Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Geneva-based IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), appears unready to bow to pressure to step down, if comments made to the BBC Friday 5 February are any indication.
”‘There is one mistake that occurred unfortunately, and we have clearly accepted that; we have expressed regret that it took place,’” the BBC quotes him as saying. “‘But there’s a huge volume of science over there – I mean, the IPCC’s fourth assessment report is a massive piece of work – and I think all of what we have said over there is totally valid.’”
Pachauri is in Delhi, India, for an IPCC sustainability conference.
Researchers and others in the climate change field are calling on Pachauri to accept personal responsibility for a significant error that was part of a recent IPCC report on climate change, which stated incorrectly that Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva-based ICVolunteers, which works with some 10,000 volunteers around the world, is running a second photography contest and exhibition following the success of its first one in 2009. The theme is “Diverse Perspectives on the Environment, Citizenship and Volunteering by using an investigative journalistic approach.”
Amateur photographers are invited to submit photos for the group’s gallery exhibit. They will also be used for an upcoming publication and calendar. The winner of the contest will be offered a Nikon digital camera.
Finges/Pfyn forest, above Miege, canton Valais
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Seven new regional nature parks in Switzerland, five of which are in French-speaking areas, now have federal funding that will allow their development to go ahead. The parks cover some of Switzerland’s most beautiful semi-wilderness areas. Le Doubs, for example, has magnificent rivers, canyons, forest and waterfalls but tourism is little developed in the area. The regional park’s fund go to building an infrastructure that adds to the regional economy while protecting the natural environment.
The funding follows the approval of plans earlier in 2009 and negotiations between the cantons and the Federal Office of the Environment (FOEN), Bern announced 1 December.
The parks will receive federal funds worth almost CHF5 million until end 2011.
A regional nature park is one of several categories of park in Switzerland and is defined as “a partly populated rural area, characterized by high nature and landscape values, with buildings and installations that fit harmoniously into the landscape and sites of local character”.
The new parks in the Lake Geneva region include:
Title: Global Challenges at the Intersection of Trade, Energy and the Environment — Graduate Institute and WTO
Location: World Trade Organisation, Room CR1, 154, rue de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
Link out: Click here
Description: Series of conferences organized by the Graduate Institute and WTO on the intersection between trade, energy and the environment
Start Date: 22 Oct 2009
Start Time: 9:15
End Date: 23 Oct 2009
Obligatory registration by Monday, 19 October. Please send an email to souda.tandara@wto.org.
Conference is free.
A handy pocket guide from the Swiss government, published 1 September 2009, with Swiss environmental statistics and information on 17 environmental topics.
Collombey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The large Tamoil refinery in Collombey, canton Valais, announced Wednesday 10 June that it is closing. Police from the cantons of Valais and Vaud had raided the offices of the refinery 9 June, citing repeated violations of environmental laws.
Libyan-owned Tamoil is one of Switzerland’s major providers of crude oil, importing 2.5 million tons, or 20% of Switzerland’s needs, according to federal government figures in 2008. Oil imports from Libya were halted for several weeks following the July 2008 arrest of Hannibal Qaddafi, the Libyan leader’s son, in Geneva. Relations between the two countries have been tense since then, with two Swiss engineers held in Tripoli, Libya for nearly a year, despite diplomatic efforts that include a visit by Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey in May 2009.
Title: Wood ants in the wild
Location: Parc Jurassien Vaudois
Link out: Click here
Description: The largest wood ant super colony in Europe can be found in this park from Vaud. A one day only display.
Date: 27 Jun 2009
Title: Lake Geneva cleanup
Location: Lake Geneva region
Link out: Click here
Description: A day to clean up Lake Geneva (Lake Leman), followed by activities and possibly even a museum visit. Pick a region and enjoy!
A special Lausanne edition will take place on 20 June as part of earth fest.
Start Date: 20 Jun 2009
End Date: 27 Jun 2009
Title: Guided visits through the arboretum
Location: Aubonne, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: Two weeks of guided, and thematic, visits through the arboretum. Explanations on plants and trees in bloom and children’s activities.
Start Date: 14 Jun 2009
End Date: 28 Jun 2009
Title: Iris flower show
Location: Vulleriens, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: Thousands of iris in bloom are yours for the view. Brunches and other activities are also available. The private gardens are open from Tuesday to Sunday.
Start Date: 17 May 2009
End Date: 28 Jun 2009
More than sound barriers needed
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Noise pollution solutions now in place are inadequate, the Swiss government says, with more than 1.3 million Swiss residents still subjected to dangerous or annoying levels despite government efforts to combat the noise. The principal source of noise pollution, which affects over 1.2m people, is roads, followed by rail (70,000 people) and air traffic (35,000).
Forest, central Switzerland, Nov 2008, viewed from helicopter
Winterthur, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss are using more wood for home heating and construction, but this use can still be increased and should be, to help forests play a better environmental role, the Federal Environmental Office said Monday. The office held a press conference to announce a new government programme that will oversee all forestry and wood resources, starting in 2009.
Shanghai, China, 1985 - a nation of cyclists. By 2007 there were an estimated 35 million cars. Photo © Ellen Wallace
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – China’s contribution to the “economic architecture” of a global agreement on climate change is the focus of Geneva-China Dialogue 2008, which takes place at the WMO offices in Geneva 27-28 November.
Title: Walk, and discover nature, under the moon
Location: Burtigny, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: An evening adventure to discover the forest, the rocks and a panoramic view of Lake Geneva.
Date: 12 Dec 2008
Bern, Switzerland (RSR, Fre) – Moritz Leuenberger, Switzerland’s minister for energie and the environment, announced in an RSR interview over the weekend that he is backing a green bonus-malus system for consumers that will reward them for environmentally friendly behaviour while penalizing them for driving larger cars, for example.
