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Sydney Declaration
The Sydney APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development was adopted at APEC Australia 2007 on 8 September 2007. The agreement indicates the wish of signatories to work towards aspirational goals on energy efficiency per unit of GDP while encouraging forest cover in the region. The APEC wide regional aspirational goal is to reduce energy intensity by at least 25 percent by 2030 from the 2005 level, and set an APEC-wide regional goal of increasing forest cover in the region by 200,000 square kilometres by 2020. Criticism Environmental and climate organisations such as Greenpeace, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Climate Action Network criticised the agreement for not setting binding targets on greenhouse gas emissions for developed countries, and that the statement was little more than a political stunt. Greenpeace pointed out that Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told an APEC lecture in Melbourne in April 2007 that aspirational ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
APEC Australia 2007
APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007. Various meetings were held across Australia from January to August 2007, with the event cumulating in Leaders Week, where the heads of government of each member economy attended Sydney, New South Wales from 2 to 9 September 2007. Logo The summit's logo is a motif of the seven-point Commonwealth Star or Star of Federation featured on the Australian national flag and Coat of Arms which symbolising the unity of the Commonwealth of Australia. (Six points representing the six Australian states and the seventh point representing the Australian territories.) The logo comprises 21 individual elements, representing the 21 APEC Member Economies from across the Asia-Pacific, uniting to form a diverse but open community. The spectrum of colours of red, orange and yellow reflects the Australian personality of warm and inviting and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest Cover
Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/ square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canopy forest accounting for 4 - 5 billion hectares of land. Forests provide many ecosystem services that humans and animals cannot survive without, but anthropogenic actions and climate change are threatening global forest cover in potentially irreversible ways. Global Patterns Forest Cover By The Numbers According to the FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, the world has a total forest area of 4.06 billion hectares (10.0 billion acres), which is 31% of the total land area. More than one-third of the world's forest cover is primary forest: naturally regenerated forests with native species and no visible indication of human activity. More than half (54%) of the world's forests are found in only five countries (Brazil, Canada, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Energy Intensity
Energy intensity is a measure of the energy inefficiency of an economy. It is calculated as units of energy per unit of GDP. * High energy intensities indicate a high price or cost of converting energy into GDP. * Low energy intensity indicates a lower price or cost of converting energy into GDP. High energy intensity means high industrial output as portion of GDP. Countries with low energy intensity signifies labor intensive economy. Overview Many factors influence an economy's overall energy intensity. It may reflect requirements for general standards of living and weather conditions in an economy. It is not atypical for particularly cold or hot climates to require greater energy consumption in homes and workplaces for heating ( furnaces, or electric heaters) or cooling (air conditioning, fans, refrigeration). A country with an advanced standard of living is more likely to have a wider prevalence of such consumer goods and thereby be impacted in its energy intensity than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its campaigning on worldwide issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues. It uses direct action, lobbying, research, and ecotage to achieve its goals. The network comprises 26 independent national/regional organisations in over 55 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as a co-ordinating body, Greenpeace International, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The global network does not accept funding from governments, corporations, or political parties, relying on three million individual supporters and foundation grants. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Conservation Foundation
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability. One high-profile campaign was ‘Save the Whales’, which ended commercial whaling in Australia, following widespread protest against the huge slaughter. Another was to protect the vulnerable Great Barrier Reef by classifying it as a Marine Park, from which mining, drilling and trawling were banned. By 2000, ACF initiatives extended across a wide range of agendas, such as climate change, clean energy, rainforest preservation, greenhouse pollution and land tenure reform in the indigenous communities. ACF is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organisation focused on advocacy, policy, research and community organising, with a membership of 700,000. Its President, as of 2022, is Mara Bún. Origins Discussions regarding the need for an Australian c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Climate Action Network
Climate Action Network - International (CAN) is a global network of over 1,300 environmental non-governmental organisations in over 130 countries working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. Activities It is most active at meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It published civil society's ECO newsletter presenting the views of civil society and communities around the world during the climate negotiations, and the satirical ''Fossil of the Day'' Awards to countries who are blocking the progress at the climate negotiations in implementing the Paris Agreement. It also supports and coordinates its members in its global network through capacity-building, campaigns, projects and mobilisations to urge governments and other stakeholders to act on the climate emergency. CAN members work to achieve this goal through the coordination of information exchange and non-governme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and large oil and gas companies, many state-owned by OPEC and Russia. Human-caused emissions have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by about 50% over pre-industrial levels. The growing levels of emissions have varied, but it was consistent among all greenhouse gases (GHG). Emissions in the 2010s averaged 56 billion tons a year, higher than ever before. Electricity generation and transport are major emitters; the largest single source, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, is transportation, accounting for 27% of all USA greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation and other changes in land use also emit carbon dioxide and methane. The largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions is agriculture, closely follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018. Downer was born in Adelaide, the son of Sir Alick Downer and the grandson of Sir John Downer. After periods working for the Bank of New South Wales and with the diplomatic service, he was appointed executive director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in 1983. He also served as an advisor to Liberal leaders Malcolm Fraser and Andrew Peacock. Downer was elected to parliament at the 1984 federal election, winning the Division of Mayo in South Australia. He was added to the opposition frontbench in 1987. After the Coalition lost the 1993 election, John Hewson's position as leader of the Liberal Party came into question. Downer successfully challenged him for the leadership in May 1994, thus becoming L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Climate Change Mitigation
Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels burning (coal, oil, and natural gas). Mitigation can reduce emissions by transitioning to sustainable energy sources, conserving energy, and increasing efficiency. In addition, can be removed from the atmosphere by enlarging forests, restoring wetlands and using other natural and technical processes, which are grouped together under the term of carbon sequestration. Solar energy and wind power have the highest climate change mitigation potential at lowest cost compared to a range of other options. Variable availability of sunshine and wind is addressed by energy storage and improved electrical grids, including long-distance electricity transmission, demand management and diversification of renewables. As low-carbon power is more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Treaties
An international environmental agreement or sometimes environmental protocol, is a type of treaty binding in international law, allowing them to reach an environmental goal. In other words, it is "an intergovernmental document intended as legally binding with a primary stated purpose of preventing or managing human impacts on natural resources." An agreement between two nations is known as a bilateral environmental agreement. If the agreement is made among three or more nations, it is called a multilateral environmental agreement (MEA). Such agreements, primarily produced by the United Nations, cover subjects such as atmospheric policies, freshwater policies, hazardous waste and substance policies, the marine environment, nature conservation policies, noise pollution and nuclear safety. History and use The use of multilateral environment agreements began in 1857, when a German agreement regulated the flow of water from Lake Constance to Austria and Switzerland. Internatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Climate Change Policy
The politics of climate change results from different perspectives on how to respond to climate change. Global warming is driven largely by the emissions of greenhouse gases due to human economic activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels, certain industries like cement and steel production, and land use for agriculture and forestry. Since the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels have provided the main source of energy for economic and technological development. The centrality of fossil fuels and other carbon-intensive industries has resulted in much resistance to climate friendly policy, despite widespread scientific consensus that such policy is necessary. Climate change first emerged as a political issue in the 1970s. Efforts to mitigate climate change have been prominent on the international political agenda since the 1990s, and are also increasingly addressed at national and local level. Climate change is a complex global problem. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treaties Concluded In 2007
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal persons. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, pact, or exchange of letters, among other terms. However, only documents that are legally binding on the parties are considered treaties under international law. Treaties vary on the basis of obligations (the extent to which states are bound to the rules), precision (the extent to which the rules are unambiguous), and delegation (the extent to which third parties have authority to interpret, apply and make rules). Treaties are among the earliest manifestations of international relations, with the first known example being a border agreement between the Sumerian city-states of Lagash and Umma around 3100 BC. International agreements were used in s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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