impact on humans,” an official said.
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*** The Houston crisscrossed the western Pacific from March to June, spending a week in Sasebo in late March and stopping over at its home base in Guam and Hawaii from May to June. The total amount leaked while it docked in Sasebo, Guam and Hawaii is estimated at less than half a microcurie and has no adverse effects on the environment and crew, the Navy officials said. One microcurie is one millionth of a curie. *** The problem was discovered July 24 after the sub underwent a regular maintenance check in Hawaii, the officials said, adding that the water had not been in direct contact with the nuclear reactor and that a crew member who was exposed to the water proved to be unaffected. The Navy reported the case to health authorities in Hawaii on July 25, meaning that a report to the Japanese government came a week later. The latest development came after a large-scale fire broke out on the George Washington while en route to Japan in May. The fire was traced to crew members smoking near improperly stored flammable materials. While there was no damage or threat to the nuclear reactor, the ship was diverted to San Diego for repairs. It is now expected to arrive in Yokosuka, Japan at the end of September. The Navy this week fired the captain and his deputy, saying an investigation into the fire led to a lack of confidence in the leadership of both men. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 2nd, 2008
In lieu of his usual business suit, United Nations Secretary-General donned a more casual outfit, as part of the “Cool UN” initiative which seeks to curb the world body’s greenhouse gas emissions, which kicked off today. The three-pronged scheme seeks to limit the use of air conditioning, slash emissions and save money for the UN. “We are not just cutting back suits and ties,” Mr. Ban told reporters, adding that the month-long “Cool UN” programme at the Secretariat in New York will make a 10 per cent saving in energy consumption. Use of steam will be cut by more than 4 billion pounds, the equivalent of 300 tons of carbon dioxide in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The UN estimates that the scheme will also result in financial savings of more than $100,000. If the initiative is extended beyond August and into the winter, savings will be even greater, the Secretary-General noted.
The main UN premises in Bangkok, which houses over a dozen of the
ESCAP’s service also has pilot solar panels and wind turbines, and water —————– UN’s Ban in Shirt-Sleeves, a Cooling Room Next Door, Asked about Double-Standards by Fox. Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis UNITED NATIONS, August 1 — Television camera crews were waiting for the UN’s Ban Ki-moon on Friday morning; he showed off for them a short sleeved shirt and lack of tie. To set an example, he said, of action for climate change, the UN will raise the temperature in the building by five degrees. A photo opportunity was scheduled for 9:15 in Ban’s office, but upon arrival the Press was told there would not be enough space. It was said Ban would take no questions, that no reporters should go upstairs. Ultimately questions were allowed, by CNN, Fox and Inner City Press. The Fox TV reporter demanded that Ban address the “double standard” in the cooling of rooms on the 38th floor. Ban’s office felt warm, but a conference room next door was, the Fox team estimated, closer to 60 degrees. Ban said, “I have been sometimes very warm in this room, I have to switch to the next conference room.” To some, this meant that he will have his own cooling spot upstairs, which Fox called a meat locker, while other UN staff, particularly in rooms facing the sun and East River, sweat through August. The Staff Union, in a July 31 meeting, questioned whether Ban had consulted with the UN medical service.
Inner City Press asked Ban if he is encouraging Presidents like George Bush and Nicolas Sarkozy to follow his lead. “I don’t have any control over member states,” he said. “They are sovereign member states… I will be happy if member states follow.” In fact, South Korea and Japan, for example, already have such programs. Ban added that when he met with Japan’s foreign minister, they did so without ties.
The Press was then escorted down to the UN’s third and fourth sub-basements, control and machine room. One staffer said, “This won’t really reduce greenhouse gasses, but it might save us money.” He said that under Kofi Annan, something similar was tried, in order to save money. When Inner City Press asked how much money had been saved, he said to ask the spokesperson’s office. Inner City Press did, at Friday’s briefing, and will publish the answer when received. And at 6:16 p.m. on Friday the following arrived – “The UN introduced a cost-savings program in 2002 in response to significant budget cuts made by the General Assembly at the time. The program included the total shutdown of the fan system every night after 6 p.m. There were other measures that were introduced, such as reduced service to the conference rooms and reduction in mail service. Most of the services were later restored. No specific savings figure is available.” As the UNSG, Ban Ki-moon Hosted the Foreign Minister of Israel Ms. Tsipi Livni, we wonder if she was received in the “cool room.” We know she never wears a tie, but we also know that when Israel’s Founding Prime Minister David Ben Gurion’a office had no air conditioner or a fan, this applied also for him. Further, unless he had to come to the UN, he never wore a tie anyway. Could the UNSG be asked to allow himself the same measure of equality as David Ben Gurion instituted in the new reborn State of Israel? As we predicted in our first version of this posting, the one that did not include the Matthew Lee material, we were clear that the above was instituted by the UN only when it will deal this to the staff, but will have no meaning when the UN potentates show up.
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on July 30th, 2008 From: unobserver at iom.int MYANMAR - UK Backs IOM Medical Teams in Cyclone-Affected Irrawaddy Delta - The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has pledged £428,000 (US$ 850,000) to support IOM medical teams providing primary health care to Cyclone Nargis survivors in the Irrawaddy Delta. IOM mobile medical teams, using Zodiac inflatables and other boats to access remote locations hit by the cyclone, have treated over 24,600 patients in 327 villages in the Delta townships of Bogale, Pyapon and Mawlamyinegyun since the cyclone struck Myanmar on 2nd May. IOM has also set up 15 temporary tent clinics in areas where medical infrastructure was completely or partially destroyed by the cyclone. “People are mainly suffering from the effects of unclean water and food, lack of proper shelter and clothing, and a lack of proper sanitation,” says IOM Myanmar National Health Coordinator Dr Aye Aye Than, who heads up the Bogale health team. The DFID funding will support both the mobile teams and the clinics for up to six months, employing some 44 medical staff, together with ancillary logistics and coordination personnel, as well as paying for essential medicines and medical supplies. “This funding will allow us to meet one of our top priorities - continuing to deliver primary health care to cyclone survivors - while communities start to recover and rebuild pre-cyclone health infrastructure,” says IOM Health Programme Manager Dr Nenette Motus. “We are also appealing for additional funding to rebuild primary health care facilities and birth centres, strengthen the delivery of mental health services and raise HIV and AIDS awareness in communities displaced by the cyclone,” she adds. IOM’s Cyclone Nargis relief operations in the Delta are now coordinated from offices in Bogale, Pyapon and Mawlamyinegyun townships. In addition to providing direct medical aid, they have included the ongoing distribution of relief items including tarpaulins, jerry cans, chlorine for water purification, hygiene/family kits, rain ponchos and insecticide-treated mosquito nets. Other donors contributing to IOM’s response to the disaster include the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), USAID/OFDA, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), AmeriCares Foundation, International Medical Corps, and Chevron. ——————– In the light of the continuing releases by Inner City Press - from the UN building in New York - the UN has lost at least US$10 million in fraudulent exchange rates with the Myanmar government - so how does the UK handle these disbursements for the humanitarian activities in Myanmar/Burma? Sir John Holmes, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, is from the UK and it seems that he is continuously fooled by the Burmese Officers’ junta. We just picked up articles with information right out of Myanmar - http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art… http://www.irrawaddy.org/article1.php?ar… Currency Loss Unacceptable, but UN Aid to Continue: Holmes
“The losses are significant, but not absolutely gigantic,” John Holmes, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York on his return from a three-day trip to Burma. Holmes was in Burma last week visiting parts of the Irrawaddy delta, which was devastated by Cyclone Nargis in the first week of May, to review the progress of humanitarian relief work in the region, and then traveled to the new capital, Naypyidaw, to meet the prime minister and other senior junta officials. This was the first visit to Burma by a top-level UN official since Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s trip to the country in May. Holmes estimated that the UN, which was initially reluctant to acknowledge the substantial loss of foreign aid money due to a currency exchange mechanism dictated by the junta, has lost some US $10 million of the $200 million in aid money it has so far dedicated to the relief effort.
Holmes said, clearly the current situation “is not acceptable when we’re losing 20 percent, even if it’s only on some of our expenditures.” He acknowledged that donors have expressed concern about the matter, but this is unlikely to have any adverse impact on these countries’ contributions towards the UN flash appeal, which now totals $482 million. “This is a complicated issue, which we’ve had some time getting our heads around,” he said, adding that OCHA, which he heads, was not aware of the extent of the loss when he presented the revised appeal. “If we had known it at that time, maybe it would have been better to include it in the appeal,” he said in response to a question. “Obviously we would like to have a situation where there was no exchange loss. The ideal situation would be if we could pay with our dollars and get the market rate back in kyat—and that is what we’re asking for,” he said. “Perhaps we were a bit slow to recognize—because the spread suddenly widened in June—how big a problem this was going to become for us. We have recognized it and are taking it up with the Government,” Holmes said. Giving his impression of the progress of the humanitarian relief operations in the Irrawaddy delta, Holmes expressed a sense of satisfaction and said he appreciated the steps taken by the Burmese military junta in this regard. “We’re in a much better position than we were just a couple of months ago,” Holmes said. Citing major efforts to rebuild homes, repair schools and get health clinics up and running, Holmes said there has been a lot of progress in the last two months. Farming and other agricultural activities were also picking up, he said. “A degree of normality” is beginning to return in some areas around the delta region, with many schools functioning and increased traffic on major waterways, he observed. At the same time, Holmes asserted that challenges remain with regard to the humanitarian relief work in the Irrawaddy delta. “There is no room for any kind of complacency. There is still a lot to do to make this operation a lasting success and to reach all people with what they need for a sustained period,” he said. The main challenge for the next few months, Holmes said, is to ensure a more systematic pipeline of aid, both food and non-food items. It is important to reach out to those in the most remote areas who were difficult to reach because of poor infrastructure. “Systematic aid delivery is needed for at least six to nine months,” he said. Among other challenges for the relief operation is the drop in the number of World Food Programme helicopters from ten to five. Holmes hoped that some of these five could be kept flying for at least three or four months. This is to ensure that the most remote areas could be reached by aid workers delivering goods and supplies, he said. ——————- UN loses $10m aid in Burma exchange rate scam. The UN has admitted losing about $10m (£5m) to the Burmese regime while delivering emergency aid to the country in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis because of a distorted official exchange rate. The UN’s senior humanitarian aid official said it had suffered the “significant” loss because the junta enforced an artificial exchange rate that was at least 15 per cent lower than the genuine rate. It has been alleged that the UN had been aware of the loss for weeks and had accepted it as the price of “doing business” with the regime. “We were arguably a bit slow to recognise… how serious a problem this has become for us,” John Holmes, the under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters in New York. “It’s not acceptable.” The losses came about because of the system whereby, when providing aid, the UN uses foreign exchange certificates with a nominal value of $1 each that are then exchanged for the local currency, the kyat, at a rate set by Burma’s military government. The market rate for kyats is close to 1,100 per dollar, but the UN exchange rate is now about 880. As a result, the Burmese regime has been making a healthy profit even as the UN provides emergency support. Mr Holmes said he did not know where the money was going or who was directly benefiting. The Inner City Press blog that first posted the allegations of the losses said some humanitarians believed that allowing the government of General Than Shwe to make a profit was a price worth paying. It also said officials have been aware of the losses since early June. This month, the UN issued an appeal for more than $300m in extra aid for the country. —————— We do not say that the loss of funds caused by the fact that the humanitarian activity happens within a country with a very unsavory regime, but we do say that in the private enterprise world a manager with performance like this would be sacked - and this performance is not from just now, and not only by Sir Holmes, but just the same from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon under whose watch this goes on, and under the Administrator of the UNDP Kemal Dervis, under whom similar activities went on in other similar unsavory regimes the like of North Korea. As said, much more on this can be found on www.InnerCityPress.com and we posted also a general article about this lack of oversight on the part of the UN: “Now it is Accepted Officially At the UN, Something www. SustainabiliTank.info Argued Three Years Ago - The UN Funds The World’s Worst in a Neat Way - Call It Exchange Rates. We Had Brought This Up As A Way UNDP Did Fund The North Korean Atom Bomb, Now UNSG Holmes Recognized As Correct The ICP Statement That The UN Funds The Myanmar Government.” As we realize that it will be hard to come by accountability at the UN, the purpose of our posting this is to ask if the UK government is ready to assume oversight for the funds for which it caries responsibility to UK taxpayers? Further, we see that also USAID/OFDA, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), or the US and Swiss taxpayers, are funding these operations also. So what do the US and Swiss Administrations say of the transfer of funds to the Burmese junta rather then the full use of those funds for the humanitarian work? Also, even when NGOs or an oil company like Chevron, spend money on a humanitarian operation, these funds are mostly tax-deductible, so again the regular Joe who pays the taxes, it is his money, that was mismanaged under UN auspices.
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