What Would It Cost to Save Nature?

What Would It Cost to Save Nature?

The envoy from Europe can hardly believe his eyes. Butterflies the size of dessert plates are fluttering around his nose. Orchids hang in cascades from towering trees. Hornbills sail across the treetops. The tropical air is filled with the saturated scent of growth and proliferation.

Biologists have already tracked down more than 10,000 plant and 400 mammal species in the Congo basin. These plants and animals are part of the world's second-largest uninterrupted rainforest, one of the planet's most potent carbon storage systems. Indeed, it is for precisely this reason that Hans Schipulle, 63, is tramping around in the wilderness near the Sangha River on a humid morning in the Central African Republic.

"This forest stores carbon dioxide, and thus helps to slow down global warming. It regulates the global water supply and holds valuable pharmaceuticals," says Schipulle, a veteran environmentalist who works for the German government. "We must finally realize that these are services that are worth something to us."

Schipulle is in the region on a sensitive mission. Since December, he has headed the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), a group founded by Americans, Europeans and the countries along the Congo River. The alliance aims to prevent the Congo basin from being plundered and transformed into oil palm and coffee plantations by mid-century. The Congo rainforest is still largely in one piece, but investors from around the world have already discovered the region's potential for big business -- ore, diamonds, plantations and lumber. But Schipulle and his partners have other plans for the Congo basin. They want international financial institutions or the world community to fork over money to preserve the rainforest as it is today. The threat of clear-cutting poses a double risk for the world. First, destroying the Congo rainforest would eliminate one of the earth's most important cooling systems. Second, the carbon dioxide (CO2) released as a result of slash-and-burn agriculture would further accelerate global warming.

Bayanga, a nearby village, is living proof of the traditional conflict between protecting the environment and fighting poverty. Until recently, its residents benefited from the destruction of the rainforest. A sawmill in Bayanga provided employment for 370 people, but the mill was shut down after Schipulle and his alliance presented an urgent appeal to the government in the capital Bangui to prevent a dubious logging company from being allowed to overexploit 4,520 square kilometers (1,745 square miles) of forest.

It was a small victory for nature, but village residents still need work and income. An eco-tourism project sponsored by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) has created jobs for only 94 people so far, providing the community with about €10,000 ($15,500) in annual revenue -- but not enough to reduce poverty.

How can Schipulle explain to the people of Bayanga what their forest means for the rest of the world? Is it really possible that eco-tourism, environmentally responsible forestry and coffee plantations along the fringe of the future protected forest regions will be capable of feeding the men, women and children of the village?

Schipulle firmly believes in this vision. The World Bank already plans to incorporate the entire Congo basin into its Forest Carbon Partnership program. The Washington-based organization wants to enter the emissions trading market with the CO2 stored by the Congo rainforest. Because deforestation in tropical regions is responsible for about 20 percent of climate change, protecting the forest is synonymous with protecting the climate -- and the world community is increasingly willing to pay a lot of money to make that happen.

Romantic notions about nature and the environment aside, governments, conservationists and scientists are posing new questions, the answers to which will shape the future of mankind: How much is the Earth worth? Can the value of its diversity be quantified? How much should taking inventory of the planet be worth to us? Finally, who should foot the bill for decades of mismanagement at nature's expense?

Officials from around the world are currently addressing these crucial concerns at a United Nations conference on bio-diversity in Bonn, Germany. Representatives from 191 nations and roughly 250 environmental, conservation and development aid organizations are focusing on ways to stop the loss of species and natural habitats. Dozens of draft resolutions, many of them controversial despite being formulated in the dry language of international diplomacy, are under review. Even the name of the gathering belies its importance: the Ninth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

At issue in Bonn is no less than the future of the planet and man's dramatic failure to leave a livable earth to his children. Wilderness, species, habitats and ecosystems are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. From one day to the next, human beings wipe out between three and 130 species, depending on which estimate you go by. Each year, virgin forest one-and-a-half times the size of Switzerland falls victim to logging. Moors are disappearing, rivers are being forced into concrete channels and erosion is transforming mountainsides into wasteland.

Agriculture is taking up an ever larger portion of the Earth, especially now that plants are no longer grown solely as food, but also -- like sugar cane and oil palm -- to produce biofuel. Just last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel signed an energy agreement in Brasilia with Brazilian President Lula da Silva. Under the agreement, Brazil can continue to supply Germany with biofuel as long as it complies with certain environmental standards. But for many environmental protection groups, the deal is merely another nail in the coffin for the Amazon rainforest.

In addition, the destruction of nature and global warming tend to reinforce one another. When sea levels rise and mangrove forests disappear, coastlines become more exposed to the elements than ever before. As carbon dioxide continues to acidify the oceans (more...), the calcium structures of corals, snails and mussels become brittle.

At issue is the survival of exotic species like the red-headed vulture, the Banggai cardinalfish, the Gulf of California harbor porpoise, the Santa Catalina rattlesnake and the Indian gharial. But the survival of mankind as a species is also at stake, as the example of the recent cyclone in Burma (more...) illustrates. If the mangrove forests that once protected the Burmese coastline had been intact, the flooding would likely have been much less devastating.

Without corals, many types of fish would not exist, because reefs protect fish as they mature. The flora and fauna of the oceans hold potential cancer drugs worth, according to economists' estimates, as much as $1 billion (€645 million) a year.

Many of the things humanity considers costly and desirable are also part of biodiversity, such as turbot fillets, teak garden furniture and caviar from Russian sturgeon. But we also value the song of the nightingale, the scent of lilac, a view of untamed mountains, empty meadows and dense jungles.

The parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), well aware of these riches, hope to "significantly" slow down the loss of eco-systems and species by 2010. But what exactly does this "sufficiently fuzzy objective" mean, Jochen Flasbarth, head of nature protection at Germany's Environment Ministry (BMU) asks sarcastically?

At the Bonn conference, about 6,000 experts are debating exactly that question. Ideally, they will bring meaning to what might otherwise be empty words and phrases, but in the worst case scenario the conference will end in little more than bland declarations of intent. The parties can only adopt resolutions in consensus, and there are no mechanisms to apply pressure to obstructionists.

Despite the potential difficulties, some of the approaches being taken at the conference are at least promising:

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  One of the goals is to create a global network of sanctuaries with representative habitats.
  
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  Using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a model, the delegates hope to establish a panel of experts for the biodiversity convention that brings together representatives of the scientific and political communities.
  
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  The agenda calls for the fair balancing of interests between developing countries, with their abundant diversity, and the industrialized nations, which want to exploit these resources.
  
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  The experts intend to search for new mechanisms to pay for the protection of diversity. Without new sources of funding, all negotiation can be nothing but empty talk.
  

Environment Minister Gabriel also plans to present the initial results of a study, initiated in collaboration with the European Union, on the global costs of species and habitat loss. According to an excerpt SPIEGEL has obtained of the document -- titled "The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity" -- the loss of biodiversity costs the world 6 percent of global gross domestic product. Poor countries are the hardest-hit. The annual cost of species and habitat loss amounts to as much as half of their already modest economic strength.

"Protecting diversity is much cheaper than allowing its destruction," says Indian economist Pavan Sukhdev, who Gabriel and EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas convinced to head the study. Biodiversity -- and efforts to preserve it -- could in fact become an enormous business in the future. The new conservationists hope to sell intact forests because they store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). They also expect to see drugs developed from creatures like the cone snail and corals produce handsome profits in the future. The last oases of diversity are also expected to attract more and more well-heeled eco-tourists.

"Bonn has to push for a breakthrough," says Achim Steiner, the head of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). To this day, according to Steiner, the promises made at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro 16 years ago, where both the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity were born, have "not been kept or have been systematically broken."

Biodiversity is more than just the diversity of plant and animal species. It also encompasses the entire cornucopia of habitats, as well as the genetic information that lies hidden, as a biological treasure, in many organisms that have yet to be studied. Experts estimate that the planet's inventory includes between 10 and 20 million species of animals, plants, fungi and microbes. This diversity is not evenly distributed, however. Life is concentrated in so-called hot spots, which include regions like the Mediterranean coast, the tropical Andes and the Philippines.

And the future of diversity is not bright. Take Germany, for example. According to a study published in April by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), titled "Facts about Nature 2008," 36 percent of all animal species studied in Germany are threatened. More than two-thirds of German habitats are considered threatened. Nature reserves make up only 3.3 percent of the country's land mass. Every day, 113 hectares (279 acres) of land disappear under asphalt and concrete.

The global situation is equally alarming. Last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red listed 16,297 plant and animal species as threatened, including almost a third of all amphibians, one in eight bird species and almost one-fourth of all mammal species. To develop its list, the IUCNB evaluated more than 41,000 species. The ones on its threatened list make up close to 40 percent of the total.
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The Jamaica Observer: Students, teachers learn about coastal ecosystems

Our Habitat

BY LUKE DOUGLAS Career & Education writer editorial@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, May 25, 2008

The workshop was held in accordance with the International Biodiversity Day, under the theme 'Treasure our wetlands'.

The students and teachers viewed pictures of the different plant and animal species living in coastal wetlands, such as mangroves and birds. They also discussed their importance to Jamaica's environment and economy.

Afterwards, they toured the Palisadoes and the Port Royal marine laboratory. The group learned, for example, that coral reefs and mangroves lessen the impact of hurricanes to coastal areas by providing a buffer against incoming waves.

Project coordinator for JET, Andrea Fender-Longman, said the group used the day to focus on wetlands, as they are particularly under threat from construction, farming and charcoal burning.

"Students are the caretakers of the environment for the next generation so by teaching now, they will be better policy makers in the future than those we have now," she said.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) representative Heidi Savelli Soderberg said under the Caribbean Environment Programme, UNEP supports activities for the protection and sustainable development of coastal and marine areas.

"Our aim in Jamaica is to increase awareness on the value and importance of ecosystems, such as mangroves, wetlands, seagrass beds, and endangered and threatened species," she said.

Patrick Holness, integrated science and human and social biology teacher at Holy Trinity High School, said he learned the importance of the survival of each species to the ecosystem as a whole.

"Sometimes we take the wetlands for granted. We need to realise that while it is important to build all these hotels to create jobs, we have to be mindful of their effect on the environment over time," he noted.

"There are so many endangered species in Jamaica, and most of them live in the wetlands," he said.

"I learnt about the importance of the mangroves and coral reefs, the things that are done to destroy them and what we need to do to preserve them. This also helps me in my Geography and Biology studies," said Narsha Mason, a fourth-form student at St Andrew High.

JET, a non-governmental organisation in existence since 1991, has been informing teachers and students about environmental issues through its Schools Environment Programme (SEP) for years.

"We also urge people to be aware of what is happening in their communities and to become part of the process of development," Fender-Longman said.
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Associated Press of Pakistan: Loss of animal species and crops is “devastating”: UN chief

UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (APP): The extinction of animal species, as well as the reliance on a narrow range of crops, is a major threat to the planet’s development and security, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said. “This Day serves as a reminder of the importance of the Earth’s biodiversity, and as a wake-up call about the devastating loss we are experiencing as irreplaceable species become extinct at an unprecedented rate,” Ban said in a statement marking the International Day for Biological Diversity.

JEDDAH, 25 May 2008 — Prince Turki ibn Nasser, president of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME), launched the official website for the First Arab Conference and Expedition for Environmental Laws in Jeddah yesterday.

In his remarks on the occasion, Prince Turki called for environmental policing to enforce regulations to protect the environment.

The upcoming conference, scheduled for July under the support of Crown Prince Sultan, is organized by the PME in cooperation with the League of Arab States and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The conference, which has as its theme “Environmental Laws: A World Commitment to Protect Our Environment and Future Generations,” will be held at the King Faisal Conference Hall in Riyadh.

Prominent experts in the fields of environment, law, government and the private sector, as well as regional and international organizations, are expected to take part in discussions in an attempt to analyze the state of the environment in the Arab world.

The discussions aim to focus on the weakness or absence of environmental protection laws in the region in order to reinforce, develop and implement the laws.

Prince Turki said that this could be done by forcing sanctions on violators and expanding corporation between statutory and executive bodies within Arab states. Environmental policies must be implemented and there must be a mechanism, such as environmental policing, to do so.

Prince Turki said that the conference would focus on environmental issues in the region in addition to encouraging countries that have not signed international environmental and natural resources protection agreements to do so.

“We aim to close the existing gap,” he said, adding that in addition environmental protection laws must be developed in coordination with international organizations.

Prince Turki praised the conference, referring to it as unique international cooperation to protect human health and the environment in order to achieve sustainable development for future generations.

The conference will focus on international environmental laws and the part they play in sustainable development, he added.

The conference will review environmental protection laws currently in force in various Arab countries and discuss ways to develop them in order to achieve conformity with global requirements and international agreements and conventions, the prince said.

The conference also aims to highlight the positive roles of environmental protection laws and regulations in a country’s economic activities and sustainable development. Participants will discuss both positive and negative experiences in Arab countries.

A workshop will be held on the sidelines of the conference as also an exhibition featuring the latest available environmental technology.
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Africa News: Nigeria; Oceanic Bank Partners UN On Environmental Development

Leadership

Worried about the high level of environmental degradation, Oceanic Bank International Plc in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI) has resolved to work towards introducing measures that would promote environment and sustainable development.

UNEPFI is a global partnership between UNEP and the financial sector. Over 160 institutions, including banks, insurers and fund managers are currently working with UNEP to understand the impacts of environmental and social considerations on financial performance.

Chief executive officer of Oceanic Bank Mrs. Cecelia Ibru, speaking at the signing ceremony, on Wednesday, said that promoting sustainable development is the collective responsibility of not only the government but also businesses and individuals.

According to her, the bank as a corporate social responsible citizen is committed to economic and social development as well as environmental protection.

She assured that Oceanic Bank, which has already partnered several states on Public Private Sector Partnership (PPP), especially in the area of infrastructure, education and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will partner the UNEP and all other relevant agencies towards promotion and development of the environment.

She added that the bank is already partnering Lagos State government in its current efforts to make the state a beautiful and environmentally friendly state.

Oceanic Bank, she explained, is reviewing its processes with a view to modifying staff behaviours towards consumption of resources. She added that the strategy to be adopted will involve reduce, reuse, repair and recycle.

According to her, the bank will introduce energy saving computers and other devices, use energy efficient building materials through Oceanic Homes construction projects, introduce double glazing of windows to promote sound energy/noise mitigation.

Other measures she said the bank will introduce include high pressure flushing system to conserve water, orientation of building such that natural light feeds into the building thus reducing dependency on light during working hours.

Ibru said that Oceanic Bank will support the initiative by providing micro-credit to sustainable and environmentally friendly projects and also by provide support to environmental non-governmental organisations such as Nigeria Conservation Foundation.

In his opening remark, the head of UNEPFI, Mr. Paul Clement, welcomed Oceanic Bank into the FI family, noting that the bank, with its landmark involvement in building a stronger Nigeria, will surely be a reference for other financial institutions.
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Africa News: Ghana; Towards a Low Carbon Economy

Public Agenda

We are yet confronted with another World Environment Day, 5th of June is a day set aside by the United Nation Environment Programme as a vehicle to sensitize people around the globe on pertinent environmental issues. This global celebration has been held under various themes depending on what the United Nations deems important but having serious consequences on our planet earth and its atmosphere. For some years now climate change issues has dominated World Environment Day themes because it has been proven from scientific evidence as the single biggest threat to nature and the existence of humanity in general.

This year's theme reads "kick the CO2 habit: Towards A low Carbon Economy" is an indication that carbon dioxide one of the major greenhouse gases responsible for global warming is on the increase.

In the opinion of UNEP, which is of course the general view of all environmentalist, the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is as a result of our habits, lifestyles, and the choices we make due to our unsustainable consumption patterns.

From 1990 up to date, the Intergovernmental Penal on Climate Change (IPCC) have published reports by several hundred leading atmospheric scientists on the best available evidence about past climate change, the greenhouse effect, and recent changes in global temperatures. According to IPCC reports and other credible studies, there is a scientific consensus on the fact that the troposphere traps heat by a natural process called the greenhouse effect. The amount of heat trapped in the troposphere depends mostly on the concentrations of heat trapping or greenhouse gases and the length of time they stay in the atmosphere.

For lay people the thinking is that, global warming is only caused by large industrial plants located somewhere in an industrial country. Little do we know that day to day human and economic activities within our own country could contribute a lot to the net global carbon injection into the atmosphere.

As a nation, we can only kick the carbon habit and redirect our efforts towards a low carbon economy by identifying the sources of carbon injections into our atmosphere and proactively changing our habits to lower them and stay carbon neutral.

Ghana as a country imports about 70,000 vehicles per year on average, mostly home used. These secondhand cars are a potential source of carbon emissions which could further exacerbate the global warming phenomenon. Of interest is the two stroke engine secondhand motor cycles which has become a toast of the youth in recent times and receiving substantial patronage could all be sources of carbon emissions.

Farm machinery like tractors, harvesters, and planters contribute substantially to this carbon injection not forgetting unsustainable agriculture responsible for about 15% of the greenhouses gases we emit into the atmosphere.

The activities of farmers preparing their land for the planting season lead to a lot of burning of biomass which injects a lot carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, people who hunt for wild honey, undertake group hunting, palm-wine tappers and even smokers who throw cigarette butts unto drying vegetation trigger serious bush and forest fires in the dry season. These fires are responsible for injecting huge volumes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

In recent times, the city of Accra and most metropolitan towns within the country is witnessing the creation of refuse dumps that bellow with smoke all day long because authorities cannot find suitable places to put municipal waste and only resort to burning.

The above adds to other sources on daily basis to the already charged carbon atmosphere which sometimes make air impure and breathing difficult.

The use of biomass, lorry tyres and other forms of plastics to skin animals for consumption, the burning of sawdust for lack of alternative uses churns out large volumes of smoke into the atmosphere.

The rise in international travels and mobility especially in the aviation industry adds some substantial amount of smoke emissions from into the atmosphere. Manufacturing industry contributes to the on-going carbon build up from obsolete machinery in the absence of cleaner production technology.

Burning of household refuse like plastics, papers, fabrics and leaves from trees, local wood stoves in open air kitchens all add some carbon emission even though not significant.

As we mark World Environmental Day, we need to be conscious of how habits, lifestyle and choices we make in our consumption and final disposal of wastes go a long way to affect our climate.

It has been scientifically proven that carbon dioxide contributes about 55% to global warming from greenhouse gases produced by human activities. Industrial countries account for about 76% of annual emissions the main sources are fossil-fuel burning 67% and deforestation and other forms of land clearing and burning activities 33%. Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for about 500 years. As a nation, we have a stake in joining the international community in contributing our quota to reduce the on-going carbon emission injection into the atmosphere.

Instead of using our individual cars for town riding with its high emission levels, we can join mass transit buses to cut down on per head emission injections into atmosphere. We can resort to bicycles and sometimes physical walking or even resort to group traveling to save money and cut down on emissions in festive seasons. There is a need to speed up Ghanas vehicular emissions standards as a way of checking vehicles that pollute the environment. There is a need for massive education on best vehicular maintenance practices as a way of ensuring that vehicles plying from our roads are emission free.

Unsustainable agricultural practices that lead to massive deforestation and forest fires should be discouraged through effective extension services and incentives for non burning communities over a period of time.

City authorities in Ghana would have to develop modern landfill sites that could convert waste to energy instead of resorting to burning of municipal waste on daily basis that release tonnes of smoke into the atmosphere.

The use of firewood as a form of energy in households should be discouraged to reduce the on-going deforestation because of its negative effects on the environment and climate change.

Industries in Ghana should make a commitment to go carbon neutral by reducing energy use by at least 10% which invariably can result in a 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

As a nation, we need to be grateful to the West African pipeline project which will pipe natural gas from Nigeria to Ghana. Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons primarily methane. It is one of the cleanest, safest and most useful forms of energy because it produces less greenhouse gases and particulate matter. The fact that natural gas is combustible and burns more cleanly than other hydrocarbons helps reinforce its position as one of the most highly used energy sources.

In this connection, there is a need for a comprehensive national strategy which emphasizes the identification of new technologies and policies to provide the foundation for a low carbon economy. There must be a collaboration between government and the private sector to ensure the above policies and technology is available and affordable as much as possible.

If we all do a little, we can do a lot to kick the carbon habit to attain a low carbon economy status for our country.

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Daily Times (Pakistan): Environment: The last extinction —Achim Steiner, Ahmed Djoghlaf and Sigmar Gabriel

According to the UN Environment Programme’s Global Environment Outlook-4, the world is currently experiencing a sixth wave of extinctions, triggered in large part by our failure to manage natural assets

Farmers across Africa are currently engaged in an unequal struggle against a pestilent fruit fly whose natural home is in Asia. The fly, first detected in 2004 in Mombasa on the Kenyan coast, has since swept across the continent, decimating mangoes and other crops and devastating livelihoods.

In a bid to counter the fly, a team from the world-renowned ICIPE institute in East Africa recently went to Sri Lanka looking for a natural predator. Researchers have now pinpointed one, which, after careful screening, has been deemed safe to release into Africa’s environment and appears likely to defeat the unwelcome invader.

But the pioneering work is now on hold, as are the hopes of millions of farmers for an effective, environmentally friendly answer to the crisis. Countries in Asia — indeed, countries throughout the developing world — are simply not exporting their abundant and economically important genetic resources.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), signed in 1992, promised an international regime on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of genetic resources. This would allow researchers and companies access to the developing world’s genetic treasure trove in return for a share of the profits from the products that are then developed.

But brokering the ABS regime has proven elusive, and, in the absence of an international deal, there has been diminishing access and thus declining benefit-sharing over the past five or so years. This implies potentially huge economic, environmental, and social losses to both the developed and developing world.

These losses include missed opportunities for breakthroughs in pharmaceuticals, foods, biologically-based materials and processes, and biological pest controllers like the promising one isolated by ICIPE. The losses also include failure to conserve the world’s dwindling wildlife and rapidly degrading ecosystems, which are worth trillions of dollars in terms of life-supporting services.

An intelligently designed ABS regime offers the chance for poorer countries, which possess the lion’s share of the globe’s remaining genetic resources, to begin to be paid properly for maintaining them. It could also play an important part in meeting the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, which include halving poverty by 2015.

Governments from more than 190 countries and an estimated 6,000 delegates have been meeting in Bonn, Germany for the Ninth Meeting of the Parties to the CBD. Governments have set their sights on securing an ABS regime by 2010, which is also the deadline agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, to reduce substantially the rate of loss of biodiversity.

But accelerated action on many other broad biodiversity-related fronts is urgently needed. Indeed, according to the UN Environment Programme’s Global Environment Outlook-4, the world is currently experiencing a sixth wave of extinctions, triggered in large part by our failure to manage natural assets.

Thirty percent of global fish stocks have collapsed, up from roughly 15 percent in 1987, and the proportion of fish stocks classified as over-exploited has doubled, to around 40 percent.

Populations of freshwater vertebrates have declined on average by nearly 50 percent since 1987, while populations of terrestrial and marine species have fallen by around 30 percent.

In the Caribbean, more than 60 percent of coral reefs are threatened by sediment, pollution, and over-fishing.

Since the end of the Second World War, more land has been converted to agricultural use than in the previous two centuries.

Every year, 13 million hectares of tropical forests, which contain up to 80 percent of the planet’s biodiversity, are destroyed.

Roughly 35 percent of mangroves have been destroyed in the last 20 years.

But, alongside these sobering facts, the world is also full of shining and intelligent management. Indeed, protected areas now cover over 12 percent of the Earth’s surface, although the creation of marine reserves remains woefully low.

For example, Paraguay, which until 2004 had one of the world’s highest rates of deforestation, has reduced rates in its eastern region by 85 percent. And in Fiji, no-take zones and better management of marine areas has increased species like mangrove lobsters by 250 percent per year. Iraq’s marshlands have been restored, and local wheat varieties in Jordan and Syria have been preserved.

Nevertheless, despite these signs of progress, we are failing to confront the magnitude of the challenge, particularly in the translation of global agreements into legislation and action at the national and regional levels.

In Bali six months ago, the world achieved a breakthrough on climate change, and both developed and developing countries have embarked on a road map towards a new climate regime for 2012. We must become equally committed to reversing the rate of biodiversity loss.

The Bonn Biodiversity Conference represents an ideal opportunity to achieve a breakthrough, including on ABS. All of us, not just Africa’s fruit farmers, ultimately depend on nature’s bounty for our prosperity — indeed, for our very survival.

Achim Steiner is the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, Ahmed Djoghlaf is the Executive Secretary of the CBD, and Sigmar Gabriel is Germany’s Environment Minister
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Neue Zueriche Zeitung (Switzerland): Kein Durchbruch bei KlimaschutzverhandlungenBeratungen der G8-Umweltminister in Japan

Die Umweltminister der sieben grössten Industrienationen plus Russland (G8) haben bei ihren Beratungen über den Klimaschutz in Kobe am Sonntag keinen Durchbruch erzielen können. Nun ruhen die Hoffnungen auf dem G8-Gipfel vom Juli. ...

Fenster schliessen Die Umweltminister der sieben grössten Industrienationen plus Russland (G8) haben bei ihren Beratungen über den Klimaschutz in Kobe am Sonntag keinen Durchbruch erzielen können. Nun ruhen die Hoffnungen auf dem G8-Gipfel vom Juli.

(sda/dpa) Einig war man sich lediglich in der Hoffnung, dass vom Gipfeltreffen der G8-Staats- und Regierungschefs im Juli unter japanischer Führung ein «ähnlicher Impuls» ausgeht wie er vom G8-Gipfel in Heiligendamm auf die Klimaverhandlungen von Bali Ende 2007 wirkte.

Umweltsteuern und Emissionsrechte «Wir sind in der Gefahr, vor Bali zurückzufallen», warnte Achim Steiner, der deutsche Exekutivdirektor des Uno-Umweltprogramms (UNEP). Bis 2050 halbieren Gastgeber Japan hofft auf eine Einigung über das langfristige Ziel einer Halbierung der C02-Emissionen bis 2050, erklärte der japanische Umweltminister Ichiro Kamoshita. Effiziente Mittel dafür seien Umweltsteuern und der Handel mit Emissionsrechten.

verständigen und die beschlossenen Klimaschutzziele zu erreichen“. Das Paket war wegen eines Streits um die klimafreundliche Umgestaltung der Kfz-Steuer verschoben worden. Hessens Ministerpräsident Roland Koch (CDU) sagte, die Umstellung der Kfz-Steuer vom Hubraum auf den Schadstoffausstoß solle weder auf dem Rücken der Altautobesitzer noch zulasten der Autoindustrie erfolgen. Zugleich wandte er sich trotz der steigenden Öl- und Benzinpreise gegen eine Minderung der Kraftstoffsteuer. „Eine Absenkung der Steuer bei Benzin oder Diesel führt nicht zu einer Absenkung des Preises“, sagte er. Die „Welt am Sonntag“ berichtete, auch der Ausbau der Stromnetze und die von Verkehrsminister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) geplante Erhöhung der Lkw-Maut stießen bei Wirtschaftsminister Michael Glos (CSU) auf Vorbehalte. Die beteiligten Ressorts Wirtschaft, Umwelt, Verkehr und Finanzen hätten noch am Freitag versucht, die Differenzen auszuräumen. Allerdings sei man sich in den entscheidenden Details nicht näher gekommen. Beim Ausbau

der Stromnetze streiten Wirtschaftsministerium und Umweltministerium demnach vor allem darüber, ob die Leitungen als unterirdische Kabel oder als Freileitungen verlegt werden sollen. Während Bundesumweltminister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) Erdkabel befürworte, weise Glos auf die Kosten hin, heißt es in dem Bericht. Die Verlegung von Erdkabeln sei vier bis zehnmal so teuer wie der Aufbau von Überlandleitungen. Im japanischen Kobe haben derweil die Umweltminister der sieben größten Industrienationen plus Russland (G8) bei ihren Beratungen über den Klimaschutz keinen Durchbruch erzielt. Einig war man sich lediglich in der Hoffnung, dass vom Gipfeltreffen der G8-Staats- und Regierungschefs im Juli unter japanischer Führung ein „ähnlicher Impuls“ ausgehe wie er vom G8-Gipfel in Heiligendamm auf die Klimaverhandlungen von Bali Ende 2007 wirkte. „Wir sind in der Gefahr, vor Bali zurückzufallen“, warnte Achim Steiner, der deutsche Exekutivdirektor des Umweltprogramms der Vereinten Nationen. Der japanische Umweltminister Ichiro Kamoshita rief die reichsten Länder auf, gemeinsam bis Mitte des Jahrhunderts ihre Emissionen um mehr als 50 Prozent zu senken.

Politik, 25.05.2008, DerWesten

Einig war man sich lediglich in der Hoffnung, dass vom Gipfeltreffen der G8-Staats- und Regierungschefs im Juli unter japanischer Führung ein «ähnlicher Impuls» ausgeht wie er vom G8- Gipfel in Heiligendamm auf die Klimaverhandlungen von Bali Ende 2007 wirkte. «Wir sind in der Gefahr, vor Bali zurückzufallen», warnte Achim Steiner, der deutsche Exekutivdirektor des Umweltprogramms der Vereinten Nationen (UNEP).

Japan hofft auf eine Einigung über das langfristige Ziel einer Halbierung der C02-Emissionen bis 2050, erklärte der japanische Umweltminister Ichiro Kamoshita. Zugleich gelte es aber auch, dass verbindliche mittelfristige Ziele gesetzt werden und die Industrieländer die Führung übernehmen, sagte der Delegierte der EU, Jos Debelke. Die Industrieländer hätten 90 Prozent aller bisherigen Emissionen verursacht. «Wir müssen den ersten Schritt tun», forderte Matthias Machnig, Staatssekretär im Bundesumweltministerium, in Kobe.

Notwendigkeit eines internationalen Emissionshandelssystems

Ende nächsten Jahres soll in Kopenhagen ein Folgeabkommen für das 2012 auslaufende Kyoto-Klimaschutzprotokoll beschlossen werden. «Wir können es uns nicht leisten, Monate verstreichen zu lassen», sagte Jürgen Maier vom deutschen Forum Umwelt und Entwicklung. Kritiker hatten Japan vorgeworfen, mit dem Vorschlag einer Bemessung der CO2-Einsparungen nach Industriesektoren die Hauptverantwortung auf die Entwicklungsländer verlagern zu wollen und den Verhandlungsprozess dadurch zu blockieren. Machnig zufolge stellte Japan jedoch jetzt in Kobe klar, dass der Vorschlag nicht als Ersatz für ein mittelfristiges nationales CO2-Reduktionsziel gemeint sei. Die Beratungen seien dadurch «offener» geworden, sagte Machnig.

Auf ein mittelfristiges Reduktionsziel hat sich Japan, das seine eigenen Kyotoprotokollziele genau wie andere Länder zu verfehlen droht, bislang nicht festgelegt. Dies erschwert laut Experten auch die Verhandlungen über eine Verpflichtung der Entwicklungsländer beim Klimaschutz. Akzeptiert sei die Notwendigkeit eines internationalen Emissionshandelssystems. Wegen der Wahlen in den USA im November sei aber nicht abzusehen, wie sich die USA als Hauptverursacher der CO2-Emissionen in den Klimaverhandlungsprozess einbringen werden.

Weitere Themen in Kobe waren die Biodiversität und die Abfallwirtschaft. Machnig sprach von einer «guten Debatte». Man wolle die Anstrengungen erhöhen, um 2010 das Ziel zu erreichen, den Verlust an Biodiversität zu stoppen. Auf Initiative Japans einigten sich die G8 zudem auf einen «Aktionsplan» zum Aufbau einer Kreislaufwirtschaft. Ziel sei unter anderem die Nutzung von Abfällen zur Energiegewinnung und die Abfallreduzierung durch Recycling. Dazu sollen konkrete Projekte in Entwicklungsländern finanziert werden. (dpa)

Ein Wert an sich

KOMMENTAR VON ULRIKE FOKKEN

Rheobatrachus silus wurde jüngst eine seltene Ehrung zuteil: Die UNO beklagt das Ableben des Magenbrüter-Frosches im australischen Urwald, ist es doch der pharmazeutischen Wissenschaft zu Lebzeiten der Amphibienart nicht gelungen, das Geheimnis der Magenbrütung zu lüften. Forscher hatten zwar bemerkt, dass das Weibchen von Rheobatrachus silus die gelegten Eier verschluckt, im Magen ausbrütet und nach geraumer Zeit winzige Frösche ausspuckt. Sie fanden auch heraus, dass die Kaulquappen mittels einer Substanz die Magensäureproduktion der Mutter blockieren. Doch bevor die Wissenschaft die chemische Zusammensetzung dieses Magensäurehemmers ergründen konnte, verschied die Froschart. Mit ihr ging die Hoffnung der Pharmaindustrie, ein Mittel gegen Magengeschwüre aus dem Froschnachwuchs zu entwickeln.

Ulrike Fokken (43) schreibt als Journalistin seit 20 Jahren über Wirtschaft und Umwelt (unter anderem als taz-Redakteurin) und hat Bücher zu nachhaltigem Management veröffentlicht. Sie ist Sprecherin der Deutschen Umwelthilfe.

Der Rheobatrachus silus gilt deswegen als Beispiel für den unbedingten Sinn von Artenschutz. Unzählige Tier- und Pflanzenarten weltweit bergen Geheimnisse, die der Medizin endlich zu einem Durchbruch bei der Behandlung verbreiteter Krankheiten helfen könnten, argumentieren die beiden Wissenschaftler. Die Menschheit verliere Chancen für ihren Erhalt, wenn diese "medizinische Schatzkiste", die Unep-Direktor Achim Steiner in der Artenvielfalt entdeckt hat, nicht erforscht und erhalten bleibt. Die Gesundheit des Menschen dient ihm als Argument für den Erhalt der Biodiversität.

Nach 200 Jahren Aufklärung und der in der westlichen Welt erfolgreichen Trennung von belebter und unbelebter Natur erhalten nun auch vom Aussterben bedrohte Tierarten ihre Daseinsberechtigung unter dem Nutzenaspekt. Sie teilen damit das Los der Nutztierrassen in der industriellen Landwirtschaft, die Schweine, Kühe, Hühner und Lachse bereits so weit optimiert hat, dass ihr Leben in der Mast so kurz wie nötig und der finanzielle Gewinn so groß wie möglich ausfallen. Wild lebende Arten in den Tiefen der Ozeane und dem dunklen Unterholz konnten sich der industriellen Verwertbarkeit bislang weitgehend entziehen. Und dachte man bislang, dass ihre Nicht-Existenz im Blickfeld von Mensch und Industrie ihr Überleben sichert, hängt der Artenerhalt nun von der Entdeckung und vom wirtschaftlichen Vorteil ab, den sie dem Nutznießer ihrer Gene bringen. Diese Argumentation der mutmaßlichen Artenschützer, zu denen auch Umweltminister Sigmar Gabriel und seine politischen Verhandlungsführer auf der UN-Artenschutzkonferenz in Bonn gehören, ist unübertroffen zynisch.

Tiere und Pflanzen bekommen in der Logik der neuen Biodiversitätsschützer ein Lebensrecht zugesprochen, wenn sie dem Menschen dienen. Das ist eine Anmaßung: Das Leben an sich ist ein Wert, da bedarf es keiner Wertschöpfung durch die Industrie.

Die Natur bedarf keiner ökonomischen Bewertung, um Argumente zur Abwägung ihres Gebrauchs zu liefern, wie die Ökonomen Joachim Weimann und Sönke Hoffmann an dieser Stelle kürzlich geschrieben haben. Sie folgen dem falschen Gedankengang der europäischen Aufklärung, nachdem es menschliches Leben ohne Natur gibt, dass der Mensch eine von Natur und Umwelt losgelöste Spezies bildet, die dank ihrer Ratio von allen anderen Lebewesen abgekoppelt ein eigenständiges Leben führen könnte. Dieses ideologische Gedankenkonstrukt spiegelt einzig den Wunsch nach letztmöglicher Individualisierung im 21. Jahrhundert wider: Nachdem der westlich denkende Mensch sich mühsam von Gott, dem Vater, befreit hat, will er sich nun auch endlich von der Natur, der Mutter, lösen.

Ohne weitere psychoanalytische Exkurse muss auch dem aufgeklärten Menschen verständlich sein, dass der Mensch ohne Wälder, Moore, Flussauen, Mangrovenwälder und atmende Meere nicht lebensfähig ist.

Das Leben auf dem Planeten ist ein System, es ist nicht singulär und deswegen hängen Hochwasser in Mitteleuropa auch vom Urwalderhalt am Amazonas ab. Wir wissen zwar nicht, ob das Aussterben des Magenbrüter-Frosches direkte Auswirkungen auf die Wüstenbildung in Südspanien hat, aber die offenkundige Zerstörung seines Lebensraumes in Australien mag zur Klimaveränderung beitragen. Oder eine Folge davon sein. Dann wäre der von den Industrieländern verursachte Klimawandel dafür verantwortlich, dass ihrer unter Magengeschwüren leidenden Bevölkerung das lindernde Mittel aus dem australischen Busch vorenthalten bleibt. Diese Verantwortung möchte wohl keine Regierung eines Industrielandes übernehmen, und genau an der Weiterführung einer derartigen Argumentationskette vom Sinn des Artenschutzes zum Erhalt der Volksgesundheit zeigt sich ihre Abstrusität.

Es gibt die berühmte Weisheit der Cree-Indianer, nach der die Weißen erst nach dem Fällen des letzten Baumes merken werden, dass Geld nicht essbar ist. Selbst wer jetzt müde abwinkt und von diesem einst auf jeder Heckscheibe klebenden Credo der deutschen Umweltbewegung in den Siebzigerjahren nichts mehr hören will, wird zugeben, dass die Cree Recht hatten. Bäume stehen noch, aber der Anbau von Raps, Weizen und Zuckerrohr für die Energiegewinnung führt bereits zu weltweit steigenden Lebensmittelpreisen und Hungeraufständen. Die Menschheit braucht keine energetisch verwertbaren Pflanzen zum Überleben. Ihre Existenz sichert sich damit einzig die Mineralöl- und Autoindustrie und entzieht sich so der Verantwortung für kapitalintensive Innovationen in effiziente Technik.

Die neu ernannten Artenschützer in UNO und Bundesumweltministerium haben noch ein weiteres Instrument gefunden, das ihre Bemühungen für den Schutz der Biodiversität unterstreichen soll. Der Wert von Tieren und Pflanzen wird in Euro und Cent bemessen. Die völlige Ökonomisierung der Natur wird das Artensterben jedoch beschleunigen und nicht etwa aufhalten. Wenn erst Pflanzen und Tiere einen in Geld bezifferbaren Wert haben, wird ihr Lebensraum dann umso billiger, je kümmerlicher ihr Bestand ist. Eine Magerwiese, das sind die struppig und dem Betrachter oft armselig erscheinenden Wiesen zwischen Feldflur und Acker, ist reich an Wildkräutern und Insekten, aber volkswirtschaftlich zu vernachlässigen. Mit ein wenig Dünger lassen sich artenreiche Magerwiesen jedoch in artenarme, aber ertragreiche Äcker verwandeln. Auch die Lebensräume der Orang-Utans oder Gorillas in den letzten Urwäldern werden umso billiger, je weniger von ihnen überleben. Die Ökonomisierung wildlebender Tiere schafft erst den Anreiz, ihr Ableben zu beschleunigen, denn das nach dem Artentod finanziell wertlose Land lässt sich durch den Anbau von Energiepflanzen oder Futter für die Rindfleischindustrie veredeln. Wenn Primaten unter dem Primat des Geldes stehen und ihr Leben mit Arbeitsplätzen und dem Überleben der Autoindustrie verrechnet wird, haben sie keine Chance. Nur das Unwissen über den finanziellen Wert von Tieren und Pflanzen schützt die Vielfalt des Lebens.
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Bild (Germany): UN-Klimaschützer wird Flockes Pate

So will der Tiergarten die Besucher unserer kleinen Eisbärin für den Erhalt der Natur interessieren

Nürnberg – Flocke ist und bleibt Publikums-Magnet. Am Wochenende kamen fast 15000 Besucher in den Tiergarten.

Ist seit 2006 Direktor des UN-Umweltprogramms: der deutsche Diplomat Achim Steiner

Genau so viele Gäste strömten auch am vergangenen Donnerstag Richtung Schmausenbuck. Das ist Rekord! Unser Eisbären-Mädel ist mittlerweile 40 Kilo schwer, sozusagen ein Teenager.

Und es wird höchste Zeit, dass sie einen Paten bekommt.

Monatelang hüteten die Chefs des Tiergartens dieses Geheimnis eisern. Bislang hieß es bei Anfragen nur: „Es ist jemand aus dem internationalen Bereich, der für das Thema Klimaschutz steht.“

Vorbild ist da wohl auch der Pate des Berliner Eisbären Knut, Bundesumweltminister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD).

Laut BILD-Informationen steht jetzt aber fest, wer Flockes Patenschaft übernimmt: Es handelt sich um den deutschen Diplomaten Achim Steiner (geb. 1961 in Brasilien, studierte in Oxford).

Er ist seit 2006 Direktor des UN-Umweltprogramms und damit Nachfolger des früheren Bundes-Umweltministers Klaus Töpfer.

Im Rahmen der UN-Konferenz zum Schutz der biologischen Vielfalt in Bonn soll Steiner in wenigen Tagen bekannt gegeben werden.

Stadträtin Christine Seer (Grüne) über Flockes Paten: „Er ist eine gute Wahl und bringt das Thema Umweltschutz den Menschen hoffentlich näher!“

Greenpeace supporters in Bali

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Environmentalists hope the G8 can agree on a protocol which signals a brighter future

Environment ministers from the seven largest industrial nations and Russia continued talks Sunday, May 25 in Kobe, Japan, on pushing for a post-Kyoto protocol agreement on climate change.