India join rich nations’ group to protect forest

Good Morning friends.  It’s a pleasure to know that India will join rich nations’ group to protect forests.  We all know that some forest had been forgotten to protect.  Many will say that forest has no use in our daily life.  Literally yes, but our forest has a big role in nature.  Trees that grew there more than a 100 years helps us when there will be a disaster, like flood.

India, along with five other developing countries, has joined a group of five rich nations to work on a Rs 1,600-crore project to fight climate change through forest management.

The six developing countries — Brazil, Congo, Morocco, Nepal and Romania — have joined the group comprising US, Australia, Britain, Denmark and Norway under the governing body of the Forest Investment Programme (FIP).

This signals the commitment of these countries to a unique partnership to combat climate change through forest management, the World Bank said.

“This new programme will provide much-needed upfront investment to developing countries and forest-dependent communities to help them prepare for and benefit from financial flows for the sustainable management of forests,” said Eduardo Saboia, who represented Brazil in the series of FIP design meetings. The FIP Trust Fund Sub-Committee will meet in Washington for the first time on October 29 to begin implementation of the programme. It will also work on criteria for selecting pilot countries and regions. The FIP governance structure is among the first in a new generation of partnerships among developing and developed countries and other stakeholders which takes account of the need for a level playing field in addressing climate action, the bank said.

“These should lead to replicable models resulting in effective forest management, improved forest governance and information systems, restoration and sustainable management of degraded forests,” it said. Pilot programmes will be chosen by taking into account country distribution across regions.

“Rampant, large scale deforestation produces more carbon emissions than the entire world’s planes, ships and cars combined,” said Douglas Alexander, secretary of state for International Development for UK, which has pledged up to £100 million (Rs 772 crore) for the FIP. – AhmedabadMirror

Indian youths to pitch for green policy at global meet

Good morning friends.  Let’s cooperate and let be heard our voice for green policy.  Indian youths to pitch for green policy at global meet. 

Raising voice for a clean and green world, an Indian youth delegation will demand for a green policy to tackle climate change, at Conference of Parties 15 (COP15) in Copenhagen, Denmark, starting from December 7. 

COP is the main body of the United Nations Climate Change Convention and consists of environment ministers who meet once a year to discuss its developments.

A 20-member delegation from Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) representing youths of the country held a two-day meeting on Saturday at Centre for Environment Education (CEE) to deliberate ways and means to make an effective impact on the government policy before, during and after the COP conference.

A member of IYCN, Swati Hingorani from Mumbai, said, “The voice of youth is not being heeded in the country. Youths form the largest chunk of the population yet their stand on climate change is not included while devising a policy.”

“We all have joined hands together to fight against climate change,” added Hingorani.

Working under the Agents of Change (AOP) programme, the youths are creating public awareness on the subject. Another member of IYCN, Avipsa Mahapatra from Delhi, said, “It is the future of youth that is at stake. We all need to consciously put our efforts to highlight the climatic concerns before it gets too late.”

“We need to strengthen the youth network to put across our views to the government for a more informed desicion on environmental issues,” said Mahapatra.

Research student at Centre for Environment Planning and Technology(CEPT) and member of IYCN, Y Komalirani, said, “A lot of awareness activities have been planned for a green development path. Youths can make a big difference in protecting the environment.”  – The Times of India

 

India to help Pacific Island states deal with climate change (1)

Good morning friends.  The government of India will assist the Pacific Island State to deal with the climate changes.  India will join together to create new synergies as Pacific Island countries are rich in natural resources and there is a huge potential for cooperation in diverse spheres.

India said it is ready to engage ‘constructively and productively’ with the global community to combat climate change and underlined that its greenhouse gas emissions are among the lowest in per capita terms.

‘We recognize our responsibility as a developing country and wish to engage constructively and productively with the international community and to add weight to global efforts to protect the environment,’ External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said at the post-forum dialogue of Pacific Island Forum here.

Krishna also underlined that the international community should make special efforts to help Small Island Developing States, which are most vulnerable to climate change, deal with global warming and the process of adaptation.

India’s greenhouse gas emissions are amongst the lowest in per capita terms, he stressed.

Adaptation remains the key for developing countries and it needs to be adequately resourced without detracting funds for development, which in any case, is the best form of adaptation, said Krishna, who is on a five-day visit to Australia.

Arctic explorers find more evidence of global thaw

Good morning friends.  The scientist had forsee the team that they can locate a thick ice which measured 3 meters.  And the thing is that they found a 1.773 meters.  The artic explorers finds more evidence of global thaw.

A team of British adventurers measuring ice conditions in the Canadian Arctic said on Wednesday they did not find the thicker, older ice that scientists expected to be there.

Instead they found only the thinner, predominantly first-year ice that is likely to melt in summer months, in what could be another sign of the impact climate change is having on the Arctic ice sheets.

“Whereas the scientists who had been advising us had predicted it would be a mixture of this (new ice) and the older, thicker, multi-layer ice. We saw no evidence of that,” said Pen Hadow, leader of the Catlin Arctic Survey team.

The scientists had predicted the team would find ice with a thickness of about 3 meters, but the average thickness they found was 1.773 meters, Hadow said.

“That raises more questions than it answers,” he said, in a satellite phone interview with other members of the group that was webcast from the Arctic.

The three-member team was airlifted from the ice on Wednesday, having completed a 73-day trip that covered 434 km over the frozen Arctic Ocean from northern Canada toward the North Pole.

The group had hoped to stay on the ice until late May, but decided to end the mission on Wednesday after determining the weather and ice conditions were better now for the aircraft needed to remove them and their equipment.

“It’s now time to get off the ice,” Hadow said.

Hadow said the group was able to take about 1,500 measurements of the ice thickness and density during the journey, collecting data for scientific analysis.

Some scientists have warned that the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, and link the higher temperatures to the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

The sea ice cover shrank to a record low in 2007 before growing slightly in 2008.-Yahoo

Delhi, Mumbai to ‘switch off’ to save the planet

Good morning friends.  I’m reading some new when I came across with this article.  It’s good to hear that something can be done to save our planet.  When I was in my high school days this is my favorite topic to talk about.  That’s why when I saw this news, I read it.  I want to share it with you.

 

It has been said that for an hour on March 28, Delhi will join in on giving the Earth a rest. Delhi is part of a 371 city initiative which will see cities switching off their lights completely for an hour at 8.30 pm IST.

The initiative, called Earth Hour, is by WWF International and seeks to raise awareness on the pressures on the planet today and the looming spectre of climate change as a result of high energy consumption.

Even as there have been similar ‘switching off’ initiatives in the past, this is set to be the largest and most far reaching initiative to raise awareness on pressures on the planet, with some of the greatest, and most energy intensive cities taking part.

This consists of  37 national capitals and other great metropolitan hubs like London, Paris, Beijing, Rome, Moscow, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Athens, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, Mexico City, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Manila, Las Vegas, Brussels, Cape Town and Helsinki besides New Delhi and Mumbai.

Reference:  indianexpress