SRM Joins Invasives Coalition

SRM is a participant in the newly formed Washington D.C.-based NGO Invasive Species Coalition. The name is likely to change as the coalition matures. Over 20 organizations are a part of this developing coalition. Participants include organizations such as The Wildlife Society, National Association of State Foresters, National Academy of Sciences, Ecological Society of America, American Farm Bureau Federation, and the National Association of Conservation Districts.

The initial meeting in April 2006, covered such topics as: what is in it for each of the organizations, what are the opportunities to collaborate, and current/upcoming legislative opportunities. The initial meeting resulted in several actions, including formation of a steering committee with representation from the Weed Science Society of America, Wildlife Management Institute, National Association of Conservation Districts, and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. In addition, a joint letter is being sent to several congressional leaders calling for an oversight hearing to address the findings of a Government Accountability Office report on invasive species. Congressional staff members that deal with invasive species will be invited to the next coalition meeting.

For more information contact SRM, 10030 W. 27th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, CO 80215; (303) 986-3309; fax: (303) 986-3892. Website: http://www.rangelands.org.

New Executive Vice President

The SRM Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Ken Johnson as executive vice-president. Johnson currently is a district conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Kentucky. He is a past elected president of the American Forage and Grassland Council. Johnson will report to work on September 15.

For more information, contact: John Tanaka, Society for Range Management, 10030 W 27th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, CO  80215. (303) 986-3309

The Power of Multiples: Connecting Wind Farms Can Make A More Reliable--and Cheaper--Power Source

Wind power, long considered to be as fickle as wind itself, can be groomed to become a steady, dependable source of electricity and delivered at a lower cost than at present, according to scientists at Stanford University. The key is connecting wind farms throughout a given geographic area with transmission lines, thus combining the electric outputs of the farms into one powerful energy source. The findings are published in the November 2007 issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.

Wind is the world's fastest growing electric energy source, according to the study's authors, Cristina Archer and Mark Jacobson. However, because wind is intermittent, it is not used to supply baseload electric power today. Baseload power is the amount of steady and reliable electric power that is constantly being produced, typically by power plants, regardless of the electricity demand. But interconnecting wind farms with a transmission grid reduces the power swings caused by wind variability and makes a significant portion of it just as consistent a power source as a coal power plant.

"This study implies that, if interconnected wind is used on a large scale, a third or more of its energy can be used for reliable electric power, and the remaining intermittent portion can be used for transportation, allowing wind to solve energy, climate and air pollution problems simultaneously," said Archer, the study's lead author and a consulting assistant professor in Stanford's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and research associate in the Department of Global Ecology of the Carnegie Institution.

"The idea is that, while wind speed could be calm at a given location, it could be gusty at others. By linking these locations together we can smooth out the differences and substantially improve the overall performance," Archer said.

Another benefit of connecting multiple wind farms is reducing the total distance that all the power has to travel from the multiple points of origin to the destination point. Interconnecting multiple wind farms to a common point and then connecting that point to a far-away city reduces the cost of transmission.

Archer said that if the U.S. and other countries each started to organize the siting and interconnection of new wind farms based on a master plan, the power supply could be smoothed out and transmission requirements could be reduced, decreasing the cost of wind energy. This could result in the large-scale market penetration of wind energy--already the most inexpensive clean renewable electric power source--which could contribute significantly to an eventual solution to global warming, as well as reducing deaths from urban air pollution.

For more information contact AMS, 45 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02018; (617) 227-2425. Website: http://www.ametsoc.org.

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

For more information contact ASLA, 636 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001; (202) 898-2444; fax: (202) 898-1185. Website: http://www.asla.org.

AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION

SOCIETY OF WOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY

THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY 

UNEP and WMO Panel Puts Final Full Stop Behind Risks and Rewards of Combating Climate Change

The challenges and opportunities facing the world as a result of climate change have been distilled into a concise and sobering guide by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The guide, launched after five days of discussions in the Spanish city of Valencia, was essential reading for delegates attending the UN climate convention meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

The guide, officially known as the Summary for Policy Makers, underlines the urgency to act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions alongside the economic costs of a transition to a low carbon society. It also argues strongly in favor of stepping up support and action on adaptation.

"Neither adaptation nor mitigation alone can avoid all climate change impacts. However, they can complement each other and together can significantly reduce the risks of climate change," says the report by the IPCC, a panel jointly established by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

It also highlights five "reasons for concern" which are now stronger than before. This is because scientists now conclude that they may happen at lower increases in temperature or because the risks may be larger than had previously been supposed.

These include: the impacts on species and biodiversity hotspots as temperatures rise including polar and high mountain communities and ecosystems; focus on the risks of extreme weather events with higher confidence in the projected increases in droughts, heatwaves and floods as well as their adverse impacts; concern that the poor and the elderly in low-latitude and less-developed areas including those in dry areas and living on mega-deltas are likely to suffer most; concern that any benefits linked with climate change will be gone after more modest temperature rises; and concern that new observations linked with the Greenland and possibly Antarctic ice sheets may mean that the rate of ice loss will increase above previous forecasts.

Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, said: "This is perhaps the most essential reading for every person on the planet who cares about the future. In this Summary, the hard science has been distilled along with evidence of the social and economic consequences of global warming but also the economic rationale and opportunities for action now".

"The momentum on climate change in 2007 has been nothing short of breathtaking and in no small measure due to the series of assessments from the IPCC. Today's final synthesis report translates the complex science into a lingua-franca so that governments meeting in Bali can not only understand the challenge but be empowered to act collectively on a decisive post 2012 emission reductions regime," he added.

"This pocket guide for policymakers is also more than that. It is also a citizens guide for engaging political leaders, their members of parliament, local authority officials the chief executive officers of national corporations in a public debate on what needs to happen next," added Mr. Steiner.

The summary makes a strong link between climate change and the wider challenges facing in particular developing countries a result of issues like poverty, unequal access to resources, conflict and disease.

On an optimistic note, the summary points out that combating climate change does not have to damage or derail economies. "There is high agreement and much evidence of substantial economic potential for the mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades" if governments adopt the right policies and incentives, it says.

Bringing down global carbon dioxide emissions to 2005 levels by 2030 will require a big shift of investment patterns- "although the net additional investment required ranges from negligible to five to 10 percent," concludes the report. The IPCC estimates that biggest prospect for emissions cuts comes from buildings, followed by industry and energy supply, agriculture and forestry under a variety scenarios based on the market price of carbon.

For more information please contact Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson. E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org

Climate Change Threatens Unprecedented Human Development Reversals

The United Nations Development Program's Human Development Report has warned that the world should focus on the development impact of climate change that could bring unprecedented reversals in poverty reduction, nutrition, health and education.

The report, "Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World," provides a stark account of the threat posed by global warming. It argues that the world is drifting towards a "tipping point" that could lock the world's poorest countries and their poorest citizens in a downward spiral, leaving hundreds of millions facing malnutrition, water scarcity, ecological threats, and a loss of livelihoods.

"Ultimately, climate change is a threat to humanity as a whole. But it is the poor, a constituency with no responsibility for the ecological debt we are running up, who face the immediate and most severe human costs," commented UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis.

The report calls for a "twin track" approach that combines stringent mitigation to limit 21st century warming to less than 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), with strengthened international cooperation on adaptation.

On mitigation, the authors call on developed countries to demonstrate leadership by cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. The report advocates a mix of carbon taxation, more stringent cap-and-trade programs, energy regulation, and international cooperation on financing for low-carbon technology transfer.

Turning to adaptation, the report warns that inequalities in ability to cope with climate change are emerging as an increasingly powerful driver of wider inequalities between and
within countries. It calls on rich countries to put climate change adaptation at the center of international partnerships on poverty reduction.

"We are issuing a call to action, not providing a counsel of despair," commented lead author Kevin Watkins, adding, "Working together with resolve, we can win the battle against climate change. Allowing the window of opportunity to close would represent a moral and political failure without precedent in human history." He described the Bali talks as a unique opportunity to put the interests of the world's poor at the heart of climate change negotiations.

The report provides evidence of the mechanisms through which the ecological impacts of climate change will be transmitted to the poor. Focusing on the 2.6 billion people surviving on less than US$2 a day, the authors warn forces unleashed by global warming could stall and then reverse progress built up over generations.

Setting out the evidence from a new research exercise, the authors of the Human Development Report argue that the potential human costs of climate change have been understated. They point out that climate shocks such as droughts, floods and storms, which will become more frequent and intense with climate change, are already among the most powerful drivers of poverty and inequality--and global warming will strengthen the impacts.

"Of course there are uncertainties, but faced with risks of this order of magnitude uncertainty is not a case for inaction. Ambitious mitigation is in fact the insurance we have to buy against potentially very large risks. 'Fighting Climate Change' is about our commitment to human development today and about creating a world that will provide ecological security for our children and their grandchildren," Mr. Dervis said.

While acknowledging the threat posed by rising emissions from major developing countries, the authors argue that northern governments have to initiate the deepest and earliest cuts. They point out that rich countries carry overwhelming historic responsibility for the problem, have far deeper carbon footprints, and have the financial and technological capabilities to act.

Scenarios for future emissions reinforce the scale of the challenge ahead. On current trends, CO2 emissions are projected to increase by 50 percent to 2030--an outcome that would make dangerous climate change inevitable. "The bottom line is that the global energy system is out of alignment with the ecological systems that sustain our planet," commented Mr. Watkins, adding: "realignment will take a fundamental shift in regulation, market incentives, and international cooperation."

While stressing the central medium-term role of mitigation, "Fighting Climate Change" warns against neglecting the adaptation challenge. It points out that, even with stringent mitigation, the world is now committed to continued warming for the first half of the 21st Century. The report warns that adaptation is needed to prevent climate change leading to major setbacks in human development--and to guard against the very real danger of insufficient mitigation.

The report draws attention to extreme inequalities in adaptation capacity. Rich countries are investing heavily in climate-change defense systems, with governments playing a leading role. By contrast, in developing countries "people are being left to sink or swim with their own resources," writes Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town.

"Nobody wants to understate the very real long-term ecological challenges that climate change will bring to rich countries," Mr. Watkins commented. "But the near term vulnerabilities are not concentrated in lower Manhattan and London, but in flood prone areas of Bangladesh and drought prone parts of sub-Saharan Africa."

"Fighting Climate Change" concludes that "one of the hardest lessons taught by climate change is that the historically carbon intensive growth, and the profligate consumption in rich nations that has accompanied it, is ecologically unsustainable." But the authors argue, "with the right reforms, it is not too late to cut greenhouse gas emissions to sustainable levels without sacrificing economic growth: rising prosperity and climate security are not conflicting objectives."

For more information please consult the 2007/2008 UNDP Human Development Report Website:  http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008/

Opportunities and Risks of Wood Energy Production
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Poverty Could be Reduced, Deforestation Could Increase

The use of wood energy can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and can contribute to poverty reduction, FAO said. However, the agency warned that the use of wood for fuel can result in deforestation or forest degradation if sustainable forest management is not effectively practiced.

Wood is the most important biofuel, mainly in developing countries. More than two billion people depend on wood for their daily energy demand, mainly for cooking, heating and small industrial production. In sub-Saharan Africa, fuelwood and charcoal supply over 70 percent of the national energy demand

High oil prices, the need for secure energy supplies and concerns over climate change have led to a new interest in bioenergy. This renewed interest could affect forests because forests occupy land which could be used for crops producing liquid biofuels. Furthermore, forests and forest residues could become more important for the direct conversion to liquid biofuels.

The production of energy from existing forests and from forest plantations is expected to increase. At the same time, unsustainable harvesting and use of wood fuels could increase. As the demand for wood energy rises, the supply of wood available for other uses might decline, resulting in higher prices for all users of wood.

Land previously dedicated to food crops might shift to biofuel crops. This could benefit farmers' incomes, but might have a negative impact on local food production.

Agro-fuel crops might expand into forests, generating land use conflicts and increasing deforestation, with implications for biological diversity, climate change and water.

"Despite the apparent benefits of biofuels, caution should be exercised when planning and implementing large-scale liquid bio-fuel projects," said Wulf Killmann, Director of FAO's Forest Products and Industries Division. "Governments should ensure that there are no serious negative impacts on the environment and society."

FAO called upon countries to develop their wood energy sectors in line with sustainable forest management concepts. Wood energy policies should be incorporated into poverty reduction strategies. Know-how and capacity building in the use of sustainable, efficient and healthy wood energy systems should be transferred. Undue market distortions should be avoided. Safeguards for the production of liquid biofuels should be introduced to avoid unwanted negative impacts on the environment and local population.

For more information, please contact: Alison Small, Media Relations, FAO, E-Mail: Alison_small@fao.org

Electrifying a Low-carbon Future

Is meeting the increased demand for electricity while lowering GHG emissions actually possible? Is it not contradictory for utility companies to push for the more efficient use of electricity by consumers when their core business is power delivery?

The answer to these and other seeming paradoxes is 'yes' and 'no' according to a new interim report published today by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development’s Electricity Utilities Sector Project. The report, "Powering a Sustainable Future: Policies and Measures to Make it Happen", highlights that many low-carbon solutions exist today, but warns that their development and deployment at a sufficient scale to reduce the carbon intensity of electricity production and increase consumption efficiency will not occur without the right regulatory and market frameworks.

Given that the sector is currently responsible for approximately 41 percent of global energy related CO2 emissions, these frameworks will be critical to combating climate change during the first half of this century.

A key message from the document is that consistent and integrated policy and regulatory measures must underpin and support investment in low carbon technologies, both on the demand and supply sides. But, that a one-size-fits-all approach will fail and a combination of complementary mechanisms must be used.

Specific policies will be necessary to drive the implementation of currently available technologies, while large-scale multi-country R&D efforts are required for those future solutions that currently face technological or commercial barriers to deployment (such as integrated Carbon Capture and Storage technology within the sector). To enable their effective implementation, significant investments in grid infrastructure will be required.

Commenting on the role of business in leading the path towards a low-carbon future, Bjorn Stigson, president of WBCSD, stressed that "business must play a significant role in contributing to the innovation and development of new promising solutions, but support from government and society are needed to both develop and implement technologies at the necessary scale to enable the rapid transition required to tackle climate change. The potential of end-use energy efficiency is substantial. There is a very real need to educate consumers about the benefits, both financial and for the environment, of energy conservation."

The interim report was launched at a side event on December 11, 2007, during the United Nations Climate Change conference in Bali. This event marked the start of an international stakeholder dialogue, which will continue throughout 2008 to discuss and refine the policy recommendations from the sector.

For more information, please contact: Antonia Gawel, E-Mail: gawel@wbcsd.org

Sound Environmental Management Contributes To Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries

With poor countries much more dependent on natural resources as assets than rich countries, policy changes that affect the natural environmental -- particularly at the household level -- are critical to reducing poverty, according to a new report from the World Bank, "Poverty and the Environment: Understanding Linkages at the Household Level".
 
"Poverty reduction can be seen as a three-part program," said Warren Evans, Director of Environment, World Bank. "It involves stemming the fall of households into further poverty, enabling movements out of poverty, and ensuring that the non-poor do not become poor. Reducing vulnerability is as important as reducing poverty. There is a role for environmental management, including policy reforms, in each of these areas."
 
According to the report, it is important to understand how countries rely on the environment. For example, the ratio of people to forested land is over three times higher in low-income countries compared with high income. This gives an indication of the pressure on forests, and the outcome is visible in the adjoining table. While forested lands are growing at 0.1 percent per year in high-income countries, they are shrinking at 0.5 percent per year in low-income countries. Access to 'environmental infrastructure' in the form of improved water and sanitation shows a similar divide. The result is that mortality rates for children under the age of five are nearly 18 times higher in low-income compared with high-income countries.
 
Poor households have limited assets that they can use to make investments; they have fewer income-earning opportunities, are exposed to higher health risks, and are less able to cope with adverse economic and health shocks.
 
The report says that policy changes that affect the natural environment can have direct and indirect impacts on household welfare. These include poverty alleviation and an increase in a household's economic welfare, as well as better nutritional and health outcomes.
 
According to the report, reforms with positive environmental and welfare impacts do not always originate from the environmental sector. Some reforms -- such as the creation of common property rights, incentives for better management of natural resources, or creation of new markets for environmental services -- pertain directly to environmental resources. In other cases, sectoral or macro policies intended to improve other aspects of the economy may also have environmental and welfare benefits -- for example, strengthening of private property rights.
 
In particular, the last two decades have seen reforms in environmental management that put community participation and economic development as core goals. The report finds that decentralization of natural resource management is beginning to work for some communities. Benefits can be found in reforms that strengthened community rights, created stronger incentives for resource management, and developed new markets that facilitate payments for environmental services. There were also positive outcomes from reforms outside the environment sector that strengthened private property rights and increased access to services.
 
"Unsafe water, lack of sanitation and poor indoor air quality are major killers of children," said Evans, "An important finding is that the extent of coverage of communities to safe water and sanitation is a significant contributor to child health. This means that targeting poor communities for access to water and sanitation can yield real benefits."

The poor are willing to participate in a variety of resource management programs, according to the report, some of which lead to significant welfare improvements. The publication recommends continuing to make prudent investments in projects that create new incentives and strengthen property rights, as well as increasing efforts to collect good data to help monitor and evaluate environmental investments that yield benefits to poor households.
 
For more information, please contact: Roger Morier, World Bank, (202) 473-5675, E-Mail: rmorier@worldbank.org or Kristyn Schrader, World Bank, (202) 458-2736, E-Mail: kschrader@worldbank.org

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