In a commentary published in today's Les Echos (France, 06/12) World Bank Chief Scientist, Robert Watson writes: "Addressing the needs of 1.6 billion people without access to basic energy services - 500 million of them living in Sub-Saharan Africa - is key for promoting economic growth and poverty reduction. Rich and poor countries, together, share a responsibility to ensure that the global community can meet the energy needs of the poor, and at the same time reap the double dividend of robust growth and a healthy planet.

Climate change and climate variability are no longer a question for the future, but an imperative to avoid new economic and human disasters, which we know will disproportionately affect developing countries, and vulnerable populations in these nations.

During the 1990s, an average of 200 million people per year from developing countries were affected by climate related disasters, eroding the capacities of whole communities to improve their livelihoods, and set back the fight against poverty. Models of agricultural production suggest serious losses by mid-century with huge differential effects between rich and developing countries. Developing countries often have economies that are heavily dependent on agriculture, forestry, and natural ecosystems where the impacts of climate variability and change are likely to be the greatest.

Rich and poor countries alike need to apply energy-efficient technology to cut future greenhouse gas emissions and to meet the energy needs of the developing world. OECD countries are scheduled to replace over a third of their existing power plants by the year 2030, including nearly all coal-fired plants. This represents, potentially, a great opportunity to do better, to producing energy more efficiently and in a way that does less damage to the climate.

In addressing climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require improvements in fossil-fuel technologies, developing non-carbon energy technologies, and increasing end-use efficiency. Within the fossil-fuel domain, several avenues appear promising, including fuel cell technologies, which offer significant potential for cogeneration at the scale of a single commercial building; gasification of coal through partial oxidation to produce synthetic gas, and technologies to capture and store emitted carbon dioxide at the site of energy production, which would allow the continued use of fossil fuels with little or no emission of carbon into the atmosphere.

Non-carbon energy technologies include nuclear energy and various forms of renewable energy - small- and large-scale hydropower, wind, solar, biomass, and others. New technologies that lower the cost or improve the efficiency of these non-carbon-emitting forms of energy could allow them to substitute for a large share of the energy now provided by fossil fuels.

Many of the technologies to adapt to and cope with the climates of the future already exist. More drought-resistant crops are probably grown in nearby drier areas; flood control technology can be imported from regions already coping with flooding; and innovative construction techniques for wind resistant and cool housing are being used. However, these technologies must still be transferred, and people accustomed to their use. A new generation of standards and approaches in irrigation, hydropower, land zoning, flood mapping, road construction, coastal infrastructure, etc, will be needed to reflect the emerging conditions of climate uncertainty.

Achieving reliable, clean, and efficient technology is key to the global solution This means spanning the 'valley of death' - or the financing gap between researching new, clean technologies, demonstrating that they work, and making them commercially viable so that they can be scaled up and applied worldwide.

Getting a venture to the position where it is successful and can produce a commercial product is an arduous task, where entrepreneurs face the dangerous convergence of high cash demands and low ability to raise it.

There is no shortage of appropriate technologies that can be deployed in the short term to reduce carbon emissions. Transversing the 'valley of death' requires an intelligent blend of public and private sector investment, targeting the most promising innovations; to create incentives for private sector investment, including through market-based instruments and carbon finance, and the need for appropriate frameworks to provide incentives in R&D for the next generation of clean energy technologies."

OTTAWA - Canadian farmers are embracing environmentally friendly practices for growing crops, according to an Ipsos Reid survey released today. The survey shows that farmers want to do the right thing for the environment and most have adopted beneficial management practices (BMPs) to manage their fertilizer and manure use. Ninety-eight per cent of farmers surveyed said that it was important to manage their farms in a way that protects the environment. According to the survey, most crop farmers in Canada use at least one recommended BMP to manage crop nutrients (fertilizer and manure) in an environmentally responsible manner. Soil testing and minimum tillage (reducing soil disturbance) are the most commonly used BMPs.

"Fertilizer products are essential to Canadian agriculture and the production of wholesome food. Farmers who use beneficial management practices protect the environment by applying fertilizer at the right rate, at the right time and in the right place," said Chris Moran, Executive Director of the Grain Growers of Canada and Chair of the Crop Nutrients Council.

"This study confirms that farmers are good environmental stewards, working hard to manage nutrients for their crops in a responsible manner," agreed Brian Besley, farmer and Chair of AGCare (Agricultural Groups Concerned About Resources and the Environment).

While protecting the environment is a priority, many farmers believe there are also net economic benefits from employing BMPs, the survey found. The main reasons cited for using BMPs are to make more efficient use of fertilizer and to improve soil quality.

While farmers believe there are some economic benefits from employing BMPs, one of the main reasons cited for not undertaking a specific BMP was the cost of adoption. Of the farmers who were concerned about the cost of using BMPs, about eight in 10 would like some financial assistance from government to improve their environmental stewardship.

"Canadian farmers have been engaging in environmental stewardship for a long time because they believe it is the right thing to do. But they have been bearing the cost of those initiatives mostly alone," said Bob Friesen, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. "It is time for consumers and governments to recognize that agricultural environmental stewardship is a public good that benefits everyone, so the costs must be shared by everyone."

The survey also found that manure is a commonly used source of nutrients on Canadian farms. Six in 10 farmers surveyed apply manure to their fields, although only about a third of farmers who primarily grow field crops use manure. About four in 10 farmers follow a manure management plan. The main reasons for using a manure management plan are for more efficient use of manure/fertilizer, government mandate, and/or to maximize yields. Only a small percentage receive any government financial incentive to assist them with their manure management planning, however the majority of those using a manure plan support the idea of the government providing financial incentives for manure management planning.

"Manure nutrient management planning is an important practice being increasingly adopted by livestock producers across the country. Not only do producers see an improvement in environmental performance on the farm, a major driver for change, they also recognize that good nutrient management keeps costs down and profits up," said Cedric MacLeod, Environmental Programs Coordinator with the Canadian Pork Council.

Ipsos Reid, a leading Canadian research company, conducted a telephone survey of 1,000 crop farmers across Canada between February 21 and March 15, 2006, on behalf of the Crop Nutrients Council. The results are considered accurate to within +/- 3.4%, 19 times out of 20.

The purpose of the survey was to gain a better understanding of Canadian farmers' attitudes toward BMP's related to managing crop nutrients, particularly the economic costs and benefits. The Crop Nutrients Council received $69,500 from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) Program to conduct the survey. ACAAF is a $243 million federal funding program aimed at helping Canada's agriculture and agri-food industry to capture new market opportunities. The survey data will be used by the George Morris Centre to build economic models that show how the use of BMPs affects farm profitability.

0 or 1 your lawn watering day is: Monday

2 or 3 Tuesday

4 or 5 Wednesday

6 or 7 Thursday

8 or 9 Friday

New Changes for 2006:

The following activities are permitted on alternate days; even numbered addresses on even numbered dates and odd numbered addresses on odd numbered dates:

watering of gardens, trees and shrubs
car-washing and
pool top-ups

Please note that all watering activities are restricted to the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Watering with a can or bucket is permitted at all times.

Water Services Division staff and by-law enforcement officers will be patrolling the region randomly as well as responding to calls to the hotline (575-4495) from concerned citizens. Initial efforts will be to provide education to encourage voluntary compliance, but those who fail to comply with the by-law are subject to charges under the Provincial Offenses Act.

For more Outdoor Water Use By-Law details, go to the Region’s website, www.region.waterloo.on.ca/water.

Read all about the 2006 Stage 2 Water Conservation Measures in Environews mini

The Foundation manages six public engagement programs - Car Heaven, Keep Cool, Mow Down Pollution, Energy Smarts, Switch Out and Cool Shops and also manages Climate-Air Connections, the climate change and air quality public education and outreach hub for Ontario.

Car Heaven is dedicated to accelerating the retirement of older, higher polluting vehicles and to promoting a shift from traditional forms of transportation to cleaner alternatives. The program deals with key public concerns such as air quality, climate change and responsible recycling of end-of-life vehicles. Car Heaven currently operates in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and the Atlantic Provinces. Car Heaven provides donors with a number of incentives to encourage vehicle retirement such as charitable tax receipts, bikes, transit passes and if the vehicle is a 1995 model year or older and currently on the road the donor may be eligible to receive a $1,000 certificate towards a new GM vehicle. Vehicles are towed free of charge by a member of the Ontario Automotive Recycler’s Association (OARA), A-Part Auto Wrecking Ltd. in BC, a member of the Automotive Recyclers Association in the Atlantic Provinces (ARAAC), or can be driven to a Calgary or Edmonton Pick n’ Pull in Alberta.

RESULTS: Since its launch date in June 2000, more than 32,000 vehicles across Canada have been retired through Car Heaven. In 2005, Car Heaven retired 13,000 vehicles resulting in substantial emission reductions of:

* 876 tonnes of smog-causing emissions (NOx & VOC),
* 3,619 tonnes of Carbon Monoxide emissions (CO),
* 5,922 tonnes of greenhouse gas (CO2 e)

Keep Cool is Canada’s first room air conditioner (RAC) exchange program. The Clean Air Foundation ran Keep Cool for the 4th consecutive year in 2005. The goal of Keep Cool is to encourage the public to retire old, inefficient room air conditioners (RAC), by offering incentives such as retail gift cards, free recycling and free collection. Exchanged units are recycled and ozone depleting substances are properly contained by certified technicians. All 12 Toronto the Home Depot locations participated in the program making it the most successful year yet.

RESULTS: Keep Cool received a 2003 Market Transformation Award from Natural Resources Canada. Since 2002, Keep Cool has collected and responsibly recycled 6,754 room air conditioners. The recycling of 5,772 room air conditioners in 2005 has reduced approximately:

* 4,132.6 MWh off the electricity load
* 1,488.4 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)
* 6.9 tonnes of nitrogen oxides (NOx)
* 315 tonnes of sulfur dioxide (SO2)
* 824 kg of refrigerant (ozone depleting substances

Mow Down Pollution is Canada’s only small-engine exchange program. Mow Down Pollution focuses on the retirement of old two and four-stroke gasoline lawnmowers and encourages the purchase of cleaner alternatives, such as push reel, electric, or cordless rechargeable mowers through rebate incentives. In 2004 and 2005, the program ran at all 120 Home Depot locations across Canada.

RESULTS: Mow Down Pollution won the Gold prize in the Climate Change category of the 2005 Canadian Environment Awards presented by Canadian Geographic Magazine. Over the past 5 years has retired close to 10,000 mowers and has reduced GHGs by 212 tonnes. In 2005 alone Mow Down retired 4,700 mowers/trimmers leading to the reduction of 107 tonnes of GHG’s. Further reductions include approximately:

* 90.2 tonnes of CO
* 16.6 tonnes of hydro carbons (HC)
* 0.14 tonnes of (NOx)
* 0.28 tonnes of particulate matter (PM)

Energy Smarts is the largest retail-based energy efficiency campaign in the country. Energy Smarts provides customers with discounts and valuable information on Energy Star and related energy efficient and clean air products such as compact fluorescent lights and programmable thermostats. Partners in this initiative include Natural Resources Canada, The Home Depot, Philips Canada, Venmar, Leviton, Intermatic, 3M, GE, Honeywell Canada, RCR, Union Gas and Enbridge Gas Distribution.

RESULTS: In 2004, Energy Smarts received a Market Transformation Award from Natural Resources Canada. The program has contributed to the reduction of:

* 1,840 tonnes of CO2 and offered Home Depot customers rebates and incentives on over 20 energy efficient products for the home.


Switch Out, piloted in Ontario in 2001, is the first program in Canada dedicated to the recovery of mercury found in convenience lighting switches in vehicles at the end of their lives. Mercury is a Priority 1 substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. The program has grown from its initial 12 auto recyclers in Ontario to over 430 across Canada. Switch Out is supported by the auto recycling and steel manufacturing sectors in addition to government and non-government organizations.

RESULTS: Switch Out received an Honourary Mention in the Innovations Category of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment’s 2003 Pollution Prevention Awards. The program has prevented the release of nearly 71.83 kg of mercury, through the collection and responsible recovery of more than 84,515 convenience lighting switches. A total of 11,550 of these switches were collected in Ontario from 2005.


Cool Shops is a market transformation program targeting street-facing retailers in neighbourhoods across Ontario. The purpose of the program is to identify and implement in-store energy management measures that encourage the small-business commercial sector to save on utility costs and reduce energy consumption. Through strategic partnerships the Cool Shops program is well-positioned to provide significant reductions in the release of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollutants.

RESULTS: Cool Shops received a 2004 Canadian Energy Efficiency Award from Natural Resources Canada. In total, over 7,000 stores were visited resulting in: over 3,200 Palm Pilot energy audits conducted, over 4,000 CFLs installed, a reduction of over 882 MWh, a reduction of 265 tonnes of green house gases and ultimately a savings of over $80,000 to small businesses per year.

Climate-Air Connections is a “hub” for linking various public education and outreach (PEO) activities related to air quality and climate change in Ontario. It is a partnership between industry, public sector and an environmental non-government organization to help support Ontario’s PEO practitioners to: * share knowledge of activities underway in Ontario;

* share information on best practices;
* identify gaps in Ontario’s base of activities;
* identify opportunities for new initiatives to address those gaps; and,
* foster cooperative relationships to extend programs and improve effectiveness.

This year marks the 5th annual Commuter Challenge in which Laurier will be participating. The Commuter Challenge is a friendly competition among a variety of regions within Canada that encourages the use of active and/or sustainable modes of transportation to and from work.

Last year’s challenge, with the participation of 170 faculty members, staff and students was a huge success, and we hope that this year’s results will be just as impressive, especially with your participation and support!

Participants are encouraged to walk, bike, roller blade, run, carpool, or take the bus to show your concern and dedication during this week.

Let us know how you did by sending an email to parking@wlu.ca. In addition, as a participant of this event, you are eligible to win one of the many prizes sponsored by a variety of individuals and businesses within the community.

The Commuter Challenge will commence on Sunday, June 4th and will come to a close on Saturday June 10th, coinciding with the National Environmental Week and National Clean Air Day (June 7th, 2006).

On Tuesday June 6th of that week, Parking Services will be hosting an information fair in the concourse , and a BBQ will be held in the afternoon from 12:00-2:00 pm in the Fred Nichols Quad.

For more information, please stay tuned to the WLU Parking Services website at: www.wlu.ca/parking or contact the Parking Office at extension 3032, or the Parking and Information Kiosk at extension 2930.

“Governments worldwide have failed to prevent overfishing in the oceans, where a proliferation of bottom-trawling threatens to wipe out deep sea species, conservation groups WWF and Traffic said on Friday,” reports Reuters.

“The environmentalists said the existing system of regional fisheries regulation, meant to control the depletion of ocean life, had responded slowly to new threats and done little to enforce fishing quotas or rebuild vulnerable stocks. Their report, released ahead of a New York meeting on the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, argued that controls needed to be reinforced to prevent further damage to marine ecosystems and future food supplies.

‘Given the perilous overall state of marine fisheries resources and the continuing threats posed to the marine environment from over-fishing and damaging fishing activity, the need for action is immediate,’ said Simon Cripps, Director of the World Wildlife Fund's Global Marine Program. Illegal fishing ‘by highly mobile fleets under the control of multinational companies’ was cited in the report as one of the top threats to the sustainability of marine life. Governments were also at fault for not respecting limits. …”

Agence France Presse adds that “… the document, published as signatory countries to the United Nations Agreement on Fish … is a study of the world's 16 Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). … The report says some members of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization

(NAFO) ‘have ignored quotas and unilaterally set their own.’ It also accuses some members of the RFMO responsible for tuna fishing of regularly exceeding their quotas.

Moreover, according to the report these organizations have failed to prevent ‘fish laundering’: the process, akin to money laundering, whereby catches that exceed legal quotas are brought back onto the legal market. Fish launderers use a strategy that is ‘very hard to trace back,’ according to Cripps. They discharge their catch in ports where controls are not too strict, he explains, and then reload it onto other ships sailing under other countries' flags.”

The BBC notes that “… species under severe threat include tuna and the orange roughy. The orange roughy is targeted by bottom-trawlers, which drag heavy rollers over the ocean floor, destroying coral and other ecosystems. …

The report also attacked governments for over fishing. ‘Vast over-capacity in authorized fleets, over-fishing of stocks... the virtual absence of robust rebuilding strategies... and a lack of precaution where information is lacking or uncertain are all characteristic of the management regimes currently in place,’ it said. …”

The Associated Press and The Canadian Press write that the report further said “…regulations under so-called regional fisheries management organizations need to be tightened to restrict overfishing. The management organizations ‘are constrained predominantly by the lack of political will, commercial motivations or the capacity of their members,’ said the 56-page report.

‘If they (the problems) are not addressed now, you won't have livelihoods, you won't have fish stocks,’ Cripps told The Associated Press before the report's release. ‘You're seeing it already in the choice of fish in your shops.’ … Countries like Australia, Britain and Canada should be taking more responsibility, setting examples and putting pressure on other states, Cripps said in an interview in Geneva.

In its latest report on the state of the world fisheries, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that a quarter of the fish stocks it monitors were overexploited or depleted. A further half was fully exploited, meaning they were producing catches close to their maximum sustainable limits.

TORONTO - Members of the House of Commons made the right choice this evening when they voted against a resolution put forward by NDP Leader Jack Layton aimed at banning the use of pest control products on private properties across Canada.

The motion was defeated by a vote of 87 to 207.

"We're very pleased that the majority of MPs agreed that decisions about overseeing the use of pest control products and ensuring their safety and effectiveness should be left in the hands of the expert scientists at Health Canada where they belong," said UPMC Executive Director Debra Conlon. Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency manages a comprehensive regulatory system. In the case of pesticides, a product is acceptable for use only after demonstrating that it does not cause any unacceptable health risk, including cancer. The system is effective because of rigorous review processes whereby all the applicable scientific information is examined to ensure the best and most evidentiary decision on what is safe and what is not.

"Not only would Layton's ban have had a huge, negative impact on the nation's horticultural business, but gardening has become one of Canada's most popular outdoor activities. Canadians take great pride in the health and beauty of their lawns and gardens. They deserve the right to be able to use federally-approved pest control products on their own property if they wish, said Conlon."

UPMC has been a strong proponent of informed public education around proper lawn and garden care. This includes programs such as 'integrated pest management,' which encourages proper care and maintenance as part of safe and healthy gardening solutions. UPMC also advocates that, through promotion of integrated pest management programs, federally-regulated pest control products have an important role to play in contributing to a healthy, clean and green environment.

In the Centre, many of the displays and all of the furniture have been made from reused or recycled materials; even the building itself is a good example of reuse.

Four themed rooms in the refurbished bungalow provide a variety of learning experiences. The Blue Room features waste management programs in Waterloo Region. Students can take pride in learning that Kitchener was the home of the first municipal blue box program in North America. The theme of the Green Room’s displays demonstrate why producing products from recycled material is preferable than from natural resources. The Yellow Room focuses on protecting the earth and what students can do to make a difference. In the Kitchen students test their knowledge of what does and does not go into a blue box and why recycling only works if you buy products made from recycled materials.

Public education is an important factor in promoting the Region of Waterloo’s waste management goals. The new Children’s Environmental Education Centre is an expansion of the “Catch the Bug” environmental education program developed in 2002, which continues to be presented at schools in Waterloo Region. The education program works with community and school groups from both elementary and intermediate grades and supports key areas of the curriculum.

Groups interested in experiencing Waste Management’s educational programs should contact Suzanne Schumacher for further information at 519-883-5100 ext. 8414.

An invasive weed that grows abundantly in Canada and the United States is engaging in underground chemical warfare, jeopardizing native trees by poisoning their best allies, a University of Guelph professor has discovered.

The research by U of G ecologist John Klironomos, along with Kristina Stinson of Harvard University and a team of other researchers from Guelph, the United States and Germany, was published in the May issue of the Public Library of Science.

The scientists found that the weed garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) releases chemicals under the soil that are detrimental to the fungi that native trees — including the beloved Canadian maple — depend on for growth and survival.

It’s the first study to show that invasive plants are hurting indigenous species by thwarting the ecological relationship between roots and certain fungi.

“This noxious weed is disrupting an intimate symbiosis between native species and fungi that has been going on for millions of years,” Klironomos said.

Garlic mustard targets and poisons arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, the main fungal allies of native trees like maple, ash and other hardwoods. The fungi have long microscopic threads that create a subterranean network, allowing for the exchange of nutrients with indigenous trees. The fungi rely on the trees for energy, and the trees rely on the fungi for food. “Forest plants are very dependent on these mutually beneficial relationships,” he said.

Klironomos noticed that some native tree seedlings had declined in forests where garlic mustard was present and suspected that the alien weed was the culprit. The researchers tested the theory by collecting soil from five Ontario forests containing both native hardwood trees and garlic mustard.

They planted seedlings in both infested soil and garlic mustard-free soil and studied the young trees’ ability to form relationships with fungi. The seedlings planted in infested soil grew at about one-tenth the rate of the other trees and had fewer fungal-root connections.

The researchers conducted the test numerous times to mimic different conditions in the wild: established forests, open fields, roadways, ditches, etc. Each time, the finding was the same: growth was stunted due to the diminished microbial activity caused by the presence of garlic mustard. “This is affecting current and future generations of trees and changing the habitat,” Klironomos said.

Mature forest systems are normally resistant to invasive weeds, largely because of the strength of fungi-tree relationships, he said. Fungi are so efficient at extracting nutrients from the soil that weeds like garlic mustard, which don’t form symbiotic partnerships with fungi, typically don’t stand a chance.

But garlic mustard’s guerrilla tactics have allowed it to get a foothold in some well-established forests. “There are entire carpets of this weed in some places,” Klironomos said.

“It has found a way to survive by knocking out the competition.”

The researchers next plan to determine what chemicals in garlic mustard are killing the fungi, how these chemicals interact with other soil microbes, and how plants and fungi co-exist with the noxious species in its native European habitat.

Klironomos, a U of G faculty member since 1996, holds a prestigious Canada Research Chair in soil biology and was one of six Canadian scientists to receive a 2006 Steacie fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), which allows him to focus full-time on research for two years. He has also received an Ontario Premier’s Research Excellence Award and other NSERC discovery and strategic grants, which helped support this research.

More research required to understand and plan for the full impacts of climate change

OTTAWA - The Canadian Institute of Forestry is encouraging the Government of Canada to develop a clear strategy on how they will work with Canadians to implement a climate change action plan that will successfully meet Canada's Kyoto commitments and sustain our forests and resources.

"Canada's forest professionals are concerned about the potential impact of climate change on both or rural and urban forests" says Chris Lee, President of the Canadian Institute of Forestry.

Climate change has been researched and studied by many well-known Canadian and international forest researchers. They have documented the impact of climate change on forest fire, insect and disease infestations and infections and also on the overall distribution of tree species across Canada.

Forest professionals are integral to forest management and are working to understand and implement changes that are required to manage Canada's forests sustainably. "More research is required to understand the full impacts of climate change and for forest professionals to be able to adapt to change," notes Lee.

The Canadian Institute of Forestry encourages the federal government to work with forest professionals and the scientific community to utilize appropriate climatic change and forest ecosystem models to quantify the potential impacts of global warming on Canada's forests.

In addition to research, the government and the forest sector must take action to mitigate the effects of climate change. The risks associated with climate change have implications that can seriously affect the biodiversity and productivity of our forests. "We need to focus our attention on the carbon stored in our forests and capitalize on the benefits of tree-planting and other forest management techniques, notes Lee, "Climate change is a federal, provincial, municipal and individual responsibility. We hope as the government moves forward it looks to all the players for input and action."

The Canadian Institute of Forestry is the national voice of forest practitioners. The mission of the Institute is to advance the stewardship of Canada's forest resources, to provide national leadership in forestry, to promote competence among forestry professionals, and to foster public awareness of Canadian and international forestry issues.

"Britain's finance minister Gordon Brown on Thursday made a strong pitch for a global carbon trading market as the best way to protect the endangered environment while spurring economic growth," reports Agence France Presse.

"In a speech at the United Nations focusing on the environmental challenge . he said he would urge the powerful Group of Seven club of nations in Washington Friday 'to discuss not only how we ensure greater security of energy supply but support alternative sources of energy and greater efficiency of energy use, so reducing carbon emissions is an energy and thus an economic imperative as much as it is an environmental imperative . Carbon saving can be a way of making money and increasing returns on investment . It makes economic opportunities of a climate-friendly energy policy real and tangible.'" He said that "new alternative energy technologies, for instance, could not only help meet Africa's growing needs but also develop new exports to the rest of the world."

The Associated Press adds that "in meetings to be held in Washington on Friday, Brown said he would propose a $20 billion fund for developing economies to invest in alternative sources of energy and greater energy efficiency . Brown said the risks of climate change are unevenly spread throughout poor countries and that developed nations' tendency to spend billions of dollars in humanitarian aid, rather than addressing the problem, is a short-term fix . Rising energy prices could spur consensus because they have led countries to look into more efficient ways to use energy. That in turn could create jobs and drive economic competition.

The news agency notes that "Brown focused on the centerpiece of Britain's own environmental sustainability measures, the Climate Change Levy. That tax on energy use, introduced in 2001, has increased the energy efficiency of British businesses by more than 2 percent each year, he said. In an example of a plan he hoped would spread, Brown cited the European Emissions Trading Scheme -- an EU policy to cut emissions across member states. He said the emissions plan could be matched by a similar plan to start a global market for collecting and trading carbon."

In other news, The Financial Times meanwhile reports that ".at its meeting next week, the World Bank will discuss an investment framework for low-carbon energy, pledged under the Gleneagles plan of action for climate change agreed in July by the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations. The draft framework is intended to 'accelerate investment so that developing countries can meet energy demands for growth and poverty alleviation in an environmentally sustainable way'."

But environmental groups attacked the draft for laying too much emphasis on fossil fuels over alternatives, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency. Robert Watson, chief scientist at the World Bank, said "clean coal" technologies such as supercritical boilers in power stations, the gasification of coal, and the capture and storage of carbon dioxide, could make the fuel much more environmentally friendly.

WATERLOO -- A University of Waterloo research team received funding today from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to build a laboratory to investigate underwater sampling by using robots.

Christopher Clark and Patricia Nieva, professors in the department of mechanical engineering, and Bill Annable, a professor of civil engineering, are the recipients of the $159,000 Leaders Opportunity Fund award for a project titled, "Facility for the Advancement of Underwater Sampling Technology."

"This infrastructure will be vital for developing, validating and testing our planning, control, mapping and localization algorithms to enable the autonomous control of underwater robots as applied to a large number of new sensing tasks," Clark said.

"It will also facilitate the design and fabrication of new MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)-based sensors required for such tasks. Our students have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this equipment so that their research can progress."

Underwater robots have traditionally been limited to oceanic research because of their large size and high cost. However, with today's level of personal computing power, intelligent robotics has become accessible to a broad range of people and applications.

Clark heads the Laboratory for Autonomous and Intelligent Robotics. His research interests include autonomous mobile robots, multi-robot systems, motion planning, modular and reconfigurable robots, as well as intelligent control.

Nieva said that to fully realize deployable sensing systems which can conduct spatiotemporal underwater sampling in the field, new infrastructure is required in the existing research programs.

"The development of new MEMS sensors that are small enough, economical and adequately robust to withstand harsh underwater environments requires technology for the dynamic characterization of microsystems," she said.

Hence, advanced testing methods for the dynamics of microstructures are necessary to develop and verify innovative, reliable and marketable MEMS. Using the out-of-plane microsystem analyzer requested, Nieva plans to acquire reliable measurement data that can validate simulation models.

Nieva leads the Systems-on-Chip and Harsh Environments Microsystems Laboratory. Her main research interests include MEMS for harsh environments, multi-functional MEMS, micro-power harvesting, laser interferometry, along with on-chip integration of self-powered sensors and actuators with micro-optics and microelectronics.

Annable said the CFI award will, in part, be used to acquire high resolution flow and water quality measurement equipment to be used in river and lake settings. The research will provide detailed verification and calibration data sets used in the development of robots and MEMS sensors.

His research interests include river mechanics, hydraulics, river restoration and groundwater surface water interaction.

"This award represents a strategic boost to the research capacities of the University of Waterloo," said Dr. Eliot Phillipson, president and CEO of the CFI. "It's investments like these that have transformed Canada's research landscape over the past decade and made the country a destination of choice for the world's best researchers."

"This investment at Waterloo will help ensure that Drs. Clark, Nieva and Annable and their students will have access to a world-class research and training environment," said Alan George, UW's interim vice-president, university research.

The CFI announced today a total of $23.6 million in new funds for 35 institutions across the country, including the UW team project.

The announcement marks the launch of the CFI's new Leaders Opportunity Fund. The program, created to reflect Canada's fast-evolving research environment, was designed to give Canadian universities the added flexibility they need to both attract and retain top researchers at a time of intense international competition for leading faculty.

The CFI's board of directors approved the investment under two funds: $19.7 million under the Leaders Opportunity Fund and $3.9 million under the Infrastructure Operating Fund -- an accompanying program which assists universities with the incremental operating and maintenance costs associated with new infrastructure projects.

For a complete list of Leaders Opportunity Fund projects, by university, visit www.innovation.ca.

Chamber members recently raised concern about the consultation process for a proposed storm water management utility. Chamber members on the Storm Water Advisory Committee are concerned about estimates of 50 to 60% cost increases.

Click here for the most recent minutes of the Storm Water Advisory Committee.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include a pledge to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without access, but the world is hopelessly off track, writes Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office, Kevin Watkins in a commentary published in Liberation (France).

Unequal access to water powerfully captures the gross disparities that divide our world. In Britain, come rain, flood or drought, the average person uses 160 liters of clean water each day. In rural Mozambique or Ethiopia, people use what women and young girls can carry back from rivers and lakes: around 5-10 liters a day for each household member. The global sanitation gap is even more overwhelming. In the Kenyan slum of Kibera, over 90 percent lack access to a latrine. Kibera is a microcosm of what happens across the developing world. Rapid urbanization and a crumbling water and sanitation infrastructure in cities like Jakarta, Manila, Nairobi and Lagos have left millions of desperately poor people in overcrowded slums facing a constant threat from water infected with human excrement.

To add insult to injury, the poor invariably pay more for their water than the rich. In Kibera, you pay three times more per unit of water than in Manhattan or London – and ten times more than in high-income suburbs of Nairobi. Similar patterns are repeated across the cities of the developing world. The reason: water utilities pump cheap subsidized water to well-off customers, but seldom reach the poor. Most slum dwellers face the choice between buying water from high-cost private traders, or taking a trip to the nearest stream.

Overcoming the water and sanitation divide is a cause that unites moral imperative with economic common sense. Meeting the MDG target would cost around $4 billion annually for the next decade. To put the price tag in context, it represents about one month’s worth of spending on bottled mineral water in Europe and the US. So why is progress so slow? Partly, of course, because this is a crisis borne overwhelming by poor people. Too often, governments in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere are more disposed to provide subsidized water for the rich, rather than universal access for the poor. The low priority attached to water and sanitation is reflected in national budgets – and, more acutely, in the chronic under-financing of infrastructure.

Aid donors have also under-delivered. Even with increased domestic financing and improved utility governance, the poorest countries need a step increase in external financing. Extending water and sanitation infrastructure requires large up-front investments with payback periods of 20 years or more. Yet the share of aid dedicated to these sectors (adjusted for the inevitable surge to Iraq) has halved and fallen in real terms since 1997. To make matters worse, aid flows are weakly related to need. Sub-Saharan Africa faces the greatest financing gaps, but the region accounts for only 15 percent of aid.

Sterile debates about ‘public versus private’ provision do not help take things forward. Privatization is not a magic bullet, though in some cases the private sector can provide the services needed to enhance efficiency. Conversely, failures and under-financing in the public sector is already forcing poor people into private water markets, with disastrous consequences. South Africa has shown the way by introducing legislation requiring all providers, public and private, to supply a minimum amount of water free of charge. In Senegal and Manila, new forms of public-private partnership are extending access for the poor through small surcharges on the wealthy. Redistribution may be out of fashion these days. But converting public water subsidies for the rich into public investments for the poor would help accelerate progress and overcome the glaring equity gaps that scar many countries.

Should The G8 Promise To Buy Vaccines That Have Yet To Be Invented? Michael Kremer, an economist at Harvard University, argues that donors—i.e., rich countries' governments—could engineer a market where none yet exists, writes The Economist. This elegant notion, often called an “advance purchase commitment” (APC), has migrated with unusual speed from Kremer's blackboard to the communiqués of the powerful. Next month, the finance ministers of the G8 countries will settle on one or two proposals in this spirit. As well as the toughest nuts—vaccines for AIDS, malaria and TB—three softer targets are also vying for the G8's

attention: rotavirus (which causes diarrhea in children), human papillomavirus (a cause of cervical cancer), and pneumococcus (a bacterium that causes pneumonia).

But even as it wins converts, the APC idea is also collecting critics. None is more dogged than Andrew Farlow, an economist at Oxford University and author of a sprawling critique of Kremer's big idea and its application to malaria in particular. APCs, he says, are a “policy boil” that needs to be lanced. There is, Farlow points out, no such thing as “a” malaria vaccine. The first vaccine to market may not be the best possible. From the outset, the G8 will have to set out the traits of a vaccine it would be willing to buy: how effective it must be; how long it should last; the maximum number of doses it should require. Its thorny task is to decide what would be desirable, at what price, long before anyone knows what is feasible.

Officials from 140 countries were set to issue a broad declaration on World Water Day on Wednesday, but will stop short of declaring a universal right to the precious resource for which two thirds of humanity face uncertain supplies, reports Agence France Presse.

Wrapping up their week-long World Water Forum, ministers are hoping to help shape global strategy to improve water distribution and eradicate waste in order to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015. Government ministers called Tuesday for a global campaign to ensure the survival to the majority of the world's people who are at risk from inadequate or unsafe supplies.

The World Water Council, which is co-sponsoring the Forum along with the Mexican government, is seeking to have the right to water recognized as a "human right," much the same as the right to education.

The Guardian (UK) further writes that the UN's second "World Water Development" report, published Wednesday in Mexico City at the Fourth World Water Forum says that millions of people may have to wait years for clean water as some of the world's largest companies pull out of developing countries because of growing doubts about privatization projects. Many companies have met intense political resistance in the past five years after winning large contracts to supply cities but then having to raise prices significantly. Some have been forced out of countries, others have left voluntarily. Many companies, the report says, have not been able to make money and are now concentrating on less risky markets in Europe and North America. The UN report, which urges private firms to partner local authorities or governments, says the trend of privatization is now reversing and that local and small-scale water companies are mushrooming.

Agence France Presse notes that in a separate report released Tuesday, the UN warned that trouble caused by the world's dwindling supply of fresh water goes far beyond perpetual thirst for billions around the globe. The study gave a litany of problems extending to severe pollution, species loss, and even food insecurity.

BBC News Online writes that the World Development Movement (WDM) notes that governments, not private firms, must take responsibility for getting water to their people in its new report entitled, "Pipe Dreams" launched Tuesday. The Sustainable Development Network, on the other hand, argued last week that free markets improve water services. The WDM was unconvinced by the conclusions of the Sustainable Development Network and WDM Director of Policy, Peter Hardstaff said that a look at investment around the world shows that private companies do not focus on areas of greatest need.

The Associated Press reports that even though just about everybody, from CEOs to aid workers, spoke out against the privatization of water at the Forum ending Wednesday, the apparent victory for anti-corporate forces may prove hollow. Activists say developing countries are being pushed hard to build big dams and hydroelectric projects, which are often built by big corporations. Perhaps the only thing everybody from aid workers to water-company executives agreed on are concepts like "multi-stakeholder processes" and "integrated water resource management." Put simply, the terms mean consulting everyone involved before a dam or other project is built, and taking into account all the environmental, economic and social effects during the design stage.

In a separate piece, The Associated Press writes that children are often the hardest hit by the lack of safe water or sanitation that affects nearly half the world's population, and they took the stage at the World Water Forum. Some told of classmates dropping out of school because they had to haul water home from distant wells or because of filthy, open schoolhouse washrooms; of friends sickened by waterborne epidemics, or girls raped as they carried water home alone before dawn. With an estimated 400 million children around the world suffering from some form of water shortage, a delegation of young activists addressed a summit of water ministers from across the world on Tuesday, asking them to create youth parliaments to represent their demands.

Xinhua (China) adds that some participants of the fourth World Water Forum appealed for the removal of water-related items from all deals of the World Trade Organizations. The head of Bolivia's Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, Omar Fernandez said Monday that water should not be a part of free trade deals because it should not be considered just another commodity. The participants said they would ask their leaders to halt all negotiations on drinking water and basic sanitation. Representatives of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela said they would form a common front to strive for the aim.

Experts searching for solutions to the world water crisis at the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City on Saturday said much of the problem comes not from dams, lakes or rivers, but an unexpected place: the farm, reports Dow Jones (03/18).

With 525 million small farms in the world, farmers suffer the most from each problem discussed at the forum: poverty, disease, and the lack of sanitation and clean water. Representatives at the Forum noted that farming accounts for 70 percent of the water consumed and a majority of its waste. Agriculture based on fields that temporarily flood is also a major problem because most of that water is wasted through evaporation. Added to these woes are pesticide and herbicide runoff from farm fields that pollute rivers and lakes, as well as soil erosion and salt buildup from irrigation. Traditionally, governments have responded to the problems of small-scale farmers -- defined as those with plots of 2 hectares (5 acres) or less -- by building big dam projects. But Patrick McCully, Executive Director of International River Network says most small farms are so high up in the hills or removed from rivers that they can't benefit from them.

The Associated Press (03/20) further writes that on average, women in developing countries walk six kilometers per day to fetch water. But simple solutions can help such as a World Bank project in Morocco that moved water taps closer to villages increased school attendance by girls in six provinces by 20 percent over four years. This and other projects under discussion at the Forum also cost mere pennies compared to other solutions, like big dams.

In addition, Africa has taken advantage of an estimated three percent of its hydropower potential -- compared to Europe's 75 percent. A majority of Africans don't have regular electricity service, preventing them from operating pumps to extract water from wells. Huge hydroelectric dams could fix that, some say. On Friday during the presentation of a report on the continent's water problems World Bank Director of Water and Energy, Jamal Shagir said that "Investment in hydroelectric infrastructure is not a choice anymore for Africa, it is a must." However, the Director of the World Wildlife Fund, Jamie Pittock, is promoting the restoration of thousands of small, community earthen dams dating as far back as the 13th century instead of big dams or irrigation projects -- whose water doesn't reach the smallest, remote farms.

Agence France Presse (03/20) also reports that several studies unveiled at the conference showed financing the delivery of water to those who need it requires a complex dance between governments, private companies and the tariff structures. A UN report urges creation of new mechanisms "based on the concept of mutual support, without the goal of turning a profit." For example, since the 2003 World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan, the World Bank has adjusted its rules and can now issue loans directly to big cities, bypassing central governments.

Meanwhile, the World Bank said in a study made public Saturday that although subsidies aim to make water available to more people, in Latin American and Sub Saharan Africa they benefit primarily the middle and upper classes. Jamal Saghir, the Bank's Director for Water and Energy, argued that the majority of poor people don't benefit from the subsidies because they don't use water distribution networks. However, he pointed out, middle-class customers are usually the most hostile to tariff increases.

The New York Times (03/20) writes that for all the focus on privatization, much of the serious work of the Forum was rooted in heart-wrenching statistics. One in three people in the world, 2.6 billion, does not have access to any kind of toilet or latrine, according to the UN report to be presented at the conference on Tuesday. Water-related diseases cause more than three million deaths a year, mostly of children younger than 5. Only $3 billion in aid a year goes to improve water access and sanitation, the UN World Water Development Report said, and very little of that gets to the people who need it most.

Reuters (03/19) further writes that UN officials said on Sunday that drought, poverty, war, pollution and chaotic urban growth are preventing African governments from supplying clean water to their people. The UN announced at a news conference a $550 million loan from the African Development Bank to be spent on small-scale urban water projects over the next five years. Kalyan Ray, a UN infrastructure expert, said that was not enough to meet Africa's water needs. Ray said disruption caused by droughts and wars made it harder for governments to supply their citizens with basic services.

The Director of the UN Development Program's Human Development Report Office, Kevin Watkins writes in a commentary in The International Herald Tribune (03/18) that the buzz-phrase at the Mexico Water forum is "integrated water resource management," meaning that governments need to manage the private demand of different users and manage this precious resource in the public interest. The other, equally profound challenge, according to Watkins, is strengthening the rights and the voice of the poor and this means putting social justice at the center of water management.

“Water and Health” is the topic of the 2005/06 Kenneth Hammond Lectures on Environment, Energy and Resources, to be held March 24 and 25 at the University of Guelph.

Keynote speaker David Anderson, former federal minister of the environment, will deliver the opening address on "Water Policy: Adjusting to Predictions of Climate Change" in War Memorial Hall at 7 p.m. March 24.

Speakers during an all-day symposium to be held March 25 will include:

• Ransom Myers, Killam Chair of Ocean Studies, Dalhousie University, who will discuss “The Global Loss of Top Predators in the Ocean: Consequences of a World Without Sharks, Tuna and Great Fish.”

• Laurie Richardson, a biologist at Florida International University, “Corals and Coral Reef Health: The Canary in the Coal Mine?”

• Dana Kolpin, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, “Pharmaceuticals and Other Emerging Contaminants in Water Resources of the United States.”

• Maude Barlow, national chair of the Council of Canadians, “Is Water a Human Right?”

The symposium runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Cutten Club. Both the lecture and the symposium are free and open to the public. Seating for the symposium is limited; to reserve seats, send e-mail to hls@uoguelph.ca.

Sponsored by U of G and the Faculty of Environmental Sciences (FES), the annual Hammond lecture series began in 2000 and is named for Kenneth Hammond, a former member of Board of Governors and an advocate of environmental and resource issues and environmental education.

Ten years ago, many poor countries hoped private cash would bring safe water to the one billion people in the world who lack it, but now corporate interest is drying up, reports Reuters.

After pumping about $25 billion into water supply and sanitation in developing countries in the 1990s, many companies have retreated or reduced their presence in places ranging from Bolivia to Indonesia. Delegates at the Fourth World Water Forum that started in Mexico City on Thursday said new investments and ideas are needed to meet a UN goal of halving by 2015 the number of people without safe drinking water. Relying on private business to reach that target, one of the UN Millennium Development Goals, is increasingly difficult, said Daniel Zimmer, Executive Director of the World Water Council (WWC).

Xinhua further notes in a separate piece that the UN World Water Development Report issued ahead of the Forum that said despite ample freshwater resources on the planet, about 20 percent of the world's population, or 1.1 billion people, lacked access to safe drinking water and 40 percent, or 2.6 billion, lacked access to basic sanitation, due to unfair distribution, mismanagement and inadequate investment in infrastructure. In many parts of the world, between 30 and 40 percent of water is wasted because of leaks in canals and pipes, and illegal connections. In developing countries, water use and exploitation are inefficient. In addition, only 12 percent of the $4.5 billion allocated to water sectors by governments and international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, have been used to improve water access for people.

Xinhua (