Catalysing Change : the UNECE Response to the Climate Countdown

United Nations. Economic Commission for Europe
http://www.unece.org/publications/oes/CatalysingChange.pdf

[Announcement] This is the latest report by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It presents, along with maps and charts, major current and projected climate changes in the UNECE region which spans North America, Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, and Israel. The changes include increased or decreased precipitation, reduction in the permafrost, forest fires, changes in ecosystems, sea-level rise, malaria risks and impacts on agriculuture.

“The Copenhagen Accord”

COP-15
copenhagen-accord-4.30pm_noPW

[Washington Post] With time running out to forge a comprehensive climate agreement, negotiators at the U.N.-sponsored talks are considering a new draft agreement that would not require a binding treaty by 2010 but would lay the groundwork for a more ambitious target in limiting the rise of temperatures around the globe.

The decision to remove the 2010 deadline is significant, because scientists have warned that the longer nations wait to make deep greenhouse gas emission cuts, the harder it will be to avert dangerous climate change…

The proposal, a political statement labeled “the Copenhagen Accord,” also lacks the kind of independent verification of emission reductions by developing countries than the United States and others are insisting on. It calls upon the world’s nations to collectively reduce their emissions 80 percent by 2050.

At the same time, it calls for a reassessment of the accord by 2016 that would “include consideration of strengthening the long term goal to limit the increase of long term global average temperature to 1.5 degrees” Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the more ambitious climate target many vulnerable nations had been seeking as part of an agreement here.

The draft, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, emerged from a frenzy of last-minute negotiations on what is supposed to be the final day of the 12-day, 193-nation summit.

British Columbia and California : Memorandum of Understanding on Light-Duty Vehicle GHG Emissions Reduction

Ministry of Environment. Province of British Columbia / California Air Resources Board
http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/nr121709.htm

[Green Car Congress] British Columbia and the California Air Resources Board have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to pave the way for stringent greenhouse gas emissions standards for new light-duty vehicles.

The MOU commits the BC Ministry of Environment and the California Air Resources Board to move forward in partnership in the implementation of greenhouse gas emissions standards for new cars, SUVs and light-duty trucks. Vehicle emissions standards mirroring California’s are projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from light-duty vehicles in B.C. by 30% in 2016, relative to current vehicles…

Land Surface Climate Station Records

Met Office, UK
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climatechange/science/monitoring/subsets.html

[Website] The data downloadable from this page are a subset of the full HadCRUT3 record of global temperatures, which is one of the global temperature records that have underpinned IPCC assessment reports and numerous scientific studies.

The data subset consists of a network of individual land stations that has been designated by the World Meteorological Organization for use in climate monitoring. The data show monthly average temperature values for over 1,500 land stations.

The stations that we have released are those in the CRUTEM3 database that are also either in the WMO Regional Basic Climatological Network (RBCN) and so freely available without restrictions on re-use; or those for which we have received permission from the national met. service which owns the underlying station data.

The station records are available in a single zip file. These station records were produced by the Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, in collaboration with the Met Office Hadley Centre. (H/T: Docuticker)

Distributed Renewable Energy Finance and Policy Toolkit

Clean Energy States Alliance / by Charles Kubert and Mark Sinclair
http://tinyurl.com/ya5lbzg

[From executive summary] Over the past decade, states have played an increasingly important role in providing financial support to renewable energy projects, with funding often derived from state-established public
benefit funds. The financial support tools for renewable energy projects have ranged from rebates to competitive grants to loans. Complementing these tools has been a set of public policies— tax incentives, net metering and interconnection rules, renewable portfolio standards—passed by state legislatures and regulators. Recently, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) also provided significant funding to states to support clean energy investments. The purpose of this report is to describe the many financing options available to state energy offices, municipal governments, and other energy agencies for utilizing public funds for clean energy project support. The report analyzes their strengths and weaknesses and identifies best practices. One key finding is that, while each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, the use of these tools as a portfolio of approaches creates the most robust, effective programs.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Sustainability Partnerships : Summary of a Workshop

National Research Council
http://tinyurl.com/ye8qbmw

[Abstract] Sustainable development–meeting human needs while nurturing and restoring the planet’s life support systems–requires a continuous process of scientific innovation, new knowledge and learning, and collaborative approaches to implementing technologies and policies. To address these challenges, different stakeholder groups are increasingly seeking to ally themselves through partnership, in order to implement projects, deliver services, establish secure funding mechanisms, and achieve on the ground results. Advocates of this collaborative approach point to the failure of governmental regulations, international commitments, or business as usual. However, skeptics often question the effectiveness of partnerships at achieving sustainable development goals and, in the absence of demonstrated results, wonder where partnerships are adding value.

A symposium held in June 2008 and summarized in this volume, attempted to advance the dialogue on partnerships for sustainability in order to catalyze existing knowledge and inform future efforts. Ideas that came out of discussions at the symposium will help leaders in government, the private sector, foundations and NGOs, and universities, both in the United States and internationally, as they develop and participate in new partnerships for sustainability.

Nanotech Regulatory Document Archive

Center for the Study of Law Science & Technology in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, USA, the Centre of Regulatory Studies in the Monash University Law School, Australia, and the Institute of Environmental and Energy Law at K.U. Leuven, Belgium.
http://nanotech.law.asu.edu/?map=world

[From the archive] The Nanotech Regulatory Document Archive is a free, searchable database of governmental documents from around the world relating to nanotechnology regulation. Each entry in the database provides a direct link and/or attached copy of a specific government document, an abstract of that document prepared for the database, and a listing of other pertinent information including author, date, and document type. Documents for a specific jurisdiction can be accessed by clicking on the map above, or by clicking on a region, nation or entity listed on the left side of the screen.

National Drinking Water Database

Environmental Working Group
http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/home

To search this database, look for the “What’s In Your Water?” form on the right of the above page.

[Press release via ResourceShelf]  Tap water in many large metropolitan areas is polluted with a cocktail of chemical contaminants. These pollutants usually don’t violate any legal standards, but they often come in potentially toxic combinations that raise serious questions about the long-term safety of drinking the water. Pensacola, Fla.; Riverside, Calif.; and Las Vegas top the list of major cities with the most contaminated tap water.

In an unprecedented analysis of 20 million tap water quality tests performed by water utilities between 2004 and 2009, Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that water suppliers detected a total of 316 contaminants in water delivered to the public. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set enforceable standards for only 114 of these pollutants.

[Our Emphasis] EWG’s searchable database of water test results allows the public to check out the quality of the water in their community, and EWG researchers have also compiled an easy-to-use guide to water filtration systems currently on the market, giving consumers some help when deciding which one works best for themselves and their families.

Based on these data, EWG believes the federal government has a responsibility to do a national assessment of drinking water quality. It should establish new safety standards, set priorities for pollution prevention projects, and tell consumers about the full range of pollutants in their water.

Because it has not, EWG launched a 3-year project to create the largest drinking water quality database in existence. This user-friendly, interactive resource covers 48,000 communities in 45 states and the District of Columbia.

Statistical Abstract of the United State 2010

US Bureau of the Census
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/statab2006_2010.html

Full text of the new version of the best selling federal reference source is now available. A few fast facts from the press release:

Alternative energy sources

• The average price of crude oil rose from $67.94 per barrel in 2007 to $94.73 in 2008. (Table 714) With these recent increases, many homeowners have switched from oil to natural gas to heat their homes. The states with the largest natural gas reserves in 2006 were Texas (61.836 billion cubic feet), Wyoming (23.549), New Mexico (17.934), Oklahoma (17.464) and Colorado (17.149). (Table 872)
• With the use of renewable energy on the rise, fuel ethanol consumption has soared from 2 million barrels in 1981 to almost 229 million barrels in 2008. Biodiesel has experienced the same trend, rising from 243,000 barrels in 2001 to almost 8 million in 2008. (Table 899)

The cost of “juice”

• Residential electric energy prices in 2007 ranged from 20.72 cents per kilowatt-hour in Hawaii to 4.92 cents in Idaho. Alaska and four states in the Northeast also had prices above 16 cents per kilowatt-hour. (Table 916) (See map 3) [PDF]

Into orbit

• Of the 69 worldwide orbital space launches in 2008, 41 were noncommercial and 28 commercial. The U.S. conducted 15 total launches, Russia 26, China 11 and Europe six. (Table 797)

Healthy living

• There were more than 20,000 farms in 2007 engaged in organic production on more than 2.5 million acres. Sales of organically produced commodities totaled $1.7 billion, of which more than $1.1 billion were organic crops and $600 million organic livestock and poultry and poultry products. (Table 807)
• In 2007, the complementary and alternative medicine therapies most commonly used by U.S. adults in the past 12 months were nonvitamin, nonmineral and natural products (17.7 percent), deep breathing exercises (12.7 percent), meditation (9.4 percent), chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation (8.6 percent), massage (8.3 percent) and yoga (6.1 percent). (Table 161) (H/T: ResourceShelf)

Climate 1-Stop

http://arcserver4.iagt.org/climate1stop/

[From an Intute Description] Climate 1 Stop is a climate portal launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 which aims to provide a single location for proven climate change tools, resources and information. Registered users may add information. A detailed search facility is available. The portal was developed by a group of organisations including NASA, USAID, the National Science Foundation, the Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology and the University of Alabama-Huntsville in the USA, and CATHALAC in Panama.

[From the website] The Climate 1-Stop provides a single location to share and access climate change tools, resources and information, with a primary focus on adaptation in developing countries.(H/T: ResourceShelf)