Nunez-Tesheira asked to chair IMF's Climate Change Committee

Nunez-Tesheira asked to chair IMF's Climate Change Committee

Kristy Ramnarine kramnarine@trinidadexpress.com

Friday, November 27th 2009

Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira has been asked to chair the International Monetary Fund’s Climate Change Committee for Small States.

Nunez-Tesheira made the disclosure during the Commonwealth Business Forum’s Green Energy and Carbon Commerce session aboard the Serenade of the Seas on Wednesday. The session was chaired by Krish Krishnan, president and CEO of Green Ventures.

’While pursuing the small states agenda, Green Ventures International has expressed a keen interest in developing a green gateway for the Caribbean and Latin America within the Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre (TTIFC), to bring together investors, beneficiaries, and technical know-how for clean energy and carbon reduction projects and programmes,’ she said.

’Mr Chairman we are actively considering setting up a carbon credit and green commodity trading platform linked with other major international carbon credit trading facilities.’ Green Ventures was started in 2007, to focus on carbon credit generation, and rural development projects.

Green Ventures focuses on industrial enterprise partnerships by providing strategies to receive existing capital and energy efficient clean technology, under the current United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) guidelines and the Kyoto Protocol, which became effective in 2005. The organisation is an asset manager, which deals in the following areas:

- Carbon Management and Advising Services

- Renewable Energy (Hydro, Wind, Solar, Biogas)

- Rural Renewable Energy Development Projects

Interview of Mr. Krish R Krishnan in IVCJ

Article in Times of India, Mumbai on 8th July, 2009

The Age of Renewables

The power sector remains of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases worldwide. In both the developed and the developing world, electricity usage is one of the main culprits of global warming. To reduce consumption of energy however remains a distant dream. The American Government under the leadership of President Obama is pushing for energy conservation measures including introduction of a smart grid. Elsewhere in the world too such initiatives are needed. In the developing world, energy consumption is slated to increase even during these times of economic recession. And it is unfair to ask developing countries to halt their progress in the name of climate change mitigation as even today millions live in dire conditions in these countries and the upliftment of these millions is necessary and needed.

Renewable energy offers a viable solution to the energy needs of the world and climate change measures that need to be undertaken to preserve our planet and ecological well-being. Among the available renewable energy options, hydro power was vilified in the past. But rivers remain a powerful source of renewable energy.

Run of the river hydro projects offer an effective and eco-friendly answer to fulfill increasing energy demands. These projects do not dam the river or alter it’s ecology by building reservoirs. The volume of the river stays unchanged and there is no inundation of surrounding forested land or villages.

Thus it is about time that governments in the developing world which have to deal with burgeoning populations and related increase in energy demands pay serious attention to developing their capabilities in the hydro sector and capitalize on the untapped potential of that sector.

The Climate of Change

In our last post we pointed out the unintended climate change mitigative impact of the international economic crisis. But the economic crisis more strongly portends an adverse effect on the climate change process is the stronger portend.

As the crisis deepens and spreads wider into the advanced nations of the European Union, climate change concerns are taking a back seat. In fact, it seems that protectionism is the order of the day. Just a few years ago globalization and open borders were touted as the order of the day, but those days now seem gone. The knee jerk reaction of governments to this global recession has been to tighten borders and revive protectionist policies. With this attitude prevailing, it is hard to see how nations will come together and put global interests ahead of national ones to formulate an equitable, effective and efficient international climate change treaty as the successor to the currently applicable Kyoto Treaty which will expire in 2012.

Fortunately, the Obama government recognizes and realizes the importance and need for having an international climate change treaty which is essential for not only conserving our environment but also for reviving and boosting the green economy, clean technology and renewable energy.

It is hoped that USA and Western European countries put aside their national interests and join hands with the developing world and give birth to a fair, consensual treaty in the next round of negotiations. While the developing world stands to be the most affected by the adverse impacts of climate change, the developed world is not immune to the effects of global warming. Thus they need to take the lead in finding a solution which is inclusive, participatory and just.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Recession

It is hard to believe but the global economic recession might have a slight silver lining, at least from the point of view of the environment. The economic collapse has wreaked havoc on the lives of thousands. And like other global disasters, the reach of this one also has been wide. Not only the developing world but also the advanced nations are reeling under this crisis.

In the face of the doom and misery spread by the worldwide financial downturn, it seems contrarian to claim any benefit from this event. But the economic collapse has led to a decrease in consumer spending, which in turn has decreased the production of various goods. As consumers refuse to partake in any shopping, industries around the world have had to cut down on their production schedules. As a result, the greenhouse gas emissions of these industries have fallen. For the first time in many years, industrial regions are showing a negative growth in greenhouse gas emissions. This is a direct fallout of the economic recession.

The recession however is not the solution to climate change. Countries and especially developed nations need to continue funding research in low-carbon technologies and encouraging and investing clean technologies. Moreover, the poorer countries of the world still require monetary support in order to move away from a fossil fuel based economy to a more eco-friendly ones. The onus still remains on the richer nations to support the developing world in finding solutions to fight global change especially as these nations are likely to be the most adversely affected from the effects of climate change.

The Nuclear Comeback

After being reviled as the biggest environmental enemy, nuclear power is finally making a comeback to respectability. Even environmentalists today are willing to embrace nuclear power.

What has brought about this drastic change? The rising spectre of global warming has been a primary cause for this change of hearts. Scientific evidence has incontrovertibly shown that climate change is a real phenomenon and will beget consequences that will wreak havoc and destroy our way of living. Under these circumstances it is natural that governments, civil society organizations and individuals look for measures to fight climate change.

Developed countries especially need to be vigilant about their emissions. Energy remains one of the main causes of carbon dioxide world wide, and the demand for energy is expected to further increase. Fossil fuel plants especially coal based thermal plants are among the worst culprits. While renewable energy options such as wind farms and hydro power are gaining popularity, a low carbon intensity electricity generation option will need to include nuclear fuel. Nuclear power plants do not generate comparable carbon dioxide emissions and can be a viable technological solution to meet the growing energy demand without emitting tonnes of harmful greenhouse gases.

While climate change remains one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our times, it has raised the conundrum of the attractiveness and correctness of nuclear energy again, though this time around the wind is blowing in the favour of nuclear power.

Climate Change Solutions

The Obama government has shown strong commitment to fighting climate change, and one of its action plans is to stimulate, encourage and develop a green economy that becomes a leader in the world in finding and funding innovation and cutting edge technology that offers unique solutions for climate change mitigation. Just as America has led the IT revolution worldwide, the Obama government intends to make America the pioneer in eco-friendly technology.

But a quiet revolution of sorts is happening in India right now. Surprisingly, India is developing her own scientific tools and machines to fight global warming. A recent article in the New York Times showcased some of these technologies. For instance, India already has an indigenous eco-friendly electric car which does not use any fossil fuels, the Reva Electric Car. Other examples include the world's first solar-powered music band (the Solar Punch!), and the Gadhia solar plant in Valsad, Gujarat, where steam is used for cooking and almost 50,000 people can be fed at one time.

Thus India too is playing a leading role in developing original and innovative solutions fight climate change.

India's Alternative Energy Future

Even in these times of global financial recession, India is projected to show growth. In the coming years, India's appetite for energy will increase considerably as demand will rise because of India's economic progress.

India's current energy sources are mainly dependent on fossil fuels. India's National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC), which is responsible for the thermal power, most of it through coal fired plants, generated in India, is among the world's largest electricity corporations. It is also among the most polluting. India is already a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and while it does not have to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions because of its status as a developing country, there is still considerable international and national pressure on India to curb its emissions. Under these circumstances, it is deemed prudent for India to look at sources other than fossil fuels for fulfilling energy needs.

Alternative energy is a viable alternative in order to satisfy India's energy woes. India is the only country in the world with a separate Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Today, India is ranked fourth globally for installed wind capacity and second for biogas generation. India is ranked as the third most attractive country to invest in renewable energy, after the U.S. and Germany, in the 2008 Ernst and Young Country Attractiveness Indices.

Moreover the first National Climate Action Plan which was released by the Govt. of India in mid-2008, emphasizes the use and development of renewable energy sources such as solar cells. The future of alternative energy is thus bright in India and this field is ripe for investment and growth.

Davos – a familiar dawn?

The World Economic Forum in Davos started off this week. This annual forum sees global leaders get together in Davos, Switzerland to hold a round of discussions on the most pressing issues of our times. Climate change has traditionally been high on the agenda of this yearly meeting. But this year, climate change will have to take a backseat. The looming global economic crisis coupled with recession in the biggest economies of the world has made economic revival the most urgent issue of the moment.

Naturally, it is expected that incentives to revitalize stock-markets which have taken a roaring beating in the past few months, will dominate any international discussion. But as we move forward in a new era of financial uncertainty and dwindling trust in financial regulatory bodies, it is essential that we don't lose sight of the greater goal of preserving our environment for the common good of mankind. And to conserve our natural wealth, we will have to join together and face the challenge of climate change and global warming. It is important that global leaders who have right now gathered in Davos don't lose sight of this goal.

CDM projects in 2008

The latest figures released by UNFCCC on the CDM projects in 2008 show that Asia and Pacific dominated the CDM market, with India and China leading the way (see chart below). For 2009 too, it seems that this trend will continue even though the UN and other international agencies are seriously concerned about the lack of participation from Africa in CDM projects. CDM was started to encourage developing countries to be proactive about climate change mitigation and to provide financial rewards to countries in the developing world that do so. Africa remains a continent with some of the poorest countries of the world and it is essential that CDM stimulates the economy by offering incentives to regions that undertake measures to fight global warming.

India’s continued lead in CDM projects is reassuring news. With the election of Obama as President of USA, a new front in carbon trade is expected to open up. Obama has pledged to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of America by 80 percent (below 1990 levels) by 2050. And he intends to introduce a market-based cap and trade system to meet these reduction targets, which should allow trade in offsets from countries such as India. This shall offer new opportunities in carbon trading in 2009 for India.

Gearing up for clean, green development

Team TOI

Ahmedabad: Besides sectors like energy and micro small and medium enterprises, sectors like development and environment saw huge investment inflows.

The development and environment sector saw investment promises to the tune of Rs 9,203 crore on the second day of the Vibrant Gujarat summit.

As many as 32 MoUs were signed for developing environmental infrastructure in the state with the emphasis being on recycling of waste, treatment of hazardous chemicals and effluents.

At a convention which had climate change and environment as its theme, S K Nanda, principal secretary environment and forests, Gujarat, said, “The state has shown a proactive attitude in including environment with development in the summit”.

Vigilance commissioner and former chief secretary Manjula Subramaniam said, “Gujarat is the country’s third most rapidly urbanising state. This brings with it issues pertaining to waste management.”

While the state government speakers called for more landfill sites to take care of increasing generation of waste, principal advisor of CII’s environment policy division K P Nyati said, “We have a dream of making India a ‘landfill free country’ by 2025. We don’t need to bury the waste into the ground when we can recycle it”. Chairman, Japan Development Institute (JDI) Shoichi Kobayashi called for setting up integrated waste management city’s in Gujarat on the lines of eco towns in Japan. Revealing that Japanese companies in India has raised environmental concerns in the past, Kobayashi stressed the need for technical environment infrastructure, training on related issues.

ENVIRONMENT

GEPIL to set up integrated waste management projects worth Rs 2,500 crore

GEPIL’s GRAMEZ to set up integrated waste management projects worth Rs 2,500 crore

Green Ventures to set up environmental infrastructure in rural areas worth Rs 2,500 crores

PEPL to set up effluent treatment plants worth Rs 200 crore

The Environmental Cost of the Internet

Not only do our computers utilize energy but it seems that our surfing of the net also takes a tool on the environment. A recent report by Gartner, the industry analysts, said the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the world's airlines - about 2% of global CO₂ emissions. For instance, just browsing a basic website generates about 20 mg of CO₂ for every second one spends on it. Websites with flash animation and video can have emissions of up to 300 mg CO₂ per second.

These main sources of these emissions is from the electricity consumed by its visitors' computers, followed by the network infrastructure needed to transmit the website, with the servers and data centers providing the website as the smallest contributor.

And the latest fads such as Facebook and Twitter which require constant and continuous updates on one's status and minute-by-minute accounts of the happenings in one 's life, usage of the internet and connectivity to websites is only going to increase.

How does one integrate environmental concerns with the indispensable services that web technology provides? This will be the challenge that the next wave of IT revolution will have face.

An Energy Emergency in Europe

This is not the first time that a feud between Russia and Ukraine on gas supplies has threatened the energy security of Europe. While a similar dispute between Russia and Ukraine had begot a similar situation in Europe in 2006, it is more dire this time around. Temperatures have dipped all over Europe as a harsh winter wave continues.

The impasse between Russia and Ukraine should be solved within the next few days – it does not benefit either country to continue the energy crisis in Europe as that will worsen its relationship with the EU. But even this short deadlock has been painful for Europe as it is dependent on gas supplies from Russia for heating and other purposes. Central and Southern Europe has been the worse affected up till now, but it is possible that the crisis will spread as afar West as Germany and France. For instance, Slovakia which gets all its energy supply from Russia declared a state of energy emergency as temperatures in the capital slipped it as low as -5C. Bulgaria and the Balkan states, which are among the poorest nations in Europe also have to resort to similar drastic measures.

The EU should treat this crisis as a wake-up call. Even after the resolution of this current stalemate, there is no guarantee that a similar situation will not arise again next year. Or in a couple of years. EU needs to heed this as a warning sign to increase its commitment to building green energy in its member nations. The only viable long-term solution to EU's energy dependency on Russia and other players is to reduce it. And the surest way of doing that is to invest in green energy and energy efficiency. This will cut down on EU's vulnerability to the political games between Russia and her neighbors, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enable EU to meet its Kyoto targets and be beneficial to the environment.

It however remains to be seen what lesson the EU learns from this latest standoff between its main gas supplier (Russia) and main transit nation for the gas supplies (Ukraine).

Going Green in 2009

The Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was developed to provide financial incentive to induce the poorer nations to go green. The environmental benefits of going green have long been touted. Similarly the concomitant economic costs of switching over from a business-as-usual scenario have also long been known.

But in a recent lecture, Vinod Khosla, the venture capitalist with a strong interest in environmental startups, did an actual cost-accounting of various green technologies. "A Prius might save you, depending on your calculations, a half a ton to two tons of carbon a year", said Khosla, " but just painting your (home's) roof white saves you 10 tons of CO2. That's good economics. Instead of spending $5,000 extra for that Prius, you could spend a few hundred dollars to replace the light bulbs in your house with more efficient ones and save a lot more carbon."

He also described a 3-year pilot project in Oakland, CA, involving zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell busses saying it cost $1.61 per mile to operate a diesel vehicle, but more than 30 times that amount—$51.66 per mile—to run a zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell bus.

He also presented data showing that while the all-electric powered GM Volt, expected to be sold starting in 2010, would emit 144 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, the vehicle would also cost a hefty $623 a month to drive and much of the electricity required to power the car would be created by burning coal.

Thus, for green technologies to gain wide acceptance it is necessary that they remain cost-effective. They will not achieve popularity and replace fossil fuel based technologies unless they attain economic viability especially over the cheaper and easily available fossil fuel based mainstream technologies.

Outcome of the Fourteenth Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Fourth Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol

On the last day of the Poznań Conference, delegates were pleased to that the European Union has reached an agreement on climate change. The EU would stick to its pledge to reduce its emissions by 20% by 2020. The EU's climate change package, covering the period from 2013 to 2020, lays down rules for the third phase of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), details individual emission targets for EU member states in sectors not covered by the ETS, and contains a 20% target for renewable energy, a 10% target for biofuels and a 20% target for increasing energy efficiency by 2020.

Also the finishing touches were put to the Kyoto Protocol's adaptation fund, thereby enabling the fund to receive projects in the course of 2009. Parties agreed that the fund (CDM), fed by a share of proceeds from the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism and voluntary contributions, would have a legal capacity granting developing countries direct access

But Parties were unable to reach consensus on scaling up funding for adaptation by agreeing to put a levy on the other two Kyoto mechanisms, Joint Implementation and Emissions Trading. The expected review and improvements in the third mechanism – Clean Development – also were not adopted.

While Barack Obama's victory in the US Presidential elections was a reason for optimism in Poznań, because of his positive stance on climate change mitigation, in Poznań the US was still represented by the Bush administration and remained relatively subdued during the official negotiations. Some felt that uncertainty about the US position in 2009 caused other countries to refrain from making significant political advances in Poznań, and few expect developing countries to make significant moves before developed countries have clarified their positions on emission reductions and financing.

Moreover, while many agreed that the Poznań meeting resulted in some progress and positive steps forward, the general feeling was that negotiators had not achieved any major breakthroughs. Agreement on the most critical issues, including mid- and long-term emission goals and finance, will not be reached before Copenhagen.

All Eyes on Poznań!

The much-awaited Poznań Conference which is supposed to offer a road-map to the final Copenhagen talks that decide the fate of post-2012 climate-change commitments, will conclude today in Poznań, Poland.
Poznań was intended to be a milestone, a landmark event that illuminated a new and shared vision for a new climate change regime. But in these times of global recession, it is proving hard to convince the involved parties to prioritize climate change. Rumblings are already being heard from the EU about adopting a more lax climate change policy in order to ease the economic burden on players already affected by the global economic downturn. The EU has been a leader in climate change mitigation efforts and its cap and trade system, which aims to reduce greenhouse gases in its industrial sector, is the largest carbon market in the world. Clean technologies from the developing world find funding and support from the EU carbon market. It also supports the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions internally, within the EU by making industries pay for each ton, which was above the designated limit, of carbon dioxide that they emitted into the atmosphere.
Even the EU today is cautious and hesitant to play a lead role in any action plan for slowing global warming. USA, under the Obama government, has pledged to reduce U.S. emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and then a further 80 percent by 2050. It remains to be seen how the Government will achieve this reduction.
Poznań was supposed to have paved the way towards the formulation of a strong, dedicated, consensual international climate change treaty in Copenhagen. Instead Parties have stuck to status quo and Poznań seems to function only as a buyer of time until Copenhagen for world leaders.
The outcome of Poznań will be clearly known in the coming hours. We will remain tuned in to see the final results.

DNV Gets Suspended

In its last Executive Board meeting held towards the end of last month, the UNFCCC Panel suspended one of the largest designated operational entity – Norway's DNV - for non-conformities. This was an interesting development. While the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has been criticized by some independent experts including the leading non-governmental environmental organization, the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), the suspension of DNV was unexpected.

The suspension is seen as a sign of the EB getting stricter and more willing to take on reforms in response to the criticism directed at the CDM. Project developers though have been adversely affected by this decision. The EB has disallowed DNV from submitting any new registration or issuance requests. This will hurt project developers who have projects currently in verification and issuance stages with DNV. Project developers will now have to start the process again with another DOE, which is not only time-consuming but also very expensive. Project developers have already been reeling under the delays in the UN CDM certification process and the sudden suspension of one of the largest DOEs is going to further upset the purveyors of carbon credits.

DNV has validated close to half of the projects registered by the UN. The CDM pipeline shows that projects verified by DNV had an average issuance success of 81% and in 2008, of the 342 projects registered by the UN, 136 were validated by DNV. In India 30% of the projects at validation stage have been validated by DNV.

The New American President

Barack Obama's election as President has heralded a new era not only in politics but also in environmentalism. The League of Conservation Voters has given Barack Obama the highest lifetime rating of anyone currently running for president. As per his election campaign, Obama has promised to make combating global warming a top priority. Obama's stance includes ensuring that 10 percent of America's electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025; implementing an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050 and helping create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.

The environment movement could not have found a better ally. Especially in these times when the financial crisis is making even the most die-hard environmentalist rethink his/her commitment to the cause. As markets worldwide slow down, industries in the developed world are putting pressure on their governments in the industrialized world to be less stringent about climate change goals. But as we have written earlier, the fight against global warming can not and should not be stopped, nor should there be any reduction in the intensity of the efforts.

In this context, it is heartening to have a man who believes in the importance of safeguarding the environment and who understands the urgency of the need for action, as President. Of course, it is not going to be smooth sailing and certainly Obama will encounter road-blocks and hiccups. But we can be assured that he will definitely make the strongest effort to rein in climate change.

Article in Times of India on 6th Nov, 2008