Climate Change Risk Underestimated

The climate change science keeps on getting clearer, and it is not pretty. A new study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences updating a 2001 assessment by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change that looked at temperature changes and the risks they pose, found the risks of negative impacts of climate change on humans and nature are larger than just a few years ago. The new study found that even small changes of global mean temperatures could produce the kinds of conditions singled out as "reasons for concern" in the 2001 assessment, such as damage to coral reefs or endangered species; and extreme weather events like cyclones, heat waves or droughts.

Humanity, the Earth, and our sister species are at a crossroads. We can continue to willfully downplay the dangers posed by climate change, or we can organize and resist in order to achieve the policies necessary to maintain our shared biosphere and thus our shared being. We know we must reduce human population and inequitable consumption. There is no future for logging old forests and burning coal. And energy efficiency, conservation and renewables are the only road to keeping the lights on. We can pursue these sufficient ecological policies with a revolutionary spirit of action, or we can roll over and die. We still have the power and time to stop this crisis, but just barely. Commit yourselves to a New Earth Rising.

Escalation of global Warming menace the universe

An international team of climate experts said that, the earth would not have to glow-up as much as had been thought to cause serious consequences of global warming, including more extreme weather and increasing threats to plants and animals. The risk of increased severe weather would rise with a increasing global average temperature between 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit and 3.6 degrees above 1990 levels. The National Climatic Data Center currently reports that global temperatures have risen 0.22 degree since 1990.

According to the recent research report, increases in drought, heat waves and floods are cautious in many regions and would have adverse impacts, including increased water stress, wildfire frequency and flood risks starting at less than 1.8 degrees.

Another research had found that, the liability of the 2003 heat wave in Europe led to the death of many number of people extensively increased by the growth of greenhouse gas. Now humans are adding carbon to the atmosphere even faster than in the 1990s. Carbon emissions have been growing at 3.5 percent per year since 2000, up sharply from the 0.9 percent per year in the 1990s.Carbon dioxide and other gases added to the air by industrial and other activities have been blamed for rising temperatures, increasing worries about possible major changes in weather and climate. The new study found evidence of greater susceptibility to climate change for specific populations, such as the poor and elderly, in not only developing but also developed countries.

Hurricane Katrina and the 2003 European heat wave have shown to us the capacity, to adapt climate-related extreme events which is minimal than we expected. As a result, their liabilities are higher than previously thought.

Papua New Guinea Rainforests Deeply Threatened

The nation's future carbon payments for avoided deforestation in doubt. As a global leader in promoting such payments,the PNG government would be well advised to focus upon better protecting its rainforests, if it wants to fully access carbon monies based upon their continued carbon storage.

An important new study in the journal "Biotropica" finds that between 1972 and 2002, a net 15 percent of Papua New Guinea's (PNG) rainforests were cleared and 8.8 percent were degraded through logging. The clearance rate of 1.1 to 3.4 percent per year in commercially accessible forests is much higher than reported previously by the FAO.

PNG located in the South Pacific, northeast of Australia holds some of the world's largest and most important intact and contiguous forests. Their fate has important implications for local livelihoods and biodiversity, and both local and global climate change. The new study quantifies forest loss in PNG for the first time with a high degree of accuracy. And the findings are not good.

Some 36% of the accessible forest estate has been degraded or deforested. This finding raises the question of whether the PNG government has a welcome leader in promoting avoided deforestation payments is pursuing the necessary policies to ensure large rainforests continue to exist as the basis for their country to receive large and continuous international payments for their forest's carbon storage.The study found that change in PNG rainforest extent and condition has occurred to a greater extent than previously recorded.The study assessed deforestation and forest degradation in Papua New Guinea by comparing a land-cover map from 1972 with a land-cover map created from nationwide high-resolution satellite imagery recorded since 2002. In 2002 there were 28,251,967 ha of tropical rain forest.

Between 1972 and 2002,a net 15 percent of Papua New Guinea's tropical forests were cleared and 8.8 percent were degraded through logging. The drivers of forest change have been concentrated within the accessible forest estate where a net 36 percent were degraded or deforested through both forestry and nonforestry processes.

It was estimated that over the period 1990-2002, overall rates of change generally increased and varied between 0.8 and 1.8 percent/yr, while rates in commercially accessible forest have been far higher having varied between 1.1 and 3.4 percent per year. The study concluded that rapid and substantial forest change has occurred in Papua New Guinea, with the major drivers being logging in the lowland forests and subsistence agriculture throughout the country with comparatively minor contributions from forest fires, plantation establishment, and mining.

Ecological Internet provides the world's largest and most used climate and environment portals at http://www.climateark.org/ and http://www.ecoearth.info/ . Dr. Glen Barry is a leading global spokesperson on behalf of environmental sustainability policy. He frequently conducts interviews on the latest climate, forest and water policy developments and can be reached for comment at:

Ecological Internet calls upon PNG to immediately reappraise its logging, biofuel and agriculture policies; to ensure maximum amounts of fully intact forests are available for anticipated international carbon market funding to stop deforestation and diminishment, and for continued non-diminishing traditional local uses. First time industrial logging of primary forests releases huge amounts of stored carbon and permanently reduces the forest's carbon holding potential. Clearly industrial forestry, certified or not, is a dying industry with no future.

CARBON MARKETS ARE COLLAPSING IN EUROPE

Revolving for the great pollution fire sale, the futhermost outlook to debris the climate on the cheap.Last summer it cost an eyewatering 31 vpounds to throw up your smokestack, but in our give-away global recession sale been slashed to a crazy 8.20 pounds.Compare our offer with costly solar energy. At this low, low price you can't afford not to burn coal.

Europe's carbon markets are in collapse.Yet the jeer of escaping gas is almost inaudible.You can't see or hear a market for a pollutant fall.But at stake is what was supposed to be a central lever in the world's effort to turn back climate change.Intended to price fossil fuels out of the market, the system is instead turning them into the rational economic choice.something that exists called carbon trading which we all know. Europe has created carbon exchanges,and traders who buy and sell. Few but the professionals, however, know that this market is now failing to edge up the cost of emitting CO2. The theory sounded fine in the boom years, back when Nicholas Stern described climate change as "the biggest market failure in history"

A year ago European governments disorderly a limited number of carbon emission permits to their big polluters permits to ones that need more. As demand outstrips this capped supply, and the price of permits rises, an incentive grows to invest in green energy.All this only works as the carbon price lifts.A lot of the blame lies with governments that signed up to carbon trading as a neat idea, but then indulged polluters with luxurious quantities of permits. A tonne of carbon has dropped to about 8 pounds, down from last year's summer peak of 31 pounds and far below the 30-45 pounds range at which renewables can collied with fossil fuels.

The lesson of the carbon bust is that markets can be a passage, but not a substitute, for political will. They only work when properly primed and regulated.Europe hoped that the mere creation of a carbon market would drive everyone away from fossil fuels.It forgot that charge had to outstrip supply, and that if growth stops, demand drops too.

Carbon trading remains at the heart of the international response to climate change. Obama backs what Americans call cap and trade. Australia wants to try the same thing. But both are hesitating, given Europe's mess.The conclusive way would be to cut the number of circulating permits, but no government will be courageous to do that. And private initiatives such as Sandbag, which encourages individuals to buy and lock away permits which can exert little pressure on price in a market awash with them.

First of all the Europe must end importing permits from countries like Russia.No one really believes that 15m tonnes of imported permits will not still be emitted by a steelworks somewhere east of Novosibirsk. Second, it must publish plans to crack down on the surplus of permits when the recession is over. Like medieval pardoners handing out unlimited indulgences, governments have created a over. Europe's whizz-bang carbon market is turning sub-prime

Which generates climatic change?

The earth's climate is influenced by many factors, such as the amount of greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere, the amount of energy coming from the sun or the properties the Earth's surface. Changes in those factors, through human-related or natural processes, have a warming or a cooling effect on the planet because they alter how much of this solar energy is retained or reflected back to space.

The concentrations in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) have all increased markedly since 1750, and now exceed by far their pre-industrial levels.

Carbon dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Its concentration in the atmosphere (379 ppm in 2005) is now far higher than the natural range over the last 650 000 years (180 to 300 ppm) and is growing faster than ever since the beginning of its continuous direct measurement in 1960, mainly due to fossil fuel use and to a lesser extent to land use change. For instance, emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use increased from 6.4 Gt per year in the 90s to 7.2 Gt of carbon per year over the period 2000-2005. Concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere have also greatly increased since pre-industrial times, and those increases are mostly due to human activities such as agriculture and fossil fuel use.

The effect on climate of each of the different drivers is expressed in terms of "radiative forcing", with positive forcing causing a warming of the surface and negative forcing a cooling of it. The overall effect of human activities since 1750 is very likely (> 90% certainty) to be one of warming, with an estimated increase of energy, or radiative forcing, of 1.6 Watt per square meter over the whole planet. The relative contribution of various factors can be seen in figure 2. The main warming drivers are the various greenhouse gases and it is likely that the warming that they cause has been increasing during the industrial era at a higher rate than at any time over the last 10 000 years. The main cooling drivers are aerosols and the changes in cloud cover that they cause

Earth's Leading Climate Change Portal Turns 10 Years Old

The Climate Ark Climate Change Portal at turned ten years old this new year. Tens of millions of users have and continue to enjoy the Internet's best climate search, news feeds, blogging and action alerts. Ecological Internet has been campaigning for sufficient climate policies and been a critic of global environmental policy since Al Gore actually had the power to do something about climate change.

To mark the event, Ecological Internet's President, Dr. Glen Barry, has recommenced writing biocentric, deeply thought provoking and critically acclaimed "Earth Meanders" essays at http://www.ecoearth.info/earthmeanders/. "There is a real hunger for truthful and ambitious solutions to climate change and the many other global ecological crises that threaten planetary annihilation," notes Dr. Barry.

"After much urging and a bit of a break, I am back meandering freely regarding the failure of the environmental movement and espousing a biocentric and sufficient environmental paradigm. I am going to continue speaking shrilly and forcefully regarding necessary actions to achieve global ecological sustainability. And this time it will be as a project of Ecological Internet. Expect more challenging ecological free thinking, remembering they are essays primarily meant to spur discussion."

To diversify funding at the decade mark, Climate Ark has broken with the past and begun to accept tasteful amounts of Google advertising. "This was a difficult decision, after nearly 20 years of ad free Internet activism, but it is crucial we take all measures to remain operational, as the Earth needs bright green biocentric advocacy as never before," explains Dr. Barry.

It is hoped site users will regularly click on advertisements in which they are genuinely interested, and thus financially support Ecological Internet's non-profit work. And report inappropriate ads that may be presented in their location so they can be blocked. Ecological Internet's end-of-year fund-raising drive has nearly completed, and is only a few thousand dollars short of its goal. Donations can still be made at http://www.climateark.org/shared/donate/.

Ecological Internet provides the world's largest and most used climate and environment portals at http://www.climateark.org/ and http://www.ecoearth.info/. Dr. Glen Barry is a leading global spokesperson on behalf of environmental sustainability policy. He frequently conducts interviews on the latest climate, forest and water policy developments and can be reached at: glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org.

Climate Change Worse Than Thought

A biosphere cannot be engineered quite a week in climate science. Ends up global warming is accelerating more at a much faster pace, causing more environmental damage, than predicted even a few years ago. Continued use of coal is denounced as "death factories" . And crop-based biofuels are speeding up global warming by fueling the destruction of rainforests .

These warnings comes from highly respected mainstream scientists, and illustrate how the science has progressed to indicate global ecological crises are much more dire than even recent worst case scenarios. Of course many of us have known climate change will be abrupt, and that maintaining standing rainforests and ending use of coal, would be keystone climate change responses for decades; but been stonewalled by media, government and mainstream and even radical environmental bureaucracies. It is clear that the IPCC report of 2007 is already dated, and we cannot wait until 2014 to finalize the next.

The Earth has found its voice. Unless action to topple industrial polluters and destroyers are taken immediately we are all going to die. Failure to address climate change is largely due to society's inability to transform itself, including away from coal and FSC certification of old growth forest logging. Much of the environmental movement is duped, incompetent or sold out -- or some combination of the above. Few dare to demand reducing human population and inequitable consumption immediately, which clearly is necessary to maintain a livable Earth. Without thinking big and becoming more aggressive in demanding social change, we are in for a world of hurt.

Ancient Forests Absorb 20% of Human's Carbon, Logging and Other Industrial Destruction of Old Forests Must Stop Now

Ecological Internet welcomes the emerging science published today in "Nature" indicating tropical trees in undisturbed forest are absorbing nearly a fifth of the CO2 released by burning fossil fuels.This is in addition to the long-term carbon sequestered within old trees' wood and soils. This is the most recent of several major scientific studies indicating the need to fully protect all remaining primary and old growth forests as a keystone response to global climate, biodiversity and water crises.

"This is huge -- not only do ancient rainforest's reliably store massive amounts of carbon, as we have known for sometime, but they continue to remove enormous amounts of carbon every day they remain standing and are non-degraded. The study partially solves the mystery of where human carbon pollution has been going, and in so doing supports the need for avoided deforestation payments," said Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet's President.

It was found that remaining tropical forests remove a massive 4.8 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere each year. This includes a previously unknown carbon sink in Africa, which mops up 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 a year. Over the past 40 years, each hectare of intact African forest was found to have annually trapped an extra 0.6 tonnes of carbon. This builds upon last year's studies that found old-growth forests are "carbon sinks" and continually absorb carbon dioxide, and that their first time logging releases 40 percent of their carbon

"We are receiving a free subsidy from nature," says Dr. Simon Lewis, a Royal Society research fellow at the University of Leeds, and the lead author of the paper. "Tropical forest trees are absorbing about 18% of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of climate change."

Dr. Lee White, co-author on the study, said "to get an idea of the value of the sink, the removal of nearly 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by intact tropical forests, based on realistic prices for a tonne of carbon, should be valued at around £13 billion ($USD 18.7 billlion) per year. This is a compelling argument for conserving tropical forests."

The findings critically demolish claims by groups as diverse as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), World Bank, Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Greenpeace and WWF that "well-managed, responsible and low-impact" logging in the world's dwindling ancient forests can ever have environmental benefits. Over the past two years, each has been the target of Ecological Internet's campaign to end old growth forest logging, which is "certified" by FSC as being "green".

Late last year RAN agreed to review their long-time support for first time industrial logging of ancient forests.When Lafcadio Cortesi, RAN's new rainforest campaigner, was asked to comment upon the Nature report, he replied it is a "bit of a stretch and certainly premature to link. the nature paper findings with RAN and the FSC." He refused to answer the question "how does logging 500 year old ancient trees protect rainforests and the climate," continuing two years of RAN stonewalling on the most basic of questions regarding their support for FSC ancient forest logging.

EI President, Dr. Glen Barry, said "the science has never been clearer: global ecological sustainability depends critically upon protecting and restoring old forests. How much longer can RAN and the world dither? Our demand of RAN remains the same: either use your membership to get FSC to eliminate their sourcing of certified timbers from ancient forests, or resign immediately from FSC in protest."

"Sadly, our campaign resumes after failure by RAN to keep their earlier promises. We call upon RAN members to resign, and their funders to stop their support, in protest of America's leading rainforest group supporting -- against a growing body of ecological science -- first time industrial destruction of primeval forests. EI will be taking further protest action at a place and time of our choosing."

GLOBAL WARMING THRETENS TO RAISE SEA LEVEL

Rising sea levels make our nation disappear literally. But this fate awaits millions of people as global warming threatens to raise the level of sea. According to Koko Warner of the UN University, 24 million people around the world have become the refugees of the climate. "The international Organization for Migration"have estimated that the many people were forced to come out of their home because of the drastic climatic changes like lower agricultural outputs, drought,flood, storms, rising sea levels and many more.These thing will reach two hundred million by 2050.

This fact is really fearful for the people who leads their life in island around the world. Kolkatta-based environmentalist,Mr. Subhas datta had said that, the global power must end this complacency and tackle this crises on the war footing.Rising of sea levels may eventually wash some parts of the world map.In the year 2008, the UN,s intergovernmental panel of climatic change shortly IPCC warned that rise in sea levels 18 to 59 centimeters by 2100 would be enough to make the Maldives and Tuvalu virtually inhabitable.

The current president of Maldives, Mr.Mohammed Anni Nasheed asked his government to start saving in order to buy a new homeland for his country people. But it is not only a problem of rising sea level, even two degree centigrade increase would cause a significant bleaching of the coral reefs, which would devastate our food supply and livelihood.

Frequent hurricane will spoil the low-lying agricultural land. In the carribian tourism which is often considered to be the backbone of the entire region's economy could be affected due to this. In order to avoid these happenings, the developed nations should take immediate steps to cut down pollution. This can be done by bringing down Green house gas emission. The world need to change the way it produces and consumes energy. The proper measures should be taken in order to stop the new thermal power plant and shift the focus for energy consumption towards renewable energy.

If global warming is to be halted, energy efficiency is a key factor as every unit of energy is equal to 3 unit of new energy produced and it is possible to cut down carbondioxide emission before we attain 2050.

Give for Green Ndtv green ?

Give for Green
The Greenathon has raised over 2 crore for TERI's Lighting a Billion Lives campaign that aims at solar powering villages across the country. We thank you for your overwhelming support. The journey is not over yet..we will continue to strive for a better, cleaner environment. Donate for the cause and help bring the change.

Global warming leads to the motionless of wheat yielding in India

Ramesh, the minister of the state for Power jairam said that, because of the climatic change occurred in India, the production of the wheat in India has decayed during the past decades. He also said that, February is the pivotal month for deciding the goodness of wheat yield because, the temperature of north India have gone up utmost by 1to1.5 degree Celsius.

Pointing out the critical problems ceiled by our country, in the fields of agriculture, water supply etc he indicates that we are forced by the domestic imperatives. When he made a discussion with CEO members said that the energy propagation of India come from coal which is considered to be the one of the major source of carbon-di oxide. As per the result, the green house gas leads to multiple the level of concentration in the atmosphere. Besides these he said that, the coal devouring was reduced by moving from sub-critical to super-critical technology. The new technique will definitely grab the carbon-di-oxide flue and it is being used to generate micro-algae which will used to produce oil.

FOREST ALERT: Support Finnish NGOs in Their Fight for Lapland's Ancient Forests

The last unprotected intact forest landscapes in Northern Finland are currently being destroyed by the Finnish government and timber industry. Low-productive old-growth boreal forests located hundreds of kilometers north from the Polar Circle are being logged systematically. Trees more than 300 years old are mainly ending up in pulp wood piles of timber giant Stora Enso. Only less than 5% of Finnish forests have remained untouched by modern forestry.

The Finnish old-growth forest destruction today is totally unnecessary. Finland is a rich industrialized country with no economical need for logging the remains of its old-growth forests. Logging in old-growth forests is being carried out simply because government’s logging body Metsähallitus and forest industry have decided to wipe them out for short-term profit. Shockingly, these old-growth forest areas are providing less that 0.1% of the industry's wood supply.

Many of the areas being logged are over 50 000 hectares in size and are of global significance. In May 2006, Finnish NGOs published a report identifying the eight largest unprotected old-growth forest areas in Northern Finland's Forest Lapland region. NGOs, supported by over 250 leading Finnish scientists and researchers, urged protection of these last remnant old-growth forests. However, since December 2006, Finnish government has been logging these forests. Four out of five Finland's last intact forest landscapes are now deliberately being fragmented! Hundreds of habitats for red-listed species are to be destroyed.

Finnish pulp and paper giant Stora Enso buys most of the wood. While buying wood from intact forest landscapes and from habitats of threatened species, Stora Enso claims in its propaganda to be “committed into sustainability”. The logging is "certified" by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), purposefully misleading and completely confusing consumers regarding the environmental sustainability of first time logging of ancient forests.

This winter, Metsähallitus logging activities are more systematic and widespread than before. Logging is going on in four of the areas, and there are also plans for the remaining ones. Metsähallitus even attempts to justify their current logging by claiming these forests are not ecologically valuable, but have not presented any evidence to back up this claim. This senseless, destructive logging is trashing Finland’s reputation in environmental policy and is making the European Union's (EU) efforts in global forest protection seem ridiculous.

Finland has, as an EU member, committed to halting the loss of biodiversity by year 2010. In addition, Finland has committed to the Convention on Biological Diversity forest programme, which recommends that all countries take action to protect all remaining, large natural state forest areas by 2010. Logging large intact old-growth forest landscapes instead of protecting is clearly in conflict with Finland’s commitments.

Please, help Finnish NGOs to save Finland’s natural treasures and to put international pressure on their destructive forest industry. This is the latest protest in Ecological Internet's global campaign to protect all remaining old growth forests, and promote regeneration and restoration of secondary forests to late successional old-growth status. Increasing old forest cover globally is critical for achieving global ecological sustainability -- including climate, water and biodiversity.

Recycling products helps to lead an eco-friendly life style

Environmentally friendly is otherwise known as “eco friendly” or “natural friendly “are usually refers to goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm on the environment. In order to create awareness among the consumers, environmentally friendly goods and services are often marked with eco-labels. Products and services awarded the Ecolabel carry the logo, which greatly helps the consumers both in private and public sector to identify them easily. Ecolabelling systems exist for both food and consumer products.

Eco friendly products usually help to avoid damaging the environment. The goals of an eco-friendly life style is to promote a green earth. The Green revolution tried to inspire people to save the earth, the trees, and life-sustaining ecologies. Unfortunately, modern societies are so far removed from the earth, the trees and the environment .It fails to change lifestyles because our lifestyles are so technologically fascinated with Cell Phones and iPods and get more reaction than anything else except for low cost, convenience, and saving money.Big energy counts on these old refrains to keep everyone rooted in modern world realities whenever "Green" threatens their little kingdoms.” Green living” is nothing but living eco- friendly life style that is nothing but leading a life with health and longevity for humans, plants and animals.

Eco- Technology describes the use of energy efficiency and clean energy in order to promote eco friendly lifestyles. Eco powered tech will give consumers what they want and deliver what they need. Eco movements create a tremendrous change in everyone’s lifestyles by wholeheartedly acknowledging the affordable eco technology because it will ensure a green future for this planet. Our planet is in trouble is a well-known fact known to everyone. Almost every day we hear a quite number of problems which totally affect our environment by means of pollution, acid rain, global warming, the destruction of rainforests and other wild habitats; it will decline extinction of thousands of species of animals and plants.

Many of us are very worried about the future of our planet and unless we find a remedy for solving the problems, our environment will suffer even more. In order to protect our environment from the dangerous zone every one of us, should do something to slow down .We cannot leave the problem entirely to the experts because each and every one have a their own responsibility for our environment. We must learn to live in a sustainable way i.e. learn to use our natural resources which include air, freshwater, forests, wildlife, farmland and seas without causing ill to them. As populations expands and lifestyles change, we must keep the World in good condition so that our future generations will follow the same way and get the same natural resources like us.

The advantages of using recycled promotional items are abundant. Most organisations and business enterprises are making use of these recycled promotional items for their betterment of business. No business organizations will eliminate the use of promotional items from their business marketing strategy these days. When any organisation invests on any product for the purpose of business promotion, they basically aim at making maximum profit out of it. The impact and effectiveness of using recycled promotional products have been proved to be much more than their regular counterparts.

Nowadays recycling promotional items have become a world wide fashion because people of today came to be aware of the endangerment of environment. The use of recycled promotional products is not only promoting business but also send the message of consciousness of environment. People respect the gesture of advertising with a noble cause. Organisations using recycled promotional products largely benefits the customers and clients. They are very much impressed by the quality recycled promotional products and at the same time they are convinced to buy the products for a social belief. Recycled promotional products are the remanufacture and reprocessing of potentially used materials and commodities. They are made from used leather, glass, wood, vending cups, paper, CD cassettes etc. The manufacturing costs of these recycled products are very low as compared to the regular promotional gifts and products. These products are extremely economical and they attach a social beliefs with the aim of brand promotion. The ultimate advantage of using eco-friendly recycled promotional products is that, they are affordable. All business organizations are using recycled promotional products for their business promotion. Recycled promotional products are eco-friendly and helps to reduce the devouring of raw materials and maintain the ecological balance.

WTO deal achievable in next months: India

DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) — Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said Thursday he was optimistic that the World Trade Organization could reach a new global free-trade deal in coming months.

"I see that there are greater sensitivities and comprehension of each others problems," he told delegates at the Davos forum.

"I am optimistic that in the next couple of months with intensive negotiations we should be able to close this round," he added, referring to the stalled Doha round of world trade talks launched in 2001.

Leading members had been considering a meeting in December to hammer out the outline of the world trade deal, but plans were scrapped when it became clear that consensus could not be reached.

"The political space in December in the US was not adequate for them to be able to move," Nath said, pointing to the end of George W. Bush's presidency and the imminent handover to Barack Obama.

Nath called on the United States to take on the "leadership" role in the quest for a global free trade deal, saying that he is "convinced that the American administration will take a positive view on the Doha round."

"We hope that the United States would take the leadership of the conclusion of the Round," said Nath.

The Doha Round of negotiations were launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 to help poor countries take advantage of free and fair trade but have missed several deadlines due to a range of disagreements between the 153 WTO members.

But a deal has proved elusive as rich and poor countries fail to agree on market liberalisation and subsidies.

Nath stressed that the ongoing financial crisis has highlighted the importance of having such an accord, warning that some countries are beginning to adopt protectionist measures.

"Protectionism remains a threat ... I am convinced that in the long term, protectionist will not help the economic situation in any country," he said.

A traditional informal meeting of trade ministers in Davos is planned for Saturday, according to a spokesman for the WTO, but the talks will be hamstrung by the absence of the US negotiator.

WTO deal achievable in next months: India

DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) — Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said Thursday he was optimistic that the World Trade Organization could reach a new global free-trade deal in coming months.

"I see that there are greater sensitivities and comprehension of each others problems," he told delegates at the Davos forum.

"I am optimistic that in the next couple of months with intensive negotiations we should be able to close this round," he added, referring to the stalled Doha round of world trade talks launched in 2001.

Leading members had been considering a meeting in December to hammer out the outline of the world trade deal, but plans were scrapped when it became clear that consensus could not be reached.

"The political space in December in the US was not adequate for them to be able to move," Nath said, pointing to the end of George W. Bush's presidency and the imminent handover to Barack Obama.

Nath called on the United States to take on the "leadership" role in the quest for a global free trade deal, saying that he is "convinced that the American administration will take a positive view on the Doha round."

"We hope that the United States would take the leadership of the conclusion of the Round," said Nath.

The Doha Round of negotiations were launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 to help poor countries take advantage of free and fair trade but have missed several deadlines due to a range of disagreements between the 153 WTO members.

But a deal has proved elusive as rich and poor countries fail to agree on market liberalisation and subsidies.

Nath stressed that the ongoing financial crisis has highlighted the importance of having such an accord, warning that some countries are beginning to adopt protectionist measures.

"Protectionism remains a threat ... I am convinced that in the long term, protectionist will not help the economic situation in any country," he said.

A traditional informal meeting of trade ministers in Davos is planned for Saturday, according to a spokesman for the WTO, but the talks will be hamstrung by the absence of the US negotiator.

INDIA YET TO TAP 80 PC OF SMALL HYDROPOWER POTENTIAL

Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): India is yet to tap 80 per cent of its estimated Small Hydropower Potential (SHP) of 15,000 MW, which can be a major source of environment-friendly and cost-effective electricity generation. Tapping SHP is all the more important now as global warming is posing a threat to the environment, throwing up vital issues like drinking water scarcity, according to energy management expert Dr V K Damodaran.
Of the country's estimated SHP of 15,000, only 16 per cent has been developed so far. At least 50 per cent could be developed immediately, Dr.Damodaran, Vice-chairman of Kerala Energy Management Centre, said in a paper presented to the national workshop on Global Warming here recently.
This could be done with private participation or community involvement. "What is expected from the Government is proper, pro-active policies to facilitate development of SHPs",he said.
As done by European Union recently and China some 50 years back, framework directives should be put in place on simultaneous and multi-purpose use of water resources, he told PTI.
Hydro electricity is the world's leading source of renewable energy, supplying 19 per cent of electricity. But SHP accounts for only 10 to 12 per cent of hydel power, though it accounts for 63 per cent of renewable energy sources.
The greatest advantage of SHP over other sources of electricity is that it is most environment-friendly. When an SHP produces on kWh electricity, its environmental impact is 300 times less than with lignite, 250 times lower than coal, 125 times less than uranium and 50 times less compared to natural gas, he said.

US must lead world on climate

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Former US vice president Al Gore called Wednesday for urgent new US leadership on climate change, "reversing years of inaction," and paving the way to a new global treaty completed by 2010.

Gore urged US lawmakers to quickly pass President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package, highlighting its environmental investments as "a down payment" on clean energy and a job-creating boon amid a paralzying recession.

"How can we afford not to do this?" the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Oscar winner, who jokingly called himself "a recovering politician," told the packed hearing room of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"In order to repower our economy, restore American economic and moral leadership in the world and regain control of our destiny, we must take bold action now," Gore declared.

The committee chairman, Democratic Senator John Kerry, had asked Gore to help map the way through year-long negotiations leading to global climate change treaty talks in December in Copenhagen.

With the lights dimmed, Gore made a dramatic keynote presentation of 57 slides, featuring vanishing polar ice caps, melting glaciers, grim droughts, devastating deforestation, and apocalyptic future costs of inaction.

"This is the one challenge that could completely end human civilization," he said, urging lawmakers to reject "false choices" between the American lifestyle and fighting global warming.

Gore also underlined that major developing countries like China must shoulder their share of any burdens emerging from the Copenhagen talks, which aim at crafting a treaty replacing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

"This treaty must be negotiated this year. Not next year. This year," said the former vice president.

If Congress "acts right away" to pass Obama's stimulus plan and "takes decisive action this year" to cap carbon emissions, the US delegation to the Danish capital will enjoy "renewed authority to lead the world in shaping a fair and effective treaty," said the former vice president.

"A fair, effective and balanced treaty will put in place the global architecture that will place the world -- at long last and in the nick of time -- on a path toward solving the climate crisis and securing the future of human civilization," he said.

Gore praised Obama's stimulus plan for including environment-friendly items such as investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy grid improvements and a shift to "clean cars."

"These crucial investments will create millions of new jobs and hasten our economic recovery -- while strengthening our national security and beginning to solve the climate crisis," said Gore.

The high-profile appearance came as Democratic lawmakers, bolstered by their broad majorities in Congress and new control of White House, have signaled they will take a more aggressive role in battling climate change than under Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.

Obama on Monday signed measures to encourage production of fuel-efficient cars and vowing to lead the fight against global warming.

In another sign of change, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton picked a veteran of the Kyoto Protocol talks as her envoy for climate change, as world leaders target a historic global warming pact this year.

Bush rejected the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 dealing a blow to global climate change efforts, warning it would deal damage the US economy and could not work unless global efforts imposed pollution limits on rising powers such as China and India.

The Clinton administration agreed the Protocol in 1997 but never submitted it for ratification by the Senate -- where a 95-0 vote before it was finalized found not one senator willing to sign on to its principles.