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| Sunday, 9 October 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Environment by Shanika Sriyananda To save the world... Put lid on 'Greenhouse gases' by Shanika Sriyananda No need for further scientific data or research, like the tsunami nine months ago, now 'Katrina' and 'Rita' have showed their anger for abusing mother nature endlessly. They will definitely not be the last, and many more, even destructive than these, may be in the pipeline to hit the planet due to global warming.
According to latest reserchs, ocean will make more violent stoms than earlier due to warming. But, unfortunately most of them were overlooked by biggest emitters who even still, despite severe destruction, argue and refuse to ratify the most 'valuable' treaty - the Kyoto Protocol- just to cut down the Greenhouse Gases (GGs), mainly to 'save' their economies. The target is to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions from 7.2 billion tons to 6.8 billion tons annually. The increasing amount of GGs - Carbon Dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SFs) - identified under Kyoto Protocol, released into the atmosphere will make the world warm by more than 30 degrees Celsius higher than today in future. Meanwhile, the already warmed atmosphere resulted in a profound impact on lives in oceans and land. Over 95 percent of marine species in oceans and three-quarters of land species have become extinct due to the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide into the environment. The scientists warned of more severe hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones. According to them, between 1975 and 1989 there were 171 major hurricanes but this increased to 269 between 1990 and 2004 mainly due to increase in sea surface temperature caused by global warming. While the small islands like Maldives are under the threat of submerging and countries like Bangladesh experiencing more floods, some European countries experience longer and drier summers. Especially in some parts of the southern Spain, the farmlands have turned to dust bowls. Even the rains in Spain are now heavier and shorter. According to a Spanish leading scientist, by 2020, temperatures would have increased by 2.5 Celsius and by 2050, the increase will be nearly 5 Celsius. At a recent workshop organised by the Energy Conservation Fund to look at Sri Lanka's role in saving the planet by reducing GGs emissions by promoting renewable energy and improving energy efficiency, Chairman, Public Utilities Commission Prof. Priyantha Wijetunge said that Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was the best option for the country to switch over to cut down the pollution rate. He said that the three main contributors of GGs are the CO2, which mainly emit from burning fossil fuel (In 1980s 5.5 billion tons a year) and deforestation (1.6 billion tons a year), Methane, which released to the air when vegetation is burned, digested and rotted and largely released in garbage dumps and Nitrogen Oxide when chemical fertilizer is used. "Out of the total emissions the ocean absorbs nearly 2 billion tons and another 2 billion by the unidentified 'sinks'. But over 3.2 billion tons of CO2 are simply added to existing concentrations every year", he said. He said that GGs in the air has increased by about 30 per cent since the Industrial Revolution. "But emissions will further increase as the developing world moves towards greater industrialisation. Industrialized world contributed more than 70 per cent of the total world emission", he claimed. According to Prof. Priyantha, the temperature, which had increased by 1 degree F during the last century will increase to 3.5 F in the next century and will continue to increase even if CO2 concentration is stabilised. "Increase in global temperature has resulted in the sea level rise, which has give up by 4 inches to 10 inches in the last century. This century it is predicted that this will rise from 6 to 37 inches, where over 92 million people are under threat of flooding. If the sea level rises upto one metre, one percent of Egypt, six percent of Netherlands, 17.5 percent of Bangladesh and other small islands will go under water", he pointed out. The mechanisms to reduce GGs emissions for the countries that signed the Protocol are the local emission reduction, where the pattern of energy usage is changed, joint implementation, emission trading and CDM. According to Prof. Wijetunge, fuel switching in electricity generation systems, use of energy efficient technologies in commercial, manufacturing and the domestic sectors, loss reduction in transmission and distribution systems, greater use of non conventional renewable energy systems were the projects that Sri Lanka can implement of mitigating GGs. "Promote proper solid waste management with methane recovery and change in land use will also help to cut down GGs", he pointed out. Inland green 'canopies' vanish after tsunami The deadly tsunami waves turned the somewhat greeny coastal belt into 'dry browny' stretch last year. But top governmental officials, who created an 'urgency' to settle the homeless tsunami victims, have cleared aged-old green canopies inland in the middle of this year. Valuable trees like burutha, teak and mahogany in these lands had 'disappeared', despite tough environmental laws and regulations. According to Thilina Kiringoda, Director, Environment and Project Planning Division of the Tsunami Housing Reconstruction Unit, the harm done by these 'enthusiastic bureaucrats' is much higher than the destruction brought about by the natural phenomena. " They could not wait until the site lay outs are prepared", he said. These areas are now more vulnerable to serious soil erosion, ground water pollution and water table reduction due to adhoc clearing of green canopies. Following the detailed assessments - Brown Assessment and Green Assessment - by the Moratuwa University, the THRU has implemented a program to green the new settlements to minimise the looming dangers and also to beautify over 300 sites with trees. The program, which commenced early this week will officially implement the first stage within a month. Millions of saplings will be planted along the roadways and open spaces, which are mandatory under Urban Development Authority (UDA) regulations, in each new settlements. " We encourage the beneficiaries to plant trees in their gardens while getting their support to maintain the saplings until full bloom. Community based societies will be set up at each settlement to maintain the green cover", he added. The UDA with the assistance of the Forest Department and the Landscaping Unit of the Moratuwa University will calculate the number of saplings entitled to each settlement with suitable plant species depending on soil and climatic conditions of the each district. The forest department has shown its willingness to supply millions of saplings with the assistance of its registered voluntary nursery owners. The Green Movement and the Ruk Rakaganno - the two NGOs have also come forward in this endeavour in re-greening the tsunami hit areas and the new settlements. CEB doors open to environmental critics Amidst a severe oil price hike and the Ceylon Electricity Board's (CEB) bottleneck debt, still the short-sighted politicians say 'no' to vital power projects which could easily bring the electricity tariff down. The agitations staged in the name of 'environment protection' longed for nearly one and half decades making the country's most delayed and much needed power projects, the upper Kotmale Hydro Power Project and the Norochcholai Coal Power Project, a far away dream. The battle between protecting the environment and implementing cheaper sources of electricity still looms despite firm assurances of the CEB for years. "Protecting environment is our prime concern" reiterates the CEB General Manager Ranjith Fonseka, who gives a novel definition to 'ENVIRONMENT'. " Environment may be fauna, flora, air and water. But I strongly believe that it is totality of our living", he says. " When you talk about any activity, inlcuding walking on the road, we live in an environment. The human existence is an interaction between human beings and the environment. If the environment is good both are happy and it is a 'win-win' situation. If the interaction is bad it is a negative situation and as humanbeings everybody must try to achieve a 'win-win' situation", he adds. According to Fonseka, the human existence itself is an environemntal hazard and when we try to do something, some other thing gets affected. But he says in the engineering philosophy it should be done in a more holistic system minimising the negative aspects and optimising the positive aspects. He says that as citizens of this country the CEB engineers when planning give utmost priorty to environmental aspects. " We are seriously concerned about the nature and if anybody says that the CEB is not committed to this sphere, he I must say, is a liar", he claims. Fonseka requests the so-called environmentalists to come forward and give them their proposals or the environmental aspects that they think the CEB has neglected, than go around the project areas, misleading poor villagers and lobby against vital projects. "We are quite open. Any environmentalist can come, meet us and submit their proposals or they can point out the short comings in our planning. But the reality is not this. They never come to us instead, they go and lobby using 'environment' as a shield. It is high time for these so-called environmentalsits to 'divulge' their pay masters," he claims. The CEB General Manager also claims that the CEB planned to generate much uninterrupted reliable electricity at least the cost, but someone torpedoed these plans making the CEB more dependant on emergency power suppliers who sell electricity at a very high cost. "Former Minister Karu Jayasuriya spoke about a diesel mafia. Present Ministers Susil Premajayantha also speaks about the same mafia. These Ministers do not speak about a mafia which is not in existence because they are responsible people. So now we want to know who these people are who disturb these projects", he points out. Fonseka firmly assures that there will be no so-called environmenal damage due to these two power projects. (SS) UNDP small grants for tsunami recovery The Global Environment Facility - Small Grants Program (GEF/SGP) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), recently launched the "Livelihood Development" and "One Village at a Time" tsunami recovery programs that would fund small-scale, local recovery initiatives tailored to local needs, through civil society and non-governmental organisations on the basis of a competitive selection process. The Programs are under the South-South Grants Facility (SSGF) of UNDP's Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SU/SSC) and it is expected the grants can tap into the existing capacity of civil society to make a difference at the local level. The "Livelihood Development" and "One Village at a Time" programs will be implemented through one year, began last September. "Although the two projects are small in size and in its funding levels, they have the potential of playing a significant role in the recovery effort," said Mr. Abu Y. M. Selim, Country Director of UNDP. "After all, Small is beautiful, Small is easily manageable, Small can be effectively implemented for the direct benefit of the target groups. The old adage, 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a small step' reminds us of the possibility that the successful implementation of the concept of 'One Village at a Time' and the 'Livelihood Development' of the South-South Cooperation Program could be a small step towards the journey in the recovery process," he added. The South-South grants program for Livelihood Development aims to reach the tsunami affected who have lost their means of earning a living, particularly women. Its goal is to reach the poorest and most vulnerable members of society through women by enabling them develop home-based business. "One Village at a Time" adopts the approach that post-tsunami recovery efforts should offer an opportunity for communities to accelerate development and help in the task of rebuilding damaged infrastructure and facilities with an integrated vision of the needs and its impact on people's lives. Civil society and non-governmental organisations would be granted funds up to US$ 15,000, exceptionally US$ 25,000, and US$ 25,000 and a maximum of US$ 50,000 for individual projects qualifying under the Livelihood Development and One Village at a Time programs, respectively. This initiative has been funded by the Government of the People's Republic of China, Brazil and Nigeria. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Several warnings or predictions or signals on future natural disasters
triggered by the global warming caused by emitting toxic chemicals to the
atmosphere came long before these destructions. 
