Despite setbacks and obstacles ahead, there's cause for genuine optimism in climate change front - baltimoresun.com

Despite setbacks and obstacles ahead, there's cause for genuine optimism in climate change front - baltimoresun.com: "One important development to emerge from Cancun is a framework for that aid. The goal is to create $100 billion in assistance for developing countries in 10 years. House Republicans will likely react coolly to U.S. participation when plans for initial aid are announced in late spring.

But it's no exaggeration to suggest that further policy delays could prove life-threatening. The U.S. is not only responsible for about one-sixth of the greenhouse gases (more than half from cars and power plants), but the nation's failure to take more serious action is a major reason why there isn't a stronger international accord in place already.

How much human life could be lost through flooding, disease, crop failures, political upheaval and other challenges wrought by climate change can only be speculated, but it could easily run into the millions. That's a risk that should alarm everyone, not just progressives or environmentalists."

UN climate official: do more to cut emissions

UN climate official: do more to cut emissions: "The Cancun agreements established a Green Climate Fund that will be the main channel for delivering $100 billion a year in climate aid to developing countries from 2020. They also created a mechanism for giving them green technologies and set a framework for paying countries to preserve forests.

Under the accords, wealthy countries also are due to report by next May how much they will contribute toward an emergency $30 billion fund for developing countries to develop strategies for coping with global warming and to build their own low-carbon economies.

From the U.S. perspective, Stern said, the biggest achievements in Cancun were getting all countries, including China, India, Brazil and other rapidly expanding economies, to commit to climate action and outlining a system of reporting and verification to ensure those commitments are met."

energyresources : Message: G20: free-trade area for Africa proposed by UK and South Africa

energyresources : Message: G20: free-trade area for Africa proposed by UK and South Africa: "The global economic crisis demonstrated two things about Africa's readiness for
growth. The first is that macroeconomic policies in most African countries have
improved so much that they were able to ride through the crisis.
The second important factor is that Africa continued to grow because of the
expansion of domestic demand. The continent's one billion people are beginning
to make an impact on the consumer markets.
When we consider the unexploited mineral wealth of Africa, the fact that Africa
has 60% of the world uncultivated agricultural land, and that Africa has the
youngest age profile of any continent, our continent's growth potential is truly
massive."

Climate finance plan could break talks inertia | Trevor Manuel and Nicholas Stern | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Climate finance plan could break talks inertia | Trevor Manuel and Nicholas Stern | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "The two defining challenges of our century are managing climate change and overcoming world poverty. We cannot overcome one without the other. With international collaboration and sound policies we can find success by launching a new era of low-carbon economic growth while adapting to the climate change which is already happening.

Financial support for developing countries will play a vital role in any integrated action and thus the fresh proposals in the new report by the high-level advisory group on climate change financing, which was commissioned by the United Nations secretary-general in February, can help make progress towards agreement in the United Nations conference in Canc�n, Mexico, which starts later this month."

DESERTEC Foundation: 101103-01 DESERTEC University Network founded: International science cooperation for clean power from deserts

DESERTEC Foundation: 101103-01 DESERTEC University Network founded: International science cooperation for clean power from deserts: "The DESERTEC Foundation, in cooperation with the Tunisian National Advisory Council for Scientific Research and Technology, has founded a platform for scientific cooperation for DESERTEC. Founding members besides the non-profit DESERTEC Foundation are 18 universities and research facilities from North Africa and the Middle East. It is planned to expand the network to a global platform, in order to promote the realization of the DESERTEC Concept “Clean Power from Deserts” in different regions of the world."

Solar Novus Today - At the Heart of Desertec: Interview with Bernhard Zymla

Solar Novus Today - At the Heart of Desertec: Interview with Bernhard Zymla: "Zymla: I should agree, and I should add that this is the perception in most of the MENA-countries. In the region itself, the initial scepticism towards a “European” project has more and more turned into something I would call “Arabic pragmatism”. Furthermore, Dii is not the only project working on the realisation of the DESERTEC vision. Transgreen for instance is a complimentary project with a focus on transmission networks and which we currently watch with interest."

KW43�|�ABS Research finds CSP industry expanding rapidly, entering new markets�-�SolarServer

KW43�|�ABS Research finds CSP industry expanding rapidly, entering new markets�-�SolarServer: "While the solar heating and cooling industry continues to struggle as a result of the recession, the concentrating solar power (CSP) industry is expanding rapidly and entering new markets, according to the latest report by ABS Energy Research (London, U.K.). The company's 4th edition 'Solar Thermal Power Report', released September 2010, describes 2009 as 'the year for CSP', with a large number of plants planned for the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region, including a 100MW CSP plant under construction in the United Arab Emirates."

Commission to unveil €1trln energy strategy for 2020 | EurActiv

Commission to unveil €1trln energy strategy for 2020 | EurActiv: "'In the next decade, investment in energy, both to replace existing resources and in order to meet increasing energy requirements, will oblige European economies to arbitrate among energy products which, given the inertia of energy systems, will condition the next 30 years,' it says."

DESERTEC Foundation: News

DESERTEC Foundation: News: "14. September 2010
EU has pledged to provide Africa with clean and sustainable energy

EU representatives and 21 energy and development ministers from Africa and the EU are meeting in Vienna with a common goal: Providing clean and sustainable energy to 100 million Africans by 2020. EU energy minister Oettinger has mentioned DESERTEC as a model project of cooperation between Africa and the EU.
Read German article on www.diepresse.com"

The Venus Project

The Venus Project: "The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society: unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth's ecosystems."

As you will see, The Venus Project is dedicated to confronting all of these problems by actively engaging in the research, development, and application of workable solutions. Through the use of innovative approaches to social awareness, educational incentives, and the consistent application of the best that science and technology can offer directly to the social system, The Venus Project offers a comprehensive plan for social reclamation in which human beings, technology, and nature will be able to coexist in a long-term, sustainable state of dynamic equilibrium.

Jim Garrison: From Climate Change to Climate Shock: The Result of a Perfect Eco-Political Storm

Jim Garrison: From Climate Change to Climate Shock: The Result of a Perfect Eco-Political Storm: "From Climate Change to Climate Shock: The Result of a Perfect Eco-Political Storm"

The perfect storm was completed with what the earth herself was doing as the world dithered its way through Copenhagen and the U.S. failed to pass a climate bill. Epic storms, two in a row, pummeled Washington. A volcano in Iceland erupted with a plume that shut down northern European airports for a week and in England much longer; unprecedented flooding inundated Louisville; a huge block of ice broke off of Antarctica the size of Rhode Island; another huge block of Greenland ice broke off nine times the size of Manhattan; scorching heat plagued Russia, bringing life virtually to a stand still and devastating crops; torrential rains and river flooding ravaged Pakistan until fully 20% of the entire nation was underwater; mudslides devastated China with towns up to the third and fourth stories inundated with mud; and scientists reported a 40% decline in phytoplankton, the basis of the oceanic food chain. And these are only the events that hit the mainstream media.

Footprint Futures: A Global Youth Summit

Footprint Futures: A Global Youth Summit: "The goal of the Footprint Futures curriculum is to provide students with the analytical tools to explore and answer the question: What is the optimal level of resource use for a given country? Ultimately, the Footprint Futures curriculum is designed to cultivate in the next generation of leaders the ability to engage critically with the most pressing issue of the 21st century – how to achieve lasting human well-being amidst tightening resource constraints."