*[Enwl-eng] Russia blocks poles of cold
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Sep 27, 2013, 4:23:13 PM9/27/13
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*Russia blocks poles of cold*
During the voting at the meeting of the Commission on the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources, Russia has blocked the proposal to
create the world's largest polar reserve.
*For more climate and energy related news please visit our website
rusecounion.ru*
<http://rusecounion.ru/sites/default/files/images/antarctic.jpg>Huge areas
of ocean waters surrounding Antarctica could become the largest marine
reserve in the world, if such a decision passed a vote of the Commission on
the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.
The Commission, composed of 24 countries and the European Union, was to
vote on the proposal to allocate 876,000 square miles around the frozen
Ross Sea and 700,000 square miles around East Antarctica. This area is the
habitat of emperor penguins, minke whales, rare cynomolgus and Chilean sea
bass, the species that significantly lost in the numbers because of active
commercial production. In case of consensus, this area would become a place
open only for research, where any commercial harvesting is forbidden.
The vote on this issue was not the first one. Before, the parties failed to
reach a consensus on this issue in October last year. This time, before a
crucial vote, Russia literally tore the issue by introduction of the
question, if the Commission has the legal authority to create a marine
reserve.
Observers at international negotiations have still fresh memories of "the
procedural blockade" by the Russian delegation at the UN climate talks in
Bonn. Experts believe that the Russian "blockades" are caused not by
concern for the environment, but by someone's interests.
The consumer approach of the Russian Federation to the high-latitude areas
is clear: before the "blockade" of the reserve in Antarctica, Russia began
making plans for the global development of the Arctic. The issues of
defense and resource extraction are the main landmarks in the Strategy for
development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation till 2020 that was
recently signed by the President, although this document mentions the terms
"sustainable development" and "climate change" as well. Another document,
the draft law on the Arctic zone prepared by the Ministry of Regional
Development, significantly reduces the possibility of using the "Arctic
zone" term.
Meanwhile, the human-induced damage to the polar environment is already
measured by colossal figures. Scientists note that the potential damage
from melting permafrost only in the Arctic zone will reach 60 trillion US
dollars, which is comparable to the volume of the entire world economy in
2012 (70 trillion US dollars). The total "cost" of climate change, as
evidenced by the results of economic modeling, may be even higher.
Gail Whiteman, a professor of Erasmus University (the Netherlands), writes
in Nature journal: “Warming of the northern territories is an economic time
bomb.”
Scientists note that it is wrong to regard the process of temperature
growth in the North as a favorable one, as some experts try to do. Indeed,
sea ice and permafrost melting can make Arctic oil (13% of the world's
undiscovered reserves) and gas (30%) more accessible, and increase the
traffic along the Northern Sea Route. However, the losses caused by melting
the Arctic permafrost can be huge, much greater than local benefits from
extraction of minerals, as this region is the key to Earth's climate system.
Experts think that Russia needs to consider the issue of preservation of
the polar areas more globally, taking into account not only short-term
benefits, but the risks of possible negative consequences as well.
--
RSEU Climate Secretariat
www.rusecounion.ru
Address: Voznesenskij 36-4, St.Petersburg, 190068, Russia
Tel: +7 812 2410043
Tel.mob: +7 921 9117986, +7 9217444255
e-mail:rseu.c...@gmail.com
From: "Climate Secretariat RSEU" <rseu.c...@gmail.com>
To: <rseu_cli...@googlegroups.com>; <can-...@listi.jpberlin.de>;
<enwl...@enwl.bellona.ru>
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2013 6:48 PM
Subject: Russia blocks poles of cold
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During the voting at the meeting of the Commission on the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources, Russia has blocked the proposal to
create the world's largest polar reserve.
*For more climate and energy related news please visit our website
rusecounion.ru*
<http://rusecounion.ru/sites/default/files/images/antarctic.jpg>Huge areas
of ocean waters surrounding Antarctica could become the largest marine
reserve in the world, if such a decision passed a vote of the Commission on
the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.
The Commission, composed of 24 countries and the European Union, was to
vote on the proposal to allocate 876,000 square miles around the frozen
Ross Sea and 700,000 square miles around East Antarctica. This area is the
habitat of emperor penguins, minke whales, rare cynomolgus and Chilean sea
bass, the species that significantly lost in the numbers because of active
commercial production. In case of consensus, this area would become a place
open only for research, where any commercial harvesting is forbidden.
The vote on this issue was not the first one. Before, the parties failed to
reach a consensus on this issue in October last year. This time, before a
crucial vote, Russia literally tore the issue by introduction of the
question, if the Commission has the legal authority to create a marine
reserve.
Observers at international negotiations have still fresh memories of "the
procedural blockade" by the Russian delegation at the UN climate talks in
Bonn. Experts believe that the Russian "blockades" are caused not by
concern for the environment, but by someone's interests.
The consumer approach of the Russian Federation to the high-latitude areas
is clear: before the "blockade" of the reserve in Antarctica, Russia began
making plans for the global development of the Arctic. The issues of
defense and resource extraction are the main landmarks in the Strategy for
development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation till 2020 that was
recently signed by the President, although this document mentions the terms
"sustainable development" and "climate change" as well. Another document,
the draft law on the Arctic zone prepared by the Ministry of Regional
Development, significantly reduces the possibility of using the "Arctic
zone" term.
Meanwhile, the human-induced damage to the polar environment is already
measured by colossal figures. Scientists note that the potential damage
from melting permafrost only in the Arctic zone will reach 60 trillion US
dollars, which is comparable to the volume of the entire world economy in
2012 (70 trillion US dollars). The total "cost" of climate change, as
evidenced by the results of economic modeling, may be even higher.
Gail Whiteman, a professor of Erasmus University (the Netherlands), writes
in Nature journal: “Warming of the northern territories is an economic time
bomb.”
Scientists note that it is wrong to regard the process of temperature
growth in the North as a favorable one, as some experts try to do. Indeed,
sea ice and permafrost melting can make Arctic oil (13% of the world's
undiscovered reserves) and gas (30%) more accessible, and increase the
traffic along the Northern Sea Route. However, the losses caused by melting
the Arctic permafrost can be huge, much greater than local benefits from
extraction of minerals, as this region is the key to Earth's climate system.
Experts think that Russia needs to consider the issue of preservation of
the polar areas more globally, taking into account not only short-term
benefits, but the risks of possible negative consequences as well.
--
RSEU Climate Secretariat
www.rusecounion.ru
Address: Voznesenskij 36-4, St.Petersburg, 190068, Russia
Tel: +7 812 2410043
Tel.mob: +7 921 9117986, +7 9217444255
e-mail:rseu.c...@gmail.com
From: "Climate Secretariat RSEU" <rseu.c...@gmail.com>
To: <rseu_cli...@googlegroups.com>; <can-...@listi.jpberlin.de>;
<enwl...@enwl.bellona.ru>
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2013 6:48 PM
Subject: Russia blocks poles of cold
------------- * ENWL * ------------
Ecological North West Line * St. Petersburg, Russia
Independent Environmental Net Service: http://www.bellona.ru/enwl/
Russian: ENWL(discussions), ENWL-inf(FSU information), ENWL-misc(any topics)
English: ENWL-eng (world information)
en...@lew.spb.org, enwl...@lew.spb.org, en...@lew.spb.org, en...@lew.spb.org
Subscription, Moderator: vf...@lew.spb.org or en...@enw.net.ru
Archive: http://enwl.bellona.ru/pipermail/
and http://groups.google.com/group/enwl/
SEE ALSO: http://www.bellona.org (English)and http://www.bellona.ru
(Russian)
RSS: http://groups.google.ru/group/enwl/feeds?hl=ru
(C) Please refer to exclusive articles of ENWL
-------------------------------------
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Enwl-eng mailing list
Enwl...@enwl.bellona.ru
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