German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen talks to SPIEGEL about the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit, why neither China nor the US can take the lead in the fight against global warming and Germany's role in the new world order. SPIEGEL: Mr. Röttgen, Chancellor Angela Merkel says we shouldn't bad mouth the outcome of the world climate summit in Copenhagen. Please tell us, as a minister who is loyal to the chancellor, exactly what good came out of it. Norbert Röttgen: First and foremost, the result is a great disappointment. But one should not overlook the fact that one thing has been achieved and secured: The goal of keeping global warming from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius is included in the closing document and there is a stated desire to provide aid worth billions for sustainable development in developing nations. China has also agreed for the first time to allow its emissions cuts to be tracked. We agreed to this because it is better than doing nothing. We will now continue on this basis. The alternative would have been a total collapse of the climate protection process.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Röttgen, Chancellor Angela Merkel says we shouldn't bad mouth the outcome of the world climate summit in Copenhagen. Please tell us, as a minister who is loyal to the chancellor, exactly what good came out of it.
Norbert Röttgen: First and foremost, the result is a great disappointment. But one should not overlook the fact that one thing has been achieved and secured: The goal of keeping global warming from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius is included in the closing document and there is a stated desire to provide aid worth billions for sustainable development in developing nations. China has also agreed for the first time to allow its emissions cuts to be tracked. We agreed to this because it is better than doing nothing. We will now continue on this basis. The alternative would have been a total collapse of the climate protection process.
It's been several days since the chaotic end to the Copenhagen climate conference but the aftershocks from its failure are still reverberating. As John Prescott points out in his letter to the Guardian, the pointing of fingers in the blame game does not help the regaining of trust needed for the positive resumption of talks early next year and to complete them by December 2010, the new deadline agreed to in Copenhagen. First, the misinformation put out in the past few days has to be corrected. The UK climate secretary, Ed Miliband, backed by individuals such as Mark Lynas (both writing in the Guardian) have turned on China as the villain that "hijacked" the conference. The main "evidence" they gave was that China vetoed an "agreement" on a 50% reduction in global emissions by 2050 and an 80% reduction by developed countries, in the small meeting of 26 leaders on Copenhagen's final day. There was indeed a "hijack" in Copenhagen, but it was not by China. The hijack was organised by the host government, Denmark, whose prime minister convened a meeting of 26 leaders in the last two days of the conference, in an attempt to override the painstaking negotiations taking place among 193 countries throughout the two weeks and in fact in the past two to four years.
First, the misinformation put out in the past few days has to be corrected. The UK climate secretary, Ed Miliband, backed by individuals such as Mark Lynas (both writing in the Guardian) have turned on China as the villain that "hijacked" the conference. The main "evidence" they gave was that China vetoed an "agreement" on a 50% reduction in global emissions by 2050 and an 80% reduction by developed countries, in the small meeting of 26 leaders on Copenhagen's final day.
There was indeed a "hijack" in Copenhagen, but it was not by China. The hijack was organised by the host government, Denmark, whose prime minister convened a meeting of 26 leaders in the last two days of the conference, in an attempt to override the painstaking negotiations taking place among 193 countries throughout the two weeks and in fact in the past two to four years.
John Prescott has defended China's role in the climate change summit, saying the blame for its flawed outcome must lie with the United States and Barack Obama. The former deputy prime minister helped negotiate the Kyoto protocol in 1997, and was in Copenhagen acting as an informal bridge between the Chinese delegation and others. As a frequent visitor to China, who knows many of its officials personally, Prescott fears privately that the Chinese will walk away from the talks if they continue to be singled out for blame. In a letter to the Guardian, Prescott criticises the US climate change special envoy, Todd Stern, who "said at Copenhagen emissions weren't about 'morality or politics', they were 'just maths', with China projected to emit 60% more CO2 than the US by 2030".
The former deputy prime minister helped negotiate the Kyoto protocol in 1997, and was in Copenhagen acting as an informal bridge between the Chinese delegation and others.
As a frequent visitor to China, who knows many of its officials personally, Prescott fears privately that the Chinese will walk away from the talks if they continue to be singled out for blame.
In a letter to the Guardian, Prescott criticises the US climate change special envoy, Todd Stern, who "said at Copenhagen emissions weren't about 'morality or politics', they were 'just maths', with China projected to emit 60% more CO2 than the US by 2030".
dah dah dum. Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
German solar companies in industry association BSW are proposing to cut subsidies faster than planned, Solarworld Chief Executive Frank Asbeck told a German magazine. So far, plans had called for a 10 percent reduction of feed-in tariffs -- incentives utilities are obliged to pay for power generated from renewable sources -- in early 2010 and another 10 percent a year later. BSW is now proposing to add a cut in mid-2010. "Some 10 percent on January 1, 5 percent at mid-year and then another 10 percent at the move into 2011," Asbeck said, according to an excerpt of an interview to be published in weekly Focus-Money magazine on Wednesday.
So far, plans had called for a 10 percent reduction of feed-in tariffs -- incentives utilities are obliged to pay for power generated from renewable sources -- in early 2010 and another 10 percent a year later. BSW is now proposing to add a cut in mid-2010.
"Some 10 percent on January 1, 5 percent at mid-year and then another 10 percent at the move into 2011," Asbeck said, according to an excerpt of an interview to be published in weekly Focus-Money magazine on Wednesday.
A new Chinese law requires power grid operators to buy all the electricity produced by renewable energy generators, in a move that will increase the proportion of energy that comes from renewable sources in coal-dependent China. The amendment to the 2006 renewable energy law was adopted on Saturday by the standing committee of the National People's Congress, China's legislature, the Xinhua news agency said. The amendment also gives authority to the State Council energy department, together with the State Council finance department and the state power authority, to "determine the proportion of renewable energy power generation to the overall generating capacity for a certain period."
The amendment to the 2006 renewable energy law was adopted on Saturday by the standing committee of the National People's Congress, China's legislature, the Xinhua news agency said.
The amendment also gives authority to the State Council energy department, together with the State Council finance department and the state power authority, to "determine the proportion of renewable energy power generation to the overall generating capacity for a certain period."
Boeing and other enterprises are voluntarily doing what some might fiercely resist being forced to do: submitting detailed reports on how much they emit, largely through fossil fuel consumption, to a central clearinghouse. The information flows to the Carbon Disclosure Project, a small nonprofit organization based in London that sifts through the numbers and generates snapshots by industry sectors in different nations. By giving enterprises a road map for measuring their emissions and pointing out how they compare with their peers, experts say, the voluntary project is persuading companies to change their energy practices well before many governments step in to regulate emissions. <...> In contrast to the United States, European Union countries already regulate carbon dioxide emissions from their most energy-intensive industries through a cap and trade program, and Japan polices energy consumption itself. ...
Boeing and other enterprises are voluntarily doing what some might fiercely resist being forced to do: submitting detailed reports on how much they emit, largely through fossil fuel consumption, to a central clearinghouse.
The information flows to the Carbon Disclosure Project, a small nonprofit organization based in London that sifts through the numbers and generates snapshots by industry sectors in different nations.
By giving enterprises a road map for measuring their emissions and pointing out how they compare with their peers, experts say, the voluntary project is persuading companies to change their energy practices well before many governments step in to regulate emissions.
<...>
In contrast to the United States, European Union countries already regulate carbon dioxide emissions from their most energy-intensive industries through a cap and trade program, and Japan polices energy consumption itself. ...
RICHMOND, Ky. -- After years of planning and design, the pilot plant that will destroy 523 tons of chemical agent in is finally taking shape. Two 300-ton cranes are moving steel and rebar in place for the buildings going up on a 50-acre site at Blue Grass Army Depot south of Richmond. Site preparation and preliminary construction actually began in 2006, but it wasn't until late summer that the first vertical steel began reaching for the sky. "Now that we're coming out of the ground with the steel, everybody's enthusiastic about that," site project manager Jeff Brubaker said during a tour in early December. Earlier this year, Congress appropriated more than $500 million -- the largest amount ever appropriated for the program -- to accelerate the disposal of weapons in Madison County and Colorado's Pueblo Depot Activity. That means more people can be put on the job and more material and equipment can be purchased, Brubaker said. That shortens completion of the Madison County plant by two years to 2016, although testing of the equipment means the plant won't start destroying the mustard, VX and sarin nerve agents until 2018. Then it will take until 2021 to completely destroy the agents, well past the deadlines set by international treaty and by Congress to finish the job.
Two 300-ton cranes are moving steel and rebar in place for the buildings going up on a 50-acre site at Blue Grass Army Depot south of Richmond. Site preparation and preliminary construction actually began in 2006, but it wasn't until late summer that the first vertical steel began reaching for the sky.
"Now that we're coming out of the ground with the steel, everybody's enthusiastic about that," site project manager Jeff Brubaker said during a tour in early December.
Earlier this year, Congress appropriated more than $500 million -- the largest amount ever appropriated for the program -- to accelerate the disposal of weapons in Madison County and Colorado's Pueblo Depot Activity. That means more people can be put on the job and more material and equipment can be purchased, Brubaker said.
That shortens completion of the Madison County plant by two years to 2016, although testing of the equipment means the plant won't start destroying the mustard, VX and sarin nerve agents until 2018. Then it will take until 2021 to completely destroy the agents, well past the deadlines set by international treaty and by Congress to finish the job.
In Arkansas one had the pleasure of watching vague but alarming adverts asking if your family had their Chemical Emergency Preparedness Plan prepared and rehearsed. The Pine Bluff Arsenal is ~150 miles south east of where I live, but sometimes we get southerly winds. Freedom isn't free. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
