From: Donna Chiarelli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: FW: Excerpts from Gallon Environment Letter, October 25th, 1999 Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 13:55:09 -0400 FIFTH SESSION OF U.N. CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES (COP5) START THIS WEEK IN GERMANY The fifth session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held 25 October to 5 November 1999, at the Maritim Hotel in Bonn, Germany. Some 5,000 people will be attending representing their governments, intergovernmental and environment organizations, and the private sector. Their aim of COP5 is to address the issues of climate change and discuss and negotiate the necessary measures to be taken to implement the greenhouse gas emissions reductions averaging 6% agreed to at Kyoto, Japan. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to study the issue in 1988. Since then, more than 2,500 scientists have worked together to provide governments and industry with relevant data and information on climate change that shows that it is a reality that must be checked. The Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) with the support of IPCC, is organizing a presentation and panel discussion on the work of IPCC and its published assessments. This will be an opportunity to learn first hand what is being done to further international understanding of the issues. The session will be chaired by Bob Watson, Chairmen of IPCC and director of the environment department of the World Bank in Washington, DC. The website for the actual conference session is http://cop5.unfccc.de/ The website for the UNFCCC is http://www.unfccc.de/ ***************************************************************** ********** IISD WILL REPORT DAILY ON COP5 CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE The Canadian based International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), with the cooperation and support of the UNFCCC Secretariat, will provide daily reports in hard copy at the conference and on the internet internationally on the Fifth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Under the direction of Langston James "Kimo" Goree VI, who is the Managing Director, IISD Reporting Services, the daily reports will begin on the evening of Sunday, 24 October, 1999. It will provide daily 2000 word summaries of the negotiations in French and English. You can get it off of the website or have it emailed to you daily. Subscriptions to the e-mail can be made at http://iisd.ca/enb/email.asp The newsletter will also contain digital photos from the negotiations, the corridors, side-events; real-Audio from key statements in Plenary; and, links to key background documents, news and analysis posted by other organizations. Access the daily reports from your computer at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop5/ WORLD'S LARGEST GREEN ENERGY PROJECT PLANNED Plans have been announced for what could become the largest single renewable energy project in the world. Composite Power Co. of Nevada will lead a consortium of Siemens Solar, Duke Solar, Stirling Energy, Bomin Solar Research, Electrical Consultants, MinneSolar, TMA Wind Generation, Siemens Power and Desert Research Institute.Up to 150 MW of capacity from wind and solar power will be installed by 2002. The project site in Amargosa Valley near Las Vegas, will grow to as much as 1,000 MW. "The U.S. and world markets are ripe for the development of renewable green energy power," said Bill Arrington of Composite Power. The Nevada Green Energy Project will be situated within the state's Nye County, which is highly conducive to wind and solar power generation with an average of 350 days of sunshine each year, Class 5-7 winds (a daily average of 17 to 21 mph) and significant geothermal potential. Nevada has the best solar energy resource in the U.S. Siemens will build an electrical grid to feed power from various renewable energy sites within the corridor into existing transmission lines. The anticipated future generating capacity may require high voltage 500 kV transmission lines to be installed. See the full story at http//www.compositepower.com/news.htm ***************************************************************** ********** SCIENTISTS DISAGREE ON HOW MUCH GHG BEING EMITTED Climate scientists are abandoning their old estimates on greenhouse gas emissions, saying there are too many uncertainties to predict the extent of global warming, the New Scientist magazine said. The finding comes in a draft report on emissions by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which contains the views of hundreds of scientists and economists. Usually the United Nations report presents a central scenario, predicting the likely emissions of greenhouse gases over the coming century if governments do nothing to cut them. But this time the IPCC says the uncertainties are such that this isn't possible. "There can be no best guess...the future is inherently unpredictable and views will differ on which of the scenarios could be more likely," the report says. Scientists have come up with 40 scenarios based around four equally plausible assumptions about world population and economic and technical advances. The old central scenario had carbon dioxide emissions in 2100 at around 18 billion tonnes, or three times current annual levels. But the new report has predictions ranging anywhere from 4.3 billion tonnes to 36.7 billion. Carbon dioxide is the most important gas in terms of its influence on global warming. Climate experts draw a blank on global warming UK: London, September 16, 1999, Reuters News Service. ***************************************************************** **** AUSTRALIA LANDS AND WATER RESOURCES AUDIT Australia has established the National Land and Water Resources Audit. Part of the Audit builds on a national estuarine database (around 760 estuaries) including modification and condition details completed by the Centre for Coastal Management (Lismore, Australia). Go to the website http://www.nlwra.gov.au ***************************************************************** ** BIO DIVERSITY ON A DRAMATIC DECLINE IN THE NORTHWEST U.S. AND WESTERN CANADA >From the lowliest lichens to the fearsome grizzly bear, much of the diverse flora and fauna of the Northwest is in decline because of the side effects of human civilization, a new U.S. Geological Survey stated. It is the first large-scale assessment of trends among the United States', and parenthetically, southern Canada's biological resources. It found "dramatic declines in the country's plants, animals and ecosystems." It blames the construction of cities and farms, the consumption of water for industry and agriculture, global warming, and chemical pollution as amongst the primary causes of the decline in plant and animal biodiversity. "Man's impact on the Earth is accelerating," said Charles Groat, director of the USGS. "We continue to experience population growth, urban sprawl and heavy use of natural resources, from lands to waters to air and living creatures. In fact, we will see more and more pressure on all of our biological systems." In the Pacific Northwest, the report says, logging of old-growth forests has dramatically affected a wide variety of birds and plants west of the Cascades. At least 83% of the Northwest's old-growth Douglas fir forests are gone, as are 75% of the coastal rain forests in Washington. And some creatures -- the northern spotted owl and Pacific salmon, in particular -- have become familiar symbols of the conflict between economic and environmental values. The report can be ordered online at http://www.usgs.gov Source, an article by Michael Paulson, Seattle Post Intelligencer, September 18, 1999. ***************************************************************** **** THIRD TRANS-ATLANTIC ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE NEW JERSEY, NOVEMBER 1 AND 2, 1999 The third in a series of Trans-Atlantic Environmental Conferences (TRAEC 3) will be held on Sustainable Actions Deliver Economic Vitality, at the Hyatt Hotel, New Brunswick New Jersey, November 1& 2, 1999. It is aimed at promoting dialogue and action across a range of sustainability and environmental issues. The conference is being organised by the National Centre of Excellence for Environmental Management (NCEEM, UK) in association with "The Office of Sustainable Business New Jersey". The themes of the conference are, 1. Sustainability - ensuring a competitive future 2. Emergent Technologies 3. Risk and Environmental Management - with a chemical, pharmaceutical and industrial perspective 4. Supply Chain - the impact of electronic commerce 5. Brownfield Site - Bio-remediation 6. Eco-design - the packaging industry For further details on the conferences please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] (conference organiser) or view the brochure and registration details on http://www.nceem.com For accommodation (hotel room), reserve on line at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***************************************************************** ******* $2 BILLION DEAL-MAKING EVENT FOR THE U.S. ENVIRONMENT WATER SECTOR BUSINESSES The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) hosted a delegation of prominent African and Middle Eastern water sector officials to the United States, from October 19 to 21, 1999 in California. The group met with U.S. manufacturers and suppliers of water and wastewater equipment and technology. This three-day business conference featured nearly 30 water-related projects from 12 countries, worth more than US $2 billion in U.S. exports. According to TDA Director J. Joseph Grandmaison, U.S. expertise and technology can go a long way toward solving the water needs facing Africa and the Middle East. With expanding populations and an ever-increasing strain placed on the region's limited water supply, U.S. businesses are positioned to help meet this growing demand in the new millennium. The projects to be presented represent all phases of water infrastructure needs, including water, wastewater and desalination. Source, U.S. Trade and Development Agency, October, 1999. **************************************************************** ILLEGAL LOGGING CLEARING OUT PHILIPPINE FORESTS The Philippines' once sprawling 16 million hectares (39.5 million acres) of virgin forests dominated by hardwoods has been cut down to only 700,000 hectares (1.7 million acres) of remaining forests. Over the years the Philippine government has provided logging concessions in excessive of sustainable yield. The government's reforestation programs have never been enforced. The Philippines, with a deforestation rate of 1,900 hectares (4,695 acres) a day, will likely result in the complete denuding of the forests by 2025. "Unchecked illegal logging remains the main culprit," Philippine senator and broadcaster Loren Legarda said. "Government negligence has prompted the devastation of the forests. Much of the remaining forests have now been invaded by commercial loggers," she said. Philippine mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) is in great demand for furniture, panelling, musical instruments, interior trim of boats, door and windows frames, pallets, joists, scaffoldings, shingles and siding. Plantations grow from seed to harvest in about 60 years. There is only one forest guard for every 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of forests," she said. It has been open season on much of the nation's forests for any logging company, particularly on the islands of Mindanao and Northern Luzon. The logging firms circumvented government forestry laws and corrupt local officials enriched themselves. A common practice was for firms to apply for a Timber Licensing Agreement on areas exceeding those required by law and have these areas sub-contracted by smaller loggers including those operating illegally. Since the 1950s, many politicians were also in the logging business, preventing forestry officials from implementing forestry laws. >From 1972 to 1988, Legarda revealed that, "The logging industry amassed US$42.85 billion in revenues at the rate of $2.65 billion a year and laid to waste 8.57 million hectares (21.2 million acres) of forests. The Ford Foundation and the Philippine umbrella organization of environmental NGOs, the Upland NGO Assistance Committee (UNAC), reported widespread corruption in the use of these funds. These problems prompted the Japan led Asian Development Bank (ADB) to discontinue the second round of loans intended for further reforestation. Source, article by Michael Bengwayan, Manila, Philippines, October 11, l999 for the Environmental News Service (ENS) ***************************************************************** ** OECD WORKSHOP RESULTS ON AGRI/ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published Volume 2, "Environmental Indicators for Agriculture, Issues and Design". The workshop was held in York, U.K. Readers will learn of the differing OECD country experiences in developing and using agri-environmental indicators to assess policies and environmental performance. Among the thirteen agri-environmental indicator areas being developed by OECD, ten are covered in the book; soil quality, water quality, water use, land conservation, biodiversity, wildlife habitats, landscape, farm management, farm financial resources, and rural socio-cultural issues. The remaining three areas -- nutrient use, pesticide use and greenhouse gases -- are already more advanced and were examined in the first volume of the series Environmental Indicators for Agriculture. You can obtain it for US $40. Order Code (51 1999 05 1P) ISBN 92-64-17041-3, 213 pages, September 1999. Available in French, Indicateurs environnementaux pour l'agriculture Volume 2: Questions cl�s et conception -- Le s�minaire de York OCDE Cote (51 1999 05 2P) ISBN 92-64-27041-8, 221. Contact Kevin Parris, Environment Division, Agriculture Directorate, OECD, 2 Rue Andre-Pascal, 75775 Paris CEDEX 16, France, Tel: (+ 33) 01 45 24 95 68 Fax: (+ 33) 01 44 30 61 02 Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***************************************************************** ********* U.S. EPA ACTS TO REDUCE EXPOSURE TO TWO WIDELY USED PESTICIDES The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced it is eliminating specific uses of methyl parathion, and significantly lowering allowable residues for azinphos methyl on a wide variety of produce, including several fruits and vegetables regularly eaten by children. The Agency also laid out a rigorous 18-month schedule for completing its review of all the "organophosphates," a group of 39 older, common pesticides, which include methyl parathion and azinphos methyl. In addition to the organophosphates, the Agency has targeted several other older, widely used pesticides for priority review within the next year and a half, including the pesticides atrazine, aldicarb and carbofuran, among others. EPA's current actions are being taken after an extensive scientific review of the risks posed by these chemicals. EPA has worked closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the agricultural community to ensure that their decisions will not disrupt the growing and marketing plans of farmers. Under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), which was passed unanimously by Congress, the EPA is required to apply, for the first time, a comprehensive set of new, more protective health-based standards. These standards incorporate the most current scientific knowledge available on pesticide risks, and include an additional 10-fold safety factor to address the special risks of children's exposures to pesticides. The reductions EPA is making will address the unique risks children face when exposed to pesticides. ***************************************************************** ******* BASEL CONVENTION LIABILITY REQUIREMENTS BEING FINALIZED Delegates from 87 countries met in Geneva in August 1999 to hammer out the details on the "Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal". The new draft text will now be forwarded for further negotiation to the Fifth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-5) of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. COP-5 will take place in Basel, Switzerland, from 6 to 10 December 1999 and will mark the Convention's tenth anniversary. If adopted and then ratified, the Protocol will for the first time establish a rigorous system for assigning liability in the event of an accident involving hazardous wastes. This liability is to be strict, regardless of fault. However, the Protocol is also expected to place a cap on financial liability. The exact amount of this cap will still need to be agreed. In addition, there is to be a legal requirement to take insurance for all hazardous waste shipments. The Basel Convention was adopted in March 1989 and entered into force in May 1992. It has 130 Parties signed on to it. For more information please contact Per Bakken, Officer-in-Charge, Convention Secretariat, on tel (+41-22) 917 8213, fax(+41-22) 797 3454, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] ******************************************** *************************************************************** $180.90 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION TO THE GALLON ENVIRONMENT LETTER Subscribe to "The Gallon Environment Letter". The 8 to 10 page newsletter is loaded with up to date business and policy information that your company, government agency, or organization can use immediately. It is provided twice a month. It is also accompanied by the "Green Jobs Available Report" that is sent to you once a month. Subscribe now. Send a cheque for $180.90 a year ($169.00+ $11.90 GST) and help finance the research that delivers inside information and breaking news on environment business in Canada and the world. Make your cheque out to, "Gallon Letter", 506 Victoria Ave., Montreal, Quebec, H3Y 2R5. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright (c) 1999 Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment, Montreal All rights reserved. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mulai langganan: kirim e-mail ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] Stop langganan: kirim e-mail ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archive ada di http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] dan di http://www.egroups.com/list/envorum
