You are viewing our old site. See the new one here
|
|
In this real audio interview,
Deborah Wilson Cornland of the SEI discusses initiatives aimed at promoting clean city
vehicles, as well as her hopes for the COP4.
![]() |
![]() ![]() |
The Clean Development Mechanism panel
This event saw the launch of a UNDP report called Issues and Options for The Clean Development Mechanism. The report includes contributions from invited authors with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives on the CDM.
Prof. José Goldemberg (the
report's editor), Instituto de Eletrotécnica e Energia, Universidade de São Paulo, golemb@iee.usp.br, and Thomas Johansson, UNDP, thomas.johansson@undp.org were among a group
of panlists that discussed these issues at the meeting.
Web site: http://www.undp.org |
IGCC PANEL PRESENTATIONS
First panel: ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE
Moderator: Stephen Schneider
Peter Doran talked to Michael
Molitor, the convenor of the Panel on Abrupt Climate Change, about a number of
issues to be raised at IGCC panels at COP-4. Molitor began with a summary of the
presentations at the Abrupt Climate Change presentation.
Dr. Ray Weiss, University of California San
Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Dr. Richard Carson, IGCC Research Director
for International Environmental Policy, http://www.igcc.ucsd.edu
Associated Publication: Richard C.J. Somerville (rsomerville@ucsd.edu) is the author of The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change, a scientists account of climate change for the non-scientist.
Panel 2: THE CARBON CYCLE AND SINKS ENHANCEMENT
Moderator: Richard Carson
Sandra Brown of Winrock International discussed methods used to conserve or sequester carbon while at the same time meeting more traditional forestry objectives. She argued that the technical understanding necessary to measure changes in the carbon flows in forests already exists and can be procured at a relatively low cost. Jayant Sathaye, University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, discussed concerns raised regarding forestry and carbon sinks within the context of the Kyoto Protocol.
Susan Trumbore, University of California, Irvine, addressed the complex issue of carbon in soils, which is stored mostly in the form of organic matter. Ray Weiss of the University of California's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, discussed the reservoir of natural carbon dioxide in the oceans.
THE ALUMINIUM LOBBY
One of the industry groups working the lobbies at COP-4 is the International Primary Aluminium Institute. Among their objectives are a confirmation of 1990 as the base year for validating reductions in GHG gases for the period 1990-2008, credit for early action to secure the benefits already achieved and to motivate further action by the industry, a market-based emissions trading system with permits issued at the national rather than at international level, and international global warming measures that have global coverage rather than being confined to OECD countries.
![]() ![]() |
NEW REPORTS
REPORT LINKS CLIMATE, POPULATION FUTURES
Expanding peoples power to plan their families could help pave the way to a stable climate, according to a new analysis of per capita greenhouse gas emissions from Population Action International (PAI). The resulting slower rates of population growth would facilitate development of an equitable system of tradable emissions permits that could improve the economic prospects of poorer countries while encouraging global emissions reductions.
Recent negotiations on climate change have all but ignored population trends, according to PAIs analysis. But population dynamics will increase in importance as governments recognize the need to base long-term climate agreements on a concept of equal rights to use the atmosphere. The PAI report, Profiles in Carbon: An update on Population, Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emission, is being released at COP-4.
"The atmosphere is the common property of all human beings, and the impacts of human-induced climate change will ignore national borders," said Robert Engelman, director of PAIs population and environment program and author of the report. "Given the need for broad international support, future climate agreements must recognize that the limited capacity of the atmosphere to absorb greenhouse gases is a resource to be shared fairly by everyone."
Contact Details:
Population Action International: http://www.populationaction.org
Leslie Isom in Washington: lisom@popact.org
Miscelaneous photos:
![]() E-Mail: mailbox@terri.res.in |
![]() |
![]() ![]() |
© Earth Negotiations Bulletin, 1998. All rights reserved.