eCarbon News

February 2009

eCarbon News is made possible by the generous support of its sponsors:
	Land & Water Australia - Knowledge for managing Australian landscapes
	TreeSmart, providing carbon-neutral travel for Australian travellers

This issue:

• Australian news
• World news
  • Emissions, Kyoto and policy
  • Agriculture and Natural Resource Management
  • Economics and business
  • Energy
  • Sequestration
  • Climate and climate change
  • Adaptation
  • Trading and tax
  • Conferences

Archives of Past Issues | Subscribe

---

Australian news

Climate law scheduled for end of June 2009

Australia's climate change minister has no concerns about the fall in carbon prices in Europe and will not change Australia's plans for carbon trading in 2010, despite mounting business and political pressure to delay carbon trading because of the global economic downturn.
27 February Reuters article

Australia yet to pass emissions trading into law

Australia's proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS) has very modest targets, but even so it is at risk of being sunk by a Senate divided between critics who attack it for going too far and not far enough. Draft legislation for the ETS is to be released as early as next month.
22 February Sydney Morning Herald article

Climate direct link to fires

The United Firefighters Union of Australia joins the Australian Climate Institute in asking the government to take a tougher stance against climate change in an effort to avoid more deadly bushfires. They see a direct link between the Victorian bushfires and climate change based on multiple scientific reports.
20 February ABC article
16 February Herald Tribune article
12 February Reuters article

Carbon future market developing

The upcoming Australian carbon futures market has the potential to overtake the $8 billion a year national electricity market as the country's largest domestic commodity market. Competition will determine which company becomes the preferred contract provider.
19 February Reuters article

Bushfires pump out carbon

Australian bush fires have released millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equivalent to more than a third of the country's CO₂ emissions for a whole year. According to scientists this is far more than we can sequester from planting trees or promoting carbon capture.
13 February The Australian article

New extremes in Australian heat

Australia's deadly heat wave and fires are increasingly likely, due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Climate scientists, citing a 2007 report on projected climate changes, warn that high-fire-danger weather is likely to increase in southeastern Australia.
9 February New York Times article
9 February Reuters article
Report

Can emissions goals stand the heat?

WWF says the Australian 2020 target to cut its greenhouse gas emissions between 5  and 15 per cent below 2000 levels is well below the 25-40 per cent cuts needed, as Australia's biggest greenhouse emitters will get $4.3 billion in free permits in the first year of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
6 February Sydney Morning Herald article

Australia reviews climate statistics

The Australian Bureau of Statistics have delivered a programme review of climate change and official statistics to the UN Economic and Social Council, showing where official statistics can add value to the analysis of environmental, social and economic aspects of climate change adaptation and mitigation.
5 February iisd article
Report (pdf 81kb)

Climate change means more fire and floods

Meteorologists have warned that extreme temperatures and downpours would only increase as a result of climate change. An Eastern Australian heatwave has smashed temperature records and been the longest hot-spell on record in many southern areas while crocodiles are awash in flooded northern streets.
8 February The Australian article
6 February AFP article
6 February ABC article
4 February Australian Bureau of Meteorology article

 Internationally important wetlands

The Australian government released a snapshot report into the health of 65 Australian wetlands of international importance, nominated under the 1971 Ramsar agreement. It shows serious ecological and management issues in the face of drought and dangerous climate change.
2 February Environment News Service article
2 February ABC article
Report

Economic model meltdown

In light of fundamental changes to the global economy, financial modelling of the transition to a low carbon economy is being called into question in Australia. A senate inquiry final report shows that reducing economy-wide carbon emissions will almost certainly not be quick, cheap, or easy.
2 February NineMSN  article
2 February Wall Street Journal article
senate report

Heat worries Australia

Experts worry that Australia, which emits more carbon dioxide per head than any nation on earth, may also be the first to implode under the impact of climate change.  More than 20 sudden deaths were reported in Adelaide during temperatures in excess of 45 Celsius and railway lines in Melbourne buckled under the heat.
1 February The Independent article
31 January BBC article
28 January Voice of America article

World news

Emissions, Kyoto and policy

Agriculture and Natural Resource Management

Birds travel shows climate link

The northward and inland movement of North American birds, confirmed by thousands of citizen-observations, has provided new and powerful evidence that climate change is having a serious impact on natural systems, according to a new report by the Audubon Society.
20 February Science Daily article
11 February BirdLife International article
Report

Good news for tropical forests

Tropical forests are more resilient than scientists previously thought and some second-growth forests are nearly as diverse as the old ones were. Recent research reported that after 20 or 30 years, a portion of regrowth forests can have just as much total plant life or biomass as old-growth forests do.
18 February Discovery article

Water supplies may become more corrosive

According to the U.S. Geological Survey expanding dry spells and worsening storms in dry areas with old mines will flush large amounts of acid out of mine tailings and into the water supply. They found that acidity and dissolved metals in water skyrocket after rain hits an area that had been dry for months.
17 February Discovery article

Fish at risk

Billions of the world's poor are relying on fish which may disappear due to climate change, says the first full-scale study into the problem. For about 2.6 billion people, some 40 per cent of the planet's population, fish makes up a fifth of their protein intake.
13 February BBC article
11 February New Scientist article

Managing forests for fire

Forest management practices in Australia have led to fuel loads building up to unprecedented levels and the February fire disaster will lead to hot debate on how forests should be managed to reduce the risk of future bushfires in the upper part of the fire danger scale.
11 February Christian Science Monitor article
10 February Canberra Times article
10 February BBC article

No rain, no grain in China

China's grain producing eastern provinces had winter rainfall reduced by as much as 80% in the worst drought in 50 years. Close to $USD 13 billion have been allocated for drought relief in direct aid grants to farmers and bail outs for grain producers and oil companies have been asked to help out.
7 February Los Angeles Times article
7 February Xinhua Net article
7 February Bloomberg article

World needs sustainable crops

Conservation agriculture is essential for sustainable and productive farming systems according to the director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Plant Production and Protection Division. Aside from restoring soil health, it also saves on energy use in agriculture.
6 February Business Mirror article
FAO Plant Production and Protection website

Threat to water sources

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Asian Institute of Technology report “Freshwater Under Threat: South Asia,” highlights the threat climate change poses to the freshwater supply of hundreds of millions of people.
6 February iisd article
Report (pdf 2.4 MB)

No increase in arctic fishery

The American North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) voted unanimously to close off more than 150,000 square nautical miles of the Arctic sea to commercial fishing as a preventative measure to protect fisheries that have become more accessible as a result of declining sea ice in the Arctic.
6 February Mongabay article
5 February New York Times article

Indian Ocean key to Australian drought

In findings that will help give farmers more reliable long-range weather forecasts, scientists have found that Australia's severe drought is being driven by temperature fluctuations in the Indian Ocean. The National Farmers Federation see this as boon to on-farm decision-making.
5 February Farm Weekly article
5 February ABC article

Economics and business

Scots drive towards renewable energy

Energy workers risk being left behind in the fight against climate change unless they get training to broaden skills, Scotland's unions have warned. The Scottish Government's proposed climate change legislation hopes to see an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by making Scotland a world leader in environmental standards.
24 February BBC article

America moves closer to climate laws

The US president wants an economy-wide law on carbon emissions and is pressing Congress to draft and pass legislation that would cut greenhouse gases by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. The US Environmental Protection Agency will soon rule on the regulation of carbon dioxide, finding that it represents a danger to the public.
22 February CNN money article

Business upbeat for climate success

A joint statement from the climate change roundtable of global business representatives shows business is committed to a positive outcome at this years climate negotiations, calling for increased focus on energy-efficiency and the removal of "counter-productive taxes and tariffs".
20 February EurActiv article

Where is the climate adaptation funding?

The world's richest countries have pledged nearly $18billion USD in the last seven years to help poorer countries adapt to climate change, but less than $0.9bn has been disbursed and long delays are plaguing many funds. This is increasing distrust between nations and is seriously undermining key negotiations on a global climate deal.
20 February the Guardian article

Climate change and economy work together

Having to choose between climate change mitigation and the economy is a myth while an effective transition to a low-carbon economy can potentially "stimulate economic growth, create jobs and bring benefits to consumers, according to a report from McKinsey & Company.
19 February Euractiv article
Report (pdf 1.6MB)

Canada goes green in Ontario

Ontario prepares to bring in a deficit budget and a Green Energy Act that it hopes will transform the province's ailing economy and create 50,000 new jobs. The premier looks to put idled manufacturing plants back on line to create jobs.with green energy projects such as wind turbines and solar panel farms.
17 February Canadian Press article

Climate investors grow

More investors want the companies in which they sink their money to report climate change-related risks and opportunities. The number of investors looking for corporate climate change information through the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) grew by nearly 25 percent this year over 2008.
11 February ClimateBiz article

Australian business wants to know more

More than half of Australia's business chiefs believe they have not received adequate information about the impact of climate change on business and the commercial consequences of carbon constraint ahead of an emissions trading scheme starting in 2010.
9 February The Australian article

US to push low carbon economy

President Obama has given American business the sign to compete in the low carbon economy and win. He has indicating to energy investors and green entrepreneurs that America is now the place to do business for legislation that would invest US $150 billion in a clean energy economy.
9 February Renewable Energy World article
6 February TimesOnline article

Call for green travel

Travel consumers are increasingly expecting travel operators to offer climate neutral products in 'business as usual' operations instead of paying additional and optional fees while some call for  legislation requiring airlines to offset the carbon footprint of their aircraft.
6 February Las Vegas Sun article
2 February CNN article

Energy

Where do I plug in?

Recharging stations for electric cars are getting some US attention as Rocky Mountain Institute's Project Get Ready, starts to coordinate, develop and promote efforts to prepare for a plug-in infrastructure. Their community based approach begins with three cities, Portland, Indianapolis and Raleigh.
25 February LA Times article
Project Get Ready website

Clean energy development needed

While technological discoveries and energy solutions we haven't yet imagined are needed to help drive down the cost of alternative forms of energy, including economical clean coal plants, vastly improved energy storage, research and development investment are falling far short to seed those discoveries.
20 February Time article
20 February Mercury News article

Canadian tar sands at the table

During US President Obama's first trip abroad, he and Canadian Prime Minister Harper agreed to collaborate on the development of clean energy science and technologies to address carbon emissions from coal-fired plants and tar sands, which produce emissions three times greater than a conventional barrel of oil.
18 February MSNBC article
19 February NPR article

Nanotubes and sunlight

In a breakthrough requiring only natural sunlight, an array of nanotubes is able to convert a mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapour into natural gas at unprecedented rates. This offers a new way to take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into fuel.
18 February New Scientist article

Spain gains from windy weather

High winds have slashed energy prices in Spain where so many wind farms have been built in recent years that high winds and the subsequent surge of electricity into the national grid now has an immediate impact on its sale price.
9 February Guardian article

Joint US China cooperation on clean energy

The world's top two energy consumers, China and the United States, are building on cleaner energy initiatives and gaining access to the right decision makers in China's centralized government, where there are only two main power grid companies compared to thousands in the US.
7 February Reuters article
JUCCCE Forum

Sweden to replace current reactors

Sweden will overturn a 1980 ban on replacing aging nuclear power stations to help combat climate change and secure the nation's energy supply. While no state money will be provided for nuclear projects, hydro and nuclear power will remain the sources of Swedish electricity production.
5 February BBC article
5 February Financial Times article

Utah drilling leases cancelled

Sale of American oil and gas leases covering more than 100,000 acres near national parks in the state of Utah have been stopped by the Obama government as part of a reform agenda, citing insufficient environmental evaluations and consultations.
4 February Environmental News Service article
4 February Reuters article

Credit for coal mine methane

A UN commission offers guidance for the carbon credit market about reliable carbon credit supplies from Coal Mine Methane (CMM) projects worldwide. They summarize ten main misconceptions about projects allowing companies to reduce their net emissions by investing in projects that avoid emissions elsewhere.
2 February iisd article
UN CMM website and report pdf (73kb)
27 January, Oil Voice article

Sequestration

Forest carbon accounting surprise

The hemlock woolly adelgid is killing hemlock trees faster than expected in the southern Appalachian region in the US and rapidly altering the carbon cycle of these forests according to the most recent issue of the journal Ecosystems.
26 February Science Daily article

Increaseing value of forest carbon

New research indicates that if all carbon emissions are included in a global management plan regardless of their origin, deforestation would slow and could reverse, as managers place limits on the expansion of biofuels production, and emission control becomes cheaper.
27 February Terra Daily article
13 February Science Daily article

Soil carbon storage influences

The practise of no-till farming which often increases organic matter has been proposed as a measure to mitigate atmospheric carbon dioxide increases. Canadian researchers show that the effect of no-till on carbon sequestration varies depending on soil and climatic conditions, and nutrient management practises.
26 February Scientist Live article

New Zealand Emissions Trading review

A forestry director has sent the Government a wish list of changes to New Zealand's controversial Emissions Trading Scheme. Steve Wilton says the ETS can't be replaced by a carbon tax now because pre-1990 forest owners will already have filed deforestation returns and applied for compensation carbon units.
23 February Times-Age article

Indonesian fires show population growth

Severe fires, common in populous Sumatra, are now linked not only to drought, but also to changes in land use and population density. Even in dry years, Indonesian Borneo had been resistant to large fires until population density and deforestation increased along with large-scale industrial agriculture and agro-forestry.
22 February Science Daily article

America coming clean on coal

There is growing debate in the U.S. as former Vice President Al Gore says the United States, where coal generates 50 percent of electricity, must end its reliance on fossil fuels within the next 10 years and President Barack Obama has pledged his support for clean coal technology
4 February Bloomberg article.
5 February Detroit News article
5 February The Examiner article

Climate and climate change

Positive feedback not so positive

A review in the journal Science shows mechanisms where global warming causes higher humidity in the atmosphere and, because water vapour itself is a greenhouse gas, this will cause additional warming. This water vapour feedback is responsible for a significant portion of the warming predicted to occur over the next century.
20 February Science Daily article
19 February Texas A&M article with video

America considers National Climate Service

The US may create a National Climate Service to join the ranks of the UK Climate Impacts Programme in Oxford and Germany's Climate Service Center in Hamburg which provide a focal point for decision-makers seeking information about climate vulnerabilities and projections.
19 February NatureNews article
13 February SEED article

New reasons for speedy artic melt

Two studies indicate new reasons the arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. In addition to shrinking ice caps, the greenhouse effect is stronger above the North Pole, and the waters of the Arctic Ocean are acting like a radiator to heat the region's atmosphere.
18 Februry New Scientist article
Climate Dynamics abstract

World Bank warns of climate change in Andes

Global climate change threatens the complete disappearance of the Andes tropical glaciers within the next 20 years, putting precious water, energy and food sources at risk. A World Bank report says glacial retreat has already made a 12 percent reduction in the water supply to Peru's dry coastline, home to 60 percent of the country's population.
17 February AP article

Climate change underestimated

Dr Chris Field, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has announced that soaring greenhouse gas emissions, driven by a surge in electricity generated from coal, mean the last IPCC report on climate change in 2007 had substantially underestimated the severity of global warming over the rest of the century.
16 February Guardian article
15 February The Australian article

'Funny' Arctic emissions

Large amounts of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, are being spewed out by arctic peatlands, adding more powerful greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. Higher than expected emissions were measured from melting peat circles in northern Russia
15 February New Scientist article

Caution urged in claiming climate cause

Scientists at the UK's top climate research centre have urged journalists and scientists alike to avoid sensational claims in the face of extreme weather events. They say distractions from the basic facts that the implications of climate change are profound and will be severe may undermine efforts to tackle carbon emissions.
11 February Guardian article
20 February BBC article
18 February The Ecologist article
4 February Climate Ark article

Science is probably clearer than we think

Public misunderstanding about the probabilities of climate change is leading people to think science is less certain than it is. According to tests on volunteers in the US, the way that science expresses the probability of climate change impacts does not always carry the intended meaning.
10 February New Scientist article

Fires clear climate evidence

Amid the raging devastation of wild fires in Australia we are reminded that this is the new fire regime of climate change, showing the difference a degree or two of additional heat, and a dry soil, can make to the ferocity of a fire. Predicted by climate models and yet still beyond belief, the early impacts of an unstable climate show the challenges of adapting to future changes.
11 February The Age article
10 February ABC Late Night Live Podcast
10 February Guardian article
10 February The Age article
10 February Washington Post article
10 February Sydney Morning Herald
National article, Environment article
9 February ABC article

Sea levels rising ever faster

The ice caps are melting so fast that the world’s oceans are rising more than twice as fast as they were in the 1970s when compounded by thermal expansion, in which water expands as it warms. New data shows that in the past 15 years sea levels have been rising at 3.4mm a year.
8 February Times Online article

Sea not level

A new study shows that due to gravitational effects, sea-level rise could be higher by 25% in the oceans bordering North America and in the Indian Ocean than it would be in the rest of the world as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet melts.
6 February AP article
5 February Mongabay article
Journal abstract

Acid ocean threatens global food

Through the Monaco Declaration, more than 150 leading marine scientists from 26 countries call for immediate action by policy-makers to sharply reduce carbon dioxide emissions to avoid widespread and severe damage to marine ecosystems from ocean acidification which is already detectable.
5 February Science Daily article
2 February Knight Journal Tracker article
Ocean Acidification Network

More arctic open water storms

A study shows arctic storms could worsen because of shrinking sea ice around the North Pole. More powerful storms that form only over open water and can cause hurricane-strength winds will pose a threat to possible new businesses such as oil and gas exploration, fisheries or shipping.
4 February Reuters article
Journal abstract

Urgent call from US energy secretary

Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate appointed as US energy secretary, is looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California. He said Americans had yet to fully understand the urgency of dealing with climate change and raising public awareness was crucial to that transformation.
4 February Guardian News article
4 February Los Angeles Times article

Expanding tropics catch new territory

California is headed toward one of the worst water crises in its history while new research suggests that their three-year drought may be a consequence of the expanding tropics, which are gradually growing as human emissions of greenhouse gases warm the planet.
5 February Mercury News article
1 February New Scientist article
Journal abstract

Adaptation

Escape plans for Pacific islands

Expecting to be among the first drowning victims of global warming, the presidents of Pacific islands Kiribati, with the world’s largest marine preserve and the Maldives, a chain of some 1,200 Indian Ocean islands, have drafted escape plans.
28 February Science News article

Adapting to some inevitable changes

Some scientists say the world should work on mitigation and adaptation strategies to prepare for 4 °C of warming and accept that changes are inevitable. Using an interactive map to display predictions, success in dealing with a warmer world may depend on how much time we have to adapt.
26 February New Scientist article

Calls to consider mass migrations

The international community is being asked by the government of Bangladesh to design climate change adaptation strategy considering the possibility of huge migration from twenty percent of the country's total landmass vulnerable to go under the sea as an impact of climate change.
25 February The New Nation article

EU strategic disaster prevention plan

The European Commission say disaster prevention must be integrated into other EU policies and seeks areas where EU-level action brings added value to national responses, based on effective use of existing resources. They recommend anticipation and good planning exercises in advance of adaptation.
24 February EurActiv article

Lesser increases may mean greater adaptation

New analysis of climate findings titled "Assessing Dangerous Climate Change Through an Update of the IPCC 'Reasons for Concern." shows that climate impacts may be triggered with less temperature increase than thought indicating that emissions mitigation and climate adaptation are complements, not trade-offs.
23 February EurekAlert article

English engineers look to a changed future

A UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers climate adaptation report recommends more underground reservoirs to combat increased evaporation during drought, and a subterranean water-distribution system. They say electricity should be produced from a mix of renewable sources and new cities should direct heat away from buildings.
21 February New Scientist article

Climate complex link to malaria

Climate change may speed up the spread of malaria in cooler countires by influencing how temperature fluctuates throughout the day. Current maps showing climate influenced spread of malaria may overestimate the risk in warmer environments, but underestimate it in colder areas.
18 February ABC article

New York City Prepares

Climate change projections specific to New York City have been prepared showing that as a low-lying coastal city, New York will face higher temperatures and more rapidly rising sea levels, as well as more frequent and intense extreme weather events - like heat waves, heavy rainstorms, and coastal flooding.
18 February Environment News Service article

Disappearing destinations

A list of five famous places to go before global warming messes them up highlights that some great travel spots are expected to be altered or ruined by global climate change. The Great Barrier reef, New Orleans and Rocky Mountain National Park join the Swiss Alps and the Amazon Rainforest as the most vulnerable.
17 February CNN article
US News Disappearing Destinations map

New Global Climate Adaptation Network

The Ecosystems and Livelihoods Adaptation Network, or ELAN, is a new international network of resource managers, scientists and decision-makers formed to help some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and societies cope with the impacts of global climate change.
5 February Environment News Service  article

About that beach house

New understanding  in massive sea level rise from potential ice sheet melting suggests that planning for sea level rise should aim a little higher in the Northern hemisphere. Factors include the gravitational force of the ice sheet, resulting changes in the Earth's rotation and a rebound of the ocean bottom.
5 February LA Times article
5 February Oregon State University article

Nature's laboratory on disasters

Bangladesh has instituted a climate change trust and allocated an initial $43.5 million fund in a nation where up to 40 percent of the investment in development and infrastructure in Bangladesh is likely to be affected by climate change.
2 February Reuters article
3 February COP15news article
15 January Nature article

Trading and tax

Energy-state lawmakers unhappy

U.S. energy producers will pay new taxes and fees, lose existing tax breaks and face changing accounting rules under the President's proposed $31.5  billion tax increase on oil and gas producers, much to the dismay of oil producing states.
27 February Huston Chronicle article

Obama in step with California climate blueprint

America's federal cap and trade proposal matches California's plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions by reduce emissions through cap and trade, which allows emitters to buy and sell emissions permits on an open market, cap emissions to return the US to 1990 levels by 2020, and auction a large amount of the initial emissions permits.
27 February LA Times article
27 February Reuters article

Carbon price plunge

The collapse in the international price of carbon is threatening the Australian Government's ability to pay for compensation packages in the emissions trading scheme without drawing on the budget.
18 February The Age article

Make no allowances for oilsands

A new environmental study warns that other regions of Canada would suffer if a national cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions made allowances for Alberta's oilsands. This is critical of Canada's suggested intensity-based approach, allowing emissions to rise with growing output.
17 February Canadian Press article

Australian emission limit reduced

After a year-long review by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change committee, Australia has been given a tougher target to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and faces the prospect of paying an extra $870 million if it is above the carbon emissions target at the end of 2012.
13 February The Australian article

Emission Trading review

Australian emissions trading parliamentary inquiry was called off while coal investors seek increased industry compensation and Garnaut, the Rudd Government's climate change adviser, cautions undermining global climate change efforts and raising the costs for Australian households.
27 February The Australian article
16 February Business Spectator article
12 February The Australian article
12 February Reuters article

Carbon credit drop

The price of carbon has hit new lows as power generators and industrial companies continue to cash in credits under the emissions trading scheme (ETS) to bolster their balance sheets,  plunging to almost one third of the price per tonne compared with highs of more than €30 in July last year.
6 February Guardian article

Trade, not taxation for the Americans

There are calls for the US to control greenhouse gases through a cap and trade mechanism designed to guarantee steady emissions reductions, encourage innovation, and ensure a measure of fairness to low income consumers and coal dependent regions.
6 February The Guardian article
6 February OPB News article
4 February Land Line Magazine article

Cap and Trade in the lead

Senator John Kerry announced at the World Sustainable Development Forum that America intends to lead on climate change negotiations, indicating that the US expects to have a cap and trade program with emission caps and trade regulations set up by the end of this year, as long as developing countries contribute.
5 February SEED article
3 February Washington Times article

Conferences

28th Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries

2-6 March 2009, Rome, Italy. This meeting will discuss management of deep-sea fisheries in the high seas; combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing; securing sustainable small-scale fisheries; and climate change and fisheries and aquaculture.
Details

Climate Change and Ocean Acidification (at the 11th Pacific Science Inter-Congress)

2-6 March 2009, Tahiti. This sub-theme aims to describe and assess the variability of climate, past and future, in the context of the present greenhouse effect and document the extent, magnitude and future trajectory of ocean acidification in the Pacific region, its impact on marine organisms and ecosystems, and its potential socio-economic implications.
Details

Beyond Kyoto: Addressing the Challenges of Climate Change

5-7 March 2009, University of Aarhus, Science meets Industry, Policy and Public. During this 2-day conference followed by 1-day technical excursions to a selection of related private and public demonstration sites you will have the opportunity to gain cutting edge knowledge, share and develop ideas and network with key players on the international climate scene.
Details

International Scientific Congress on Climate Change

10-12 March 2009, Copenhagen- Sponsored by the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) this conference is part of the run-up to the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen at the end of 2009. All findings will be compiled in a book on climate change, and a synthesis report with the main findings from the congress will be handed over to policy makers at the COP15.
Details

Carbon Market Insights 2009

17-19 March 2009 Bella Center Copenhagen, Denmark The forum will discuss the way forward for international climate policy, look at the impacts of the financial crisis on carbon markets and discuss whether the economic downturn could reduce the chances of reaching a new climate agreement.
Details

7th Climate Prediction Applications Science Workshop

24 - 27 March 2009, Norman, Oklahoma The CPAS workshop brings together a diverse group of climate applications researchers, climate product producers, and users to share developments in research and applications related to the use of climate predictions in societal decision-making.
Details

Greenhouse 2009

23 to 26 March 2009, Perth Australia. GREENHOUSE 2009: Climate Change & Resources. Major themes will include agriculture, biodiversity, human settlements and water.
Details

Climate 21, Agriculture and Food Futures, Perth

27 March, 2009, Perth Australia. Climate 21, a one-day event offers the latest research and thinking on climate change from a WA regional perspective and follows the Greenhouse 2009 conference.
Details

5th AustralAsian Cleantech Forum

25-26 March 2009 at The Park Hyatt, Melbourne. The 5th AustralAsian Cleantech Forum will bring a global focus to the world class cleantech products, services and innovation in finance and investment that is positioning Australia at the forefront of the cleantech revolution in the region.
Details

Biodiversity and Climate Change

30 March 2009 - 3 April 2009. Helsinki, Finland. The second meeting of the Ad hoc Technical Expert Group on Biodiversity and Climate Change is organized by the CBD Secretariat.
Details

Biomass in Future Landscapes

31 March - 1 April 2009, Berlin, Germany . Organised by the German Biomass Research Center (DBFZ) iwith the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) to discuss sustainable biomass use in the context of spatial planning. Key issues are the current and future status of global biomass-use, identification of relevant potentials and possible impacts of the exploitation.
Details

7th Annual Navigating the American Carbon World conference and trade fair

1-3  April 2009. San Diego, California USA. Supported by a landmark partnership between Point Carbon; the California Climate Action Registry; and IETA (International Emissions Trading Association).
Details

European Geosciences Union General Assembly

19–24 April 2009, Vienna, Austria. General Assembly 2009 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) including a special NEESPI Session (BG2.2) "Land-Atmosphere-Cryosphere Interactions in Northern Eurasia".
Details

Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Scoping Workshop

28-30 April 2009, Moss Landing, California, USA.Focused on the implementation of a long-term observing system for marine biogeochemistry.
Details

Towards a Global Forest Carbon Monitoring System (GEOSS workshop XXVI)

3 May 2009-02-06, Palazzo dei Congressi de Stresa, Italy. The overall theme of the symposium is the use of Earth Observation systems and airborne techniques for understanding and managing the Earth environment and natural resources.
Details

2nd International Lund RCM Workshop: 21st Century Challenges in Regional Climate Modelling

4-8 May 2009, Lund, Sweden
Details

Large cities climate summit

18-21 May 2009, Seoul, Korea. The theme of the Seoul Summit is ‘Cities’ Achievements and Challenges in the Fight against Climate Change’. The Summit is expected to attract the mayors from the C40 Group to share their policies and experiences on this issue through plenaries and sessions.
Details

World Business Summit on Climate Change

24-26 May 2009, Copenhagen. Delivering recommendations to a new climate treaty, sponsored by Copenhagen Climate Council
Details

Call for papers

In 2009 the Nordic legal journal 'Retfærd' will publish a special edition on ’Integrating Energy and Climate Security in Law and Policy’.
Details contact Christina Voigt

UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies

The 30th sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA)  1-12 June Bonn, Germany.
Details

2009 International Energy Workshop

17th - 19 June, Venice. The IEW provides a venue for scholars and researchers to compare quantitative energy projections and to analyse the interrelationship between climate change and energy. This meeting will include three plenary sessions, each one hosting two key-note talks, and approximately 80 presentations covering a wide array of topics.
Details

3rd GLOBEC Open Science Meeting. Marine ecosystems: from function to prediction

22-26 June, Victoria, BC Canada.  GLOBEC is the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) core project responsible for understanding how global change will affect the abundance, diversity and productivity of marine populations.
Details

European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Conference
24-27 June 2009, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Deadline for submission of papers is February 1, 2009.
Details

6th International Scientific Conference on the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment and 2nd iLEAPS Science Conference

24-28 August 2009, Melbourne, Australia. The conferences will hold joint sessions on three common themes of water, energy, and biogeochemical cycles with keynote talks, oral and poster presentations. This provides the opportunity for cross-fertilization between the sciences represented by both GEWEX, as part of the World Climate Research Programme, and iLEAPS, as part of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme in addressing present and future climate and global change challenges.
Details

2009 Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Annual Conference

8-11 September 2009, Leicester. New Dimensions in Earth Observation and CarboAfrica workshop, Remote Sensing of Fire for National Greenhouse Gas Accounting
Details and workshop brochure (PDF.3MB)

8th International Carbon Dioxide Conference

13-19 September 2009, Jena, Germany
Details

OceanObs'09 Ocean Information for Society: Sustaining the Benefits, Realizing the Potential

21-25 September 2009, Venice, Italy
Details

Peatlands in the Global Carbon Cycle (The 2nd International Symposium)

25-30 September 2009, Prague, Czech Republic. The symposium will focus on the role and importance of peatlands in the global carbon cycle.
Details

World Meteorological Congress

12-16 October, Geneva, Switzerland. Predicting Weather and Climate for a Changing World. Climate prediction for decision-making: focusing on seasonal to interannual time-scales.
Details

Carbon Cycling in Tropical Ecosystems (23rd New Phytologist Symposium)

17–20 November 2009, Guangzhou, China. In this symposium we will define the issues of carbon cycling in tropical environments at global and regional scales.
Details
 
15th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP15) and 5th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (MOP5)

7-18 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark. These meetings will coincide with the 31st meetings of the UNFCCC’s subsidiary bodies. Under the “roadmap” agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali in December 2007, COP 15 and COP/MOP 5 are expected to finalize an agreement on a framework for combating climate change post-2012 (when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period ends)
Details

 

Archives of Past Issues | Subscribe

eCarbon News is made possible by the generous support of its sponsors:
	Land & Water Australia - Knowledge for managing Australian landscapes
	TreeSmart, providing carbon-neutral travel for Australian travellers