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Reports according to Master’s order and rating
Help Curb Global Warming
* United Kingdom
The British government has urged the world to act now to cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, because the cost in the long run will be vastly cheaper than doing nothing.
Nicholas Stern, a British government scientist and former World Bank chief economist, pointed out in a meeting in northern Mexico that it makes both economic and environmental sense to pursue green energy sources. And he made a call to remind everyone that the longer action is delayed, the more expensive it is.
British Environment Secretary David Miliband quoted Stern: “It is imperative we take actions to prevent further climate change because the economic costs -- never mind the human costs and the costs to the environment -- will far outweigh the costs of mitigation.”
The participants of the meeting, which took place in Monterrey, Mexico, included energy and environment ministers from the world’s 20 top greenhouse gas-emitting nations, such as the United States. The central theme discussed was the shifting scientific thinking as well as dialogues on climate change.
Most experts are now convinced that global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels, rather than a natural cyclical phenomenon. Experts predict that if the sea level were to rise by just one meter, millions of people living in low-lying countries like Bangladesh would have to migrate.
According to NASA, the year 2005 was the warmest year on the Earth’s surface since 1860, and new estimates suggest that temperatures might rise by 3 degrees Celsius at the end of this century, triggering floods, droughts and famine.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett mentioned that climate change could spell crisis for the developing world, as people would fight over resources such as fresh water and crops. She further cited that the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, is partly due to the competition for farmland and water.
* France
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin unveiled a “national pact for the environment” on October 4, Golden Year 3 (2006), offering French households and firms 10 billion Euro (US$12.7 billion) in low-interest loans to finance energy saving projects.
“This pact will draw together all the players: citizens, companies, local organizations and the state. It will allow everyone to play a role in protecting the environment,” Villepin said during a regular monthly news conference. He also promised measures to encourage the use of low-emission fuels and said that coal would be taxed.
Villepin’s pact includes pledges to increase the number of gasoline stations in France that offer ethanol-based fuel at their pumps as part of a move to ease France’s dependency on fossil fuels and to reduce emissions. Besides, some 100 million Euro (US$127 million) will be given to fund further research into the development of hybrid motors. These funds will be available in January, Golden Year 4 (2007). The 10 billion Euro for energy-saving programs will come from the Codevi savings accounts of French citizens, which pay 2.75 percent a year interest and are currently capped at 4,600 Euro (US$5,767) per person.
To raise the extra funds, this individual investment ceiling will be lifted to 6,000 Euro (US$7,522) starting Jan. 1, 2007. “Our aim is to mobilize the savings of French people to help the environment,” Villepin said.
* Norway
As the world’s third largest oil exporter, a government-appointed commission said Norway could reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 80 percent before 2050 without constraining economic growth.
“Cutting emissions ... is important, it’s feasible and it’s dead cheap,” Joergen Randers, a professor of economics at the Norwegian School of Management who led the commission, stated in a news conference with Environment Minister Helen Bjoernoy.
The commission proposed 15 measures to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 50-80 percent by 2050 as a drive to slow climate change. Other countries including Britain, France and Sweden, and US states such as California, are also planning big cuts in emissions from power plants, industry and cars in coming decades.
Such long-term cuts go far beyond an average 5.2 percent reduction in emissions from 1990 levels by 2008-2012, as agreed by 35 industrial nations, including Norway, under the United Nations’ Kyoto Protocol.
Many governments worry the cuts will cost too much, but Randers said the commission’s proposals would affect Norway’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2050 by less than 0.5 percent over more than four decades compared to a forecast with no climate measures.
In addition, energy savings in other areas, including more efficient heating of buildings, would offset the costs. Development of carbon capture from power plants could also give Norway a technological edge.
Environment Minister Bjoernoy said rich nations with high per capita emissions such as Norway had a “moral duty” to act first, before developing countries such as China. She also said that Norway, the world’s number-three oil exporter with output of about three million barrels per day, would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to reach its 2012 goal under Kyoto protocol even though its current greenhouse gas emissions are far above the 2012 goal.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) environmental group strongly
urged the Norwegian government to adopt the commission’s recommendations,
saying that even Norway’s oil companies such as Statoil and Norsk
Hydro were urging government actions to slow global warming. 
Reference material:
2.http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38382/story.htm
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