The environment in the news friday, 20 April 2007 unep and the Executive Director in the News


Radio Australia : Singapore meeting takes on climate change Asia



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Radio Australia : Singapore meeting takes on climate change Asia

The UN warns that climate change will bring more severe weather, rising sea levels and forest fires to the Asia Pacific region. [AFP file photo]Related Stories

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More than 600 business executives and experts are meeting in Singapore to discuss how the corporate world can help tackle the threat of climate change.
The two-day Global Business Summit for the Environment is the first major international conference in Asia to focus on business and the environment.
The United Nations Environment Program has organised the event with the UN Global Compact, an initiative that brings companies together with the UN and other agencies to support environmental and social principles.
The meeting comes two days after the UN Security Council held a groundbreaking debate on the security implications of climate change.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1901390.htm

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Daily News & Analysis, India : Climate change will cause mass conflicts in future, warns UN


Rajesh Sinha, Wednesday, April 18, 2007

NEW DELHI: India is faced with serious security concerns following melting glaciers, change in rainfall pattern, falling food production, rising sea level and other climate changes due to global warming, say experts.


According to Achim Steiner, chief of the United Nations Environment Program, global warming should be seen as a security issue as shortage of water and fertile land may lead to conflicts in the next 10 to 20 years. And in a bid to address all these issues, the United Nations Security Council met for the first time on Tuesday.
India is particularly vulnerable Steiner said, adding that global warming will cause the Himalayan glaciers to melt. This will lead to mass migration and possible conflicts over valuable resources such as agricultural land and fresh water.
In the next couple of decades, the Himalayan glacier can shrink to a fifth of its present size of 500,000 sq kilometers and many others, including the ones feeding the Ganga, can disappear, if the current pace of global warming persists.
Rapid ice melt can increase the flow of rivers that have their origin in the Himalayas, and consequently lead to the inundation of low-lying areas sparking serious flood situation.
This will cause a rise in sea level, triggering a mass migration from Bangladesh into India. Phunchok Stobdan, a senior student at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), said it is quite certain that global environment change will have an impact on inter-state relations and the balance of power.
Predicting that water will be the reason behind future wars, as stated by Pakistan’s foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Stobdan said for India, the sitution is a major cause of concern.
Nearly half the water in the region comes from glaciers located in China.
“Many countries would be directly affected by the kind of water management done by China,” said Stobdan.
The recent furore over the dam China proposed to build on Brahmaputra was a case in point.
The use of water in India and China is growing and both countries are now involved in moderating the trends of debate on environmental issues and water, he said.
While the main discourse centres on environmental crisis and ecological disaster, from the security point of view, it also defines the future areas of conflict, he added.
While the discourse on the theme is much advanced in Europe, it has started gaining importance in India now, Stobdan said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1091765

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AZoBuild, Australia : 7,000 Square Foot Building "Dried In" in 6 Days

Alternative Construction Company, is pleased to announce the completion of Phase II of the Academy for the Brilliant Child (ABC) school addition in McDonough, Ga. "The initial installation of the building shell was started only one week ago and the structure was completely 'dried in' in a matter of only six days," stated Stephen V. Williams, Alternative Construction Company Chairman of the Board. Mr. Williams further stated "the advantages of the ACTech Panel(TM) are easily seen in this building which has it all ... ease of construction, fast time to completion of the shell, environmentally friendly 'green' materials, low cost of heating and cooling, no measurable off gassing, and superior safety from storm and damaging winds. The awareness and market opportunity offered by the ACTech Panel(TM) is growing daily."

Dr. Noel Brown, former Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) commented, "One of the challenges facing the United Nations and the World is 'decent shelter for all'". This is assuming even greater urgency, giving the continuing expansions of the human populations and the explosion of urban slums. That is why world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit resolved "By 2020 to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers as proposed in the 'Cities Without Slums' initiative." Dr. Brown added, "That is why we are following with such interest the work of Alternative Construction Company which holds the promise of housing that is affordable, constructed rapidly, and environmentally friendly."

Alternative Construction Company, Inc. (ACC), possesses a unique and patented technology used in the design and manufacture of state-of-the-art alternative building systems that compete favorably against conventional materials such as lumber or bricks. Generically known as structural insulated panels (SIPs), ACC's viable and efficient construction solution, utilizing its structural insulated panel systems as an alternative to conventional wood based building products and SIPS, even concrete blocks, presents a "Green" building solution. Patented ACC SIPs are environmentally-friendly and easier to construct with -- not only saving labor cost and cutting construction time, but also reducing heating and cooling energy consumption by 30-50%. Most importantly, ACC SIPs have tested stronger than conventional concrete block or wood frame construction in hurricane tests and meet or surpass the most stringent wind, projectile and uplift codes in the nation levied by the 2006 Florida Building Code. As hurricane- and tornado-prone states establish new building codes and rebuild from recent weather disasters, ACC believes its' products will be in greater demand.



http://www.azobuild.com/news.asp?newsID=3432

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