Blue Carbon- Protecting Coastal Environments

The concept of Blue Carbon is gaining interest as an innovative solution to protect and improve coastal areas. These valuable coastal areas are mainly covered by sea grasses, salt marshes and mangrove forests. Scientists and economists are working together to develop ways in which these areas can be put on the market for their ability to capture carbon naturally and also to prevent them from being cleared for other opportunities. Many mangrove forests are being cleared to be used for shrimp farming. Blue Carbon would help to store carbon in these high carbon areas as well as preventing further emissions from deforestation. These areas would be a great investment because of their high importance for local communities as well as their carbon value.

For more information on Blue Carbon visit http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/oceans/

We have a deal!!!

In an overnight session, the COP president brought a proposed text to the plenary.  With a bit of tweaking to accommodate different parties, it is a balanced deal with progress on all fronts. Check out the UNFCCC page for a list of the Cancun Agreements: http://unfccc.int/2860.php.  Main texts include: AWG-LCA text and AWG-KP text.   The press release from the UN can be found here: UN Press Release.

Transparency and openness were the watchwords for the president, and symbolically, the doors were all open for the final session and the talks were on streaming video. After a short negative statement by Bolivia, the rest of the parties unanimously praised the president and process, and then all agreed to the text as proposed. The Indian delegate mentioned that in India, there are many gods and goddesses: he believes that the COP President may be one of the goddesses. If you just want to feel good about the UN and the world, watch the final session at http://webcast.cc2010.mx/webmedia_en.html?id=310.

Welcome to Team KP

Team KP: The Chair, Dr. Ashe, is third from right

The chairs of both the KP (Kyoto Protocol) and LCA (Long-term Cooperative Action) working groups have met on a few occasions with the observers to answer questions about the negotiating texts.  The KP chair, Dr. John Ashe, represents Antigua and Barbuda.  He completed his PhD in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and has a great sense of humor, evident with his opening remarks: "Welcome to Team KP. You know the line-up."

Both chairs were willing to answer questions about the recent draft reports.  The reports are available online at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2010/awg15/eng/crp04r03.pdf and http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2010/awglca13/eng/crp03.pdf.   Of course, the negotiators are still working furiously to see if more agreement can be reached before the conference ends.  The hope is that agreement can be made on some of the text, while leaving other parts to be decided at the COP 17 in Durban, South Africa.

Of course, the audience of NGO observers wanted to know what the potential was for a post-2012 agreement, which was impossible for the chairs to answer.  The chairs reiterated the need for balance across the tracks and within the tracks, and they are hoping for some progress.  They acknowledged the need for political input for a second commitment period and issues on the mechanism side.  Some observers were concerned that there is no "gap" acknowledged in the texts (referring to the "emissions gap" set forth in the UNEP report) -- but the response from the KP team was that they were trying to avoid a "gap" altogether.  For the LCA text, the concerns were that "just transition" (necessary for workers) remain in the shared vision text. There was a general sense that the observers wanted a 1.5 degree option, but a compromise may be 2 degrees with future review.  The chair of the LCA is hopeful that at least some funding could be established and set into motion. The chair of the LCA noted that the Gt emissions gap relates to the "level of ambition" in the LCA text. The idea is that we need to establish a process with a view to increasing the "level of ambition" in the future.

Ban Ki-moon and Felipe de Jesús Calderón urge nations to reach modest deal

The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, yesterday urged to consent to a modest deal to rein in climate change without holding out for perfection. After the US president, Barack Obama, and other leaders were not able to work out a new climate treaty at last year's summit in Copenhagen, Ban stressed that Cancún has more modest ambitions: “We don't need final agreement on all the issues, but we do need progress on all the fronts. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Ban said in his address to the opening ceremony of the high-level segment of the COP 16 talks. “Business as usual cannot be tolerated for it would condemn millions – no, billions – of children, women and men around the world to shrinking horizons and smaller futures. Cancún must represent a breakthrough,” he added. The Mexican president, Felipe de Jesús Calderón, warned that time was running out and called on nations to act now. “I urge you, all parties, to make concrete here a balanced packet of agreements that will allow is to advance. A balanced packet of agreements that will allow us to already to take the first actions and steps because we can't wait any longer and time is running out,” claims Calderón.

YOUNGOs Creatively Advocate 1.5 degrees

Around 1:30 today, some of the YOUNGOs (the youth at the conference), attracted a lot of attention with a creative idea and few supplies. They had a map of Asia, Europe and the Yucantan (part of Mexico where the conference is located). The maps showed only the landmass that would remain in each area if carbon emissions are not reduced, because sea level rise will wipe out significant parts of each area. To support a 1.5 degrees temperature rise maximum, they were asking people to dip their thumbs in green paint and leave a thumbprint where a dotted line represented land that would be lost. Once enough people had shown their support, thumbprints would fill the whole area that would be lost, effectively recreating the land to look like it does today, without any loss from sea level rise. The youth said that this was symbolic of people taking back what might be lost and not letting policy makers forget what is at stake. To further support their cause, some people are leaving the dried green paint on their thumb to show others at the conference where they stand on environmental matters.

Launch of U.S. Strategy for REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation)

Special Assistant to President Obama, Joe Aldy, began the conference today by speaking about the U.S. commitment to “fast start” financing in the Copenhagen Accord. Over the fiscal year 2010-2012 we will be dedicating a billion dollars to REDD+ activities that help developing countries mitigate climate change impacts by reducing deforestation and preserving forests for their carbon sink capabilities. Other landscapes with significant mitigation potential such as peatlands and wetlands are also being addressed. This is a significant increase as compared to last year when the total budget for all adaptation measures including combating deforestation was as much as the governments current investment in deforestation. Even though this is an increase, compared to previous years, it certainly does not meet the true financial needs to prevent the loss of the crucial services that forests provide.

The benefits that REDD+ activities provide not only work to reduce emissions but also to encourage sustainable development, improvement of quality of life, and economic growth. The US strategy for REDD+ bases itself on three main objectives. The first of these objectives is architecture, which supports policies and programs that advance the coordination and precision of REDD+ efforts. The second objective is readiness, implementing programs that act on scale that can significantly reduce emissions and meet ambitious mitigation commitments. Investments pertaining to the third objective, demonstration, identify and implement the best practices for achieving a decrease in deforestation emissions.

Joe Aldy addressed the need for the U.S. to partner with governments and organizations in smarter, more efficient ways as well as shift from higher to lower carbon economic strategies. We must also scale up forest carbon monitoring and ensure that this process remains as transparent as possible.

Patrick Smith from USAID, outlined REDD+ projects that are being pursued in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Guyana, Mexico, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia, Uganda, Zambia, and Gabon. USAID’s regional development mission in Asian countries has had considerable success in the past few years bolstering sustainable forest management and readying it for REDD+ actions.

There is much that still needs to be done, such as strengthening efforts in working with protecting the forest and native lands of indigenous people in the U.S. as well as in developing countries, and gaining more funding to begin making substantial strides for combating deforestation and mitigating impacts of climate change. It is hopeful however, that our country is beginning to address the importance of these issues by helping other countries take action.

Another Joint Post by Garth and Nelson

A German Call for Action

In his speech at the High-Level Segment of COP 16 which was opened yesterday by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Dr. Norbert Röttgen, urged the parties to find solutions to fight Climate Change. In his speech the minister reminded the attending party delegates that “immediate action is needed now” and that there is no time for delay. It is questionable though if the parties will listen to the minister and produce results in the last three days of the conference.

Opening Ceremonies and Sacred Dances

The opening ceremonies for the high-level segment included an opening ritual as seen in the photos. Just over 100 tickets were distributed to the civil society observers, so we, like most, watched the event on the screens. Now, however, all of the high-level ministerial statements are in an open plenary and it is possible to go in and watch each country's spokesperson make his or her statement in person. These statements are all online at: http://webcast.cc2010.mx/webmedia_en.html?id=181.

A Report Card for the Reef

Rene at a side event on the reefs

Last night, over 100 people gathered off-site to learn of the health of the Mesoamerica reef. There were other draws as well -- the promise of food and drinks and remarks from Daryl Hannah. Unfortunately, the reef is not doing well.  The complete report can be found at 2010 Report Card for the Mesoamerica Reef  http://www.scribd.com/2010-Report-Card-for-the-Mesoamerican-Reef/d/44402207. In 2005/6, 6% of the sites studied were in critical condition. That percentage has increased to 30% in the most recent report.

Daryl Hannah, activist

Daryl Hannah speaks about reefs

Adapting to the impacts of climate change in mountain regions

Ministers of Environment from Chile, Peru, and Nepal spoke beside a distinguished panel discussing primarily adaptation measures, along with mitigation efforts for climate change in the mountain areas. The Andean region in the nations of Chile and Peru are already seeing the harmful effects of climate change. Dramatic changes in precipitation patterns, water and food shortages, soil degradation, and biodiversity (in general, entire mountain ecosystems) are facing the impacts of climate change, and will require swift action regarding implementing adaptation measures. In the effort to adapt and mitigate these impacts, scientific support is essential for identifying the effects and vulnerabilities climate change imposes on the mountain regions. Mountains provide water through their glaciers and snowmelt, protect water basins (water used for energy supply, irrigation, and human consumption), soil quality, biodiversity, and promote economic activity in the tourism sector, all of which are being threatened by impacts of climate change. The Climate Change Adaptation Program (PPAC from its Spanish acronym) is a “bilateral initiative” of the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation working with innovative approaches for adaptation at local and national levels. In Peru, the implementation phase of PPAC consists of a three year timeframe (Feb 2009-Jan 2012), in which it will build up the capacity of regional and local stakeholders in the mountain regions of Peru to tackle the impacts of climate change. So far, PPAC has identified the following observations adaptation measures need to address regarding water resources in the Huacrahuacho region (near Cuzco); 42% of the population lack access to water services, the Huacrahuacho watershed is diminishing at a rate of 12mm each year, increased precipitation intensity (correlating with erosive potential of the soils), and inequitable water access for irrigation purposes within the surrounding communities. These scientific observations help determine the unsustainability of economic activities and help redefine development and adaptation strategies. The PPAC is targeting the reduction of vulnerabilities in the context of communities and families, and therefore “pose a transformative dimension”. This method is the only way to help adaptation measures contribute to increasing quality of life and the development of local populations. More to come soon!