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NORTHERN CLIMATE CHANGE NETWORK LISTSERV, Mar/07– Issue 8
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IN THE NEWS...
BC Energy Plan outlines vision for clean energy
Feb. 27/07 - The new BC Energy Plan: A Vision for Clean Energy Leadership puts British Columbia at the forefront with aggressive targets for zero net greenhouse gas emissions, new investments in innovation, and an ambitious target to acquire 50 per cent of BC Hydro’s incremental resource needs through conservation by 2020, announced Richard Neufeld, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. BC Government. Details
Climate draft allows spike in oil-sands emissions
Feb. 26/07 - "Greenhouse-gas emissions from Alberta’s oil sands would be allowed to rise dramatically under a draft version of the government’s long-anticipated climate-change plan obtained by The Globe and Mail. The internal documents appear to underestimate significantly future oil-sands development as a way of producing more positive figures, said two environmentalists who analyzed the documents for The Globe." Globe and Mail. Details
An Inconvenient Truth wins Oscar for best documentary
Feb. 26/07 - "My fellow Americans, people all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It’s not a political issue, it’s a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started, with the possible exception of the will to act, that’s a renewable resource. Let’s renew it." stated Al Gore after Davis Guggenheim accepted the Academy Award for for Best Documentary Feature. Oscar.com. Details
How global warming goes against the grain
Feb. 23/07 - The scale of agriculture’s vulnerability to global warming was highlighted late last year when the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an umbrella organization representing 15 of the world’s top crop research centres, issued an astounding estimate of the impact of climate change on a single crop, wheat, in one of the world’s major breadbaskets. Researchers using computer models to simulate the weather patterns likely to exist around 2050 found that the best wheat-growing land in the wide arc of fertile farmland stretching from Pakistan through Northern India and Nepal to Bangladesh would be decimated. Globe and Mail. Details
Two champions in the fight against global warming nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Feb. 22/07 - Canadian Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier was nominated for the Nobel prize earlier this month for her efforts to draw world attention to global warming in the Arctic, Greenland and Russia. Al Gore has also been nominated for his campaign to draw attention to the threat of global warming. Globe and Mail. Details
Stern urges business, political leaders to act on climate change
Feb. 19/07 - British economist Nicolas Stern, renowned for his work on climate change, made a one-day stop in Canada on Monday to deliver an "urgent" message to business and political leaders. "It’s very clear to me now that you can be green and grow," Stern said. "I do not think it’s a horse race between growth and being responsible on climate change - good policy can give us both." CBC News. Details
Harper now says he will ’respect’ Kyoto bill
Feb. 16/07 - The Conservative government said yesterday it would produce a plan to comply with Kyoto if forced to, a dramatic shift from the previous day when it dismissed legislation passed by opposition MPs that would require Canada to meet the protocol’s targets for reducing greenhouse gases. The legislation, introduced by a Liberal MP, calls on the government to present a plan to Parliament within 60 days outlining how Canada will meet its Kyoto targets. It must still be approved by the Liberal-dominated Senate. Globe and Mail. Details
B.C. government proposes Greenhouse Gases cut of 33 per cent
Feb. 13/07 - B.C.’s throne speech calls for a 33 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from current levels by 2020. "It is an aggressive target and will set a new standard," said Lt.-Gov. Iona Campagnolo on Tuesday, reading the 42-page speech in the B.C. legislature. CTV.ca. Details
Feds give provinces, territories $1.5B for climate change plans
The federal government will fund a $1.5-billion Eco-Trust and Clean Air Fund to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on Monday. Money from the fund will be distributed to provinces and territories to finance major projects to cut CO2 emissions and pollutants by encouraging technology development and energy efficiency that "will provide real results on the reduction of air pollution," Harper said. CBC News. Details
New daylight saving time expected to reduce energy consumption
Jan. 22/07 - Beginning in 2007, daylight time will begin earlier and end later in the United States and in most jurisdictions in Canada. U.S. President George W. Bush signed legislation in August 2005 calling for daylight time to start on the second Sunday in March, three weeks earlier than the traditional start. The bill also extends daylight time by a week to the first Sunday in November. This new schedule was introduced to try to help save energy, since people aren’t expected to need their lights on as early in the evening. But there is still some debate about how effective the change will be at reducing energy consumption. " CBC News. Details
EVENTS
Climate Change: Exploring Regional Solutions
Date: April 23-24, 2007
Location: Nelson, BC
Presented by: West Kootenay Eco Society
This event will bring together experts working on the issue of climate change with key members of the communities to explore this critical issue and work to identify sustainable solutions for the region. The Federation of Canadian Municipality’s (FCM) ‘Partners for Climate Protection Program’ will be explored and success stories from several communities will be heard. For details visit http://eco.kics.bc.ca/.
Rally for Kyoto
Date: Sunday March 11, 2007 at 12pm
Locations: To date events are scheduled for Toronto, Halifax, Lethbridge, Calgary, Edmonton, and London.
On March 11th people across the country will unite and rally for Canada’s recommitment to the Kyoto Protocol. Find out more at http://www.canadiansforkyoto.com/
Climate Change in High Definition: Scenarios for Impacts and Adaptation Research
Date: March 6-7, 2007
Location: Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel, Vancouver, BC
Presented by: The Adaptation & Impacts Research Division of Environment Canada
This two-day meeting of international scenarios experts will review the state-of-the-art in climate modeling, climate scenarios, downscaling tools and application of scenarios for decision-making. The meeting will also launch the new Climate Change Scenarios Network (CCSN) website and will offer hands-on training in Environment Canada’s new statistical downscaling tool developed in collaboration with l’Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Eau, Terre et Environment (INRS-ETE), Universite du Quebec.
For more information and to register (free, but space is limited), please go to http://ontario.ccsn.ca/conference/index.php .
Climate Change and Sustainable Development Winter Seminar Series:
The series is hosted by the Adaptation and Impacts Research Division of Environment Canada and the Institute for Resources Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia.
The next event will be a discussion forum on "Learning to Live with Climate Surprises?" with Kurt Grimm, Hadi Dowlatabadi and Philippe Gachon on March 5th. For other events and event details, view poster (pdf, 2MB).
Remember to visit C-CIARN BC’s Events webpage for additional information on global, national, and local events related to climate change.
RESOURCES
The resources listed here are a small subset of those listed in our Who’s Who page.
David Suzuki Foundation: Solving Global Warming
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/. Find out about David Suzuki’s “If you were Prime Minister” tour across the country. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/tour/about.asp
Canadians for Kyoto
http://www.canadiansforkyoto.com/
BC Ministry of Forest and Range - Preparing for Climate Change
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/mof/Climate_Change/
