Thursday, January 29, 2015

IRENA Report Examines Renewables’ Potential to Solve Water, Food and Energy Challenges

January 2015: A report titled 'Renewable Energy in the Water, Energy and Food Nexus,' which was released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), finds that renewable energy has the potential to generate significant water savings, increase long-term food sustainability and bolster energy security.

The report highlights how renewables help ease the trade-offs among the water, agricultural and energy sectors through heightened water conservation, availability, accessibility and quality.

As one of many example cases from around the world presented in the report, the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) renewable energy plans are highlighted as having the potential to reduce the power sector's water withdrawals by 20%. In agricultural supply chains, the report argues renewables can lower cost volatility, and in the energy sector the authors note that renewable processes and technologies are less resource-intensive.

The report also records renewables' added benefits of cutting pollution, fossil-fuel dependency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In addition to explaining the role of solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower and related technologies in solving these interconnected challenges, the authors dedicate a section to bioenergy. They find that sustainably and efficiently managed bioenergy production and use can also advance water, energy and food security.

The report was released on the margins of the World Future Energy Summit and International Water Summit, held in January 2015 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). [IRENA Press Release] [IRENA Publication Webpage] [Publication: Renewable Energy in the Water, Energy and Food Nexus]

read more: http://energy-l.iisd.org/news/irena-report-examines-renewables-potential-to-solve-water-food-and-energy-challenges/

 

 

Monday, January 26, 2015

Help Small Island States Win Their Battle Against Climate Change by Achim Steiner

Earth’s fate is inextricably linked to 52 nations threatened by rising sea levels – the rest of the world should not let them drown

Many of the planet’s most prized destinations, places considered exquisite and idyllic, where nature seems bountiful and people appear at ease, are under threat. In less than a decade, climate change-induced sea level rise could force thousands of people to migrate from some of the world’s 52 small island developing states (Sids).

How Sids respond to threats such as sea level rise, and the degree of support they receive, is indicative of how we, collectively, will adapt to a host of climate change impacts in the coming decades.

When we think of Sids, we may be tempted to imagine small patches of paradise scattered with lightly populated fishing villages, unfettered by the demands of modernity. In fact, almost one in every 100 of us is from a small island developing state.

Sids boast a diversity of cultures, natural resources, biodiversity, and indigenous knowledge that makes them mainstays of our planetary ecosystem. From the multi-billion dollar economy of Singapore, to Papua New Guinea, one of the least explored countries in the world where 1,000 cultural groups are thought to exist, to the very remote Niue, which is one of the world’s largest coral islands – each small island developing state is endowed with its own unique attributes.

Yet what they increasingly share in common are escalating environmental threats that are further aggravated by economic insecurities. Sea level rise is among the most daunting of these threats, which in some regions is up to four times the global average.

According to recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates, if average global temperatures increase by approximately 4C, sea levels could rise as much as one metre by 2100, a scenario that would see nations such as Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands and Tuvalu become uninhabitable, while a large share of the population of many other Sids could be displaced or otherwise.

What makes this situation even more grievous is that the climate change threats facing many Sids are by-and-large not of their own making. Their total combined annual carbon dioxide output, although rising, accounts for less than 1% of global emissions.

A girl sits on tree root at Teaoraereke, South Tarawa

Sids are suffering disproportionately from acts of environmental negligence of which we are collectively guilty. Larger economies, until recently, have managed better than small ones to mask the impacts of exhausting their natural capital and contributing heavily to greenhouse gas emissions, but the consequences of this neglect are catching up with them too.

Many of the planet’s most prized destinations, places considered exquisite and idyllic, where nature seems bountiful and people appear at ease, are under threat. In less than a decade, climate change-induced sea level rise could force thousands of people to migrate from some of the world’s 52 small island developing states (Sids).

How Sids respond to threats such as sea level rise, and the degree of support they receive, is indicative of how we, collectively, will adapt to a host of climate change impacts in the coming decades.

When we think of Sids, we may be tempted to imagine small patches of paradise scattered with lightly populated fishing villages, unfettered by the demands of modernity. In fact, almost one in every 100 of us is from a small island developing state.

Sids boast a diversity of cultures, natural resources, biodiversity, and indigenous knowledge that makes them mainstays of our planetary ecosystem. From the multi-billion dollar economy of Singapore, to Papua New Guinea, one of the least explored countries in the world where 1,000 cultural groups are thought to exist, to the very remote Niue, which is one of the world’s largest coral islands – each small island developing state is endowed with its own unique attributes.

Yet what they increasingly share in common are escalating environmental threats that are further aggravated by economic insecurities. Sea level rise is among the most daunting of these threats, which in some regions is up to four times the global average.

According to recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates, if average global temperatures increase by approximately 4C, sea levels could rise as much as one metre by 2100, a scenario that would see nations such as Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands and Tuvalu become uninhabitable, while a large share of the population of many other Sids could be displaced or otherwise.

What makes this situation even more grievous is that the climate change threats facing many Sids are by-and-large not of their own making. Their total combined annual carbon dioxide output, although rising, accounts for less than 1% of global emissions.

Sids are suffering disproportionately from acts of environmental negligence of which we are collectively guilty. Larger economies, until recently, have managed better than small ones to mask the impacts of exhausting their natural capital and contributing heavily to greenhouse gas emissions, but the consequences of this neglect are catching up with them too.

Responses to these threats that apply the business-as-usual economic models that have brought them to the state of economic and environmental vulnerability they are in today will be temporary at best, and catastrophic at worst. That is why Sids are beginning to take the first steps on a blue-green economy transition – a strategy that targets resource efficiency and clean technology, is carbon neutral and socially inclusive, will provide a healthy environment and help conserve resources, while integrating traditional knowledge and giving priority to island community and culture that will build their resilience to the impacts of climate change.

But we should not look at climate change threats in isolation from other influenced by human activities, because climate change is in fact exacerbating problems that we have already created, such as desertification, biodiversity loss, and food insecurity.

Take the degradation of marine ecosystems as an example. A number of studies show that it is overfishing that currently outweighs all other human impacts on marine ecosystems, including climate change. With Sids accounting for seven out of 10 of the world’s countries most dependent on fish and seafood consumption, reducing emissions alone will not be enough to ensure a sufficient supply of fish in the future.

The governments of these small island states are recognising that many policies of the past have left them ill-prepared to respond to the impacts of climate change, and it is this awareness that is motivating them to make sustainable economic growth the cornerstone of their development.

The energy sector, where they are leading the switch to renewables, is a prime example of necessity driving innovation and change. On average, Pacific island households spend approximately 20% of their household income on energy, and can often pay up to 400% more per kilowatt-hour of electricity than the United States.

As a result, many states are now developing their domestic renewable energy markets. For instance, the small South Pacific island of Tokelau is close to meeting 100% of its energy needs through renewables – even powering generators with locally produced coconut biofuel.

And Barbados, already the leading producer of solar water heaters in the Caribbean, is set to save an estimated $283.5m (£171m) through a 29% switch to renewables by 2029.

From valuing and managing their natural resources, to putting the right incentives in place to switch to renewable energy, Sids are leading the blue-green economy transition. And next week, at the third international conference on Sids in Samoa, they will reaffirm their commitment to advancing national sustainable development goals in front of a global audience. What they need from the rest of the world is the solidarity, technologies, and resources to act on that commitment on a scale that will radically change their fortunes.

It is hoped that the new international climate change agreement currently being negotiated, and which will be adopted at the Paris conference in 2015, might help to relieve some of their economic burden of adapting to the impacts of climate change, while also reducing the severity of the impacts by reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

Supporting Sids on this journey of transition provides an unprecedented opportunity to be part of game-changing socioeconomic solutions that can be applied in broader contexts and bigger economies.

We should look upon Sids as microcosms of our larger society, and not stand back and allow them to grapple with a threat for which they are largely inculpable. More

 

 

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The Great Global Lie By Richard W. Rahn

Offshore financial centers owe their prosperity to tax transparency, not tax evasion

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands — January 13, 2015 - Cayman is prosperous, in part, because of a great global lie, which causes many big rich nations to pursue bad economic policies. The global lie is that the developed countries have too little government, rather than too much

 

That lie causes countries to tax themselves far above the level that would maximize the general welfare and job creation. That lie causes governments to spend money on many nonproductive activities and to spend money far less efficiently than the private sector for the same activity. Finally, that lie causes governments to regulate excessively and often in a destructive manner. The simple and obvious empirical fact that most developing and developed countries with smaller government sectors have grown faster in recent decades than those countries with big government sectors is ignored both by the politicians and many in the media

The Economist magazine is just out with its annual lists of economic forecasts for the major developed countries. It makes for depressing reading. The euro area (including Germany, France, Italy and Spain) and Japan had less than 1 percent growth in 2014, and are forecast to average only about 1 percent growth in 2015, which is little more than stagnation. Britain and the United States are doing the best — having growth of about 2.9 percent for Britain and 2.3 percent for the United States in 2014 — with a forecast of approximately 3 percent growth for both in 2015. These numbers are all well below the averages for the great prosperity that lasted for the 25-year period from 1983 to 2007. The unemployment rate for the eurozone at the end of this past year was 11.5 percent (depression levels)

The political classes in these countries, rather than taking responsibility for their own misguided policies, look for scapegoats. Their favorite scapegoats are high-growth countries with low tax rates on savings and investment. They blame offshore financial centers like Cayman, Hong Kong, Bermuda, and even mid-sized countries like Switzerland for engaging in "unfair tax competition.

Critics of Cayman and other offshore financial centers call them "tax havens," ignoring the fact that they all have many taxes, particularly on consumption — which is good tax policy — rather than on productive labor and capital — which is bad tax policy. The statist political actors in the high-tax jurisdictions will not admit that people do not work, save and invest if they are going to be overly taxed and otherwise abused by their own governments. Those who are able will pick up some of their marbles and move them to places where they will be better treated.

Cayman and other offshore financial centers originally arose because of a need to have places that facilitate the movement of marbles (aka savings). Cayman is too small (only 100 square miles and 50,000 people) to be the ultimate destination of wealth trying to escape oppression — but it has the rule of law, an honest court system and protects private property — which allows it to become a protected way station for productive investment throughout the world, including the United States.

Cayman now has almost total tax transparency with the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States as a result of tax information exchange agreements; yet its financial sector continues to grow — more company licenses, more of the world's hedge funds (with total assets of almost $2 trillion), and more insurance companies. This growth is not driven by tax evasion, but mainly by regulatory and civil court efficiency and integrity

The chairman of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange, Anthony Travers, recently wrote in the IFC Review: "Paradoxically, what now becomes clear as a result of this increased tax transparency is that the historical arguments of the NGOs [non-governmental organizations] in relation to the extent of tax evasion in the offshore jurisdictions are proven to be the purest nonsense. Not only have the Tax Information Exchange Agreements failed to generate any discernible revenue but what will now be shown is that the tax revenues generated for the benefit of the USA and the U.K. Treasuries from FATCA [Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act] will be marginal."

The fact is the world would be poorer with even less growth if the offshore financial centers did not exist — because the amount of productive investment and its efficient allocation would be less. The offshore centers are merely a response to bad tax, regulatory and spending policies in most of the major, rich countries. The major countries could conquer the offshore centers, but as the smart people know, that would make the rich countries poorer, and without a convenient scapegoat. Or, the rich countries could reduce the size of their own governments, cut tax rates on capital, and make their regulatory systems cost-efficient. Such actions would reignite growth and job creation — but reduce the power of the political and international bureaucratic classes — so they continue the big lie.Richard W. Rahn

Richard W. Rahn is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth.

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/12/richard-rahn-cayman-islands-owe-prosperty-to-trans/

 

 

Saturday, January 10, 2015

On a tropical island, fossils reveal past -- and possible future -- of polar ice

The balmy islands of Seychelles couldn’t feel farther from Antarctica, but their fossil corals could reveal much about the fate of polar ice sheets.

About 125,000 years ago, the average global temperature was only slightly warmer, but sea levels rose high enough to submerge the locations of many of today’s coastal cities. Understanding what caused seas to rise then could shed light on how to protect those cities today.

The balmy islands of Seychelles couldn’t feel farther from Antarctica, but their fossil corals could reveal much about the fate of polar ice sheets.

About 125,000 years ago, the average global temperature was only slightly warmer, but sea levels rose high enough to submerge the locations of many of today’s coastal cities. Understanding what caused seas to rise then could shed light on how to protect those cities today.

By examining fossil corals found on the Indian Ocean islands, University of Florida geochemist Andrea Dutton found evidence that global mean sea level during that period peaked at 20 to 30 feet above current levels. Dutton’s team of international researchers concluded that rapid retreat of an unstable part of the Antarctic ice sheet was a major contributor to that sea-level rise.

“This occurred during a time when the average global temperature was only slightly warmer than at present,” Dutton said.

Dutton evaluated fossil corals in Seychelles because sea level in that region closely matches that of global mean sea level. Local patterns of sea-level change can differ from global trends because of variations in Earth’s surface and gravity fields that occur when ice sheets grow and shrink.

In an article published in the January 2015 issue of Quaternary Science Reviews, the researchers concluded that while sea-level rise in the Last Interglacial period was driven by the same processes active today — thermal expansion of seawater, melting mountain glaciers and melting polar ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica — most was driven by polar ice sheet melt. Their study, partially funded by the National Science Foundation, also suggests the Antarctic ice sheet partially collapsed early in that period.

“Following a rapid transition to high sea levels when the last interglacial period began, sea level continued rising steadily,” Dutton said. “The collapse of Antarctic ice occurred when the polar regions were a few degrees warmer than they are now — temperatures that we are likely to reach within a matter of decades.”

Several recent studies by other researchers suggest that process may have already started.

“We could be poised for another partial collapse of the Antarctic ice sheet,” Dutton said. More

Photos above from Cayman Brac, Cayman Islands.