Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, has promised to get the ‘show back on the road’ towards an international agreement to stop global warming.
By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent 4:06PM GMT 24 Nov 2010
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The United Nations talks on climate change in Copenhagen last year ended in chaos after countries failed to come to a legally-binding deal on cutting emissions.
Mr Huhne said there was ‘obviously not going to be a legal treaty’ agreed at the next major summit in Cancun Mexico later this month.
However he insisted that the talks can make progress towards a deal.
“I am travelling to Cancun very much with the hope of getting the show back on the road,” he said.
“We want to see progress at Cancun. We do not want to see a confrontational shambles that involves a lot of name-calling.”
The UN talks are aimed at achieving a deal that cuts carbon emissions in order to keep global temperature rise within 2C (3.8F).
Mr Huhne said this was still possible at the end of 2011 or 2012.
In the mean time he said the talks must put in place the architecture to make a deal possible. This will mean a series of ‘mini-deals’ on how the world will measure the emissions from different countries, how money will be raised to help poor countries go green and how to reduce deforestation.
“From the point of view of our objectives. We want to see progress, which means we are withing shouting distance of a serious deal which we can rely on to tackle this massive problem,” he said.
“If we do not get peaking of emissions by 2020 the prospects for people living on this planet are pretty bleak.”
However writing in the journal Nature, Yvo de Boer, the former head fo the UN talks, said the focus should not be on emissions cuts as many countries believe this will limit their economies – especially the emerging markets.
Instead he said the talks should focus on green growth and helping all countries to shift to a low carbon economy.
He said efforts should focus on raising the money to help poor countries adapt to climate change and develop green technology.
:: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative announced that it will host a major new business summit alongside the main Cancun talks dubbed the World Climate Summit.
The conference – which UNEP describes as "the beginning of a new, open and collaborative global 10-year framework dedicated to helping governments, businesses and financiers accelerate solutions to climate change" – will take place on December 4-5 in Cancun and will be attended by representatives from over 300 of the world's largest firms, including Richard Branson and Ted Turner.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Solar powered bulbs light the way in the developing world
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Nokero, which claims to be the manufacturers of the world's only solar light bulb, announced on November 16 the launch of the new Nokero N200, a bulb 60 percent brighter than its predecessor the N100. The bulb is designed to be used in communities around the world that do not have reliable access to electricity.
The company claims that the N200 can last over six hours on one day's charge and, according to the press release, is designed to be affordable to "billions of people who live worldwide without electricity."
The bulb contains one solar panel with which it draws light from the sun to store in a battery for use at night, the bulb turns off automatically in bright light in order to conserve power and is rainproof for use outside.
The bulb is currently being used to aid flood victims in the refugee camps of Pakistan and in Kenyan orphanages and, according to the press release, Nokero also plan to ship the bulb to Iraq as a replacement for the expensive diesel generators currently being used.
The bulb is designed to provide an alternative source of light to the kerosene and other similar fuels typically used in communities with little or no access to electricity, research from the Intermediate Technology Development Group and the World Health Organization estimates that indoor air pollution from such fuel contributes to 1.5 million deaths per year.
Through more for environmental than health reasons, solar powered lighting is a growing trend across Europe and America; a variety of solar powered garden lamps and lighting devices are available from most major retailers and can even be bought online at amazon.com.
Nokero: http://www.nokero.com
Nokero, which claims to be the manufacturers of the world's only solar light bulb, announced on November 16 the launch of the new Nokero N200, a bulb 60 percent brighter than its predecessor the N100. The bulb is designed to be used in communities around the world that do not have reliable access to electricity.
The company claims that the N200 can last over six hours on one day's charge and, according to the press release, is designed to be affordable to "billions of people who live worldwide without electricity."
The bulb contains one solar panel with which it draws light from the sun to store in a battery for use at night, the bulb turns off automatically in bright light in order to conserve power and is rainproof for use outside.
The bulb is currently being used to aid flood victims in the refugee camps of Pakistan and in Kenyan orphanages and, according to the press release, Nokero also plan to ship the bulb to Iraq as a replacement for the expensive diesel generators currently being used.
The bulb is designed to provide an alternative source of light to the kerosene and other similar fuels typically used in communities with little or no access to electricity, research from the Intermediate Technology Development Group and the World Health Organization estimates that indoor air pollution from such fuel contributes to 1.5 million deaths per year.
Through more for environmental than health reasons, solar powered lighting is a growing trend across Europe and America; a variety of solar powered garden lamps and lighting devices are available from most major retailers and can even be bought online at amazon.com.
Nokero: http://www.nokero.com