Reuters: US says no deal with BP as it seeks to drill again - UNEP

THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 Other Environment News . Reuters: Japan's nuclear plant operator pays "condolence money"
. AP: Shares of Japan nuke operator hit record low
. BBC News (UK): Japan earthquake: Radiation tests in Fukushima schools
. AFP: US anti-nuclear activists slam reprocessing plan
. Reuters: Our atom plants safe, U.S. and Europe regulators say
. The Independent (UK): BP back in business in Gulf of Mexico - a year
after 'Deepwater Horizon'
. AP: US official decries exec bonus in Gulf oil spill Reuters: U.S. says no deal with BP as it seeks to drill again . Guardian (UK): Q&A: UN climate change conference in Bangkok
. BBC News (UK): Arctic ozone levels in never-before-seen plunge
. Independent (UK): Glaciers melting at fastest rate in 350 years, study
finds
. Guardian (UK): Loophole in energy bill could see UK taxpayers funding
nuclear bailouts
. Guardian (UK): Sales of organic products in UK fall by 5.9% The Independent (UK): Study reveals how bees reject 'toxic' pesticides . Guardian (UK): Honeybees 'entomb' hives to protect against pesticides,
say scientists Environmental News from the UNEP Regions
. ROA
. RONA Other UN News . Environment News from the UN Daily News of April 5th 2011
. Environment News from the S.G.'s Spokesman Daily Press Briefing of
April 5th 2011 (None) UNEP and the Executive Director in the News UN News Centre: UN climate change chief urges countries to advance progress
on Cancún accords 4th April 2011 The top United Nations climate change official today urged countries to
tackle the key issues of emission reduction targets as well as funding and
technology to assist developing nations tackle global warming, as the first
UN negotiations for this year got under way in Bangkok.
"Here in Bangkok, governments have the early opportunity to push ahead to
complete the concrete work they agreed in Cancún, and to chart a way
forward that will ensure renewed success at the next UN Climate Change
Conference in Durban," said Christiana Figueres.
"If governments move forward in the continued spirit of flexibility and
compromise that inspired them in Mexico, then I'm confident they can make
significant new progress in 2011," she added.
Dubbed the Cancún Agreements, the decisions reached at the 16th Conference
of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in
December last year include formalizing mitigation pledges and ensuring
increased accountability for them, as well as taking concrete action to
tackle deforestation, which account for nearly one-fifth of global carbon
emissions.
Delegates at that meeting also agreed to ensure no gap between the first
and second commitment periods of the Kyoto Protocol, an addition to the
Convention that contains legally binding measures to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, and whose first commitment period is due to expire in 2012.
Agreement was also reached on establishing a fund for long-term climate
financing to support developing countries, and bolstering technology
cooperation and enhancing vulnerable populations' ability to adapt to the
changing climate.
Ms. Figueres, the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, called on governments
to rapidly advance work to complete the institutions which were agreed and
deliver the funding and technology to help developing countries deal
comprehensively with climate change.
"It is important that the agreed actions and institutions are delivered on
time and in accordance with the deadlines agreed in Cancun so that the
broader global climate regime is up and running in 2012," she said.
The institutions include a Green Climate Fund to house the international
management, deployment and accountability of long-term funds for developing
country support; a Technology Mechanism to promote clean technologies; and
an Adaptation Framework to boost international cooperation to help
developing countries protect themselves from climate change impacts.
The other main task governments have before them, she noted, relates to the
emission reduction targets and actions which would allow the world to stay
below the maximum temperature rise of two degrees Celsius, which was agreed
in Cancún.
Governments this year need to resolve fundamental issues over the future of
the Kyoto Protocol, she stressed. "Governments need to figure out how to
address this issue and how to take it forward in a collective and inclusive
way," she said. "Resolving the issue will create a firmer foundation for a
greater collective ambition to cut emissions."
Some 1,500 participants from 173 countries, including government delegates,
representatives from business and industry, environmental organisations and
research institutions, are attending the talks in the Thai capital, which
are scheduled to conclude on Friday. Back to Menu
_________________________________________________________________ Africa Review (Kenya): A new kind of building dotting Kenya's skyline 5th April 2011 Inside the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) headquarters, an
isolated gold-coloured facility could be the answer to Kenya's quest to
develop green buildings. The building is entirely powered by solar power
and has water collection and recycling facilities. Across the other side of the city, in the Nairobi financial district of
Upper Hill, KCB, a regional bank headquartered in the country, is also in a
race to finish its high rise and aptly-coloured green building that will
pioneer the development of such buildings by the private sector.
Effectively, the two buildings will form a case study not only for Kenya
but Africa where the urgency to have green buildings that are powered by
renewable energy or are efficient energy users is vital due to problems
associated with national electricity grids. The buildings will also make it easier for organisations like the much-
maligned Nairobi City Council to practically learn how office buildings can
be used to harvest rain water and about the water recycling systems they
can use.
The council has for long been planning to pass a by-law that compels all
buildings within its jurisdiction to have water harvesting facilities. The
tragedy is that in Nairobi neither the commercial or residential buildings
have water harvesting facilities.
Major impact
Such facilities would make a major impact in access to water especially in
the capital's residential areas where supply is currently rationed because
the water available cannot meet the demand.
"If our growing population is going to survive on this planet, we need
smart designs that maximise resources, minimise waste and serve people and
communities," said UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon when he opened the
Gigiri-based building recently.
The UN announced that it has started a project with the Global
Environmental Facility (GEF) to finance the construction of green buildings
in East Africa.
The UNEP facility, which will also house sister agency UN Habitat in
Nairobi, was designed by Kenyan architects and constructed by Kenyan
engineers meaning that there is adequate human resource to develop such
buildings in the country. Back to Menu
_________________________________________________________________ Spero News (US): UN chief lauds Kenya's efforts to generate clean energy 4th April 2011 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said he was fascinated by how Kenya is
tapping the volcanic heat of the Great Rift Valley to generate electricity,
saying the East African country may be on the way to becoming sufficient in
low-carbon and resource-efficient energy to power a "green economy". "It is a remarkable story - not just in terms of renewable energy and
climate change - but in partnership for development," said Mr. Ban when he
visited the Olkaria Geothermal Plant near the Kenyan town of Naivasha. He said the power plant was an example of how the United Nations, the World
Bank, aid donors and the private sector are supporting initiatives and
public policies that can help to reduce poverty and lay the foundation for
a sustainable future. "In the past few days I have learned about the development of the biggest
wind farm in sub-Saharan Africa - a project in Turkana [northern Kenya]
that will generate more than 300 megawatts [of electricity]. "Kenya's Vision 2030 [economic development blueprint] also includes waste-
into-energy projects, co-generation and feed-in tariffs, and ongoing work
with UNEP [UN Environment Programme] and other partners to support the tea
industry with small-scale hydro power," said the Secretary-General. He said that although Kenya is not rich in oil, natural gas or coal
reserves, the country has a wealth of "clean fuels" - from geothermal
energy, to wind, solar and biomass. The country, he said, could generate
1,200 megawatts of electricity by 2018 by developing its geothermal
capacity. The challenge is to integrate all the emerging components of a renewable
energy economy into an efficient, modern distribution network, Mr. Ban
said. He said UNEP and the Global Environment Facility are working with the
Government, regulators and power companies to address power generation and
distribution challenges. "Done efficiently and creatively, this can help to catalyze renewable
energy not just in Kenya, but as part of the planned East Africa Power
Pool. As Kenya - and many other countries - are showing, there is a growing
menu of economically-viable choices for generating energy," said the
Secretary-General. He said next year's UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, (Rio 2012) will be an opportunity to look further into how
economies can be developed to generate decent employment in a "way tha