There was a knowledge gap. Some journalists were ill-equipped to assess some of the information. It is very hard for journalists to say the consensus is wrong.Keisarin Tasavallassa keskustelu asian tiimoilta on ollut hiljaisempaa, mutta toki täältäkin löytyy mm. Poznanin valtuuskuntamme johtajan vakuuttava lausunto.
--Robert Peston, BBC Business Editor, The Guardian, 10 November 2008
Twenty nations including Japan, Italy and Australia may be releasing more greenhouse-gas pollution than they agreed to under the Kyoto treaty to curb global warming. The potential penalty, $46 billion for the group based on current permit prices, and the fact that only a minority of 37 Kyoto signatory nations may meet their pledges bodes poorly for international efforts to limit global warming.
--Alex Morales and Jeremy van Loon, Bloomberg, 14 November 2008
Failure by countries to meet their Kyoto targets suggests there's no point in agreeing to a new deal. It questions the whole idea of getting together in Copenhagen next year and making even more ambitious promises when we haven't even been able to fulfil our promises so far.
--Bjorn, Lomborg, Copenhagen Consensus Center, 14 November 2008
The German government wants extensive exemptions for energy intensive industrial sectors for their carbon emissions caps from 2013, Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief spokesman said on Friday. "We've got to prevent companies from being threatened by climate protection requirements," government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a news conference.
--Reuters, 14 November 2008
PREMIERS are in revolt over Kevin Rudd's plans for an emissions trading scheme, urging changes to the proposed formulas for compensating export industries to ensure they are not pushed offshore.
--Nicola Berkovic and Cath Hart, The Australian, 14 November 2008
The IPCC predicts that the temperature continues to increase after 2000. Thus, the IPCC prediction does not agree with what is happening even in 2000-2008. How can we trust their prediction in 2100?
--Syun Akasofu, CCNet, 15 November 2008
The incoming National government [in New Zealand] will completely review the emissions trading scheme (ETS) - possibly including the science that says humans are to blame for climate change - as part of its support deal with Act. A draft terms of reference for the review attached to the agreement, includes hearing "competing views on the scientific aspects of climate change" and looking at the merits of a "mitigation or adaptation approach". The deal requires the National government to pass immediate legislation delaying the implementation of the ETS until the
review is complete.
--Grant Fleming, The New Zealand Herald, 16 November 2008
New Zealand is not alone in reviewing climate change legislation. The deepening global economic turmoil is impacting heavily on governments around the world that are concerned about the economic cost of environmental commitments.
--Muriel Newman, New Zealand Business Review, 17 November 2008
Climate change may not be as severe as predicted, suggests an international study that shows current modeling of carbon dioxide emissions from soils are overestimated by as much as 20%. The finding has major implications for climate change predictions as annual carbon emissions from soils are estimated to be more than all human-made CO2 emissions combined.
--Dani Cooper, ABC News, 17 November 2008
THE global financial crisis showed how foolish the Rudd Government would be to base its climate change response on economic forecasts for the coming century, academic and Reserve Bank board director Warwick McKibbin said yesterday. Professor McKibbin said the Kyoto experience showed how even most environmentally-friendly countries, such as New Zealand and Canada, could commit to rigid, long-term targets only to find themselves disadvantaged when their economies or external conditions changed. He declared there would never be a uniform global carbon scheme and urged the Rudd Government to take the time necessary to develop a workable national scheme.
--The Australian, 18 November 2008
Two weeks before the start of key talks on global warming, the UN's climate-change watchdog issued figures here Monday that reflected poor headway by industrialised countries towards curbing dangerous carbon pollution. Greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 so-called Annex 1 countries under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change were almost unchanged in 2006, falling by a mere 0.1 percent from 2005, the UNFCCC said. From 2000 to 2006, though, emissions increased by 2.3 percent as activity revived in the former Soviet bloc economies.
--AFP, 17 November 2008
A bit of bad news for those seeking quick action on climate change under the new presidential administration: Barack Obama is not heading to Poland next month for UN talks on a pending global climate change pact. Obama's no-show status at the talks is hardly a death knell for the emissions reduction treaty that the UN must negotiate by next year to replace the expiring Kyoto protocol. But environmental groups had mounted a vocal campaign to persuade the president-elect to attend Poland -- or at least send a delegation to represent him -- and Obama appeared to agree during a pre-election appearance in Ohio.
--Elana Schor, The Guardian, 17 November 2008
Italy and Germany agree that measures to cut greenhouse gases shouldn't weigh on the economy, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a press conference Tuesday, indicating government support for tough new measures in Europe is waning. Germany's public support of Italy's position means that E.U. leaders may find it harder to get the package approved this year, as scheduled.
--Jennifer Clark, Dow Jones Newswire, 18 November 2008
Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer and emitter of greenhouse gases through deforestation, on Tuesday dealt a blow to hopes it would step up efforts to combat climate change. Anton Apriyantono, the agriculture minister, told the annual conference of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil that sustainability criteria should not be made a priority, particularly for smallholders, "when economic needs are not being met" in the global financial crisis.
--John Aglionby, Financial Times, 18 November 2008
Poland has rejected an EU proposal for its coal-fired power stations to be temporarily exempted from buying all their greenhouse gas permits, a move aimed at averting a Polish veto of the bloc's climate package, a senior Polish official said Wednesday.
--AFP, 19 November 2008
Climate change is fading as a priority in the Pacific Rim as the gloomy state of the global economy takes precedence, a survey of opinion leaders showed Wednesday. "You see the same shift in focus in the public away from climate change questions to questions of economic survival and growth," said Woo, president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
--AFP, 19 November 2008
The adoption of the EU climate bill in the European Parliament has been delayed. The legal package won't be decided upon on 4 December, as planned, but at a later time. "This way, we can negotiate until the last minute," a speaker of the Parliament said. The delay means that the EU's climate bill cannot be finally agreed by the heads of state and government at the EU summit meeting on December 11 and 12 in Brussels. Without an endorsement of the EU Parliament, the climate bill cannot become legally binding.
--Das Parlament, 24 November 2008
The really seismic shift in Europe is the emergence of a strong group of opposing countries against the whole agenda. The reality is now sinking in that the climate policies have a cost. The original aim of the EU was to go into the UN negotiations showing the rest of the world, ‘look we have this 20% reduction and if you’re good, 30%’. That was the intention. This has been given up. Full stop. It’s gone through the roof.
--Benny Peiser, LTT, 14 November 2008
The liberal wing of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) has published a new position paper for the party's forthcoming election manifesto. According to the authors, energy security can only be achieved by building new coal-fired power stations. They warn, that "industry is the backbone of the German economy." It is not limited to "greentech" but also includes energy intensive industries. The authors also want a review of existing laws supporting renewable energy. "Too much subsidies can have a detrimental effect on innovation," they note.
--Wirtschaftswoche, 22 November 2008
Eastern EU member states want to see a fresh proposal from France regarding the European Union's planned climate and energy package, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Monday. Last week Poland rejected an EU proposal that at least half of CO2 emission quotas be handed out free until 2016 for countries relying on coal for 60 percent of their electricity. "The package must be adopted unanimously," Sikorski said Monday. "We confirm that we will not hesitate to veto bad proposals which means we want to negotiate good proposals."
--AFP, 24 November 2008
Germany could lose more than 100,000 jobs if the European Union makes industries pay for pollution rights that are free at present, a press report said on Tuesday, citing an unpublished economy ministry report. When indirect effects on subcontrators were factored in, almost 300,000 jobs could disappear by 2020, according to another study by the Muenster-based EEFA research institute. The two studies could raise pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is in talks with European partners on a climate plan that aims to cut greenhouse emissions by 20 percent from their 1990 levels by 2020.
--AFP, 25 November 2008
Hans-Heinrich Sander (Liberal Party), the environment minister of the German federal state of Lower Saxony, has called for a delay of adopting the EU climate targets by five to ten years because of the global financial and economic crisis. "In face of the current crisis, economic and social factors are as important as ecological aspects," Sander said. "In a situation that threatens serious ramifications, politicians have the responsibility to approach problems with more flexible."
--Nordwest Zeitung, 25 November 2008
Italy will veto new European greenhouse gas limits for 2020 unless it gets concessions, its environment minister said on Tuesday, suggesting the EU might wait a year before adopting new climate change policies. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has called the plan unrealistic and his environment minister, Stefania Prestigiacomo, said Italy would reject it in its current form.
--Robin Pomeroy, Reuters, 25 November 2008
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is coming under growing pressure by her own party to reject the EU climate bill unless there will be far-reaching exemptions for the German industry and energy providers. In a position paper presented yesterday, the leadership of the parliamentary Christian Democrats demands that all sectors of the producing industries should be exempt completely from the emissions trading scheme.
--Handelsblatt, 25 November 2008
China and India next week will spearhead calls for rich nations to dig into their pockets to tackle climate change but will resist targeted curbs on their own carbon emissions, sources say.
--The Times of India, 26 November 2008
The Danish prime minister's hopes for a global climate agreement in Copenhagen next year appear to have been dashed by Poland. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has repeatedly said that a global agreement on CO2 reductions at next year's Climate Summit in Copenhagen is contingent on the European Union being able to reach its own compromise at this year's December EU summit. But Poland has made it clear that under current circumstances it will not agree to EU targets and is close to giving up negotiations completely.
--Politiken, 27 November 2008
In his first major speech since taking the post of federal environment minister, Jim Prentice signalled his government will not stir greater troubles in Canada's economy with strident environmental policies. "We will not - and let me be clear on this - we will not aggravate an already weakening economy in the name of environmental progress," Prentice said in a speech to business leaders at the Bennett Jones Lake Louise World Cup Business Forum Friday morning. "If this means re-examining the way forward in the face of present-day economic realities, then so be it."
--Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald, 28 November 2008
Japan and the U.S. will try to jumpstart global-warming talks this week by proposing that some of the biggest developing countries, including China and India, agree to limit their emissions of greenhouse gases. "There is no chance whatsoever that any developing country will agree to that proposal," Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, South Africa's environment minister, said in an interview in London. "None of the developing countries -- all of us have said that up front -- are willing to commit to specific targets."
--Alex Morales, Bloomberg, 1 December 2008
Italy will veto ambitious European Union plans to tackle climate change unless changes are made to make the package less costly to industry and consumers, a minister warned Monday. "We think the package is a mistake. As it stands, it penalises our industry, increases costs for citizens, threatens jobs and makes Italy poorer."
--AFP, 1 December 2008
Ympäristöministeri Paula Lehtomäki (kesk) pitää selvänä, ettei ilmastopoliittisia päätöksiä voi lykätä talouskriisin varjolla. Peruuttamattomien ilmastomuutosten torjumiseksi toimia tarvitaan nopeasti, sanoo Lehtomäki.Jippii! Pelastamme Maailman vaikka yksin! Meillä on siihen varaa, kun vielä Karjuva Työvoimapula (TM) saadaan maahanmuutolla paikattua. Syntymättömätkin sukupolvet tulevat muistamaan tämän hallituksen urotyöt. Kiitos!
--STT, 26. marraskuuta 2008
[Lisäys: Ei tarvitse olla yksin! Britit (hallitus ainakin, artikkelin kommentoijilla ei liene väliä) aikovat olla mukana "talkoissa": Climate change targets could push up household bills to £500 a year, says Government chief
Tough new targets on tackling climate change will cost Britain £500 a year per household, push up utility bills and force 1.7million Britons into fuel poverty by 2020.
The grim predictions came from independent Government advisers yesterday as they set targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
The influential panel led by millionaire business guru Adair Turner wants the UK to cut levels by up to 42 per cent within 12 years.
A report from the Committee on Climate Change said the sacrifice would be worth it 'given the consequences and higher costs of not acting'. ]
Jos lamasta tulee pitkä, ilmastomuutos jää jalkoihin tai sitten aletaan yhdessä taputtaa käsiä, koska hiilidioksidipäästöjä on onnistuttu vähentämään. Vähennys tietysti johtuu talouden yleismaailmallisesta heikentymisestä, mutta ennustan maailmanpelastajien ottavan siitä kunnian.
VastaaPoistaMielestäni tässä on nyt toteutumassa Pahin Mahdollinen Skenaario (PMS). Mitä olen tuota keskustelua (*) maailmalta seurannut, Keski- ja Itä-Euroopan mailla ei ole edes tarkoitus oikeasti tehdä mitään mikä haittaisi teollisuutta. Kehittyvät maat puolestaan eivät edes teeskentele sellaista: ne näkevät noissa mekanismeissa ainoastaan tavan pumpata tukiaisia "rikkailta" mailta. Nyt kun lama tulee leikkaamaan CO2-päästöjä maailmanlaajuisesti muutaman vuoden, nuo maat voivat rauhassa olla tekemättä mitään ennen kuin totuus paljastuu. Samaan aikaan täällä me ehdimme hirttää itsemme mitä mielikuvituksellisimmin veroin, maksuin ja rajoituksin.
VastaaPoistaTuossa brittien raportissa on mielenkiintoinen sana "fuel poor", jolla tarkoitetaan sellaista henkilöä, jolla ei ole varaa esim. lämmittää asuntoaan. Siinä vaiheessa kun tuolle termille täytyy hakea suomenkielinen vastine, ollaan jo pahasti kusessa. Siihen ei valittettavasti liene kuin kolme-neljä vuotta.
(*) Minusta on hämmästyttävää, että hallituksen omien laskelmien mukaan homma tulisi kuluttajalle maksamaan 1000e/vuosi/kotitalous, ja silti mitään keskustelua asian tiimoilta ei käydä. Ja tuo luku ei tietenkään voi edes sisältää sitä epäsuoraa hintaa, mitä maksetaan teollisuuden alasajosta. Tässä ollaan nyt oikeasti ajamassa tätä maata selvitystilaan. Ja kuten tuo Pasin kysely osoitti, mitään exit-strategiaa ei ole edes mietitty. Tuo "mainostamani" CCNet on muuten mainio tapa seurata keskustelua maailmalla, jossa, toisin kuin täällä, asioista edes keskustellaan ihan main stream-median pääkirjoituksissa.
Tarkoitin siis lähinnä Etelä- ja Itä-Euroopan maita.
VastaaPoista