Australia’s wind and solar boom looks set to power through 2019 following a record year, despite grid constraints and extra scrutiny from network operators to make sure new projects don’t spark blackouts
Environment ministers from the Group of Eight countries meeting Sunday in Kobe apparently sidestepped the major issue of setting midterm greenhouse-gas reduction targets for 2020 due to a divide between developing and industrialized countries over specific targets. Scientists believe 2020 is a key deadline in avoiding a potentially disastrous rise in world temperatures.
Experts gathering for the Group of Eight environment ministers meeting in the city known for its high-quality beef have a suggestion on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: Eat less beef. "One way to combat climate change is reducing meat consumption," said Ragendra Pachauri of the International Panel on Climate Change at a symposium Saturday, the opening day of the three-day climate meeting in Kobe.
Fifteen youths from the Group of Eight nations and five emerging economies have urged G8 environment ministers to introduce a "strict international carbon cap-and-trade system" to curb greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. Change for tomorrow: Britain's environmental secretary, Hilary Benn, (second from left), meets Saturday in Kobe with young people representing the G8 nations and five emerging economies involved in addressing climate change issues.
The United Nations' top climate-change official expressed concern Saturday about what Japan means by "industrial sectoral" approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and warned that the concept should not replace national targets in any new environmental treaty that would take effect when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
KOBE (Kyodo) Japan and the United States agreed Saturday to set up a multilateral "clean technology fund" to spark the development of technology aimed at combating global warming, a Japanese official said. Stephen Johnson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was quoted as telling Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita in a meeting in Kobe that Washington wants Japan to consider establishing a global fund because the research involves considerable money. Kamoshita agreed.
The Group of Eight environment ministers will open on Saturday a three-day meeting in Kobe on ways to meet Japan's proposal to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The ministers will seek G8 cooperation on promoting the "co-benefits approach" to help developing countries achieve economic growth while curbing pollution and waste, Environment Ministry officials said. The ministers will also discuss steps to protect biodiversity and to ensure the efficient use of resources with the "3Rs" approach of reducing waste by promoting reuse and recycling, the officials said.
The relocation site of the world-famous Tsukiji Fish Market has been contaminated with far more toxic chemical materials than previously thought and around 2 meters of surface soil will probably have to be replaced, an advisory panel to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Monday. The metropolitan government is planning to relocate the market by 2013 to the Toyosu area of Koto Ward because the Tsukiji site has become too crowded and facilities there have aged. Gov. Shintaro Ishihara indicated the relocation plan could be delayed due to the contamination problem.
Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it will start mass-producing lithium-ion batteries by business 2009 as part of its efforts to catch up with rival automakers in developing eco-friendly vehicles such as gasoline-electric hybrid cars. Automotive Energy Supply Corp., a joint venture set up in April 2007 by Nissan, NEC Corp. and its subsidiary, NEC Tokin Corp., will take charge of production at a new production line to be built in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture. The line's initial annual output capacity is estimated at 13,000 units.
Japan will offer $10 billion over the next five years to help African nations tackle climate change, government sources said Sunday. The plan will be announced by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in his speech at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, to be held in Yokohama on May 28, the sources said.
Climate change is threatening the major central Japan industry of cultivating seaweed for nori, a sector that has been going strong since the late Edo Period. A steady decline in the harvest of seaweed in shallow waters off the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture is hurting fishermen and those engaged in making nori, who make up one of the principal industries in the region. Nori is perhaps best known as a wrapping for sushi.
