– The day’s top climate change stories as chosen by RTCC
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– Updated from 0830-1700 BST (GMT+1)
Tuesday 6 November
Last updated: 1720
Scotland: Seabird populations are continuing to fall dramatically in Scotland because of bad weather and climate change, according to a new report from Scottish Natural Heritage. The study said from 1986 to 2011, the number of seabirds breeding in the country dropped around 53%. (New Scotsman)
UN: The next climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will shock the world and provide the impetus needed for governments to finally reach an agreement to tackle global warming, according to the former head of the UN negotiations, Yvo de Boer.
“That report is going to scare the wits out of everyone. I’m confident those scientific findings will create new political momentum,” he said. (the Sydney Morning Herald)
UK: Reducing waste and reusing resources could help drive the UK’s economic recovery and benefit the environment, according to Liz Goodwin, chief executive of the government’s waste advisory body, Wrap. Speaking at the body’s annual conference she said realising the full value of materials could be worth 3.7 trillion a year. (Guardian)
Kenya: Deforestation deprived Kenya’s economy of $68 million in 2010, far outstripping the roughly $15 billion injected into the economy by forestry and logging each year, according to a new report from the Kenya Forest Service and the UN Environment Programme. (UNEP)
India: The monsoon is likely to fail more often in the next 200 years unless governments can agree on how to limit climate change, according to a new report. Researchers say the monsoon rains in India could collapse every fifth year between 2150 and 2200 with continued global warming and warn this could threaten food supplies. (Reuters)
US: Just days away from the first sale of pollution credits under the Californian cap-and-trade scheme, businesses against the programme are still trying to derail it. The first auction of credits will take place next week, following six years of preparation. Some companies continue to ask for free credits worth 100% of their recent needs, not the 90% set out under the scheme. (LA Times)
China/EU: In an escalating row between solar panel makers, China has complained to the World Trade Organisation that Italy and Greece have been unfairly favouring domestic suppliers. This accusation comes just days after China said it would consider blocking imports of solar technology from Europe. (Guardian)
Poland: This year’s annual European coal industry conference to be held in Brussels is reported to indirectly be receiving state funds from Warsaw. Following controversy last year when the then-Polish EU presidency’s logo appeared on posters advertising the conference, this year’s conference has been co-organised by the Central European Energy Partners (CEEP), founded by and mostly made up of state-owned Polish energy firms. (Euractiv)
Wales: A new anaerobic digestion plant project that could provide power for 1,500 homes in North Wales has taken a major leap forward after project developer Biogen secured £7 million of funding from investor Iona Capital. The 1MWe plant will be able to process 22,500 tonnes of food waste per year from three local authority areas. (BusinessGreen)
REDD: The latest meeting of the Programme Policy Board last week saw the approval of the UN-REDD’s two-year work plan and a revised budget of $47.6 million for the global-level and country-specific support to national REDD+ actions for 2013 and 2014. Luxembourg became the latest country to pledge funding, taking the donor pledges and contributions to the programme to a total of $156 million. (UN-REDD)