Nairobi, 6 December
2010 - In separate articles in this month's
Our Planet, the flagship magazine of the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
British Prime Minister
David Cameron and Spanish Prime Minister
José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero underline
how a global shift to a low-carbon, green
economy can help combat climate change,
reduce emissions and create jobs.
While describing last
year's climate talks as a "setback",
Mr. Cameron writes that the 2010 meeting
in Cancun represents an opportunity for
renewed global commitment on climate change
- spurred on by the damaging effects of
extreme weather events in Pakistan, China
and Russia earlier this year.
"We have to show
in Cancun that the United Nations Framework
is capable of getting us back on track towards
a global deal", says Mr. Cameron. "We
have to make the case for acting on climate
change at every opportunity. We should be
great advocates of green growth and the
tremendous opportunity of a low carbon market
already worth GBP3.2 trillion (US$5.0 trillion)
and forecast to grow by around 4 per cent
a year over the next five years."
The United Kingdom currently
has the world's largest number of wind energy
projects installed, in planning or in construction.
In Our Planet, Mr. Cameron writes that developing
clean energy projects in the developing
world is a key strategy for reducing long-term
global emissions.
"We must focus
also focus on the huge opportunity of helping
developing countries make a direct leap
to low carbon - avoiding the high-carbon
era that has dominated the developed world
- helping to reduce energy costs and improve
the standard of living for millions of people",
he says.
A move to cleaner energy
is also the theme of Prime Minister Zapatero's
contribution to Our Planet, in which he
describes the global financial downturn
not as a barrier to change, but as an opportunity
for a move towards a more sustainable model
for growth, or a "Global Green New
Deal".
"More than three
quarters of greenhouse gas emissions, which
cause climate change, stem from energy consumption",
says Mr. Zapatero. "A gradual change
in the energy model is therefore needed."
Mr. Zapatero writes
that the growth of European Union's renewable
energy sector has helped to reduce member
states' energy import bills by a projected
EUR60 billion (US$80 billion) by 2020 and
EUR150 billion (US$199 billion) by 2030.
"In doing so, we
will not only reduce emissions, but generate
employment and stimulate economic activity.
It is foreseen that the European Union's
2020 renewable energy target will create
an estimated 2.8 million jobs in that sector",
he writes.
A recent UNEP study
conducted in collaboration with researchers
from 25 leading climate modeling centres,
shows that if all countries fully implement
pledges linked with last year's Copenhagen
Accord, global emissions by 2020 could fall
to 49 Gigatonnes (Gt) of equivalent CO2.
The Emissions Gap Report
says that could leave a gap of 5Gt between
this current ambition and where scientists
say emissions need to be in 2020 to stand
a reasonable chance of keeping a global
temperature rise to less than 2°C by
2050.
Last month, UNEP also
published 30 Ways in 30 Days - a compilation
of success stories showing how communities
and enterprises across the world are implementing
solutions to climate change and helping
countries, households and businesses move
towards low-emission, climate-resilient
growth.
Full versions of the
articles by Prime Minster Cameron and Prime
Minster Zapatero are available in a special
Climate Change issue of Our Planet at: http://www.unep.org/OurPlanet/2010/dec/en/
+ More
The Virtual Tour: From
Bangkok to Cancun and beyond
6 December 2010, Cancún,
(Mexico) - The Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the shield
that protects all life on Earth from deadly
levels of ultra violet rays, is without
doubt one of the most successful multilateral
environmental agreements and offers solutions
to the climate change challenges the planet
now faces.
The Virtual Tour from
Bangkok to Cancun looks at these solutions,
involving "non-CO2" climate gases,
which not only protect the ozone layer,
but also combat climate change and protect
the planet.
The Tour, created by
the OzonAction Branch of the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), is an international
campaign to unite people and trigger action
with solutions.
Launched in Bangkok,
Thailand, on 12 November 2010, where the
22nd Meeting of Parties to the Montreal
Protocol took place, the tour has moved
through different regions, making stop-offs
in Yerevan (Armenia), Beirut (Lebanon) and
Kinshasa (DR Congo). Today, the tour arrived
in Cancun and into the heart of the UN climate
negotiations.
In each of the destinations
special events took place to highlight solutions
to climate change. Videos of ozone and climate
protection were filmed at the stop-overs
on the work of local communities. The Virtual
Tour also organized events such as a capoeira
performance by Iraqi children refugees in
Syria, a choir in Beirut to show the role
of youth in protecting the environment.
In addition, the electronic tour hosts interviews
with international experts and scientists
and OzonAction's Head, Rajendra Shendre
has been writing a daily blog.
The Montreal Protocol
was established in 1987 to repair the ozone
layer through the phase-down and phase-out
of ozone depleting substances (ODS) such
as chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) has catalyzed
the recovery of the ozone layer which globally
is projected to recover by around mid-century
if not sooner.
The Protocol has also
made a significant contribution to protecting
the climate and it is poised to do more
during the phase out of hydroflurocarbons
(HFCs).
The Tour from Bangkok
to Cancun and beyond will encourage the
public to learn more about the ozone-climate
connections and to explore the possibilities
of additional benefits through the phasing-out
of HCFCs.
In September, UNEP launched
the executive summary of the Scientific
Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2010 which
provides new information about the effects
of climate change on the ozone layer, as
well as the impact of ozone changes on the
Earth's climate.
The report was written
and reviewed by some 300 scientists and
launched on the UN International Day for
the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. It
is the first comprehensive update in four
years.
presents both challenges and solutions to
food security
Delhi, India, 3 December
2010. As global populations increase, a
growing demand for food can be achieved
through sustainable production and use of
fertilizers which if not managed correctly
will impact food security as well as water
quality and availability, fisheries and
biodiversity, says a report launched today
by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP).
The report, Building
the Foundations for Sustainable Nutrient
Management, notes that the food security
of half of the world's population is dependent
on the use of fertilizers but large amounts
of fertilizers either escape into the atmosphere,
or into groundwater, soil, rivers and coastal
waters, creating an excess of nutrients
in the environment.
At the same time, it added, nearly one billion
people are affected by insufficient food
production, a major factor being a shortage
of the nutrients from fertilizers, i.e.
nitrogen and phosphorous.
The study noted that
many of the world's freshwater lakes, streams
and reservoirs suffer from eutrophication
(excess nutrients) and millions of people
depend on wells for their water where nitrate
levels are well above recommended levels.
In developing countries an estimated 90
per cent of wastewater, a major source of
excess nutrients, harmful to health and
ecosystems, is discharged as untreated into
waterways and coastal areas, the study said.
In the marine sector, nutrient over-enrichment
has caused an increase in the frequency,
scale and duration of oxygen depletion (hypoxic)
or 'dead zones'.
The report with input
from policymakers, scientists, the private
sector, non-governmental organizations and
UN agencies is a collaborative work with
the Global Partnership on Nutrient Management
(GPNM), incorporating the best practices
and approaches in countries for managing
nutrients and ensuring the benefits of food
security.
"The problem of
excess nutrients are expected to accelerate
as the demand for food and bio-fuels increases
and growing populations produce more wastewater
but win-win situations are possible. Sustainable
agricultural production is necessary, and
so is protecting key ecosystem services,"
said David Osborn, Coordinator of UNEP's
Global Programme of Action for the Protection
of the Marine Environment from Land-based
Activities (GPA)
The impact of excess
nutrients is particularly felt in coastal
zones which contain highly productive ecosystems
as well as large urban centers. Some 60
per cent of the world's population lives
and works within 60 kilometers of coastline
where fishing is an important livelihood.
While there are enormous
challenges, there are also viable solutions
if nutrient management is incorporated into
global policies and practices.
While the deltas have
large amounts of nutrient inputs, the effective
management of these nutrients can safeguard
the contribution of agriculture and fisheries
to food security and environmental protection,
added the report.
Increasing the efficiency
of fertilizer use, such as supplying fertilizer
to the plant rather than the soil or using
higher quality seeds and improved water
management, could meet the projected 38
per cent increase in global cereal demand
by 2025, reducing fertilizer use by about
15 million tonnes of nitrogen per year.
The European Union has
introduced the Nitrate Directive which sets
discharge limits through regulations and
stakeholder engagement, which has led to
growing awareness in the farming industry
about the importance of nutrient management
leading to:
Better nutrient management
resulting in reduced inputs and increased
efficiency in the agricultural sector;
Increased application
of agri-environmental schemes in rural development
programmes;
Understanding that productive
farming can go hand-in-hand with environmental
protection through better management while
keeping production at similar levels;
Introduction of innovative
agricultural practices resulting in improved
nitrate management and significant overall
savings by farmers.
"The challenge is not necessarily to
create new approaches or technologies but
improve on what we have for scaling up production
and protecting the environment. These are
the best practices that we incorporate into
nutrient management and which must be mainstreamed
into policy and practice," added Mr.
Osborn.
The report uses the
Black Sea Basin as an example of how trans-boundary
cooperation among countries and UN agencies
can promote effective nutrient management.
The Sea, which has been degraded by massive
pollution from over-fertilization and excessive
nutrients, is now being rehabilitated through
pollution control efforts, through a partnership
project funded by the Global Environment
Facility (GEF) and with the cooperation
of UNEP, UNDP, the World Bank and basin
countries.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Global Partnership
on Nutrient Management represents a coming
together of government, policy makers, scientists,
private sector, NGOs and UN agencies. It
operates as a voluntary network of stakeholders,
with a view to communicating the nutrient
management challenge, and helping to building
constituencies of interest and action among
and in countries, agencies and donors around
the goal of optimizing nutrient use, including
problems of shortage, and reducing its impact.
UNEP's Global Programme
of Action coordination office based in Nairobi
acts as the Secretariat to the Partnership.
SCOPE
Almost four decades
ago, the Scientific Committee on Problems
of the Environment (SCOPE), launched a major
programme on the biogeochemical cycles of
the main elements. Over the years, projects,
often developed jointly with UNEP, focused
on the study of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur
and phosphorus as well as some of the trace
elements (lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic)
and their effects on the food chain, resulting
in 17 SCOPE monographs and a number of proceedings
volumes. The Major Biogeochemical Cycles
and Their Interactions has guided biogeochemical
research since its publication in 1983.
Interaction of the Major Biogeochemical
Cycles: Global Change and Human Impacts
revisited the issue twenty years later.
International Nitrogen
Initiative
The International Nitrogen
Initiative (INI) was established formally
in 2003 to review the current understanding
of the nitrogen cycle and to interact with
decision makers and practioners in order
to identify management options that optimize
the use of nitrogen fertilizers while minimizing
the negative effects of nitrogen on human
health and the environment as a result of
food and energy production. INI is a global
network of scientists, created and sponsored
by SCOPE and the International Geosphere-Biosphere
Programme (IGBP), with regional centres
in Europe, North America, Latin America,
Africa, South and East Asia. This GPNM foundation
document underscores the INI foci on global
and regional nitrogen (nutrient) assessments
as an important catalyst in meeting the
nutrient challenge and building policy support.
The document is launched at the 5th International
Nitrogen Conference (N2010) http://n2010.org/,
organized by INI and its South Asia regional
centre, on 3-7 December 2010 in New Delhi,
India.
The United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) is the voice for the environment
in the UN system. Established in 1972, UNEP's
mission is to provide leadership and encourage
partnership in caring for the environment
by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations
and peoples to improve their quality of
life without compromising that of future
generations. UNEP is an advocate, educator,
catalyst and facilitator promoting the wise
use of the planet's natural assets for sustainable
development. It works with many partners,
UN entities, international organizations,
national governments, non-governmental organizations,
business, industry, the media and civil
society. UNEP's work involves providing
support for: environmental assessment and
reporting; legal and institutional strengthening
and environmental policy development; sustainable
use and management of natural resources;
integration of economic development and
environmental protection; and promoting
public participation in environmental management.
