India: US Should Aim At Reducing Carbon Emissions By 40%

India’s climate change envoy Shyam Saran has said that his country would like the United States to set ‘high-end’ emission reduction goals. Leading the Indian delegation into a gathering of largest polluting nations in Washington, Saran said that United States should aim to emissions targets between 25 to 40 percent.

In comparison, President Obama has called for a 14 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 while the European Union has set a 20 percent reduction target. China and India, world’s largest and third largest polluters respectively, have set no reduction targets and are not expected to agree to even lower targets at the Copenhagen meeting to discuss the next climate treaty.

Calls for the United States to recognize its historical responsibility and take bold actions to reduce its carbon emissions have risen significantly in recent times. Countries around the world have realized that President Obama intends to go the extra mile as far as environmental and climate change reforms are concerned and they various governments are pressing the Obama administration to transform his promises into real actions.

Secondly, there have been calls, especially by the EU, that India and China agree to some kind of emission reduction. It has proposed that advanced developing countries should agree to implement less stricter targets than the developed countries but they must exhibit the intent to act on the issue of rising carbon emissions from their industries.

Czech President Questions Global Warming, Attacks Al Gore’s Climate Campaign

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who is also the current President of the European Union, has once again voiced his skepticism about global warming.

At an event at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, the Czech President said he doubts that global warming is actually occurring and that many scientists fail to consider alternative theories regarding the issue. He also attacked former US Vice President and environmental activist, Al Gore, of failing to look at the complete picture in regard to the global phenomenon.

The Czech President didn’t mince his words in questioning the legitimacy of the scientific community’s concerns regarding global warning.

I don’t think that there is any global warming, I don’t see the statistical data for that. I’m very sorry that some people like Al Gore are not ready to listen to the competing theories. I do listen to them.

Europe Plans $200 Billion Climate Tax on Developed Nations

With eyes on the Copenhagen talks for discussion on the next climate policy, the European Union plans to propose a tax on the carbon emissions of the developed nations, a move which could generate more than $200 billion by 2020. These funds will be used in helping developing and poor nations move from fossils fuels based energy systems to those based on renewable sources.

The European Union proposes that carbon offsetting through the trade of carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism be phased out and replaced by a scheme under which the developed nations would commit to cut their but would also pay taxes for extra emissions. The proposal also calls for a similar scheme for the ‘advanced developing nations’ like India and China but fails to clarify its nature.

Carbon offsetting cannot be pursued as a long term solution to mitigate the global carbon emissions and thus the Clean Development Mechanism should be seen only as a transformational step and not the solution to the problem. Replacing carbon offsetting with binding emission reductions seems to be the obvious next step but one has to ask if the world can afford a climate tax at this time of economic meltdown.

NIC “Global Trends 2025″ Report: Great Environmental Challenges Ahead

A new report prepared by the National Intelligence Council has projected that the world would be witnessing severe water and food shortages by 2025 and the changing climate would further strain the already fast depleting natural resources. In an attempt to boost the economic growth countries would put immense pressure on highly strategic and essential resources like energy, water and food.

Depletion of Natural Resources

The new report paints a very grim picture of our future. While it states that the world would see “unprecedented economic growth” it also states that it would come at a hefty cost. The demand would outstrip supply and easily available natural resources would be stretched to the limits of their carrying capacities.

The already stressed resource sector will be further complicated and, in most cases, exacerbated by climate change, whose physical effects will worsen throughout this period. Continued escalation of energy demand will hasten the impacts of climate change.

The report also warns of the hasty and forceful transition from fossil fuels to renewable energysources. Although the developed countries like US and Europe might succeed in partial transition it would adversely effect the economic growth of developing countries like China and India, more so because their populations would largely comprise of middle class which would seek to emulate western lifestyles.

Obama Seeks to Inspire China, India to Do More in the Fight Against Climate Change

President-elect Barack Obama recently assembled his ‘dream green team’ which comprises of some of the best scientific minds of America. This green team symbolizes United States’ first real departure from the ideas that the Bush administration had regarding climate change. Obama seeks to use their expertise to not only create a low-carbon economy while creating new jobs but also, in doing so, set example for developing nations so that they could be persuaded to do the same.

While the previous administration ignored the suggestions of the scientific community and silenced even those working directly under it, the Obama administration has given clear indications that scientific knowledge will be the center piece of all policy matters regarding environment. Another important aspect of this administration is that it plans to solve the economic crisis, the problem of rising carbon emissions and energy security with a unified action plan. This would be very important in demonstrating to the world that United States under the leadership of Barack Obama is serious in fighting climate change.

Developed, Developing Nations Argue Over Sharing Costs of Cutting Carbon Emissions

There is an urgent need to bring down the rising carbon emissions and switch over from the dirty fossil fuels to clean alternative energy sources. Leaders of the developed and developing nations completely agree over this plan of action but, sadly, the agreement between the two ends there. Both parties agree that they have got to act quickly but none is willing to take the initiative on the economic front of the fight against climate change.

Under the Kyoto Protocol the onus of controlling and bringing down the carbon emissions was on the developed nations with the help of tools like the national carbon registry and the emission permits whereas the developing nations were not obligated to any emission cuts. Now that the talks for a new climate treaty have started to gain momentum the developed nations want the developing countries to reduce their carbon emissions under that treaty. And although the developing countries recognize their responsibility in the fight against climate change they are unwilling to bear the full economic burden of the same.

At the climate talks held at Poznan, Poland, the representatives from both developed and developing nations argued over how the costs of cutting carbon credits be divided. Developing nations want extra financial help in the form of increased taxes on the profits that developed nations make from the emissions trading scheme. Whereas the developed nations claim that current tax system is sufficient to provide adequate funds for the Adaptation Fund which would help developing nations replace their polluting energy systems with new clean energy systems.

Read rest of the story here