| ============================= CSE’s Fortnightly News Bulletin (Aug 24, 2009) ============================= An e-bulletin from Centre for Science and Environment, India, to our network of friends and professionals interested in environmental issues. Scroll to the bottom of this page for information on how to subscribe and unsubscribe. INSIDE: * From fortnightly magazine Down To Earth – Editorial: Who’s afraid of 2°C? (By Sunita Narain) – Indepth: Climate Change on India Environment Portal * Report: Turn Around – Reform Agenda for India’s Environmental Regulators * Press Release: August 12, 2009 – Official delay in setting fuel economy standards smacks of state-sponsored fuel guzzling * Press Release: August 7, 2009 – CSE condemns industry inclusion in apex food regulatory body – will lead to a severe conflict of interest * Launch of Gobar Times Green Schools Awards 2009 – 2010 * Web Exclusive: Yamuna flood plain being encroached * DTE Radio: Hear, Tristram Stuart, the author of ‘Waste: Uncovering a global food scandal’ speak on how reducing food waste is the easiest way to save the environment * Cover Story from Down to Earth: * News, features & other stories * Opinion: Because the energy industry dictates our lives * Training programmes *Check out the details of the short – term courses Let’s sort this issue. It is widely accepted keeping global temperature rise below 2°C, measured from pre-industrial levels (1850), is the threshold that will leash climate change from being ‘dangerous’ to becoming ‘catastrophic’. To put this number into context, consider current average global temperature increase is 0.8°C; add on the fact that another 0.8°C is inevitable, because of the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) already pumped into the atmosphere. So, we are already close to the threshold. Now, let’s understand the politics. Once the world accepts the need to cap temperature, it also accepts the need to cap emissions. The 2°C target is possible only if the world limits GHG concentration at 450 ppm CO2-e, taking together the stock and current emissions. It gets complicated here. Think of the atmosphere as a cup of water, filled to the brim. More water can only be filled if the cup is emptied to create space. But since there are many claimants on the water that needs to be filled in the cup, the space will have to be apportioned – budgeted – so that the earlier occupiers vacate and the new claimants fill in, in some proportion of equity. In other words, the emission budget of 450 ppm CO2-e has to be apportioned, based on equity, between nations. The problem with the L’Aquila declaration is not that it caps the increase in temperature, but that it does not make explicit this limit will require sharing the budget equally between nations who have already used up their common atmospheric space and new entrants to economic growth. Without budget-sharing the temperature cap becomes a virtual cap on the emissions of the developing world, for we are told we will also have to peak in the midterm and take meaningful deviations from our carbon-growth trajectory. Let us be clear: the space is very limited. We know concentration of all GHG emissions is already close to 430 ppm. But with some ‘cooling’ allowance, because of aerosols, it comes to 390 – 400 ppm. In sum, not much space remains to be distributed and shared in our intensely unequal world. But this is not all that confounds the science. The fact is greenhouse gases have a very long life in the atmosphere. Gases released, say, since the late 1800s when the Western world was beginning to industrialize, are still up there. This is the natural debt that needs to be repaid, like the financial debt of nations. It was for this reason the Kyoto Protocol, agreed in 1997, set emission limits on industrialized countries – they had to reduce so that the developing world could increase. It is a matter of record the emissions of these countries continued to rise. As a result, today there is even less atmospheric space for the developing world to occupy. It is also evident the industrial world did nothing; it knew it needed to fill the space as quickly as possible. Now we have just crumbs to fight over. It is also no surprise, then, that Western academics are now calling upon the developing world to take on emission reduction targets: there is no space left for them to grow. The logic is simple, though twisted and ingenious. No space left to grow. Ergo, “you cannot ask for the right to pollute,” they tell the developing world. This is unacceptable. We know emissions of carbon dioxide are linked to economic growth, therefore, capping emissions without equal apportionment will mean freezing inequity in this world. Instead, what we have is a pincer movement. The already – industrialized do not want to set interim targets to reduce their emissions drastically. They want to change the base – year from when emission reduction will be counted – 2005 or 2007, instead of 1990. This means two things. One, they want to continue to grow (occupy space) in the coming years. Two, the space they have already occupied – as their emissions vastly increased between 1990 and 2007 – should be forgiven. All this when we know meeting the 450 ppm target requires space to be vacated fast – they must peak within the next few years and then reduce drastically by at least 40 per cent by 2020 over 1990 levels. But why do this, when you can muscle your way into space? So how will the world share the carbon budget? The only answer is it will have to be based on equity. We will discuss these issues, even as the climate clock ticks. Read this editorial online: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=1 ————————————- Opinion: The just framework for climate Read the full report: http://www.cseindia.org/regulators_report.pdf Web Exclusive: Also See Label your cars Read the full press release http://www.cseindia.org/AboutUs/press_releases/press-20090807.htm Also See Scientific Panel of Food Safety and Standard Authority of India See related story from the India Environment Portal: Loopholes in food safety legislation http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/3934 Beginning this year (2009), the National Green Corps – State nodal offices will be conducting the Gobar Times Green School awards at the state level, where only schools of that state will be eligible for participation. The state level winners will then be nominated for the National awards that will be organised by CSE in February 2010. For details checkLink: http://www.cseindia.org/programme/eeu/html/awards.asp?id=5 Contact Sumita Dasgupta, Ashish Shah or Mariam Jafri. Ashish Shah (email: ashish@cseindia.org) Mobile: 9871702439 Check out database on threatened lakes >From India Environment Portal http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/ ————————————- Click on the link to hear him speak http://www.downtoearth.org.in/tristram_stuart.asp Watch film: Getting your house painted? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSnbb5SwPE ————————————- Also read the full report: Lead in paints Feature: Lead menace *Understanding EIA: From screening to decision making (New Delhi, September 1-5, 2009) There is a genuine need to develop the capacity of the state-level regulators and State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) to screen and scope the EIA process, to conduct transparent public consultations and to evaluate the EIA reports, especially after the new EIA notification. At the same time, there is a need among CBO, NGOs, academicians, and environment managers to review and interpret EIA report, as they are technical in nature. Course content Course details http://www.cseindia.org/aagc/eia.asp Course contact: Through lectures, interactive sessions, case studies and field visit this programme aims to deepen the understanding of the ways to design and implement clean air action plans as a tool to meet the national ambient air quality targets. This forum will explore linkages among urbanization, motorization, air pollution and health, energy usage, and climate impacts, and help institutionalise an integrated approach needed to control air pollution and enable mobility management. Course content: For details: http://www.cseindia.org/aagc/cleanair_imperatives.asp Course contact: Jayeeta Sen (jayeeta@cseindia.org); Ph: +91-11-29955124, Ext: 221,220 Fax: +91-11-29955879; M: +91-9910035154 Training on information management, documentation & web-based outreach Course content: Register online: http://www.cseindia.org/aagc/managinginformation.asp Course contact: Kiran Pandey: < kiran@cseindia.org>; kir_nov@yahoo.co.in |