Mount Everest region in Nepal

DURBAN, South Africa–Himalayan snow cover is little more than half of that previously estimated, according to first-ever comprehensive research on snow cover in the region released at UN climate talks here.

The study found that there are 54,252 glaciers in the Himalayas covering 60,054 sq km. Until now it was estimated that the snow covered area was about 110,000 sq km.

The report was released by the Chairman of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change — the United Nations climate change scientific body — Rajendra Pachauri, and Nepal’s Environment Minister Hem Raj Tater at a programme to mark Mountain Day here on the sidelines of the climate change meeting. Negotiators from 195 countries have gathered here to discuss climate change.

“The study used a standardised methodology based on analysis of satellite images to prepare first-ever comprehensive inventory of glaciers in the 10 major river basins in the Himalayas,” said Samjwal Bajracharya, glacier expert at International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, a regional inter-governmental agency that conducts research on glaciers in eight countries of the Hindukush Himalayan region, including Nepal. “It took about three years to come up with the results.”

The study looked at ten years of data on snow recorded by moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer, which presents an account of snow mapping and monitoring initiatives at different levels from regional to global. The report claims it gives comprehensive baseline information for Himalayan glaciers in which there is very little climate change data available.

“Longer-term data are needed in order to understand the relation between snow cover and climate change but the ten-year snow cover study has shown regional variations,” added Bajracharya.

According to the study, the maximum annual average snow cover area was in 2005 and the minimum was in 2010. “There hadn’t been any mapping of the glaciers in the past. The previously stated figures were all estimates. Now we can say the actual snow covered area in the region,” claimed Bajracharya who has been involved in glacier study for more than a decade.

The IPCC had mentioned in its controversial report published in 2007 that the glaciers in the Himalayas would disappear by 2035. It was later admitted to be a mistake. However, Pachauri said that it could undoubtedly be said that the glaciers were melting at a rapid rate and the mistake is only the year that was mentioned in the report.

Experimenting with eco-friendly fashion at California College of Art

Sometimes we must travel to the other side of the world to discover something in our backyard. Such was my case in sighting California’s Arts and Craft’s Waterworks project here at COP 17.

As I first explored the UN’s Durban campus early this week, I scanned the aisles of exhibitors: African countries, non-profits of every flavor, clean energy projects, NGOs. I ‘tripped’ as I spotted “CCA”. The signage was boldly familiar among a sea of new acronyms.

I had that moment of slow motion processing as I reconciled something unexpected. I knew ‘CCA’ as California College of the Arts, a highly regarded design school based five miles from my home in San Francisco. An Executive MBA (www.presidioedu.org) colleague, Nathan Shedroff, runs their design MBA. But it seemed surprising that they would be showcasing here in Durban.

CCA is here, with good reason. They are one of the most active sustainability design programs in the world. At COP, they are showcasing their program and an upcoming exhibit – Waterworks. Waterworks is a visually compelling and scientifically innovative collection of high fashion designs, wherein water is used more sustainably in the manufacture, coloring process and even in the consumer use of the clothing. According to Christine Metzger, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, “The College invited water scientists to teach the student about water science and sustainable water practices. We are committed to integrating science and design teaching. The students then apply this knowledge to their design concepts.”

Showcasing design which uses less water in the production process

The result: 30 highly innovative fashion design projects that aim to inspire and reinvent retail fashion. Read more.

The World Climate Research Program (WCRP) released a report  on the sidelines of the Cancun climate talks here about increasingly extreme weather events like cyclones, heat waves and cold snaps

The project is sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization, the International Council for Science, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and UNESCO.

“When we observe these extreme events in the past, they are different in magnitude and frequency with what is happening now,” said
Ghaseem.R. Asrar, program director. “These cases will be studied in detail for what contributed to those [extreme] events. We
are still learning from these events so we cannot quantify or
attribute climate change in certainty for these extreme events.”

Citing a case study on Russia, Ghaseem explained that there were
record heat waves in Russia between 2003 and 2010.

“We are seeing the magnitude and frequency  increasing as
trends mostly projected in the first assessment of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change],” he added. The assessment predicted that “episodes [of] high temperatures would most likely become more frequent and cold episodes would be less frequent.”

The IPP is a scientific body tasked by the UN to provide scientific background on climate change. Asrar quoted the 4th IPCC assessment, completed in 2007, which showed that the number
of heat waves had increased and become more widespread.

“We must consider what we know today into our planning for the
future in order to minimize the impacts of these events,” he said,
adding that there was a need for investments to make sure systems are in place to monitor extreme events.

On tropical storm and hurricanes, the 4th IPCC assessment authors
have made projections for the next hundred years expecting
hurricanes category 1 to 3  to decrease while stronger category 4
to 5 storms to  increase.  One the example of category 5 is the 2005 hurricane Katrina in the US, considered one of the five deadliest and costliest hurricanes in the history of the country.

Armi Susandi, Indonesian meteorological expert, said compared to sub-tropical countries, Indonesia has fewer extreme events, especially
typhoons or cyclones.  However, this does not mean that the country is not affected by them.

Storms, for example, can be followed by long droughts. “When it gets very dry, then the potential for forest fires increases. This happened in Indonesia in 2008,” he said.

In Indonesia’s case, the storm level can be low but the
country’s ability to handle them is also very low, resulting in big damage from relatively weak storms.  “It’s not the extreme weather that counts for Indonesia,” Armi said. “We are very low in resistance,  so even if only a small part is hit, the impacts are tremendous.”

Climate change impacts in Indonesia in the next twenty years will “slightly increase,” including  impacts on health, economy and habitat, said a report also released on Cancun, the 2010 Climate Vulnerability Monitoring : The State of Climate Crisis, a study made by DARA, an international NGO focusing on humanitarian issues.

The impacts of climate change cannot be addressed without also dealing with the problem of poverty, said Michael Zummit Cutajar, former  UNFCCC chief.

“We are working in silence in terms of linking  climate change
and humanitarian issues,” he said. “So it’s very important to bring [humanitarian] discussions into the climate negotiations,” he said.

Cutajar also said we need to avoid ranking countries in terms of vulnerability to climate change. “It’s not a beauty contest.”

“Vulnerability and adaptation are for all countries not just what we see in the prime time, such as Himalayan  ice melting. This is not a narrow issue.”

Saleemul Huq, a senior fellow at the International Institute for
Environment and Development (IIED), said recent negotiations on adaptation and vulnerability actually revolves mainly upon the question of who gets more money.

“I don’t think that is a healthy debate,” he said. “When they are talking about who is more vulnerable they are actually talking about who should get more money.”

However, the most vulnerable countries are not sitting idly, but instead taking actions in their own hands, he said.

“Its not about negotiations but what we can do at home,” Huq said. “Some vulnerable countries are becoming much more proactive, such as the Maldives aim to be carbon neutral by 2020. And Bangladesh has already put 100 million dollars of its own money into implementing a climate change action plan,” he said.

These were the sorts of things that would produce new leaders in tackling climate change, he said.

-despite dire climate predictions by new report

A new global climate report launched at the United Nations Climate Talks in Mexico has named Vietnam  as one of the countries most affected by climate change, but the Southeast Asian country is actively taking  the lead to cope with the global issue through dynamic local actions.

According to the report in the next twenty years (from 2010 to 2030), Vietnam’s overall vulnerability to climate change will rise from severe to acute.

Economic stress is expected to increase for affected sectors with natural resources being affected the most. Also anticipated is human habitat loss and increased weather related disasters.

The predictions were a part of the Climate vulnerability monitor 2010: The State of the Climate Crisis report, which had research findings on distinct vulnerabilities in 184 countries and all regions of the world. The research was commissioned by DARA, a humanitarian research organisation and the Climate Vulnerable Forum.

According to DARA Director General Ross Mountain, the book categorises countries into low; moderate; high; severe; or acute vulnerability to climate change impact.

In recent years climate impacts to Vietnam have been increasingly noted.  According to World Meteorological Organization, Vietnam was relatively dry during the main moon season and  was hit by floods even in the dry one.

Normally Vietnam has  two seasons: a winter or dry one (from November to April) and a rainy or summer one (from May to October). Normally, there is nearly 90 % of the precipitation in summer and it’s dry in winter to compare with the summer.

But in recent years, according to the largest meteorological office, the rainfall declined in summer and the length of dry season extended more.

“There are more days with high temperature than last year”, said the vice director of National Meteorological Center Nguyen Duc Hoa: “It was also hotter.”

Droughts were serious in the eastern north, the mountainous area and the middle of the north. Typhoons have occurred more and even in the location that has rarely had floods in the dry season such as Quang Nam, a southern province.

“Under the impact of CC, the frequency of natural disasters increased more and more,” said Mr. Nguyen “its level was also worse and it is very difficult to forecast.”

Real actions

But the Vietnam government has been noting the climate changes and taking action. A national climate change target was ratified in 2009. It stated that mitigation and adaptation is urgent and necessary.

In Cancun, Mexico, they have had new commitments in the side negotiations at COP 16. One example is that of forestry preservation for mitigation.

“Mitigating by forestry is not only the cheapest but also the most effective way”, said the director of UN-REDD Vietnam Pham Kim Thoa. “Planting the mangrove and maintaining the mangrove monitoring system could reduce significantly impacts of typhoons.”

According to Pham, the REDD program  is a way to “save our lives”. Vietnam was selected as one of nine pilot countries in the UN-REDD program. REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) is a proposed mechanism aimed at slowing climate change by paying developing countries to stop cutting down their forests.

In the two years of phase one, Vietnam received US$4.38 million from Norway to improve capacity building at national and local levels. After finishing the phase one in Lam Dong, a south province for two years, UN-REDD Vietnam has given two initiatives: the system of sharing benefits (all stake holders have benefits) and the system of community monitoring (workshops for local community to value the forest itself.

After presenting the lessons it had learnt at a side event at COP 16, Vietnam received good feedback from non-government organizations (NGOs) and international donors.

“I was in Vietnam few months ago and we are very impressed with what Vietnamese government is doing to work with UN to implement the REDD program,” said Hans Brattskar, Director of The Government of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative

“A lot of countries try to learn lessons from Vietnam, especially in two issues like the system of benefit sharing,”said Yeme Katerere, Head of the UN-REDD Programme Secretariat .

“I think you are leading… in term of how to operate on the ground”, said Clavia Davis,  from World Resources Institute. “You raise  a lot of questions and the biggest concerns… getting consent from the community.”

Now UN-REDD programme is considering  moving Vietnam’s project from the phase one to phase two even if there is no agreement on REDD+ at the end of the two-week negotiations. And there is a good signal from the donor when Norway committed to support Vietnam in the phase two’s funding.

“It is much more than the phase one,” said Brattskar. And in a side event on the forest, Vietnam Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat revealed the number. “Norway committed to fund US$ 100 million for our phase two…a part is directly supported for the local comunity,”said Cao.

Vietnam also received US$ 520 million for the three-year program from the Japan government to improve the capacity of forecasting climate and US$ 4 million for building a forestry map. “Vietnam is a key partner of Japan in the field of Climate Change”, said Masaki Noke, Ambassador of Civil Society, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We would like to support Vietnam more.”

Vietnam also opened the gate for clean technology projects with the scheme to increase energy efficiency and access new green technologies. And it persuaded international banks to invest successfully.

“Vietnam had a detailed plan and we were ready to put money on it”, said Andrew Steer, World Bank Representative.

US$ 250 million was given to Vietnam from the fund of US$4 billions under the Clean Technology Fund (CTF).  CTF is funded by many international banks including World Bank Group and Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to the information published on the website of CTF, the amount is invested for projects on energy efficiency and renewable energy. If successful in the next ten years,  Vietnam will achieve its goal to reduce national energy consumption relative to business as usual projections by 5-8 percent by 2015  and reach 5% of total power generating capacity from clean energy by 2020.

According to ADB, one of the donors of CTF, small and medium size companies can access the fund if they have energy efficiency projects.

The strong belief from the biggest banks like the World Bank  and ADB attracted the interest from the domestic and foreign companies. “There are a lot of companies investing in the booming provinces like Hochiminh City”, said Steer. “Businesses over the world would like to invest because they get a good deal from Vietnamese workers – good products.”

In the opinions of international donors, Vietnam’s efforts have put it well on the way to achieving its goals of adaptation and mitigation.

“Vietnam is becoming a leader on both adaptation and mitigation”, said Andrew Steer, who was earlier this year appointed as the World Bank’s special envoy on climate.

This latest technology has also been used at the Climate Conference in Mexico connecting people to events at the meeting. CCMP Fellow Rachna Nath caught up with those behind the new software.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For instance, the penetration rate of mobile phones in the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) has surged from 2 to 25 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, according to the Information Economy Report prepared by UNCTAD, the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

The report argues that  this is “not a story about numbers and statistics, but a story about tools with the potential of transforming lives.”

This “transformational” potential  of mobile technology includes access to relevant information on markets and prices, and  helping to reduce travel, which is often hazardous in rural areas, as well as to reduce wasted time.

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference  taking place  this week in Mexico seeks an agreement to fund adaptation to climate change, the report argues that people on the ground can use things like the mobile phone to help cope.

While much of the world uses this technology to chat or shop or  play games, it can be of critical importance in the hands of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations, those the hardest hit by the impacts of climate change.

In Zambia, mobile phones are increasingly used by farmers to get market information, says Zambia Meteorological Department (ZMD)  Chief Meteorologist Joseph Kanyanga, who is also a climate change expert.

He notes that the use of ICTS for climate information in Zambia is still low but the potential exists for upscaling.

“Avenues are there to make climate information reach the vulnerable people and currently, efforts are underway to promote the use of ICTs in disseminating climate information,” Dr Kanyanga said.

ZMD director Jacob Nkomoki says his department wants to take advantage of the potential of ICTs in order to start providing early warning by mobile phones.

“We will soon be liaising with service providers to give climate information by mobile phones,” Mr Nkomoki said.

Currently, ZMD is providing meteorological information to local communities through a project called RANET- short for radio and internet.

RANET is  a low cost but modern technology used for bringing weather, climate, agriculture, early warning and related information to the rural community, by making use of the satellites and equipment like  digital radios and  personal computers.

The system links ZMD to community radio stations which broadcast the information in local languages.

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.