mEDIa21 - On Assignment

Transcrição

Media21 On Climate: Anticipating Climate Risks
CLIMATE CHANGE IV
ANTICIPATING CLIMATE RISKS
With the collaboration of the
World Meteorological
Organization,
rd
3 World Meteorological
Conference Aug 31-Sept 4,
Trip to Mali: Sept 5-10, 2009
PARTICIPANTS:
ADDIS Eyader, Ethiopia, Africa News
ADEODATO Sergio, Brazil, Horizonte Geografico
Magazine
AKAKPO-AHIANYO Etonam, Togo, Afrique
Agriculture, Le Marché
BOTNARU Petru, Moldova, Adevarul, Terra-1530
DECLOITRE Shobhna, Fiji, UNDP
DE ROULET Pablo, Switzerland, Le Courrier
DIARRA Soumaila, Mali, L'Aube
DOWELL Bill, U.S.A, The Global Post
EMTAIRAH Ola, Dubai - UAE, Al-Arabiya, MBC
Group
FALCO Aline, Brazil, Mudanças Climàticas
FOKUDA Hiroyuki, Japan, NHK
GERDES Justin, Denmark, CCC, Mandag Morgen
HACK Tobin, U.S.A., Sierra Magazine, MNN
LEAHY Stephen, Canada, Inter Press Service
LIVEN Ido, Israel, Ynet
LESPINASSE Colette, Haiti, Radio Kiskeka
NANDI Jayashree, India, The Times of India
NDIAYE Papa Noumou, Senegal / Switzerland,
Bluewin.ch, Mediasen.org
NJIRU John Muchangi, Kenya, Nairobi star
PICKERING Sarah, Denmark, CCC, Mandag Morgen
RANGATIA Yoga, India/Switzerland, Indian press
SAMULAT Gerhard, Germany, GEO, Spektrumdirekt
SCHACHT Rüdiger, Germany, Die Welt
VIVAR Mariona, France , Alternative Channel,
Paris/Montreal
YOHANNES Solomon, Ethiopia, NMA
ZYNCENKO Nadia, Argentina, NMA
MEDIA21 JOURNALISTS/EDITORIAL BOARD
Isolda AGAZZI, Fabrice BOULÉ, Edward GIRARDET, Daniel WERMUS.
COORDINATION: Flavio LUCCHESI
ADMINISTRATION: Hervé GUYOMAR
MALI ADVISOR: Ramata TRAORE
INTERN: Clément GIRARDOT, Institut d‘études
politiques, Grenoble
PUBLISHER:
Media21 in editorial partnership with
Crosslines Essential Media Ltd
www.media21geneva.org
www.essentialgeneva.com
2
Table of content
Introduction ........................................................................ 3
Financial supporters ............................................................. 3
Domestiquer les éléments ..................................................... 4
Every time it rains in Tokyo, the whole world will know ........... 5
Den Wandel hautnah erleben ................................................ 5
Mali's new eco-training camp ................................................ 7
Swiss Minergie house ........................................................... 7
L‘ adaptation du Mali aux défis climatiques ............................. 8
Météo: quand la censure frappe ............................................ 9
Les enjeux de Copenhague ................................................... 9
Bamako entre modernité et inégalités .................................. 10
Les journalistes en reportage en Haute-Savoie ..................... 10
Wir müssen dagegenhalten ................................................. 11
Mali: la météo, alliée des paysans ....................................... 13
Cidadão pode pagar para conter o aqueciento global ............ 14
Growing focus on gender and climatechange as COP15 approaches .... 15
Mali‘s unknown global warming (Os limites da pobreza) ........ 16
Frequent droughts will impact food production say experts .... 20
Climate change impact leaves Mali villagers high and dry ...... 21
Quand le Mali bombarde le ciel ........................................... 21
Tamala: un village à l‘écoute de la météo ............................ 22
Energy: to fly around the world - without fuel ...................... 23
Mali: technology transfer so slow "we‘ll have to copy like China" ..... 24
Climate change: survival means anticipating and adapting..... 26
Global grid enables nations adapt to climate change ............. 27
Taking action on climate change ......................................... 27
We used to have four seasons, but the autumn disappeared.......... 28
Climate change: earth's fridge defrosting, with dire results .... 28
Climate change: early warning systems for the coming storm......... 30
Execs say only green businesses will thrive post-COP15,
challenges remain .............................................................. 30
Partners ............................................................................ 32
Links to all articles on
Media21 website
mEDIa21
On Assignment #10, September 2009
Introduction
This workshop was the 20th of Media21‘s
ongoing series on global themes, and the
4th dedicated to climate change, was organized during the 3rd World Climate Conference (WWC3), where 1000 high level
decision makers and providers of climate
services were expected. Prior to the Copenhagen meeting, it was focused on the
adaptation and solutions – or more precisely the integration of climate predictions
in the policy-making of all sectors: energy,
agriculture, urban planning, transports,
construction, health, economy, etc. Apart
from attending some of the WCC3 sessions, journalists took part in speciallytailored panels and were able to meet with
high level international players from UN
agencies, humanitarian organizations, private sector, academia, governments, and
media.
Financial supporters
able energy that were visited by the
journalists. The field visits around Geneva proved a very positive complement
to the more theoretical knowledge offered in the conference rooms. The following week, a field trip to Mali, attended by half of the group, offered a
human side of the story in Mali, a country facing concrete impacts of the problem and trying to find innovative solutions.
WMO
The workshop was also able to attract
prominent figures who gave exclusive
presentations for Media21, such as Michel Jarraud, secretary general of WMO,
Achim Steiner, executive director of
UNEP and Shere Abbott, top adviser to
President Obama on climate change.
Furthermore an attempt was made to
include weather presenters in the group
of journalists, and also to have a joint
session on the link between forecasts
and climate change issues.
Finally, as suggested by Media21 to
WMO, a roundtable discussion on ―Communicating climate information‖ was held
as part of WCC3 programme, with panellists from meteorology, civil society, and
media – among which Daniel Wermus
from Media21, discussing strengths and
limits of the media in raising public
awareness.
UNFPA
Federal Office for the Environment
Bread for All
mEDIa21
Individual rainfalls measurement in Mali
in Ouelessebougou. How can a poor
country adapt its agriculture to climate
change?
The Media21 sessions provided a good
balance of panellists from all sectors, including the private sector who were
quite well represented this time: Cadbury, Veolia, Hewlett Packard, Monsanto, plus several local Swiss and
French enterprises specialized in renew
Presence Switzerland
Région Rhône-Alpes
Formation Continue des Journalistes
Centre Romand de Formation des
Journalistes
3
Domestiquer les
éléments
By Isolda AGAZZI, 1 November 2009,
Afrique-Asie
Mali: inondations désastreuses, sécheresse galopante... Une alternance de
phénomènes extrêmes provoqués par le
changement climatique, mais aussi par
les comportements humains. Des solutions existent pour lutter contre cette situation. Reportage.
« La terre était déjà gorgée d‘eau, alors
cette pluie supplémentaire ne peut que
faire des dégâts! » s‘exclame Ramata
Diaouré, membre du Réseau des journalistes africains de l‘environnement, pataugeant dans la boue provoquée par
les trombes d‘eau qui s‘abattent sur
Bamako en cette fin d‘après-midi.
Fortes pluies à Bamako en septembre
2009. Comment les agriculteurs peuvent-ils en profiter au mieux ?
Les
voitures
et
les
mobylettes
s‘enfoncent dans des flaques de trente
centimètres, provoquées par les canalisations à ciel ouvert qui débordent de
toute part. Les fruits et légumes tombés
des étalages se mêlent à la savate égarée que la passante essaie de récupérer.
La circulation est encore plus chaotique
que d‘habitude, même si la pluie semble
avoir lavé le ciel et l‘air paraît moins pollué et, pour une fois, presque respirable.
En une seule journée, il est tombé 250
mm de pluie – la quantité de 45 jours.
La saison des pluies va habituellement
de mai à juillet, mais cette année les
précipitations se sont fait attendre jusqu‘en septembre. Une conséquence directe du changement climatique, qui
provoque des phénomènes extrêmes
dans toute la sous région.
4
Fin septembre, l‘ONU annonçait que les
inondations qui frappent l‘Afrique de
l‘Ouest depuis juin avaient déjà provoqué au moins 187 morts et affecté
635.273 personnes. Un bilan qui risque
de s‘alourdir, car une deuxième vague
d‘inondations s‘abat sur la sous-région
depuis quelques semaines, notamment
au Sénégal, au Burkina Faso, au Niger,
en Guinée, en Mauritanie et au Tchad.
preuves aussi au Burkina Faso et au Sénégal.
« Depuis 1970, la pluviométrie a diminué de 20% au Mali, nous explique Sidi
Konaté, membre du Secrétariat technique permanent (STP) du Ministère de
l‘Environnement, lors d‘une conférence
organisée par le réseau Média 21 à Bamako. La sécheresse augmente, la
nappe phréatique diminue et le débit
des grands fleuves connaît une baisse
de 50%. De nouveaux végétaux flottants apparaissent, qui entravent la
pêche et la navigation et provoquent le
paludisme et de nouvelles maladies.»
Mali Méto propose d‘ailleurs deux bulletins différents: l‘un pour la pluie naturelle et l‘autre pour la pluie provoquée.
Elle a aussi développé un programme
d‘agro-météo assistance pour aider les
paysans, désorientés par le changement
de saisons, à établir un calendrier des
semences.
Le démarrage et la fin de la saison humide sont devenus imprévisibles et les
paysans ne savent plus quand semer. La
migration augmente. L‘écosystème se
modifie, les pâturages diminuent et les
conflits entre éleveurs, pêcheurs et agriculteurs deviennent toujours plus fréquents. Le delta intérieur du Niger connaît une perte annuelle d‘eau de 30'000
milliards de m3. L‘ensablement et la désertification affectent les habitations, les
terres agricoles et les voies de communication.
« Ensemencer » les nuages pour
provoquer la pluie
Alors, les Maliens ont décidé d‘aider un
peu le ciel. « Nous ensemençons les
nuages pour qu‘ils donnent plus de
pluie, nous explique Daouda Zan Diarra,
ingénieur à Mali Météo. On regarde ceux
qui ont le plus de potentiel et on envoie
un avion injecter du sel pour favoriser la
condensation. Une demi-heure après il
pleut, là où nous voulons.»
Ce
programme,
qui
a
permis
d‘augmenter la pluviométrie de 15% et
la production de mil, riz, sorgho, arachide et coton de moitié, a fait ses
« Nous travaillons avec la Weather Modification Corporation, une compagnie
américaine qui nous a vendu les avions
et les radars. Mais le Mali a payé entièrement de sa poche les six milliards de
francs CFA destinés à financer les opérations», assure l‘ingénieur.
Mais doper les nuages ne suffit pas. Aujourd‘hui le Mali a besoin de technologies vertes - énergie solaire, éolienne et
nouvelles méthodes d‘irrigation. «Pourtant, nous n‘avons rien reçu! S‘emporte
Sidi Konaté, du STP. La technologie ne
se transfère pas, les droits de propriété
intellectuelle la rendent beaucoup trop
chère. Il faut la copier, comme les Chinois. La Convention sur le changement
climatique n‘a pas trouvé de mécanisme
adéquat et la conférence de Copenhague ne va pas le trouver non plus.»
La tradition en question
Le pays va d‘inondations en sécheresses
comme de Charybde en Scylla. Le sud
du Mali est étonnamment vert et fertile.
Les manguiers et les arbres à karité tancent les nuages bas, gorgés de pluie,
baignés par une lumière changeante et
cristalline. La nuit, la lune est tellement
proche qu‘on pourrait la cueillir comme
un fruit mûr. « Mais cette verdure ne
dure que le temps de la saison des
pluies, et au nord de Mopti et de Gao la
sécheresse reprend le dessus» avertissent les paysans.
Nous sommes à Ségou, l‘ancienne capitale du royaume bambara - aujourd‘hui
une grosse bourgade endormie au bord
du Niger. Michel Cadalen y dirige la coopération luxembourgeoise (LuxDev),
l‘une des plus actives du pays. Et pour
lui, le changement climatique n‘explique
pas tout.
mEDIa21
« En 1973, la plaine de San, à deux
heures de route d‘ici, était irriguée par le
fleuve Banni, raconte-t-il. Depuis, il a
fortement diminué à cause d‘éléments
climatiques, certes, mais aussi de facteurs humains. Le problème, c‘est moins
la disponibilité de l‘eau que sa distribution. Beaucoup de régions du Mali reçoivent plus de pluie que la Hollande! »
pour atteindre 16‘000 tonnes cette année, la plaine exporte du riz dans tout le
Mali et jusqu‘au Burkina Faso. Le développement économique a permis de diversifier les activités productrices audelà de l‘agriculture et d‘assurer les besoins en santé et en éducation. »
Augmenter la productivité pour
assurer la sécurité alimentaire
Dans la plaine de San, LuxDev a réussi à
sortir la gestion foncière du système juridique traditionnel, tout en respectant
les sensibilités locales. Les paysans ont
créé l‘ARPASO, une association qui regroupe 4590 exploitants sur une surface
de 1200 hectares.
Peu avant le coucher du soleil, une foule
bigarrée d‘hommes, femmes et enfants
rentre des champs sur des charrettes tirées par les ânes. La route coupe la
plaine en deux: à gauche la partie aménagée, où les rizières bien ordonnées
s‘étendent à perte de vue. A droite la
partie en friche, où broutent quelques
rares vaches égarées.
« Grâce à une nouvelle gestion des
terres,
au
reboisement
et
à
l‘amélioration des méthodes culturales,
nous avons multiplié la productivité par
quatre, souligne Michel Cadalen. Le but
initial était la sécurité alimentaire. Mais
comme la production dépasse les besoins locaux - estimés à 4'000 tonnes -
ORIGINAL
ARTICLE
in
Hebrew
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L3775445,00.html
Den Wandel hautnah
erleben
A l‘entendre, le changement climatique
existe depuis toujours et la pression
démographique, la mauvaise gestion des
ressources naturelles et le système traditionnel d‘attribution des terres sont
tout aussi responsables de la sécheresse. En cause, notamment, la superposition de plusieurs systèmes juridiques: aujourd‘hui encore, le peuple
considère que les chefs de village et les
chefs de terre priment sur le droit officiel hérité de la colonisation.
«Au Mali, on peut couper les branches,
mais on n‘a pas le droit de planter un
arbre, car c‘est considéré comme un défi
au chef, qui distribue les terres selon
son bon vouloir» analyse-t-il.
mation all the time, but it wasn't integrated in the decision making process.
By Rüdiger SCHACHT
De nouvelles solutions à trouver pour
nourrir les générations à venir.
La preuve que la sécheresse et le changement climatique ne sont pas une fatalité. «Aujourd‘hui, les jeunes restent au
village, même pendant la saison sèche,
se réjouit un membre de l‘ARPASO.
Alors qu‘avant ils périssaient en mer en
essayant de gagner l‘Italie.»
Every time it rains in
Tokyo, the whole world
will know
By Ido LIVEN, 19 October 2009, ynet.co.il online
Abstract
At the World Climate Conference, which
took place in Geneva about a month
ago, a new mechanism has been established for improving the coordination between meteorologists. The aim: to allow
the international community identify
trends and prepare in advance to and
prepare in advance to climate change.
Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization: We had the infor-
Westafrika ist eine der vom Klimawandel
am stärksten betroffenen Regionen der
Erde. Immer unregelmässigere Regenfälle und die zunehmende Ausbreitung
der Sahara verderben die Ernten und
vertreiben die Landbevölkerung. Die Republik Mali sucht nach Wegen, um sich
den Folgen des Klimawandels anzupassen „Probleme in Afrika?― lacht unser
einheimischer Führer Barry Amadou und
zeigt sein breitetestes Grinsen, „Nein,
hier in Afrika gibt es nur Lösungen!― Der
42 jährige wurde in der Hauptstadt Malis, Bamako, geboren und arbeitet seit
rund fünf Jahren für die französische
Immigrationsbehörde in Paris. Die meiste Zeit des Jahres und lebt er in der
französischen Hauptstadt und betreut
afrikanische Einwanderer bei der Erledigung der Einwanderungsformalitäten.
Während der übrigen Zeit führt er Reisegruppen – wie die unsere, von der UN
organisierte – in seinem Heimatland.
Mali, ein Land mit langer, stolzer Geschichte, dessen ehemaliges Zentrum
Timbuktu im Mittelalter berühmt für seinen sagenhaften Reichtum war, versinkt
zusehens im Sand und Staub der Sahara. Anstelle des ehemaligen Gold und Elfenbein-Reichtums der Region treten
heute die Wüstenbildung, Überflutungen
sowie die Absenkung des Grundwasserund Nigerwasserspiegels. Auf den ehemals fruchtbaren Böden am Nigerufer
verdorren die, immer noch von Hand
einzeln gesetzten, Pflanzen auf den Feldern. Rund zweieinhalb mal grösser als
Spanien, zwischen Algerien, Guinea,
Burkina Faso und der Elfenbeinküste gelegen, hat das Land einen bedeutenden
Anteil an der Sahara, der Sahelzone und
dem Sudan. Seine Klimazonen reichen
vom tropisch-feuchten Sudan-Klima des
Südens bis zum Wüstenklima der Saha-
5
ra. Zwei Drittel seiner Landesfläche sind
Wüste, deren Fläche - einhergehend mit
zunehmender Verarmrung der Landbevölkerung - täglich zunimmt.
fruchtbaren Ackerlandes und saftiger
Weiden treten jetzt Strauch- und Trockensavannen, die weder Mensch noch
Tier ernähren können―, so Gakou.
„Sand und Staub―, sagt der Chef des
Ministeriums für Verwüstung, Entwaldung und Bodenerosion Malis, Mamadou
Gakou „sind zwei der grössten Probleme
hier in Mali.― Vom Wind aus der Sahara
herangetragen, verteilt er sich überall im
Land – verstopft die Filter von Motoren
und Kühlaggregaten und bindet die ohnehin schon rückläufigen Wassermassen
des Nigers. Wie ein feines Tuch legt er
sich über das Land und verwandelt die
wenigen Oberflächengewässer in dickflüssige Schlammbrühen. Mit dem Staub
wurden bisher für Mali unbekannte
Pflanzensamen in das Land geweht, die
in den Schlamm hervorragend gedeihen
und lange, seetangartige Pflanzen ausbilden. „Als biologische Barrieren, machen sie den Flussschiffern und Fischern
das Leben schwer und verstopfen die
Zuflüsse der Turbinen unser Wasserkraftwerke―, so Gakou.
Zum Ausbleiben der Niederschläge gesellt sich seit einigen Jahren ein Problem, dass auf den ersten Blick so gar
nicht zur Trockenheit passen zu scheint:
Überflutungen. Seit einigen Jahren gehen die wenigen Niederschläge immer
häufiger als sintflutartige Starkregen
nieder, die die wenigen Abflüsse komplett überfordern und – wie Ende August
bei den östlichen Nachbarn Malis grossflächig geschehen – ganze Regionen
überfluten. „Das uralte Gleichgewicht
zwischen Trocken- und Regenzeit ist
komplett aus den Fugen geraten―, sagt
die Bäuerin Sali Samake aus dem Dorf
Tamala mit einem sorgenvollen Blick auf
ihren Maisacker. „Die Regenzeit setzt
von Jahr ein zu Jahr später ein und
macht den gewohnten Pflanz- und Ernterhythmus fast unmöglich. Hinzu
kommt noch, das die Regenfluten uns
jetzt auch noch die fruchtbare Ackerkrume wegspülen.―
Seit Beginn der 70er Jahre nehmen in
Westafrika die Niederschlagsmengen
dramatisch ab. Der Regen wird immer
unregelmässiger und bleibt häufig jahrelang völlig aus. Die 1200 MillimeterNiederschlagsisobare (Isohyete), die der
Behörde als Mass für eine ausreichende
Bewässerung der Äcker dient, wandert
immer weiter nach Süden und mit ihr
tausende von Bauern und Farmern aus
dem ehemals fruchtbaren Bereich am
Niger.
„Menschen, die in ihrem Stammland alles verloren haben und jetzt auf der
Flucht sind vor einem unbekannten und
übermächtigen Feind: dem Klimawandel―, führt der studierte Geograph aus.
Neben den ethnischen Problemen, die
mit der Verdrängung ganzer Volksgruppen aus ihrer Heimat einhergehen,
bringt die Flucht vor der Trockenheit
dem Land auch erhebliche Ackerlandund Nahrungsmitteleinbussen. War Mali
einst bedeutender Reislieferant an seine
Nachbarn, so zwingen die ausbleibenden
Ernteerträge Mali heute schon rund
zwanzig Prozent seines Reisbedarfs zu
importieren. „An die Stelle ehemals
6
Doch Malis Menschen geben nicht auf.
So gut es eben geht, versuchen sie gegenzusteuern und sich dem Klimawandel
anzupassen. Unterstützt von ausländischen Hilfsorganisationen hat Malis Regierung einige Projekt auf den Weg gebracht, die die Situation dokumentieren
und – wenn möglich – Abhilfe schaffen
sollen. „Das beginnt mit der Sammlung
elementarer Klima- und Niederschlagsdaten, geht über die Ausbildung der
Landbevölkerung und mündet schliesslich im Regenmachen―, erläutert Gakou.
„Nur mit verlässlichen Daten können wir
uns einen Überblick über das Ausmass
der Veränderungen verschaffen und den
Wandel wissenschaftlich einwandfrei dokumentieren.― Wie auf dem Acker von
Bäuerin Samake messen landesweit
schon rund 1500 Messstellen die täglichen Regenmengen. So erhällt Gakous
Behörde erstmals verlässliche Daten aus
den nur schwer zugänglichen ländlichen
Bereichen des Landes. Mitten auf dem
Acker von Frau Samake steht es jetzt,
das äusserlich an ein übergrosses Sektglas erinnernde Regenmessgerät. Im
Inneren des nach oben offenen Trichters
befindet sich ein Gefäss mit einer Skala,
die täglich von den beteiligten Bauern
abgelesen wird. Wöchentlich leiten sie
ihre Daten an die Erfassungsstelle der
Behörde weiter. „Zum ersten mal haben
wir ein Mass, wie stark die Niederschlagsmengen vor Ort variieren― erläutert die Bäuerin. Die zwölffache Mutter
ist von Anfang an an dem Projekt beteiligt und sichtlich begeistert von dem Gerät, dass so gar nicht in die archaisch
anmutende Umgebung mit ochsengezogenen Pflügen zu passen scheint. „Meine Kinder und Nachbarn haben sich
längst an den merkwürdigen Apparat
auf unserem Maisacker gewöhnt.― Auch
die anfängliche Skepsis der Dorfbewohner konnte sie mit Hilfe der genauen
Werte ausräumen. „So haben wir jetzt
erstmals das Gefühl selbst auch etwas
gegen den Wandel um uns herum tun
zu können und nicht nur sein hilfloses
Opfer zu sein―, sagt Samake entschlossen.
Um schon die nachwachsende Bevölkerung frühzeitig an die Umweltprobleme
und mögliche Lösungen heranzuführen,
wird nahe Ouéléssébougou gerade ein
so genanntes Bio-Kamp aufgebaut. In
einem für drei Jahre angelegten Pilotprojekt soll Jugendlichen und Heranwachsenden aus der Umgebung beigebracht werden, welche Pflanzen man am
besten wann und wo anbaut und wie
Wasser eingespart oder gar gewonnen
werden kann. Zu praktischen Tips zum
Ackerbau kommen Grundlagen und Spezialwissen zur Biologie der Pflanzen und
technische Anleitungen etwa zum Brunnenbau. Einen ganz speziellen Weg der
Wasserbeschaffung beschritt Mali in Zusammenarbeit
mit
der
US-Firma
„Weather Modification Corp.―: Seit Mai
2006 versucht man mit einigem Erfolg
künstlich Regen zu machen. In Bamako
(West-), Ouéléssébougou (Zentral-), und
Kidal (Ostmali) stehen Flugzeuge mit
Sprüheinrichtungen bereit, die an Vorrichtungen zum Ausbringen von Pestiziden erinnen. „Nein nein―, sagt der Meteorologe Laouola san Asarrm vom meteorologischen Dienst Mali. „Hier werden
keine Pestizide verspritzt, sondern fein
gemahlenes Salz ausgebracht.― Haben
die Meteorologen einmal mit dem Radar
eine vielversprechende Wolke erspäht,
schicken sie ein mit Salz beladenes Flugzeug in ihre Richtung. „In der Wolke angekommen versprüht es das Salz und
stellt den feinen Wasserströpfen der
Wolke die nötigen Kondensationkeime
zur Verfügung damit sich grössere Tropfen bilden können, die dann als Regen
zur Erde fallen. „Mit Hilfe der Flugzeuge
konnten wir eine lokale Steigerung der
Niederschläge um 15 bis 20 Prozent erreichen―, erläutert Asarrm stolz. Aber
auch mit diesen technischen Raffinessen
lässt sich das Fehlen von Regen nur bedingt ausgleichen – zumal geeignete
Wolken nicht jeden Tag zur Verfügung
stehen. „Wir brauchen Hilfe von der internationalen Staatengemeinschaft, um
unsere Projekte weiter auszubauen―, so
Asarrm. „Um dem grossen oberflächlichen Abfluss der Regenmengen zu begegnen und das Wasser etwa für Bewässerungen nutzen zu können, planen
wir den Bau von Dämmen und Rückhaltebecken. Aber das kostet alles viel, viel
Geld.―
Desillusioniert aber von typisch afrikanischem Improvisationstalent beseelt blicken Malis Menschen weiter nach vorn
und arbeiten an speziellen Lösungen für
ihr Land. Aber was ist mit der internationalen Politik, den Versprechungen und
Zusagen vergangener Jahre? Kann Mali
auf konkrete Ergebnisse und Zusagen
bei der kommenden Weltklimakonferenz
in Kopenhagen setzen? „Was ich von der
Weltklimakonferenz im Herbst erwarte?―
so Gakou auf die Frage nach den zukünftigen Aussichten auf Hilfe durch die
UN und den Weltklimarat. „Nun, wir hoffen, dass die Industrienationen endlich
ihrer Verantwortung am Klimawandel
gerecht werden, ihren Worten auch endlich Taten folgen lassen und ihren CO2Ausstoss sofort um mindestens 20 bis
30 Prozent reduzieren. Ausserdem müssen die Industrieländer uns helfen, damit wir uns besser an die Folgen des
immer schneller fortschreitenden Klimawandels anpassen können.― Grosse
Hoffnungen setzen die Menschen etwa
auf einen erleichterten Technologietransfer, der es ihnen ermöglicht neue
Technologien nutzen zu können ohne
sich an den Patentzahlungen noch weiter verschulden zu müssen. Gakous Blick
senkt sich und mit einem einem trauri-
gen Augenzwinkern fügt er hinzu: „Naja,
Klimagerechtigkeit wäre hier das passende Stichwort – zumal Afrika nur rund
drei Prozent zum weltweiten Treibhausgasausstoss beiträgt, aber umso mehr
unter dessen Folgen leidet. Aber grosse
Hoffnungen auf die baldige Einlösung
längst gegebener internationaler Versprechen habe ich nicht mehr. Nur zerrinnt uns hier in Afrika die Zeit zwischen
den Fingern – genauso wie der ehemals
fruchtbare Boden!―
http://www.media21geneva.org/index.p
hp?option=com_content&task=view&id
=809&Itemid=421
Mali's new eco-training
camp
By Tobin HACK, 21 October 2009
Sierra Magazine
Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, is among those being hit hardest
by climate change.
mEDIa21
Monts Mandingues, in Djissoumabougou, Mali. Conceived in 2006, the camp
sprang out of a convention signed by
the Malian government and the U.N.
Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD). Funding for the camp comes
from UNCCD, an NGO called the Malian
Folk Center, and Mali‘s government.
Today, the campus is nearly complete—
the dorms, cafeteria, and classrooms
stand empty in wait. In an open green
space in the middle of campus, a new
well pump waits eagerly for eco-warriors
to use it. Beside the pump stands a
neem tree, to be used by students as a
non-chemical insecticide on the organic
crops they‘ll help raise. Around the corner, jatropha plants—to be pressed and
filtered into sustainable biodiesel—bide
their time.
When Camp Bio‘s doors open in 2010,
Malian and international students will
travel there for one- and two-week sessions. At any given time, an estimated
200 students will work and study on
campus, sharing ideas and acquiring
skills they‘ll need to help their communities mitigate and adapt to the climate
changes coming their way.
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/
2009/10/a-new-ecotraining-camp-inmali-to-combat-desertification-.html
Ouverture prévue pour 2010, près de
Bamako
Floods plague its southern half during
the rainy season, while its north is a
landscape of unforgiving agricultural terrain, desiccated land that‘s turning into
desert, spreading south, and forcing inhabitants farther from home. As temperatures rise, epidemics of diseases like
malaria and meningitis become more
frequent and severe. As in many such
developing countries, there‘s a great
need for climate-change mitigation and
adaptation assistance, an important
component of which is environmental
education.
Enter Camp Bio, a new eco-training
camp nestled in the forêt classée des
Swiss Minergie house
By Mariona VIVAR, China Europa TV / Alternative Channel (French, English, Chinese)
Max Schneider et sa maison Minergie à
la Vallée de Joux
Video in French with english subtitles. Link
with Chinese version.
http://www.china-europa.org/indexgb.asp
7
L’ adaptation du Mali
aux défis climatiques
By Pablo de ROULET,14 October 2009,
Le Courrier , Geneva
Le pays africain connaît un essor hétéroclite. Bousculées par le péril climatique, tant ses campagnes que ses villes
se défendent comme elles peuvent.
«La diminution du niveau d'eau est très
visible depuis quelques années», explique Ibrahim Lefa, natif de la ville de
Ségou et conducteur depuis dix ans
d'une barque à moteur sur le fleuve Niger. «Les effets sont très forts durant la
saison sèche. En avril et en mai, il faut
régulièrement pousser le bateau à la
main pour le sortir des bancs de sable.
Le trajet de Ségou à Mobti prend quatre
jours, au lieu de trois auparavant.»
Le constat de ce jeune navigateur illustre une des grandes inquiétudes des
services environnementaux du Mali:
«Depuis 1960, le débit des fleuves a
baissé de moitié», se désole Sidi Konaté,
fonctionnaire au Secrétariat technique
permanent (STP). Cet organisme transversal, regroupant notamment les Ministères de l'envirronnement et de l'agriculture, est chargé depuis 1998 des mesures d'adaptation au réchauffement
climatique. Sa stratégie repose tant sur
la technologie que sur la sensibilisation
de la population.
«Le delta intérieur du Niger est passé
durant cette période de 37 000 à 15 000
km2, poursuit Sidi Konaté. La baisse de
la vitesse du débit des rivières entraîne
une prolifération des végétaux flottants
et un ensablement des cours d'eau. Les
conséquences se ressentent autant sur
la pêche, la navigation, la production
hydroélectrique que l'irrigation. Cela
provoque un accroissement dramatique
de la malaria et l'apparition de nouvelles
maladies.» Ce ralentissement du débit
des cours d'eau est le résultat d'une
baisse de la moyenne des précipitations
sur l'ensemble du Mali.
«Les sohyètes (lignes reliant les points
de précipitations égales, ndlr) sont descendues de 200 kilomètres vers le sud
en moyenne», détaille Sidi Konaté.
8
Déforestation importante
Alors que la zone désertiques'étend sur
le Sahel et que celui-ci fait disparaître
peu à peu la zone tropicale humide de la
géographie du Sud malien. La déforestation importante des dernières décennies
ne fait qu'aggraver le problème. Conséquence du réchauffement climatique, la
saison des pluies, à l'origine de juin à
octobre, se raccourcit progessivement
sur la période de juillet à septembre.
Tandis que les précipitations sont beaucoup plus fortes durant cette période.
Des conditions climatiques qui mettent
en péril l'agriculture malienne. Les cultures essentielles à l'alimentation de la
population, telles que le maïs, le mil, le
riz ou le sorgho, n'ont plus le temps
d'arriver à terme. Et, pendant cette
courte saison, des inondations activent
l'érosion et abîment les sols agricoles.
Confrontés à cette situation, les différents services du STP organisent une
observation minutieuse des pluies en
collaboration avec les paysans. Un réseau de pluviomètres a notamment été
installé dans différents villages dans
tous le pays. Des agriculteurs et, plus
souvent, des agricultrices sont chargés
de collecter les données qui seront compilées au niveau national. Elles servent
aux paysans pour décider quand planter.
«Mes observations me permettent de
dire à l'ensemble des familles du village
le moment où elles doivent commencer
à ensemencer leurs lopins de terre», explique Sali Samaka, paysanne cinquantenaire à Tamala, dans la région de Kati,
devant le pluviomètre dont elle a la responsabilité. Sa charge bénévole permet
de modérer l'inquiétude des agriculteurs
face à l'irrégularité croissante des saisons.
Le STP cherche également à sensibiliser
les populations rurales pour appliquer
des modèles agricoles alternatifs. Les
revenus plus élevés que peuvent atteindre les produits biologiques pourraient pousser de nombreux paysans à
s'intéresser à ce modèle. «Un paysan
peut être illettré, mais pas stupide!
Quand le cours du coton tourne autour
des 6000 francs CFA (13,9 francs
suisses), sur une tonne, avec du `bio',
c'est 11 000 francs CFA (25,5 francs
suisses) qu'un agriculteur peut toucher»,
explique Ramata Diaouré, journaliste
spécialisée dans les questions environnementales. Ainsi, un «camp bio» en
construction aux environs de Bamako
permettra, dès 2010, de donner des
formations de six mois à une centaine
de jeunes agriculteurs. «Nous avons déjà une pépinière. Le but est de promouvoir des espèces en voie de disparition
et favoriser le replantage, pour limiter
l'avancée du désert», explique Oumou
Dicko, géographe et assistante à l'aménagement rural pour le STP.
Ensemencement des nuages
La sensibilisation des agriculteurs vise
également à limiter le gaspillage et à favoriser la récupération de l'eau de pluie.
«Utiliser ces ressources pour boire ou
pour la lessive est une habitude qu'on a
perdue», explique Ramata Diaouré, devant quelques bidons de récupération
installés au «camp bio». «Cet enjeu de
formation est important. On laisse filer
ce bien précieux alors que le garder demande des efforts minimes et ne coûte
rien.»
Contrôle à la station des eaux usées de
la brasserie Bramali à Sénou : une initiative pionnère.
Mais pour les autorités maliennes, chercher la collaboration avec les agriculteurs repose aussi sur le partage des
outils technologiques pour maintenir
l'agriculture. Le développement de nou-
velles variétés au sein d'un institut national doit notamment rendre les plantes
plus résistantes à la sécheresse.
Pour l'heure, l'«ensemencement de
nuages» apparaît comme l'une des
techniques les plus efficaces pour produire des pluies artificielles. Lorsque les
services météorologiques détectent des
nuages qui ont un «potentiel de pluie»,
un avion est ensuite envoyé pour y larguer de l'iode d'argent. Chimiquement
très proche du sel, celui-ci provoque la
condensation de la vapeur d'eau... «Les
nuages produisent ensuite de la pluie en
l'espace de trente à quarante minutes.
Cela a permis d'augmenter les précipitations de 15% à 20 % sur tout le pays»,
explique Daouda Zan Diarra, chef du
Service météorologique du Mali. Efficace
entre mai et octobre, cette technique ne
provoquerait pas d'effets secondaires
négatifs sur l'eau, selon les Services
d'hydrologie, mais permettrait, au contraire, une augmentation de la production agricole allant jusqu'à 50%. «Cette
technique est utilisée au Mali depuis
1968, quand j'étais encore à l'école»,
s'amuse Daouda Zan Diarra. «Une compagnie américaine faisait ce travail. Ce
n'est plus le cas. Une centaine d'opérations ont été effectuées cette année par
nos propres avions, un pour le nord et
un pour le sud du pays.»
«Vol» de la technologie
Pourtant, en matière de technologie, c'est
surtout la frustration vis-àvis des pays
riches qui prédomine chez les reponsables
des programmes environnementaux. Le
protocole de Kyoto, qui a institué le marché du carbone, prévoyait des transferts
de technologies «vertes» pour soutenir le
développement économique du Sud parallèlement à la réduction des émissions de
gaz à effet de serre.
Résultat: «Nous n'avons simplement rien
reçu! En fait, la technologie ne se transfert pas. Soit on la vole comme le font les
Chinois, soit on n'obtient rien!» juge amèrement Mamadou Gakou, directeur du STP
Un . constat qui fait douter du réél potentiel de la réunion de Copenhague sur le
climat en décembre prochain: «Nous
avons pourtant besoin de ces technologies, et le bon sens voudrait qu'on soit
soutenus pour mener des programmes
adaptés à la région, comme l'énergie solaire.»
http://lecourrier.ch/index.php?name=New
s&file=article&sid=443824
Météo: quand la
censure frappe
«La question de la censure météorologique n'est malheureusement pas prévue à
l'ordre du jour de la réunion de Copenhague», regrette le météorologue éthiopien
Solomon Johanes. A l'heure du réchauffement global, les prévisions du temps
sont pourtant un domaine «très sensible»
dans de nombreux pays du Sud, où, pour
les météorologues, il est de plus en plus
difficile de diffuser des alertes. Un exemple: «En cas d'inondation, la loi argentine
prévoit un gel des prix et une suspension
des taxes. Cela permet de comprendre
pourquoi une autorité politique peut avoir
intérêt à cacher un rapport météo!» explique la météorologue Nadia Zyncenko. «La
réaction des autorités peut varier», analyse de son côté Solomon Johanes. «Il arrive qu'une inondation ou une sécheresse
soit connue des professionnels, mais que
le gouvernement refuse de l'annoncer,
pour ne pas effrayer la population. A l'inverse, de nombreux gouvernements élargissent l'aire des catastrophes naturelles
lorsqu'ils veulent obtenir de l'aide internationale.»
En Ethiopie, en tout cas, «toutes les
questions environnementales sont difficiles à rendre publiques, assène le journaliste Eyader Addis. J'ai déjà été prévenu
par le Ministère de l'information de ne
pas parler de questions comme l'usage
de certains pesticides dans l'agriculture
qui affectent la santé des individus.
L'Etat est impliqué dans le commerce et
ne veut pas perdre de revenus. «Souvent, nuance Eyader Addis, la difficulté
pour les journalistes d'obtenir des informations météorologiques ne relèverait
pas de malveillance, mais d'un personnel
incompétent, installé pour sa proximité
mEDIa21
avec le pouvoir. «Avant d'être divulgués,
et donc utilisés par des agronomes ou
des journalistes, nos rapports de prévisions saisonnières doivent être estampillés par la hiérarchie», confirme Solomon
Johanes. Une situation qui rend le travail
des journalistes encore plus difficile.
Sans compter que les pouvoirs politiques
ne sont pas toujours conscients des enjeux des observations météorologiques
sur le long terme et rechignent à en
améliorer l'efficacité.
«Quand j'ai besoin d'utiliser une prévision météo, il arrive que les documents
aient simplement été mis à la poubelle»,
déplore Eyader Addis. «Si les médias
avaient le droit de diffuser librement ces
prévisions, elles pourraient être utilisées
correctement et servir à une meilleure
préparation des agriculteurs. Mais des
données sont parfois mauvaises et imprécises également à cause du manque de
matériel adéquat. Le pays est très pauvre,
mais le gouvernement n'hésitera pas à
mettre beaucoup d'argent dans un radar
militaire. Pas pour la météo!»
http://lecourrier.ch/index.php?name=New
s&file=article&sid=443824
Les enjeux de
Copenhague
Dix-sept ans après Rio
La réunion de l'Organisation des Nations
Unies sur le réchauffement climatique se
tiendra à Copenhague du 7 au 18 décembre 2009. Il s'agit de la quinzième
rencontre annuelle sur ce thème depuis
le
sommet
de
Rio
en
1992.
> Les enjeux. Les positions les plus attendues sont celles de la Chine et des
Etats-Unis, responsables de la moitié
des émissions de gaz à effet de serre.
Pour les pays du Sud, particulièrement
africains, l'ambition est de déboucher
sur un accord permettant des transferts
de technologie et un soutien financier
(de la part des pays riches) afin de
mieux s'adapter au réchauffement global.
9
> Kyoto 1997. Le sommet tenu au Japon s'achève sur la signature du protocole de Kyoto, premier calendrier «contraignant» 37 pays industrialisés à réduire leurs émissions de gaz à effet de
serre de 5,2 % à l'horizon 2012. Les
Etats-Unis ne l'ont pas ratifié.
> Rio 1992. La réunion de Rio avait
réuni pour la première fois 172 pays
avec à la clé le premier accord international pour la réduction des gaz à effet
de serre. La Convention-cadre des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques (CCNUCC) n'était toutefois conçue
que comme une position de principe
sans
effet
contraignant.
http://lecourrier.ch/index.php?name=Ne
ws&file=article&sid=443824
Bamako entre modernité
et inégalités
Les investissements pétroliers stimulent
la construction d'infrastructures de luxe.
La ville de Bamako est engagée dans
une transformation profonde. D'ici à
quelques années, le visiteur, touriste,
commercial, coopérant ou émigré de retour au pays s'en rendra compte dès son
entrée dans la nouvelle aérogare flambant neuve de Bamako-Sénou. Après les
formalités d'usage, l'arrivée au centreville par l'un des ponts du Niger permet
d'observer la nouvelle cité ministérielle
déjà en construction, puis de clinquants
hôtels et banques le long des rives réaménagées sur plusieurs kilomètres.
Avec un peu de chance, le nouveau pont
de l'Amitié et l'échangeur de l'avenue
Kwame N'Krumah permettront peut-être
d'échapper aux embouteillages. Résultat: «Le Mali aujourd'hui peut accueillir
n'importe quelle conférence ou rencontre internationale», résumait au
Journal du Mali, début septembre, Oumar Balla Touré, directeur de l'Office
malien du tourisme et hôtellerie.
Les développements récents de Bamako
permettent de prendre la mesure de
l'importance des nouveaux flux de capi-
10
taux au Mali. Venus essentiellement de
pays pétroliers, ceux-ci laissent leur trace dans la toponymie urbaine. Ainsi, le
«pont du roi Fahd» a été financé à travers l'Organisation de la conférence
islamique, et la Cité Venezuela, un ensemble de logements sociaux pour 860
familles, a été construit grâce à des
dons. Mais la société d'investissement
Malibya et d'autres privés libyens constituent les principaux bailleurs de fonds
étrangers. Alors que le savoir-faire chinois est mis à profit pour les travaux
d'ingénierie. Les investissements les plus
importants se concentrent toutefois sur
des projets dispendieux, symboles d'un
urbanisme de prestige, plutôt que sur
les besoins des quartiers pauvres ou
modestes. Un seul exemple: le système
d'égouts est vétuste et à ciel ouvert.
Souvent utilisé comme décharge, le réseau se traduit par un ensemble relié de
cloaques ensablés, dans lesquels pataugent ordures ménagères et moustiques.
Une couverture dallée et un écoulement
d'eau plus régulier épargnent ce désagrément aux quartiers plus cossus. Les
développements d'un nouveau pont et
d'un échangeur, destiné à décongestionner le trafic dans cette ville de deux
millions d'habitants, risquent de leur côté d'aggraver la ségrégation urbaine.
Les différents quartiers de Bamako se
sont longtemps distingués par «un niveau frappant d'hétérogénéité», pour
reprendre les mots de l'urbaniste Austin
Kilroy, du Massachusets institute of
technology (MIT). Mais l'accroissement
des écarts entre riches et pauvres depuis la décennie des années 1990, mettant à mal l'importante mixité sociale qui
caractérisait la capitale, s'est accompagné d'un développement de quartiers riches à forte valeur foncière et immobilière. Certains sont nouveaux, tel l'ACI
2000, ou revalorisés, comme le quartier
de l'Hippodrome et ses dizaines de piscines privées. Une circulation facilitée a
toutes les chances d'accélérer le phénomène. On peut noter, à ce titre, le
premier quartier entouré de murs bientôt en construction, Canal 2.
«Le site offre un cadre de vie très
agréable à l'abri des nuisances de la ville», proclame fièrement une publicité de
la Société immobilière et foncière du
Mali, vendant des parcelles d'une communauté protégée proche du futur pont
de l'Amitié. La cité ministérielle flambant
neuve – dont l'aspect de gâteau de mariage favorise une unité esthétique avec
les autres constructions libyennes –
concentrera les principales administrations sur un périmètre de quelques hectares cerclé de barrières. Ainsi, le modèle actuel qui voit la dispersion de cellesci sur plusieurs quartiers auxquels ils
sont intégrés touche à sa fin.
L'investissement dans l'amélioration des
services urbains de base n'est pas absent, mais il est nettement moins important. Et pour cause, ceux-ci sont à la
charge de la mairie de Bamako – dans
un pays où seul un pourcentage très
maigre de la fiscalité revient aux municipalités – ou de petits privés. Ces derniers gèrent le ramassage des poubelles,
en se finançant grâce aux «clients» capables de payer pour ce service.
Si on peut également constater le développement de projets clairement orientés vers la qualité de vie de la population, comme le nouvel hôpital universitaire Gabriel Touré, le tableau global est
bien celui d'un développement urbain
très inégalitaire. Suivant un modèle déjà
présent dans d'autres pays du tiers
monde, deux types d'espace se mettent
en place de façon connexe. Le premier,
destiné à une minorité privilégiée et aux
investisseurs ou ambassadeurs étrangers, concentre les richesses et les investissements. Le second, celui d'une
majorité pauvre, ne bénéficiera que des
miettes des grands développements urbains.
http://lecourrier.ch/index.php?name=Ne
ws&file=article&sid=443826
Les journalistes en
reportage en
Haute-Savoie
Vidéo de Clément GIRARDOT et Cécile
TRAN-TIEN, climate21.wordpress.com
En marge de la 3ième Conférence mondiale sur la climat qui s‘est déroulée du
31 août au 4 septembre dernier à Genève, l‘organisation Media21 a invité une
vingtaine de journalistes du monde entier à participer à un atelier de formation
sur l‘environnement. Au programme de
cette semaine, rencontre avec des experts et des représentants du secteur
privés et voyage sur le terrain pour observer au plus près les effets des changements climatiques. Nous avons suivi
le groupe de journalistes le mercredi 2
septembre aux Gets pour la visite de la
chaufferie au bois puis à la Mer de Glace
de Chamonix.
über eine Anpassung an eine sich verschlechternde Situation. Denn selbst
wenn wir alle Treibhausgasemissionen
sofort stoppen könnten, gebe es noch
einen spürbaren Wandel. Beispielsweise
muss
Vorsorge gegen Naturkatastrophen wie
Wirbelstürmen, Überflutungen oder Dürren getroffen werden, die künftig wohl
häufiger über uns hereinbrechen werden
und auf allen Kontinenten das Leben
bedroht. Europa ist da nicht ausgenommen. Man denke nur an die Hitzewelle
im Jahre 2003, die Tausenden von Menschen das Leben kostete.
Le journaliste kenyan John Njiru, un des
participants à l‘atelier de Media21
Video link :
=787&Itemid=421
By Gerhard SAMULAT, 6 October 2009,
schlaulesen.de
Mit Michel Jarraud lässt sich trefflich
übers Wetter reden: Er ist Generalsekretär
der
World
Meteorological
Organization WMO, der internationalen
Vereinigung der Meteorologen und Klimaforscher. Aus ihr ging vor einigen
Jahren auch das zwischenstaatliche Expertengremium IPCC hervor, das für
seine Warnungen vor dem Klimawandel
zusammen mit dem ehemaligen USVizepräsidenten und heutigen Handlungsreisenden in Sachen Umwelt, Al
Gore, vor zwei Jahren mit dem Friedensnobelpreis ausgezeichnet wurde.
Gerhard Samulat sprach mit Generalsekretär Michel Jarraud über klimatische
Gefahren und Perspektiven.
Was ist von Kopenhagen zu erwarten?
Aufgabe der Politiker in Kopenhagen
wird es sein, sich Gedanken zu machen
(Anm. d. Red.: Das sind gewaltige zyklische Luft- und Wassermassenbewegungen im pazifischen Raum). Ferner gibt
es unter uns Wissenschaftlern Diskussionen, ob es in den Tropen künftig wirklich mehr Hurrikane geben wird. Augenscheinlich scheint es jedenfalls mehr von
den starken Stürmen zu geben, von der
Heftigkeit eines Wirbelsturmes wie Katrina, der im Jahr 2005 die Millionenstadt
New Orleans unter Wasser setzte.
Wir verbessern darüber hinaus kontinuierlich unsere Langzeitvorhersagen. Zum
Beispiel bieten wir Afrika bereits Monate
im Voraus eine Prognose für die nächste
Regenzeit an. Wichtige Fragen sind: Beginnt sie früher als normal? Ist sie länger? Intensiver? Die dort heimischen
Bauern brauchen das für die Planung ihrer Saat und Ernte.
Aber Restunsicherheiten bleiben.
Excursion organisée en Partenariat avec
la Région Rhône-Alpes et l‘agence Rhône-Alpes Energie Environnement.
Wir müssen
dagegenhalten
mEDIa21
Wie genau sind die Prognosen?
Mit jedem Bericht stieg die Sicherheit,
dass der Klimawandel menschengemacht
ist.
Der
Report
des
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change IPCC geht jetzt davon aus, dass
sich das Weltklima durchschnittlich um
zwei bis 4,5 Grad erhöht. Unsere Modelle sind da heute deutlich genauer geworden. Nun können wir sogar prognostizieren, wie sich die Lage in unterschiedlichen Regionen ändert, in Gebirgen oder im Flachland, mit welchen Niederschlägen beispielsweise im Mittelmeer zu rechnen ist oder was der Klimawandel für die Ozeane bedeutet,
wenngleich wir nicht von der gleichen
Präzision träumen können, wie bei der
täglichen Wettervorhersage.
Der El-Niño ist die große Unbekannte
Zudem können wir einige Effekte noch
immer nicht mit ausreichender Genauigkeit beschreiben. Zum Beispiel ist noch
nicht klar, wie groß beispielsweise der
Einfluss des regelmäßig wiederkehrenden El-Niños auf den Klimawandel ist
Selbstverständlich. Das führt oft zu einem Dilemma. Für Entscheidungsträger
ist es erfahrungsgemäß schwer, mit
Wahrscheinlichkeiten umzugehen. Sie
lieben Aussagen wie Ja oder Nein. Dennoch können wir in vielen Fällen bereits
mit hoher Sicherheit Monate im Voraus
Prognosen wagen, beispielsweise dass
es im Norden Brasiliens eine Dürre gibt,
wenn sich der El-Niño ausbildet. Das
können wir, weil die Ozeane träge reagieren. Das wirkt stabilisierend. Wir
werden aber voraussichtlich niemals in
der Lage sein, so etwas wie einen Tornado früher als einige Stunden im Voraus
vorhersagen
zu
können.
»Die Geschwindigkeit, mit der die Polkappen schmelzen, hat viele Wissenschaftler überrascht«
Verzwickt sind überdies sich selbst verstärkende Klimaerscheinungen. Ein Beispiel ist das Abschmelzen der Polarkappen: Je stärker das Eis schmilzt, desto
weniger reflektiert es das Sonnenlicht,
umso eher erwärmt sich das Gebiet. Und
das Eis schmilzt noch rascher. Da kann
es auch für uns noch zu Überraschungen kommen. Ernste Sorgen macht uns
derzeit zudem das Abschmelzen des Eises auf dem Land, auf Grönland, der
Antarktis und in den Gebirgen. Dadurch
steigen die Meeresspiegel. Das wird der-
11
zeit genauestens untersucht und es wird
bald einen IPCC-Report dazu geben. Klar
scheint zu sein, dass dieser Prozess
schneller zu sein scheint als viele Wissenschaftler es vorausgesehen haben.
Es gibt aber doch noch viele Skeptiker, die den Klimawandel leugnen, zumindest dass er von Menschen gemacht ist.
Der IPCC-Report spiegelt einen außergewöhnlich hohen Konsens der Wissenschaft wider. Die Skeptiker bilden dagegen eine Minderheit, die von Tag zu Tag
kleiner wird. Selbstverständlich sind alle
Aussagen über das Wetter und das Klima mit Unsicherheiten verbunden. Das
bedeutet aber nicht, dass es keinen wissenschaftlichen Konsens für die große
Linie gibt.
Wie sieht es eigentlich mit dem
wirtschaftlichen Schaden des Klimawandels aus? Der britische Ökonomen Nicholas Stern schätzt die
Kosten des Klimawandels auf jährlich wenigstens fünf Prozent des
globalen Bruttoinlandsprodukts.
Wenn wir nicht umgehend handeln,
wird es sogar deutlich mehr.
Mit seinem Report hat Stern im Jahre
2006 vielen Leuten die Augen geöffnet.
Vorher arbeiteten Klimatologen und
Wirtschaftswissenschaftler
aneinander
vorbei, manchmal sogar gegeneinander.
Die ganze Frage über die Höhe der Kosten steckt aber noch in den Anfängen.
Wir bräuchten viel mehr Leute, die beide
Disziplinen kombinieren, was sicherlich
nicht
einfach
ist:
Sind
KlimaVorhersagen bereits komplex, so gilt
dies noch mehr für die Finanzmärkte.
Das liegt unter anderem daran, dass
wenn die Leute die Vorhersagen ernst
nehmen, es oft das Ergebnis verändert.
Das ist beim Klima – glücklicherweise –
nicht so.
»Jeder Euro für die Wetterdienste bringt
der Volkswirtschaft zehnfachen Gewinn«
Mit der Weltbank versuchen wir nun zudem, den Nutzen von Investitionen in
die Wetter- sowie Klimainfrastrukturen
abzuschätzen. Dabei kam heraus, dass
12
eine Investition von einem Euro in Vorhersagemodelle oder in den Ausbau von
Messstationen
der
metrologischen
Dienste im Schnitt einen volkswirtschaftlichen Nutzen von mehr als zehn Euro
erbringt, egal ob in Entwicklungsländern
oder Industriestaaten. Bei dieser Rendite könnte ich mir vorstellen, dass viele
Unternehmen großes Interesse hätten,
zu investieren (lacht). Leider erhielte
nicht eine einzige Person den »Jackpot«.
Den »Gewinn« streicht die nationale
Wirtschaft ein, die Landwirtschaft oder
Versicherungen. Es wäre ein ethisches
Investment.
Ferner versuchen wir in einem weiteren
Projekt mit der Weltbank zusammen mit
dem Welt-Ernährungsprogramm und
dem meteorologischen Dienst Äthiopiens
einen sogenannten Dürre-Index zu definieren. Oft reagiert die internationale
Gemeinschaft auf Katastrophen erst,
wenn Menschen sterben oder die Medien anfangen, darüber zu berichteten.
Wir wollen früher dagegenhalten, wenn
klimatische Indikatoren bereits darauf
hinweisen, dass in absehbarer Zeit beispielsweise mit einer Dürre zu rechnen
ist. Der metrologische Dienst übernimmt
in diesem Programm so etwas wie die
Rolle des Schiedsrichter: Sind gewisse
Grenzwerte erreicht, löst das automatisch Hilfsleistungen aus, mit denen etwa Nahrungsmittel gekauft werden können. Das betroffene Land muss also
nicht erst warten, bis es zu spät ist. Die
Weltbank garantiert dabei die Finanzierung. Ein ähnliches Projekt findet in Mali
statt. Wenn sich die als erfolgreich herausstellen, wollen wir sie auf andere
Länder ausdehnen.
Gibt es auch Gewinner des Klimawandels? Russland und Kanada
könnten vom Klimawandel profitieren
Russland könnte ein solcher sein. Einige
Wirtschaftszweige könnten dort vom
Auftauen des Permafrostbodens profitieren. Die landwirtschaftlich nutzbare Fläche des Landes verschöbe sich nach
Norden. Ferner erleichtert sich der Zugang zu den Ressourcen im Polarmeer.
Der Süden dieses riesigen Landes wird
dessen ungeachtet unter dem Klimawandel leiden. Wegen Wassermangel
wird es dort öfter Dürren geben.
Aber auch in Deutschland hören einige
Industrievertreter das Wort Klimawandel
nur sehr ungern. Trotzdem akzeptieren
mittlerweile alle Regierungen, dass etwas gegen den Klimawandel unternommen werden muss. Die Frage ist ausschließlich, was und mit welcher Geschwindigkeit. Und wer wie viel zahlen
soll. Das wird dann im Dezember in Kopenhagen verhandelt. Wir liefern ausschließlich die wissenschaftlichen Fakten.
Wer etwas über Klimafragen liest,
wird oft erschlagen von den vielen
verschiedenen Organisationen, die
sich damit beschäftigen. Können
Sie ein wenig Ordnung in unser Leben bringen. Wie ist beispielsweise
die Verbindung der WMO zum
IPCC?
Die Politiker orientieren sich an Fakten
aus mehreren Quellen. Eine wichtige ist
der IPCC-Report. Dieses Intergovernal
Panel of Climate Change wurde im November 1988 vom Umweltprogramm der
Vereinten Nationen (UNEP) und unserer
Organisation ins Leben gerufen. Die
IPCC-Mitarbeiter sitzen hier in Genf im
gleichen Gebäude wie wir. Viele Menschen wissen aber nicht, dass das IPCC
selbst keine Forschung betreibt. Die Autoren fassen ausschließlich den Stand
des Wissens zusammen. Der basiert auf
Erkenntnisse, die beispielsweise im
Weltklimaforschungsprogramm (WCRP)
erarbeitet werden, einem Programm,
das von der UNESCO – die Organisation
der Vereinten Nationen für Erziehung,
Wissenschaft und Kultur – und uns unterstützt wird.
Zudem orientieren sich die Politiker an
der Klimarahmenkonvention der Vereinten Nationen UNFCC (United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change). Die besitzt zwei ständige
Untereinheiten, den Subsidiary Body for
Implementation (SBI, Nebenstelle für
das Inkraftsetzen) und den Subsidiary
Body for Scientific and Technological
Advice (SBSTA, Nebenstelle für wissen-
schaftlich-technische Beratung). Beide
werden von der World Meteorological
Organization mit Daten versorgt. Wir liefern also die Grundlagen für die politische Entscheidungsfindung.
Das Gespräch führte Gerhard Samulat.
Links zum Thema:
* World Meteorological Organization
* Michel Jarraud
* IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change
* Weltklimaforschungsprogramm
(WCRP)
* Klimarahmenkonvention der Vereinten Nationen
http://www.schlaulesen.de/index.php?w
o=text&was=33&PHPSESSID=beaa2ade
df6e737
Mali: la météo, alliée
des paysans
By Soumaila T. DIARRA , 30 September
2009, Syfia Mali
Au Mali, des paysans apprennent à faire
des relevés pluviométriques dans leurs
champs et à transmettre leurs informations au service météorologique. Ce
dernier diffuse ensuite des bulletins à la
radio et à la télévision qui servent de
repères aux agriculteurs, soucieux
d‘augmenter leur production. Un atout
précieux en période de dérèglements
climatiques.
"J‘ai entendu à la radio qu‘il y aura
moins de pluies aujourd‘hui. Je vais
donc désherber mon champ. Ces informations sont utiles, car, en cette période de l‘année, une journée ensoleillée
peut vite devenir pluvieuse, ce qui n‘est
pas bon lorsqu‘on désherbe", explique
Seydou Samaké, un paysan de Tamala.
Dans ce village situé à environ 60 km au
sud de Bamako, la capitale malienne,
avec le climat qui se dérègle, les pluies
ont été tardives cette année. Dans les
vastes étendues vertes de champs de
mil, les paysans s‘activent donc pour
profiter du soleil annoncé, en partie grâce aux efforts de Sali Samaké, une agricultrice alphabétisée en bambara.
Cette dame fait partie de plus de 1 700
paysans formés, à travers le pays et
dans leurs langues maternelles, par le
gouvernement malien, aux techniques
de
relevés
pluviométriques
et
d‘observations agro météorologiques. Le
travail de ces "paysans de contact", selon Daouda Zan Diarra, responsable national de ce programme d‘assistance,
consiste, entre autres, après chaque
pluie, à mesurer le niveau des précipitations. Disposant d‘un téléphone ou d‘un
récepteur-émetteur radio, ils envoient
leurs données pluviométriques et observations sur les cultures au service météorologique national. Puis, un groupe
pluridisciplinaire (scientifiques, représentants d‘ONG, paysans, communicateurs)
traite les informations brutes et élabore
les avis et conseils qui repartent vers les
paysans. En bout de chaîne, ces avis
sont en effet diffusés à la radio et à la
télévision nationales 12 heures en
moyenne après que les relevés aient été
effectués dans les champs. Par ailleurs,
"des dispositions sont prises pour que
les membres des groupements et associations villageoises puissent accéder
aux conseils grâce aux paysans de
contact", ajoute Daouda Zan Diarra.
"Paysans semi-autonomes "
Les avis et conseils permettent de prendre des décisions rationnelles. A la veille
de la saison des pluies, entre avril et
mai, le groupe multidisciplinaire fait ainsi
des prévisions, que les paysans guettent
attentivement. "Cette année, il a commencé à pleuvoir un peu tard, vers juillet. La météo nous a alors conseillé de
semer certaines variétés de céréales au
cycle court jusqu‘en août", témoigne
Adama Samaké, un agriculteur de Tamala. "Pour ma région, elle peut annoncer que du 11 au 30 juin, on peut semer
des variétés de 120 jours dès que le
cumul des pluies recueillies au cours
d‘une dizaine de jours atteint ou dépasse 20 mm", explique Sali Samaké.
Par ailleurs, des guides de semis, sortes
d‘aide-mémoire, sont mis à la disposition
des producteurs sur la base de l‘analyse
notamment des données climatologiques
et agronomiques de leur zone. "Le
paysan
mEDIa21
sait quelle variété choisir pour quel type
de sol en fonction de ses propres observations", commente Daouda Zan Diarra.
Meilleurs rendements
L‘assistance météorologique couvre cinq
régions sur les huit que compte le pays,
les autres n‘étant pas propices à
l‘agriculture. Elle a commencé depuis
1996 et apporte une meilleure sécurité
alimentaire et davantage de revenus aux
paysans. Dans le cadre de l‘assistance
météorologique au monde rural, une
enquête socio-économique a montré
que la moitié de ceux qui ont cultivé le
sorgho ont presque triplé leur rendement de 500 à 1 325 kg/ha. Pour le mil,
les rendements ont plus que doublé,
passant de 350 à 800 kg/ha. Les rendements progressent, l‘organisation aussi. Au niveau des services publics ruraux, des outils de communication ont
été installés pour la transmission des
données, des stations agro météorologiques ont été créées et des véhicules mis
à disposition de l‘équipe de pilotage
pour la coordination et le suivi des activités
de
terrain.
Malgré un bilan que les responsables du
programme
jugent
satisfaisant,
l‘assistance agro météorologique rencontre toujours des difficultés. "Dans
certaines localités, les paysans n‘ont aucune idée de l‘importance des informations de la météo. Ils n‘ont pas de téléphone et reçoivent difficilement la radio
nationale", souligne Adama Samaké. Par
ailleurs, les radios privées et certaines
langues nationales ne sont pas encore
utilisées pour la diffusion des bulletins
météo.
Associée à d‘autres opérations, cette assistance gagnera sans doute à l‘avenir
en efficacité. "Les pluies provoquées, qui
ont augmenté la pluviométrie de 10 à 15
%, sont un volet important devant se
renforcer avec les deux avions que nous
venons d‘acheter", raconte Daouda Zan
Diarra.
http://www.syfia.info/index.php5?view=
articles&action=voir&idArticle=5194
est ainsi semi-autonome, car il possède
aussi un pluviomètre avec lequel il mesure, au jour le jour, la pluie tombée. Il
13
Cidadão pode pagar
para conter o
aqueciento global
By Sérgio ADEODATO, 28 Septembre 2009,
Planeta Sustentável
Se você tem renda superior a US$ 9 mil
por ano - equivalente a pouco mais de
R$ 1,3 mil mensais -, prepare-se: pode
sair do seu bolso uma parte do dinheiro
para combater o aquecimento global. A
proposta consta do ―Estudo Econômico e
Social Mundial 2009 -- Promover o
Desenvolvimento, Salvar o Planeta‖,
recém-divulgado pela ONU
O ―Estudo Econômico e Social Mundial
2009 -- Promover o Desenvolvimento,
Salvar o Planeta‖, divulgado pela
Organização das Nações Unidas na 3ª
Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre
Clima, no início de setembro, em
Genebra, analisa quanto custará a
adaptação do mundo às mudanças
climáticas, os impactos econômicos e
sociais
para
os
países
em
desenvolvimento, como o Brasil, e as
soluções para alcançar os valores
necessários.
O relatório faz alertas e traz novidades,
a menos de 100 dias da COP-15 - a
reunião da Convenção do Clima (leia o
especial Rumo a Copenhague ), que
será realizada em dezembro, em
Copenhague, na Dinamarca, para definir
um novo acordo mundial sobre o clima.
A ONU sugere uma nova fórmula para
aumentar
os
recursos
mundiais
destinados ao controle do clima: os
países que têm maior faixa de
população com renda acima do ―limiar
do desenvolvimento‖ - conforme diz o
estudo - pagariam mais para compor um
fundo global para a redução de
emissões e adaptação contra os
impactos do aquecimento. O limite de
US$ 9 mil foi proposto ilustrativamente
como padrão, considerando a renda per
capita dos diferentes países. A fórmula
prevê no plano nacional a cobrança de
taxas - como imposto de renda -, aos
cidadãos que ganham acima desse
valor.
A proposta é que cada país tenha direito
14
de emitir determinada cota de poluentes
por habitante, mas também assuma a
obrigação de pagar para reduzir as
emissões atmosféricas. O valor é
calculado com base no tamanho da
população com rendimento acima do
limite previamente acordado entre os
países. Assim, estaria garantido o direito
das nações mais pobres ao crescimento
econômico.
Com essa proposta, é a primeira vez em
que a ONU incorpora oficialmente o
conceito de ―Greenhouse Development
Rights‖ (GDR), que consiste em dividir o
fardo da redução dos gases do efeito
estufa conforme a capacidade financeira
dos países e sua responsabilidade
histórica pela poluição. Seguindo esse
critério, a Europa contribuiria com US$
32,9 bilhões em cada US$ 100 bilhões
de financiamento para o clima. Os
Estados Unidos entrariam com R$ 47,7
bilhões e, o Japão, com US$ 11,2
bilhões.
―É um caminho justo para os países em
desenvolvimento também participarem
do esforço mundial contra as emissões
de gases-estufa‖, afirma Richard KozulWright, coordenador do relatório. ―As
mudanças climáticas impõem um
modelo de justiça, um mecanismo global
de financiamento e um novo e amplo
acordo, como o Plano Marshall para a
recuperação da Europa após a II Guerra
Mundial‖, adverte Kozul-Wright.
Ele diz que, nas próximas duas décadas,
o mundo precisa investir US$ 1 trilhão
por ano para a redução de poluentes
atmosféricos e a adaptação aos
impactos do aquecimento. Mais da
metade dos custos corresponde aos
países
em
desenvolvimento.
―No
entanto, atualmente, apenas US$ 21
bilhões de fundos oficiais para o
desenvolvimento são destinados para
enfrentar as mudanças no clima‖, afirma
o estudo.
A ONU alerta que ―a transição para a
economia de baixo carbono deve
acontecer imediatamente‖. A proposta
de pagamento conforme a renda da
população tem o objetivo de aumentar
os recursos adicionais contra o
aquecimento, especialmente nos países
em desenvolvimento, que serão os mais
prejudicados. ―É importante resgatar o
ambiente de confiança entre ricos e
pobres‖, diz Kozul-Wright. ―É de longa
data
o
fracasso
dos
países
desenvolvidos na hora de cumprir
compromissos de apoio internacional
para reduzir a pobreza e esse é o
principal obstáculo ao desafio climático‖,
aponta o relatório.
Estimativas mencionadas no estudo
mostram que, para cada 1º C de
aumento na temperatura média global,
o crescimento dos países pobres diminui
3%, sem nenhum prejuízo para a
economia dos países ricos. Ao mesmo
tempo, as nações industrializadas têm
emissões per capita seis a sete vezes
superiores
às
dos
países
em
desenvolvimento.
De acordo com a ONU, a participação
ativa de todos os países na luta contra
as mudanças no clima só será viável se
o mundo em desenvolvimento mantiver
um rápido crescimento econômico. Será
necessário suprir a necessidade de
energia nessas regiões, dentro de uma
matriz de baixo carbono -- com redução
de combustíveis fósseis, principal fonte
dos gases que alteram o clima do
planeta. Em todo o mundo, além de
energia para mover indústrias e
sistemas de transporte, é preciso
investir cerca de US$ 25 bilhões nos
próximos 20 anos para atender entre
1,6 bilhão e 2 bilhões de pessoas que,
hoje, não têm eletricidade.
O ―Estudo Econômico e Social Mundial
2009 -- Promover o Desenvolvimento,
Salvar o Planeta‖, divulgado pela
Organização das Nações Unidas na 3ª
Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre
Clima, no início de setembro, em
Genebra, analisa quanto custará a
adaptação do mundo às mudanças
climáticas, os impactos econômicos e
sociais
para
os
países
em
desenvolvimento, como o Brasil, e as
soluções para alcançar os valores
necessários.
mEDIa21
O relatório faz alertas e traz novidades,
a menos de 100 dias da COP-15 - a
reunião da Convenção do Clima (leia o
especial Rumo a Copenhague), que será
realizada
em
dezembro,
em
Copenhague, na Dinamarca, para definir
um novo acordo mundial sobre o clima.
A ONU sugere uma nova fórmula para
aumentar
os
recursos
mundiais
destinados ao controle do clima: os
países que têm maior faixa de
população com renda acima do ―limiar
do desenvolvimento‖ - conforme diz o
estudo - pagariam mais para compor um
fundo global para a redução de
emissões e adaptação contra os
impactos do aquecimento. O limite de
US$ 9 mil foi proposto ilustrativamente
como padrão, considerando a renda per
capita dos diferentes países. A fórmula
prevê no plano nacional a cobrança de
taxas - como imposto de renda -, aos
cidadãos que ganham acima desse
valor.
A proposta é que cada país tenha direito
de emitir determinada cota de poluentes
por habitante, mas também assuma a
obrigação de pagar para reduzir as
emissões atmosféricas. O valor é
calculado com base no tamanho da
população com rendimento acima do
limite previamente acordado entre os
países. Assim, estaria garantido o direito
das nações mais pobres ao crescimento
econômico.
Com essa proposta, é a primeira vez em
que a ONU incorpora oficialmente o
conceito de ―Greenhouse Development
Rights‖ (GDR), que consiste em dividir o
fardo da redução dos gases do efeito
estufa conforme a capacidade financeira
dos países e sua responsabilidade
histórica pela poluição. Seguindo esse
critério, a Europa contribuiria com US$
32,9 bilhões em cada US$ 100 bilhões
de financiamento para o clima. Os
Estados Unidos entrariam com R$ 47,7
bilhões e, o Japão, com US$ 11,2
bilhões.
―É um caminho justo para os países em
desenvolvimento também participarem
do esforço mundial contra as emissões
de gases-estufa‖, afirma Richard KozulWright, coordenador do relatório. ―As
mudanças climáticas impõem um
modelo de justiça, um mecanismo global
de financiamento e um novo e amplo
acordo, como o Plano Marshall para a
recuperação da Europa após a II Guerra
Mundial‖, adverte Kozul-Wright.
Planisie de riso em San Oveste : un
programa de LuxDev
Ele diz que, nas próximas duas décadas,
o mundo precisa investir US$ 1 trilhão
por ano para a redução de poluentes
atmosféricos e a adaptação aos
impactos do aquecimento. Mais da
metade dos custos corresponde aos
países
em
desenvolvimento.
―No
entanto, atualmente, apenas US$ 21
bilhões de fundos oficiais para o
desenvolvimento são destinados para
enfrentar as mudanças no clima‖, afirma
o estudo.
A ONU alerta que ―a transição para a
economia de baixo carbono deve
acontecer imediatamente‖. A proposta
de pagamento conforme a renda da
população tem o objetivo de aumentar
os recursos adicionais contra o
aquecimento, especialmente nos países
em desenvolvimento, que serão os mais
prejudicados. ―É importante resgatar o
ambiente de confiança entre ricos e
pobres‖, diz Kozul-Wright. ―É de longa
data
o
fracasso
dos
países
desenvolvidos na hora de cumprir
compromissos de apoio internacional
para reduzir a pobreza e esse é o
principal obstáculo ao desafio climático‖,
aponta o relatório.
Estimativas mencionadas no estudo
mostram que, para cada 1º C de
aumento na temperatura média global,
o crescimento dos países pobres diminui
3%, sem nenhum prejuízo para a
economia dos países ricos. Ao mesmo
tempo, as nações industrializadas têm
emissões per capita seis a sete vezes
superiores
às
desenvolvimento.
dos
países
em
De acordo com a ONU, a participação
ativa de todos os países na luta contra
as mudanças no clima só será viável se
o mundo em desenvolvimento mantiver
um rápido crescimento econômico. Será
necessário suprir a necessidade de
energia nessas regiões, dentro de uma
matriz de baixo carbono -- com redução
de combustíveis fósseis, principal fonte
dos gases que alteram o clima do
planeta. Em todo o mundo, além de
energia para mover indústrias e
sistemas de transporte, é preciso
investir cerca de US$ 25 bilhões nos
próximos 20 anos para atender entre
1,6 bilhão e 2 bilhões de pessoas que,
hoje, não têm eletricidade.
http://planetasustentavel.abril.com.br/n
oticia/desenvolvimento/cidadao-podepagar-conter-aquecimento-global502119.shtml
Growing focus on
gender and climatechange as COP15
approaches
By Tobin
Big Think
HACK,
25
September
2009,
You already know that the world‘s poor
are being hit first and will suffer most as
a result of climate change. Think Katrina, think flooding in Bangladesh, think
desertification in Mali.
What you may not know is that in many
parts of the world women draw the
shortest straw of all when it comes to
the ramifications of climate change. In
many developing countries, women are
in charge not only of child rearing but
also fetching firewood for cooking, walking (often hours a day) to collect water,
and farming. So what happens as deforestation spreads in these areas?
Women walk further and spend even
greater portions of each day searching
for the firewood they need to cook dinner. Similarly, as water tables fall and
the frequency of drought increases,
women walk further each day for water.
15
Compounding the problem is the fact
that critical weather and climate information seldom reaches the women who
need it, in order to know when to plant
a particular crop, where to look (or
where not to look) for water, or when to
evacuate for a flood. Men who stay
home or walk into town and hear
weather news on the radio often fail to
share this information with their wives
and families. And when disaster does
come – whether in the form of flood or
famine – women are more tied down
than are men, less mobile, less readily
able to relocate as the climate changes
and the lives they knew are pulled out
from under them.
―If gender considerations are not sufficiently incorporated into a new climate
deal, millions of lives stand to be lost.
This is due to the pivotal role women
play in especially poor, rural areas most
acutely affected by the impacts of climate change,‖ said Lorena Aguilar, Senior Global Gender Advisor to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, at a gender and climate change
training drive in Bangkok yesterday.
The good news is that this gendered aspect of climate change adaptation –
hugely underreported to date – has recently received attention at several major international climate change forums.
A gender and climate change forum at
this month‘s World Climate Conference
in Geneva was devoted entirely to women‘s issues, climate change, and weather information distribution systems. The
event didn‘t draw as big an audience as
did panels on water management, for
example, but as its speakers noted, it‘s
exciting to finally see the issue share a
high profile podium in any capacity.
And Wednesday of this week (Climate
Week NYC), the TckTckTck Campaign
brought together a group of over 60
big-name guests from media, policy,
government, business, NGOs and entertainment from all over the world for a
conference titled Global Women Take
Action on Climate Change . Guests –
among them Sustainable South Bronx
director Majora Carter and Inuit activist
Sheila Watt-Cloutier – gathered to give
personal testimonies about the havoc
16
climate change is wreaking in their own
countries, and to discuss the role women will play in climate change adaptation
as we move toward the Copenhagen
debates (COP15) in December.
―We have been trying for so long to tell
the world ‗you‘re hurting us,‘‖ said WattCloutier of Inuit women‘s struggle to win
the world‘s attention. ―And they say
‗okay, but it costs too much to stop
hurting you.‘‖ Watt-Cloutier hopes
that COP15 will mark a much-needed
transition from an economic focus on
climate change mitigation to climate
change adaptation, and that women will
be at the forefront of ―moving this issue
from the head to the heart.‖
http://bigthink.com/tobinhack/growingfocus-on-gender-and-climate-change-ascop15-approaches
Mali’s unknown global
warming
(Os limites da
pobreza)
By Sérgio ADEODATO, 25 September 2009,
Valor Economico
Abstract
Poverty makes it hard to tackle the impact of climate change. But Mali show
the way in Africa by using this battle as
a development tool. A new UN report
calls for bold investments in this field
A República do Mali, na África,
retrata como o desenvolvimento é
chave
para
combater
o
aquecimento global
Bamako Sep 25 - É mês do Ramadã,
data sagrada na qual os mulçumanos
celebram a fé e jejuam da alvorada ao
por do sol. À noite, auto-falantes ecoam
orações nas cidades da República do
Mali, na África, um dos países mais
pobres do mundo. Os homens rezam em
grupo, ajoelhados ao ar livre nas
calçadas. Na localidade de Tamala, o
lavrador Adama Samané suplica por
chuva. Ele acredita no ―milagre‖ da
velha idéia de utilizar aviões para injetar
sal em nuvens e produzir tempestades.
O governo maliano gastou nos últimos
cinco anos US$ 14 milhões, pagos a
uma empresa americana, para fazer
chuva. E garante que, nos locais dos
sobrevôos, as precipitações aumentaram
até 25% durante a estação úmida, com
incremento de 50% na produção
agrícola. Avisados sobre a ―chuva‖, os
produtores planejam melhor o plantio e
os solos perdem menos nutrientes. O
projeto começou com objetivo de
amenizar a seca que fazia explodir
doenças, como a meningite. Mas a
tecnologia é polêmica. Já foi aposentada
na maior parte do mundo -- inclusive no
Brasil, onde há mais de uma década
chegou a ser utilizada para molhar o
sertão do Ceará e até abastecer
reservatórios de água em São Paulo,
mas
mostrou-se
técnica
e
economicamente inviável.
O atraso expõe os limites da pobreza na
luta contra o aquecimento global. Em
Mali, os impactos preocupam. Desde a
década de 1970, as chuvas diminuíram
20% e o Deserto do Saara, que ocupa
grande extensão de área no Norte do
país, aumentou 200 km para o Sul. Na
região de Mopti, próxima ao deserto, a
temperatura média atual é 1º C mais
quente que 50 anos atrás.
A desertificação é evidente, com a
redução do volume dos rios entre 40% e
60% nos últimos 30 anos. O delta do
Rio Niger, a mais importante planície
alagável do oeste africano, está
reduzido a menos da metade. Perde por
ano 30 bilhões de metros cúbicos de
água e entope com os sedimentos que
escorrem das plantações, agravando a
desertificação. O impacto não afeta só
os crocodilos. Com menos água e mais
calor, o rio sofre a invasão de plantas
exóticas, que prejudicam a navegação e
a geração de energia hidrelétrica. O
problema também rebaixou os lençóis
de água subterrânea, obrigando a
perfuração de poços cada vez mais
profundos para abastecer a população.
―A mudança no clima reduziu as terras
boas para pastagens, aumentando
conflitos entre proprietários‖, revela Sidi
Konaté, do Centro Nacional de Pesquisa
e Ciência. Ele acrescenta: ―já não
sabemos quando começa e termina a
mEDIa21
estação chuvosa, o que tem aumentado
a necessidade de irrigação, com maior
pressão ambiental sobre os rios‖.
Incêndios florestais são mais frequentes.
―Estamos
preparando
um
amplo
programa nacional para aprimorar a
observação de mudanças e minimizar os
efeitos do aquecimento global, com 19
projetos prioritários‖, anuncia Mamadou
Gakou, chefe da secretaria de governo
responsável pela área ambiental em
Mali. ―Precisamos melhorar a gestão do
país‖, completa Gakou, aguardando
ajuda financeira da Suécia, Dinamarca,
Alemanha e Holanda.
Mas há um problema: a corrupção.
Tanto a Organização das Nações Unidas
(ONU) como as principais ONGs
ambientalistas dizem as nações ricas
precisam socorrer as mais pobres com
recursos na casa das centenas de
bilhões de dólares por ano para a
adaptação às mudanças no clima. Mas
existem dúvidas sobre o real destino do
dinheiro, sendo necessário criar um
mecanismo global de controle. ―Pelo
menos 10% da ajuda internacional que
chega a Mali é desviada pela
corrupção‖, lamenta Michel Cadalen,
coordenador
do
Programa
de
Cooperação Bilateral Mali-Luxemburgo.
Do total de US$ 3,8 bilhões investidos
anualmente
em
desenvolvimento
econômico e social no país, a maior
parte -- cerca de US$ 2,4 bilhões (63%)
-- tem como origem recursos do
exterior.
Outra barreira é o fator cultural. Quando
tornou-se independente da França, na
década de 1960, Mali tinha 3 milhões de
habitantes. Hoje são 12 milhões e 85%
dependem dos modelos tradicionais de
produção no campo. ―Plantar árvores,
reduzindo a área produtiva, é visto
como
insulto
aos
chefes
das
comunidades‖, explica Cadalen. A ordem
dos caciques locais é mais poderosa que
as leis oficiais e a religião influencia no
sistema de distribuição da terra.
―Quando a situação aperta, a população
apela para o governo e não raro os
problemas são resolvidos via corrupção‖,
conta Cadalen . Ele lembra que a
mistura entre o atraso das práticas
tradicionais, o aumento da população e
a
desertificação
resultante
do
aquecimento global causa um problema
difícil: o êxodo para as grandes cidades.
A cidade de Bamako, capital do Mali, é
retrato do caos. Trata-se de um enorme
mercado a céu aberto. De frutas e
verduras a camas e armários, tudo se
vende nas ruas sem qualquer controle
fiscal ou de higiene. Enchentes são
comuns e param o transito com número
crescente de motos e carros velhos,
emissores de fumaça negra -- sinal de
um país pobre que cresce sem dar
importância para o aquecimento global.
Elefantes brancos inacabados, como as
obras do aeroporto e dos novos prédios
dos ministérios, aguardam mais verbas.
Também está no esqueleto o moderno
edifício em estilo futurístico do serviço
de meteorologia de Mali, o mesmo que
espera pela ajuda dos países ricos para
vencer os impactos do aquecimento.
Na orla fluvial da cidade, destaca-se o
luxuoso arranha-céu do Central Bank of
West African States com seus 20
andares. Em contraste, a cidade não
tem saneamento básico: todo esgoto é
despejado sem tratamento no rio Niger.
A maioria dos fornos e fogões é
abastecida à lenha, com emissão de
fuligem no ar, contribuindo para o efeito
estufa e para a incidência de doenças. A
expectativa de vida é de 45 anos para
os homens e de 49, para as mulheres.
―A nossa cultura é baseada na calma: o
mundo pode estar acabando, mas para
nós está tudo bem‖, afirma o guia
turístico maliano Barry Amadou. É
preciso ter paciência nas estradas. São
numerosas as barreiras montadas por
policiais
corruptos
para
cobrar
―pedágio‖. Às margens da rodovia que é
rota do tráfico de drogas para a vizinha
Nova Guiné, uma escola rural criada
pelo governo em parceria ONG Mali Folk
Center faz experimentos em pequena
escala contra a desertificação, como
reflorestamento e agricultura orgânica.
―Apesar das dificuldades, é possível lutar
contra os impactos do clima‖, diz a
geógrafa Oumon Dicko, assistente do
projeto.
―Mas
os
produtores
não
estão
interessados no futuro do clima e sim no
que acontece hoje‖, rebate Boubakar
Dembele, responsável pelos mecanismos
de
desenvolvimento
do
país.
―Precisamos
de
tecnologia,
mas
principalmente de capacidade para usála‖, conclui.
―Os produtores estão sentindo na pele e
no bolso os efeitos do aquecimento‖,
garante o meteorologista Daouda
Diarra. Na cidade de San, no leste do
país, uma associação de proprietários
rurais implanta técnicas mais eficientes
de irrigação e usa defensivos naturais
para proteger o solo, conseguindo
multiplicar por 10 a produtividade local
de arroz, carro-chefe da agricultura no
país. Com 6 milhões de euros do
governo de Luxemburgo, o projeto
envolve hoje 500 produtores. Há 2 mil
na fila. ―Adaptação às mudanças
climáticas não é só plantar árvore, mas
também ter terra para em condições
para cultivar alimento‖, afirma Patrick
Denis,
coordenador
técnico
do
programa.
ONU
pede
“audacioso”
investimento
Os países ricos precisam repassar aos
menos desenvolvidos entre US$ 500
bilhões e US$ 600 bilhões por ano
adicionais para a mitigação e a
adaptação às mudanças climáticas,
segundo novo cálculo do Departamento
de Assuntos Econômicos e Sociais das
Nações Unidas. Os valores, três vezes
superiores aos debatidos até o momento
nas negociações sobre clima, constam
no Estudo Econômico e Social Mundial
2009, divulgado no começo de setembro
na 3ª Conferência Mundial sobre Clima,
em Genebra. ―Somente cifras mais
audaciosas
podem
evitar
que
investimentos
em
tecnologias
de
produção
suja
continuem
sendo
realizados e, por sua longa vida útil,
impeçam
novas
alternativas
nas
próximas décadas‖, afirma o relatório.
Até
o
momento,
os
fundos
internacionais repassaram apenas US$
200 milhões para a adaptação ao clima.
―No total, somando os investimentos
realizados internamente pelos países
industrializados para reduzir emissões e
mudar a matriz energética, o mundo
17
precisará de US$ 1 trilhão nos próximos
20 anos‖, prevê Richard Kozul-Wright,
coordenador do estudo. Ele alerta: ―será
necessário um esforço global tão
importante quanto no pós-Guerra‖.
A ONU enfatiza que a participação ativa
de todos os países para enfrentar o
desafio climático só acontecerá se as
nações em desenvolvimento puderem
reduzir a pobreza e manter um rápido
crescimento econômico. Para isso,
segundo o relatório, será necessário
satisfazer a demanda por energia nessas
regiões. Para atender entre 1,6 bilhão e
2 bilhões de pessoas que hoje não têm
eletricidade
no
mundo,
serão
necessários US$ 25 bilhões por ano, nas
próximas duas décadas. Estima-se que a
capacidade de gerar energia no mundo
em desenvolvimento será o dobro da
registrada nos países ricos nas próximas
décadas. ―Nas negociações sobre clima,
a pergunta que se faz é como os mais
pobres podem continuar o caminho do
desenvolvimento com baixo nível de
emissões e alto crescimento‖, afirma o
estudo.
Os países em desenvolvimento, segundo
conclui o relatório, estão enfrentando
desafios muito mais difíceis que as
nações mais ricas. ―Tanto sob o ponto
de vista ético, como político e
econômico, é inaceitável a idéia de
congelar o nível atual de desigualdade
mundial durante os próximos 50 anos ou
mais, enquanto o mundo tenta resolver
o problema climático‖. As estimativas
mencionadas no relatório mostram que,
para o aumento de 1º C nas
temperaturas
médias
globais,
a
economia dos países pobres deixará de
crescer entre 2% e 3%, sem qualquer
mudança no crescimento esperado dos
países ricos, que têm emissões per
capita em média seis a sete vezes
superiores
às
das
nações
em
desenvolvimento.
18
O rio Niger em Ségou
A ameaça do “carbono negro”
Entre os diferentes gases do efeito
estufa, o maior vilão é o dióxido de
carbono (CO2), emitido pela queima de
combustíveis fósseis em automóveis e
indústrias no mundo industrializado. Mas
o planeta precisa abrir os olhos para
poluentes até hoje coadjuvantes nos
estudos científicos e nas negociações
sobre clima. ―A ação mais rápida contra
o aquecimento global exige políticas e
tecnologias também contra os gases
lançados pela queima de lenha para
cozinhar e aquecer residências e pelo
escapamento de motores a diesel, entre
outras fontes‖, adverte Achim Steiner,
diretor-executivo do Programa das
Nações Unidas para o Meio Ambiente
(Unep).
Os cientistas estimam que quase 50% das
emissões que provocam as mudanças
climáticas são os chamados ―poluentes
não-CO2‖, como metano, ozônio de baixa
atmosfera, compostos de nitrogênio e
material particulado -- a fuligem, também
conhecida como ―carbono negro‖. São
poluentes que afetam a saúde humana, os
cultivos agrícolas e ecossistemas, como as
florestas.
―Neste momento crítico, quando o mundo
se prepara para decidir o futuro do clima,
em
Copenhague,
não
podemos
negligenciar os demais poluentes que
causam o aquecimento‖, afirma Steiner. Ele
diz que essas fontes poluidoras tem peso
importante nos países em desenvolvimento.
―Ao considerá-las, podemos desenvolver
estratégias mais eficazes e menos
dispendiosas‖, destaca o climatologista
Drew Shindell, da Universidade de
Columbia,
nos
Estados
Unidos.
De acordo com dados da ONU, a fumaça
com ―carbono negro‖ está entre os
poluentes inalados dentro das residências,
gerando de 1,8 milhões de mortes
prematuras por ano, além das 800 mil
causadas pela contaminação do ar no
ambiente externo. Calcula-se que esses
poluentes causam entre 20% e 50% mais
impactos no clima do que o dióxido de
carbono. O ozônio, por exemplo, causa a
perda de 5% da produção de cereais nos
Estados Unidos. Até 2100, poderá reduzir
em 40% a produção agrícola global.
=777&Itemid=421
The weather lords
(Senhores do tempo)
By Sérgio ADEODATO, 24 Septembre 2009,
Valor Economico
Abstract
The global climate predictors in their
Geneva headquarters, the World Meteorological Organization: who are they,
what do they think, can their oracle
change our economic patterns?
Quem são, onde trabalham e como
pensam os líderes mundiais que
fazem as previsões sobre o clima
com poder de mudar a economia
Um imponente edifício de vidros
verdes chama atenção próximo à sede
da Organização das Nações Unidas
(ONU), em Genebra, na Suíça. Na
recepção, um painel na parede exibe a
temperatura de 26º C, quente para os
padrões suíços após o verão -- e dá
pistas sobre o ofício do lugar. Construído
com critérios ambientais para aproveitar
a luz solar e aumentar a eficiência
energética, o prédio da Organização
Metereológica Mundial (WMO, em
inglês) é o quartel general das previsões
sobre o clima global e seus impactos.
Quem trabalha naquelas salas tem o
poder dos gráficos, dos mapas e dos
cifrões para interferir nas decisões sobre
o futuro do planeta. Mudanças na matriz
energética, investimentos na economia
de baixo carbono e adaptação das
empresas e dos países para os efeitos
do aquecimento dependem, em primeira
instância, dos sinais de alerta e dos
comandos que partem daquele prédio.
Estima-se que pelo menos US$ 500
bilhões circularão por ano no mundo
para reiventar a economia. "Investir
agora em informação climática é o
melhor caminho para garantir à atual e
às futuras gerações a capacidade de
gerir riscos e perceber as oportunidades
das mudanças no clima", afirma o russo
Alexander Bedritsky, presidente do
WMO, em sua sala no oitavo andar do
edifício. Ex-chefe do Serviço Federal de
Hidrologia e Vigilância Ambiental da
Rússia, Bedritsky mudou os rumos da
área climática naquele país em tempos
de reforma econômica. Hábil nas
negociações dos acordos internacionais
de meio ambiente, prepara-se agora
para a batalha a ser travada em
dezembro na COP 15, em Copenhague.
Rajendra Pachauri.
"Estou otimista", revela o indiano
Rajendra Pachauri, presidente do Painel
Intergovernamental
de
Mudanças
Climáticas (IPCC), criado há 21 anos
pela ONU para fornecer ao mundo uma
visão científica clara sobre o estado das
alterações climáticas, seus impactos no
ambiente
e
suas
consequências
econômicas. O relatório divulgado pela
entidade em 2007 reuniu evidências e
confirmou cientificamente a suspeita: o
planeta está aquecendo como resultado
das atividades humanas, com efeitos
que podem ser catastróficos. "É certo
que o tempo é muito curto, mas o
acordo virá no último minuto", prevê
Pachauri, lembrando que "o Protocolo
de Kyoto não foi observado pelos países
desenvolvidos". Ele completa: "todos os
dias adiamos a ação e assim só
aumentamos o problema".
Especializado em energia, Pachauri
começou
a
carreira
produzindo
locomotivas a diesel, na Índia. Hoje
prega alternativas contra as emissões e,
ao comandar um time sênior que
observa as mudanças no clima,
frequenta os corredores do WMO. No
edifício funciona o escritório central do
IPCC.
No
oitavo
andar,
doze
funcionários coordenam o trabalho de
2.500 cientistas de todo o mundo. O
consultor científico Masaya Aiba iniciou
os preparativos para o próximo relatório
sobre o clima global, aguardado com
expectativa
para
2014,
quando
provavelmente já estarão em curso
novas políticas e mecanismos que
podem ser criados em Copenhague para
reduzir emissões de gases-estufa no
período pós-Kyoto. Na sala ao lado,
Brenda Abrar-Milani tem a tarefa de
gerir 1 milhão de euros do Prêmio Nobel
da Paz, recebido pelo IPCC em 2007.
Metade do recurso será aplicada em
cursos de PHD na Europa para cientistas
de países pobres, com objetivo de
capacitá-los a prever mudanças e
enfrentar os impactos do clima em suas
regiões. "A iniciativa privada entrará
com mais 500 mil euros para ampliar o
programa", revela Brenda, sentada à
mesa na cafeteria situada no terraço do
prédio, com vista para o Lago de
Genebra e para o edifício-sede da ONU
com seus extensos jardins. Ela revela:
"importantes decisões sobre o clima são
tomadas olhando para esse cenário".
Entre as decisões mais recentes está a
de criar uma rede mundial de serviços
climáticos,
assunto
exaustivamente
debatido na 3º Conferência Mundial
sobre Clima, realizada pelo WMO em
Genebra, entre 31 de agosto a 4 de
setembro, com a participação de 20
chefes de estado e representantes de
150 países. O objetivo é melhorar a
vigilância do clima e a adaptação para
os efeitos do aquecimento, criando
produtos e serviços específicos para os
diferentes setores econômicos nas
mEDIa21
diversas regiões do planeta. "Apesar dos
avanços científicos, a economia e a
população não estão preparadas, e
precisamos nos mover rápido, porque os
impactos estão chegando e os desastres
já
são
evidentes",
adverte
o
meteorologista Michel Jarraud, que
chefiou o sistema europeu de previsões
climáticas e desde 2004 é secretário
geral do WMO. Ele diz que "as indústrias
querem respostas mais precisas e
seguras". Na análise de Jarraud, "a
informação sobre clima precisa ser
integrada ao processo de decisão e ao
planejamento dos investimentos de
longo prazo, principalmente nos países
em desenvolvimento".
Depois que o IPCC divulgou em 2007 o
seu quarto relatório, comprovando que
a temperatura do planeta aumentou em
torno de 0,8º C desde o início da era
industrial, as bases científicas para
acompanhar essas mudanças e seus
efeitos evoluíram muito. "Mas ainda há
lacunas e incertezas", explica Roberta
Bosccolo, do WMO. Ela coordena o
programa
mundial
para
unificar
metodologias,
integrar
os
dados
regionais e criar um modelo único de
previsão climática. "Não há dúvida que o
planeta como um todo está mais
quente, mas sabemos pouco sobre o
aquecimento e seus impactos em nível
regional", afirma Roberta. Setores como
o de energia, agricultura, transportes e
turismo aguardam previsões mais
precisas para tomar decisões. A meta é
fazer projeções seguras para cada 10
anos. "A investigação é chave para
saber com clareza o que acontecerá com
as
economias
dos
países
em
desenvolvimento, como Brasil, China e
Índia, essenciais para o controle do
clima global", completa Roberta, física
especializada no estudo sobre a
influência dos oceanos no clima.
"A produção agrícola depende do que
acontece nos oceanos", diz Mannava
Sivakumar, diretor da Divisão Mundial
de Aplicações e Serviços Climáticos do
WMO. Ele explica que a relação entre
correntes marinhas e atmosfera é chave
nos novos modelos para melhorar as
previsões climáticas. "Mas, apesar das
tecnologias
estarem
melhor
19
documentadas, o seu uso está longe do
ideal em muitos países", lamenta o
cientista. Pesquisadores dos principais
centros mundiais de observação do
clima unem esforços para superar
limites. Em tempos de aquecimento
global, prever chuva ou sol precisa ir
além do que vemos todo dia na TV -- e
que muitas vezes nos enganam. "Erros
nas previsões são agora problemas
cruciais", revela Tim Palmer, do Centro
Europeu
de
Previsões
Climáticas."Precisamos
de
boas
observações e computadores em
massa". Para Jeray Meehl, do National
Center for Atmospheric Research, dos
Estados Unidos, "os atuais modelos
climáticos não são capazes de atender
às necessidades mundiais até 2100". O
aquecimento, segundo ele, impõe uma
nova era: a dos serviços climáticos.
Trata-se da previsão sobre clima focada
na mitigação e na adaptação às
mudanças. "O desafio é traçar cenários
com maior precisão para os próximos 30
anos, incluindo o ciclo de carbono nas
previsões", revela Meehl.
No sétimo andar o edifício do WMO, o
moçambicano Felipe Lucio guarda nas
paredes da sala as fotos da enchente
que matou 700 pessoas e causou
prejuízo de US$ 500 milhões, em 2000,
em Moçambique. Na época, Lucio
comandava a área de meteorologia
naquele país e montou um rigoroso
sistema de alerta para a catástrofe não
se repetir. Hoje ele trabalha no
programa global de redução de
desastres, orientando os países a criar
leis e adotar tecnologias para tomar
decisões rápidas contra inundações
outros
efeitos
extremos
do
aquecimento. "As mudanças no clima
alteram o cenário de riscos, pois os
eventos extremos se tornam mais
intensos e frequentes, mas falta muito
por
fazer
nos
países
em
desenvolvimento", afirma Lucio. Ele
lembra que cada US$ 1 investido na
prevenção de desastres ambientais
representa uma economia de US$ 8 a
US$ 10 no custo das ações de
emergência.
No prédio de Genebra onde trabalham
20
os "profetas" do clima, são compilados
dados
para
prevenir
doenças.
"Precisamos de informações sobre clima
mais precisas para evitar problemas
como a malária, que começa a atingir
regiões antes imunes", adverte Maria
Neira, diretora do Departamento de
Saúde e Meio Ambiente, da Organização
Mundial
da
Saúde.
Segundo
a
especialista, o mundo registra hoje 60
mil mortes por ano diretamente ligadas
às mudanças climáticas. Há previsão de
um aumento de 35% da população
vulnerável à dengue até 2030. "O
desafio é reforçar o sistema de saúde",
afirma Neira, lembrando que as ações
de mitigação, ao reduzir a emissão de
gases, podem em paralelo diminuir as
atuais 800 mil mortes por ano no
planeta
resultantes
da
poluição
atmosférica.
Quando o assunto é aquecimento
global, o mundo descobriu que precisa
falar a mesma língua. A questão é
complexa. "É preciso traduzir um
problema mundial para as realidades
locais", ressalta Somesewhar Singh, da
Cruz Verde Internacional. Ele alerta:
"um terço da população mundial vive na
pobreza e não tem respostas sobre o
que acontecerá com ela". Para Jean
Fabre, do Programa das Nações Unidas
para o Desenvolvimento, "a falta de
informação é um abismo perigoso, pois
estamos falando de garantir condições
de vida para as futuras gerações".
Entre as personalidades com trânsito
livre nos escritórios do WMO está Gro
Harlem Brundtland -- a ex-primeiraministra da Noruega que presidiu em
1987
a
Comissão
Brundtland,
produzindo o primeiro e mais famoso
relatório da ONU sobre a relação entre
desenvolvimento
econômico
e
conservação do ambiente. Ela propõe a
criação imediata de um sistema para
coleta de dados sobre clima em longo
prazo e um mecanismo de alerta prévio.
"Agora sabemos que, mesmo se
conseguirmos conter e reduzir as
emissões de gases, o clima vai continuar
mudando e também nós precisaremos
mudar, adaptando-se a um clima mais
instável", afirma Brundtland, que hoje
percorre no mundo como enviada
especial das Nações Unidas em palestras
e eventos sobre mudanças climáticas.
=778&Itemid=421
Frequent droughts will
impact food production say experts
By Jayashree NANDI, The Times of India
Geneva Sep 24 - As farmers face another drought, scientists from the World
Meteorological Organisation (WMO)
warn that droughts are going to be extreme and frequent in India. Acting director, Climate Prediction and Adaptation Branch, WMO, Mannava Sivakumar
spoke to TOI about the climate issues
India is facing and what measures it
needs to take. What is the biggest climate
challenge
for
India?
More than a billion people are hungry
today in the world, and the majority are
in India and Bangladesh. The numbers
in South Asia are more than those in
Africa. In 2-3 years, India will face a severe food crisis as there will be an increase in the frequency of extreme
events. Food production in India has
tripled to 2.4 billion tonnes from 800
million tonnes in 1960. But the population has also increased by leaps and
bounds. To add to the issue, now climate change impacts will make it difficult for India to maintain good yields.
While India maintains it will not be party
to pressure from developed nations for
equal targets, internally, we are facing
strong climate impacts. How do we balance this conflict?
remote areas and also look at long-term
impacts that farmers are going to face.
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/
welcome.asp?skin=pastissues2&QS=Skin%
3Dpastissues2%26Enter%3Dtrue%26Da
ily%3Dundefined%26GZ%3DT
Mannava Sivakumar
I can‘t talk about the international politics of who should accept emission targets. Negotiations or not, India needs to
act right now. This year, rainfall has
been 30% below normal in India. Because the Indian monsoon is going to be
impacted, variability is going to be high.
Though agriculture contributes to only
around 20% of the GDP, 70% of the
population is involved in agriculture.
That gives enough reason to concentrate on good climate models and climate communication to farmers from
meteorological
departments.
What kind of impact are we seeing in
India?
We have been using the same system of
irrigation for decades, but now a new
system of water management is required. We have valid data that glaciers
in the Himalayas are melting. The flow
of perennial rivers is going to be impacted. That will impede irrigated agriculture... Soil salination that has already
started happening on a large scale is
going to take a toll on arable land as
well. When I was young, the maximum
temperature in Andhra Pradesh was 44
degrees; in the past few years it has
been going up to 50 degrees. Seedlings
sown during such drought-like conditions cannot withstand high temperatures.
How do we deal with this? There has to
be a bottom-up movement. A national
mission of educating farmers needs to
be in place. Political leadership and international negotiations can be separate. I know that the India Meteorological Department is making a big effort.
They have at least made a beginning by
sending SMS alerts to farmers. But it has
to be more nuanced, reaching out to
Climate change impact
leaves Mali villagers
high and dry
Bamako (Mali) 20 Sep - Sali Samake is
the most important person in the small
Malian village of Tamale, near the capital city of Bamako.
Villagers depend on her to plan their
harvest because this 45-year-old is the
only one to use a pluviometer — rainmeasuring instrument. Mali, one of the
poorest African nations, is now facing
another danger, that of climate change.
Desertification in some parts of the region is intensifying year after year, leaving farmers defenceless to the crisis.
Most parts of West Africa, including Mali,
have seen a sharp decrease in rainfall
since 1970, and consecutive years of
droughts till date. There has been 20%
decrease in annual rainfall; water level
in rivers has decreased by 40% to 60%.
The interior delta of river Niger has almost halved, from 37,000 sqkm in 1950
to 15,000 sqkm now.
According to studies by the ministry of environment, Mali, temperature in water bodies
has risen, leading increase in invading plant
species. Fishing, navigation and irrigation
have become tough. The scanty, still water
is the breeding home to malarial mosquitoes, and there has been increase in the incidence of meningitis too.
Rainy season comes and goes at will.
―Now, farmers don‘t know when they
have to plant. The season is shorter.
This has had a huge impact on the agroeconomy, leading to migration of the
young. Families are sending their people
to other parts of Africa, Europe and
America to earn income for the family,‖
says secretaire technique permanent,
Boubacar Sidibi Dembele.
mEDIa21
Even as Mali villagers live with disease
and acute water crisis, they exude a vibrant spirit of life. Young girls come
rushing towards tourist vehicles to sell a
native delicacy of sesame and honey
sticks; women sell fresh bananas and
fruits.
Adapting to climate change
The region is taking baby steps to adjust
to climate change: it‘s offering manual
training kits to farmers; the meteorological department is working with ryots to
provide them better forecast and exchange information. The cloud-seeding
programme is on since 2006. This year
alone, there have been 1,000 operations, especially in the northern Kai, Kolokani and Sahelian regions.
Cloud-seeding timetables are announced
regularly on national television; 25 literate persons have been nominated from
different villages who can use the pluviometer and inform farmers about rainwater availability. ―The pluviometer
helps us know how much of rain we‘ll
get and we can estimate our production
accordingly. The village head consults
me and plans the harvest with other villagers,‖ says Sali.
Even as Mali could be one of the first
casualties of climate change, justice is
still far away for its denizens, say activists. They can only hear about the forthcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen (COP 15) for developed nations
to accept targets and share real technology, which is now locked by intellectual property rights (IPR) and patents of
big companies.
Quand le Mali
bombarde le ciel
By Isolda AGAZZI , 18 September 2009,
Le Temps , Genève
Bamako Sep 18 - Les inondations qui
frappent le Mali après une sévère sécheresse sont une conséquence du chan-
21
gement climatique Le flux ininterrompu
de voitures et mobylettes s‘enfonce
dans des flaques où flottent les fruits et
légumes tombés des étalages. En cette
fin de ramadan, les travailleurs qui se
pressent pour la rupture du jeûne doivent se frayer un chemin dans une circulation infernale, au milieu de la boue
et des canalisations à ciel ouvert qui débordent de toute part sur les rues de
Bamako.
En une seule journée, il est tombé 250
mm de pluie – la quantité de 45 jours.
La saison des pluies va habituellement
de mai à juillet, mais cette année il n‘a
plu que ces derniers jours. Une conséquence directe du changement climatique, qui provoque des phénomènes extrêmes.
«Depuis 1970, la pluviométrie a diminué
de 20% au Mali, explique Sidi Konaté,
membre du Secrétariat technique permanent
(STP)
du
Ministère
de
l‘environnement, lors d‘une réunion organisée par le réseau Média 21 à Bamako. La sécheresse augmente, la nappe
phréatique diminue et le débit des
grands fleuves connaît une baisse de
50%. De nouveaux végétaux flottants
apparaissent, qui entravent la pêche
ainsi que la navigation et provoquent le
paludisme et de nouvelles maladies.»
Le démarrage et la fin de la saison humide sont devenus imprévisibles et les
paysans ne savent plus quand semer. La
migration augmente, l‘écosystème se
modifie, il y a moins de pâturages et
donc de plus en plus de conflits entre
éleveurs, pêcheurs et agriculteurs. Le
delta intérieur du Niger connaît une perte annuelle d‘eau de 30 000 milliards de
m3 et l‘ensablement et la désertification
affectent les habitations, les terres agricoles et les voies de communication.
Alors les Maliens ont décidé d‘aider un
peu le ciel. «Nous ensemençons les
nuages pour qu‘ils donnent plus de
pluie, nous explique Daouda Zan Diarra,
ingénieur à Mali Météo. On regarde ceux
qui ont le plus de potentiel et on envoie
un avion injecter du sel pour favoriser la
condensation. Une demi-heure après, il
pleut là où nous le voulons.» Une opéra-
22
tion entièrement financée par le gouvernement
malien,
qui
a
permis
d‘augmenter la pluviométrie de 15% et
la production de mil, riz, sorgho, arachide et coton, de moitié.
Mali Méto propose d‘ailleurs deux bulletins différents: l‘un pour la pluie naturelle et l‘autre pour la pluie provoquée. Elle
a aussi développé un programme
d‘agro-météo assistance pour aider les
paysans, désorientés par le changement
de saisons, à établir un calendrier des
semences.
Mais pour Michel Cadalen, directeur de
la coopération luxembourgeoise, le
changement climatique n‘explique pas
tout: la pression démographique, la
mauvaise gestion des ressources naturelles et le système juridique traditionnel
d‘attribution des terres sont aussi responsables de la sécheresse. «Au Mali,
on peut couper les branches d‘un arbre,
mais on n‘a pas le droit d‘en planter un
car ce serait un défi au chef traditionnel,
qui distribue les terres à son bon vouloir.»
Copier comme les Chinois
Quelles que soient les causes de ses
problèmes
environnementaux,
aujourd‘hui le Mali a besoin de technologies vertes – énergie solaire, éolienne et
nouvelles méthodes d‘irrigation. «Mais
nous n‘avons rien reçu! s‘emporte Sidi
Konaté, du STP. La technologie ne se
transfère pas, il faut la copier, comme
les Chinois. La Convention sur le changement climatique n‘a pas trouvé de
mécanisme adéquat et la conférence de
Copenhague ne va pas le trouver non
plus.»
http://letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/b0c99c0aa3c9-11de-87ba-3e3d3074a8ec|0
Tamala: un village à
l’écoute de la météo
By Soumaila T. DIARRA, 16 Septembre 2009,
L'aube, Bamako
Sep 17 - A Tamala, village situé à près
de 4 km de la petite ville de Ouélessebougou dans la région de Koulikoro, les
paysans guettent quotidiennement les
informations météorologiques. Dans un
contexte d‘insécurité climatique, les
nouvelles du temps sont devenues le
repère de leur calendrier agricole.
Le village de Tamala
« Les bulletins météo me rendent parfois service. Lorsqu‘on annonce des
pluies par exemple, je ne désherbe pas
mon champ car les herbes fauchées
peuvent ne pas mourir si elles sont arrosées aussitôt», commente Adama Samaké, un paysan de Tamala. Selon ce
cultivateur, les paysans ont fortement
besoin d‘une assistance météorologique
car les saisons de pluie ne démarrent
plus en mai.
Déjà, un programme officiel existe en la
matière. « Les paysans sont formés à
l‘utilisation des informations météorologiques. Les saisons de pluie sont maintenant très tardives et courtes, mais en
écoutant les bulletins de la météo, les
paysans savent quand il faut commencer à semer et quelle variété est adaptée», explique Daouda Zan Diarra, responsable du programme d‘assistance
météorologique du Mali.
Les prévisions météorologiques quotidiennes permettent aux exploitants de
mieux conduire d‘une manière efficace
les activités journalières, notamment
l‘épandage d‘engrais, le traitement phytosanitaire, l‘entretien des champs (sarclage,démariage,etc.), la récolte et le
stockage des productions.
Dans le cadre de la production alimentaire, on tient compte de la planification
de la saison agricole pour une exploitation rationnelle des ressources à travers
le choix des espèces et des variétés, des
sites appropriés. Ainsi, le mil, le sorgho
et le maïs sont conseillés dans les zones
basses ou hautes en cas de mauvaise ou
de bonne pluviométrie prévue.
Il y a aussi l‘analyse climatologique et
l‘évaluation des ressources agro climatiques (pluviométrie, début, fin et longueur moyens de la saison, etc.). La
prévision saisonnière élaborée en
avril/mai et mise à jour en juin, permet
dès le début de la saison de faire des
choix stratégiques en fonction des résultats de cette prévision.
Les informations annoncées concernent
essentiellement: le calendrier prévisionnel de semis qui permet de conseiller
aux paysans de semer sur la base d‘un
seuil pluviométrique, et d‘une variété de
cultures données. Les paysans, étant
formés dans leur langue locale aux
techniques d‘observations sur les cultures et sur la pluviométrie et à l‘utilisation
du calendrier prévisionnel de semis,
peuvent eux-mêmes décider de semer
ou pas.
La demande par les paysans de prévisions météorologiques quotidiennes de
plus en plus localisées est très forte. Ces
informations sont utilisées aussi bien par
les femmes dans les activités ménagères
et artisanales (teinture, séchage) que
dans les parcelles familiales ou collectives,
car
elles
contribuent
à
l‘amélioration du revenu. « Les prévisions météorologiques peuvent nous
rendre service sur d‘autres plans. Quand
je mène une activité pour laquelle j‘ai
besoin de soleil comme la teinture ou le
séchage d‘aliment, je dois tenir compte
des prévisions du temps », estime Sali
Samaké, une ménagère de Tamala.
La prévision saisonnière de juillet, août,
septembre n‘est pas directement exploitée par les paysans mais par les professionnels de la météorologie, pour réajuster le calendrier prévisionnel en
fonction du démarrage de la saison. Les
résultats de cette prévision sont toujours
très attendus par le monde rural. Cependant, elle est inutilisable dans sa
forme actuelle de présentation, d‘une
part, et, d‘autre part, elle ne répond pas
suffisamment aux préoccupations majeures des paysans, à savoir le début, la
fin, la longueur de la saison, les quantités totales de pluies, leur répartition et
les épisodes de sécheresse. Aussi, pour
être applicable par les paysans, une
stratégie d‘adaptation à leurs besoins
réels et de transfert de la prévision saisonnière est indispensable. Les avis et
conseils ainsi élaborés sont diffusés par
la radio nationale plusieurs fois et par
les radios de proximité.
Résultats
Les avantages socio-économiques de
l‘application des informations et avis
agro météorologiques dépendent en
grande partie de la qualité de
l‘information élaborée, de sa diffusion en
temps réel et de son utilisation correcte
par les exploitants agricoles. «
L‘assistance météorologique améliore la
rentabilité de nos champs lorsque nous
suivons bien les conseils donnés », reconnaît Adama Samaké. Les résultats de
plusieurs années d‘expérience au Mali
ont montré que l‘application pratique
des informations agro météorologiques
convenablement diffusées sous forme d
‘avis et conseils auprès des paysans
permet une augmentation des rendements de 20 à 25% du mil, du sorgho et
du maïs. Des milliers de paysans et
d‘agents d‘encadrement, y compris les
femmes, ont été formés sur les techniques agro météorologiques dans des
centaines de villages et dans les langues
nationales.
Les résultats obtenus ont suscité beaucoup d‘intérêt aussi bien chez les
paysans que chez les autorités nationales. Les demandes d‘informations de
plus en plus précises, de formation et de
pluviomètres (considérés par certains
comme intrants agricoles) se sont accrues. Cependant, l‘insuffisance des
moyens de transmission et d‘observation
des données constitue une limitation à
l‘application des avis et conseils agro
météorologiques.
=770&Itemid=421
Energy: to fly around
the world - without fuel
By Stephen Leahy*, 16 September 2009, IPS
journalist based in Canada
mEDIa21
DÜBENDORF, Switzerland, Sep 16 (Tierramérica) - A solar-powered aircraft will
take flight next month from Switzerland
with hopes ultimately to circle the Earth
in 2012, without fuel, and stopping
every five days only to change pilots.
"I'm intrigued by the vision of perpetual
flight," mechanical engineer Andre Borschberg, chief executive of the 100million-dollar Solar Impulse project, told
Tierramérica.
Designed to use only energy from the
sun during the day and run on suncharged batteries at night, it could stay
aloft perpetually, like the giant, thinwinged Arctic tern that migrates annually from the Antarctic to the Arctic, nonstop.
"The big lesson of the Wright brothers is
that if you don't try you never succeed,"
Borschberg told Tierramérica in the
Dübendorf Airfield hanger outside of Zurich, where the first prototype was being
assembled for a test flight in October or
November.
The U.S. inventors Orville and Wilber
Wright are credited with the first airplane flight in 1903. "They never
dreamed that a plane could cross the
Atlantic Ocean, and yet less than 25
years later (in 1927) Charles Lindbergh
flew from New York to Paris," Borschberg said.
"It is our hope that the Solar Impulse
will be a symbol to the world and create
awareness about our own energy use,"
he added.
The Solar Impulse HB-SIA prototype
plane is essentially a 64-metre long thin
wing with four small propellers and narrow pilot pod and tail attached underneath.
Sitting in the airport hangar, even with
its inner workings exposed, it doesn't
look like much more than a big paper
glider - not much for 100 million dollars.
It is in fact part glider. When the sun is
shinning the Solar Impulse will slowly
climb to an altitude of 8,000 or 9,000
metres. When the sun sets, it begins a
powered glide, using energy from the
23
batteries as it slowly falls to 1,500 metres. And when the sun rises again it
brings new energy to recharge the aircraft for it to climb back into the sky.
"The key is energy efficiency, extracting
maximal power from minimal energy
and using as little of it as possible," Borschberg explained.
It can only stay aloft because it is so
lightweight. The best sailplanes have a
weight-to-surface area of 40 kg per
square metre while the Solar Impulse is
eight kg per square metre, he said
"With the existing technology, this is the
best that can be done," he said.
Weight was the biggest challenge to
overcome. The answer was a very basic
structure made of extremely light carbon
fibre.
It has taken Borschberg, an accomplished pilot, and partner Bertrand Piccard, a well-known Swiss adventurer, six
years to get this far.
While the prototype has a wingspan
identical in length to an Airbus A340, a
large commercial passenger airplane
that weighs in at 260 tonnes without
cargo, this one-man plane is just 1,500
kilograms - about the weight of a small
car.
The idea came to Piccard while he was
completing the first around-the-world
balloon flight in 1999. He resolved to try
again but without fuel or polluting emissions. The grand exploits of the 21st
century will be about preserving or improving "the quality of life on our planet," he said in a statement.
The Solar Impulse plane is being built
near Zurich
There has been no breakthrough in solar
or battery technology here. The solar
cells are actually a thin film glued to the
top of the wing. Rated at 22 percent efficiency, they are not the most effective
available - but produce the most energy
for their weight.
A major part of that weight is the 400
kg of lithium-ion batteries, which are
similar to those in mobile phones but
twice as efficient, Borschberg said.
The four electric propellers generate less
than 10 horsepower in total, similar to a
small motor scooter.
The airplane will take off and land under
its own power and fly at a relatively leisurely speed of 70 km/hour, far too slow
for almost anything else to fly - except
birds.
24
More than 70 people are now working
on the project, including 50 engineers,
physicists, materials specialists and
computer scientists. The next big hurdle
is the first test flight in the next couple
months, when they will find out how
such a large but extremely lightweight
aircraft handles.
Next year Borschberg hopes the Solar
Impulse will become the first solar airplane to fly day and night, for 36 hours
non-stop, without fuel.
If all goes well then, the final version of
the aircraft will be built to circumnavigate the planet in 2012, with five giant
hops of 5,000 km over five days of nonstop flying.
Borschberg and Piccard will take turns
piloting the flight legs. "That is the other
big challenge: how to pilot, eat and
sleep for five days and nights," said Borschberg.
Sleep deprivation, even for just 24
hours, impairs anyone's abilities and
perception. However, the Solar Impulse
project has conducted intensive research into the matter and found that
20-minute catnaps, spaced out properly,
can forestall those effects.
Eschewing an alarm clock, they have
developed a special shirt with sensors
and a vibrating system that can be remotely activated to make sure the pilot
only sleeps in increments of 20 minutes.
Even if they are successful, Borschberg
does not expect solar-powered commercial air travel in the future. "Solar could
be a complementary energy source, but
without some major breakthrough I
don't see it," he said.
The International Air Transport Association, which represents virtually all 230
commercial airlines, has a goal of carbon emission free flight by 2050, he
said. "That's a very ambitious target."
(*This story was originally published by
Latin American newspapers that are part
of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the
United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment
Programme and the World Bank.)
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idne
ws=48457
Mali:
technology transfer so
slow "we’ll have to
copy like China"
By Isolda Agazzi, IPS
BAMAKO, Sep 15 - Cars and motorcycles
are stuck because of the heavy rains
that have drenched Mali‘s capital for the
past few days. It is late afternoon and
the water, mud and damaged fruit from
nearby stalls make the journey for those
heading home to celebrate Ramadan
even more treacherous.
These sudden floods are a direct consequence of climate change that is causing
extreme changes of weather with shorter and more abrupt rainy seasons alternating with drought and desertification.
"Since the beginning of the 1970s, Mali
has experienced a 20 percent decrease
in rainfall and a 50 percent decrease in
the rate of flow of the largest rivers,"
describes Sidi Konate.
He is an engineer who works at the
technical permanent secretariat (TPS) of
the ministry of environment, which is in
charge of implementing the United Nations‘ Framework Convention on Climate
Change. The Kyoto Protocol forms part
of this convention.
Konate was participating in a panel organised this past weekend by the Media
21 Global Journalism Network in Bamako. The network is a Geneva-based initiative that a team of journalists launched
to improve the media coverage of key
issues such as climate change.
In order to help developing countries
adapt to a phenomenon they have not
contributed to but which they suffer the
consequences of, the Kyoto Protocol foresees a transfer by Northern countries
of environmentally friendly technologies
to help poor countries develop and industrialise but still pollute less.
"But up to now we have not received
anything!" exclaims Konate. "Technology is not something you can transfer -mainly because of intellectual property
rights. You have to copy it, like the Chinese! The convention has not found any
satisfying mechanism and the Copenhagen conference will not find it either."
The UN‘s climate change conference in
Copenhagen in December this year will
follow up on the implementation of the
Kyoto Protocol, which ends in 2012. The
protocol commits developed countries to
reduce their greenhouse emissions between 2008 and 2012 to five percent
below that of 1990 levels.
Experts and non-governmental organisations are calling on them to commit to at
least a 20 percent reduction but industrialised countries also want emerging
economies -- like China and India that
are major polluters -- to make binding
commitments. The latter are reluctant
because of the implications for growth.
Mali, which is in West Africa, is "a hot
and dry country," continues Mamadou
Gakou, director of the TPS. "We have
sun and wind and therefore need the
technologies to transform them into solar energy and wind power. And we also
need technologies for irrigation."
The problem is, argues the Genevabased Agency for Trade Information and
Cooperation (AITIC ), that "in the normal course of events governments
themselves cannot secure technology
transfer. Transfer occurs when private
concerns have an interest or an incentive.
"Naturally, the transfer can not only occur with the construction or importation
of climate-friendly goods and facilities,
but also through the exchange of knowhow and project-management experience in the direction of developing
countries", continues AITIC, which is an
intergovernmental organisation that assists poor countries with capacitybuilding to spur "trade-led growth".
Some interesting environmentally friendly technologies already exist in Mali but
these are not the result of technology
transfer. The government has often had
to make full payment for them.
The "cloud-seeding program" is one
such project. It is managed with the
help of the U.S.-based Weather Modification Corporation.
"During the rainy season, when we see
a promising cloud, we send a plane to
inject salt to cause condensation," explains Daouda Zan Diarra, an engineer
at Meteo Mali. "Half an hour later, it
rains precisely where we want it to. If it
has not rained for 10 days in a region,
then we send the plane."
The project - which is also being carried
out in Senegal and Burkina Faso - has
been entirely funded by the Malian government. It spent 13 million dollars to
buy two planes and radar equipment
from the Weather Modification Company
that runs the operations in cooperation
with the Malian Air force. The engineer
adds that rainfall has increased by 15
percent on average and the production
mEDIa21
of millet, rice, sorghum and peanuts by
50 percent.
Meteo Mali runs two different weather
forecasts on Malian television: one for
natural rainfall and one for seeded rainfall.
Near Bamako, Coca-Cola has built -- in
partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) -- the
only water treatment plant in the country. It treats the wastewater of the Bramali factory – a producer of beer and
soft drinks under Coca-Cola licence,
among others.
The process is entirely organic – bacteria consume the waste – and the water
is sent back into the Niger River. The
project‘s cost has been 2,2 million dollars so far.
But elsewhere there is no water treatment, not even for Bamako‘s sewer
which flows directly into the Niger River.
With private companies seemingly disinterested,
the Malian government is
building a water treatment plant in the
new industrial section of the city.
Germany has been Mali‘s most important partner in the field of environment.
"Up to a short while ago, donors were
not very aware of climate change," argues Michaëla Braum of GTZ, the German technical cooperation agency.
"We have helped African countries in
their fight against desertification but today we are trying to pursue climate
change concerns across all our projects.
The process is still new but the Copenhagen conference can give it new impetus."
Gakou points out that, "one of the biggest problems is how to mobilise funds
that are already there". The Global Environment Fund contains million of dollars
that have not been mobilised yet". For
example, one of the most important private equity initiatives investing in the
environment is the Global Environment
Fund.
The road to Copenhagen is still steep.
The UN‘s Bali Action Plan, adopted in
2007 to chart a course for new talks on
climate change, calls for "enhanced action" on technology transfer, including
25
financing and cooperation on research
and development. It still needs to be
seen whether Copenhagen will kickstart
this "enhanced action".
Version in French:
http://www.ipsinternational.org/fr/_note
.asp?idnews=5488
Version in English:
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp
?idnews=48446
Climate change: survival
means anticipating and
adapting
By Stephen Leahy, IPS journalist based in
Canada
GENEVA, Sep 8 (IPS) - Imagine being
able to know months in advance when
and where floods or droughts may occur. That is what over 150 countries
participating in the third World Climate
Conference, which concluded last Friday
in Geneva, pledged to achieve through
the creation of a Global Framework for
Climate Services.
"Today is a landmark day for making
climate services available to all people,"
said Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of
the World Meteorological Organisation
(WMO), convener of the conference,
told over 2,000 climate scientists, sectoral experts and decision-makers.
"Climate services" is the long-distance
cousin to weather services or weather
forecasting. New technology and better
climate science has opened the window
to very long range forecasting of climate
events like droughts weeks and months
in advance.
This year, scientists were able to anticipate unprecedented flooding of the Red
River Valley in the United States Midwest months in advance, enabling local
communities to prepare and avoid the
worst consequences, said Jane Lubchenko, a noted ecologist, administrator
of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and
head of the U.S. delegation.
"Imagine farmers able to determine
26
what to plant and where, based on
drought forecasts three to five years in
the future, or coastal communities able
to plan for sea level rise and storm intensity," Lubchenco told IPS.
The proposed Global Framework for
Climate Services will "strengthen production, availability, delivery and application of science-based climate prediction and services".
It will include a Global Climate Observing System, a World Climate Research
Programme and climate services information systems and interface. This is
largely about capacity-building in developing countries and delivering information in a usable form for decisionmakers at all levels, from officials to
farmers.
A task force will conduct 12 months of
consultations and determine how to implement such an ambitious project.
Those recommendations will be reviewed and a plan for implementation
adopted at the next WMO congress in
2011.
"Improving development and delivery of
climate services will be crucial to future
food security," said Lubchenco.
This is particularly true because climate
change is altering the climate system by
trapping more heat energy. This means
farmers and others can no longer rely
on past experience or historical knowledge to anticipate growing conditions
for the next or future seasons.
"Society will need information tools to
adapt as the climate will continue to be
variable and to change notwithstanding
steps taken to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases," said Jaarud.
Implementing the Global Framework
goes beyond climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December to reach a new
global treaty to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases, he said.
Climate change is well underway, so
even if emissions were reduced to zero
today, "The global community has to
address the need for adaptation measures, particularly in the most vulnerable
regions of the world," Rajendra Kumar
Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change and co-winner
of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, told delegates.
Once again, Pachauri reminded highlevel decision makers that in order to
achieve the 2 degrees Celsius target,
global greenhouse gas emissions must
peak by 2015 and then sharply decline.
And he stressed the huge co-benefits of
emission reductions for health, agriculture, employment and energy security.
"Climate change could spell widespread
economic disaster," said Ban Ki-moon,
secretary-general of the United Nations,
who spoke at the WCC-3 High-Level
Segment after a visit to the polar ice rim
north of the Norwegian island of Svalbard.
Failure to agree to a new climate treaty
in Copenhagen that reflects what
science says is needed will mean this
generation and future generations will
pay a high price, Ban said.
Toke Talagi, the premier of the small
Pacific island nation of Niue, expressed
deep frustration and alarm that world
leaders from the major economies are
ignoring the plight of small island states.
"We are in a time of crisis," Talagi told
delegates.
"Climate services and funding for adaption may come too late for our sinking
islands" threatened by sea level rise and
stronger storms, he said.
Niue and the Alliance of Small Island
States want the developed world to
commit and act to cut emissions by 40
percent by 2020. The closest to this target is European Union's commitment to
20 percent reductions.
Instead the major economies are "ignoring the science and trying to make
Mother Earth give a little more," Talagi
said. "We must make the right decisions
in Copenhagen. Climate change tran-
scends boundaries and respects no
one."
ws=48366
Global
grid
enables
nations adapt to climate
change
Geneva, Sep 8 - Can weather forecasters predict climate change? Do Indian
farmers know that droughts are likely to
become more common and perhaps
they need to change their farming patterns? Were villagers in the Sunderbans
informed well in time to react to Typhoon Aila?
As the third World Climate Conference
organized by the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) unfolded in Geneva, the focus was on climate services by
local meteorological departments. According to WMO, India will be a key
country to implement the global framework of climate services.
Michel Jerraud, secretary general, WMO,
said the organization is creating a global
framework of climate services, which
will involve meteorological departments
of all nations to give comprehensive information of both long-term and immediate events that will help communities
adapt to climate change.
―Is El Nino, which has caused drought
across the world this year, an impact of
climate change? We don‘t know. We
need to do more research. Events like
the floods in Bangladesh and the heat
wave in Europe are also perhaps impacts of climate change. We need to
have climate services of international
standards in every country and that is
why we need a global framework for
climate services,‘‘ he said.
India perhaps has more reason to implement these services immediately as
scientists say the Indian monsoon is
going to intensify. ―There will be greater
variability and the changes in the Indian
monsoon will make drought more com-
mon. The southern flanks which are India and neighbouring countries are likely
to face a lot of drought and there‘ll obviously be water scarcity with the Himalayan glaciers receding at a higher
pace,‖ said Martin Beniston, head, Climate Change and Climate Impacts (Unige).
―About 62% of India‘s agriculture is
rain-fed which is obviously going to be
affected. The other half of 38% is irrigated. We in India have been using the
same system of irrigation for decades.
Since the glaciers in Himalayas are melting, the perennial rivers are going to
dry. I don‘t know if India has already
done a study on the current impacts.
There is no time to waste,‘‘ acting director, climate prediction and adaptation,
Mannava Sivakumar, told TOI.
While weather services in India are nascent, their presence at the conference
shows the increasing interest. According
to Sivakumar, India has started SMS
alerts for farmers though they‘re not
very robust yet. India is also developing
regional climate models for South Asia.
A task force on implementing the global
framework on climate services will be
appointed on Wednesday that will implement it over a year‘s time. The work
will be three-fold. There will global producing centres, mostly big educational
and research institutions on climate
change, on a regional level, one country
will produce climate models and its capacity will be assessed by WMO and
then it will nominated.
Food for thought
Is climate change gender neutral? Studies say no. A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) study on state
of sex-disaggregate data for assessing
impact of climate change shows that
women are 5.4 times more vulnerable to
its impact because a huge number is illiterate, they work in vulnerable areas,
they do not get warnings on time,
among other reasons. In drought-prone
countries such as India, 2% of the
women are impacted while it is 8% in
Pakistan.
mEDIa21
Taking action on
climate change
By Tobin Hack, 8 Septembre 2009,
Sierra Magazine
GENEVA, Sep 8 - The third World Climate Conference (WCC 3) – a weeklong event designed to create a ―global
framework for climate services to
strengthen production, availability, delivery and application of science-based
climate prediction and services‖ –
wrapped up in Geneva on Friday.
With just three months left to prepare
for December‘s critical international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen (COP15), the heat was on for the
more than 2,000 climate scientists, experts, and heads of state and government in attendance.
What lots of Americans probably would
have found pretty terrifying about the
WCC 3, had they popped their head in
for peek, was that much, if not most, of
the conference focused on how we as a
global community will deal with the climate changes that are already here or
pending. It‘s not just about trying to figure out how to dodge the storm anymore – it‘s time to build metaphorical
(and perhaps literal) storm cellars,
board up windows, and plot out emergency flood escape routes. Virtually
every scientist, expert, and official who
spoke at the conference relied heavily
on the chilling words ―mitigation‖ and
―adaptation.‖
Flooding,
drought,
changes in precipitation patterns, rising
sea levels, and of course, rising temperatures, are all coming our way, and the
27
weather information that‘s needed to
deal with them simply isn‘t available to
many, especially women in developing
countries.
In brighter news, governments are taking action. Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said with a note of
confidence and hope in an informal
press conference Thursday that Korea –
whose recent economic stimulus package was ―80% green new deal-driven,‖
is recovering from economic crisis at ―a
remarkable pace.‖ Steiner went on to
praise Obama for his own green new
deal strategy for economic recovery.
―Look at President Obama and what is
happening there,‖ said Steiner. Those
nine little words may not seem like
much, but considering the US‘ reputation on the international climate change
policy scene (don‘t forget Bush left the
world hanging when he backed out of
the Kyoto Protocol in 2001), they mean
quite a lot coming from the head of UNEP.
If Obama‘s red, white and greener attitude is beginning to cast the States in
an ever so slightly friendlier light
abroad, it‘s also winning him a ferociously dedicated sustainability team at
home. In a WCC 3 panel on Tuesday,
Shere Abbott, associate director of environment in the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy, praised
Obama for the genuine curiosity she‘s
seen him bring to sustainability conversations since he took office. ―The president is totally engaged, both in the
whole set of issues related to climate
change, energy, and environment, but
also because he really truly is an individual who is interested in science,‖ she
said. ―Every meeting that we have
where there‘s an opportunity for him to
learn more, he actually is quite interested in going in more depth than almost
any other politician that I‘ve ever been
around.‖
It was Obama‘s enthusiastic approach, in
part, that drew Abbott from her background
in science to her current post in Washington.
The other reason she agreed to take the
28
job? Abbott‘s two daughters, both adopted,
and to whom she hopes to leave a better
world. ―I feel a sense of responsibility for the
set of environmental and global issues that
they will be facing,‖ she said.
Not sure you want to take Shere Abbott‘s word for it? Here‘s proof that Obama is rolling his sleeves up not only on
green tech, green jobs, and renewable
energy, but also on international climate
change policy. Dan Reifsnyder, Deputy
Assistant Secretary for the Environment,
said Thursday at a US delegation press
conference that to the best of his knowledge, President Obama is planning to
attend a Climate Change Summit slated
for September 22 in New York. Over 100
world leaders are expected to attend the
event, which was called by Ban Ki-Moon,
UN General Secretary. The summit will
mark the end of Moon‘s week-long UN
campaign, Seal the Deal, designed to
give heads of state a kick in the rear as
December‘s Copenhagen negotiations
fast approach. Leading the US delegation at WCC 3 was Jane Lubchenco,
head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/
2009/09/the-world-climate-conferenceaddresses-climate-change-.html
We used to have four
seasons, but the autumn
disappeared
By Ido LIVEN. 6 September 2009,
ynet.co.il online
Yoojin from South Korea, only 16 years
old but already notices the the change
in the weather cycles. Shobhna from Fiji
says he country never saw floods like
those of January this year. Yara from
Kuwait also notices the change - a slight
change in the awareness of her country's electricity wasting residents. The
phenomena experts at the climate
change conference in Geneva depicted,
some of the attendants could tell in first
person.
Link to original article in Hebrew
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L3773253,00.html
Climate change:
earth's fridge
defrosting, with dire
results
By Stephen LEAHY, 1 September 2009, IPS
GENEVA, Sep 2 (IPS) – Winter sea ice
terrain of the Beaufort Sea, Alaska. The
Arctic Ocean may be ice-free in less
than a decade.
The rapidly warming Arctic region is
destabilising Earth's climate in ways
science is just beginning to comprehend.
The entire world is being affected, and
without urgent action to cut emissions, a
too-warm Arctic could trigger catastrophic, irreversible climate change, top
scientists say in a report released
Wednesday in Geneva.
"It is crucial to know the full consequences of the Arctic warming, and this
is an unprecedented review of the latest
science," said Martin Sommerkorn, an
Arctic researcher and senior climate
change advisor to World Wildlife Fund
International.
"Simply put, if we do not keep the Arctic
cold enough, people across the world
mEDIa21
will suffer the effects," Sommerkorn told
IPS.
times the carbon currently in the atmosphere.
of the Svalbard archipelago north of
Norway.
Sea level rise of more than one metre,
flooding affecting one quarter of the
world's population, and extreme global
weather changes are on the way at the
current pace of unchecked carbon emissions, the "Arctic Climate Feedbacks:
Global Implications" report warns.
Levels of atmospheric methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas, have
been increasing for the past two years,
and it is suggested that the increase
comes from warming permafrost.
A big jump in global temperatures would
undoubtedly trigger other climate feedbacks, likely pushing global warming
onto an entirely new trajectory, he said.
A warming Arctic has far wider and
more serious consequences than previously believed based on the latest
science of the past three years, including the very recent research from International Polar Year 2008-2009.
"There is a large potential that a warming Arctic will make climate change far
worse," said Sommerkorn, who acted as
editor of the report written by 10 of the
world's leading climate scientists.
The planet's cold polar regions are crucial drivers of Earth's weather and climate. Over the past 40 years, the Arctic
has begun to thaw, with warmer temperatures that are rising at twice the
rate as anywhere else in the world.
Every summer, the frozen Arctic Ocean
thaws more and more and may be icefree in less than a decade.
So what happens when one of Earth's
freezers switches into defrost? Like closing an open window in winter, those
closest will notice the biggest difference,
but even those much further away will
be affected. The report projects changing temperature and precipitation patterns in Europe and North America, affecting agriculture, forestry and water
supplies.
"Droughts may be worse in California,
and the U.S. Southwest. Winters could
be wetter in the Mediterranean but drier
in Scandinavia based on a continued
warming of the Arctic," said Sommerkorn, who is based in Oslo, Norway.
More alarming is the likelihood that a
warmer Arctic will emit large volumes of
carbon and methane that are currently
stored in the frozen soils called permafrost and that contain as much as three
The report shows that the top two to
three metres of permafrost across the
entire Arctic region will very likely thaw
by the year 2100. The amount of carbon
and methane that could be released is
unknown but will be more than enough
to push temperatures far higher than
any previous estimates.
"We are already observing permafrost
melting in many parts of the Arctic," he
said.
Worse still is the potential release of
some of the enormous deposits of methane hydrates - frozen natural gas under the Arctic Ocean. In very cold or
high-pressure environments, individual
methane molecules get trapped in icelike cages of frozen water. When the
seas warm, the ice cages fizzle and decompose, releasing the trapped methane.
Put a match to the decomposing ice and
voilà: Ice that literally burns.Methane is
already bubbling to the surface along
the East Siberian coastal shelf, according to recent measurements. This very
shallow water of less than 50 metres
may be warming and releasing some of
the frozen methane, although this has
not been confirmed.
"What we do know is that globally methane levels have been rising in the last
two or three years," said Sommerkorn.
However, the temperatures in East Siberia right now are very close to what will
cause the hydrates to thaw.
"Less than half a percent of what's there
could trigger abrupt temperature
change," he warned.
Last month, other researchers discovered 250 plumes of methane gas bubbling up from the sea floor to the west
"What this report makes evidently clear is
that what happens in the Arctic affects
the rest of the world," said report coauthor Mark Serreze, senior research
scientist at the National Snow and Ice
Data Centre in the U.S. state of Colorado.
"The changes we are seeing are not entirely unexpected, they are just happening far sooner," Serreze told IPS.
If the methane hydrates start to melt or
large areas of permafrost "that will be
very bad news for humanity", he said.
"The world is a very small place and we
have not been good stewards. Climate
change is symptom of this poor stewardship," he said. "The way we're
going right now, I'm not optimistic that
we will avoid some kind of tipping
point."
This report signals the urgency for action, Sommerkorn says. And the action
required is a global carbon emission
peak between 2013- 2017 to keep global warming below 2 degrees and avoid
dangerous climate change.
That means developed countries must
reduce emissions by at least 40 percent
by 2020 compared their 1990 emissions
and the developing world must reduce
emissions by 30 percent from current
levels.
"The scale of the reductions needed is
an enormous challenge," he acknowledged. However, leaders should not hesitate because greening of society is also
the way to solve the economic crisis and
the path to a sustainable future, experts
agree. The Copenhagen climate treaty
to be negotiated this December must
parallel the urgency of the science in
this report.
ws=48296
29
Climate change: early
warning systems for
the coming storm
By Stephen Leahy, 31 August 2009,
journalist based in Canada
IPS
GENEVA, Aug 31 (IPS) – Climate change
is here. The challenge in Geneva this
week is to find ways to help the world
cope with a climate that will have more
and worse extremes in terms of temperatures, floods, and storms.
More than 2,500 experts and policymakers from 150 countries are attending the Aug. 31-Sep. 4 World Climate
Conference to discuss how to improve
weather forecasting and long-range seasonal weather projections, especially to
help poor nations in areas such as agriculture.
―Until now, the way that we deliver climate information to some sectors has
been ad hoc. What we need is a formal
system that all people can trust to
access vital information that can save
their lives and protect property and
economies,‖ said Michel Jarraud, secretary- general of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which is convening the World Climate Conference
this week in Geneva.
The WMO has proposed that a global
climate services system be created to
boost observations and research for
monitoring the climate and new information tools that will provide sectorand regional-specific products and services, Jarraud told IPS.
The first two ―World Climate Conferences‖ in 1979 and 1990 were organised by the WMO and played the key
roles in the creation of the U.N. climate
secretariat, and the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change.
This ―Global Framework‖ system could
help reduce losses caused by extreme
weather and climate events such as
heat waves, sandstorms, cyclones,
drought and floods which will become
more frequent and more intense as the
climate continues to warm, he said.
30
―Extreme weather events and changing
climatic conditions affect all of us, frequently resulting in humanitarian disasters and heavy losses,‖ said Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz.
Better precipitation forecasts, hazard
maps and early warning systems are
crucial to reduce impacts and assist ―decision-makers in their respective sectors
like food security, water management,
health care and tourism‖, he told delegates at the conference opening.
While people in developed countries
take weather forecasting for granted,
many regions do not have even basic
three-day forecasts.
―All of Africa has fewer working weather
stations than tiny Switzerland,‖ said
Walter Fust of the Global Humanitarian
Forum, a Geneva-based NGO focused on
collaborations to overcome key humanitarian challenges.
With more than 70 percent of Africans
working in agriculture, access to good
weather information is the most important way to help Africa cope with climate
change, Fust told IPS.
―The climate has changed, the local
people can no longer rely on their traditional knowledge,‖ he stressed.
hopeful the money will be found to
complete the network quickly. ―We often
forget the significant human consequences of climate change,‖ he said.
Kofi Annan, president of the Forum, told
delegates that it is crucial to recognise
that ―weather ignores national borders
and we need to work together to understand its complexities and challenges‖.
Coping or adapting to climate change
requires high-quality early warning systems because by 2020, up to 250 million
people in Africa will face growing shortages of water due to climate change,
Gro Harlem Brundtland, special envoy of
the U.N. secretary-general on climate
change,
told
the
conference.
The challenge is to communicate information about what to expect in a more
efficient manner to decision makers at
all levels, Brundtland said.
In reference to the ―other climate conference‖ later this year in Copenhagen,
where the world community hopes to
forge an agreement to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that are driving
climate change, Brundtland warned that
politics was pushing science aside. ―Political leaders must be guided by the
best available scientific knowledge,‖ she
stressed.
To overcome this, the Forum has
created a Weather Info for All privatepublic partnership that uses the existing
mobile telephone network as weather
stations and to SMS the information to
farmers. ―Africa has at least 60 percent
mobile coverage,‖ Fust said.
―We must mobilise political will at the
highest level to act on what the science
is telling us,‖ she concluded. And ―the
science demands that we act boldly‖.
Launched in June, they plan to install
5,000 automatic weather stations at cell
phone tower sites across Africa. The first
19 stations have been deployed in the
Lake Victoria region where 5,000 people
die every year due to storms and accidents.
Execs say only green
businesses will thrive
post-COP15, challenges remain
―It will only cost 30 million dollars to
cover all of Africa,‖ he said. Mobile companies Ericsson and Zain, along with
Google, are participants and Fust is
Companies that prepare for a carbonconstrained world will be the clear winners in the coming decades, said business executives attending the World
ws=48278
By Sarah Pickering and Justin Gerdes, 31 August 2009, Copenhagen Climate Council
Climate Conference-3, in Geneva. But
even for the early adopters, the path is
not an easy one.
Only businesses enlightened enough to
see the clear advantages of helping to
structure a framework for green growth
will flourish post-COP15, concluded
business executives at the World Climate Conference-3 , in Geneva. At a
side event convened by the Copenhagen
Climate Council and U.N. Global Compact , Dr. David N. Bresch, Director,
Sustainability and Emerging Risk Management, Swiss Reinsurance (Swiss Re),
and Lars Dyrhagen, Senior Director,
Corporate Public and Industry Affairs,
Danfoss A/S, advocated the importance
of The Copenhagen Call – six key recommendations for a new global climate
treaty from the 800 business leaders
who convened in Copenhagen for the
World Business Summit on Climate
Change in May 2009. Both acknowledged the Call could have been stronger
had it managed to draw support from
so-called "sinner companies" – though it
was still a manifesto equaling the position of the national governments of
many of the members of the audience,
noted Dyrhagen – and from the companies that weren't present at the Summit,
the small- and medium-sized firms that
comprise 97% of global businesses.
That said, Bresch stated that the sheer
number of companies assembled in Copenhagen to help shape the Call was a
demonstration of "concerted action from
many players." One challenge confronting even those companies seen to be
sustainability leaders is how to referee
internal (and external) debates over
what constitutes a responsible climate
change strategy. Dyrhagen said that
Danfoss headquarters is sometimes accused by affiliates of being "too green."
"One of the big dilemmas I have to cope
with is that we can have totally different
opinions. So we may be extremely green
at headquarters, but I can recognize
that our affiliates in the U.S. can lose big
customers if we are seen as way too
green." Another challenge cited was reconciling the financial benefits of globalization – such as reduced labor and
manufacturing costs – with ambitious
greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals.
What results is a strategic schizophrenia
for businesses as materials are shipped
between and across continents, swelling
companies' carbon footprints and straining efforts to slow the growth of, or reduce absolutely, GHG emissions. "Until
very recently, we had a tradition: wherever we sold locally, we also produced
locally," said Dyrhagen. "What happened
over the last five years? Well, we
wanted to take advantage of globalization. That's a dilemma from a strategy
perspective. Right now we need to find
the right balance in work between monitoring our climate strategy and our ultimate goal of greenhouse gas reduction."
For Danfoss, that goal is to offset
130,000 tons of CO2 equivalent in 2025
compared to 170,000 tons of CO2e offset today – a 20% reduction, even
though the company expects to be
much bigger by that year. Danfoss is a
manufacturer. In producing compressors
and heat exchangers and other mechan-
mEDIa21
ical goods it consumes large amounts of
fuel and electricity. Its path to cut emissions is the one more easily fixed in the
public's mind – emissions can be traced
back to factories and smokestacks. But
even for service companies like Swiss Re
the path to cut emissions involves some
tough choices. "It's relatively easy for
us. We're a service company; we don't
pollute a lot," said Bresch. Nevertheless
Swiss Re is looking at reducing travel,
making greater use of teleconferencing,
and in some areas no longer provides
company cars. "It's about recognition
about how we operate." That recognition encompasses the private carbon
footprint of its work force. Swiss Re offers employees subsidies for solar panels, home energy retrofits, and public
transit. Both executives saw hope in the
growing recognition that it is counterproductive to compartmentalize what
might be called the "public" or "private"
interest. In a world threatened by climate change, with people and companies equally at risk, they are one and
the same. "What is happening with
more and more industries is the following: the private interests of the company
are public interests. What is also happening is the other process, the reverse
process; the public interest is also the
private interest. And we can use this as
a good source of innovation," said Dyrhagen.
http://www.copenhagenclimatecouncil.c
om/get-informed/news/execs-say-onlygreen-businesses-will-thrive-post-cop15challenges-remain.html
31
Partners
Cadbury
Green Cross International
Solar Impulse
Sunwatt Bio Energie
Hewlett Packard
Canton de Genève
Centre Écologique Albert Schweitzer
Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de
Microtechnique
European Foundation for the
Sustainable Development of the
Regions
Flexcell
La Via Campesina
(International farmer movement)
UN-International Strategy for
Disaster Reduction
Ministère de l'Environnement
et de l'Assainissement du Mali
United Nations Development
Program
Monsanto
Noé21
United Nations Environment
Programme
Veolia Environnement
Population and Sustainability
Network
Global Humanitarian Forum
32
WWF International

mEDIa21 - On Assignment

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