Learning from the practitioners: benefit sharing perspectives from enterprising communities
M.S. Suneetha and Balakrishna Pisupati, UNEP/UNU-IAS, October 2009

Launched on the margins of ABS 8, this study uses an analytical framework to take a closer look at benefit sharing by focusing on inter- and intra-community equity in economic transactions related to bioprospecting. Specifically, it examines the management and use of biological resources for income-generating activities at the local level by the providers of the resources. The study also focuses on how various communities in a range of ecosystems share the benefits derived from economic activities and how that affects their ability to meet their needs and ensure social and economic well-being. Representatives of fourteen communities from various ecosystems provided information on their priorities for resource use and management, acquisition of benefits and mechanisms for the distribution of benefits among their members, including challenges they face in the process. Download the publication [pdf] …

Grassroots initiatives from Bangladesh to Zimbabwe are the Gold Winners of the 2009 SEED Awards
UNEP press release, 10 November 2009

NAIROBI, KENYA: Outstanding social and environmental projects from Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Colombia, Southern Africa, India and Niger are the winners of the 2009 Gold Awards. The prize recognizes promising, locally driven start-up enterprises that work in developing countries to improve livelihoods, tackle poverty and manage natural resources sustainably. The Gold Winners include an association of small-scale women farmers in Zimbabwe striving to reverse severe land degradation through organic farming, and civil society organizations in Southern Africa and India that are developing bio-cultural protocols. Read the UNEP press release … Visit the SEED Initiative website …

“People can’t afford to pay attention to flowers until they have enough to eat.” –Michael Pollan This, a quote from journalist, author, and lefty-activist Michael Pollan, a professor at Berkley.

He writes this in his book “The Botany of Desire”, a book discussing why humans crave the things we do, such as sweetness, beauty, and intoxication, etc. He makes a solid point when discussing how people in Africa traditionally don’t really seem to care about flowers. I think if I had a 50% chance of contracting a deadly and painful disease that would kill me before I was 5, I might be less inclined to give a damn about flowers as well.

Funny, how such trivial things can become a #1 priority once someone is rich enough to care. I’m sure countries like China, India, and parts of Africa are losing sleep over the narrow-sighted science which is the global warming scare. I’m sure they’re all ecstatic that the birds in North America are safe, while they’re dying of Malaria and people like Rachel Carson go down in history as saints. I’m sure they’re pumped that international strong-arms such as the UNEP want to cap and tax their carbon emissions, stunt their economic growth, and forever keep their people shoeless, pooping in holes in the ground, covered in flies, and sleeping under tarps.

Simply put, an environmentalist humanitarian is an oxymoron. Your war against carbon is a war against the poor…

“People can’t afford to pay attention to carbon until they’re no longer sleeping in cardboard boxes.”

Some 16,000 volunteers will take to the streets of Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, next month in a United Nations programme to tackle health hazards caused by public dumping of waste in a rapidly growing metropolitan area that has endured repeated fatal outbreaks of cholera, water-borne diseases and malaria.

The project is part of a £20 million United Kingdom-funded project to improve the sustainable use of natural resources in Africa’s largest country, to be carried out by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) over the next three years. UK Minister of State for International Development Gareth Thomas was visiting Juba to launch the segment that aims to establish long-term waste management capacity in Southern Sudan.

The clean-up, which will be replicated in the nine states of southern Sudan, will be coupled with a sustained awareness-raising campaign to encourage the citizens of Juba to adopt an environmentally friendly attitude towards the disposal of waste in the city.

UNEP’s country-wide programme seeks to help the people of Sudan, a country ravaged by several current and recent conflicts, to achieve sustainable peace, recovery and development by improving the management of natural resources.

The recently established UNEP office in Juba will also provide technical support to the Government to manage its forests and other valuable natural resources in a sustainable manner, and work to build the capacity of Government ministries to tackle environmental issues.

After a peace agreement in 2005 ended two decades of war between the Government in Khartoum, in the north, and southern Sudanese rebels, UNEP conducted a post-conflict environmental assessment, making 85 recommendations and outlining a detailed US$ 120-million action plan over three to five years.

Source: UN News Centre, 16 Oct 2009

Some 16,000 volunteers will take to the streets of Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, next month in a United Nations programme to tackle health hazards caused by public dumping of waste in a rapidly growing metropolitan area that has endured repeated fatal outbreaks of cholera, water-borne diseases and malaria.

The project is part of a £20 million United Kingdom-funded project to improve the sustainable use of natural resources in Africa’s largest country, to be carried out by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) over the next three years. UK Minister of State for International Development Gareth Thomas was visiting Juba to launch the segment that aims to establish long-term waste management capacity in Southern Sudan.

The clean-up, which will be replicated in the nine states of southern Sudan, will be coupled with a sustained awareness-raising campaign to encourage the citizens of Juba to adopt an environmentally friendly attitude towards the disposal of waste in the city.

UNEP’s country-wide programme seeks to help the people of Sudan, a country ravaged by several current and recent conflicts, to achieve sustainable peace, recovery and development by improving the management of natural resources.

The recently established UNEP office in Juba will also provide technical support to the Government to manage its forests and other valuable natural resources in a sustainable manner, and work to build the capacity of Government ministries to tackle environmental issues.

After a peace agreement in 2005 ended two decades of war between the Government in Khartoum, in the north, and southern Sudanese rebels, UNEP conducted a post-conflict environmental assessment, making 85 recommendations and outlining a detailed US$ 120-million action plan over three to five years.

Source: UN News Centre, 16 Oct 2009

Stakeholder Forum and Earthscan have partnered again to bring out the new book: “Climate Change and Energy Insecurity.

The new book is edited by Andrew Higham, Richard Sherman and Felix Dodds and is now out with the Foreword by UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner:  

chapters by Lord Stern, Linda Adams, Nnimmo Bassey, Ambassador Stuart,  Beck, Craig Bennett, Barbara J. Bramble, Gidon, Bromberg, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, Director General UN Foor and Agriculture Organisation,  Jacques Diouf, Executive Secretary of the Convention for Biological Diversity Ahmed Djoghlaf, Felix Dodds, Michael K. Dorsey,and  former Executive Director of UNEP Elizabeth Dowdeswell

Others are-Ladeene Freimuth, former German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Winston Gereluk, Devyani Gupta, Andrew Higham, Steve Howard, Nader al Khateeb, Melinda Kimble, Johan Kuylenstierna, Jürgen Maier, Munqeth Mehyar, Michael Moore, Derek Osborn, Lucien Royer, South African Tourism Minister and former Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Richard Sherman, Andrew Simms, Chris Spence, Nicholas Stern (Lord Stern of Brentford, Kt, FBA), Dave Trouba

Maurice Strong said of the book; “This book is an important contribution to exploring this vital part of the environmental security agenda.”

The book is available from Stakeholder Forum

http://www.stakeholderforum.org and http://www.earthsummit2012.org

: http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?TabId=92820&v=497025

Follow Felix on Twitter http://twitter.com/felixdodds

“Effective execution of Agenda 21 will require a profound reorientation of all human society, unlike anything the world has ever experienced a major shift in the priorities of both governments and individuals and an unprecedented redeployment of human and financial resources. This shift will demand that a concern for the environmental consequences of every human action be integrated into individual and collective decision-making at every level.”
- [Excerpt from attorney Dan Sitarz’s book about the United Nations’ Agenda 21, the blueprint for the 21st century (Agenda 21: The Earth Summit Strategy), written with the cooperation of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Listed as one of the top books for the 21st century by the International Center for Environment and Public Policy of the California Institute of Public Affairs.]

Agenda 21 – The UN Blueprint for the 21st Century

As described in my previous article on Sustainable Development, Agenda 21 was the main outcome of the United Nation’s Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Agenda 21 outlines, in detail, the UN’s vision for a centrally managed global society. This contract binds governments around the world to the United Nation’s plan for controlling the way we live, eat, learn, move and communicate – all under the noble banner of saving the earth. If fully implemented, Agenda 21 would have the government involved in every aspect of life of every human on earth.

Agenda 21 spreads it tentacles from Governments, to federal and local authorities, and right down to community groups. Chapter 28 of Agenda 21 specifically calls for each community to formulate its own Local Agenda 21: ”Each local authority should enter into a dialogue with its citizens, local organizations, and private enterprises and formulate ‘a Local Agenda 21.’ Through consultation and consensus-building, local authorities would learn from citizens and from local, civic, community, business and industrial organizations and acquire the information needed for formulating the best strategies.” – Agenda 21, Chapter 28, sec 1.3

Interestingly, in April 1991, fourteen months before Earth Summit, Prince Charles held a private two day international conference aboard the royal yacht Britannia, moored off the coast of Brazil. His goal was to bring together key international figures in an attempt to achieve a degree of harmony between the various countries that would gather at the Summit. Al Gore was present, along with senior officials from the United Nations and the World Bank.

At the summit 179 nations officially signed Agenda 21 and many more have followed since. Nearly 12,000 local and federal authorities have legally committed themselves to the Agenda. In practice this means that all their plans and policies must begin with an assessment of how the plan or policy meets the requirements of Agenda 21, and no plans or policies are allowed to contradict any part of the Agenda. Local authorities are audited by UN inspectors and the results of the audits are placed on the UN website. You can see how many local authorities in your country were bound by Agenda 21 in 2001 here. The number has increased significantly since then.

The official opening ceremony was conducted by the Dalai Lama and centered around a Viking long-ship that was constructed to celebrate the summit and sailed to Rio from Norway. The ship was appropriately named Gaia. A huge mural of a beauiful woman holding the earth within her hands adorned the entrance to the summit. Al Gore lead the US delegation where he was joined by 110 Heads of State, and representatives of more than 800 NGO’s.

Maurice Strong, Club of Rome member, devout Bahai, founder and first Secretary General of UNEP, has been the driving force behind the birth and imposition of Agenda 21. While he chaired the Earth Summit, outside his wife Hanne and 300 followers called the Wisdom-Keepers, continuously beat drums, chanted prayers to Gaia, and trended scared flames in order to “establish and hold the energy field” for the duration of the summit. You can view actual footage of these ceremonies on YouTube. During the opening speech Maurice Strong made the following statements:

“The concept of national sovereignty has been an immutable, indeed sacred, principle of international relations. It is a principle which will yield only slowly and reluctantly to the new imperatives of global environmental cooperation. It is simply not feasible for sovereignty to be exercised unilaterally by individual nation states, however powerful. The global community must be assured of environmental security.” – Link

“It is the responsibility of each human being today to choose between the force of darkness and the force of light. We must therefore transform our attitudes, and adopt a renewed respect for the superior laws of Divine Nature.” – Link

“Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, air-conditioning, and suburban housing – are not sustainable. A shift is necessary which will require a vast strengthening of the multilateral system, including the United Nations.” – Link

Among other things, the agenda called for a Global Biodiversity Assessment of the State of the Earth. Prepared by the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), this 1140 page document armed UN leaders with the “ecological basis, and moral authority” they needed to validate their global management system. The GBA concludes on page 863 that “the root causes of the loss of biodiversity are embedded in the way societies use resources. This world view is characteristic of large scale societies, heavily dependent on resources brought from considerable distances. It is a world view that is characterized by the denial of sacred attributes in nature, a characteristic that became firmly established about 2000 years ago with the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religious traditions. Eastern cultures with religious traditions such as Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism did not depart as drastically from the perspective of humans as members of a community of beings including other living and non-living elements.” In other words Christians and Moslems are to blame for the sorry state of the world because their religions do not involve worshipping “sacred nature.”

Following the Earth Summit Maurice Strong was named Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, and was appointed to the position of Chief Policy Advisor by Kofi Annan. He was also a member of the UN’s Commission on Global Governance, and the key architect of the Kyoto Protocol. Strong and his wife have also established the Manitou Foundation, providing land in the Colorado to an eclectic mix of religious groups, including the Crestone Mountain Zen Center, the Spiritual Life Institute (a Catholic Carmelite monastery), the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram, the Sri Aurobindo Learning Center, Mangala Shri Bhuti (Tibetan Buddhists), and Karma Thegsum Tashi Gomang (Indian mystics). The Strongs have located their spiritual centre in the Colorado mountains because:”The Strongs learned that since antiquity indigenous peoples had revered this pristine wilderness as a place for conducting their vision quests and receiving shamanic trainings. It is prophesied that the world’s religious traditions would gather here and help move theworld toward globally conscious co-existence and co-creation.”

So what exactly does Agenda 21 contain? It consists of 115 different and very specific programs designed to facilitate, or to force, the transition to Sustainable Development. The objective, clearly enunciated by the leaders of the Earth Summit, is to bring about a change in the present system of independent nations. The agenda is broken up into 8 ‘programme areas for action’:

>> Agriculture
>> Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management
>> Education
>> Energy and Housing
>> Population
>> Public Health
>> Resources and recycling
>> Transportation, Sustainable Economic Development

As you can see Agenda 21 addresses nearly every aspect of modern life. If you have a spare few days the entire document can be read here. I encourage the reader to at least read the Table of Contents in order to understand the true scope of this ‘blueprint for the 21st century.’ I won’t torture the reader by going into the document in too much depth but I will provide the first six paragraphs so that you can understand the true intent of Agenda 21:

1.1. Humanity stands at a defining moment in history. We are confronted with a perpetuation of disparities between and within nations, a worsening of poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy, and the continuing deterioration of the ecosystems on which we depend for our well-being. However, integration of environment and development concerns and greater attention to them will lead to the fulfilment of basic needs, improved living standards for all, better protected and managed ecosystems and a safer, more prosperous future. No nation can achieve this on its own; but together we can – in a global partnership for sustainable development.

1.2. This global partnership must build on the premises of General Assembly resolution 44/228 of 22 December 1989, which was adopted when the nations of the world called for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, and on the acceptance of the need to take a balanced and integrated approach to environment and development questions.

1.3. Agenda 21 addresses the pressing problems of today and also aims at preparing the world for the challenges of the next century. It reflects a global consensus and political commitment at the highest level on development and environment cooperation. Its successful implementation is first and foremost the responsibility of Governments. National strategies, plans, policies and processes are crucial in achieving this. International cooperation should support and supplement such national efforts. In this context, the United Nations system has a key role to play. Other international, regional and subregional organizations are also called upon to contribute to this effort. The broadest public participation and the active involvement of the non-governmental organizations and other groups should also be encouraged.

1.4. The developmental and environmental objectives of Agenda 21 will require a substantial flow of new and additional financial resources to developing countries, in order to cover the incremental costs for the actions they have to undertake to deal with global environmental problems and to accelerate sustainable development. Financial resources are also required for strengthening the capacity of international institutions for the implementation of Agenda 21.

1.5. In the implementation of the relevant programme areas identified in Agenda 21, special attention should be given to the particular circumstances facing the economies in transition. It must also be recognized that these countries are facing unprecedented challenges in transforming their economies, in some cases in the midst of considerable social and political tension.

1.6. The programme areas that constitute Agenda 21 are described in terms of the basis for action, objectives, activities and means of implementation. Agenda 21 is a dynamic programme. It will be carried out by the various actors according to the different situations, capacities and priorities of countries and regions in full respect of all the principles contained in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. It could evolve over time in the light of changing needs and circumstances. This process marks the beginning of a new global partnership for sustainable development.

Like many ‘green movement initiatives’ Agenda 21 is a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’. As explained in my brief biography I have been actively involved in preparing Agenda 21 action plans and monitoring compliance with environmental permits. All the policies and plans we developed were required to begin with a description of how they met the objectives of Agenda 21 and various other UN agreements, and were audited too determine how they complied with UN requirements. It was these experiences that lead to my research into what was ‘behind it all’ and the subsequent publication of this website.

Agenda 21 is not an environmental management policy, but an attempt to impose a global centrally planned quasi-government administered by the United Nations. Under Agenda 21 all central government and local authority signatories are required to conform strictly to a common prescribed standard and hence this is just communism resurrected in a new guise. Now that Agenda 21 has gained a stranglehold on global regulatory and planning processes Maurice Strong and his Club of Rome colleagues have moved on to the next phase of the Global Green Agenda.

In association with fellow CoR member Mikhail Gorbachev, Strong co-chaired the committee responsible for drafting the Earth Charter. Compared to the 2500 pages that make up Agenda 21 and the BGA it is a tiny document – only 4 pages long. But it is of far more significance to the Global Green Agenda. The Earth Charter is a “declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century”. It is the constitution for a New Green Order. You can read about it here.

SOURCE: http://www.wiseupjournal.com/?p=475

Bio-cultural Community Protocols – A Community Approach to Ensuring the Integrity of Environmental Law and Policy
Kabir Bavikatte and Harry Jonas (eds), UNEP, Natural Justice, October 2009

This book illustrates the application of bio-cultural community protocols to a range of environmental legal frameworks. Part I focuses on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and access and benefit-sharing. Part II looks at other frameworks to which bio-cultural protocols can be applied by indigenous and local communities, including REDD, the CBD programme of work on protected areas and payment for ecosystem services schemes. Part III looks more broadly at the meaning of bio-cultural protocols for environmental law. According to the authors, the development of bio-cultural protocols is one way in which communities can increase their capacity to drive the local implementation of international and national environmental laws. Such a protocol is developed after a community undertakes a consultative process to outline their core ecological, cultural and spiritual values and customary laws relating to their TK and resources, based on which they provide clear terms and conditions to regulate access to their knowledge and resources. Download the book [pdf] …

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I recently had the pleasure of covering the Africa Investor CEO Forum on Infrastructure, Energy & Clean Tech Products and Awards which took place at the CTICC . The event ran alongside the UNEP FI Roundtable on Climate Change and formed part of “Cape Town Green Week”.

Some of the awards included:

Transport deal of the year
Developer of the year
Water deal of the year
ICT/Telecoms deal of the year
Infrastrucuter deal of the year

The Africa Investor 2009 event will facilitate bankable investment project pitches from developers and sponsors, one-on-one meetings with investors and dialogue with infrastructure regulators on specific projects. It also focused on Energy and Clean Tech Projects and looked at the priorities identified by UNEP FI and other entities to mobilise the skills and resources of the banking, investment and insurance sectors behind an effective, efficient and equitable global deal on climate change that will be tabled at COP15 in Copenhagen.

The conference consisted of various panels and speakers and to name a few included:

Karen Shippy, Assosciate Enviromental Services, Aurecon
Ambassador Dan E Frederiksen, Embassy of Denmark
Sipho Mkhize, CEO PetroSA
Ambassador Dieter Haller, Embassy of Germany
George Chikava, CEO Communications and Allied Industries Pension Fund, Zimbabwe
Mike Poe, Head of Infrastructure, Energy and Telecommunications, Nedbank Capital
Rashid Toefy, CEO CTICC
Michael Creighton, Head of SACE
Matthias Nass VP ECI Telecom
Richard Wood, Partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

The conference also included a networking lunch sponsored by PetroSA.

The conference ended with a fancy gala dinner at the CTICC where Arno Carstens from SpringbokNudeGirls performed with a local choir as part of the ‘Consider Us’ Campaign. Later in the evening we were also treated to another musical treat by 3 Tons of Fun and they delivered getting almost everyone up and onto the dance floor.

Below are some pictures from the Africa-Investor Conference 2009.

Cap and Trade’s Biggest Losers: A new report by energy consultants Wood Mackenzie finds “cap-and-trade legislation will cost U.S. refiners about $100 billion a year by 2015 and put them at a competitive disadvantage to refiners in Europe.” — WSJ’s Environemental Capital

Bright Automotive Bags $1.4M Army Demo Deal: Anderson, Ind.-based Bright Automotive said today the U.S. Army plans to test the startup’s plug-in hybrid vehicle tech in non-combat situations as part of a $1.4 million demonstration project.

New World for Cleantech: “The race to cash in on the environmental technology wave just got a little more crowded on Monday with the founding of the New World Capital Group, a private equity firm focused on investing in companies in the nascent ‘green tech’ sector.” — NYT’s DealBook

Public Financing as Stimulus for Private Investment: A new report out today from the United Nations’ Environment Program suggests several public finance mechanisms to “help stimulate private investment in climate change solutions in developing countries.” — Reuters

What to Expect this Week from the Senate: The Senate is digging into debates over the climate bill this week. Here’s what to expect — WSJ.

Three UN agencies, UNESCO, FAO and UN-HABITAT, have been elected on the new Board of Governors of the World Water Council (WWC), organisers of the World Water Forum (WWF). Activists see the election as a reaction to their own lobby to get the United Nations to organise the next World Water Forum instead of the WWC. The activists say that 26 countries’ governments had endorsed their call for a UN-led forum after the 5th WWF in Istanbul in March 2009.

After it became known that the WWC was lobbying to get the UN on board, activist groups started a counter-lobbying offensive with a petition directed at the UN’s Secretary General to prevent UN agencies from joining. The petition, which attracted nearly 700 signatories, was an initiative of the Blue Planet Project of the Council of Canadians.

Reacting to the news of the UN agency sign-on to the WWC, Anil Naidoo of the Blue Plant Project said “it was not unexpected, but is a disappointment. The reality is that these UN agencies have been under severe pressure for some time. I can tell you that there are many good people within the UN who are disturbed by the degree of corporate influence within their agencies”.

The WWC’s new Board of Governors will oversee and guide the Council’s work for the coming three years. The elections took place during the triennial General Assembly for which more than 280 members had gathered in Marseille, France. Through majority rule voting, the members elected the 36 Governors from 74 candidatures and appointed Loic Fauchon to continue to serve as President of the World Water Council.

The rector of UNESCO-IHE Institue for Water Education Andras Szollosi-Nagy was elected as one of the four WWC Bureau Members. UN-HABITAT Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka and the Service Chief of FAO’s Water Development and Management Unit (NRLW) Pasquale Steduto are the two other UN representatives on WWC’s board.

Several other UN agencies are WWC members. In the June 2009 membership list we find the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank and the World Meterological Organisation (WMO).

Brasil é citado como exemplo positivo ao extrair etanol da cana de açúcar

Antônio Martins Neto

Na luta contra o aquecimento global, os biocombustíveis são vistos como armas potentes e eficientes, capazes de substituir boa parte do petróleo consumido no planeta.

Mas um relatório do United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – o programa de meio ambiente das Nações Unidas – recomenda uma análise mais cautelosa dos benefícios e desvantagens oferecidos pelos combustíveis extraídos de biomassa e prega a necessidade de separar o joio do trigo.

O documento é baseado numa revisão detalhada de pesquisas sobre o tema publicadas até agosto de 2009 e foi divulgado na semana passada pelo UNEP.

O relatório – o primeiro do Painel Internacional de Administração de Recursos Sustentáveis do UNEP – afirma que a primeira geração de biocombustíveis, como o etanol extraído da cana de açúcar, pode ter um impacto positivo na redução de emissão de gases de efeito estufa.

O texto cita o Brasil, onde o uso do álcool combustível tem reduzido de 70% a 100% a emissão dos gases quando usado em substituição à gasolina.

No entanto, a forma como o biocombustível é produzido também pode determinar se vai haver maior ou menor emissão.

O uso de biocombustível extraído do óleo de palmeira plantada em turfeiras desmatadas, por exemplo, pode aumentar a emissão de gases de efeito estufa em até 2.000% se comparado ao uso de combustíveis fósseis.

A razão disso, segundo o relatório, estaria no carbono liberado pelo solo.

Por outro lado, esse mesmo biocombustível pode ter um impacto positivo se a palmeira ou a soja forem plantadas em áreas abandonadas ou degradadas.

Em outro ponto, o relatório alerta que em algumas situações usar a terra para a instalação de painéis solares pode ser mais eficiente que destiná-la para a plantação de grãos.

Achim Steiner, diretor executivo do UNEP, defende um debate mais sofisticado sobre o uso dos biocombustíveis

“O relatório deixa claro que os biocombustíveis têm um papel no futuro, mas destaca que também existem outras opções para se combater as mudanças climáticas que podem ou não envolver a transformação de mais grãos ou de grãos sobressalentes em combustível líquido”, explica Achim Steiner, diretor executivo do UNEP.

“Os biocombustíveis não são uma panaceia nem um pária, mas como toda tecnologia representam tanto uma oportunidade quanto um desafio”, completa Steiner, para quem um debate mais sofisticado sobre a questão tem que ser levado a cabo com urgência pela comunidade internacional.

“É uma escolha da humanidade a melhor maneira de administrar os recursos finitos do solo e de equilibrar tantos interesses conflitantes num mundo de seis bilhões de pessoas”, completou.

Clique aqui para ler o release da setor de imprensa do UNEP (em inglês).

Fw: fyi: 2010 Hazard mapping and environmental summit‏

Dear  colleagues,

We at the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environnment Unit have become aware of the Hazard mapping and environmental summit you are organizing in April 2010. As part of efforts to improve the international response to environmental emergencies we have developed a tool to identify secondary environmental risks that industrial facilities and large infrastructure may pose when affected by a natural disaster: the Hazard Identification Tool (please see the attachment for further information). In addition to using this tool in response to emergencies, i.e. to identify environmental hazards after a disaster has struck, we have been exploring different ways to use the tool to identify and map hazards before the on-set of natural disasters, thereby contributing to preparedness efforts.

It is before this background that we would like to inquire whether any contribution from our side could be of value to the Eco Summit and/or whether there might be other possibilities for collaboration. I would be happy to provide you with more details on our work in regards to environmental hazard identification.

Best regards,

…..
Joint UNEP-OCHA Environmental Emergencies Unit (joint UNEP/OCHA)
Emergency Preparedness Section, Emergency Services Branch
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Palais des Nations – bureau D-117
CH 1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland

Conserve the environment! Please do not print this email unless absolutely necessary.

2010 Hazard mapping and environmental summit (HMES), Eco Summit 2010

Type: Meeting or Conference
Date: 08-15 Apr 2010
Location: Philippines (Manila)
Main organizer Resource Recovery Movement (RRM)

Description

The Resource Recovery Movement will hold the first 2010 Hazards Mapping and Environment Summit (Eco 2010 Summit) in Manila, Philippines. This is ultimately borne about by the tremendous
changing of the Philippine landscape and those of other countries in the Pacific Rim in the last few decades. All efforts towards risk mapping in relation to calamities and disasters in the past should now take into consideration the great shifts and transformations in land mass, the enormous amount of rainfall brought about by climate change and many new factors that were heretofore not factored into national and sub-national planning by governments as well as even by business establishments and non-government organizations.

The 2010 Hazard Mapping and Environmental Summit (HMES) is intended to develop better approaches to mapping risks and dangers to communities in the Philippines and other countries with tropical climates. It takes a cue from the recent experience in China, Indonesia and the Philippines, notwithstanding the previous experiences in Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan where scores of people died due to unforeseen occurrences during the incidence of a natural disaster: earthquake, typhoon, tsunami and other calamities.

The databasing, mapping and full coordination of efforts towards use and sharing of a full function GIS on hazards, volcanoes, water, flood, forests in the Philippines and Asia, vulnerability areas, liquefaction potential, crisis and hot spots is long due because of the long-running phenomenon of climate change in the planet. This is also significant in that the Philippines, among other countries, lies in the Pacific Rim of Fire where a large number of earthquake faults lie.

The most important value of the conference is to determine the plan and the cost of implementing such a plan to make the Philippines and other participating nations safer from increasingly hazardous calamities.

Additional information:

http://ecologyguardian.wordpress.com

How to register
Please contact Sol: +632 7102609 +639212384228
email: saferecover@msn.com
onefestival@live.com

A  U.N. panel said today that biofuels’ effects on air and water have not been sufficiently explored despite growing global production. However, the report suggests that in the case of sugarcane ethanol, the scientific evidence in quite positive. “For ethanol, the highest GHG savings are recorded for sugar cane (70% to more than 100%),” the 120 page U.N. Environment Programme’s report states.

The report, however, says that so-called lifecycle assessments must go beyond calculating greenhouse gas emissions and consider how agricultural production of feedstocks affect the acidification and nutrient loading of waterways. “The available knowledge from life-cycle-assessments … seems limited, despite the fact that for those issues many biofuels cause higher environmental pressures than fossil fuels,” the report says.

From UNEP-OCHA:

Dear colleagues,

We at the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environnment Unit have become aware of the Hazard mapping and environmental summit you are organizing in April 2010. As part of efforts to improve the international response to environmental emergencies we have developed a tool to identify secondary environmental risks that industrial facilities and large infrastructure may pose when affected by a natural disaster: the Hazard Identification Tool (please see the attachment for further information). In addition to using this tool in response to emergencies, i.e. to identify environmental hazards after a disaster has struck, we have been exploring different ways to use the tool to identify and map hazards before the on-set of natural disasters, thereby
contributing to preparedness efforts.

It is before this background that we would like to inquire whether any contribution from our side could be of value to the Eco Summit and/or whether there might be other possibilities for collaboration. I would be happy to provide you with more details on our work in regards to environmental hazard identification.

Best regards,
Mirja Peters

(See attached file: HIT – One pager (09 Sep).pdf)

Ms. Mirja PETERS
Environmental Emergencies Unit (joint UNEP/OCHA)
Emergency Preparedness Section, Emergency Services Branch
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Palais des Nations – bureau D-117
CH 1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Phone: +41 22 917 1590
Fax: +41 22 917 0257
E-mail: petersm@un.org
http://ochaonline.un.org/ochaunep

Conserve the environment! Please do not print this email unless absolutely
necessary.

2010 Hazard mapping and environmental summit (HMES)
[ Eco Summit 2010 ]

Type: Meeting or Conference 
Date: 08-15 Apr 2010 
Location: Philippines (Manila) 
Main organizer 
Resource Recovery Movement (RRM) 

Description 

The Resource Recovery Movement will hold the first 2010 Hazards Mapping and Environment Summit  (Eco 2010 Summit) in Manila, Philippines. This is ultimately borne about by the tremendous changing of the Philippine landscape and those of other countries in the Pacific Rim in the last few decades. All efforts towards risk mapping in relation to calamities and disasters in the past should now take into consideration the great shifts and transformations in land mass, the enormous amount of rainfall brought about by climate change and many new factors that were heretofore not factored into national and sub-national planning by governments as well as even by business establishments and non-government organizations.

The 2010 Hazard Mapping and Environmental Summit (HMES) is intended to develop better approaches to mapping risks and dangers to communities in the Philippines and other countries with tropical climates. It takes a cue from the recent experience in China, Indonesia and the Philippines, notwithstanding the previous experiences in Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan where scores of people died due to unforeseen occurrences during the incidence of a natural disaster: earthquake, 
typhoon, tsunami and other calamities. 

The databasing, mapping and full coordination of efforts towards use and sharing of a full function GIS on hazards, volcanoes, water, flood, forests in the Philippines and Asia, vulnerability areas, liquefaction potential, crisis and hot spots is long due because of the long-running phenomenon of climate change in the planet. This is also significant in that the Philippines, among other countries, lies in the Pacific Rim of Fire where a large number of earthquake faults lie. 

The most important value of the conference is to determine the plan and the cost of implementing such a plan to make the Philippines and other participating nations safer from increasingly hazardous calamities. 

Additional information 
http://ecologyguardian.wordpress.com/ 

How to register 
Please contact Sol: +632 7102609 +639212384228 
email: saferecover@msn.com 
onefestival@live.com 

One of the sweetest surprises of the Blog Action Day 09 – Climate Change, was a post by Sukuma Kenya. As you already know, we have been ‘collaborating’ with this passionate Kenyan to try and end the show of opulence and total disregard for climate change – with the vehicles they drive – among UN employees in the Nairobi office.

Did UNEP staffers drive such a car on #BAD09?

Although I get carried away by wildlife conservation matters and tend to wander away from this ‘campaign’ to end ‘environmental impunity’ at the offices that house the global headquarters of the United Nations Environmental Programme, Sukuma Kenya doesn’t.

I was thus pleasantly surprised when he informed me that he had chosen to address the ‘Kick the Habit‘ campaign in his Blog Action Day 2009. Never mind the post was on 16th not 15th October, which is the official Blog Action Day, the post was simple but very powerful.

You might want to read it yourself…So UNEP, did you Kick The Habit (Just for today)?

A new United Nations report calls for a more sophisticated approach to developing biofuels as an energy option to ensure that it benefits society, the economy and the environment as a whole.

According to the report, the first by the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, some biofuels, such as ethanol from sugar cane, can have positive impacts on greenhouse gas emissions.

Ethanol can lead to emissions reductions of more than 70 per cent when substituted for petrol, as is being done currently in Brazil. However, the way in which biofuels are produced matters in determining whether they are leading to more or less greenhouse gas emissions, added the report.

“Biofuels are neither a panacea nor a pariah but like all technologies they represent both opportunities and challenges,” said Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director. “Therefore, a more sophisticated debate is urgently needed, which is what this first report by the Panel is intended to provide.

“On one level, it is a debate about which energy crops to grow and where and also about the way different countries and biofuel companies promote and manage the production and conversion of plant materials for energy purposes – some clearly are climate friendly while others are highly questionable,” he noted.

Mr. Steiner added that it is also a choice about how humanity best manages its “finite land bank” and balances a range of competing interests in a world of 6 billion people, which is expected to rise to over 9 billion by 2050.

“The report makes it clear that biofuels have a future role, but also underlines that there may be other options for combating climate change, improving rural livelihoods and achieving sustainable development that may, or may not, involve turning ever more crops and crop wastes into liquid fuels,” he said.

Worldwide land use for biofuel crops was about two per cent of global cropland in 2008, or about 36 million hectares.

The report “Towards Sustainable Production and Use of Resources: Assessing Biofuels” suggested that governments fit biofuels into an overall strategy encompassing energy, climate, land-use, water and agriculture to ensure their use is beneficial to society, the economy and the environment.

Excerpt from UN News Service: http://www.un.org/news/