From:      mmontoiro at unccd.int
Subject: UNCCD and UNU sign agreement to expand research into environmentally-induced migration
Date:      November 28, 2008

Bonn, Germany, 28 November 2008 – As the perilous effects of desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) on humans become more and more apparent, two United Nations organizations have come together more closely. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the United Nations University (UNU) have signed a memorandum of understanding, in which they agreed to combine resources to tackle the mounting challenge of environmentally induced migration and vulnerability induced by DLDD.

Experts say that severe desertification could force the migration of some 50 million people in the next 10 years. This is already a huge burden for many countries. Affected countries suffer the loss of knowledgeable farmers who flee to cities that already have reached their social and economic limits, or must move to third countries, where they frequently must live on the fringe of society.

“Parties of the Convention have asked for more science to address this and similar issues. For this there is no better address than the UNU, ” said UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja at the signing ceremony.

The agreement, to be carried out as a joint work plan over a two-year period starting in 2009, seeks to expand research on forced migration due to DLDD on how the two are related. A preliminary policy position paper shall first be presented at the 17th meeting of the Commission on Sustainable Development in May 2009, to be followed up by a joint publication for policy, which will be prepared by October next year for the ninth session of the UNCCD Conference of the Parties.

The two UN bodies enter the agreement convinced that distinct benefits can derive from the joint work plan. With the research conducted on desertification-induced migration, advocacy and awareness raising shall be promoted. The expanded focus of scientific and technological activity to create effective policy frameworks also reflects the UNCCD’s 10-year Strategy plan that runs to 2018.

UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder said at the signing ceremony that the University is intensifying its studies on a global problem that must be addressed on a global scale.

“UNCCD’s broad network with national and international partners will help our research. Cooperation here will benefit those who experience some of the harshest environmental conditions, that of living in drylands that are vulnerable to degradation, and who, when it worsens even just a bit, are subjected to unparalleled challenges when forced to migrate,” said Prof. Osterwalder.

The signing took place as UNU in Bonn marks its fifth anniversary with a series of events in the coming week, including the 55th Session of UNU Council, to be held in Bonn for the first time.

For further information, please contact Marcos Montoiro +49-228-815-2806 or press(at)unccd.int. Also see http://www.unccd.int

Join the wind energy industry at the Wind Power Works Pavilion (Hall 11) during COP 14 on 4-11 December to learn more about wind energy, visit our spectacular photo exhibition and enjoy free coffee and wifi.

We will have over 35 side events, film screenings and receptions from 4-11 December, in Hall 11, on the COP 14 campus.

Mark your calendar for some key events including:

4 December
18:30 -20:00: Grand opening of the Wind Power Works Pavilion & Photo Exhibition – reception and party

5 December
10:00-11:30: 3Tier side event: Harnessing Wind Power as a Global Climate Change Mitigation Technology (Launch of global wind map)
12:30- 14:00: Greenpeace side event: Forests for climate

6 December
10:00-11:30: Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP): Pacific Climate Change Film Festival
15:00- 17:00: Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) side event: Access to energy and climate change: the way forward

8 December
13:30- 15:00: European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) side event: The EU’s Climate & Energy Package 20/20/20 by 2020
15:00- 17:00: Polish Wind Energy Association side event: Wind energy in Poland – a contribution to countermeasure climate change followed by a cocktail reception.
19:00 – 21:30: Greenpeace: Reception and film screening - The Age of Stupid

9 December
09:00- 10:00: European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) side event: The possible role and contribution of geothermal energy to the mitigation of climate change
10:00- 11:30: European Renewable Energy Council (EREC): Technology Roadmap for Europe - Reaching 20% of renewable energy by 2020
14:00- 15:30: European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) side event: From Poznan to Copenhagen

10 December
9:00- 10:30: Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) side event: Global Wind Energy Outlook- Scenarios for wind energy development up to 2020
18:00- 19:30: WWF International: Launch of Earth Hour 2009
19:30 - 21:00: The Wind Power Works campaign VIP Reception

11 December
16:00- 18:00: U.S. NGOs: Reception for international delegates and the U.S. Congressional delegation                                    
The Wind Power Works campaign aims to show policy makers that wind energy already provides clean and fuel free electricity in over 70 countries of the world, and can cut 10 billion tons of CO2 by 2020. It is a proven and reliable technology that makes sense, not only for the environment, but also in economic terms.
We are looking forward to welcoming you in Poznań.

Best regards,

Angelika Pullen
Communications Director
Global Wind Energy Council

Further information on www.UNFCCC.int

Trade Carbon for Food Security. This Could Be Another Way To Achieve The Goals of Global Decrease in CO2 Emissions.

By Busani Bafana for IPS.

NAIROBI, Nov 28, 2008 (IPS) - Forget the view of climate change as impending catastrophe for a moment: if negotiators can recognise sustainable agriculture by African smallholders and forests as mitigating factors in climate change, carbon trading could become an important support for Africa’s food security.

There’s no doubt that climate change is a threat: Africa contributes only 3.8 percent of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, but it will suffer worst impacts of climate change.  This is because of limited mechanisms and resources to mitigate and adapt to this significant change from one climatic condition to another. Examples of adaptation activities include introducing different crops to compensate to local climate change and protection of coastal areas from sea-level rise.

But when the UN Climate Change summit opens in Poznań, Poland on Dec. 1, a delegation from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) will be pushing for changes in the carbon trading market.

“More than four billion people in developing countries around the world who live off agriculture are excluded from this trade and Africa should use this trade to invest in food security which is under threat,” COMESA Secretary General, Sindiso Ngwenya told delegates at a meeting earlier this month in Nairobi Kenya.
***

How carbon trading works:

Carbon trading places limits on emissions at agreed levels; polluters who exceed their assigned limit must buy credits to do so. This is where African farmers can help — if climate-friendly practices in agriculture or preservation of forests are recognised. Polluters in rich countries could then buy offset carbon credits from farmers in Africa.

The global market for carbon emissions is expanding. In 2007, it was estimated to be worth 30 billion dollars — two and a half times the value of average annual aid to Africa.

“Unless the successor to the Kyoto Protocol values the contribution that sustainable agriculture can make to the global carbon market, Africa is still outside the fence,” said Sibanda.

COMESA has mandated FANRPAN to coordinate the Africa-Wide Civil Society Climate Change Initiative for Policy Dialogues (ACCID). The project equips governments and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to ensure the post Kyoto Protocol includes sustainable agriculture and forestry management.

Continued exclusion, African delegates warned, could undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

Eric Bettelheim, Executive Chairman of UK-based Sustainable Forestry Management, said developing countries must be paid to keep their remaining forests but the credits could triple the value of existing forests as well as provide a tasty incentive to set more land aside for afforestation programmes.

“This kind of money can transform economies because it is trade not aid,” said Bettelheim. “Poor farmers must receive increased payments and productivity or there will be no solution to global warming, no post-2012 treaty and no functioning tropical forest ecosystems by the end of the century.”

This is an excellent editorial - and we never agreed more with anything that the New York Times printed - and we brag about this because here they agree with everything our website stood for - and what great way to put it:

“A US CLIMATE POLICY WRAPPED INSIDE AN ENERGY POLICY WRAPPED INSIDE AN ECONOMIC POLICY.”

This is it in a nutshell. For the US to creep out from the years of “derivatives” and Oil we need an Economic Policy that looks at replacing oil with all sort of means - conservation, efficiency, change of lifestyles, “Gross National Happiness,” a Renewable Energy answer - this will then become automatically the needed energy security policy that answers also the environmental crises including the threatening climate change.

We are thankful for the upcoming switch from Bush to Obama and we will hold Obama’s feet to above fire.

We will analyze Obama’s VISION by the directives he gives to his policy implementers, in his hand picked cabinet, and in the intelligent expression he will be giving to the global implications of his new direction he is expected to give the US.

Yes, we understand that we will not get all answers in the first few months of his government - but we expect to hear from him expressed clearly how the necessary immediate first moves fit into a Grand Scheme of  things to come.

Yes, we know Kyoto was not the ideal plan to deal with climate change, it came about because of ideas the US suggested and then walked away from. To put back life in international agreements we agree that it is difficult to get 192 UN Sovereign delegations to sing in unison, but a few well placed US bilateral agreements could smooth the way for that needed global regime.

Yes, we know that the UN was dancing on the spot - one foot forward - one foot back - but without the cooperation from the Bush little else could be done, and procrastination is now the face of the UN time-piece. The US will have to help reorganize that institution also, and that is easy to do if that above noted terrific worded plan becomes the US methodology. Others will emulate it because they are in the same pickle as us and even worse. Poznan was never intended to be the starting point for a roadway to solution. It is just another bubbles’ exercise - but what a great place for some privately arrived US Senator to announce - look world - we are coming on board - we have plans - we want to rebuild our economy after we showed you all our nakedness - we know and we will do. Let us meet mid 2009 and we will have shown you by then that we have plans, we know what we are doing and we will work with you to save the Planet for the benefit of all humankind.

We will tell the other nations - We have erred, we have sinned, we transgressed, we started fine under President Nixon - Yes Nixon - and we hurt ourselves - and you - by diluting what he started in the area of the environment. We allowed the Oil industry, the Auto-manufacturing industry, our labor unions, our banks, our money dispersing interests, to push us as if we were rugs under their feet. Our town became Sodom and Gomorra, and we got covered asphalt and brine - but we will recover because recovering we must. Our down-payment will be made public January 20, 2009. Let’s give thanks that this is just eight weeks from now.

—*—*—*—

* — *

The Great Editorial:

From:      petter.haugneland at cicero.uio.no
Subject: Study: Governments must explain the benefits of eco taxes
Date:      November 28, 2008

Study: Governments must explain the benefits of eco taxes

Environmental taxes are one of the few instruments that can have a
significant impact on global emissions. However, governments have a huge
challenge in communicating to the public how these taxes work, a new study
concludes. 

“People do not understand environmental taxes. If politicians don’t provide
better information about how these taxes work, it might not be politically
feasible to implement them”, says Steffen Kallbekken, researcher at Center
for International Climate and Environmental Research - Oslo (CICERO).

He continues:  “Without environmental taxes it will be much harder to meet climate
targets”.

***

Kallbekken recently completed a Ph.D. on environmental tax schemes, where he
looked at the trade-off between political feasibility and economic
efficiency.

In a laboratory experiment, participants voted on different environmental
tax schemes. They were asked which alternative would give the highest
welfare: A situation with an environmental tax in place, or a situation
without such a tax.

“By improving the environment and providing tax revenues that can be used to
benefit the public, environmental taxes can increase overall welfare”, says
Kallbekken. The experiment was designed to reflect this, so that imposing
the environmental tax would increase welfare.

However, only 23 percent answered correctly that the tax would increase
welfare.  Fully 45 percent believed that the highest welfare would be gained
if no tax was implemented.

“There seems to be a big divide between what economists recommend and what
people find acceptable. A main reason for this seems to be that people do
not understand how taxes can increase welfare”, says Kallbekken.

“Earmarking is not a popular tool amongst economists because it is not
efficient. However, it looks like it sometimes can be worth considering
because it can increase the political feasibility of taxation”, Kallbekken
explains.

The congestion charge in Stockholm is an example of how an environmental tax
can lead to increased welfare: During a trial period, traffic to the city
fell by 22 percent. Travel times during rushour dropped by nearly a third,
accidents with injuries fell, and emissions fell by 10 to 14 percent,
according to Lindsey (2007).

“The congestion tax was very controversial before the trial period. However,
as people experienced the positive effects of the congestion tax during the
trial period they adopted a more favourable view of the tax”, says
Kallbekken.

Polls found that the number of people likely to vote in favour of
permanently introducing the tax increased by 18 percent during the trial
period.

In the actual referendum after the trial period, the tax received a 52.5
percent majority, and the tax was permanently implemented.

“The Stockholm example shows that demonstrating the benefits of
environmental taxes can substantially increase public support”, says
Kallbekken.

This is in line with Kallbekken’s studies. When investigating how
politicians should respond to the public’s beliefs about environmental
taxation, he found that politicians need to give thourough information about
how such taxes lead to higher welfare.

“The politicans need to inform the public much better about the
environmental benefit of taxation, and they also need to show clearly and
credible how the revenues will be used. A trial period can be one way to
give the public this information by letting them personally experience the
benefits”, says Kallbekken.

“If informing the public is not sufficient to get the necessary political
support, politicians should consider different kinds of earmarking systems”,
he concludes.

Contact information:

Steffen Kallbekken, researcher, CICERO
Phone: +47 22 85 87 58
E-mail:  steffen.kallbekken at cicero.uio.no

From:        Marisa.Chiarella at BakerNet.com
Subject:     Baker & McKenzie release report - Identifying optimal legal frameworks for renewable energy in India
Date:            November 28, 2008

Renewable Energy Law in India.

From Backer & McKenzie: A Publication Prepared on behalf the 7-Governments of the Acia-Pacific Economic Partnership That Was Formed By The Bush Administration With The Old Australian Administration in Order To Find An Alternative To The EU  Leadership To The Kyoto Protocol - Now They Came Up With This Suggestion For India. Could A Revamp Of These Ideas, Under An Obama Administration, And In Cooperation With The EU, Help Indeed?

Asia Pacific

November 2008

Baker & McKenzie have released a report on renewable energy laws in India, as part of  a project under the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

Click to view publication

Identifying optimal legal frameworks for renewable energy in India

Baker & McKenzie and the Renewable Energy and International Law project (REIL), with the assistance of the World Institute of Sustainable Energy, have written this paper as a component of a project for the Asia Pacific Partnership, funded by the Australian Government and the US Government.

The paper provides a detailed guide to renewable energy law and policy in India, including:

·          background information on India’s legal system, laws relating to energy, and the energy market;
·          approaches to renewable energy law adopted to date by Indian State and Central Governments;
·          development of a new national renewable energy law;
·          consideration of the model renewable energy law for India and a comparison of the model law against national renewable energy laws in other countries;
·          discussion on implementing a scheme for trading in renewable energy certificates, and recommendations regarding such a scheme; and
·          broader issues associated with implementing renewable energy projects in India, including the barriers and risks involved with such projects.
Click here to view the publication.

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