Nearly 35 people were reported dead in Kenya in the first few weeks of January, following heavy rains. The Meteorological Department says the rains will subside by the end of the month, but the destruction in their wake is linked to years of environmental degradation. Rosalia Omungo reports on the reality beyond the Copenhagen summit.

How one small Danish island transformed itself from a quiet backwater to a pioneer in the world’s clean energy revolution.

In this video, Katrine Vejby, a Danish journalist and advocate for a carbon-free Copenhagen, talks about a new technology that turns pedal power into electricity. The energy-generating bike was one of many innovative climate-friendly technologies on display at various exhibits throughout Copenhagen during the UN Climate Change Conference this past week.

Surprisingly, there seemed to be no lack of people willing to bike for a smoothie.  Perhaps if people had to break a sweat every time they used electricity, the world would use it far more efficiently.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The full story follows in Indonesian.

Sempat terpukul dua kali dengan boikot minyak bumi dan melambungnya harga minyak dunia pada era 70-an, membuat Denmark putar otak dan berambisi tidak lagi menggantungkan diri dengan penggunaan minyak bumi. Alhasil, kini ia menjadi negara terbesar di dunia yang mampu menghasilkan listrik tenaga angin.

Dingin pagi itu, suhu mendekati angka nol, permulaan Desember 2009, tak meyurutkan semangat sekitar 40 wartawan dari berbagai negara berkembang yang menerima beasiswa peliputan konvensi perubahan iklim (UNFCCC) COP 15, di Kopenhagen, Denmark untuk pergi melaut. Para wartawan yang tergabung dalam kelompok Climate Change Media Panership (CCMP) pagi itu hendak melakukan kunjungan lapangan melihat dari dekat ladang angin lepas pantai Middelgrunden (Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Farm) yang terletak di Margretheholm Havn, København, Kopenhagen, Denmark.

Dengan menggunakan kapal berkapasitas sekitar 60-an orang, para peserta bisa melihat dari dekat turbin-turbin yang membangun ladang angin itu. Deretan menara dan baling-baling angin berwarna putih tampak berdiri kokoh muncul ke permukaan laut. Dari kejauhan tampak jejeran baling-baling yang berputar indah itu berukuran kecil. Namun begitu mendekatinya, ternyata ukurannya raksasa. Ketinggian menaranya 64 meter dan diameter baling-balingnya 76 meter. Jika dijumlahkan dari menara hingga jari-jari baling-balingnya, bangunan yang terbuat dari perpaduan baja dan beton ini lebih tinggi dari patung Liberty yang hanya 93 meter (ketinggian dari dasar patung hingga ujung obor).

Jan Hylleberg, CEO, Danish Wind Industry Association, menjelaskan Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Farm, mulai dibangun sekitar tahun 2000 dan selesai di Desember tahun yang sama. Dengan 20 bangunan turbinnya, pembangkit listrik tenaga angin lepas pantai ini bisa menghasilkan listrik 40MW. Namun, dana investasi yang diperlukan untuk mewujudkan itu tidak murah, sekitar 60 juta dólar Amerika.

Turbin-turbin itu dipasang berjejer dengan jarak 180 meter, hingga total panjang keseluruhannya sekitar 3,4 kilometer. Dibangun di kedalaman air sekitar 2 – 6 meter, atas kolaborasi Middelgrunden Wind Turbine Cooperative dan Copenhagen Energy (sekarang Dong Energy), masing-masing mengintalasi sepuluh turbin.

Pembangkit listrik tenaga angin lepas pantai Middelgrunden bukan satu-satunya di Denmark. Ada sembilan pembangkit lainnya, yang terakhir Horns Rev II yang memiliki total kapasitas 209MW. Jadi, total kapasitas produksi listrik pembangkit listrik tenaga angin lepas pantai di Denmark 1700MW.

Denmark tidak saja mengusahakan pembangkit listrik tenaga angin dari lepas pantai, tetapi jauh sebelumnya, sekitar tahun 1976-1978 mereka memulai dari daratan dan saat ini tercatat keseluruhan ada 5100 pembangkit listrik tenaga angin di Denmark. Sebanyak 4.809 turbin dibangun di daratan dan 305 di lepas pantai. Total keseluruhan listrik yang dihasilkan 3.393MW. Dengan kapasitas itu, pembangkit listrik tenaga angin memenuhi kebutuhan listrik Denmark sebesar 20 persen. Lebih dari itu pada tahun 2030, mereka menargetkan menggunakan pembangkit listrik tenaga angin lepas pantai sebesar 50 persen.

Kontribusi listrik tenaga angin ini tidak saja sebagai perwujudan visi jangka panjang Denmark yang ingin bebas dari penggunaan bahan bakar fosil, tetapi juga bagian dari upaya mengurangi emisi gas rumah kaca yang menyebabkan terjadinya perubahan iklim. Hal itu seiring dengan platform negara mereka yang sejak November 2007 bertekat menjadi negara hijau dengan membangun kebijakan visioner dalam hal energi dan iklim.

Tak hanya memberi kontribusi bagi penyediaan listrik, pembangkit listrik tenaga angin juga membuka lapangan pekerjaan. Sekitar 26.000 orang dipekerjakan di Industri ini pada tahun 2009. Denmark juga menjadi produsen peralatan pembangkit tersebut dan sekitar 27-30 persen pasar dunia berasal dari negara mereka.

Lalu bisakah Indonesia mengikuti jejak Denmark untuk mengakhiri krisis listrik di Indonesia mengingat banyak sumber daya angin di Indonesia? Menurut Rachman Witoelar, Ketua Delegasi Indonesia di COP 15 yang juga mantan menteri Lingkungan Hidup, pembangkit listrik tenaga angin terlalu mahal buat Indonesia. Satu turbinnya saja, harganya miliaran rupiah. Di Indonesia sendiri telah ada pembangkit listrik tenaga angin, misalnya di Bali. Namun teknologinya tertinggal jauh dari yang dipertontonkan Denmark saat ini.

”Yang kita punya itu, mungkin edisi kunonya. Yang mereka punya saat ini sudah sangat canggih. Saat ini kita juga mengembangkan pembangkit listrik ramah lingkungan, yakni dari panas bumi. Itu lebih pas untuk Indonesia yang punya banyak sumber daya panas bumi,” paparnya.

Namun, menurutnya, penting juga bagi Indonesia untuk memanfaatkan pembangkit listrik tenaga angin. Terutama untuk pulau-pulau kecil di Indonesia.***

Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Madueke, has said that a new date to end gas flaring in the country will be announced in the next few days.

Madueke, who spoke on Tuesday at the “Nigerian Climate Change Investment Forum” in Copenhagen , Denmark , promised that his government would no more change its position.

He promised, “we will make a fair commitment on ending gas flaring in the next few days before the international community, and we will deliver this time around.”

During a presentation to open the day-long event, he said that Nigeria would utilise the challenges posed by climate change to diversify the economy from an oil dependant one.

The minister, who is representing President Umar Yar’ Adua at the climate summit, noted that while making the most of the proceeds from fossil fuel (oil), Nigeria would vigorously pursue green technology that will ensure revenue from sources other than petroleum.

He described climate change and its accompanying effects as an apocalypse, and called for urgent actions to address the outcome of the phenomenon.

And speaking at the same occasion, Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Rilwan Lukman, said the world has responsibility to ensure a sustainable environment  for the survival of mankind including future generations.

“The environment is the common heritage of mankind,” he said, and urged both developed and developing countries to reach a compromise and come up with a viable agreement to save the earth from environmental destruction.

“We would like to see more positive commitment and cooperation from the United States of America . COP15 must succeed. G77, China and Africa Group must cooperate to reach a consensus,” he pleaded.

Another Nigerian official, Timpre Sylva, the Bayelsa State Governor, disclosed that the Nigerian state had begun to feel the impact of climate change such as frequent flooding.
“ Bayelsa State happens to be one of the states below sea level. We know that most of the problems of climate are due to the activities of the west, and so we have come to tell the polluters, who have caused these problems, to come to Nigeria and Bayelsa State to invest in cleaner energy,” he added.

No fewer that two state governors took the stage to address a range of issues touching on sustainable development, even as the summit headed through  its second and final week.

Delta State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan is part of a panel of leaders, the Climate Leaders Summit 2009, that tabled the controversial topic of low carbon technology.

The group is a forum for the exchange of practical policy advice between government heads and business leaders of some of the world’s leading low carbon technology companies and financial institutions.

While corporate leaders are expected to announce investments in – and deployment of – new energy technologies, policymakers will likely proclaim policies that will encourage the introduction of key clean energy technology infrastructure.

They are however expected to demonstrate how they are working together to build the low carbon economy of the future.

Similarly, Cross River’s Governor Liyel Imoke unveiled his efforts towards a Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) programme for Nigeria.

A way of compensating poor countries to protect their forests, REDD allows countries that can reduce emissions from deforestation to be paid for doing so.

There is concern that over 90 per cent of Nigeria ’s forests have already gone.  More than half of what remains is found in Cross River State. The forest is considered to be one of the richest biodiversity reserves in Africa.

State Forestry Commission chair Odigha Odigha said the governor’s main goal in Denmark was to look for donor commitment for a REDD readiness programme for Nigeria.

On Tuesday the Nigerian delegation also hosted a forum on climate change investment opportunities, where Foreign Affairs Minister Ojo Maduakwe, Environment Minister John Odey, and Power Minster of State Nuhu Somo Way were resource persons.

Odey’s aide, Rotimi Ajayi, said the event would highlight how Nigeria could tap the potential for sustainable economic development in the country.

The Africa Group at the ongoing climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark has tabled an initial demand of $30 billion to tackle damages done to the environment across the globe by climate change. The group has further recommended that 40 per cent of this money be allocated to Africa where many poor countries are adversely affected by the effects of climate change.

It has also been suggested by the group that the start-up funding, which would span three years from 2010-2012, should be a yearly release of $10 billion.

The money will be used to address urgent adaptation and mitigation tasks such as deforestation. It will also be used to prepare plans for future programmes to address the impact of climate chage.

Speaking on Wednesday on behalf of the group, Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi, suggested that the funding should be put in a trust fund to be administered by a board of trustees composed of an equal number of donor and recipient countries.

While requesting that 40 per cent of the fund be earmarked for Africa and administered by the Africa Development Bank, Zenawi sought the establishment of a committee of experts to work out necessary details on how to administer the fund.

On long-term financing, he proposed that this should start by 2013 to reach up to $50 billion per annum by 2015 and $100 billion per annum by 2020.

He said, “No less that 50 per cent of the fund should be allocated for adaptation to vulnerable and poor countries and regions such as Africa and the small island states.”

He added that the facility should be financed through reliable financing mechanisms such as taxes.

In a related development, the Group of 77 Nations and China declared that a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol needed to be established beyond 2012 as the basis for comparable emission reduction commitments among all developed country parties.

Dr. Nafie Ali Nafie, Head of the Sudanese delegation, who also spoke on behalf of the group, said, “We will oppose an agreement in Copenhagen which, in anyway, results in the Kyoto protocol being superseded or made redundant. The second commitment period under the protocol is a minimum requirement for the group, without which agreement in Copenhagen will not be possible.”

Nafie added that the group supported the bottom-up and party-driven process, adding that it allowed a balanced consideration of issues and enabled all parties to participate and bring in their interests and concerns regarding the expected outcome of Copenhagen .

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to tackle environmental devastation arising from climate change, the Delta State Government on Wednesday joined forces with the United Nations at the Convention.

At a brief ceremony, Delta state officials, led by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the latter’s Territorial Approach to Climate Change (TACC) initiative. The TACC is designed to assist developing sub-national governments to assess and manage the physical and socio-economic impact of climate change. By becoming part of the UNDP TACC programme, Delta will deepen its capacity to regulate environmental issues, as well as to take advantage of many new sources of environmental funds to implement climate change responses.

Governor Uduaghan signed on behalf of the state government, while Mr. Olav Kjorven, UN Assistant Secretary General and Director Bureau of Development Policy, UNDP, New York, signed on behalf of the world body.

Speaking shortly after the signing ceremony, Uduaghan described the partnership with the UNDP as a milestone which he said would assist the state government develop capacity to assess the level of environmental damage caused by oil pollution and rising water level.

He said that Delta, being a coastal state, was particularly vulnerable to sea water rise and therefore had to seek ways to collaborate with international organisations to develop the strategy to analyse the present and future vulnerability of the state.

Uduaghan added that the TACC programme would also assist in carrying out a comprehensive environmental diagnosis on emissions, gas flares, land use, atmospheric temperature, ecosystem and afforestation issues.

You Have Our Future in Your Hand- Children Tell

Story in Vietnamese below:

Ngày 14/12, Hội nghị Liên hợp quốc về chống biến đổi khí hậu (COP15) ở Côpenhaghen (Copenhagen, Đan Mạch) bước sang tuần làm việc thứ 2 với sự thống nhất bắt đầu thảo luận về Bản dự thảo chính thức mà hội nghị đạt được vào ngày 11/12. Văn kiện dài 7 trang với ưu điểm ngắn gọn, nhiều chương quan trọng để mở với nhiều khả năng chọn lựa, tạo điều kiện cho các nguyên thủ quốc gia có thể đưa ra quyết định cuối cùng vào ngày cuối cùng của hội nghị (18/12).
Tuy nhiên, theo các nhà quan sát, Hội nghị Côpenhaghen đang đứng trước nguy cơ chia rẽ nghiêm trọng nhất khi mà những mâu thuẫn giờ đây không chỉ tồn tại giữa hai nhóm nước phát triển và đang phát triển, mà còn trong nội bộ các nước phát triển với nhau. Hai bản dự thảo chính thức của Nhóm công tác đặc biệt về hợp tác hành động dài hạn trong Công ước khung của LHQ về biến đổi khí hậu (AWG-LCA) và Nhóm công tác đặc biệt trong Nghị định thư Kiôtô (AWG-KP) đưa ra hôm 11/12 đã tạo ra những làn sóng phản đối giữa các nước. Trong bản dự thảo, AWG-LCD đặt giới hạn giữ nhiệt độ Trái Đất không tăng quá 1,5 – 2 độ C so với thời kỳ tiền công nghiệp, với 3 mức (lựa chọn) cắt giảm khí thải toàn cầu vào năm 2050 là 50%, 80% và 95%. Một số nước, trong đó có Mỹ, đã phản đối dự thảo này, cho rằng nhiều nội dung dự thảo “có vấn đề nghiêm trọng” và không đảm bảo cho việc tiến tới một thỏa thuận ràng buộc pháp lý lâu dài. Trong khi đó, dự thảo của AWG-KP cũng đang gây những luồng dư luận trái chiều giữa hai nhóm nước phát triển và đang phát triển. Các nước đang phát triển ủng hộ đề xuất của dự thảo về sửa đổi Nghị định thư Kiôtô, còn các nước phát triển muốn có một thỏa thuận mới, đồng thời yêu cầu hạ thấp quy định cắt giảm khí thải trung hạn đối với các nước này.

Các nhà phân tích cho rằng, Hội nghị Côpenhaghen sẽ còn nhiều gian nan trong tuần này khi hơn 1.200 nhà lãnh đạo trên thế giới, trong đó có Tổng thống Mỹ Barắc Ôbama (Barack Obama), Tổng thống Nga Đmitơri Métvêđép (Dmitry Medvedev) và Thủ tướng Trung Quốc Ôn Gia Bảo (Wen Jiabao), cùng có mặt tại Đan Mạch để đưa ra những quan điểm cuối cùng về vấn đề chống biến đổi khí hậu của mỗi nước. Tổng Thư ký Liên hợp quốc Ban Ki Mun (Ban Ki-Moon) tuyên bố ông lạc quan một cách thận trọng về kết quả Hội nghị Côphenhaghen.

Trong khi đó, bên ngoài Hội nghị, những người biểu tình vẫn tiếp tục cuộc tuần hành trong ngày thứ hai liên tiếp nhằm gây sức ép yêu cầu các nhà lãnh đạo thế giới không phớt lờ cuộc chiến chống biến đổi, đồng thời kêu gọi hội nghị đạt được một thỏa thuận mới chống biến đổi khí hậu sau năm 2012, thời điểm Nghị định thư Kiôtô hết hiệu lực. Cảnh sát Đan Mạch bắt giữ thêm 200 người quá khích tham gia các cuộc tuần hành. Người phát ngôn cảnh sát Đan Mạch Phlemminh Stin Munchơ (Flemming Steen Munch) cho biết những người này bị bắt sau khi cảnh sát ngăn chặn một cuộc tuần hành trái phép gồm hàng trăm người đang tìm cách tiến về khu cảng biển của thành phố. Ngoài ra, cảnh sát cũng thu giữ nhiều dụng cụ nguy hiểm như thanh sắt.
Đây là vụ bắt giữ người biểu tình thứ hai ở thủ đô Côpenhagen trong hai ngày cuối tuần. Trước đó, cảnh sát cũng đã bắt giữ gần 1.000 người biểu tình tham gia cuộc tuần hành lớn gồm khoảng 40.000 người kéo về trung tâm Benla (Bella), nơi đang diễn ra (COP15).
Cùng ngày, dưới sự chủ trì của Tổng Giám mục xứ Cantơburi (Canterburi) ở thủ đô Côpenhaghen, các giám mục Cơ đốc giáo trên toàn thế giới đã đồng loạt cử hành nghi lễ cầu nguyện cho khí hậu Trái Đất. Sau lễ cầu nguyện, các nhà thờ ở Đan Mạch cùng hàng nghìn nhà thờ khác trên thế giới đã thỉnh chuông 350 lần, con số thể hiện ý nguyện mong muốn giới hạn lượng khí thải gây hiệu ứng nhà kính điôxít cácbon (CO2) trong khí quyển ở mức 350 phần triệu (ppm) – ngưỡng an toàn theo khuyến cáo của các nhà khoa học. Hội đồng các nhà thờ quốc gia Đan Mạch cho biết đây là hoạt động nằm trong chiến dịch toàn cầu nhằm kêu gọi sự quan tâm đối với hiện tượng biến đổi khí hậu./.

The emissions move, announced on President Zuma’s website, initially garnered wide support. Greenpeace hailed South Africa as “one of the stars of the negotiations” and voiced the hope it would push industrialised countries to put tangible cuts on the table.

European Commission negotiator Karl Falkenberg this week said the EU is looking for a constructive attitude from emerging economies. “The little ‘c’ of  ‘common’ is always overlooked in the negotiations”, he said, referring to the UNFCCC’s principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” in fighting climate change.

“Developing countries also have a contribution to make to reducing greenhouse gases. Of course the EU doesn’t expect countries to reduce emissions immediately, but to reduce the growth is a good start.”

However, South African environmental groups say their government’s proposal is a non-starter which doesn’t reflect what is really going on in the country’s energy sector.

“National power utility Eskom just brokered a $3.75 billion deal with the World Bank to put up two large coal-fired plants,” retorted Sisiwe Khanyile from Groundwork, a South African climate justice group. “They are pushing to get this figure increased to $5 billion, which if approved will be the largest single loan the Wold Bank has ever given an African country. It also will be more than double the Bank’s global budget for renewable energy.”

The plants, Kusile and Medupi, are being constructed in the rural Limpopo and Mpumalange provinces and will bebamong the largest coal-fired energy plants in the world. Out of South Africa’s 44,000 megawatts, some 37,000 come from coal-fired plants. At present a mere 2,000 megawatts is derived from renewable energy projects.

“The World Bank doesn’t live by its own rules”, said Nnimmo Bassey of Friends of The Earth International. “It finances large-scale unsustainable power generation in an age when such projects should not even be considered. Leave oil in the soil and coal in the hole!”

Khanyile thinks the argument that South Africa needs the investments in its troubled power sector to uplift its poor is misrepresented: “After they have used their free 50 kilowatts, the poor pay a rate that’s three times higher than that of industry, which is by far the largest consumer.”

Although the South Africans boast that they have secured hundreds of millions for renewable energy projects, the campaigners object that this constitutes just a small percentage of the World Bank loan. “It’s a renewable energy fig leaf”, says Khanyile. “There is no convincing evidence that Eskom is leaning towards renewables. At best its plans show a renewable sector accounting for only two per cent of generating capacity by 2020.”

“It’s an example of South Africa’s split personality”, commented Ferrial Adam from Earthlife Africa. “This World Bank loan locks South Africa onto a path of unsustainable emissions.”