Tech | November 26, 2010 | 11 comments

Analysis: Despite a Drying and Flooding Planet, Cancun Climate Negotiators Anticipate Scant Progress

source: http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2010/world/despite-a-drying-and-flooding-planet-cancun...

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JanforGore
On November 29 representatives from 190 countries will be in Cancun, Mexico for the 16th Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Late last week, following a two-day Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in Washington, the Obama administration’s chief climate negotiator told reporters not to expect too much.


More than 125,000 demonstrators convened in the streets of Copenhagen last year, hoping their cheers and compelling testimonies would encourage swifter, more comprehensive action from negotiators.“I would describe myself right now as neither an optimist nor a pessimist,” said Todd Stern, the State Department’s special envoy on climate, adding that there won’t be any “enormous leaps forward” in Cancun but “real and concrete steps” can be made.

Exactly what those could be has not come into focus, though Stern and other negotiators also noted that unless something tangible occurs at the Cancun meeting, the credibility of the UN process will weaken. “The process can’t continually stalemate and remain the locus of activity,” Stern said.

A year ago, of course, global anticipation of a diplomatic breakthrough was high enough to attract the American president, the Chinese premier, and over 100 other heads of state to the Copenhagen climate summit. More than 125,000 people from all over the world marched for climate action on a cold and sunny Saturday afternoon. Thousands of journalists and producers filed reports from a crowded media room at the Bella Center, itself so full that security forces limited access.

Yet what was clear in Copenhagen, just as it was plain in the two other international climate conferences I’ve attended — in Barcelona in 2009 and in Tianjin last month — is this: The very same governments that produced a near stalemate on a climate treaty are simultaneously supporting global alliances of powerful energy companies to develop and consume the planet’s remaining reserves of fossil fuels.

Let’s just put it this way. The executives of those companies are perfectly content with the grudging pace of climate negotiations. Nobody else should be. The equatorial regions of east Africa are drying up as fast as the tinderbox hills and water-scarce fields of Australia’s Murray Darling Basin. Both poles are melting along with the glaciers of Greenland and the Himalayas. South Dakota this year experienced floods and hail and fierce storms that formed the most erratic and dangerous weather in its recorded history.

The damage to freshwater supplies is the most personal consequence of climate change around the world. Climate change, in fact, is producing an emergency, except in the front offices of the world’s major fossil fuel companies and the legions of elected and appointed officials they’ve helped to install in public office. And as Circle of Blue reports in its Choke Point: U.S. series this year, and in its other projects, there is no more visible evidence than the effect climate change is having on the planet’s reserves of fresh water. In the U.S., persistent drought on the Colorado Plateau has so significantly lowered water levels in the Colorado River and Lake Mead that Hoover Dam is fast approaching the day when it will no longer produce any power. In Myanmar and Bangladesh, record floods this year displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

The damage to freshwater supplies is the most personal consequence of climate change around the world. It’s true that a number of nations have initiated important industrial programs to lower carbon emissions by fostering the switch to cleaner energy sources. China, for instance, has gained international renown for the speed at which it’s developed an alternative fuels manufacturing and power-generating sector.

It’s not nearly enough, though, to slow the planet’s warming. That’s because the bigger money in the industrialized world involves producing and consuming carbon-emitting coal, oil, and natural gas.

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11 comments // Analysis: Despite a Drying and Flooding Planet, Cancun Climate Negotiators Anticipate Scant Progress

  • coolplanet
    • 0
      coolplanet  

    • Thank you for continuing to post these important articles Jan!
      To me the only doom is if we don't start taking this urgent issue seriously and DO something to change it.
      Anti-science deniers are the ones causing the doom with their business-as-usual ignorance born of laziness.
      "Doom" originates from the old Germantic "do." So it is what we do or don't do that will determine whether we are doomed.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • coolplanet:

      Agreed. This isn't "doom" so much as reality that should engender awareness and action. The fact of the matter is that water sources in Africa are drying up, the Colorado River and other rivers are in worsening shape, drought is pervasive, glaciers continue to melt, and we need to find a way to address it to sustain life on this planet. It would appear however that we cannot rely on governments of the developed world to do anything substantial about this at the pace it needs to be done. However, that doesn't mean we can't do something especially in working with governments of developing nations and those in the direct line of fire of this. The post I added here regarding renewable energy is a very hopeful sign, and actually renewable energy use in the US is also climbing. So this is definitely an opportunity for progress even in the shadow of this disappointment.

    • 1 year ago
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  

    • http://viacampesinanorteamerica.org/en/news/n1.php

      The people's time to be heard has come.

      "La Via Campesina Organizes International Caravans for Life, Resistance, and Environmental Justice in Mexico

      Over a thousand women and men, farmers, indigenous people, urban and rural people affected by social and environmental destruction are planning to march in 5 caravans towards Cancun, Mexico, in protest against the indolence of the dominant countries and capitalists of the world gathering for the conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change from November 29 to December 10, 2010.

      The caravans co-organised by the National Assembly of People Affected by the Environment and the international peasant's movement La Via Campesina and by a convergence of diverse social movements from the United States, Canada and Mexico will kick off in San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, and Acapulco, joining other rural, urban and student movements in Mexico City on November 30 for a mass protest for environmental and social justice. Two other caravans will then depart from Oaxaca and Chiapas, all converging to Cancun on December 3 for the inauguration of the Farmer's and Indigenous Camp organized by La Via Campesina.

      The caravans' journeys will bring local struggles against social and environmental injustices into the limelight as the global community convenes for the climate negotiations in Cancun. They will denounce the widespread apathy in the face of the current socio-environmental scandals, as well as the Mexican government's maneuvering to implement mega-projects for “Clean Development Mechanisms (MDL)” which in fact devastate communities and the environment. This is the case of the large industrial pig farms such as Smithfield, the production of agrofuels for airplanes, the "semi- remediation" of open-air garbage dumps, large hydro-dams and new GMO extensions.

      In solidarity with this movement against corporate greed in the name of “climate change”, Via Campesina farmers from around the world and other activists will join the caravans. According to Henry Saragih, general coordinator of La Via Campesina, “leaders from Asia will also march with the affected people of Mexico and North America. In my country Indonesia, people also lead hundreds even thousands of struggles, at local level, against commercial projects destroying people livelihoods and the environment”.

      Josie Riffaud, a Via Campesina farmer leader from France also insisted that “the solutions being discussed in the climate talks are very scary. We are being told that some projects will help solve the current climate chaos, but it is an illusion. We are seeing an increase of monoculture plantations, genetic engineering, agrofuels plantations, landgrabbing, all of this will further increase devastation and exclusion”.

      In Cancun, La Via Campesina and its allies will organise an “Alternative Global Forum for Life and Environmental and Social Justice”, on December 4 through 10, and a mass mobilisation of peasants, indigenous and social movements on December 7. At the same time, in Cancun and around the world, thousands of people and organisation will mobilise creating "thousands of Cancuns" to denounce the false solutions against climate change and to promote a real system change."
      _____________________

      Look for more information about celebrating this on December 7 on the Sustainable Agriculture Group, plus updates on this conference in regards to agriculture and water. It's time to take back our food, our water, and our planet.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • http://current.com/technology/92823177_eradicating-rural-poverty-with-renewable-...

      This is how you bring POSITIVE progress to the world, eradicate poverty, educate the people, and bring them sustainable food and water. Solar energy will be what brings sustainability, health, and hope to the developing world.

      From the link:

      'Solar homes for the masses

      During the past eight years in Bangladesh, close to half a million solar home systems have been installed, mostly between 50 and 75 Watts-peak, and a new programme aims to expand this to 1.3 million by 2012 [1]. Early this century, the government and donors established a rural energy fund that has enabled a group of 16 participating sales and service companies to install about half a million systems. A key part of this programme is to ensure that the systems meet high quality standards, and to provide guarantees for the technology and after-sales service. Participants include Grameen Shakti and several other microfinance organizations (for more details see [5] (Grameen Shakti for Renewable Energies, SiS 49).

      Another successful programme is Sri Lanka’s Renewable Energy for Rural Economic Development Project, which also employs consumer credit and a network of microfinance institutions and solar companies. Through their dealer networks, solar companies sell solar home systems and offer operation and maintenance services. The business model is based on a memorandum of understanding between the microfinance institution and the solar company, key features of which are a buy-back scheme and identification of the consumer-service responsibilities of the two parties.

      Under this model, the Sarvodaya Economic Enterprises Development Services—the project’s key partner in solar home system financing and a recognized leader in off-grid energy services din remote rural areas—financed more than 70 000 systems between 2002-2006.

      Under China’s Renewable Energy Development project that ended in mid-2008, more than 400 000 solar home systems were sold in northwestern China, most of them to herders who transported the systems on the backs of their animals as they moved to new pastures.

      India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy estimated that by 2009, close to 500 000 solar home systems and 700 000 solar lanterns had been purchased nationwide. In Sri Lanka, some 60 000 systems had been purchased by 2007, most of them during the last decade.

      In Africa, the rise in solar home systems has been slow. But by 2007, the continent still had more than 500 000 systems in use, with over half of these in Kenya and South Africa. In 2005, Kenya was home to just over 150 000 solar systems with a median size of 25 watts; coverage has since reached some 300 000 households.

      Similar to household lighting, communications require a small amount of power that is easily provided by solar household systems. In China, the main use of larger 50-watt solar household systems, after lighting, is for viewing television; and retailers actually market equipment for this purpose.

      Many battery systems in developing countries are used extensively for television viewing, and more recently, mobile phone charging has been added as an option as communication towers become available.

      In India today there are approximately 7 000 solar-powered pumps for irrigation.

      Greener biomass stoves

      A new generation of improved biomass stoves is being manufactured, sometimes backed by large international companies [1]. These stoves are durable and will last for 5 to 10 years or even longer, and many are sold with guarantees.

      There is large market potential for biomass stoves in developing countries. The goal is to improve the energy efficiency of cooking, reduce indoor air pollution, and save labour or cash expenses for the poorest.

      The World Health Organization and United Nations Development Programme recently surveyed 140 countries with a combined population of 3 billion people who rely on solid biomass fuels such as wood, straw, dung, and coal for cooking. The survey found 830 million people (just under one-third) using improved stoves for cooking (defined as a closed stove with a chimney or an open fire with a hood). This amounts to about 166 million households, including 116 million in China, more than 13 million in the rest of East Asia, 20 million in South Asia, 7 million in sub-Saharan Africa, and over 8 million in Latin America.'

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  

    • I stated this as well a couple of years ago after Bali, then Posnan, then Copenhagen, then Bonn, and on and on and on. And while I do believe the UN has done good things this process now leaves me cold. And it does also tie into the fact that water scarcity, drought, etc as important issues are not taken seriously, are not reported in the media, and are not given the attention they must have. Water is THE lynchpin of our very abiltity to survive on this planet and yet here we sit waiting once again for it to have its voice heard. It is apparent that there are governments in collusion with industries primarily the fossil fuel industry to slow this process down in order to buy them time and profit, while also now working to make more profit off the deteriorating conditions of our ecosystems through catchphrases like "geoengineering."

      I have no doubt about that now. Whether it can be referred to as a "NWO" is your prerogative, but it is clear that the battle lines are now being drawn for our survival as militaries, governments and these very industries all plan their next move. So for those who continue to deny that man is having an impact on this planet you are dead wrong, and support this scheme by your denial.

      Those of us out here working to be heard, to have campesinos heard, to have the indigenous peoples whose wisdom we ignore heard, to work towards bringing renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and water justice to countries to wean them off fossil fuels, black carbon, etc. do this now as a moral imperative. Not only to see global economic growth but to provide a healthier safer planet. However, the propaganda is being pushed very hard now by certain entities and their minions who desperately wish to preserve the status quo for their own enrichment.

      It is very disappointing to know that once again we will more than likely not see any tangible progress on a crisis that is now beginning to truly make itself known. The world we will leave for future generations is now a toss up. This is the defining challenge of our generation and it has now been reduced to little more than a partisan political wedge issue to be decided in this government now by backwards, ignorant, bought and sold anti-science oil mouthpieces who cannot even begin to comprehend the weight of their actions.

      I suppose it will have to be left up to reality to move us in the right direction. And it's here.

    • 1 year ago
  • jubal
    • +1
      jubal  

    • I am having serious doubts about the effectiveness of the United Nations as a body that can help the climate crisis. It seems to me that they are all about helping business and capitalism thrive and take the most advantage of the crisis.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • jubal:

      It is truly disappointing because UNEP has been effective regarding addressing water scarcity and other environmental problems, most notably deforestation. I don't know what to think anymore Jubal. I do know however, that I will never stop fighting.

    • 1 year ago
  • coolplanet
    • 0
      coolplanet  
    • jubal:

      But isn't it big business that most needs to take the lead in developing and marketing clean energy technology?
      I think that the U.N. needs more power, like a World Court to prosecute nations for knowingly causing severe droughts and floods worldwide with their carbon emissions. Consider Africa which has been hit hardest by the rapid warming of the Indian Ocean. Do Americans or the Chinese have the right to change Earth's climate with our increasingly lazy lifestyles?

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • coolplanet:

      These times we live in call for a more sustainable way of doing business and for a more ethcial way to invest in the future. The climate crisis is just one way those looking to make a difference in our world can use their investments to bring about the kind of world where longterm investments lead to clean water for all instead of poisoned waterways, sustainable food instead of monoculture spawned by fossil fuel intensive pesticide driven ag, and /or energy sources that respect rather than despoil our environment. In other words, investments that preserve resources for future generations. So I definitely agree that big business needs to take a lead and also that countries that willingly cause climate change knowing its adverse repercussions on other nations should be held accountable.

    • 1 year ago
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