This is encouraging: UNESCO considers a possible Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relationship to Climate Change Following the initiative of UNESCO and COMEST to promote serious debate on the ethical stakes of climate change, regional expert consultation meetings will be held across the world between March and May with a view to assessing the advisability of a Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change. The outcomes of the regional expert meetings, along with other consultations, will feed into a report by the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) that will be submitted to the Director-General of UNESCO in July 2010. Subsequently, the Executive Board of UNESCO, meeting in October 2010,...

Climate Change Coordinator. Location: Camden, London, £22,797 to £23,997. For over 70 years Plan has been working with the world's poorest children, families and communities. Today, child centred community development is at the heart of our programmes with 11 million children in 48 developing countries. We are currently recruiting for a Climate Change Coordinator (fixed term contract to 31 January 2013) whose role will be to coordinate the implementation of a three year EC-funded project on climate change involving schools, youth groups and partner organisations in six countries (UK, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Kenya, Malawi and Senegal). This exciting new project is aimed at increasing public awareness of the links between climate change, poverty and child rights, and engaging ...Green jobs...

The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change is proudly touting its 40-page brochure on climate change in cities.Cities, we are told, are concentrations of vulnerability to the harmful impacts of climate change. They are also, directly and indirectly, responsible for the majority of the world’s emissions of greenhouse gasses. 50% of the world’s population lives in cities, a number that is set to increase to 60% by 2030. For all of these reasons, cities are on the front line in responding to the threats of climate change.For further details, you must contact Professor Jim Hall, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University. By some strange coincidence, that is exactly the same detail on a grant application to the Engineering and Physical Science Council (EPSRC), which just...

As has been noted over the last couple of weeks there is a considerable effort at the moment to discredit the notion that climate change is happening and that if it is it has nothing to do with the things people are doing.Niggling over numbers, the difference between climate and weather and the misunderstanding that whilst individual scientists or departments may make mistakes this does not necessarily discredit everything everyone has done in the field to date.This is dangerous on two levels. Firstly, and most importantly, it moves the debate backwards away from what needs to be done about climate change to whether it is occurring at all. If, as seems likely, the Tories win the next election the climate measures they take may well be shackled by the climate denial wing of the...

The plight of the Mongolian population, which is struggling through one of the worst winters in living memory, has at last been officially recognised. According to The Guardian - the only newspaper so far to record the event – the UN has launched a $4m appeal to clear up livestock killed by the big freeze in the country.Rather than give money directly, creating a dependency culture, nomads are to be paid to collect and bury the carcases of animals killed by the cold, with a view to preventing disease and soil contamination.The appeal comes after officials in Mongolia have declared more than half of the impoverished country a disaster area. So far, at least 2.5 million livestock have perished after weeks of persistent snow and temperatures below minus 50°C.On current government...

Here is a new-ish angle on climate change. The UK's climate and energy security envoy Rear Admiral Morisetti has set out his role.  It’s I think unique in the world, and a good thing.The climate security message was also underlined by President Obama  at Copenhagen in December. One particular point in his statement stands out: “This is not fiction, this is science. Unchecked, climate change will pose unacceptable risks to our security, our economies, and our planet. That much we know.  So the question before us is no longer the nature of the challenge – the question is our capacity to meet it. For while the reality of climate change is not in doubt, our ability to take collective action hangs in the balance.”It is clear that we still have much work to do. But the...

Climate change survey raises fears it will be harder to persuade the public to support costly policies to curb emissionsPublic conviction about the threat of climate change has declined sharply after months of questions over the science and growing disillusionment with government action, a leading British poll has found.The proportion of adults who believe climate change is "definitely" a reality dropped by 30% over the last year, from 44% to 31%, in the latest survey by Ipsos Mori.Overall around nine out of 10 people questioned still appear to accept some degree of global warming. But the steep drop in those without doubts will raise fears that it will be harder to persuade the public to support actions to curb the problem, particularly higher prices for energy and other goods.The true...

As we all know, climate change is an emotive issue. On both sides of the argument surrounding what is causing it, strong words are uttered. The sceptics have to shout loudly even to be heard, whereas on the other side, an industry has grown up promoting the thesis of man made climate change. A whole host of literature has been written outlining how and why it is taking place, and it is being used to good effect. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you are making a case you want to use the best evidence and the best arguments.Except... When the government - sorry, taxpayer - funds a leaflet which doesn't concentrate on the actual case, but how to put it over you have to ask if that is what our money should be used for. Especially, when you read THIS leaflet called THE RULES OF THE GAME:...

Following up on my previous piece (which seems to be becoming a habit), another reader tells me to have a look at Anita Swarup, the author of the Oxfam report on Tajikstan. It turns out that the lady has "form".Formerly a "communications officer" for the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, she subsequently became freelance, as a describing herself at a UNESCO International Conference on Broadcast Media and Climate Change in Paris in September 2009 as: "Research, advocacy and communications – Climate Change."In her Carbon Capture bio (above), she is described as a "climate change person, telling us that she is an Oxfam International regional research report author, "who has worked as a consultant on climate change for Oxfam , Unicef and other organisations."...

Dhaka — Climate change is soon going to be a great challenge for Bangladesh. Global warming and climate change are already affecting lives and livelihoods in this region. By 2050, 70 million people could be affected annually by floods and 8 million by drought, with increasingly intense cyclones hitting the coast. The largest island in the country, Bhola, already has lost half of its land in the past decade and many other islands are also suffering. Temperature rise as fast as the one we have seen over the last 30 years has never happened before.Climate change issue thus has become the burning question all over the world and the most talked issue everywhere. Human induced changes in the global climate and associated sea level rise are widely accepted with policymakers and scientists....

The resignation of Philip Campbell, editor-in-chief of Nature, from the Muir Russell/CRU inquiry – after he had been outed for offering favourable comments about the researchers' actions – has elicited interesting comments from Channel 4 News:The revelation, it says, is evidence of the well-organised and highly-motivated campaign by climate change sceptics that has already used the emails leaked from University of East Anglia to make allegations about the validity of climate change science.The report continues: "They have also been swift to attack errors in the influential United Nations intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) report on the science of climate change, published in 2007."Now let's see. The IPCC report was published in 2007 ... and it is now 2010. That's...

What does the “snowpocalypse” tell us about the likelihood of climate change?  Nothing.  As Roger Pielke Jr. explains: What happens in the weather this week or next tells us absolutely nothing about the role of humans in influencing the climate system. It is unjustifiable to claim that a cold snap or heavy snow disproves or even casts doubts predictions of long-term climate change. It is equally unjustifiable to say that a cold snap or heavy snow in any way offers empirical support for predictions of long-term climate change. This goes for all weather events. Further, it is professionally irresponsible for scientists to claim that some observed weather is “consistent with” long-term predictions of climate change. Any and all weather fits this criteria. Similarly, any and all...

Surveys show increase in number of people who believe claims are exaggeratedThe number of Britons who believe the science of climate change has fallen over the last 12 months, according to recent polls. Although the vast majority of people still believe the planet is heating up, there has been an increase in those who believe climate change claims are exaggerated.Public perception could have been influenced by the recent scandal of leaked emails between climate change scientists at the University of East Anglia. The emails, which appeared to encourage data to be kept from Freedom of Information requests, have been seized upon by climate change sceptics – although none of them dispute the science behind the "greenhouse effect" of gases such as carbon dioxide, which traps solar heat and...

A Populus poll conducted for BBC News has shown a marked increase in the number of people who don't believe in the global warming climate change CO2 pollution religion. Just 3 months ago 41% of people believed in man-made climate change, now only 26% believe.  38% believe that climate change is not proven to be man-made when 3 months ago only 32% held that opinion.  Three months ago 8% of...

From the BBC: There has been an increase in the number of British people who are sceptical about climate change, a poll commissioned by BBC News has suggested. It showed that 25% of those questioned did not think global warming was happening, an increase of 10% since a similar poll was conducted in November. The percentage of respondents who said climate change was a reality had fallen from 83% in November to 75%. The poll, based on a sample group of 1,001 adults, was conducted by Populus. The findings, based on interviews carried out on 3-4 February, show that only 26% of people think “climate change is happening and is now established as largely man-made”, only 1% more than those who think there is no global warming.  In November 2009, a similar poll by Populus –...

Oh what a wonderful day! The BBC have conducted a poll into public opinion on Climate Change - and guess what? man made climate change sceptics are now in the majority! So the science is not exactly settled after all is it? The figures show that while 75% of people still believe that global warming is happening, only 26% are convinced that it is man made - a majority, 38% are not convinced. 25% believe that it is not happening at all.From the BBC: "It is very unusual indeed to see such a dramatic shift in opinion in such a short period," Populus managing director Michael Simmonds told BBC News."The British public are sceptical about man's contribution to climate change - and becoming more so," he added."More people are now doubters than firm believers."The Department for Environment,...

The Big Issue | Sceptics fiddle while the planet burns | From the Observer ...The facts are clear: the world is warming, emissions of greenhouse gases are largely to blame and the warming is set to get worse through the 21st century. To ignore that evidence would be foolhardy in the extreme. Kathy Maskell Walker Institute for Climate System Research University of Reading ...Unlike questions such as the best policy for dealing with the recession, where two sides could in theory ague for all eternity, with climate change only one side can be correct. We just don't yet know which side is correct. As climate change deniers have failed to produce a peer-reviewed body of evidence pointing to a mechanism that would negate the impact of our emissions, caution would seem to be sensible....

In my last blog I mentioned the UK government's network of diplomatic teams in China specialising in climate change. Well, here, squinting into a bright Beijing winter sun, we all are. The photograph was taken earlier this week at an annual meeting of all UK government staff and diplomats from around China whose job it is to build partnerships and run joint projects with China related to climate change, energy and low-carbon development. There was a lot to talk about. Our teams at the British Embassy in Beijing and Consulates General in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong are currently engaged in more than 20 climate change and energy projects with Chinese partners, most of them funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Strategic Programme Fund. Our colleagues from the...

China has 'open mind' about cause of climate change - Telegraph China's most senior climate change official surprised a summit in India when he questioned whether global warming is caused by carbon gas emissions and said Beijing is keeping an "open mind". "There are disputes in the scientific community. We have to have an open attitude to the scientific research. There's an alternative view that climate change is caused by cyclical trends in nature itself. We have to keep an open attitude," he said. "It is already a solid fact that climate is warming. The major reasons for this climate change is the unconstrained emissions produced by the developed countries in the process of industrialisation. That's the mainstream view [but] there are other views. Our attitude is an open attitude"....

In the weeks since the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen, pundits around the world have been ruminating on what went well, what went wrong and what didn’t happen at all. From a UK perspective, we recognise that the hardest work lies ahead.  All countries need to raise their level of ambition in taking action against climate change. And we need a legally binding agreement to get there.    One debate that's yet to be aired widely in the US is about how a changing climate will affect national security interests. Even if you remain unconvinced by the numerous economic and environmental arguments for taking action, there are many consequences of climate change that have real security implications, which will have to be addressed. In coming decades, climate change will be a...

A quick update on aviation and climate change. Two relavent reports came out at the end of 2009. Most importantly the Committee on Climate Change report on aviation, but also, the Transport select committee report.1. Committee on Climate Change Report "Meeting the UK Aviation Target"2. House of Commons Transport Select Committee "The Future of Aviation"More globally we have a policy...

"Natural catastrophes have left the world's insurers with a claims bill totalling $22 billion (£13.7 billion) this year as the number of disasters linked to climate change increased markedly." So writes Miles Costello for The Times, adding to the steady drip of MSM propaganda to reinforce the proposition that "climate change" – i.e., global warming – is a serious problem.Yet the source of this information is Munich Re, the German reinsurer. It has issued its annual assessment of catastrophe losses, noting that, although overall losses were dramatically lower this year than last, the number of destructive events was higher than its average over the past ten years.Spokesman Peter Höppe, head of the company's Geo Risks Research division, is unequivocal. He says: "We should make no...

For the past couple of weeks, many big-wigs are meeting in Copenhagen for a chit-chat about climate change. This happens against the backdrop of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit email hacking. This is said by some to offer evidence that climate scientists have manipulated data in order to boost the case that climate change is man-made. The emphasis on whether or not climate change is man-made confuses me. For instance, the Met Office’s response to the hacking seeks to underline the fact that climate change is man-made: “The bottom line is that temperatures continue to rise and humans are responsible for it.” Why is there so much concern over whether or not changes in temperature, and the knock-on effects that result, are man-made? Would...

It’s reckless to be a sceptic on global warming | Malcolm Turnbull - Times Online It is a bitter irony that as the scientific evidence for action on climate change mounts, the political consensus supporting that action is retreating — at least in Australia.... Most leadership ballots are driven by personalities; this one, however, was driven by some of my colleagues’ relentless determination to change the party’s policy on climate change and, above all, to vote down the ETS. A colourfully self-confessed climate sceptic, Mr Abbott became leader with the support of a group of vocal climate change deniers, the most significant of whom was Nick Minchin, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate. He has said that the planet is cooling not warming, that the majority of the Liberal...

As the talks continue in Copenhagen, questions are still being posed in the background about the validity of the science of climate change. I firmly believe that climate change is happening, and in the need for an ambitious global agreement.But if you believe that the science isn’t exact enough, or even if you are sceptical about climate change full stop, it is immensely dangerous to oppose a deal at Copenhagen. As this piece by Thomas Friedman explains, the consequences are so dire that even a 1% chance of catastrophic climate change is something we must try our hardest to...

As the UN Climate Change Conference opens in Copenhagen (complete with official Twitter tag: #COP15), I feel a need to state firmly that I don’t believe in climate change. To say you believe in climate change is a bit like saying you believe in arithmetic (and I don’t believe in that either). To say you believe in something is to imply that you are driven by faith rather than reason. I believe that two plus two equals four, not as an act of faith, but because the evidence I’ve come across overwhelmingly supports that claim. Climate science is far more complex and I believe that climate change is occurring and that human activity contributes to it. I believe that mostly because it’s clearly the scientific consensus, with 97.5 per cent of climatologists thinking that way. I believe...

'Dangerous, deceitful' attempts to derail Copenhagen summit condemnedGordon Brown tonight led a chorus of condemnation against "flat-earth" climate change sceptics who have tried to derail the Copenhagen summit by casting doubt on the evidence for global warming.Sceptics in the UK and the US have moved to capitalise on a series of hacked emails from climate change scientists at the University of East Anglia, claiming they show attempts to hide information that does not support the case for human activity causing rising temperatures.On the eve of the Copenhagen summit, Saudi Arabia and Republican members of the US Congress have used the emails to claim the need for urgent action to cut carbon emissions has been undermined.But tonight the prime minister, his environment secretary, Ed...

The scientific consensus that mankind has caused climate change was rocked yesterday as a leading academic called it a "load of hot air underpinned by fraud", says The Daily Express.Professor Ian Plimer, we are told, condemned the climate change lobby as "climate comrades" keeping the "gravy train" going. Governments were treating the public like "fools" and using climate change to increase taxes.He said carbon dioxide has had no impact on temperature and that recent warming was part of the natural cycle of climate stretching over billions of years. "Climates always change. They always have and they always will. They are driven by a number of factors that are random and cyclical."You would expect Plimer to say such things, and he will have no immediate effect on the scientific community,...

BNP leader who believes climate change activists are 'cranks' will be member of European parliament's delegationNick Griffin, the leader of the British National party, is to represent the European parliament at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, which opens next week.Last night politicians and scientists reacted furiously to news that the far-right politician and climate change denier should be attending the summit on behalf of the EU.Griffin, who was elected to the European parliament in June, confirmed last night that he would attend as the representative of the parliament's environmental committee. World leaders, including Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, are hoping to forge a new global agreement to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.Without such a deal, scientists warn that...

It was Friday morning at the Cultural Centre in La Moneda, Chile's presidential palace. The Minister of Environment, Ms. Uriarte, was presenting Chile’s involvement with climate change issues and I was carefully listening to every word she said. We were at the launch of “The Economics of Climate Change in Chile” (in Spanish). After a year and a half of being a Climate Change Officer in Chile, this was the day I had long been waiting for… The first day I joined the FCO (mid 2008) our regional climate change champion, Peter Bainbridge, handed me a copy of the Stern Review. I flipped through a couple of pages and read, “The benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting.” As I looked up Peter said, “It’s not just an environmental...