'Save the Albatross' Campaign a Remarkable Success

The outlook for endangered albatross species has dramatically improved, thanks to the success of an international conservation programme implemented by the RSPB and Birdlife International.

The Albatross Task Force (ATF) was established in 2006 in order to reduce the number of accidental albatross deaths caused by long-line fishing. At the time, it was estimated that one bird was killed every five minutes from long line fishing, and 19 of the 22 albatross species were under threat from extinction.

The birds dying because they were taking bait from fishing lines fed into the sea from boats fishing for tuna or swordfish. Once they swallowed the bait, they would become caught on the hook, dragged underwater and drown.

Specialist instructors from the ATF went out with fishermen and taught them techniques that would stop the birds becoming entangled. They were encouraged to fish at night, weight their lines and attach streamers the back of vessels to scare the birds away. Government legislation also played its part by stipulating that no more than 25 birds could be caught as "by-catch" during trips.

The programme has been heralded as a resounding success, and has reduced deaths by up to 85% in some locations.

Dr Ross Wanless, coordinator of the Birdlife programme in Africa, said: "Changing entrenched attitudes and practices is a slow process, but the ATF has shown that by working with government and industry, change is possible."

Whilst the 19 species are not freed from the threat of extinction yet- many are still snagged by trawlers, breeding is slow and habitats are endangered - the campaign is likely to have made a remarkable impact on their population stability and its success cannot be understated.

Learn more about the 'Save the Albatross' Campaign here

Read more about this story at the BBC News website and the Times News website

Severity of Global Warming Underestimated

Leading climate change scientist, Professor Chris Field has announced that the severity of global warming over the next century will be well beyond anything predicted.

Field, a senior member of the Nobel-prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC), revealed his findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago on Saturday. He told the attendees that IPCC’s previous report on climate change in 2007 (of which he was co-author) had substantially underestimated the rate of global warming and the extent of the problem.

"We are basically looking now at a future climate that is beyond anything that we've considered seriously in climate policy," he said.

Increases in greenhouse gas emissions from 2000-2007 have accelerated more rapidly than forecast “primarily because developing countries, like China and India, increased their electric power generation, by burning more coal” he said. This means that temperatures rises could exceed 6.4 ^oC over the next century.

The temperature rises could cause large scale melting of permafrost in the Arctic and dry out tropical forests enough for wildfires to breakout. This would dramatically increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and have potentially devastating consequences for the global climate.

"Without effective action, climate change is going to be larger and more difficult to deal with than we thought," Field warned.

Read more about this story on the BBC news website and the Guardian news website

Progress Towards Copenhagen as Officials Meet in Ghana

The latest round of UN climate change negotiations began yesterday in Accra, Ghana, and will conclude on 27 August. The talks mark an important step between the negotiations in Bali last year and the 2009 convention on climate change, to take place in Copenhagen, aimed at negotiating a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

Writing in this week's Climate-L.ORG Bulletin, the Executive Secretary to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Yvo de Boer, outlines his hopes for the Accra conference, stating that "careful progress" has been made since 2007, with meetings in Bangkok in March this year and in Bonn, Germany, in June.

Mr de Boer says that the Ghana meeting will provide an opportunity for work on the "rules and tools" that will be available to developed countries to meet future emissions reduction targets. Work will also continue on the main elements of the Copenhagen agreement through two focussed workshops. The first will be on policy approaches and positive incentives on issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) in developing countries, encouraging sustainable forest management. The focus of the second will be on "cooperative sectoral approaches", exploring the expansion of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism to cement and steel manufacture, and power generation: rolling out the sectoral approaches adopted in some countries within a universal agreement.

Mr de Boer stresses that the Accra talks are a significant step towards Copenhagen, with Governments having the opportunity to put concrete proposals on the table as to what could eventually be included in the 2009 agreement.

Link to original article: With the global house on fire, there is no time to lose at the UN Climate Change Talks in Accra

Link to official UNFCCC site: Accra Climate Change Talks 2008

UNFF Web Forum - Forests and Biodiversity Conservation

The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) is holding a web-forum on "Forests and Biodiversity Conservation, including protected areas". Take part online until 30 June.

Dialogue and inputs fo the forum will be used to inform one of the themes for discussion at the upcoming 8th session of the United Nations Forum on Forests, which will take place at UNHQ New York, from 20 April - 1 May 2009.

Take part in the Forum

Bali - Climate Change Declaration by Scientists

Over 200 scientists from around the world have signed a declaration to urge politicians meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali to commit to cutting emissions by more than half, amid fears that politicians will take less strong action than needed to halt global warming. The Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists stresses that emissions should be cut to 50% of 1990 levels by 2050 and that emissions should peak and then decline within the next 15 years in order to keep warming due to climate change below 2 degrees celcius.

The UN Climate Change Conference 2007 is being held in Bali between 3rd - 14th December bringing together representatives from over 180 countries. It is hoped that the conference can result in a "road map" towards reaching agreements on targets, to be signed in 2009 and implemented as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol in 2013.

UN Launch Annual Human Development Report

The UN launched its annual Human Development Report in Brazil on 27 November. The report, 'Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World,' is critical of all developed countries for their performance so far in cutting emissions. The report states that radical new policies are needed if Britain is to meet its target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 26-32% by 2020, including higher vehicle excise duties for high-polluting cars and carbon taxes. The UK should also phase out highly polluting power stations and increase its use of renewable energy sources, particularly wind and tidal.

"In a divided but ecologically interdependent world, [the report] challenges all people to reflect upon how we manage the environment of the one thing that we share in common: planet Earth"

IMoSEB Consultation

The International Steering Committee of the consultative process towards an International Mechanism of Scientific Expertise on Biodiversity (IMoSEB) met for the final time in Montpellier, France on 15- 17 November to discuss establishing an intergovernmental panel to address biodiversity loss - intended to be similar to the IPCC. The Statement from the Committee recommends:

"Further and urgent consideration of the establishment of a means and enhancement of existing institutions to provide an objective source of information about biodiversity change and its impact on ecosystem services and human well-being, employing high scientific and technical standards and reflecting a range of views, expertise and wide geographic coverage. "

The Committee has invited the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, to convene an intergovernmental meeting to consider establishing a science-policy interface to promote regular global and sub-global assessments of the state and trends in biodiversity and ecosystem services.

EAC Report on the draft Climate Change Bill

The Environmental Audit Committee has today published a report: 'Beyond Stern: From the Climate Change Programme Review to the Draft Climate Change Bill'. The report argues the following:
- carbon emissions reductions targets must be increased to reflect the latest science
- the Committee on Climate Change should be given a stronger role
- international aviation and shipping emissions must be included within the UKs targets
- the Government should focus more on total amount of carbon emissions the UK can "safely" emit over the next forty years, rather than on simply hitting annual emissions targets in individual target years

The committee recommends that the requirment to report on adaptation to climate change is accompanied by a Government programme of action on adaptation in the UK and that this should include an international development strategy which works to address the impact of climate change on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.

Convention on Biological Diversity - SBSTTA

The 12th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to the CBD will take place in Paris at the UNESCO headquarters from the 2-6 July 2007. The meeting will review the application of the ecosystem approach, the implementation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, discuss issues for evaluating progress or supporting implementation of the Convention, such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and analyze scientific and technical issues of relevance to the implementation of the 2010 target, such as climate change and the sustainable use of biodiversity. The IISD will be producing daily reports from the meting.

DfID Research Strategy

The UK's Department for International Development is consulting on its research strategy. It follows the Department's 2006 White Paper. The consultation asks how DfID can:

• build on their four research themes (agriculture, "killer diseases", governance and climate change)
• improve the way it identifies demand for research from end-users
• promote cross-cutting research that will benefit poor people
• help developing countries to conduct and use research
• make it more likely that research will be used

There is an on-line questionnaire to that will be open until 23 September. The BES is planning to respond to the consultation.