By John Parnell
– The day’s top climate change stories as chosen by RTCC
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– Updated from 0900-1700 BST (GMT+1)
Latest news – Friday 24 August
1700: The Greenpeace occupation of the Gazprom oil rig has seemingly come to an unsavoury end. The organisation’s chief Kumi Naidoo had water fired at him by the rig’s crew while being interviewed by DemocracyNow. He later tweeted that the crew was throwing metal at him and his fellow protesters and the decision had been taken to leave the drilling platform.
Not just hosed water, but now metal being thrown by
#Gazprom crew at our activists; we’re coming down— Kumi Naidoo (@kuminaidoo) August 24, 2012
1630: Would retaliation against the EU aviation carbon trading plans be illegal? A Cambridge University academic says yes.
1500: Norway has called on fellow forest-rich nations Indonesia and Brazil to do more to protect forests. The country has offered them a total of $2bn in aid on the condition that they proved they could slow deforestation rates and now Oslo has issued a warning in the wake of apparent policy reversals that the money could be at risk.
1335: Dutch architects have used their experience of working below sea level to develop a series of floating property developments in the Maldives. The plans include a floating private island and a floating golf course. The Maldives are just 1.3m above sea level and some of its smaller islands have already had their freshwater resources tainted by encroaching seawater.
1245: Gazprom has released a statement on the Greenpeace occupation of its Prirazlomnaya drilling platform. The company said work at the rig was unaffected by protest.
1200: We’ve seen consumers demand more sustainable produce from the supermarkets, now the supermarkets are putting pressure on their suppliers. Triple Pundit is reporting that 41 consumer-owned grocery cooperatives are demanding that confectionery giant Hershey’s should review where it source its Cocoa.
1040: The President of the Maldives has told a panel of businessmen in Sri Lanka that his country “will not be submerged by global warming“. He stressed that while climate change was in issue, he was confident the country was not at risk of being wiped off the map. President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik is said to be concerned that talk of the country’s fate is scaring off investment.
0945: An investment manager with $1.9bn of assets has said that a US-style shale gas boom is unlikely in Europe. Chris Rowland of Ecofin, told Reuters that while shale should not be totally dismissed. “It’s a good fuel for reducing emissions but not a good fuel for decarbonizing,” he said.
0845: A city council in the UK is looking to turn its cemeteries into nature reserves. Manchester City Council believes its graveyards provide a natural haven for urban biodiversity and is applying for official protection status.
0835: Greenpeace chief Kumi Naidoo is live tweeting from underneath the first Russian Arctic drilling rig. The organisation has been working on a high profile campaign against Arctic. Naidoo told RTCC recently that it would seek to have the Arctic given the same preservation status as Antarctica.
We are warm and well supplied here, beneath
#Gazprom‘s giant oil platform#savethearctic thank you all for the support !— Kumi Naidoo (@kuminaidoo) August 24, 2012
0825: There has been a strong reaction from environmentalists following Mitt Romney’s oil-heavy energy plan announced yesterday afternoon. The plan calls for an increase in oil and gas exploration to make the US energy independent by 2020.
FACT: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would gut investments in clean energy, while maintaining $4 billion a year in tax breaks to oil companies.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 23, 2012
Romney’s energy plan: How many times can you say ‘oil’? bit.ly/RETYU7
— Grist (@grist) August 23, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sierra Club Statement On the Romney-Ryan Energy Plan sc.org/OyvnvD
— Sierra Club (@Sierra_Club) August 23, 2012
His campaign claims the push for more oil and gas will produce 3m jobs.
Mostly in cleaning seagulls MT
@sarahh_cbsnj Romney says his energy plan will create 3 M jobs. Economists are skeptical ow.ly/dbk1M— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) August 23, 2012
Video of the day:
Watch the Greenpeace activists occupy Gazprom’s Arctic drilling rig.