By John Parnell
– The day’s top climate change stories as chosen by RTCC
– Tweet @RTCCnewswire and use #RTCCLive hashtag
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– Updated from 0900-1700 BST (GMT+1)
Latest news – Tuesday 28 August
1700: The Pacific Islands Forum is getting underway in the Cook Islands, where topics including trade and regional security. Climate change is expected to be top of the agenda, however, with many of the countries on the front line of climate change, fearing sea-level rise and dependant on the sustainability of the oceans surrounding them.
1600: Forestry is not only a key economy for New Zealand but also play a large role in the country’s greenhouse gas emissions targets. RTCC took a look a how the sector could be make for break for the country’s second commitment under the Kyoto Protocol.
1540: RTCC’s John Parnell takes a closer look at what Australia’s announcement to join the EU emissions trading scheme could mean.
1520: The US military continues to draw fire for the amount it is spending on biofuels. A navel demonstration of the fuels earlier this summer – costing some $12 million – proved that the fuels could be used by such ships but have faced criticism for the money spent on the still experimental fuels.
1417: Read Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo’s thoughts following the occupation of Russian oil company Gazprom’s Arctic oil platform this weekend.
The group filmed the moment when they boarded the platform…
1400: An Australian study has found that climate change deniers tend to either be extreme free marketers or conspiracy theorists.
1255: Scientists warn that many of the world’s tropical protected areas could be struggling to sustain biodiversity.
1200: Scientists are warning that water scarcity could force the world to switch to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid shortages of global food supplies. They warn radical steps will need to be taken to feed the 9 billion people expected in the world by 2050 if water scarcity’s effect on food is not addressed.
1055: China has surpassed the US to become the largest wind energy producer in the world. According to the State Grid Corporation it now has 50GW of installed capacity, enough to supply around half of the UK.
0945: NGOs including WWF and CAN-Europe have told Reuters that climate finance will be the key issue in Bangkok as the next round of UN climate change negotiations gets under way. They are concerned that as the current round of funding expires, there are insufficient pledges for new finance to back projects.
RTCC’s Ed King has examined the diplomatic challenges facing the Bangkok talks following “nasty” discussions in Bonn back in May.
0830: Australia has announced that it will join the EU carbon trading scheme from 2015. The country announced a price on per tonne of CO2 for 300 of its largest emitters with plans to roll out a national emissions trading scheme but will now integrate with the European platform. The two will be fully integrated by 2018.
0825: Arctic sea ice coverage reached a record observed low on over the weekend. Scientists had anticipated the result earlier in the month, but yesterday NASA was able to confirm that sea ice levels fell below those ever seen from space. Arctic sea ice has been continuously monitored for three decades.
Top tweet
WMO’s Jarraud:
#Climate chg => past no longer good indicator of future. New paradigms req’d to support decisions. LIVE: bit.ly/TmU51X— SEI Climate (@SEIclimate) August 28, 2012
9C air temp/8C water; grateful for the hot soup, cup of tea and dry clothes
#itsthelittlethings twitter.com/kuminaidoo/sta…— Kumi Naidoo (@kuminaidoo) August 24, 2012
How much water is in your fry up? A whopping 1333l of water or 16 bathtubs full! Luckily fry ups are Sunday treats
#wwweek…— WWF UK (@wwf_uk) August 28, 2012