Tune In, Veg Out

1st December 2008

Sir Paul McCartney has teamed up with a Nobel Prize-winning scientist to urge people to become vegetarian to save the planet from the greenhouse gases created by rearing livestock.

In a letter to The Independent, the musician joins Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to blame worsening global warming on a rise in the number of people who eat meat.

The musician and Mr Pachauri, who are both vegetarians, also believe that global food shortages are exacerbated by the planting of cereal crops for animal fodder. A mass switch to a more vegetarian diet will, they say, help the poorest people in the world.

Becoming vegetarian, or at the very least eating less red meat, is "the single most effective act" anyone can take to lessen greenhouse gas emissions. As well as producing the greenhouse gas methane, the livestock business uses up increasingly scarce sources of fresh water and increases other forms of pollution through its need for agricultural chemicals, they argue.

"Unfortunately, with higher incomes, societies, even in developing countries, are turning to greater ... consumption of animal protein, which reduces the availability of food grains for direct consumption by impoverished human beings," they say. "Already 60 per cent of food crop production in North America and western Europe is being diverted for production of meat." Sir Paul and Mr Pachauri also suggest that people switch off lights, turn down their central heating, buy compact fluorescent lamps and use bicycles.

Dr Pachauri, who accepted a half-share in this year's Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, has long advocated vegetarianism as a way of fighting climate change. He has been a vegetarian for eight years, while Sir Paul stopped eating meat about 30 years ago largely because of his concerns about the welfare of farm animals.

"With growing awareness of ... the need to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases, citizens across the world often ask what it is that they can do to mitigate emissions," they say in their letter. "There are several reasons for a shift to a much lower input of meat in human diets if not complete vegetarianism ... We are writing this letter not because vegetarianism is a fad or an emotional issue but because it is a very attractive option for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and stabilising the Earth's climate and ensuring global food security."

They cite a 2006 report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation which stated that livestock are one of the most significant contributors to climate change because 70 per cent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing and livestock now use 30 per cent of the world's land surface.

Reasons to be Cheerful

Wildlife indicators show improvements

1st December 2008

Government indicators published today show encouraging signs for the health of England’s wildlife. 

The eight indicators cover public attitudes to biodiversity, nutrient levels in rivers and lakes, salmon stocks and the abundance of species sensitive to climate change. 

For the six indicators where there is sufficient data to make a judgement, all show upward trends, including an improvement since 2000 in the quality of rivers and salmon stocks. 

They also show an increase in the number of people volunteering for wildlife and visiting nature reserves and woodlands. 

The eight indicators are:

All 51 indicators

Target Time

Climate change committee to publish advice

on UK climate budgets

30th November 2008

The Government will be given official advice on Monday (1st December 2008) on what action it must take in the next few years to meet its legal obligation to tackle climate change.

Under the Climate Change Act, which was passed on 26th November 2008, the UK is legally obliged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 - with a series of five-year 'greenhouse gas budgets' to ensure that the target is kept on track.

Friends of the Earth's executive director, Andy Atkins, told Eco: "Setting legally binding greenhouse gas budgets will put the UK at the forefront of international efforts to tackle climate change.

"But the targets must be tough enough to move the UK rapidly towards a clean, prosperous and low carbon future.

"The committee should call for all UK greenhouse gas emissions to fall by 40 per cent by 2020 - this is the size of reduction that experts say is required to avoid a climate disaster.

"The committee should also put pressure on the Government to abandon climate-wrecking plans to expand UK airports and not to build coal-fired power stations without carbon capture and storage from the outset.

"Investing in green energy and cutting energy waste can create tens of thousands of new jobs, reduce our dependency on the yo-yoing cost of fossil fuels and put Britain at the forefront of a green industrial revolution."

The Climate Change Committee is expected to give advice on:

• The quantity of greenhouse gas emissions that the UK can release during the first three "greenhouse gas budgets" - each lasting five years starting from
2008
• The percentage of cuts that can be made though 'emissions trading' abroad • The extra cuts that are needed to take account of shipping and aviation emissions

The committee may also ask the Government to consider or reconsider certain policies.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the committee to recommend:
• A 40 per cent cut in all UK greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 • That five-year budgets take emissions from aviation and shipping into account • That the UK meets all its emissions reductions at home - not by trading abroad • That the Government immediately reviews its decisions to allow airports to expand and that no further coal-fired power stations should be built without carbon capture and storage from the outset.

Into the Danger Zone

28th November 2008

Greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere have reached new record highs and show no sign of leveling off, the U.N. weather agency has revealed.

Major greenhouse gases have been increasing every year since detailed records started being kept in 1998 and follow a trend of rising emissions that began with the Industrial Revolution in the mid-18th century.

The report by the World Meteorological Organization was released a year before representatives from major countries meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new international treaty to curb greenhouse gases for 2012 and beyond.

The gases - carbon dioxide, or CO2; nitrous oxide, N2O; and methane - are produced partially by natural sources, such as wetlands, and partially by human activities such as fertilizer use or fuel combustion.

"CO2 and N2O are increasing steadily ... and there is no sign of leveling off," said Geir Braathen, a climate specialist at the Geneva-based agency. Methane also has been rising, but its growth had been slowed until last year.

Carbon dioxide was up most in 2007, the latest year for which figures are available. It increased to 383.1 parts per million, one-half percent more than the 2006 amount. Methane and nitrous oxide rose by lesser amounts, the WMO said.

Nitrous oxide increased by 0.25 percent over the previous year to 320.9 parts per billion.

Methane concentrations in the atmosphere soared to the highest annual increase measured since 1998, Braathen said. The gas was at 1,789 parts per billion last year - a 0.34 percent increase from 2006.

Braathen said that it was too soon to say what had caused the increases.

The WMO's annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin 2007 provides widely accepted worldwide data on the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Studies have shown that human-produced carbon dioxide emissions heat the Earth's surface and cause greater water evaporation. That leads to more water vapor in the air, which contributes to higher air temperatures.

CO2, methane and N2O are the most common greenhouse gases after water vapor, according to the meteorological organization.

"CO2 alone is responsible for 90 percent of the greenhouse gas warming over the last five years," said Braathen.

There is 37 percent more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there was in the mid-18th century, primarily because of combustion of fossil fuels, the WMO bulletin said.

A Nobel prize-winning panel of U.N. scientists has said emissions must level off within the next 10 to 15 years and then start to dramatically decline to avoid a rise in average temperatures that could have catastrophic consequences, such as severe droughts and flooding.

A National Leader?

Manchester could be national leader on fast clean and efficient transport systems, say major UK charities

26th November 2008

Greater Manchester could become a national leader in developing a state of the art transport system if residents vote ‘yes' in a referendum that started this week, says a coalition of health, environmental and transport organisations. 
Friends of the Earth, the Campaign for Better Transport, Greenpeace and Asthma UK say that the £3 billion package of measures will tackle air pollution, climate change and congestion, and make the city a better place to live, work and do business.

Friends of the Earth's Senior Transport Campaigner Tony Bosworth said:
"A fast, clean and efficient transport system would make Greater Manchester a world leader - providing real alternatives to car use will cut congestion and climate-changing emissions. Residents should vote ‘yes' for a 21st century transport system to be proud of."

Campaign for Better Transport's Executive Director Stephen Joseph said:

"Manchester has the chance to leapfrog other UK cities by creating a transport system that works for everyone. Far from being bad for business, it will be good. The national and international evidence is that the proposals will attract investment into the city and its surrounding areas."

Greenpeace's Senior Transport Campaigner Anita Goldsmith said:

"Reducing traffic congestion is good news for Manchester's economic competitiveness as well as an important step in the fight against climate change. These proposals will make Manchester a cleaner, greener and more efficient city, as well as allowing more people to take public transport than ever before."

Asthma UK's Assistant Director of Policy and Public Affairs Mikis Euripides said:

 "Traffic pollution has been shown to increase asthma symptoms by up to 50% and two thirds of people with asthma tell us that traffic fumes make their asthma worse, so we're urging people in Manchester to protect their health by backing the new transport measures."

The proposed measures will tackle a number of problems:

• Congestion: Greater Manchester is the most congested city in the UK outside London, and the proposals would reduce traffic levels by up to 15 per cent.
• Climate change: traffic is responsible for over a fifth of UK emissions of carbon dioxide, the main climate change gas. The proposals will help cut emissions by giving Manchester a top-class public transport system and improving facilities for cycling and walking.
• Asthma: The North-West has the highest emergency admissions in the UK and parts of Greater Manchester have some of the highest emergency admissions for children in England. For example Oldham has admissions more than twice the national average and Manchester has admissions 68 per cent above the national average.
• Other health problems: The measures could save up to 100 lives a year through better air quality and bringing about higher levels of physical activity.
• Social exclusion: the measures will improve access to services and jobs for those without a car - a third of households across Manchester and up to 60 per cent in the most deprived areas.

The groups support the use of peak-time congestion charging as part of a package of measures, with revenues used to secure investment in:

• Improved public transport: including extensions to the Metrolink tram system; new railway stations and bus interchanges; extra buses, trams and train carriages; bus lanes and bus priority corridors; and integrated public transport ticketing.
• Better facilities for cycling and walking: including more safe routes to schools; more cycle lanes; making streets more attractive places to walk and the introduction of low cost short-term cycle hire in two urban centres.
• A package of measures including travel plans and better travel information: known as ‘Smarter Choices' and targeted at different levels (residential, businesses, hospital staff etc) to encourage people to change how they travel.

The Real Deal

25th November 2008

In sharp contrast to the Government's bribe to consume still more of the planet's limited resources, the Green Party leader Caroline Lucas has published proposals towards a Green New Deal budget.

Dr Lucas co-wrote the seminal Green New Deal report, and was advised by some of her co-authors, including Richard Murphy, Director of Tax Research LLP, and Colin Hines, Co-Director of Finance for the Future, on her new budget plans.

The report, "Budget for a Green New Deal" claims that Alastair Darling's Pre Budget Report should have had at its core an increase in public expenditure to fund hundreds of thousands of green collar jobs in a 'carbon army' that will be trained to make every building in the UK energy efficient and increase the use of renewables.

Investment in this ‘Green New Deal' will create jobs all over the country, whereas tax cuts will have fewer benefits as people are likely to increase immediate spending largely on imported goods.

The report proposes public investment of £30 billion that will save energy and have the added advantages of helping to address climate change and increase UK energy security. In the short term it will address the threats to the real economy from an economic downturn that threatens to rival the crash of 1929.

It proposes:

• A £30bn stimulus package, creating thousands of green-collar jobs in environmental works that will dramatically reduce the carbon emissions of UKbuildings

• The creation of new national investment products, such as local government bonds, to fund this work and provide a safe haven for pensions and savings

• Keeping interest rates low to encourage investment in the green economy

• Shifting from VAT to pollution taxes, cutting the standard rate of VAT to 15%, and reducing it to 5% for some items, and abolishing road tax whilst increasing pollution taxes on fuel

• Closing offshore tax havens to stabilise the financial sector, discourage tax avoidance and to help provide funds for the Green New Deal

Caroline Lucas told Eco:

"It's time to put to rest once and for all the false option of choosing between economic success and environmental sustainability. We must engineer the green economy of the future to compensate for the collapse of a discredited economic model dependent on credit binges, gravity defying house prices and increasing consumption. In short it's time for the Green New Deal."

Richard Murphy, Co-Director of Finance for the Future and Director, Tax Research LLP, and a member of the Green New Deal Group, added:

"This is a package for the short term that makes sense for the long term; a package where the debt we must incur now produces employment, green and financial benefits that more than pay for its cost; a package where the economic causes of the crisis are tackled at their root and a package that the people of the UK need - help in delivering them from a problem that was not of their making"

Download the full report as a pdf here

UN Targets Computer Waste

23rd November 2008

The United Nations has launched a new guide on how to recycle computer equipment in a way that minimizes the impact of waste on health and the environment, particularly in developing countries, in an era when more than 1 billion computers are in use each year.

Nearly 180 million computers have been replaced this year, with 35 million of them simply being dumped, despite of the toxic materials they contain.

The free guide by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published in English and French, seeks to help entrepreneurs hoping to get into computer recycling to handle the growing amount of waste generated by old computers.

It also targets non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and those working in development at the local level.

Practical advice and case studies from recycling plants in Burkina Faso, France and India are included in the guide.

The new publication notes that re-using computers, which may require repairing them, is the ideal option, since it will allow more people to a single device and reduce waste.

Parts that cannot be salvaged can be disassembled and processed to recover raw materials, including iron, aluminium, copper and precious metals such as gold and silver.

Rangers Return

23rd November 2008

Park rangers have returned to a reserve that is home to nearly a third of the world's remaining mountain gorillas, more than a year after fighting forced them to abandon the area, a park chief said.

Armed Tutsi rebels loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda occupied the gorilla sector of Virunga National Park in September 2007, forcing rangers to leave.

An offensive by Nkunda's rebels forced the rangers to abandon the rest of the park, Africa's oldest, late last month when the Rumangabo park headquarters, from which conservation operations were run, fell to a rebel assault.

Nkunda's offensive against the North Kivu provincial capital Goma and other towns in North Kivu province has displaced around 250,000 people, bringing to more than 1 million the number of people displaced by two years of conflict in North Kivu.

"It is a huge step that all sides have agreed that the protection of Virunga as a World Heritage Site and its mountain gorillas is of sufficient priority to transcend political differences," park Director Emmanuel de Merode told Eco.

After meeting U.N. envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, a former Nigerian president, Nkunda pulled his fighters back from some positions seized during the past few weeks.

The U.N. Security Council agreed on Thursday to send 3,000 reinforcements to the Congo peacekeeping force, the world's biggest at 17,000-strong.

"Rangers are neutral in this conflict, and it is right that they should be allowed to do their job," de Merode said.

Virunga's gorilla sector is home to 200 of the last remaining 700 mountain gorillas in the world, who live in forested hills on the border with Uganda and Rwanda.

"The re-establishment of a Ranger presence in Virunga National Park is paramount to the protection of the flora and fauna in the park," park authorities said in the statement.

"The rangers are now planning to initiate a census of the habituated mountain gorillas in coming days; the last census in August 2007 indicated there are 72 habituated gorillas, but this figure is expected to have changed due to births, death, and interactions," it said.

Some of the rangers forced to flee Virunga ended up squatting in squalid refugee camps while they waited to return to their posts.

More than 150 rangers have been killed in eastern Congo in a decade of conflict that has claimed more than 5 million lives -- more than any conflict since World War Two -- through violence, hunger and disease.

Congo's five-year regional war officially ended in 2003, but various armed factions have continued to fight in the east, often competing for valuable resources such as gold and tin mines and timber.

Park authorities say gorillas and other animals such as elephants, hippos and antelopes are vulnerable to the armed groups who roam the hills and forests of eastern Congo, often using National Parks to camp or move around unseen.

The animals also face threats from poachers, squatters and charcoal burners who destroy their forest habitat.

Virunga's Gorilla Sector suffered repeated attacks in 2007 during which 10 mountain gorillas were killed.

Yes We Can!

22nd November 2008

Barack Obama's pledge to work to reduce emissions sharply by 2020 is a "huge signal" of encouragement to countries negotiating a new climate pact, the head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat said this week.

The U.S. president-elect said the United States would engage vigorously in climate change talks when he is president, and he pledged to work to reduce emissions sharply by 2020, despite the financial crisis:

"My presidency will mark a new chapter in America's leadership on climate change," Mr Obama said to US state governors and overseas representatives attending a Los Angeles summit on the issue. The president-elect said delay and denial were no longer acceptable responses to global warming - "The stakes are too high. The consequences, too serious" - and action was vital for strengthening America's security and creating new jobs.

"I think that will have a very positive influence on the negotiations,"  Yvo de Boer, who heads the Secretariat told Eco. "He indicated that he intends to show national and international leadership.

"I think that that statement will be seen as a huge signal of encouragement to the international community," he said in an interview on the sidelines of an African environment conference.

De Boer said U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases stood at 14 percent above their 1990 levels but it was possible to get volumes down to that target within the deadline. He said: "I think its feasible. It's a challenge, but it's doable."

European nations have pushed the United States for years to show more leadership on climate change so that China and India, developing nations whose emissions are outpacing the developed world's, will follow suit.

The Democratic president-elect, who regularly criticized the Bush administration's attitude toward global warming, said his government would set strong annual targets that set the country on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and cut them by a further 80 percent by 2050.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, 37 developed nations have agreed to cut emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.

Members hope to finalize a new accord to follow Kyoto at a summit in Copenhagen in late 2009, but pressure for poor countries, who made no Kyoto commitments, to sign up to cuts is fuelling tensions between rich and poor groupings in the talks.

Poverty in Africa, where nearly three quarters of people rely on agriculture, means it is the part of the world least able to adapt to the severe weather changes forecast to be triggered by global warming, experts say.

"We really need to use the Copenhagen opportunity to design a regime that is more Africa-friendly," de Boer said.

"African nations have actually been quite modest in the negotiations so far. This meeting in Algeria provides an opportunity for 53 African countries to really develop a collective position and that will give them important negotiating strength in the process," de Boer said.

Asked if Obama's apparent sensitivity to climate questions and his own part-African heritage would help strengthen African involvement in the climate talks, de Boer replied: "I think you should ask Senator Obama this question. He's made it very clear he's first and foremost an American. But let's see how he develops his international policy."

Althouigh leaders in the Democratic-controlled Congress have indicated they are not likely to act until 2010 on a bill to limit greenhouse gases, Mr Obama could begin to tackle global warming without Congress through administrative actions.

The president-elect also addressed his message to delegates attending United Nations climate change talks in Poland next month, saying although he would not be there, he had asked members of Congress to brief him on what was discussed.

"And once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations, and help lead the world toward a new era of global cooperation on climate change.

"Now is the time to confront this challenge once and for all."

In an opening speech to what he called an "historic summit", California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger described Mr Obama's remarks as "fantastic". He said he was "very, very happy" the new administration would help states with climate change initiatives and said California was ready to do "everything it takes" to help the president-elect achieve his vision.

California has been a leader on climate change initiatives and on the eve of the summit, Mr Schwarzenegger proposed what he called "the most aggressive target in the nation for renewable energy". The governor signed an executive order committing California to obtaining a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

The Solar Scandal

20th November 2008

It is the news that must cause some greens to despair, while for global warming sceptics it is causing ill-concealed glee. Solar panels, for years promoted as the environmentally-friendly way to heat water and cut greenhouse gases, are in the frame for actually making global warming worse. The shocking news has been revealed in recent research into a gas called nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), with a global warming potential of 17,000 times the power of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

NF3 is used the in the production of a number of hi-tech electrical items like flat screen displays, and including solar panels, mobile phones and some televisions.

Manufacturers in the electronics industry all use a vacuum chamber to etch intricate circuitry and to deposit a thin layer of chemical vapor on the surface of a product. Some of the vapor inevitably builds up instead as glassy "crud" on the interior of the chamber. NF3 is then used to clean the vacuum chamber. It had been thought the gas was much better than previous gases that were being used which were depleting the ozone layer, and until recently it was thought that as little as 2% of NF3 escaped into the atmosphere.

The alarm bells started ringing last summer, when a research paper called “NF3  - the greenhouse gas missing from Kyoto" attracted widespread press attention. Co-authors Michael J. Prather and Juno Hsu of the University of California at Irvine noted that NF3 is one of the most potent greenhouse gases known and persists in the atmosphere for 550 years. Prather estimates that 20 or 30 percent of total NF3 production ends up in the atmosphere — not the two percent industry had seemed to suggest. If this is correct NF3 is producing the annual global warming equivalent of one of the world's largest coal-fired power plants.

The horror story continued in October when Ray Weiss and his research team at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography reported that NF3 is now present in the atmosphere at four times the expected amount, with atmospheric concentrations rising 11 percent a year. Working from annual production estimates of 4,000 metric tons, Weiss calculates that 16 percent of current production is ending up in the atmosphere. Global Industry Analysts estimated that over the next four years NF3 production will increase to almost 20,000 tons, because of growing demand in the electronics industry.

There are different ways of manufacturing solar cells. Amorphous silicon thin-film solar photovoltaic cells, manufactured using NF3, are slightly less efficient than crystalline silicon solar cells, the dominant technology. However they are cheaper to produce and expected to supply a rapidly increasing share of the solar market, for both large-scale and domestic applications, and there is concern that Third World manufacturers in particular are unaware over the concerns about how NF3 is used.

The whole story is reminiscent of the history of the hole in the ozone layer, and how a gas once thought to have useful properties ended up causing extensive environmental damage.

In the meantime thousands of people who have installed solar panels believing they were doing their bit for the environment will be learning that things are not quite so good as they seemed, and the companies selling panels will be wondering how the research will affect their sales.  It is likely that NF3 will be added to the list of regulated greenhouse gases in the Kyoto Protocol's second commitment period, beginning in 2012, and this is even supported by the American firm producing the gas, “Air Products”.

Update -

29th November 2008

Solar Panels causing global warming

Eco wrote to one of the UK's leading solar panel sales companies, Solar Century, concerning nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) used in solar panel production

Dear Solar Century-   Until very recently we have been running a free link to your company on our home page, mainly out of admiration for the work of your director, Jeremy Leggett, but following recent publicity regarding a potent greenhouse gas produced in the manufacture of solar panels we have temporarily suspended in the link pending further information. The issue is reported in some scientific literature and

covered in today's Guardian- http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/17/network  

We would welcome your thoughts on the subject, particularly if you have any quote that may use in an article on the subject. regards, Eco

Solar Century's response -

Dear Eco   Further to our recent phone conversation, many thanks again for raising this important issue with us.  Please be assured that we take our wider environmental and social responsibilities extremely seriously.     We have contacted all of our suppliers seeking urgent clarification on their use of NF3.  The first three major suppliers to respond to our requests have confirmed in writing that they do not use NF3 at all in their manufacturing processes.  We are awaiting feedback from the other suppliers and will share that information with you as soon as it comes in.  In the meantime please don't hesitate to contact us if you have ongoing concerns on this issue and in particular how Solarcentury is responding to it.   Kind regards,   Charlotte Webster   Public Relations Solar Century

Whalers Sneak Out

18th November 2008

On Monday morning Japan's whaling fleet tried to sneak out of the port of Innoshima, only to be confronted by Greenpeace volunteers with banners reading "Whaling on Trial", and another in Japanese outlining the whaling operation's multi-million dollar drain on Japan's taxpayers.

The fleet had attempted to leave Japan quietly, following the cancellation of the traditional high-profile departure ceremony in its home port of Shimonoseki. Waved off only by the crew's families and whaling officials, the factory ship Nisshin Maru left Innoshima with no fanfare, with all reports suggesting a direct route to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Rural Recession

The Recession and Rural England: Liberal Democrat Leader Seeks a Brighter Future for the Countryside

17th November 2008

Liberal Democrat leader, Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, has outlined his vision for the countryside in a major speech.

Nick Clegg spoke of the impact of the current recession on rural communities and the need for a new vision to guide policy and decision-making.   His speech, delivered in Sheffield at an event organised by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), was the latest contribution by a leading politician to CPRE’s work to develop its vision for the countryside in 2026 – the organisation’s anniversary year.

Nick Clegg said:

‘Recession means tougher times for rural communities and tougher decisions for how we use land.  So more than ever we need a vision for rural England to make sure we make the right decisions… ’

Speaking about the housing market, he said:

‘Let’s build our national housing target from local targets that reflect need on the ground.  Bottom up. That means trusting people who know best rather than picking numbers out of the air.  Central Government’s job then becomes one of avoiding national housing bubbles like the one that has just burst… 

‘I’m a liberal, and I don’t believe politicians should control how markets grow. But I do believe that the practices that underpin growth need to be regulated when they threaten the public good.  The present housing crisis shouldn’t just be a dip, a slump… A hiccup after which we return to the same old sky high prices.  We need a permanent end to irresponsible lending.  Monetary policy should be used to eradicate boom and bust in our housing market… And the Bank of England should take house prices into account when calculating inflation, something it presently does not do.’

Shaun Spiers, CPRE’s Chief Executive, commented:

‘It is refreshing to hear a Party Leader call for a sensible response to the current turmoil in the housing market.  There remains a pressing need for more affordable homes for rural communities, and we need to take this opportunity to build a fresh, environmentally sustainable approach to meeting the nation’s housing needs. Politicians must learn a lesson from the current crisis, and not just aim for a return to “business as usual”.’

‘This speech comes during the final stages of a public debate over the countryside which will help shape our own vision for its future.  We invite everyone to let us have their views on the issues raised by Nick Clegg so that we can produce a vision for the countryside which commands widespread public support.’

Nick Clegg's full speech

Smog Masks Warming

16th November 2008

A three-kilometre-thick “brown cloud” of man-made pollution, which stretches from the Arabian Peninsula to China to the western Pacific Ocean, is making Asian cities darker, speeding up the melting of Himalayan glaciers and impacting human health, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.

Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs), resulting from the burning of fossil fuels and biomass, has resulted in the formation of particles such as black carbon and soot which absorb sunlight and heat the air, experts write in the study released today in Beijing.

The clouds also “mask” the actual warming impact of climate change by anywhere between 20 and 80 per cent because they include sulfates and other chemicals which reflect sunlight and cool the surface.

The artificial lowering of temperature by ABCs is leading to sharp shifts in weather patterns, causing significant drying in northern China while increasing the risk of flooding in the Asian nation’s south. Monsoon precipitation over India and South-East Asia has dropped up to 7 per cent since the 1950s, with the summer monsoon both weakening and shrinking.

Meanwhile, the health and food security of 3 billion people in Asia are threatened by ABCs, which impacts air quality and agriculture.

Achim Steiner, UNEP’s Executive Director, voiced hope that “Atmospheric Brown Clouds: Regional Assessment Report with Focus on Asia” will serve as an early warning of the phenomenon, which he hopes will now be “firmly on the international community’s radar.”

He called on developed countries to help their poorer counterparts attain the technology needed to spur ‘green’ economic growth.

“In doing so, they can not only lift the threat of climate change but also turn off the soot-stream that is feeding the formation of atmospheric brown clouds in many of the world’s regions,” the Executive Director said.

The new publication points out 13 megacities as being ABC ‘hotspots’: Bangkok, Beijing, Cairo, Dhaka, Karachi, Kolkata, Lagos, Mumbai, New Delhi, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tehran. Soot levels in these cities comprise 10 per cent of the total mass of all man-made particles.

Since the 1970s, the Chinese city of Guangzhou, among other cities, has witnessed “dimming” – or reduction of sunlight – of more than 20 per cent, it notes.

The solar heating of the atmosphere by ABCs is “suggested to be as important as greenhouse gas warming in accounting for the anomalously large warming trend observed in the elevated regions” such as the Himalayan-Tibetan region, the study says, leading to the retreat of glaciers.

Further, the clouds contain toxic aerosols, carcinogens and other harmful particles, which could result in more people suffering from respiratory disease and cardiovascular problems.

While the effects of the clouds on food production and farmers’ livelihood could be immense, more research must be done to determine their precise role, it acknowledges, adding that the possible impact of ABCs could include elevated levels of ground-level ozone, which could result in massive crop losses of up to 40 per cent in Asia.

Scientists behind the report – produced by UNEP’s Project Atmospheric Brown Cloud – stress that brown clouds also can be found in parts of North America, Europe, Southern Africa and the Amazon Basin, and that they also require urgent and detailed research.

Teed Off

15th November 2008