Copenhagen to Hopenhagen to Nopenhagen

US President Barack Obama reached a climate agreement with India, South Africa, China and Brazil. The deal outlined fell far short of the ambitions for the Copenhagen summit. Here are key points from the agreement, which is titled "Copenhagen Accord".

LONG-TERM GOALS

"Deep cuts in global emissions are required according to science...with a view to reduce global emissions so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius."

LEGALLY BINDING DEAL

A proposal attached to the accord calls for a legally binding treaty to be pinned down by the end of next year.

FINANCING FOR POOR NATIONS

The text says: "Developed countries shall provide adequate, predictable and sustainable financial resources, technology and capacity-building to support the implementation of adaptation action in developing countries." It mentions as particularly vulnerable and in need of help are the least developed countries, small island developing states and countries in Africa. "Developed countries set a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries. The funds will come from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral." An annex carries the following short-term financing pledges from developed countries for 2010-2012: EU — $10.6 billion Japan — $11 billion United States — $3.6 billion

EMISSIONS REDUCTION

Details of mitigation plans are included in two separate annexes, one for developed country targets and one for the voluntary pledges of major developing countries. These are not binding, and describe the current status of pledges — ranging from "under consideration" for the United States to "Adopted by legislation" for the European Union.

VERIFICATION

A sticking point for a deal, largely because China refused to accept international controls, the section on monitoring of developing nation pledges is one of the longest in the accord. It says emerging economies must monitor their efforts and report the results to the United Nations every two years, with some international checks to meet Western transparency concerns but "to ensure that national sovereignty is respected".

FOREST PROTECTION

The accord "recognises the importance of reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation and the need to enhance removals or greenhouse gas emission by forests", and agrees to provide "positive incentives" to fund such action with financial resources from the developed world.

CARBON MARKETS

Mentioned, but not in detail. The accord says: "We decide to pursue various approaches, including opportunities to use markets to enhance the cost-effectiveness of and to promote mitigations actions."

India’s forest cover rose in 1997-2007.

India has added 3.13 million ha of forests in the decade between 1997 and 2007, at the rate of 0.3 million ha every year, the latest forest survey of India has found.

This compares with Brazil losing 2.5 million ha a year and China gaining an annual 4 million ha, environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh said while releasing the survey, titled State of Forest Report, 2009. The survey is conducted every two years.

Increasing forest cover needs various incentives and India will lobby for it at the global climate talks in Copenhagen starting 7 December. “The world must acknowledge this in any deal at Copenhagen,” the minister said on Monday.

Nations like Brazil and Indonesia, which have large forest areas, but are losing them fast, have demanded that incentives be focused on countries that want to curb deforestation. As much as 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions result from deforestation.

The 2009 survey found that India’s forest and tree cover neutralize over 11% of its global warming gas emissions at 1994 levels. It goes on to add that this is equivalent to offsetting 100% emissions from all energy used in residential and transport sectors, or about 40% of emissions from farms.

“This is a very significant amount,” Ramesh said.

For the first time, the report also provides numbers that take into account the tree line, an altitude above which trees are unable to grow and defined in this case at above 4,000m.

This significantly alters the forest cover in five states. If areas above the tree line are kept out of calculations, the forest cover in Himachal Pradesh increases to 44% from 27%, Arunachal Pradesh to 88% from 82%, Jammu and Kashmir to 33% from 12%, Sikkim to 84% from 46%, and Uttarakhand to 59% from 47%.

India’s forest cover has also been mapped for the first time on the basis of 16 broad types and various altitudes. Forest and tree cover in the country was 78.37 million ha in 2007, or 23.84% of its geographical area. The cover, however, increases to 25.25% if areas above the tree line are excluded.

Vijay Kelkar, chairman of the 13th Finance Commission, said at the release function that the next forest survey report should also include details on the contribution of forests to India’s economy in terms of goods and services.

ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH SCHOLARS CONDUCTED ENVIRONMENT AWARENESS PROGRAM AT ST ANN'S COLLEGE FOR WOMEN.

Association of British scholar (ABS) has conducted Environment Awareness Programme in St Ann’s College of Women, Hyderabad. The president Prof Laxman Rao and Sri Vijayananda Reddy of ABS have welcomed and addressed the gathering. The school authorities welcome the dignitaries with potted plants” say it with plants” instead of “say it with flowers” which shows their love to plants.

"Say it with Plant"

Association of British scholar screened film on THE SUNDERBANS AND CLIMATE CHANGE,conducted Quiz to the students by Mr Arun Krishnamurthy The quiz topic - "Indian Ecology & Threats" and

Panel discussion:
Chairman of the panel is Sri M.Lokeswara Rao, I.F.S

(topic—Conserving Environment and individual social responsibility)
Panelist 1. Ms Rachna Bhardwaj

(Topic—Climate Change' - An individual's to do part)
Panelist 2 -- Mr Arun Krishnmurthy,

(Topic--Action oriented NGO's - Where are they?)
Panelist 3-- Mr Syed Gulam Subhani.

(Topic-- Climate's First Orphans)

Students of St Ann's College

All the panelists have discussed the present environmental degradation and requested the students to be pro active in environment by not using plastics, taking cloth bags for shopping, planting more trees, not wasting resources like electricity and petrol. Follow the three cardial principles of sustainability “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”.

Association of British scholar (ABS) is doing wonderful job creating environment awareness among students, college students and other stake holders by conducted environment awareness programmes

SAY IT WITH PLANTS

When environment is main concern to many people, you can hear the buzzword GREEN everywhere. There’s happiness in giving. But giving somebody a gift involves choices on what to buy, where to buy and how to pack it. The paradigm has just got redefined with a tinge of personalization.

Plants — ornamental or flowering, indoor or outdoor and ordinary or bonsai — are becoming preferred items in the corporate and personal gifting space. As living and growing gifts, they can trigger off endorphins (the feel-good hormones), spreading cheer and positive energy to the gifted.

These gifts cut across occasions. Be at weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, personal dos, hospital visits, or visiting a house of bereavement, plants are true carriers of hope and are ideal gifts, says Shakunthala Sridhar, a homemaker in Basavanagudi who grows moneyplants and bamboos in empty bulbs and

bottles for gifting

Dr M Jagdeesh, deputy director horticulture, Lal Bagh Gardens says: “The trend started some one-and-half years ago. Since then, we have seen a 30% increase in sales”.

At a wedding reception he attended recently, Jagdeesh saw saplings being given to the guests instead of coconuts and beetle leaves. Orchids, anthuriums, lilies, bamboos, carnations, gerberas, jasmine, basil (tulsi), roses and pagoda (temple flower plant) make ideal gifts. Plant enthusiast and entrepreneur Veena Nanda says bonsai plants can be life-time gifts and are priced between Rs 300 and Rs 5,000, depending on their age.

The trend is evident globally, particularly across Europe. “‘Say it with flowers’ is a Dutch saying. Today, a lot of people want to say it with flower pots or tree saplings. Europeans always carry flowers or plants when they visit people in hospitals. I was surprised that flowers were not allowed at a hospital in Bangalore a few years. Things are changing now,” says Bob Hoekstra, entrepreneur and former CEO, Philips Software.

Now say it with plants, gift some one a beautiful plant on their birth day, wedding anniversary, important occasion and gift your guest with plants. Make your house or office green and make planet green.

"GREEN DAY CELEBRATIONS" AT SRI VIDYANJALI SCHOOL.

I was invited as chief guest to GREEN DAY CELEBRATIONS at Sri Vidyanjali School, Vivekananda Nager colony, Kukkatpally, Hyderbad. It is one of the most wonderful evenings I spent in my life.

It is amazing to see how Ist standard to VI th standard young children have sent a beautiful message to the parents, “how to protect environment”. The children’s played various scripts revolving the themes relating to environment, what will be the future if the present trends of environment degradation continues and how environment can be saved. Children played scripts not use plastic bags instead use cloth bags, how indiscriminate use of petrol will deplete natural resources and how to save petrol, how destruction of trees will degrade environment and gave message to plant trees and how to save water and how to save electricity

I gave a message to the parents and others that it is everyone’s individual social responsibility to protect environment and every one should take pledge to protect environment as the young children’s shown ways how to protect environment through their scripts.

My congratulations to all young children, teachers, and M. Hemalatha, Principal of Sri Vidyanjali School, have done wonderful work to give green message to all, to create clean and green environment. They should continue to do these programmes for awareness of people.

Growing CO2 could cause 6 metre rise in sea level

A file picture of a Greenpeace message about reducing the CO2 emission level on Le Meridien Hotel, New Delhi.

Photo: AP

If the world fails to get the growing carbon emission under control, sea levels could rise by up to six metres, said a new study.

According to the study by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), temperatures in the Antarctica were increased by six degrees Celsius during the past periods when the volume of high carbon dioxide (CO2) was high in the atmosphere.This could cause a sea level rise of up six metres, threatening coastal cities like London, New York and San Francisco, it said.Louise Sime, who led the BAS study, looked at ice cores to see how temperatures changed during periods of high carbon dioxide.

During the last period of high CO2, 125,000 years ago, she found temperatures were up to 6 degrees Celsius higher than present day levels.Such a hike in temperature could lead to a rise in sea levels of between 4 to 6 metres over hundreds of years as the ice sheets melt, The Telegraph reported.“We didn’t expect to see such warm temperatures, and we don’t yet know in detail what caused them. But they indicate that Antarctica’s climate may have undergone rapid shifts during past periods of high CO2.”

Dr Sime said the study suggests that current high levels of CO2 could also cause a rise in temperature. She said further research could predict the affect on sea level rise.“If we can pin down how much warmer temperatures were in Antarctica and Greenland at this time, then we can test predictions of how melting of the large ice sheets may contribute to sea level rise.”

It is the latest research to warn of the consequences of increased greenhouse gases on the Earth’s climate, The Telegraph Reported.All the recent studies are adding pressure on world leader to agree in international deal on climate change at a UN summit in Copenhagen this December.

A recent study appeared in Nature Geoscience found that carbon dioxide levels rose by almost a third in the last seven years. It warned that if the world continues to pump out pollution at such a rate it will cause temperatures to rise by six degrees Celsius, causing massive droughts, extinction of species and sea level rise.

Another study added to the urgency by claiming that the oceans are losing their ability to absorb CO2. Samar Khatiwala of Columbia University, found that the proportion of fossil fuel emissions absorbed by the oceans since 2000 may have decline by as much as 10 per cent.

“What our ocean study and other recent land studies suggest is that we cannot count on these sinks operating in the future as they have in the past, and keep on subsidising our ever-growing appetite for fossil fuels,” he said.But, Dr Wolfgang Knorr, of Bristol University, who has been studying the same subject said there is not yet enough evidence to prove that the Earth is losing its ability to absorb CO2.

‘Green bonus’ likely for States to protect forest cover

The State governments may soon be entitled to a “green bonus” for protecting and expanding their forest cover.

“We are looking at evolving a new mechanism to reward states for maintaining the forest cover and also provide incentives to expand it,” said Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest.

The MoEF has suggested that along with Central grants through the Planning Commission or Finance Commission, the States should be given additional “green bonus” for protecting and expanding forest cover. It is the responsibility of the State governments to protect forests, which act as carbon sinks sequestrating green house gases. “We need greater sensitivity by the State government on this issue,” Mr Ramesh said.

A recent survey showed that 21 per cent of India’s geographical area was under forest cover. Two per cent of the area had high density forest cover, while 10 per cent had medium density and the remaining nine per cent was degraded forest.

Protecting forest cover is important and that the country cannot afford to lose it, especially the ecological hotspots such as the Western Ghats, North East, Himalayan ranges among others. States such as Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh that have large areas of forest cover were making valuable contribution to the national eco-system, Mr Ramesh said.

Further, Mr Ramesh said that there was a need to monitor continuously as to how much of greenhouse gases have been absorbed by the forest cover. ISRO has started monitoring the absorption of greenhouse gases and would expand the network of stations in different parts of the country.

Preliminary estimates by MoEF suggest that about 10 per cent of the country’s annual green house gases were absorbed by the forest cover. “There is a need to measure and monitor on a continuous basis,” Mr Ramesh added

Link TOI

CMS VATAVARAN, Film Awards

CMS vatavaran, Environment &Wildlife Film Festival was held in New Delhi from 27-31 October 2009

Indian and International Film Screenings

The CMS VATAVARAN, environment and wildlife film festival, saw screening of films on several issues like sustainable technologies, wildlife conservation, natural heritage etc. The programme began with screening of the film ‘Don’t Rubbish It’ by Chandrashekhar Reddy which was followed by films like ‘Chotti Si Kahan Ababeel Ki’, ‘Pushed to kill’ and Sesh Asha’.The story of Ganges’ traced the journey of Ganga and pollution of the river on its way. Anil Yadav , “Do you” film depicted how children’s are interested in plantation,

Shot from film "Cheetahs Against All Odds"

the director of ‘‘Chotti Si Kahani Ababeel Ki’ interacted with the audience and made a humble request to the authorities to spread technical knowledge in rural India. Other films which are worth mentioning are ‘The land of Vanishing Lakes’,’ A shawl to die for’, The soul of water’ and ‘Garbage Island’.

Shot from film "A Fable From Himalayas"

The following films bagged the awards

Sl. No.	Award Name	TITLE	CATEGORY	DIRECTOR
	National
1	Best Cinematography Award	A Shawl to Die For	Livelihood	Rita Banerji
2	Best Story Award	S.O.S. - Save Our Sholas	Forest for Life	Shekar Dattatri
3	Best Editing Award	The Silk Route	Livelihood	Gurmeet Sapal
4	Amateur Film Award	My Purple Sunbird	Amateur Film	Sunil Raj
5	Films for Children Award	A Fable from the Himalayas	Films for Children	Nitin Das
6	Public Service Announcements (PSA) Award	Don't Buy Trouble	Public Service Announcements (PSA)	Himanshu Malhotra
7	Student Film Award	Garbage Island/ a lost People	Student Film	Amar Sharma
8	Low Budget Films Award	Kaanam - Life Story of a Midland Hill	Nature	Babu Kambrath
9	Viewer's choice Award	Traffic Light	Public Service Announcements (PSA)	Rajesh Saathi
10	2009 Festival Theme: Climate Change and Sustainable Technologies Award	IN THEIR ELEMENTS	2009 Festival Theme: Climate Change and Sustainable Technologies	Inder Kathurai
11	2009 Focus: Natural Heritage Conservation Award	Reviving Faith	2009 Focus: Natural Heritage Conservation	Rishu Nigam
12	Climate Change Award	The Final Tide	Climate Change	Vikram Mishra
13	Ecotourism Award	Leave Nothing but Footprints	Ecotourism	Sanjay Barnela
14	Forest for Life Award	Gaon Chhodab Nahin	Forest for Life	K. P. Sasi
15	Livelihood Award	Chilika Bank$	Livelihood	Akanksha Joshi
16	Nature Award	Rolling Dunes of Thar	Nature	Naresh Bedi
17	Water for All Award	Kali Bein (The Black River)	Water for All	Surendra Manan
18	Wildlife Conservation Award	The Asiatic Lion - on a roll call	Wildlife Conservation	Praveen Singh
19	Environmental Conservation Award	Goa Goa Gone	Environmental Conservation	Kurush Canteenwala
20	Best of the Festival Award	Deeply Superficial	Water for All	Veneet Raj Bagga
	International
1	Best of the Festival Award	The Soul of Water (Vattnets Sjal)		Kurt Skoog
2	2009 Festival Theme: Climate Change and Sustainable Technologies Award	Satoyama: Japan's Secret Forest	2009 Festival Theme: Climate Change and Sustainable Technologies	Tetsunori Kikuchi
3	Animation Award	Save Our Planet!	Animation	Filip Vandewiele
4	Climate Change Award	The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning	Climate Change	Mark Terry
5	Environmental Conservation Award	One Man, One Cow, One Planet	Environmental Conservation	Barbara Burstyn and Thomas Burstyn
6	Films for Children Award	Liliputi Mimikri (Liliputian Mimicri)	Films for Children	David Attila Molnar
7	Nature Award	Rain Forest - The Secret of Life	Nature	David Warth, Michael Balson
8	Student Film Award	Why Don't we Ride Zebras?	Student Film	Hannah Smith Walker
9	Water for all Award	The Soul of Water (Vattnets Sjal)	Water for All	Kurt Skoog
10	Wildlife Conservation Award	Eco-Crimes: Tibet-Connection	Wildlife Conservation	Heinz Greuling and Thomas Weidenbach

Work Shop on climate change-Towards Carbon Neutral Indian cities

Shri Rajendra Singh,Chairperson of Tarun Bharat Sangh who sketched and compared the pre and post independence scenario. He focused on three main areas; encroachment, pollution and over-exploitation of rivers and emphasized that more work should be done at the local level. Mr Vijay Kumar from DHI Group spoke about water availability, population explosion and also offered hard and soft solutions for conservation of natural resources. Other panelists who were present for discussion were Mr R.K Srinivasan, water expert from Centre for Science and Environment, Dr Pramod Aggarwal,senior scientist in Indian Agricultural Research Institute and Mr Suresh Prabhu, Former Union Minister of Power, Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises and Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Symposium on Challenges in Conserving Natural Heritage

Shri S.K Misra, Chairman of INTACH who has been recently adorned with Padmabhushan. Misra gave a brief outline of all the challenges that the world is facing such as global warming, climate change, pollution of water bodies and so on. Dr Shobita Punja,director of Heritage Education and Communication Service engaged the audience by establishing and explaining the relationship shared between natural and cultural heritage. Other speakers like Mr Mahendra Vyas,environmentalist and advocate in Supreme court recapitulated and analyzed all the laws and policies that can be used for protection of wildlife and natural resources. Mr M Vedkumar president of Forum for Better Hyderabad spoke of initiative taken by locals to conserve the natural heritage and keep the city green.

International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ) Congress

IFEJ congress began with a panel discussion on the subject “Adapting to Climate Change: Oxfam India”. The session was chaired by Dr.Pradipto Ghosh, India’s climate negotiator on adaptation finance. He clearly stated that India expects rich nations to take on binding emission reduction commitments without putting adverse economic stress on developing nations. The speakers for the session were Ms Aditi Kapoor, Lead specialist (Economic Justice) Oxfam India, Prof. Santosh Kumar; Head of the policy planning & cross-cutting Issues and Dr.Shiraz Wajih, member of Climate Action Network, South Asia. All of them gave their lectures on adapting to climate change. Dr.Shiraj Wazih closed the session with a presentation of a case study of flooding in the Rohin Basin in Uttar Pradesh. He emphasized the importance of creating a deliberate synergy between local & scientific knowledge.

CAR Workshop : RSS and covering stories over the borders

Jan-Morten Bjørnbakk, a journalist from Norwegian News service gave information on RSS reader and use of RSS feeds to gather news and information from various sites across the world.