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2011年6月9日星期四

Climate change ' will reduce water for farmers: United Nations (AFP)

ROME (AFP)-l' food Thursday UN Agency warned climate change will limit the availability of water for agriculture in the coming decades, including in the Mediterranean region urged Governments to take measures.

A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said climate change will reduce runoff refills and the aquifer of the River, adding that the loss of glaciers "will ultimately impact on the quantity of available surface water."

The report said that in Asia "large areas of irrigated land-based glaciers from melting snow and the mountain of water are also affected."

She added "densely populated river deltas are exposed to a combination of flows of water, increased sanity and rising waters".

FAO also revealed that while the increased temperatures will extend the growing season in temperate zones of the North that they will be reducing it almost everywhere, leading potential productivity and water of the yield to decline.

It is said that Governments should enhance the capacity of countries to measure their water resources, and to encourage farmers to change their cropping patterns to allow for earlier or later planting and reduce their water consumption.

"Farm size and access to capital set the limits of the scope and extent of adaptation and change at the farm level", said the report.


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2011年6月2日星期四

Nations United is a biodiversity treaty in July 2012 (AFP)

Manila (AFP) - will probably ratified a global treaty on the exploitation of genetic resources in July 2012, the Executive Secretary of the biological diversity of the United Nations said Tuesday.

So far, 25 countries have signed Protocol Nagoya but 193 countries to is committed to support when it was adopted in October 2010, said Ahmed Djoghlaf official.

"In July 2012, 50 will be ratified," said Djoghlaf from a biodiversity forum, in the Philippines.

He said that the Protocol, forged at a Conference in the Japan, come into effect as a treaty once it is ratified by 50 countries.

The agreement sets out new rules for the collection of genetic resources as wild plants to make medicines, cosmetics and other products.

It also calls for a fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources between the company that develops new products and the country from which resources - as a plant - wild.

Djoghlaf said ratification of the Protocol being slowed by legal complications and problems of translation, but that there were more than enough support that it between the countries.

"All Governments have different ratification process." It is is not a lack of political will, "he told AFP."

He said that the Protocol could encourage countries to preserve their natural resources, in the hope that they would win if the drugs or other products are manufactured from their.

He cited the example of the vaccine against avian influenza originates with an organization of China, but that has been developed by a Swiss company and added that 76% of cancer drugs originate from natural or partly natural sources.

Djoghlaf said that many countries did not realize the value of their biological diversity, leading to its waste and destruction.

He cited studies of the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity, a group one-supported of researchers which found that approximately 3 trillion dollars - biodiversity is lost each year.


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2011年5月22日星期日

Head of the United Nations launches a study of nuclear accident (AP)

UNITED NATIONS - organization of the United Nations will undertake a study of the system on the consequences of the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear - to Japan, the Secretary General Ban Ki moon, said Friday.

Several organizations will prepare a report dealing with the effects of nuclear safety in areas including the environment, health and food safety. It must be presented at a meeting of high-level nuclear safety and security on 22 September, in the General Assembly in New York.

"Nuclear safety is a global public, serving the interests of all the peoples of the world," said the head of the United Nations.

"Forward, the effects of a disaster of the nuclear - cleaning prevention - should be more fully reflected in the assessment of the way to ensure the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the maximum of security."

A March 11 earthquake triggered a tsunami which eliminated the factory of Fukushima Dai-ichi, causing the worst nuclear crisis of the world since Chernobyl, cooling systems. Fuel rods seem to have melted in large part to three of the plants reactors.

Radiation leak prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents and combating dangerous to hold the reactors is expected to continue in 2012.

Executives of the organizations of the United Nations, including the international agency of Atomic Energy, World Organization of the health, development of the United Nations, food and agricultural organization and World Meteorological Organization participated with prohibition in videoconferencing Friday about the study.

(This version corrects updates with quotes, details.) Corrects style on Dai-ichi in the first paragraph. (Added signature).


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2011年5月18日星期三

Green Racing technology boom, but not yet to the United States (ContributorNetwork)

It seems paradoxical that China would be leading the race for green technology. After all, the world watched as the country faced with pollution air in the capital during the Olympic Games in Beijing. China was known for his environmental disregard in many respects, but it seems that a change takes place, at least in its contribution to green technology.

The growth of China in this sector of the economy has been remarkable, 77% per year (compared with 28% the United States).

Then that a new report by Roland Berger, a German consulting firm, for the World Wildlife Fund for Nature says that Denmark more of its gross domestic product (GDP) devoted to green technologies (3.1%), China is leading in the considerable volume of dollar $ 63.9 billion.

Where the United States stand and why

Where does to rank United States? To a 17th place sorry, according to the study, behind countries such as the Brazil and the Germany. Green technology in the United States contributes only 0.3% of national GDP. When the United States has a President who advocates more technology green at every turn (including provisions in the stimulus package), just why are lagging behind so much compared with Europe and Asia?

While the United States is long an adapter of new technologies, particularly in the information technology (IT) sector, with China and European countries behind the country was also in an ideological war the idea of a global warming of the planet and energy policy in General.

Obviously, the energy sector impacts on every type of business, from SMEs to multinationals. Rising gas prices are linked to the cost of goods and market services. The oil speculation and instability continues to factor in the Middle East and African nations in high energy of the United States and the more expensive goods in trade around the world.

The lesson of green development

While European countries such as the Germany and the Denmark and the Asian nation of China came to the table of green technology from different angles, all see the increasing need for new energy technologies and the need to develop low-energy productssuch as lighting, in power in the future. Denmark has been a leader for the years in areas such as wind energy, energy-efficient products and renewable energies.

China has on the contrary, in view of the green movement towards energy efficiency and alternative energy technologies as a new growing market rather than as a means to improve the internal problems. For example, the country started its activities largely to export solar cell, but he began to adapt within China itself once manufacturing has been implemented.

No ideological divide

An area in which Europe and China were passed to the United States in his lack of progress is the acceptance of global warming of the planet as a real, viable problem. When the debate continues on Capitol Hill on the question of whether or not global warming indeed exists, talk continued in these countries.

It was particularly easy in China, where the direction feels unnecessary debate on any question of Government policy, merely the action. While citizens and business of the United States people clearly don't want democracy for the convenience of the trade, she helped China rapidly intensify to the issue and play a strong leadership role, put his money in the development of green industry and its affiliated technologies. Quite simply, for the Chinese, it is on the growth of the market and take the lead in this new industry.

This new area booming brings with it the potential for growth that will meet future needs. Although the United States and the business community have been slow to take on green technologies (and the Government have been slow to provide economic support of any substantial nature, compared to the older energy technologies), it is not too late. The field of green technology, including the green, is wide open to those who can see its value and future prospects.


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