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December 2008 Listserv

  
McGregor Russia project.
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NORTHERN CLIMATE CHANGE NETWORK LISTSERV, Dec/08– Issue 14
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The NCCN newsletter focuses on climate change stories that foster greater awareness of community level climate change impacts and adaptation, and which have relevance to north-central British Columbia. Contributions from readers for future issues are welcome.

IN THE BC NEWS...

New website to enhance climate change-related decision-making

The newly-launched Climate Decisions website, partially founded by researchers at UBC, is “a resource to help guide wise decision making about climate change adaptation, with a focus on natural resource contexts. On this site you will find information to help guide good processes for tough decisions about climate adaptation concepts.  The goal of the website is to provide information and examples to show how structured decision making can help guide the thinking and actions of decision makers who deal with climate change adaptation decisions.”   The links under ‘Adaptation’ include useful information related to such topics as climate forecasts, downscaling climate data, vulnerabilities, adaptive capacity and adaptive management.

Youth Climate Leadership Alliance takes climate change programs into BC schools

The Youth Climate Leadership Alliance (YCLA) is a Ministry of Environment initiative for British Columbians between the ages of 17 and 28 who are concerned about climate change and want to take direct action to help achieve the province’s goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions from 2007 levels by 33 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. “Young people are excited and enthusiastic about the chance to be ambassadors for our climate’s future,” said Premier Gordon Campbell. “This program will provide them with skills and knowledge they can use in their communities to help ensure a sustainable environment, and to encourage British Columbians of all ages to make carbon-smart lifestyle choices that are good for the environment, their health, their pocketbook and our planet.”  There are 10 YCLA Climate Action Facilitators (including one in Prince George and one in Quesnel) working directly with Local Governments to facilitate climate action activities. Details.

ACT publishes “Climate Change Adaptation and Biodiversity” report

ACT (SFU’s Adaptation to Climate Change Team) has published a new report providing summary recommendations to address policy needs to better manage biodiversity in the face of changing climates in BC.  ACT is a policy planning initiative from Simon Fraser University (SFU) designed to develop timely options for sustainable adaptation to climate change impacts. The report notes BC’s status as a ‘biodiversity ark’ within North America, and that BC’s relative wealth of large carnivores and other species, already threatened by the spread of human activity, “now face an additional serious challenge posed by the impacts of climate change.  This report lays out key aspects of this compounding challenge to BC’s biodiversity, and recommends ways to adapt by making the transition to an ecosystem-based economy that will include the full value of the Province’s ecosystems in resource decision-making…. Climate impacts will have such profound effects on these [biodiversity and ecological] values that a significant adjustment in governance of these resources is required over the coming years to ensure successful adaptation to these changes. Otherwise, the combination of habitat fragmentation by uncoordinated human activities, together with unprecedented changes in temperature and precipitation, will impact the Province’s economic health and impair the ability for the environment to function.”

Metro Vancouver’s last glacier is disappearing

The Coquitlam Glacier is the last of about 10 glaciers that once helped feed the Metro Vancouver area’s watershed as recently as 200 years ago. Just as other so-called “permanent glaciers” in North America and around the planet are melting away as average annual temperatures climb, so too the Coquitlam glacier is disappearing. Dave Dunkley, a geoscientist with Metro Vancouver, has been monitoring the glacier’s retreat. “It’s a symbol of climate change,” he says. “We really have to take stock and change our ways. We’re going to be forced to conserve our water. Are we going to raise our dams? Are we going to get more efficient with our water? We may lose plant and animal species as a result of our ways.” His comments echo those of others concerned about the impacts of climate change upon our environments, and how we will adapt to those impacts. “People from Metro Vancouver hear about glaciers receding all around the world,” observes Dunkley. “But here’s one in their watershed – the only one. If you live in the Coquitlam area, you’re drinking glaciated water. You won’t be in the future.” Details.

NEWS FROM CANADA AND ABROAD

Learning from Fredericton’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

A report published in 2008 summarizing the stakeholder input towards a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the City of Fredericton, New Brunswick may be of value to Municipal planners and leaders in communities in northern BC looking to produce their own climate change adaptation strategy. The report discusses the difference between mitigation and adaptation, scenarios of likely changes to the local climate, risks associated with the anticipated climate change, and possible adaptation strategies for municipal sectors such as the built environment, transportation, municipal services and parks and recreation.

A new international proposal for a coordinated forest-sector response to climate change

The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) has released its new “Strategic framework for forests and climate change”. The CPF is a voluntary collaborative of 14 major forest-related international organizations, institutions and secretariats such as CIFOR, IUFRO, IUCN, UNEP, and UNDP. They all have substantial programs on forests and they work together to support the implementation of internationally agreed upon actions and sustainable forest management, for the benefit of people and the environment. Through this Strategic Framework, the CPF aspires to show how forests, when sustainably managed, can play a positive role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Through the framework, the CPF addresses key issues such as sustainable forest management, reducing deforestation, capacity building and governance reforms, improved monitoring and assessment, and collaborative approaches to forest-based climate change mitigation and adaptation.  Details.

Founding of a new International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

In January 2009, a new international agency aimed at accelerating the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy will be formed. According to the organization’s website, “Mandated by governments worldwide, IRENA aims at becoming the main driving force in promoting a rapid transition towards the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy on a global scale. Acting as the global voice for renewable energies, IRENA will provide practical advice and support for both industrialised and developing countries, help them improve their regulatory frameworks and build capacity. The Agency will facilitate access to all relevant information including reliable data on the potential of renewable energy, best practices, effective financial mechanisms and state-of-the-art technological expertise.” Fifty-one states from different continents (including countries such as the UK, Germany, Mexico, India and China – but Canada and the US have not participated) agreed on the Statute (Treaty) of IRENA at a conference held in October, 2008 in Madrid, Spain. Details.

UK climate safety report calls for immediate action on climate change

The 2008 Climate Safety report released in the UK by the Public Interest Research Centre bears two important messages: that climate change is accelerating more rapidly and dangerously than the scientific community had expected, and that because political inaction has delayed progress for so long the need for immediate action on national and global scales is paramount. Endorsed in a foreword by Sir John Houghton, former Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the report summarizes the current science on climate change, discusses targets for action and solutions to reach these targets, and offers key elements for action to counter the significant threats that climate change poses to human well-being. While the report acknowledges that the challenges are monumental, Sir Houghton observes that according to the report’s authors, “the required changes are both achievable and affordable.”

U.S. President-elect Obama pledges to make climate change a priority

Following his recent victory in the U.S. elections, Barack Obama has promised at the Governor’s Global Climate Summit, held in Los Angeles in November, that Washington will take a leading role in fighting climate change in the U.S. and around the world. Stating that his presidency will begin a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change, he declared "I promise you this: When I am president, any governor who’s willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House. Any company that’s willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington. And any nation that’s willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America." Obama has said that his government will invest $15 billion US each year to support private sector initiatives towards clean energy.  Details.

US corporate and environmental leaders present an economic case for climate action

A partnership of leading U.S. corporate and environmental leaders, under the banner of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), has issued a press release calling upon the US Government “to pass meaningful climate protection legislation next year despite the difficult economic conditions, pointing to the economic benefits and job creation that will result from taking such action.” The partnership includes such large corporations as Duke Energy, Rio Tinto, Shell, and all three of the major US car manufacturers, as well as large environmental groups such as the Nature Conservancy and the World Resources Institute. The group argues that to prevent the serious impacts of climate change and to promote innovation in green technologies that will create jobs and build the foundation for a low-carbon economy, cap-and-trade legislation is urgently needed. USCAP member statements on the need for climate protection legislation were also issued at a November press conference in Washington, D.C. The group’s slogan, “We are committed to a pathway that will slow, stop and reverse the growth of U.S. emissions while expanding the U.S. economy”, is amplified in an earlier report called A Call for Action.

A European climate change performance index ranks Canada second from last

In their recently released annual performance report on climate change (Climate Change Performance Index 2009), Germanwatch and the Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-Europe) ranked Canada second-last out of 57 countries evaluated on the basis of their emissions levels, emissions trends, and in the evaluation of their climate policy. The report states that “on the basis of standardized criteria the index evaluates and compares the climate protection performances of the 57 countries that, together, are responsible for more than 90 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions.” Canada’s scores were “very poor” in each of the performance categories. With respect to emissions trends, the report observes that “the emissions trends in Canada, Australia, China and Saudi Arabia are especially worrisome.” Canada’s score on climate change policy was particularly weak.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND LINKS

A number of organizations are tracking carbon emissions and their impacts at national or international scales. Links to a sample of such organizations are as follows:

Other links:

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