In this Friday, June 15, 2012 photo provided by the National Park Service, climbers hike through the area where an avalanche swept a Japanese climbing team off a hill during their descent from Alaska's Mount McKinley. U.S. National Park Service officials say five people were traveling as a one rope team early Thursday morning as part of a Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation expedition on the Alaska mountain. The NPS said Hitoshi Ogi, 69, survived after falling 60 feet (18 meters) into a crevasse. He was able to climb out. The other four tumbled into the avalanche debris and haven't been seen since. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Kevin Wright)
In this Friday, June 15, 2012 photo provided by the National Park Service, climbers hike through the area where an avalanche swept a Japanese climbing team off a hill during their descent from Alaska's Mount McKinley. U.S. National Park Service officials say five people were traveling as a one rope team early Thursday morning as part of a Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation expedition on the Alaska mountain. The NPS said Hitoshi Ogi, 69, survived after falling 60 feet (18 meters) into a crevasse. He was able to climb out. The other four tumbled into the avalanche debris and haven't been seen since. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Kevin Wright)
In this Friday, June 15, 2012 photo provided by the National Park Service, climbers hike through the area where an avalanche swept a Japanese climbing team off a hill during their descent from Alaska's Mount McKinley. U.S. National Park Service officials say five people were traveling as a one rope team early Thursday morning as part of a Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation expedition on the Alaska mountain. The NPS said Hitoshi Ogi, 69, survived after falling 60 feet (18 meters) into a crevasse. He was able to climb out. The other four tumbled into the avalanche debris and haven't been seen since. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Kevin Wright)
An avalanche on Mount McKinley swept a Japanese climbing team off a hill as they tried to descend on a rope line, leaving four presumed dead. One climber survived after tumbling 60 feet into a crevasse.
U.S. National Park Service officials said Saturday that five people were traveling as one rope team early Thursday morning as part of a Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation expedition on the Alaska mountain.
Park Service spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin said Hitoshi Ogi, 69, survived the fall. He was able to climb out.
The other four fell into the avalanche debris and haven't been seen since. The climbers are presumed dead by either snow burial or injuries suffered in falls
Snowfall and wind have impeded a search for the missing climbers.
Ogi spoke to Park Service employees after the event. He said the climbers were descending the mountain together when the avalanche began, McLaughlin said. They sped up, trying to get down the mountain faster, but the rope connecting them broke when the avalanche struck.
Ogi was the lowest person on the rope team. He looked for the other four but couldn't find them.
"He wasn't sure of all the events," McLaughlin said, adding that Ogi spoke through a translator and was exhausted.
The four missing climbers include 64-year-old Yoshiaki Kato, 50-year-old Masako Suda, 56-year-old Michiko Suzuki, and 63-year-old Tamao Suzuki.
There was new snow on the route, but the weather on Thursday was calm, McLaughlin said.
"Where the avalanche occurred, the vast majority (of the new snow) was not on the main route," McLaughlin said. "A small sliver of it was, and that's what took them."
McLaughlin called the avalanche, "an unlucky, random event."
"Avalanches do occur in this vicinity, but it's not common, she said.
The climbers were attempting the busiest route, West Buttress, during the height of mountaineering season. Climbers took the route on 92 percent of the attempts on Mount McKinley in 2011.
The Park Service said in a news release Saturday that nearly 400 people were currently on the Alaska mountain.
Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, is North America's tallest peak. While not a particularly tall peak by global standards, its latitude makes for far thinner air than is found in mountains closer to the equator. That, combined with the weather and temperatures, makes it a particularly dangerous climb.
Four people died on the mountain in 2009 and again in 2010. At least five people died in 2011 on Mount McKinley.
___
Follow reporter Nigel Duara on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nigelduara
UNU-IHDP and UNEP launch sustainability index that looks beyond GDP Public release date: 17-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anne Kathrin Raab raab@ihdp.unu.edu 55-216-942-3493 International Human Dimensions Programme
Growth masks fact that natural resources facing rapid depletion in 19 out of 20 countries assessed
Rio, 17 June 2012 The world's fixation on economic growth ignores a rapid and largely irreversible depletion of natural resources that will seriously harm future generations, according to a report which today unveiled a new indicator aimed at encouraging sustainability - the Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI).
The IWI, which looks beyond the traditional economic and development yardsticks of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI) to include a full range of assets such as manufactured, human and natural capital, shows governments the true state of their nation's wealth and the sustainability of its growth.
The indicator was unveiled in the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012 (IWR), a joint initiative launched at Rio+20 by the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (UNU-IHDP) hosted by the United Nations University and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The report looked at changes in inclusive wealth in 20 countries, which together account for almost three quarters of global GDP, from 1990 to 2008.
Despite registering GDP growth, China, the United States, South Africa and Brazil were shown to have significantly depleted their natural capital base, the sum of a set of renewable and non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels, forests and fisheries.
Over the period assessed, natural resources per-capita declined by 33 per cent in South Africa, 25 per cent in Brazil, 20 per cent in the United States, and 17 per cent in China. Of all the 20 nations surveyed, only Japan did not see a fall in natural capital, due to an increase in forest cover.
If measured by GDP, the most common indicator for economic production, the economies in China, the United States, Brazil and South Africa grew by 422 per cent, 37 per cent, 31 per cent and 24 per cent respectively between 1990 and 2008.
However, when their performance is assessed by the IWI the Chinese and Brazilian economies only increased by 45 per cent and 18 per cent. The United States' grew by just 13 per cent, while South Africa's actually decreased by 1 per cent.
The report focuses on the sustainability of current resource bases, and does not analyze the rest of the 19th and 20th centuries, when many developed countries following an accelerated growth path may have depleted natural capital.
"Rio+20 is an opportunity to call time on Gross Domestic Product as a measure of prosperity in the 21st century, and as a barometer of an inclusive Green Economy transitionit is far too silent on major measures of human well-being namely many social issues and the state of a nation's natural resources," said UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
"IWI is among a range of potential replacements which world leaders can consider as a way of bringing great precision to assessing wealth generation in order to realize sustainable development and eradicate poverty," he added.
Wealth accounting, the concept behind the IWI, draws up a balance sheet for nations and shows countries where their wealth lies. By taking into account a wide array of capital assets a nation has at its disposal to secure society's well-being, it presents a more comprehensive picture and informs policy makers on the importance of maintaining their nation's capital base for future generations.
"The IWR stands for a crucial first step in changing the global economic paradigm by forcing us to reassess our needs and goals as a society." said Professor Anantha Duraiappah, Report Director of the IWR and Executive Director at UNU-IHDP. "It offers a rigorous framework for dialogue with multiple constituencies representing the environmental, social and economic fields."
The importance of keeping an eye on the full range of a country's capital assets becomes particularly evident when population growth is factored in. When population change is included to look at the IWI on a per-capita basis, almost all countries analyzed experienced significantly lower growth. This negative trend is likely to continue for countries that currently show high population growth, like India, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, if no measures are taken to increase the capital base or slow down population growth.
The IWR presents the inclusive wealth of 20 nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, USA, United Kingdom and Venezuela.
The countries selected represent 56% of world population and 72% of world GDP, including high, middle and low-income economies on all continents. A few countries were chosen based on the hypothesis that natural capital is particularly important to their productive base - as in the case of oil in Ecuador, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela; minerals in countries such as Chile; and forests in Brazil.
Key findings from the report are:
While 19 out of the 20 countries experienced a decline in natural capital, six also saw a decline in their inclusive wealth, putting them on an unsustainable track, Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, South Africa and Nigeria were the nations that failed to grow. The remaining 70 per cent of countries show IWI per-capita growth, indicating sustainability.
High population growth with respect to IWI growth created unsustainable conditions in five of the six countries mentioned above. Russia's lack of growth was due largely to a drop in manufactured capital
25 per cent of countries which showed a positive trend when measured by GDP per capita and HDI were found to have a negative IWI per capita. The primary driver of the difference in performance was the decline in natural capital
With the exception of France, Germany, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, all countries surveyed have a higher share of natural capital than manufactured capital, highlighting its importance
Human capital has increased in every country and is the prime capital form that offsets the decline in natural capital in most economies
There are clear signs of trade-off effects between the different forms of capital
Technological innovation and/or oil capital gains (due to rising prices) outweigh decline in natural capital and damages from climate change, moving a number of countries Russia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela - from an unsustainable to a sustainable trajectory
Estimates of inclusive wealth can be improved significantly with better data on the stocks of natural, human and social capital and their values for human well-being.
Recommendations
While inclusive wealth has increased for most countries, the report shows that an examination of natural capital is crucial for policy makers.
Even though a reduction in natural capital can be offset by the accumulation of manufactured and human capital, which are reproducible, many natural resources such as oil and minerals cannot be replaced. As a result, a more inclusive definition of wealth that will secure a legacy for future generations is urgently needed in the discussion of sustainable economic and social development.
The report, which will be produced every two years, makes the following specific recommendations:
Countries witnessing diminishing returns in natural capital should invest in renewable natural capital to improve their IWI and the well-being of their citizens. Example investments include reforestation and agricultural biodiversity
Nations should incorporate the IWI within planning and development ministries to encourage the creation of sustainable policies
Countries should speed up the process of moving from an income-based accounting framework to a wealth accounting framework
Macroeconomic policies should be evaluated on the basis of IWI rather than GDP per capita
Governments and international organizations should establish research programmes to value key components of natural capital, in particular ecosystems.
UN Under-Secretary General and Rector of the United Nations University, Prof. Konrad Osterwalder, concluded that using the IWI would safeguard the interests of many developing nations.
"The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have functioned as an important tool to focus international attention and action around key pressing global issues," he said. "As 2015 fast approaches, the deadline for meeting the MDGs, it is clear that the opportunities for many developing countries to achieve their goals may be compromised if the present rates of decline of various crucial ecosystem services continue."
"In order to reverse this decline, we need a natural capital accounting framework that takes into consideration the value of ecosystem services in relation to the wealth of nations, " he added. "The notion being that if we are better able to take account for our natural capital, we are more likely to protect it."
"With the Inclusive Wealth Report we have a new measure of economic progress that includes natural capital. Ideally, from now on, it will be essential that national and international agencies make use of inclusive wealth per capita as a yardstick to measure economic progress. I commend all those who have been involved with the preparation of this groundbreaking report which could play an important role in promoting the shift to a green economy, " he concluded.
###
After the press conference, further discussion of the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012 will take place at a joint UNEP and UNU-IHDP side event at Rio+20 on June 17, 2012, 1:00-2:45pm Brazil Time at the UNEP Pavilion, Athletes Centre, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Additional Quotes
"While most economies analyzed in the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012 and the world more generally have been enjoying positive economic growth rates, a look at the broader capital base indicates that this has come at high physical costs. These expenses should be reflected in the balance sheet of nations," said Dr. Pablo Muoz, Science Director of the IWR, UNU-IHDP.
"An increase in total wealth does not necessarily indicate that future generations may consume at the same level as the present one; as population grows, each form of capital is more thinly spread over the society," said Sir Partha Dasgupta, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Cambridge and Science Advisor to the IWR.
Media Contacts:
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Division of Communication and Public Information Acting Director and Spokesperson, Tel. +55 11 6593 8058, +254 733 632 755, e-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org
Manufactured capital is defined as infrastructure, goods and investments. Natural capital includes fossil fuels, minerals, forests, fisheries and agricultural land. Human capital includes education and skills.
The report will be publicly available for download on the IHDP website from June 17, www.ihdp.unu.edu. A hard copy will be published by Cambridge University Press:
http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/isbn/item6922822/Inclusive%20Wealth%20Report%202012/?site_locale=en_US
Caption: The graph demonstrates the decline of natural capital in all but one of the countries assessed in the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012.
Authors and Review Board
Developed under the scientific advice of Sir Partha Dasgupta, Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, the report features contributions by over a dozen leading scholars. Authors were selected based on their outstanding scientific expertise in inclusive wealth and environmental economics, and an extensive publication record in the area of natural capital, human well-being, social welfare and valuation, among others. The review board was chosen based on their expertise in the field, strong academic credentials and a good publishing record in the relevant fields.
Project Partners
The IWR 2012 is a joint initiative of the United Nations University International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (UNU-IHDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC) and the Natural Capital Project.
About UNU-IHDP (www.ihdp.unu.edu)
The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) is an interdisciplinary science program, working towards a better understanding of the interactions of humans with and within their natural environment. IHDP advances interdisciplinary research and collaborates with the natural and social sciences. It enhances the capacities of science and policy communities through a large network and furthers a shared understanding of the social causes and implications of global change. The program facilitates dialogue between science and policy to ensure that research results feed into policy-planning and law-making processes, and offers education and training to future leaders in the field.
IHDP was founded by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) of UNESCO in 1996. The IHDP Secretariat is hosted by the United Nations University (UNU) in Bonn who joined as third sponsor in 2007. IHDP's research is guided by an international Scientific Committee comprised of renowned scientists from various disciplinary and regional backgrounds.
About UNEP (www.unep.org)
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the voice for the environment in the UN system. Established in 1972, UNEP's mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UNEP is an advocate, educator, catalyst and facilitator promoting the wise use of the planet's natural assets for sustainable development. It works with many partners, UN entities, international organizations, national governments, non-governmental organizations, business, industry, the media and civil society. UNEP's work involves providing support for: environmental assessment and reporting; legal and institutional strengthening and environmental policy development; sustainable use and management of natural resources; integration of economic development and environmental protection; and promoting public participation in environmental management.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
UNU-IHDP and UNEP launch sustainability index that looks beyond GDP Public release date: 17-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anne Kathrin Raab raab@ihdp.unu.edu 55-216-942-3493 International Human Dimensions Programme
Growth masks fact that natural resources facing rapid depletion in 19 out of 20 countries assessed
Rio, 17 June 2012 The world's fixation on economic growth ignores a rapid and largely irreversible depletion of natural resources that will seriously harm future generations, according to a report which today unveiled a new indicator aimed at encouraging sustainability - the Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI).
The IWI, which looks beyond the traditional economic and development yardsticks of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI) to include a full range of assets such as manufactured, human and natural capital, shows governments the true state of their nation's wealth and the sustainability of its growth.
The indicator was unveiled in the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012 (IWR), a joint initiative launched at Rio+20 by the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (UNU-IHDP) hosted by the United Nations University and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The report looked at changes in inclusive wealth in 20 countries, which together account for almost three quarters of global GDP, from 1990 to 2008.
Despite registering GDP growth, China, the United States, South Africa and Brazil were shown to have significantly depleted their natural capital base, the sum of a set of renewable and non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels, forests and fisheries.
Over the period assessed, natural resources per-capita declined by 33 per cent in South Africa, 25 per cent in Brazil, 20 per cent in the United States, and 17 per cent in China. Of all the 20 nations surveyed, only Japan did not see a fall in natural capital, due to an increase in forest cover.
If measured by GDP, the most common indicator for economic production, the economies in China, the United States, Brazil and South Africa grew by 422 per cent, 37 per cent, 31 per cent and 24 per cent respectively between 1990 and 2008.
However, when their performance is assessed by the IWI the Chinese and Brazilian economies only increased by 45 per cent and 18 per cent. The United States' grew by just 13 per cent, while South Africa's actually decreased by 1 per cent.
The report focuses on the sustainability of current resource bases, and does not analyze the rest of the 19th and 20th centuries, when many developed countries following an accelerated growth path may have depleted natural capital.
"Rio+20 is an opportunity to call time on Gross Domestic Product as a measure of prosperity in the 21st century, and as a barometer of an inclusive Green Economy transitionit is far too silent on major measures of human well-being namely many social issues and the state of a nation's natural resources," said UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
"IWI is among a range of potential replacements which world leaders can consider as a way of bringing great precision to assessing wealth generation in order to realize sustainable development and eradicate poverty," he added.
Wealth accounting, the concept behind the IWI, draws up a balance sheet for nations and shows countries where their wealth lies. By taking into account a wide array of capital assets a nation has at its disposal to secure society's well-being, it presents a more comprehensive picture and informs policy makers on the importance of maintaining their nation's capital base for future generations.
"The IWR stands for a crucial first step in changing the global economic paradigm by forcing us to reassess our needs and goals as a society." said Professor Anantha Duraiappah, Report Director of the IWR and Executive Director at UNU-IHDP. "It offers a rigorous framework for dialogue with multiple constituencies representing the environmental, social and economic fields."
The importance of keeping an eye on the full range of a country's capital assets becomes particularly evident when population growth is factored in. When population change is included to look at the IWI on a per-capita basis, almost all countries analyzed experienced significantly lower growth. This negative trend is likely to continue for countries that currently show high population growth, like India, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, if no measures are taken to increase the capital base or slow down population growth.
The IWR presents the inclusive wealth of 20 nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, USA, United Kingdom and Venezuela.
The countries selected represent 56% of world population and 72% of world GDP, including high, middle and low-income economies on all continents. A few countries were chosen based on the hypothesis that natural capital is particularly important to their productive base - as in the case of oil in Ecuador, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela; minerals in countries such as Chile; and forests in Brazil.
Key findings from the report are:
While 19 out of the 20 countries experienced a decline in natural capital, six also saw a decline in their inclusive wealth, putting them on an unsustainable track, Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, South Africa and Nigeria were the nations that failed to grow. The remaining 70 per cent of countries show IWI per-capita growth, indicating sustainability.
High population growth with respect to IWI growth created unsustainable conditions in five of the six countries mentioned above. Russia's lack of growth was due largely to a drop in manufactured capital
25 per cent of countries which showed a positive trend when measured by GDP per capita and HDI were found to have a negative IWI per capita. The primary driver of the difference in performance was the decline in natural capital
With the exception of France, Germany, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, all countries surveyed have a higher share of natural capital than manufactured capital, highlighting its importance
Human capital has increased in every country and is the prime capital form that offsets the decline in natural capital in most economies
There are clear signs of trade-off effects between the different forms of capital
Technological innovation and/or oil capital gains (due to rising prices) outweigh decline in natural capital and damages from climate change, moving a number of countries Russia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela - from an unsustainable to a sustainable trajectory
Estimates of inclusive wealth can be improved significantly with better data on the stocks of natural, human and social capital and their values for human well-being.
Recommendations
While inclusive wealth has increased for most countries, the report shows that an examination of natural capital is crucial for policy makers.
Even though a reduction in natural capital can be offset by the accumulation of manufactured and human capital, which are reproducible, many natural resources such as oil and minerals cannot be replaced. As a result, a more inclusive definition of wealth that will secure a legacy for future generations is urgently needed in the discussion of sustainable economic and social development.
The report, which will be produced every two years, makes the following specific recommendations:
Countries witnessing diminishing returns in natural capital should invest in renewable natural capital to improve their IWI and the well-being of their citizens. Example investments include reforestation and agricultural biodiversity
Nations should incorporate the IWI within planning and development ministries to encourage the creation of sustainable policies
Countries should speed up the process of moving from an income-based accounting framework to a wealth accounting framework
Macroeconomic policies should be evaluated on the basis of IWI rather than GDP per capita
Governments and international organizations should establish research programmes to value key components of natural capital, in particular ecosystems.
UN Under-Secretary General and Rector of the United Nations University, Prof. Konrad Osterwalder, concluded that using the IWI would safeguard the interests of many developing nations.
"The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have functioned as an important tool to focus international attention and action around key pressing global issues," he said. "As 2015 fast approaches, the deadline for meeting the MDGs, it is clear that the opportunities for many developing countries to achieve their goals may be compromised if the present rates of decline of various crucial ecosystem services continue."
"In order to reverse this decline, we need a natural capital accounting framework that takes into consideration the value of ecosystem services in relation to the wealth of nations, " he added. "The notion being that if we are better able to take account for our natural capital, we are more likely to protect it."
"With the Inclusive Wealth Report we have a new measure of economic progress that includes natural capital. Ideally, from now on, it will be essential that national and international agencies make use of inclusive wealth per capita as a yardstick to measure economic progress. I commend all those who have been involved with the preparation of this groundbreaking report which could play an important role in promoting the shift to a green economy, " he concluded.
###
After the press conference, further discussion of the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012 will take place at a joint UNEP and UNU-IHDP side event at Rio+20 on June 17, 2012, 1:00-2:45pm Brazil Time at the UNEP Pavilion, Athletes Centre, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Additional Quotes
"While most economies analyzed in the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012 and the world more generally have been enjoying positive economic growth rates, a look at the broader capital base indicates that this has come at high physical costs. These expenses should be reflected in the balance sheet of nations," said Dr. Pablo Muoz, Science Director of the IWR, UNU-IHDP.
"An increase in total wealth does not necessarily indicate that future generations may consume at the same level as the present one; as population grows, each form of capital is more thinly spread over the society," said Sir Partha Dasgupta, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Cambridge and Science Advisor to the IWR.
Media Contacts:
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Division of Communication and Public Information Acting Director and Spokesperson, Tel. +55 11 6593 8058, +254 733 632 755, e-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org
Manufactured capital is defined as infrastructure, goods and investments. Natural capital includes fossil fuels, minerals, forests, fisheries and agricultural land. Human capital includes education and skills.
The report will be publicly available for download on the IHDP website from June 17, www.ihdp.unu.edu. A hard copy will be published by Cambridge University Press:
http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/isbn/item6922822/Inclusive%20Wealth%20Report%202012/?site_locale=en_US
Caption: The graph demonstrates the decline of natural capital in all but one of the countries assessed in the Inclusive Wealth Report 2012.
Authors and Review Board
Developed under the scientific advice of Sir Partha Dasgupta, Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, the report features contributions by over a dozen leading scholars. Authors were selected based on their outstanding scientific expertise in inclusive wealth and environmental economics, and an extensive publication record in the area of natural capital, human well-being, social welfare and valuation, among others. The review board was chosen based on their expertise in the field, strong academic credentials and a good publishing record in the relevant fields.
Project Partners
The IWR 2012 is a joint initiative of the United Nations University International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (UNU-IHDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC) and the Natural Capital Project.
About UNU-IHDP (www.ihdp.unu.edu)
The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) is an interdisciplinary science program, working towards a better understanding of the interactions of humans with and within their natural environment. IHDP advances interdisciplinary research and collaborates with the natural and social sciences. It enhances the capacities of science and policy communities through a large network and furthers a shared understanding of the social causes and implications of global change. The program facilitates dialogue between science and policy to ensure that research results feed into policy-planning and law-making processes, and offers education and training to future leaders in the field.
IHDP was founded by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) of UNESCO in 1996. The IHDP Secretariat is hosted by the United Nations University (UNU) in Bonn who joined as third sponsor in 2007. IHDP's research is guided by an international Scientific Committee comprised of renowned scientists from various disciplinary and regional backgrounds.
About UNEP (www.unep.org)
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the voice for the environment in the UN system. Established in 1972, UNEP's mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UNEP is an advocate, educator, catalyst and facilitator promoting the wise use of the planet's natural assets for sustainable development. It works with many partners, UN entities, international organizations, national governments, non-governmental organizations, business, industry, the media and civil society. UNEP's work involves providing support for: environmental assessment and reporting; legal and institutional strengthening and environmental policy development; sustainable use and management of natural resources; integration of economic development and environmental protection; and promoting public participation in environmental management.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Nearly a year after a tsunami and 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel travels to the evacuation zone surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The plant suffered a triple meltdown in the wake of the earthquake, turning the neighborhoods in the 12 mile radius of the plant into ghost towns. Engel journeyed near the mangled plant which remains very much a hotspot. ?Radiation levels were so high, the NBC News team on the ground had to wear face masks and full body suits. Even as NBC News drove half a mile from the reactor, radiation monitors were screaming in alarm.
By msnbc.com news services
TOKYO -- Japan on Saturday approved the resumption of nuclear power operations at two reactors despite mass public opposition, the first to come back on line after they were all shut down following the Fukushima crisis.?
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, his popularity ratings sagging, had backed the restarts for some time. He announced the government's decision at a meeting with keep ministers, giving the go-ahead to two reactors operated by Kansai Electric Power Co at Ohi in western Japan.?
The decision, despite public concerns over safety after the big earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant, could open the door to more restarts among Japan's 50 nuclear power reactors.?
But the decision risks a backlash from a public deeply concerned about nuclear safety. As many as 10,000 demonstrators gathered outside Noda's office on Friday night amid a heavy police presence to denounce the restarts, urging the premier to step down and shouting "Lives matter more than the economy."?
"Prime Minister Noda's rushed, dangerous approval of the Ohi nuclear power plant restart ignores expert safety advice and public outcry and needlessly risks the health of Japan's environment, its people and its economy," environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement.?
Rachel Maddow discusses the ongoing nuclear disaster in Fukushima a year after the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Rachel also talks with Salon.com's Mariah Blake about Texas billionaire Harold Simmons' huge nuclear waste dump over the Ogallala Aquifer located beneath the Great Plains.
The decision is a victory for Japan's still-powerful nuclear industry and reflects Noda's concerns about damage to the economy if atomic energy is abandoned following the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.?
The restart is being closely watched as an indicator of how aggressively the government will act to approve operations at other reactors. It has been pushing hard to bring some reactors online as soon as possible to avert power shortages as demand increases during the summer months. It says the reactors in the town of Ohi are particularly important because they are in an area that relied heavily on nuclear before the crisis, and have passed safety checks.
"Safety is our main concern," said trade and industry minister Yukio Edano. "We have approved the beginning of the restarting process. It will take some time for the reactors to begin generating electricity."?
But officials?acknowledged?that a completely fail-safe disaster prevention plan was impossible.?
Will Japan build a backup Tokyo?
"There is no such thing as a perfect score when it comes to disaster prevention steps," Trade Minister Yukio Edano told a news conference after the announcement.?
Japan's disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011 contaminated the land around it so badly that the area was effectively a write-off. Today the radiation-infected area is known by a name Ray Bradbury would like: "the exclusion zone." NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel reports from inside the zone, part of his report for Rock Center with Brian Williams airing Wednesday, Mar. 7, at 10pm/9c on NBC.
"But, based on what we learned from the Fukushima accident, those measures that need to be taken urgently have been addressed, and the level of safety has been considerably enhanced (at the Ohi plant)," he said.?
Edano, who holds the energy portfolio, said the government policy to reduce Japan's dependence on nuclear energy in the medium- to long-term was unchanged despite the decision.?
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? In Europe's most economically stricken countries, people are taking their money out of their banks as a way to protect their savings from the growing financial storm.
Worried that their savings could be devalued, or that banks are on the verge of collapse and that governments cannot make good on deposit insurance, people in Greece, Spain and beyond are withdrawing euros by the billions ? behavior that is magnifying their countries' financial stresses.
The money is being hoarded at home or deposited in banks in more stable economies.
It's a steady bank "jog" at the moment, not a full-bore run. But it threatens to undermine the finances of those countries' already-stressed lenders. And if it does turn into a full bank run after Greece's crucial election on Sunday, it could hasten financial disaster in Europe and help spread turmoil around the world.
Since the Greek debt crisis broke in late 2009, deposits have fallen by 30 percent cent, as savers have slowly pulled some ?72 billion ($90.24 billion) from local lenders, with total household and corporate deposits standing at ?165.9 billion ($207.94 billion) in April, according to the latest data from the Bank of Greece.
Spanish deposits have fallen about six percent over the past year. They dipped suddenly in April by about ?3.1 billion, or 1.8 percent, to ?1.624 trillion as problems with the country's troubled banks stated to grow to alarming proportions.
This is despite the fact that deposits are guaranteed by the government up to ?100,000 across the eurozone.
Spain's financial turmoil quickly worsened in late May, when the country's second-largest lender announced it needed capital of ?19 billion to stay afloat. Bankia denied reports of a rush by its customers to withdraw, but the bailout scared Spaniards who assumed their money was safe.
Bankia client Rosa Monsivais panicked and decided she had to move her savings from Bankia to one she thought would be safer. She chose a foreign bank with Spanish operations, the Dutch owned ING bank.
It took longer than she thought, leading to anxious days until she knew her money was in her new account.
"It scared me a little. I took all my money out and put it in ING," said Monsivais, a 41-year-old graphic artist who would not say how much money she moved. "But it took a full week to do this kind of transaction. I was reading the newspaper each day and it worried me."
The money across Europe is headed different places.
Some has simply been withdrawn and spent out of urgent need as people lose their jobs due to recessions. Some is winding up in bank accounts or invested in countries that are more stable such as Germany. The rest is being invested in property or bonds being issued by other eurozone countries.
In the U.K., the eurozone crisis was seen as one factor pushing up central London house prices, according to Knight Frank, a real estate agency dealing in high-end property.
"While it looks very much that the surge in Greek buyers has fallen off sharply since the beginning of the year ? those who had the funds to buy have done so ? we are now seeing a noticeable uptick in interest from France, Italy, Spain and even German-based purchasers looking at the prime London market," the company said in its Prime Central London Index report.
Meanwhile, some money appears to be simply hoarded at home, despite the risk of theft. Last month, police in Athens arrested a gang that specialized in breaking into basement storage spaces under apartment blocks, netting a rich haul in stashed cash and valuables.
"What the average Greek has in mind is to secure the euros they currently hold," said Theodore Krintas, managing director at Attica Wealth Management. "That has been going on for a long time, and will continue as long as the uncertainty increases concerning Greece's position in the near future in the eurozone and the European Union."
Sunday's vote could determine whether Greece stays in the euro or leaves in chaos. Since 2010, Greece has been dependent on two bailouts totaling ?240 billion in loans to pay its bills. In return, the government had to promise to make deep spending cuts to lower its deficit. That has helped put the country in a deep recession. Leading political figures have called for renegotiating or rejecting the bailout deal, which could lead to a payment cutoff from mistrustful eurozone governments and the IMF.
A bailout cutoff could lead to a complete collapse of government finances and a euro exit meaning the country would have to print its own money to pay bills or recapitalize banks.
A large-scale bank run in Greece could further wreck government finances and push the country closer to leaving the euro. T
So far it's been a trickle rather than a flood in Greece, underlining its slow-motion nature. Many have kept their deposits because they don't believe Greece will leave the euro.
Wealthy Germans also are concerned that inflation will surge if Europe's central bank has to step in and spend huge amounts of money propping up the single currency. So they are putting more money into their own country's high-end real-estate in hope it will keep its value.
Well-heeled Spaniards have been moving money to Switzerland and the U.S. for months amid mounting worries about Spain and the safety of the eurozone, said Bruce Goslin, managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for K2 Intelligence consulting group.
"As we are circulating and talking to people, some things are becoming clear. Everyone says 'There is nothing going on in Spain, the economy is contracting so fast we're going to have to go out of Spain.'" said Goslin.
Spain's banking problems come from the collapse of a real estate boom. Banks that made reckless loans are not being paid back and are seeing the value of the properties they invested in tumbling. This is making the country's banking system increasingly financially insecure ? heightening savers' fears that their money is not safe.
Fernando Encinar, head of research at real estate website Idealista.com, said some wealthy people who didn't have money to buy during the boom are now taking advantage of prices that have fallen 26 percent in four years.
Many Spaniards can't move money abroad because times are so tough, said Vincent Forest at the Economist Intelligence Unit. With unemployment now at nearly 25 percent, Spaniards with jobs and savings are increasingly helping out less fortunate relatives.
"Most Spaniards have huge savings, but they have someone in the family who needs money and isn't earning anything," Forest said.
Many Italians ? some of Europe's most devoted savers ? are also moving money. They are worried their government will be the next victim of the crisis through its heavy debt load, even though Italy's banks, government finances and economy are in better shape than Spain's.
Some 60,000 to 70,000 small investors have bought property abroad, mostly in Germany but also on the Spanish islands, in the last three months, for a total investment of ?400 million on an annual basis, said Paolo Righi, president of the Italian Federation of Real Estate Professionals.
Ruth Stirati, who runs a business helping Italians buy property in Berlin, said she gets about 10 emails a day asking about properties.
"Over the last two or three weeks, there has been a new panic," she said. "They have a thousand fears: That the banks won't have money, that the euro will fail. It is without substance, their doubts. But they worry there will be one strong euro in Germany, and one that is weak.'
Wealthy Germans aren't worried about seeing their money disappear due to collapsing banks, but they are concerned that their savings will be eaten away through inflation. As a result, they are putting money into real estate ? at home.
Even though inflation currently is moderate at 2.2 percent in May, there is concern about the risk of rising prices in Germany's media. There is speculation that inflation could jump if the European Central Bank has to take drastic measures to keep the eurozone from breaking up ? such as printing large amounts of money to buy government bonds and cover bankrupt governments' financing needs.
The current EU treaty bars that. But that hasn't stopped German newspaper headlines warning about possible inflation to come.
According to the Europace real estate financing platform, German home prices rose 5.46 percent in the first quarter over a year ago.
__
Paphitis contributed from Athens, McHugh from Frankfurt, and Barry from Milan. Also contributing were Harold Heckle in Madrid and Robert Barr and Cassandra Vinograd in London.
Queensland's public servants face an agonising wait to learn if they'll soon be in the dole queue.
Those who escape a likely purge face an indefinite cap on pay rises, and the government says they can all thank Labor for their woes.
A commission of audit, led by Howard-government treasurer Peter Costello, released its interim report into the state's finances on Friday.
It said the previous government "embarked on an unsustainable level of spending" and debt would balloon to $100 billion by 2018/19 if drastic action wasn't taken.
The report recommends harsh medicine, including an indefinite three per cent cap on public servant wages, increasing property transfer duty and means-testing some state government services.
Gambling tax and mining royalties could also be lifted and the state's part in funding residential aged care homes passed to the private sector and federal government.
Asset sales are recommended as part of a second stage of action and the report earmarks Goprint, QFleet, QBuild, CITEC and Queensland Shared Services as candidates.
"Get the vital signs beating again and then do the radical surgery," Mr Costello told reporters in Brisbane.
Treasurer Tim Nicholls ruled out selling assets this term, promising the Liberal National Party would only do it with a mandate in a second term.
He also ruled out the recommended $100-per-property landholder's levy but will consider all other options.
Although the report doesn't recommend firing permanent public servants, Mr Nicholls won't make any promises to the 210,000-strong workforce.
He acknowledged the uncertainly that would create in the months before the next budget, due in September.
"At this stage of proceedings what we are doing is working to protect as many jobs as we can," he told reporters.
Opposition treasury spokesman Curtis Pitt says the report is "tainted politically" by Mr Costello.
The forecast debt assumes Queensland will experience a repeat of the floods, cyclones and Global Financial Crisis (GFC), he says.
"They've tried very, very hard to find a massive black hole that doesn't exist," he said.
Mr Pitt says it's now clear the figures will be used to justify cuts to public service jobs and asset sales to pay down debt.
Unions says public servants are "very scared" about the prospect of losing their jobs.
The public sector union, Together, said the government must keep its promise of no forced redundancies and instead look to increased mining royalties to address the debt crisis.
Industry groups are divided on whether asset sales are the answer but agree public service cuts are needed.
Australian Industry Group says the government could net $10 billion if power transmission company Powerlink and generators CS Energy and Stanwell are sold.
But the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland says this would only be a short-term fix and not enough to make a significant difference to debt.
The Democratic and Republican candidates took aim at each other and the economy in back to back speeches lobbed across the state of Ohio.
By Julie Pace and Steve Peoples,?The Associated Press / June 14, 2012
President Obama speaks at a campaign event at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland on Thursday.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
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President Barack Obama cast his re-election race against Republican Mitt Romney as the economic choice of a lifetime on Thursday, seeking to stir undecided voters and asking the nation to buy into his vision for four more years or face a return to the recession-era "mistakes of the past."
From opposite ends of Ohio, a state vital to both of their political futures, Romney and Obama dueled in economic speeches that set the tone for a fierce, final five months of debate. At the core, the pitches were the political foes' familiar, fundamentally different takes on how get to an economically aching nation soaring again.
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"That's really what this election is about," Obama said in his most detailed case for a second term. "That's what is at stake right now. Everything else is just noise."
Romney went first from Cincinnati, a Republican stronghold in the state, and he described Obama's administration as the very "enemy" of people who create jobs.
"Look what's happened across this country," Romney said. "If you think things are going swimmingly, if you think the president's right when he said the private sector is doing fine, then he's the guy to vote for." But he questioned why anyone would do that, saying if the job isn't getting done, pick "someone who can do a better job."
The backdrop was Ohio, seen by political strategists as a state that could swing the election.
It went to Obama last time, and George W. Bush before that, and it remains crucial for both competitors this year ? particularly Romney. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio.
Romney gave what amounted to his standard speech, albeit realigned as a prebuttal as Obama was pulling into his event site at the top of the state. Given the tight presidential race and the enormous interest in the economy, the two speeches offered anticipation of a big campaign moment, but the substance yielded little new.
This was Obama in professor mode, filling his speech with budget numbers and history and talk of independent analysts. It was an economics case, yet hardly one of roaring rhetorical lift. The goal for Obama was not to uncork new proposals but to define a contrast. He is still pushing tax credits and other jobs ideas that have awaited action in Congress for months.
On Thursday, he said the election is an opportunity for voters to step in and "break the stalemate."
In essence, Obama said Romney would gut government and cut taxes for the rich at the expense of everyone else.
Romney said Obama is crushing the free market with regulation.
Obama said, "If you believe this economy grows best when everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules, then I ask you to stand with me for a second term as president."
He made a concerted push for independent and undecided voters by pledging anew to work with anyone "who believes that we're in this together."
Despite what had seemed to be a speech showdown, the two events were not of the same scope.
Obama spoke for more than 50 minutes, more than doubling Romney's comments, in what his campaign called the first in a series of major economic speeches. The settings offered different optics as well; Romney went coatless with his sleeves rolled up before about 100 people; Obama gave a formal address to 1,500 people.
Romney's reference to Obama's statement about the private sector "doing fine" recalled what was largely seen as a presidential gaffe last week. Even though Obama's aides said he was taken out of context, Obama conceded his misstep on Thursday, joking "It wasn't the first time. It won't be the last."
The president also appealed for more time to let his ideas work. Citing the monster American recession, he said most countries in the past have needed 10 years to recover.
The economic focus came at a grim time in the American economic recovery. The country produced just 69,000 jobs last month. And Europe's financial crisis is eroding confidence around the globe.
Politically, both Romney and Obama used Europe as a foil.
For Obama, it was to say while the economies of many European nations aren't growing, America's is because "we acted fast." Romney said Obama had amassed crippling debt. "You want four more years of that?" he said. "You call that forward? That's forward over a cliff. That's forward on the way to Greece."
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Trying to swing Ohio: GOP looks to 2010 success; Democrats, to 2011
LORAIN -- The office of Chase Ritenauer, the Democratic mayor of this north-central Ohio city, overlooks peacefully moored sailboats on Lake Erie -- and a sewage treatment plant. So it goes for Ohio
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Public release date: 17-Jun-2012
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