Sunday 6 December 2009

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

 image

In response to the urgent and pressing global call for sustainably produced palm oil, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders.
The seat of the association is in Zurich, Switzerland, while the secretariat is currently based in Kuala Lumpur with a satellite office in Jakarta.
RSPO is a not-for-profit association that unites stakeholders from seven sectors of the palm oil industry - oil palm producers, palm oil processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental or nature conservation NGOs and social or developmental NGOs - to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil.

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

Copenhagen summit: How climate change will shape these lives | Environment | The Observer

image

These five babies, all born in the last month, will face different challenges on different continents as they grow up, but they have one thing in common, writes Robin McKie. Their fate as adults will be dominated by the shifting weather patterns their parents are starting to confront

Copenhagen summit: How climate change will shape these lives | Environment | The Observer

Copenhagen

Key Players
IPCC
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established by the UN in 1988 to provide authoritative assessments of the latest climate change science. Its reports, which are compiled and reviewed by thousands of leading scientists, have provided the basis for international efforts to combat global warming by reducing carbon emissions. The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, but critics claim that the panel's structure and origins predispose it to blame global warming on man's actions.


UNFCCC
More than 190 counties have now signed up to the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty drawn up at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The agreement, which laid the ground for legally-binding targets adopted in Kyoto five years later, has also given rise to a permanent UN body of the same name, which coordinates countries' efforts to reduce emissions.

G77
An alliance of 130 developing nations including China and India. The G77 lobbies for the developed world to accept a greater share of the burden for fighting climate change, arguing that strict emission restrictions will hamper the economic growth of poorer nations. It has threatened to scupper any deal at Copenhagen unless the US agrees to meet tough CO2 targets.

LDCF
The Least Developed Countries Fund provides financial support for countries – mainly in Africa – that are deemed most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. It funds projects to help communities to adapt to threats such as flooding

MEF
Britain is one of 17 members of the Major Economies Forum, a group of the world's largest polluters established by President Barack Obama earlier this year. Intended to foster discussions rather than produce firm agreements, its first communiqué in July offered little policy detail.

Copenhagen climate change conference 2009: timeline

 COP15_LOGO_B_M

Copenhagen climate change conference 2009: timeline - Telegraph

Owning The Weather

 image

Owning The Weather

Global Flood Map

Use the interactive map by entering in any number of inches – the map will show what areas would be flooded or at risk and the left side bar will display the number of people displaced. Click on individual points for current elevation, elevation after sea level rise, and the number and percentage of people losing homes.  Global Flood Map uses NASA satellite data to show the areas of the world under water and at risk for flooding if ocean levels rise. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), sea levels have been rising about 3 mm per year since 1993 – totaling a 200 mm increase (7.87 inches) in global averaged sea level since 1870.

Global Flood Map | World Wide Map of Potential Flooding

Where countries stand on Copenhagen

 COP15_LOGO_B_M

BBC News - Where countries stand on Copenhagen