Overview of news items 2008
Here you will find the news items of current year listed in chronological order.
Adaptation to future climate change
07-10-2008
Land becomes increasingly scarce
Global targets for development and the environment will not be achieved if current trends are to continue. Analyses in IPCC Climate Change 2007, UNEP Global Environment Outlook 4, OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 and the IAASTD Agriculture Assessment all show that swift action is needed, worldwide, to achieve the internationally set targets. From the assessments, land use emerges as a new theme for international policy, as the competition over land is growing.
10-09-2008
Global CO2 emissions increased by 3% in 2007; China contributing two-thirds to increase
In 2007, global emissions of the carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel use and cement production increased by 3.1%; in 2006 the emissions increased by 3.5%. High fuel prices worldwide and relatively warm winters in Europe and Asia have mitigated the increase. China’s CO2 emissions, having surpassed the USA’s emissions in 2006, are now estimated to be about 14% higher than those of the USA. Since 1990, global CO2 emissions increased by 34%.
13-06-2008
Bioenergy has long-term potential
Potentially, biomass can make a major contribution to the global energy demand in the long term. In 2050, possibly 25-40% of future world energy demand could be produced by making use of crop residues and the production of specific energy crops. It has been taken into account that negative effects occur on food supply, nature reserves and the availability of water. The challenge is to use this potential in a sustainable way.
11-06-2008
Policy gap will have large consequences for biodiversity
The 2010 targets for biodiversity will not be reached under continuation of the present biodiversity policies. The absence of additional biodiversity policies could come at a considerable price, sometime in the future. That is because natural systems will no longer be able to supply valuable services, such as carbon storage in forests and the supply of sufficient amounts of clean freshwater. In short, this is the outcome of a research programme presented today at the 9th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, in Bonn.
29-05-2008
International Environmental Policy stands no chance without Brazil, Russia, India and China
05-03-2008
Current biofuels do not add to the sustainability of transport
The climate has more to gain from converting biomass into electricity, than to use it to replace petrol or diesel. Therefore, proposals to replace current transport fuels by biofuels are not the best investment in sustainability. This is shown in the report “Local and global consequences of the EU renewable directive for biofuels: testing the sustainability criteria”, by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. The findings from this study will be presented to the European Parliament, today.
04-03-2008
