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root cause analysis .....

 

root cause analysis .....

 

Garrett, Kerry discuss US stance on climate change ….. 

Environment Minister Peter Garrett has met US Democrats Senator John Kerry in Bali to discuss the United States' position on climate change. 

The US is now the only industrialised country not to ratify the Kyoto protocol. A draft UN declaration says global emissions need to be halved by the middle of the century but there are no legally binding targets spelt out in the text. Developed countries are being told to cut emissions by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020 but Australia has so far rejected the idea. 

Mr Garrett says the US and Australia must cooperate if the conference is to deliver a roadmap for a new agreement when the Kyoto deal winds up. 'There are a number of areas where we can work productively and cooperatively together,' he said. 

'The opportunity to identify some of those areas and to know that there is a strong momentum happening right across the congress on these issues was very welcomed.' 

Garrett, Kerry Discuss US Stance On Climate Change

Oils ain't sunny anymore...

Big Oil lets sun set on renewables

Shell has quietly shed most of its solar power, while BP is buying into dirty tar sands

Shell, the oil company that recently trumpeted its commitment to a low carbon future by signing a pre-Bali conference communique, has quietly sold off most of its solar business.

The move, taken with rival BP's decision last week to invest in the world's dirtiest oil production in Canada's tar sands, indicates that Big Oil might be giving up its flirtation with renewables and going back to its roots.

Shell and BP are among the biggest producers of greenhouse gases in the world, but both have been keen to paint themselves green through a series of clean fuel initiatives.

Unhappy feet

"The Antarctic penguins already have a long march behind them," Anna Reynolds, deputy director of WWF's Global Climate Change Program, said in a statement at the Bali climate talks.

"Now it seems these icons of the Antarctic will have to face an extremely tough battle to adapt to the unprecedented rate of climate change."

The report, "Antarctic Penguins and Climate Change", said sea ice covered 40 per cent less area than it did 26 years ago off the West Antarctic Peninsula, leading to a fall in stocks of krill, the main source of food for the chinstrap and gentoo penguins.

In the north-western coast of the Antarctic peninsula, where warming has been fastest, populations of adelie penguins have dropped by 65 per cent over the past 25 years, it said.

The number of chinstraps decreased by 30 to 66 per cent in some colonies, as less food made it more difficult for the young to survive. Meanwhile, the emperor penguin has seen some of its colonies halve in size over the past half a century.

rebellion in the ranks .....

European nations at the U.N. conference in Bali, yesterday threatened to boycott US-led climate talks next month, unless Washington accepts" a draft document 'suggesting that industrialized nations consider cutting emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020."