Posted on
24 June 2009 - Edinburgh, UK – Scotland’s
decision to cut its emissions by 42 percent
by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050, on 11000
levels, sets an example for developed countries
and sparks new hopes that world leaders
would be able to agree on a successful climate
change deal in Copenhagen, WWF said.
Through its ambitious
announcement, Scotland becomes the first
developed country to meet the demands of
science and developing nations, which want
the richer countries to take responsibility
for bringing the world to dangerously high
emission levels.
"At least one nation
is prepared to aim for climate legislation
that follows the science,” Kim Carstensen,
the leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative.
"Scotland made
the first step to show others that it can
be done. We now need others to follow.”
Scientists say industrialized
countries as a whole need to reduce the
emission by 25 to 40 percent compared to
11000 level by 2020, in order to prevent
the world from overheating, resulting in
catastrophic impacts.
In Scotland politicians
from all parties have taken these recommendations
seriously and agreed on the legislation.
"Scotland may be
a small nation, but it has proved today
that it is prepared to stand up and be counted.
This new law sets a benchmark that every
industrialised country will need to live
up to. If Scotland can show this level of
ambition then so can plenty of others,”
said WWF Scotland's Director, Dr Richard
Dixon,
More than 190 countries
will meet in Copenhagen in December this
year to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto
Protocol, which currently regulates the
emissions of greenhouse gases.
+ More
Australia pledges big
funds for small whale conservation
Posted on 24 June 2009
- Madeira, Portugal – Australia on Wednesday
pledged AU$500,000 (€284,927) to help save
the world’s small whales as part of a major
contribution to the International Whaling
Commission.
Peter Garrett, Minister
for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
committed to using the funds to protect
small whales, dolphins and porpoises during
an appearance at the 61st meeting of IWC
member countries, taking place this week
in Madeira, Portugal. The money will be
dedicated to the IWC’s Small Cetacean Fund.
Garrett’s announcement
coincided with the release by WWF of a new
report entitled Small Cetaceans: The Forgotten
Whales, which was unveiled simultaneously
with the Australian funding commitment.
Small whales are disappearing
from the world’s oceans and waterways as
they fall victim to fishing gear, pollution,
and habitat loss – compounded by a lack
of conservation measures such as those developed
for great whales, according to the report.
The report states that
while great whales are now protected (to
an extent) by the international commercial
whaling moratorium, in effect since 1986,
small cetacean hunts continue around the
globe, largely unmanaged and unchecked by
the international community.
“For many small cetaceans
the scientific information available is
so limited that we are unable to make informed
decisions on their conservation status,”
Garrett said.
The contribution is
part of a larger AU$1.5 million (€854,900)
commitment to support IWC activities in
three key areas: the Southern Ocean Research
Partnership; conservation management plans;
and small cetacean conservation research.
“It’s time that someone
stood up for the underrepresented whales,
dolphins and porpoises,” said Dr. Susan
Lieberman, Director of the Species Programme
for WWF-International. “Australia’s commitment
is a step in the right direction and we
call upon other governments to follow suit.”
Meanwhile, the IWC Commissioner
of Belgium, Alexandre de Lichtervelde, called
for a review of work on conservation and
management for small cetaceans to take place
before IWC 62 in 2010. Belgium will produce
a collaborative paper as a contribution
to the discussions on the future of the
IWC.
IWC 61 runs June 22
to 26 in Madeira, Portugal.
