Climate Defenders Camp established to preserve Indonesian Rainforest Peatlands

Fifty members of Greenpeace and members of the local forest community have set up a Climate Defenders Camp on the Kampar Peninsula, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They have spent the last week constructing a dam across one of the many canals built to drain the rainforest and peat soils in order to make way for plantations. This forest destruction emits huge quantities of CO2 and has led Indonesia to become the world's third largest climate polluter after China and the US. Global deforestation is responsible for about a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions.

"We are taking action to stop climate change right here at the frontline of forest destruction. To pull the world back from the brink of a climate crisis, we need Obama, Merkel, Sarkozy, Brown and other world leaders to commit to much deeper cuts in emissions from fossil fuels and to provide the critical funds needed to end deforestation. If they fail, we will face mass species extinction, floods, droughts and famine in our lifetime," said Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner Bustar Maitar. See Photos of the Climate defenders Camp | Youtube Video: Greenpeace - Saving Sumatra's Peatland Forests

Southern Bluefin Tuna crashing toward extinction to feed sushi & sushimi market

"Every indication is that the Bluefin Tuna population is crashing toward extinction," said Felicity Wade from The Wilderness Society. "While it is heartening to see governments finally acting on its plight, the 20% international cut is inadequate for the crisis the blue fin tuna is facing. If we were serious about bringing this fish back from the brink," concluded Ms Wade, "the fishery would be completely closed while populations recovered."

The fish was listed in 1996 as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The major market for the fish is Japan to make Sushi and sushimi, highly prized as a Japanese delicacy.

The 25% cut in the Australian quota for Southern Bluefin Tuna has been described by the Wilderness Society as a step in the right direction, but the cut is too little too late with the fish species tittering close to the edge of extinction. The Quota reduction was made in an agreement at the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna meeting in South Korea in October 2009.

TRAFFIC's Global Marine Programme Leader Glenn Sant said that the Southern Bluefin Tuna populations would not recover for many years, even under the best scenario. "The members agree it is a crisis with the breeding stock being somewhere between three and eight per cent of its original level," said Sant. "A 20 per cent cut is a step towards resolving the terribly low level of Southern Bluefin Tuna Stock, with the scientific assessment of the scenario saying there could be recovery, but only after many years."

Conservation organisations at the meeting which included WWF and TRAFFIC had asked for a temporary closure of the fishery, while Australia had requested a 50 per cent cut in catches. The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna is a voluntary fishery management group comprised of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines as a formal cooperating non-member. Much of the Southern Bluefin Tuna catch ends up in Japan where it is prized as sushi and sushimi.

Japanese, Korean, Indonesian and Taiwanese Bluefin tuna fleets use long line fishing which results in the incidental deaths of thousands of seabirds, particularly petrels and albatross. "The 20% reduction in SBT quota is insufficient to give the species a chance to recover and still means the likely death of 10,700 albatross each year", said Nicola Beynon, Humane Society International (HSI) Senior Program Manager. Most of the Australian catch is done through netting for aquaculture sea farming, minimising sea bird deaths.

According to HSI the Scientific Committee to the Commission has estimated the SBT population is at a mere 3-8% of its pre-exploitation biomass and only a zero quota would give the species a decent chance to recover. HSI and other conservation organisations have pushed for the Commission to suspend the global catch until fish numbers recover to sustain ecologically sustainable harvests.

The tuna fishing industry in Australia is centred on Port Lincoln in South Australia. Australia's average catch per year has been reduced by 30% from 5265 tonnes to 4015 tonnes over 2010 and 2011, and the global catch quota reduced by 20 per cent from 11,810 tonnes to 9449 tonnes along with 20 per cent reductions to other countries.

In 2005 Humane Society International fought a tough court case against the Australian Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell to defend the endangered southern bluefin tuna from chronic overfishing. The society were appealing for protection of the fish as an endangered species, with the Southern Blufin Tuna meeting the criteria for listing as threatened as advised by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee. HSI lost the case.

For 20 years Japan plundered the Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery. Japan's overfishing through an Experimental Fishing Program (EFP) was challenged by Australia and New Zealand in 1999 with provisional measures granted pending Arbitration in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The Tribunal's Order effectively applied the precautionary approach to fisheries management and highlighted the argument that unilateral experimental fishing cannot exceed a State's national allocation. (The Southern Bluefin Tuna Case: ITLOS Hears Its First Fishery Dispute)

A 2006 report by the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin found that Japan had illegally caught up to $6 billion worth of the fish over the past 20 years. The report said that if Japan had stuck to its catch quota, the stock of Southern Bluefin would be at least five times larger.

Northern Blue Fin Tuna stocks critical - Monaco applies for CITES listing

The northern bluefin tuna also faces overfishing with the Prince of Monaco applying for a CITES listing which would ban the trade in the species for commercial purposes, placing much more pressure on the southern bluefin tuna.

The scientists from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) met in Madrid, Spain (21-23 October) to assess current stock status of Atlantic bluefin tuna against the specific criteria necessary to list a species under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). ICCAT's scientists estimate that the current spawning biomass is less than 15 per cent of what it once was before fishing began - meaning Atlantic bluefin tuna meets the criteria for a CITES Appendix I listing.

"What's needed to save the stocks is a suspension of fishing activity and a suspension of international commercial trade - this is the only possible package that can give this fish a chance to recover," said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. "We must stop mercilessly exploiting this fragile natural resource until stocks show clear signs of rebound and until sustainable management and control measures are firmly put in place."

WWF and Greenpeace are urging ICCAT to impose a zero quota at the organization's next annual meeting on 6-16 November in Recife, Brazil. The application for CITES Appendix I listing will go before the 175 CITES member countries to decide at the next Conference of the Parties of CITES, in Doha, Qatar, in March 2010.

Sources:

• Wilderness Society, Oct 27, 2009 - Blue Fin Tuna - Too Little, Too Late
• WWF, Oct 23, 2009 - Southern Bluefin quota cuts could be "too little, too late"
• Human Society International Australia, Oct 27, 2009 - Tuna and Albatross Catches still too High
• WWF, Oct 28, 2009 - Atlantic bluefin tuna trade ban supported by fishery's scientists
• Howard S. Schiffman, JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE LAW & POLICY (1999), The Southern Bluefin Tuna Case: ITLOS Hears Its First Fishery Dispute
• Commission for the Conservation of Southern Blue Fish Tuna

Impacts of rising sea level a wake up call on climate change

The Federal Parliament committee report on rising sea level caused by global warming has been welcomed by Friends of the Earth (FOE). Damien Lawson, National Climate Justice Coordinator of Friends of the Earth said "The report is a wake up call about the sea level rise threat, but it may have underestimated the sea level rise problem. Around the world changes in the climate system are breaching worse case scenarios. It is likely sea level rises will be the same. The view that sea level rise may not be more than a metre is assuming no major loss from the Antarctic ice sheet. That is a dangerous assumption given the recent evidence of warming there, and the fragility of many of the ice shelves which are restraining glacier outflow."

FOE Sea level rise report may underestimate problem | Melbourne Sea level rise walk

Hundreds of events round Australia call for climate target of 350ppm

From Alphington to Warrawong, Broome to Wagga, Townsville to St Helens thousands of people across Australia attended a diverse variety of over 175 different climate action events calling on politicians to set the target for CO2 emissions to 350 parts per million (ppm) for a reasonable chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. CO2 emissions are already at 387ppm so we need to have negative emissions through active programs to draw down and stabilise carbon from the atmosphere. Photos on Flickr

In Sydney 1500 people gathered at the Sydney Opera House forecourt and made a human sign spelling '350' with blue Umbrellas. The rally was addressed by speakers including Lord Mayor Clover Moore and ABC Science journalist Robyn Williams.Photos

A rally, march and human sign ocurred in Perth.(Photos).read more details from www.safeclimate.org.au

Melbourne

In Melbourne events included

• Friends of the Earth Anti-Nuclear Community BBQ at Batman Park
  
• Belgrave rally demanding 350 climate action
  
• Climate protest by cyclists in Melbourne
  
• Over 100 people had their photo taken on Saturday outside Melbourne's iconic Flinders Street Station, sending a message to Kevin Rudd for science based climate change policies. (Get the Picture Kev! Visual petition) Organised by Yarra Climate Action Now
  

The international climate action event was organised by 350.org.

Hundreds of cyclists gathered and rode through the city of Melbourne before forming '350' as a human sign to call on the Australian Government and politicians from other nation states for substantial CO2 emission reduction targets to reach the 350ppm CO2 level, regarded by many scientists as the safe level to avoid dangerous climate change.

Photos | Video

This was one event of many in Melbourne held on October 24, 2009 of a global protest in over four thousand locations calling for climate action.

Much of the ride was led by the seven seater Bikezilla accompanied by lots of kids, here outside the Victorian State Parliament. The State Government and energy minister Peter Batchelor has been advocating for a new coal export industry for Victoria, from the vast reserves of brown coal.

Greenpeace climate change campaigner Julien Vincent has urged the Premier to instead invest his government’s efforts and resources into generating opportunities for the manufacture and export of proven renewable energy technologies.

“If the state government wants to be taken seriously on climate change, we should be hearing announcements about turning the Latrobe Valley into Victoria’s renewable energy manufacturing hub,” he said according to a Friends of the Earth Media Release.

At the end of the ride through the city cyclists gathered in a park on the south side of the Yarra river and constructed a huge human/bike sign calling for the 350ppm CO2 target to send a message to world leaders in Copenhagen in December. A blimp took an aerial photo of the human sign.

Antarctic Warming: Wilkins Ice Bridge Collapses

In early April 2009 the Wilkins Ice Bridge connecting Latady and Charcot Island on the Antarctic Peninsula collapsed. The disintegration of this ice bridge will allow the further disintegration of the Wilkins ice shelf. A large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf disintegrated in February 2008.

As this ice is already floating on water, the subsequent melting will not affect sea levels. Neither does the Wilkins Ice Shelf buttress any major glaciers that would increase speed and thus contribute to increased sea levels. However the breakup is symptomatic of increasing warming being felt in the Southern Ocean and particularly the Antarctica Peninsula and West Antarctica.

Ted Scambos of the National Snow and Ice Data Center said that many factors contributed to the collapse of the ice shelf, including brine on the ice, physical stresses on the shelf, and warming temperatures.

Over the previous 50 years, the Antarctic Peninsula has experienced a temperature increase of 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade, making it one of the fastest warming places on Earth, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

"Everyone knows it has been warming on the Antarctic Peninsula, where there are lots of weather stations collecting data," said Eric Steig, a climate researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle, "Our analysis told us that it is also warming in West Antarctica." Eric Steig used satellite data and statistical analysis to confirm the warming trend as data collection on the ground is restricted to primarily the few ground-based weather stations around the coast of Antarctica.

West Antarctica is particularly vulnerable to climate changes because its ice sheet is grounded below sea level and surrounded by floating ice shelves holding back several glaciers. If the West Antarctic ice sheet completely melted, scientists estimate global sea level would rise by 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters).

The Wilkins Ice Shelf is the tenth major ice shelf to collapse in recent times. The Larsen B ice shelf rapidly and spectacularly collapsed in 2002, allowing the pent up glacier ice to more rapidly discharge.

Sources:
* NASA March 28, 2008 - Disintegration: Antarctic Warming Claims Another Ice Shelf

* NASA December 4, 2008 - New Cracks in the Wilkins Ice Shelf

* NASA April 8, 2009 - Wilkins Ice Bridge Collapse

* NASA January 21, 2009 - Satellites Confirm Half-Century of West Antarctic Warming

* NASA January 23, 2009 - Antarctic Warming Trends

* RealClimate Blog - April 6, 2009 - Wilkins ice shelf collapse

Originally posted on Climate IMC

U.S.: Dr. James Hansen and Daryl Hannah Arrested in Protest on Mountaintop Removal

In an act of civil disobedience against the highly destructive coal mining practice of Mountain Top removal, NASA climate scientist James Hansen, actor Darryl Hannah, and Michael Brune from the Rainforest Network were arrested along with 28 other people at Coal River Mountain in West Virginia reports the Rainforest Action Network.

Related Websites: Coal River Mountain Watch | Mountain Justice | ilovemountains.org | Videos on Fluxview on Mountaintop Removal | James Hansen's A Plea To President Obama: End Mountaintop Coal Mining

Scientists call for protection of Victorian forests - world’s most carbon-dense

Scientists and the Wilderness Society have called on the Federal Government to urgently protect native forests in South East Australia as a method of locking up carbon, with new scientific research showing that the world’s most carbon dense forests are found in cool temperate climates of Australia, particularly the central highlands of Victoria.

Related: Central Highlands Alliance | Victorian Rainforest Network

Climate emergency: Thousands march for action across Australia

On June 13, 2009 thousands of people around Australia rallied for action on Climate Change, calling for 100% renewable energy by 2020 and demanding that Australia must make the shift from fossil fuels to wind, solar and other available renewable technologies. Rallies were held in capital cities around Australia, with people siting down outside Kevin Rudd's city office in Sydney and a sitdown protest in front of the Melbourne Town Hall where the Victorian State ALP conference was ocurring.


Perth Indymedia | Takver's Photos, Melbourne Protests, Rally Video, Damien Lawson video | Sydney Report, Youtube Video | Brisbane Report

Action on climate change demanded by thousands on Melbourne's St Kilda Beach

Thousands of Melbourne people rocked up to St Kilda Beach to be part of a Climate Change Human Sign near the St Kilda Sea Baths. The event was organised by Locals into Victoria's Environment and promoted by the Climate Emergency Network and is a call for politicians at all levels of Government to make the hard decisions by legislating to drastically reduce carbon emissions and negotiate meaningful international carbon reduction targets at the Copenhagen Conference of Parties in December 2009.

The Federal Government has been much criticised for its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in that too many free permits were handed out to business and targets were set far too low. In the budget handed down by the Rudd Labor Government the environment and climate change funding was relegated to second fiddle to economic recovery.

In Victoria the Brumby Labor Government is proceeding with a Desalination plant for Melbourne which will boost carbon emissions. Alternative water sources that are less costly and more environmentally friendly, such as stormwater harvesting, rainwater tanks and tertiary treatment and purification water recycling have been passed over in favour of a high tech, high cost and polluting solution.

Photo by Aerofoto

Climate protest highlights environment funding in the Australian Budget

Eight people were arrested in a dramatic climate protest at Canberra during the 2009 Government budget session over the Government's inadequate response to climate change. So, how did the Environment fare in the budget?

"This is a historic level of Commonwealth investment in solar energy and public transport and we warmly welcome it. The money for solar gives a good kick start to this crucial industry of the future. In contrast, the $2 billion of new funds over nine years for carbon capture and storage research is public money not well spent. The companies that make huge profits from mining and burning coal should fund the research into technologies that may – or may not – help reduce Australia’s carbon emissions in ten, fifteen or twenty years." summed up Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) executive director Don Henry.

While the Australian coal industry continues to be annually subsidised to the tune of $7 billion, for the first time a significant amount of money - $1.5 billion - has been allocated to the development of solar power projects, which is a significant breakthrough in funding renewable energy.

Renewable Energy Projects

Wasim Saman, Professor of sustainable energy engineering and Director of the Sustainable Energy Centre at the University of South Australia was enthused by the "exciting initiatives to help the mainstreaming of solar energy use and other sustainable energy measures."

"The biggest item is the support being provided for building solar thermal and photovoltaic generation capacity equivalent to that of a conventional power station. This can build on a current solar thermal demonstration project being constructed in Whyalla. The establishment of 'Renewables Australia' to support research in renewable energy technology is also welcome as it may accelerate the development of new technologies for utilising wave/tidal, geothermal and other renewable resources." said Saman.

Energy efficiency has also received a boost. About $160 million has been allocated for programs to reduce energy demand, such as smart grids and energy efficient appliances. According to Saman "the funding announced for trialling smart metering and energy networks and for tightening minimum energy performance standards of both buildings and appliances and for establishing a mandatory disclosure program of energy use in housing and commercial buildings will support more efficient energy use in our homes and other buildings."

"The additional funding of over $1 billion for four demonstration solar power stations is of course welcome. So is the expansion of the nascent Solar Institute into Renewables Australia." said Dr Mark Diesendorf, Deputy Director of the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales.

However, Diesendorf is critical that there is no provision in the budget for essential infrastructure for renewable energy, such as new and strengthened transmission links. "If the federal government upgraded the transmission lines linking South Australia to NSW and Victoria, Australia’s wind power capacity could be greatly augmented. Commitment to a new high-capacity transmission line linking the geothermal region in north-east S.A. to the main grid would also be valuable." he said.

Greenpeace welcomed the allocation of $1.5 billion to build four solar power stations up to a total of 1000 megawatts (equates to renewable energy to power 400,000 homes).

"The multi-billion dollar Clean Energy Initiative, with existing funds and commitments, adds up to a smart cost and risk effective investment strategy in solar, wind, geothermal and potentially significantly reducing pollution from coal," said John Connor, CEO of the Climate Institute. "It’s vital we aim to hit 2020 with a mix of industrial scale clean energy options so we know which technology works best, or at all, as we shift to near zero emission, and better, supplies of energy."

Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS - so called Clean Coal) has been allocated $2.4 billion under the Green Energy Initiative, and it will still be at the pilot stage of development. Professor Jerry Vanclay is Professor of Sustainable Forestry and Head of the School of Environmental Science and Management at Southern Cross University said that the "technology is yet to be proven at an operational scale. Technically it is possible, but it is not clear if CO2 can be separated from flue gasses in an economic way. Suitable sites for underground storage are limited, and may not occur in proximity to coal-fired power stations. Finally, a relatively short distance from the CCS trial in Victoria is a enterprise pumping CO2 gas up from underground for industrial use, further illustrating that we cannot economically capture CO2.

Vanclay was disappointed that less than half of the Green Energy Initiative is devoted to Solar energy, and only a tiny fraction for Renewables Australia.

Caring for our Country and Water for the Future

Two previously anounced important programs were unchanged - ‘Caring for our Country’ ($2 billion over 5 years; includes LandCare and Reef Rescue) was announced last year, and remains unaltered – and ‘Water for the Future’ ($13 billion over 10 years).

Green Car Fund

The Green car Innovation fund was allocated $1.3 billion over ten years and was previously announced. Vanclay said that this money "misses the target – most of our car needs can be satisfied with imported vehicles, and our special needs relate to our large distances without services – likely to be better served by fuel-efficient turbo-diesel cars rather than hybrid cars – especially if they are fuelled with biodiesel manufactured from biomass residues – and that’s not what the fund is aimed at."

Public Transport

On the positive side, 55 per cent of the money from the "Nation Building Infrastructure" funds for transport was allocated to public transport projects - $4.6 billion is for metropolitan rail projects, while $3.4 billion goes to roads and $389 million to ports.

"The first time that a federal government has made such a significant investment in urban public transport, tipping the investment balance away from roads for the first time. Like renewables, public transport is jobs rich and low carbon compared with the alternatives, so this investment is warmly welcomed." said Cam Walker from Friends of the Earth.

Land and Water Australia Centre axed

The Land and Water Australia Centre, a vital resource for drought and other climate-related information, has been axed for a saving of just $16 million. Professor Snow Barlow, Associate Dean (Strategic Relations) Melbourne School of Land and Environment, University of Melbourne said "While the closure of Land and Water Australia is regrettable the increased expenditure in climate and marine sciences to match initiatives in climate change adaptation last year is necessary and very welcome."

According to the Australian Conservation Foundtion research funding has also been cut for the Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation ( – 12 million) and the Commonwealth Environmental Research Facilities Program ( – $10 million).

Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme

The Governments Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme has been heavily criticied. Professor Vanclay said "Many environmentalists would have welcomed a greater commitment to greenhouse mitigation in the budget. The Government is committed to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), which is fraught with several difficulties and limitations (as well as very modest targets), and which is yet to be passed by the Senate. I’d welcome a carbon tax, either in place of, or in conjunction with the CPRS. A carbon tax could help add certainty for industry, funds for the government, and a sure carbon signal for all consumers to help reduce emissions. But predictably, there is no carbon tax in the budget."

"The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is unlikely to help renewable energy for the first decade of its existence, if it ever gets through parliament. Its design and tiny target will see to that. What we really need is implementation of the long-awaited Expanded Renewable Energy Target (promised in 2007), to assist wind power and bioelectricity, and a national feed-in tariff to drive the roll-out large solar power stations on a commercial basis. These policies will cost the government nothing, since they will be paid for by a slight increase in the price of electricity." said Diesndorf.

Nuclear Power and waste

According to the Australian Conservation Foundation money continues to pour into the problem area of nuclear power, nuclear waste and cleaning up old uranium mines:

• Nuclear waste dump: $4.4 million to continue with the previous government's plans to site a radioactive waste dump somewhere in remote Australia. This money should be used to fund an independent public inquiry to work out what is the best way to deal with Australia’s nuclear waste problem.
  
• Nuclear research: the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation, operator of the under-performing Opal reactor in Sydney, will receive $68.4 million over four years for additional facilities and management of existing facilities.
  
• Rum Jungle: $8.3 million over four years to clean up the site of an old uranium mine in the Northern Territory, which operated from 1954 to 1971.
  

Foreign Aid and Climate Adaption

This is a real increase of 5.6% in the Foreign Aid (ODA) budget. The total Aid Budget for 2009/10 is around $3.8 billion, up from $3.7 billion last year. While Friends of the Earth welcomed this increase, they were critical of the amount set aside for climate adaption.

"We are very disappointed to see that expenditure on environment and climate change programs in 2009/10 is estimated to be $170 million, which is only 5% of total Australian ODA. Estimates of a 'fair share' of adaptation costs to help the developing world cope with climate change impacts is between $1.5 and 1.75 billion a year for Australia. Clearly we have a very long way to go in terms of meeting our obligations as such a large per capita greenhouse gas emitter." said FOE national liason officer Cam Walker.

"We also need to consider the implications of climate change displacement – just today climate scientists warned that up to 100 million people may be displaced in our region by climate change. This reality needs to be acknowledged in future funding priorities and legislation to begin to support and resettle at least some of these people". said Cam Walker

Other Items

• Green skills development: $26.9 million over four years as part of the ‘Skills for the Carbon Challenge’ program.
  
• Indigenous rangers: $69 million over five years for 210 new environmental jobs for Indigenous rangers.
  
• National parks: $33 million of new funding, including more funds for Kakadu.
  
• Nuclear disarmament commission: $9.2 million over two years to advance nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation efforts internationally.
  

Conclusion

While there are glimmers of environmental hope in the budget, Professor Vanclay summed up the feeling "I think that most environmentalists will be quite disappointed by tonight’s budget, and can justifiably feel that the environment (including climate change) has been overlooked in the drama of the recession."

Sources:

• Australian Conservation Foundation, May 12, 2009 - Federal Budget 2009: green stimulus welcome
  
• Australian Conservation Foundation, May 12, 2009 - Good news and bad news in the Federal Budget
  
• Greenpeace Australia, May 12, 2009 - Budget Aftermath: Part 1, or “Hope!”
  
• Greenpeace Australia, May 13, 2009 - Budget Aftermath: Part 2, “A Turning Tide”
  
• Friends of the Earth Australia, May 13, 2009 - Federal budget 2009: good on solar, transport, foreign aid.
  
• Climate Institute, May 12, 2009 - Vital and smart investment in Australian clean energy solutions
  
• Australian Science Media Centre, May 12-13, 2009 - Budget 2009/10 – scientists react