By John Parnell
– The day’s top climate change stories as chosen by RTCC
– Tweet @RTCCnewswire and use #RTCCLive hashtag
– Updates from our team at the UN Convention in Biological Diversity summit in Hyderabad
– Send your thoughts to [email protected]
– Updated from 0830-1700 BST (GMT+1)
Monday 8 October
Last updated: 1720
Poland: Good news, of sorts, from Poland. The country has announced plans to cut support for renewable energy but the depth of those cuts is not as severe as expected. Support in coal-heavy Poland is shifting to micro generation and offshore wind. (Reuters)
CBD COP11 in Hyderabad: Ahead of COP11 the papers are accusing the Central Power Distribution Company Limited of cutting down 40 healthy trees nearby the conference centre under the pretext of ensuring uninterrupted power supply for the conference venue. The CPDCL say the trees were cut after one had fallen on a power line following heavy rain and strong winds and that many other trees were touching the power cables. (The Times of India)
US: New research from the US shows that while a nation’s greenhouse gas emissions rise with its GDP, those emissions don’t fall as sharply during recessions as people cling on to their high-emitting lifestyles. (Reuters)
CBD COP11 in Hyderabad: To coincide with the UN biodiversity summit, India Today is running a front page feature accusing the Indian government’s environment ministry of jinxing the country’s development. The article warns that the environmental laws of the ministry, led by Jayanthi Natarajan, a hero of the UNFCCC COP meetings to many, are strangling the country’s economy. (India Today)
Australia: Cooperation between the US and China would go a long way to staving off climate change and would be in the self-interest of both parties, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said.
“China has massive national self-interest in ensuring that climate change is effectively dealt with. Otherwise, China’s moment in the sun – that is, the next decade or two of China’s economic and political position in the world – could be undermined.” (The Australian)
UK: A letter signed by 50 businesses calling for a decarbonisation of the economy has been sent to the country’s Chancellor George Osborne. Firm’s including insurance giant Aviva and British American Tobacco also demanded a long-term commitment to a low carbon power sector. (BBC)
CBD COP11 in Hyderabad: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has called on governments to take action and invest in nature to secure biodiversity and address development challenges. “In Nagoya, we agreed the Big Plan with ambitious yet realistic targets to save our planet’s biodiversity,” said Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General.
“We need to keep the momentum going. Biodiversity loss continues and has breached safe planetary boundaries. It’s time for a serious check-up on progress we’ve made to turn the Big Plan into Big Action.”
Brussels: The EU will not be announcing its 2030 carbon reduction targets until early into the next European Parliament in 2015. The current target for a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 has been criticised as too weak.
“Let’s get real, we won’t be able to do everything by 2014 like we did on the climate and energy package in 2009,” said Jos Delbeke, the European Commission’s director general for Climate. (EurActiv)
CBD COP11 in Hyderabad: NGO WWF is calling for action ahead of the CBD conference. Speaking yesterday in its first press conference, Rolf Hogan, Biodiversity Policy Coordinator at WWF international said that governments must find innovative sources and think more creatively about how to finance the Biodiversity Strategic Plan.