This is a trial series.
Members of Greenpeace in Finland show support for the "Tokyo Two".
Photo: © Matti Snellman / Greenpeace
As the trial continues for the "Tokyo Two" (Greenpeace activists who exposed corruption behind the government-funded whaling program in Japan), AP, AFP and AAP have reported today that Australian Prime Minister Rudd has set a November deadline for Japan to stop its whaling program or else face international legal action. Saying he preferred diplomatic measures, Rudd added "if that fails, then we will initiate court action before the commencement of the whaling season in November 2010. That's the bottom line and we're very clear to the Japanese, that's what we intend to do." The whaling, which is said to be for "research" is widely believed to serve the commercial market for whale meat in Japan. An Australian legal expert said the hunt is conducted in international waters, but usually within the huge patch of ocean that is designated Australia's maritime rescue zone and that Canberra considers a whale sanctuary. (Watch the video about the case of the Tokyo Two).
UN climate chief to resign as of July 1
Yvo de Boer, the UNFCCC climate chief who led international negotiations at the Copenhagen summit in December, has said he will be resigning as of July 1 this year and will not attend the Mexico summit in November. Although his mandate was due to expire in September before the conference, De Boer had said, according to Spain's El Periodico, that he intended to extend it. De Boer will now work in the private sector (for consultancy firm KPMG) and in academia. “I have always maintained that while governments provide the necessary policy framework, the real solutions must come from business" the Irish Times quoted him as saying.
Wendel Trio of Greenpeace was quoted in Spanish media referring to the "extreme difficulty" of the tasks assigned to De Boer in his role, which he has held since 2006. Greenpeace was quoted saying De Boer's successor (possibly John Ashe, the Antigua and Barbuda diplomat who knows the climate talks well) would need to possess the same skills as Mr de Boer, who had “injected much-needed dynamism and straight-talking into the role.” Stephanie Tunmore told Belgium's Der Standaard "he was a passionate and at times emotional advocate for a global climate agreement."
Speaking of the failed Copenhagen summit De Boer said "it did not provide us with a clear agreement." AFP reported that De Boer had been "very depressed" for some weeks after the summit. Indonesia's special presidential assistant on climate change, Agus Purnonom, said his departure "comes at the worst time in the climate change negotiations...His decision will ultimately add to the difficulties we already have in reaching a successful outcome in Mexico." However, commentators in the US and UK were less concerned. "There's certainly no reason his resignation should slow progress," said Alden Mayer of the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington. "The key to progress remains with the major countries."
NASA budget redirected for climate research
A slightly better sign for action on climate change, The Washington Times reported President Obama has announced a major shift in NASA policy: canceling former President George W. Bush's 2004 plan to return astronauts to the moon and then move on to Mars. Instead, the Democratic administration is focusing the space program on climate research and unmanned missions. The president's budget gives the National Aeronautics and Space Administration a $6 billion budget increase over the next five years, with nearly $2.5 billion dedicated to research on global climate change.
The actual cost of business as usual
The Guardian reported a new UN study is due to reveal the environmental cost of world trade, and that political pressure is growing to make big businesses pay for the damage they cause to the environment. Hilary Benn, the UK's environment secretary, last month called on political leaders to find a way to put a price on biodiversity in the same way as they are doing for climate change, following Lord Stern's landmark report in 2005. The UN-commissioned report on the impacts of the world's 3,000 biggest companies finds that by far the most "damaging" were the utilities, where the $400bn total "cost" was dominated by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, nuclear waste, acid rain and smog precursors, and metal pollution in water. Industrial companies, including construction, aerospace and electronics, and the oil and gas sector, had the next greatest impacts at, respectively, $200bn and about $175bn. The four sectors with the lowest impact – telecommunications, healthcare, technology and financial services – all caused environmental damage totalling less than $25bn each.
GE-crop update
The Hindu in India said activists fighting against GE in Madya Pradesh are calling the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill (BRAI) an effort to stifle anti-GE voices. The Bill, likely to be approved by the Union Cabinet next month, would bring about wide-ranging changes in the process of regulating research, transport, import, manufacture and use of GE products in the country. The law would override State-specific concerns by making a central authority solely responsible for GE throughout the country, envisaging only an advisory role for states. The Agricultural Minister of Madya Pradesh has said he will oppose the bill.
In Canada, The Ottawa Citizen reported today that the federal government is poised to allow GE pigs to be farmed. The so-called "Enviropigs" - the world's first transgenic animal created to solve an environmental problem - were created in 1999 with a snippet of mouse DNA introduced into their chromosomes. The pigs produce low-phosphorus faeces, which was planned to help reduce phosphorus pollution.
Greenpeace was in German news (AP) yesterday, saying that the majority of baby milk in the country has been found to come from cows fed on GE. Alexander Hissting was quoted adding that, however, there was a trend to move away from this, with almost 25 percent of the market now non-GE.
Photo: © Matti Snellman / Greenpeace; Members of Greenpeace in Finland take part in a series of global actions to demonstrate support for Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki - Greenpeace activists in Japan on trial for exposing corruption behind the government-funded whaling program.