Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Fears for global climate fund emerge

A multi-billion dollar green climate fund could end up a casualty of increasingly fraught negotiations in the final hours of the UN Climate talks, a senior official has warned.

“Of course it could fall victim,” Trevor Manuel, the former South African finance minister who spent much of the last year working on the fund’s design, told the Financial Times. “It’s about the negotiating chip, not about this thing.”

The fund is deemed critical to helping poorer countries tackle the impact of global warming, but countries are still bickering over issues such as which ones would have... Read more..

UN Climate Change Conference 2011: US not keen on legally binding agreements

The United States doesn't consider the scientifically determined goal of containing global temperature rise to two degrees above the pre-industrial period to be an "operational cap". The global temperature goal was written into the Cancun Agreements which was adopted by all countries at the UN-sponsored talks last December.

The US said it viewed the two degrees guardrail as an "important and serious goal", and as "a guide to action we take" but that it was not a serious cap. "It is important and serious and it is a guide. But that is different from being an operational cap, that we... Read more..

Green energy to be made mandatory for powering cell towers

The Department of Telecom will make it mandatory for mobile companies to tap into renewable sources of energy for powering their towers.

Under the new rules, at least 50 per cent of towers and 20 per cent of the urban towers are to be powered by hybrid energy sources (renewable +grid) by 2015.

This will have to be scaled up to 75 per cent of rural towers and 33 per cent in urban areas by 2020.

The move is aimed at reducing the carbon emissions due to increased dependence on diesel. India has around 3.5 lakh telecom towers of which about 70 per cent are in rural areas.... Read more..

Environment minister jayanthi Natarajan 'cautiously optimistic' about Durban outcome

Working on a rapidly ticking clock, South Africa has made it clear that Durban is likely to see the linking of a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol with "balanced progress" with steps taken towards a "legally binding outcome" for all.

Environment minister jayanthi Natarajan said that link between the second commitment period and a "roadmap" for a legally binding outcome was still being maintained "gap between the ambition level demanded by the European Union and other developed countries and the implementation levels demanded by developing countries continues to be... Read more..

Canada on the World Stage: Inerjys CEO Talks Renewable Energy In Durban

While governments continue to face uncertainty in their negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the private sector has some ideas on solutions to climate change.

Stephan Ouaknine, Managing Partner of the Montreal-based firm Inerjys Ventures, spoke at the World Climate Summit in Durban to discuss how the private sector can help make clean energy affordable and abundant.

The second annual Summit is the largest international business conference that occurs alongside the government COP17 climate change negotiations.

Ouaknine spoke about the need for new business models... Read more..

Battle Over the Trees: Indigenous Peoples Denounce REDD+ at COP 17 Talks

Indigenous peoples came to COP 17 with a simple message: Your Kyoto Protocol isn’t working for us.

Amid skepticism and growing doubt, the climate talks known as COP 17—shorthand for the 17th United Nations Conference of the Parties—began in Durban, South Africa, on November 28 and are set to end December 9. Many environmentalists arrived feeling that the world’s nations aren’t serious about taking action to prevent catastrophic global temperature increases, especially in regions most vulnerable to climate change and where indigenous peoples are disproportionately affected as... Read more..

UN-led campaign that planted 12 billion trees worldwide starts new phase

A United Nations campaign that has overseen the planting of more than 12 billion trees around the world has been handed over to a youth-led environmental organization based in Germany that will build on the initiative’s achievements over the past four years.

“More than 12 billion trees have been planted by people from all walks of life – schoolchildren to presidents – testament to a growing global movement for sustainability,” said Secretary-General ban Ki-moon in his remarks marking the handover of the campaign.

“As we look to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable... Read more..

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Women Turn Waste Into Wealth

Standing on the shimmering white beach and gazing out at the turquoise blue waters of the Arabian sea, it is hard to believe that a decade ago this international tourist destination was under siege by mounting heaps of garbage.

But Kovalam, about 12 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, capital of southern Kerala state, has been declared a ‘zero waste area’ by a women’s self-help group (SHG) which is engaged in recycling waste into biodegradable carry bags and other items of daily use.

Leena, 35, who heads the SHG - one of several in Kovalam - said she was initially sceptical about... Read more..

Australia, N.Z. Push Kyoto Extension to Avoid Being ’Only Idiots’ Acting

Australia and New Zealand, which sponsor the most developed carbon markets outside Europe, say they won’t agree to remain part of the Kyoto treaty unless other countries bolster efforts to curb emissions.

Australia will only sign up for further cuts under Kyoto through 2020 if all big emitting countries agree to legally binding actions, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said in an interview in Durban, South Africa. New Zealand says it won’t join unless it has stronger assurance that voluntary pledges will be met by large polluters such as China.

“We need to be able to go... Read more..

Moser Baer to spend $1 bn on solar plants in 9 months

Moser Baer Clean Energy, the renewable energy vertical of Moser Baer India, today said it is investing $1 billion (Rs 5,100 crore) for setting up solar projects with a cumulative capacity of 300 MW in the country and abroad in the next nine months.

"We are well-funded right now, we raised around $1 billion in the last 12 months. We commissioned 100 MW in solar projects from April-September, 2011, and would add 300 MW more through solar in the next nine months," Moser Baer India Executive Director Ratul Puri told reporters at a Bloomberg-UTV event here today.

These projects... Read more..

N-energy, military ties focus of Indian PM's Moscow visit

Ahead of a three-day Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh'svisit to Moscow from Dec 15-17, Russian Ambassador Alexander M. Kadakin Wednesday said that the focus of the summit beween the leaders of the two countries this time will be on expanding nuclear energy cooperation and building on long-standing military ties.

Kadakin told reporters here that India and Russia will be looking foward to signing of about half-a-dozen agreements in the nuclear energy, defence and economic cooperation during Singh's visit.i

He added that after 10 years of "strategic" ties, the two countries... Read more..

BASIC countries remain united over climate change: Chinese delegate

Brazil, South Africa, India and China, known as "BASIC countries", remained united over major issues in relation to climate change, a senior Chinese official on climate change said here on Tuesday.

BASIC countries are united and demand that the second commitment of the Kyoto protocol "is a must," Xie Zhenhua, who led a Chinese delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, told a joint news briefing with his South African, Indian and Brazilian counterparts.

"The BASIC countries are united firmly..we are countries of action. We are ready to do our due... Read more..