Express.info (Spain): Pakistán bate el récord Guinness en plantación de árboles

AP: SF eyes UN Climate Center at polluted shipyard

Fri Jul 31, 7:16 pm ET

Mayor Gavin Newsom and the United Nations are eyeing a former naval shipyard contaminated by radiation, heavy metals and other industrial toxins as the future site of a sprawling new green technology complex and climate change think tank.

The proposal would turn a section of the Hunters Point Shipyard, one of the most polluted places in the nation according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, into a UN "Global Compact Center" meant to help solve the world's pollution dilemmas and foster clean tech business.

The city hopes to start construction on the center in 2011 and open its doors in 2012. But the project faces many hurdles before it can be realized, including the completion of a complex environmental cleanup, the approval of the city's Board of Supervisors and finding investors.

The U.S. Navy, EPA and state regulators have been working to clean up toxins from the site since the early 1990s and have spent more than $500 million so far. Once finished, the land would be transferred to the city.

"Our current schedule is that the land will be ready to transfer to the city of San Francisco in the middle of 2012," said Mark Ripperda, EPA's project manager for the site. "Timelines can always be changed, but that schedule is pretty solid."

That makes the city's planned 2012 opening unlikely, but officials said the Navy could allow some construction to start before regulators finish their work.

The parcel of land the UN center would occupy would have more than two million square feet of commercial space in a campus-like setting, with views across the bay and to downtown San Francisco. The site would feature a conference center, UN office buildings and have an estimated cost of at least $20 million.

"California, in general, and San Francisco, in particular, has been at the forefront of environmental sustainability and justice for many years and all of the right ingredients are here," said Gavin Power, deputy director of the UN Global Compact.

The shipyard is located next to Candlestick Point, the current home of the San Francisco 49ers, who are planning to leave the city for a new stadium being planned down the peninsula, in the city of Santa Clara.

On Thursday, the same day the mayor announced the proposed UN center, Santa Clara released an environmental impact report for the 49ers' new stadium, moving the team one step closer to leaving.

Newsom has been clear in his desire to keep the 49ers in San Francisco, and the timing of his proposal for a new, high-profile tenant at the site made clear the city is planning to move on with or without the team.

"If the Niners come, they are perfectly compatible," said Michael Cohen, the mayor's director of economic and work force development. "If not, the 25 acres dedicated to the stadium site can be used for a range of alternative purposes."

The UN Center and a future stadium would be key parts of San Francisco's plan to redevelop the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhoods, a project Cohen called "the most important development project in city history."

Voters have approved the redevelopment plan, which is expected to create more than 10,000 new homes, parks and retail space.

The idea that the shipyard would finally be cleaned up led some members of the Hunters Point-Bayview community to greet the proposal with open arms.

"Environmental justice entails not just having the shipyard cleaned up, but also revitalizing to create jobs and parks and affordable housing," Veronica Hunnicutt, chair of the mayor's Hunters Point Shipyard Citizens Advisory Committee, said in a statement.

AFP: India wants climate change pact at Copenhagen

Fri Jul 31, 12:00 pm ET

India insisted Friday it wanted to reach a global agreement on fighting climate change at the upcoming UN summit in Copenhagen but reiterated its opposition to binding carbon emission cuts.

"We are not defensive, we are not obstructionist. We want an international agreement in Copenhagen," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Ramesh told reporters in New Delhi.

But India "simply is not in a position to take on legally binding emissions reductions targets," he said, while pressing rich nations to provide technical and monetary aid to help developing countries fight global warming.

Ramesh's statement came ahead of the December conference in Copenhagen, which is meant to seal a new international accord on fighting climate change after the Kyoto Protocol's requirements expire in 2012.

India and fellow emerging market heavyweight China have consistently opposed binding emission cuts in a new climate treaty until developed nations, particularly the United States, present sufficient targets of their own.

India, like China, says that having to meet binding cuts now will prevent it from raising its people out of poverty as rich countries have already done on the back of industrial growth fuelled by coal, oil and gas.

Ramesh said the importance of forests in reducing carbon emissions, finance and technology were "the areas under which India is seeking to influence the international debate on climate change."

Forestation is one of the new steps outlined by India to tackle climate change. Others include mandatory energy efficiency labels on electrical appliances such as television sets and refrigerators.

New Delhi, which has pledged not to let its per capita emissions exceed those of rich nations, launched a push last year to expand solar power -- and not fossil fuels -- as it develops energy sources in a country where some 400 million people lack regular electricity.

While per capita emissions are low in India -- the average Indian produces one tonne of carbon dioxide to the average American's 20 tonnes -- its huge population put it among the world's leading emitters.

Ramesh called on rich countries to put aside 0.5 to 1.0 percent of their gross domestic product annually to help developing nations cut emissions of harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

"This could be upwards of 400 billion to 500 billion dollars and should be over and above the normal development assistance" given to developing countries, the minister added.

Back to Menu

_________________________________________________________________

Directory: cpi -> briefs
briefs -> The environment in the news
briefs -> The environment in the news
briefs -> The environment in the news
briefs -> The environment in the news
briefs -> The environment in the news
briefs -> The environment in the news
briefs -> The environment in the news
briefs -> The environment in the news
briefs -> The environment in the news

Download 261 Kb.

Share with your friends: