Threatened by rising seas, small island nations appeal for more aid at UN

25 September 2013 – On the front line of damage wrought by climate change, threatened with extinction from rising seas, leaders of some of the world’s small island States took to the podium at the United Nations General Assembly today to call urgently for greater international support to mitigate the perils.

Winston Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister /
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Antigua and Barbuda

“Disastrously off course,” “profound disappointment” and “moral failure” were some of the terms used by heads of Small Island Developing States, known as SIDS, to depict their situation as the 68th General Assembly prepares to draw up long-term development plans for the decades after the end in 2015 of the current cycle of the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“The corresponding actions to address the unique and special circumstances of SIDS by the international community has been lacking,” the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Winston Baldwin Spencer, told the Assembly’s annual General Debate, summing up the almost two decades since the Barbados Programme of Action was adopted by at a UN conference on the sustainable development of SIDS in 1994.

“It is a recognized fact, but it is worth repeating that small island States contribute the least to the causes of climate change, yet we suffer the most from its effects. Small island States have expressed our profound disappointment at the lack of tangible action,” he said referring to efforts in UN climate change talks to protect SIDS and other vulnerable countries.

“Developed countries should shoulder their moral, ethical and historical responsibilities for emitting the levels of anthropogenic greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It is those actions which have now put the planet in jeopardy and compromised the well-being of present and future generations,” the Caribbean leader stressed.

Noting uneven progress in achieving the MDGs, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago, who is also chairperson of Conference of Heady of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), warned that current approaches will not advance the MDG agenda by 2015 or ensure sustainable development in the post-2015 context.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar
of Trinidad and Tobago,

“SIDS have made significantly less progress in the area of development, than other vulnerable groups of countries. In some cases SIDS are on the frontlines of experiencing a reversal of many of the gains that have been achieved,” she said.

“Indeed in the preparations for our participation in that upcoming discourse (on the Post-2015 Development Agenda), the recognition of the vulnerabilities of small island developing States is one of the guidelines that CARICOM will apply when considering its commitments to the overall Agenda.”

From the other side of the planet, Kiribati President Anote Tong, stressing the “real and existential threat” his low-lying Pacific nation faces from rising seas, called for immediate international action to mitigate climate change and rising sea levels.

“We are disastrously off course. The scientists tell us that calamity awaits – and not just for those of us on low-lying islands,” he said. “What we are experiencing now on these low-lying atolls is an early warning of what will happen further down the line. No one will be spared. We cannot continue to abuse our planet in this way. For the future we want for our children and grandchildren, we need leadership.

“We need commitment. And we need action ....now,” he declared, noting that while Kiribati is taking adaptation measures to remain habitable for as long as possible, it is also looking to improve its people’s skills to a level where they can compete for jobs in the international labour market with dignity if the rising ocean forces them to migrate.

“All those countries with the ability to do so must contribute to the prevention of this calamity, or be forever judged by history.” More

 

Tool predicts sea-level rise on Pacific islands

HONOLULU (AP) - People concerned about how rising sea levels will affect communities in Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands have a new tool to help them plan ahead.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Hawaii at Manoa worked together to incorporate these Pacific island areas into a national web-mapping tool that enables people to picture what rising sea levels will do to coastal areas.

The Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer overlays high-resolution aerial images on top of elevation data.

This allows users to see what higher sea levels would do to landmarks and critical infrastructure. It also shows what populations would be vulnerable to rising sea levels.

University of Hawaii Professor Chip Fletcher says it fills an important gap for Hawaii planners and managers. More

 

Jakarta will be underwater by 2030: National Council on Climate Change

The National Council on Climate Change (DNPI) predicts that half of Jakarta will be under water by 2030 due to global warming.

DNPI executive chairman Rachmat Witoelar said on Thursday that global warming could cause sea levels to increase significantly.

"If we allow this situation to continue, then by around 2030, half of Jakarta, specifically areas such as Ancol, will be under water," he said in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Rachmat said that certain measures had to be taken in order to contain and anticipate the impacts of climate change.

He said big cities such as Jakarta contributed significantly to environmental damage, caused by garbage, air pollution from vehicles, tree-cutting activities and decline in open green spaces due to land conversion.

"Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi has asked people to become more aware of environmental problems and climate change because all these issues will negatively impact people's health," said Rachmat.

He added that people had to increase awareness on the need to protect themselves from the impact of global warming by keeping the environment green, maintaining cleanliness, and reducing air pollution.

Rachmat said that the government through the DNPI has continued to tackle the multiple impacts of climate change.

Recently, the DNPI launched a book titled "Climate Change and Challenges of the Nation's Civilization".

Rachmat said Indonesia has discussed efforts on how to improve the global environment, which was also related to the state of domestic environment.

"Indonesia ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on Aug.23, 1994. As an active UN member country, Indonesia has played an active role in tackling environment crisis," he said. More

 

Caribbean water sector managers to benefit from CCORAL

September 16th 2013 A new initiative by the Caribbean Climate Change Centre (5Cs), the UK-based Climate Development and Knowledge Network (CDKN) and the Global Water Partnership – Caribbean is focusing minds on climate risk in the water sector.

In July, the 5Cs launched an innovative online tool to help governments and businesses to assess the climate-related risks of different investment options. The Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation tool (CCORAL) is a decision support tool that aims to encourage climate resilient choices. In this region of small island states that are vulnerable to sea level rise, droughts and increasingly frequent, intense storms, the tool couldn’t have come at a better time.

CCORAL is intended to embed a risk management ethic in decision-making processes across the Caribbean region. When it was launched, it received a rare endorsement by the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri. Now, a new project will fine-tune CCORAL’s online support system for the specific use of managers in the water sector

Most Caribbean countries are vulnerable to water scarcity and drought. One of the contributing factors to vulnerability is climate change, which will trigger significant changes in temperature and precipitation. Average rainfall is expected to decrease by 7% in 2050, and salt water intrusion will arise as a result of increased sea levels. This water scarcity will impact agriculture, tourism and public health.

The Centre, together with the Global Water Partnership Caribbean are working with government agencies and businesses in the water sector to understand how the CCORAL tool could help them. They are currently consulting with a range of regional organisations (such as international financial institutions, NGOs and universities), national agencies (government departments, water utilities) and businesses (water utilities, consultants, major industrial and commercial water users). They are exploring the following key questions:

What are the priority water services which would benefit from more climate resilient decision making? (for example; water resources allocation, water supply, agricultural / industrial / commercial / tourism / energy)

What water information, planning, operational or legal and regulatory activities would benefit from increased consideration of climate variability and risk? (for example; water supply planning, hydrological modelling, risk assessment, water system regulation, operational procedures)

Which organisations and specific capacities would benefit from being involved in the development and application of the CCORAL-Water tools? (for example; strategic water planners in governmental departments, consultants engaged in technical services for water planners, investment planners in water utilities, regulatory agencies for water)

If this project is successful, it will lead to improved climate risk management in water sector planning and management activities, which in turn will lead to improved levels of service for water users in the Caribbean.

The CCORAL-Water project is being developed in consultation with water managers in five countries: Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Suriname. The CCORAL-Water tool itself will be applicable and available to all Caribbean countries through the CCORAL online system, hosted by the 5Cs, from March 2014. Watch this space for progress with CCORAL – Water! More

This article was written by CDKN’s Pati Leon and was first posted at CDKN Global.

 

OTEC pilot plant built in Okinawa Prefecture

This month, Japanese engineering companies IHI Plant Construction Corporation, Xenesys Incorporated and Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced their collaboration in building a 50kW OTEC demonstration plant in the waters of Kumejima Island, located in the very south of Japan and part of the Okinawa Islands.

Kumejima Island

The OTEC plant will be integrated in the Okinawa Prefecture Deep Seawater Research Center, which is the largest of four deep seawater pumping systems in Japan. The companies aim to have the OTEC plant up and running in March 2013.

Regarding the roles in this project: Xenesys will design and manufacture the power generation unit and the heat exchangers; Yokogawa will design, manufacture and do the engineering of the monitoring and control system for the generation unit and the electronics for the interconnected power schemes; and IHI will develop and construct the entire facility.

Kumejima Island deep seawater research station

Okinawa Research Center is active in deep seawater utilization for over 10 years. The center established several deep seawater projects, including local area cooling services, water desalination, aquaculture and agriculture. Next year the OTEC demonstration plant will be added and connected to the deep seawater infrastructure. The OTEC plant will be used for practical testing and optimization of the output. It is an important step in the commercialization following the 30kW demonstration unit at Saga University in Saga, Japan.

The current capacity of the Okinawa Research Center is about 13,000 tons of seawater per day, pumped up from a depth of 612 meter where the water is between 6 and 8°C. The temperature of the surface seawater is around 26°C annual average, providing stable production possibilities.

Regarding future scale-ups, Xenesys estimated that it is possible to increase the intake of deep seawater to 100,000 tons per day and install 1.25MW OTEC power capacity. This would supply 10,600 MWh of electricity per year, which accounts for 10% of Kumejima’s total annual consumption.The island of Kumejima, which entered into a Sister City Relationship with the county of Hawaii last year, aims to become a self-sustaining community and model for other small islands in the Okinawa Prefecture. More

September 2013 This plant is now operational and is producing hydrogen. Editor

 

OTEC pilot plant to be built in Okinawa Prefecture

This month, Japanese engineering companies IHI Plant Construction Corporation, Xenesys Incorporated and Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced their collaboration in building a 50kW OTEC demonstration plant in the waters of Kumejima Island, located in the very south of Japan and part of the Okinawa Islands.

Kumejima Island

The OTEC plant will be integrated in the Okinawa Prefecture Deep Seawater Research Center, which is the largest of four deep seawater pumping systems in Japan. The companies aim to have the OTEC plant up and running in March 2013.

Regarding the roles in this project: Xenesys will design and manufacture the power generation unit and the heat exchangers; Yokogawa will design, manufacture and do the engineering of the monitoring and control system for the generation unit and the electronics for the interconnected power schemes; and IHI will develop and construct the entire facility.

Kumejima Island deep seawater research station

Okinawa Research Center is active in deep seawater utilization for over 10 years. The center established several deep seawater projects, including local area cooling services, water desalination, aquaculture and agriculture. Next year the OTEC demonstration plant will be added and connected to the deep seawater infrastructure. The OTEC plant will be used for practical testing and optimization of the output. It is an important step in the commercialization following the 30kW demonstration unit at Saga University in Saga, Japan.

The current capacity of the Okinawa Research Center is about 13,000 tons of seawater per day, pumped up from a depth of 612 meter where the water is between 6 and 8°C. The temperature of the surface seawater is around 26°C annual average, providing stable production possibilities.

Regarding future scale-ups, Xenesys estimated that it is possible to increase the intake of deep seawater to 100,000 tons per day and install 1.25MW OTEC power capacity. This would supply 10,600 MWh of electricity per year, which accounts for 10% of Kumejima’s total annual consumption.The island of Kumejima, which entered into a Sister City Relationship with the county of Hawaii last year, aims to become a self-sustaining community and model for other small islands in the Okinawa Prefecture. More

 

Angola: Head of State appoints Ecocide Convention Work Team

The Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos Wednesday in Luanda ordered the setting up of a Work Team to study and draft proposals for incorporation in the country’s legal system of the Ecocide Convention, Angop learned from an official source.

Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos

Ecocide is defined as the destruction or degradation of various ecosystems in a certain territory, through human action or others, putting at stake the full development of the resources by the population.

The United Nations has decided to discuss, approve and promote among the member states an International Convention against the Ecocide, aiming to protect the earth and its living species against the evil and hold legally accountable the institutions, organisms, organisations and their leaders found responsible for the phenomenon.

Internally, the Executive is required to set up national mechanisms of combat against the ecocide, promotion of the enforcement of the law and regulation of the cooperation with the international organisms and organisations involved in the protection of the environment, its technical assistance and exchange of information.

The just appointed Work Team is coordinated by the minister of Environment and includes representatives of the ministries of Energy and Water, Interior, Oil and National Defence.

According to the source, The Work Team is expected to conduct a deep study on the Ecocide Convention draft, by analysing the impact the phenomenon might have on the country’s legal system.

It is also the Work Team’s duty to create a legal framework for the country’s economic development, promote and facilitate international cooperation and provide technical assistance to prevent the ecocide, the source said.

The body is also tasked with arranging and promoting inter-sectoral programmes of information, publicity and social awareness, through environmental education campaigns and identifying and protecting the communities based in threatened areas. More

 

Angola: Head of State appoints Ecocide Convention Work Team

The Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos Wednesday in Luanda ordered the setting up of a Work Team to study and draft proposals for incorporation in the country’s legal system of the Ecocide Convention, Angop learned from an official source.

Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos

Ecocide is defined as the destruction or degradation of various ecosystems in a certain territory, through human action or others, putting at stake the full development of the resources by the population.

The United Nations has decided to discuss, approve and promote among the member states an International Convention against the Ecocide, aiming to protect the earth and its living species against the evil and hold legally accountable the institutions, organisms, organisations and their leaders found responsible for the phenomenon.

Internally, the Executive is required to set up national mechanisms of combat against the ecocide, promotion of the enforcement of the law and regulation of the cooperation with the international organisms and organisations involved in the protection of the environment, its technical assistance and exchange of information.

The just appointed Work Team is coordinated by the minister of Environment and includes representatives of the ministries of Energy and Water, Interior, Oil and National Defence.

According to the source, The Work Team is expected to conduct a deep study on the Ecocide Convention draft, by analysing the impact the phenomenon might have on the country’s legal system.

It is also the Work Team’s duty to create a legal framework for the country’s economic development, promote and facilitate international cooperation and provide technical assistance to prevent the ecocide, the source said.

The body is also tasked with arranging and promoting inter-sectoral programmes of information, publicity and social awareness, through environmental education campaigns and identifying and protecting the communities based in threatened areas. More

 

Pacific leaders adopt 'Majuro declaration' on climate change

Leaders of 13 Pacific Island countries acutely vulnerable to rising sea levels have released a statement calling for 'urgent action' to address climate change.

The 12-page document says governments in the region are committed to demonstrating 'climate leadership' and calls on countries to list 'specific' pledges to reduce pollution.

The 'Majuro Declaration', also signed by Australia and New Zealand, will be presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in New York later this month.

"The responsibility of all to act falls to every government, every company, every organization and every person with the capacity to do so, both individually and collectively," it says.

The declaration was issued at this year's Pacific Island Forum meeting in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro, which was briefly submerged by high tides in June this year.

At the request of the organisers EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard, UK Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire and representatives from the USA and China also attended the summit.

The text underlines the intense frustration among leaders of small island states at the sluggish progress at the UN in cutting global greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists warn carbon dioxide levels need to peak this decade to avoid temperatures rising 2°C above pre industrial levels, which is considered to be a threshold of 'dangerous climate change'.

The UN's forthcoming IPCC climate science report is expected to warn that sea levels could rise between 29 and 82cm (11.4 to 32.3 inches) before 2100, levels which threaten the existence of some Pacific states.

In a statement Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak said he hoped the declaration could be a "game changer" in driving talks on a global emissions reduction deal forward.

"We've had a strong meeting of minds here on the urgency of the problem, but the real work begins now," he said.

"We need the rest of the world to follow the Pacific's lead. I look forward to making that case during meetings with fellow Leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York later this month." More

 

Asia Pacific Clean Energy / Islands & Isolated Communities Congress

The 2013 Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo will be held jointly with the 2013 Islands & Isolated Communities Congress at the Hawai‘i Convention Center starting tomorrow September 9th, and through September 11.

The event is the preeminent meeting place for international leaders and energy experts at the forefront of the clean energy movement. Securing energy independence and developing a clean energy industry that promotes the vitality of our planet are two reasons why it is critical to reaffirm already established partnerships and build new ones throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the world. The Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo and the Islands & Isolated Communities Congress provide a forum for the high-level global networking necessary to advance this emerging clean energy culture.

Islands and Isolated Communities are the planet’s vanguard societies facing imported energy dependencies, constrained resources, and vulnerability to climate change. Join global leaders developing solutions and projects; from island nations worldwide, to land-locked greening cities, to isolated military installations.

The sustainability and resiliency of island communities depends on best practices developed in energy, water, agriculture, security, resource and disaster risk management and societal actions. As island communities are facing these complex and interdependent challenges across the planet, the Islands and Isolated Communities Congress is focused on building a global movement to champion these solutions. The solutions developed on islands will lay the foundation for best practices world-wide.

Auyuittuq - The Land that Never Melts is Melting

Many Strong Voices (MSV) will be represented here by Nick Robson, D-G of the Cayman Institute who sits on MSV's Advisory Committee.

The goal of Many Strong Voices is to promote the well-being, security, and sustainability of coastal communities in the Arctic and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) by bringing these regions together to take action on climate change mitigation and adaptation, and to tell their stories to the world.

Coastal Erosion - Seychelles

The Arctic and SIDS are barometers of global environmental change. As they are on the frontlines of climate change, they are also critical testing grounds for the ideas and programmes that will strengthen the adaptive capacities of human societies confronting climate change.

Lessons learned through MSV support policy development at local, regional, and international levels. They provide decision-makers in the two regions with the knowledge to safeguard and strengthen vulnerable social, economic, and natural systems. More

 

The good news this week is that a new Pacific regional pact, the Majuro Declaration, calling for aggressive action to combat climate change has achieved a “major accomplishment” by gaining U.S. support, officials said Sunday.

The Majuro Declaration, endorsed by the 15-nation Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) at their summit last week, contains specific pledges on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Majuro, Marshall Islands

The PIF nations, some of which are barely a meter above sea level and risk being swamped by rising waters, have since received wide support led by the United States after presenting the document to more than two dozen countries at a post-forum dialogue.

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced during the session a new climate change fund for Pacific islands vulnerable to rising sea levels.

“Climate change is the defining challenge of our time,” she said in launching the Pacific-American fund.

Separately, the U.S. was offering US$24 million over five years for projects in “vulnerable coastal communities” in the Pacific, she said. More

 

University of Twente Short Course 2014 Formulating Project Proposals For Climate Change Mitigation And Clean Energy (ICREP)

The Twente Centre for Studies in Technology and Sustainable Development, University of Twente is pleased to announce its short course FORMULATING PROJECT PROPOSALS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND CLEAN ENERGY (ICREP).

The course is held in partnership with The UNEP Risø Centre, Denmark.

The Course dates are May 26 – June 27, 2014. The course is held at the University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.

The course has been updated to reflect changes in approaches to addressing climate change. More information can be found on the

website:http://www.utwente.nl/mb/cstm/education/short_courses/icrep.doc/

 

Candidates eligible for a scholarship from the Netherlands NFP programme must submit an application to NUFFIC before October 1st. They must have also been admitted to the course before submitting the NUFFIC/NFP application. Again there is more information available on the web site.

Joy Clancy

Reader/Associate Professor

ICREP Course Director

Twente Centre for Studies in Technology and Sustainable Development