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Tuesday, 25 March 2008 |
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At the Group of Eight "summit" in Toyako, Hokkaido to discuss the future of the planet, and this will be an ideal opportunity to open prospects for a better future. Climate change is a major priority. Questions global environment has already shifted the discussion stage and become real problems with a sizeable influence on our daily life and economic activities. This is the main challenge to humanity, because we can arrive at a disaster, as in the natural environment as well as in our social and economic activities if we stand by and do nothing.
Last year, Japan proposed initiative "Cool Earth 50" calling halve emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. Today, I would like to offer you my program "Cool Earth Promotion Programme", which will be implemented in three parts. Here's my proposal. These three parts are: within the post-Kyoto framework, international environmental cooperation and Innovation. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC - a scientific commission last year awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace warned that if we want to prevent a catastrophe, it is imperative that global emissions of greenhouse gases reaching the maximum amount in the next 10-20 years, were reduced as at least half by 2050. I call on the UN to consider as soon as possible strategies and actions that lead to the increase and reduction of emissions by half. At a conference in Bali it was agreed to establish by the end of 2009, a new Framework governing reduce emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which will be a continuation of the current Kyoto Protocol. In order to insure against achieve the maximum level of greenhouse gas emissions, it is absolutely important to create a mechanism, which will be attended by all, including, in particular, all the major countries of "pollutants". |
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Sunday, 16 March 2008 |
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 UNEP’s Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) Water Programme maps GEMStat, the only online global database on water quality, with Google Earth
Burlington/Nairobi, November 13, 2006. Today, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), through its GEMS/Water Programme, is launching a new capability to its scientific resource, GEMStat, by making it geospatially referenced to Google Earth. GEMStat provides environmental water quality data and information that is scientifically credible, accessible and interoperable. GEMStat’s website at http://www.gemstat.org shares surface and ground water quality data sets collected from the GEMS/Water Global Network, including over 2,743 stations, two million records, and over 100 parameters. These data serve to strengthen the scientific basis for global and regional water assessments, indicators and early warning. This news item follows UNEP’s announcement on 13 September 2006 of its partnership with Google Earth, designed to offer a new way of visualizing our changing global environment using sattellite images. GEMStat provides access to data from 2,743 stations around the world that cover all types of inland aquatic environments which are important for global water assessment. These include surface waters such as lakes, reservoirs, streams, rivers, estuaries, and wetlands; and groundwater aquifers. All data are subject to standard data integrity review processes. With Google Earth all 2,743 stations can be geospatially located with 3-dimentional satellite pictures. This means that the physical features and characteristics of each GEMStat monitoring station are visible, such as land use, deforestation, proximity to a factory or a city. Dr. Richard Robarts, GEMS/Water’s director, highlights that flying with Google Earth is a boon to researchers everywhere. “No matter where you are located, as long as you have access to the Internet, water quality practitioners, researchers and scientists can see GEMStat stations in their physical surroundings. I am confident that this service will help generate better water quality assessments, and better decisions being made to manage all water resources. The whole international community benefits.” Outlook
Google has brought geographic information to over 100 million people. Riding on the wave of that success are the information providers, like GEMS/Water, who can now open their products to more intensive scrutiny, more imaginative exploitation and more innovative exploration of possible uses. Simply allowing open access to everyone to see where water quality is being assessed and where it is not, may lead to more governments contributing data to the global network, or better-informed but non-specialist citizenry being prompted to challenge their authorities about the long-term effects on their water quality. |
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Sunday, 16 March 2008 |
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 The mid-Atlantic region’s 2007 President’s Environmental Youth Award was given to the Arlington H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program students after they collected 443 items — computer monitors, televisions, cell phones and even a rock tumbler — in a single day last year, said Kathy Molina, the sixth-grade science teacher who oversaw the project.
“We’ll Bring it to You,” a curbside recycling pickup program, was held March 24, 2007, after a group of students saw recyclables littering Windy Run stream during a cleanup.
Ibby Han, Grace Evans, Elliot Grace and Zack Shoultz approached Molina with their concerns over residents’ recycling habits.
“They said, ‘We think there’s a problem with electronic recycling in Arlington,’ ” Molina said. “I saw the potential right away … and I kind of just went forward with it with the kids.”
Six more students joined the effort, with no incentive other than “pure human interest,” she said.
After distributing a survey to 100 parents of children at H-B Woodlawn, the students determined that curbside pickup was a much-desired service among Arlington residents.
Before the students started the program, Arlington had only drop-off programs, which were often inconvenient and involved residents lifting heavy electronic items.
A group of high school students, parents and school faculty volunteered their cars to gather the discarded electronics and dispose of them properly. The County Board agreed to waive the fees associated with recycling electronics after the students presented their idea.
“This is the first time I’ve seen sixth-graders do anything of this magnitude,” Molina said, adding that all of the work was done in the students’ free time. “They felt so good about it at the end.” more information |
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Sunday, 16 March 2008 |
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Green achievers from Bangladesh to New Zealand will be honoured at international award ceremony in April in SingaporeNairobi, 28 January 2008- From protecting the unique biodiversity of Yemen's islands to piloting climate-proofing strategies in Sudan and boosting conservation in Barbados, the 2008 Champions of the Earth are making their mark across the planet. Prince Albert II of Monaco, former US Senator Timothy E. Wirth and New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark -whose country will host World Environment Day this year with the theme" Kick the Habit: Towards a Low Carbon Economy!" -are among the seven environmental achievers chosen for this year's awards, the United Nations Environment Programme announced today. The Champions of the Earth prize, which will be given out at a ceremony in Singapore on 22 April, recognizes individuals from each region of the world who have shown extraordinary leadership on environmental issues. The other 2008 Champions of the Earth are: Balgis Osman-Elasha, a senior researcher at Sudan's Higher Council for Environment & Natural Resources; Atiq Rahman, the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies; Liz Thompson, the former Energy and Environment Minister of Barbados; and Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal, the Secretary General of the Yemen People's General Congress. All the winners have spearheaded outstanding initiatives in many different areas from environmental policy to cutting-edge research, with a particular focus on sustainable development and the fight against climate change. The announcement comes on the eve of the 10th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council, which will bring together over one hundred ministers from around the world in Monaco on 20-22 February. This year's Governing Council will also focus on the urgent challenge of climate change -specifically, the issue of mobilizing finance to realize a low carbon world. Achim Steiner, the UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director said: "Today, we face environmental challenges of unprecedented magnitude. More than ever, our planet needs committed leaders and achievers like the 2008 Champions of the Earth who spur real, positive change and fuel innovative solutions to environmental problems. In doing so, these inspirational individuals demonstrate not only that action and different development paths are possible but also the abundant opportunities arising as a result of a transformation towards a green economy." |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 16 March 2008 )
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Living Rivers Festival 
