Global news May-Aug05

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Siberian peatbogs and climate change (Aug 2005)
A Guardian article reports research showing that an area of Siberian peatbog the size of France and Germany combined that's been frozen for 11,000 years is now thawing out. It could hold a quarter of all the methane stored in the ground around the world, the release of which will add significantly to the greenhouse effect. Scientists warn thawing Siberia may trigger global meltdown Wikinews, August 11, 2005

New Asia-Pacific deal will not tackle climate change, say FoE, Jul 27 2005
Friends of the Earth queried the value of a new pact on climate, expected to be launched tomorrow, which it said will effectively mean business as usual and on-going climate change. The deal between the US, Australia, China, India and South Korea, to be known as the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, will look to develop technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rather than having specific targets.

Friends of the Earth's International Climate Campaigner Catherine Pearce: "We have already seen the efforts of President Bush in Gleneagles blocking agreement from the G8 countries to take genuine action. We cannot afford for such a partnership to intervene in the crucial next stage of Kyoto negotiations and kill off attempts for tougher action post 2012."

Friends of the Earth expressed concern that this deal might focus new attention to unsustainable technologies such as nuclear and carbon capture and storage over sustainable and renewable energies. FoE press release See also: US, five Asian nations announce climate change partnership

Parliament says No to Software Patents, Strasbourg, July 6 2005
The European Parliament today decided by a margin of 648 votes to 14, with 18 absentions, to reject the directive "on the patentability of computer implemented inventions", also known as the software patent directive.

This rejection was the logical answer to the Commission's refusal to restart the legislative process in February and the Council's unwillingness to take the will of the European Parliament and national parliaments into account. The FFII congratulates the European Parliament on its clear "No" to bad legislative proposals and procedures.

This is a great victory for those who have campaigned to ensure that European innovation and competitiveness is protected from monopolisation of software functionalities and business methods. It marks the end of an attempt by the European Commission and governmental patent officials to impose detrimental and legally questionable practises of the European Patent Office (EPO) on the member states. However the questions created by this practise remain unsolved. FFII believes that the Parliament's work, in particular the 21 cross-party compromise amendments, can provide a good basis on which future solutions, both at the national and European level, can build. Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure

A low carbon future could cost G8 Leaders less than they think July 5 2005
The cost of a low carbon future may be no greater than the costs of investing in current energy technologies concludes a major set of studies published by a network of senior economists through the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research 1. They show that the net cost of climate change mitigation technologies depends crucially on the extent to which policy measures can reduce and stimulate innovation to reduce the costs of new technology. Despite denying the science of global warming and the Kyoto Protocol, George Bush is right that significant policies to stimulate innovation for low carbon technologies must begin now says Dr Jonathan Kohler, a Cambridge and Tyndall Centre economist. In 2002, George Bush set-aside $1 billion for research and development of clean energy technologies and a further $4.6 billion for clean energy incentives 2. The Tyndall Centre research is a significant departure to the traditionalist cost-benefit analysis of environmental problems, and recognises that current technologies and costs are a poor guide to the energy technologies of the future. The thinking behind this work is that market economies are better characterised by successive waves of new clusters of technologies which in turn change the economic structures of production and consumption. For example, the current wave of IT continues to change the way that the global economy works. And to answer the ‘how much cost?’ question last, their answer in is between 0-2% of world GDP by 2050. This is equivalent to delaying reaching the global economic output of 2050 to a year later in 2051. By this time, GDP is likely to have risen by two to three hundred percent in most economies.

1 The Tyndall Briefing Paper New Lessons for Technology Policy and Climate Change Investment for Innovation: a briefing document for policymakers is available via the Tyndall Centre website 2 In his Clear Skies and Global Climate Change Initiatives announcement

Rocky Mountain Institute researchers douse hype about "nuclear revival", June 20 2005
They documented that worldwide, the decentralized, low- or no-carbon sources of electricity - cogeneration and renewables, all claimed by nuclear advocates to be too small and too slow to help much with climate change - are already bigger than nuclear power and are quickly leaving it in the dust. RMI Media Materials

Clear science demands prompt action on climate change say G8 science academies, June 7 2005
The scientific evidence on climate change is now clear enough for the leaders of G8 to commit to take prompt action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, according to an unprecedented statement published today by the science academies of the G8 nations. Royal Society Press release

Figures released by the Brazilian government show increased rate of deforestation in the Amazon, May 19 2005
In the period August 2003 to August 2004, 26,000 square kilometres of the rainforest was felled. This number is up 6% from the 12 month period prior to August 2003. The total proportion of felled Amazon now stands at 17.3%, according to the World Wildlife Fund. This has led many environmentalists to worry that the cattle and soy trade are being put above the environment. Full story on Wikinews

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