Cement, Energy and Environment July-Sep 2002

ent irely without significance though no immed iate be nefit would be torthcoming rrom it. For one thing, the ratification could not be delayed rurther as India is hosting the COP- 8 to the UNFCCC in New Delh i this October. The host country could, fo r obv ious reasons, not be a non– signat ory to the Kyoto Protocol which is by far the only achievement of the COPs so far. Besides, India 's ratifi ca ti on take s th e Kyoto Convent ion a bit closer to actually coming into force. Its enforcement requires rati f ication from 55 countries,6 together accounting for at least 55% of the total GHG emi ssions. The countries which have a lready corroborated it account for 36% of the GHG. If the Indian move prompts Russ ia with 17.5% share ofGHG to fol low suit ' th e hu rdl e wou ld be as good as c ross ed. Neverthe less, the most unfort unate part of the protracted g lobal negotiat ions on c limate change is the lack of consensus either on the kind of the COM that the world needs or on who should bear th e cost of putti ng that mechanism in place. What is worse, the world 's biggest polluter, the US, accounting for one quarter of the entire GHG emissions, has already rejected the Kyoto accord as well as its predecessor, the Rio declaration of 1992. No doubt, the US has in the meanwhile come out with its own , domestically applicabl e, recipe for cleaning the atmosphere, but the US exclusion makes any joint glo~al endeavour meaningless. For, as often argued by the EU (European Union), this is not simp!) an environmental issue; it critically impacts the global economy and the much needed level playing field for the industry and businesses throughout the world. More than that, it concerns sharing o(the cost of undoing ecological degradation in proportion to the damage caused by each country. INDIA TO HOST COP MEET ON CLIMATE CHANCE ON 23 OCTOBER The financ ial Express, 10 Aug 02 New De lhi will host the COP- 8 on the UNFCCC on 23 October. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel ?n Climate Change) is now engaged 1n assess ing regi ona l impacts of c limate chan ge and app ropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies in its Pourth Assessment Report which is likely to be completed by the year 2007 . The IPCC Chairman Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, \Vh~ is a lso th e Director-General of TERI , slated after the conclusion of the two-clay meeting at the World Metro logica l Organ isation in Geneva outli ning the future agenda. This increased regional focus will be assisted by improvements in the scientific understanding of climate change. The IPCC, in its Th ird Assessment Report, had stated that agriculture is highly vu lnerable to th e impacts of c li mate chanae .::. ' particularly in South Asia. POLLUTION CLOUD THREATENS HEALTH, CROPS IN SOUTH AISA Victor Mallet, Business Standard, 13 Aug 02 A vast cloud of pollutants in the sky over South Asia is thre·ateni ng agricultural output, modifying rainfa ll patterns and damaging human health, accordi11g to a report published .by the UNEP (U nited !'-Jati ons Environment Programme). Prof. Klaus Toepfer, UNEP Executive Director, said at the launch of the report in Paris. 'It is now absolutely clear that we have a very, very dangerous increase of particulates, especially in the Asia region.' The phenomenon, known as the Asian brown haze or brown cloud, is a 3 km-thick blanket of particles created mainly by the burning ofwood and dung, and fuel for vehic les and power sta ti ons. Alt hough smog c louds arc often seen in South and East Asia. the UNEP report. based pri marily on the obse rva ti ons of mo re than 200 internationa lsc ientists taking part in a study call ed the Ind ian Ocean Experi ment, is the fi rst de ta iled assessment of the effects of such a cloud . The re lease o f the repo rt coincides with prepa rations for the WSSD in Johannesburg thi s month I0 years after the Rio Earth Summit. Courtesy: TERI Neli'Sll•ire. 1-15.·111}(. 02. p p. 22.23 &26 Fux: ./682 1-/.1 or ./6821./5 Email: outreach((jlteri.res. in ll'eh: 11'11'11'. teriin orR RS. 20 BILLION .JAPANESE AID FOR CLEANING YAJ\IlJNA ON TilE CARDS Business Standard, 25 June 2002 The government will soon get Rs 15-20 bil li on assistance from Japan for the second phase of the Yamuna Act ion Pl an aimed at cleaning the 22-km stretch of the river along the Capital. 'We are in the fina l stages of negotiati on with the Japan Bank of International Co– operat ion for ass istance for the second phase ofthe Yamuna Action Plan ' , Union Mini ster o f Environment and Forests, Mr T R Baalu, said, at a workshop organized by TERJ. The second phase of the Yamuna Action Plan proposes to dive rt the 19 main drains and 38 tributary drain s discharging wastewater in the river, set up additional sewage treatment cap acity wit h decentra li zed approach and d is infect trea ted sewage. Courtesy : Teri Neu'Sll'ire. 16-30 June 2002. PJ I. Fax: 91 II ./6821././ E-mail: ou/reach(a; leri.res.in lfleh: 11'11'11'. teriin orK