‘Even in a poor country like India, life expectancy has increased by five years in just the last decade, while birth rates have been falling’
In global terms, it means that in the richest countries of the world, tax bases will shrink and these countries will be spending more on old-age benefits. In India, this will apply to children of retired parents, who will be living well into their 90s. In some parts of the world, a shrinking population also means a smaller workforce. The prediction is that this will lead to a reduced gross domestic product in most of the world.
New paper explains how climate change mitigation harms development in poor countries – Published in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change
New paper explains how climate change mitigation harms development in poor countries
http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-paper-explains-how-climate-change.html
A paper published today in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change finds that development in poor countries will be harmed by misguided efforts at emission reductions, even if industrialized countries covered all of the costs. According to the authors, “This opinion piece argues that even if the ‘full incremental costs’ of abatement in developing countries would be covered by industrialized countries, the former’s development prospects could be hampered by climate change mitigation due to the following reasons. First, financial inflows have the potential to induce a ‘climate finance curse’ similar to adverse effects related to natural resource exports. Second, increased use of more expensive low-carbon energy sources could delay structural change and the build-up of physical infrastructure. Third, higher energy prices could have negative effects on poverty and inequality.”
How climate change mitigation could harm development in poor countriesMichael Jakob, Jan Christoph SteckelAbstract: Avoiding dangerous climate changes requires emission reductions in not only industrialized but also developing countries. This opinion piece argues that even if the ‘full incremental costs’ of abatement in developing countries would be covered by industrialized countries, the former’s development prospects could be hampered by climate change mitigation due to the following reasons. First, financial inflows have the potential to induce a ‘climate finance curse’ similar to adverse effects related to natural resource exports. Second, increased use of more expensive low-carbon energy sources could delay structural change and the build-up of physical infrastructure. Third, higher energy prices could have negative effects on poverty and inequality. We conclude that these considerations should not be seen as an indication that one should abstain from emission reductions in developing countries. However, until developing countries’ most severe concerns can be appropriately addressed, attention should be focused on measures that promote human well-being while saving emissions.
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Indian newspaper: ‘Truth isn’t out there’: UN IPCC report ‘is being treated as infallible even before it is out…governments should decide on green taxes and subsidies according to their political inclinations, using climate science reports only as rough guides, not as justifications of scriptural force’
…INDIAN MEDIA: ‘Apocalypse Later’ — WE NEED A MORE BALANCED VIEW ON CLIMATE CHANGE: ‘Leaked part of the IPCC’s next assessment report knocks the bottom out of the global warming warnings’
…Sec. of State Kerry: Climate change ‘screaming’ for more global action
…Global map of planned coal fired capacity tells a story: ‘This Map tells us pretty clearly where economies are going to be expanding’
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Actual Headline: ‘Biting cold brings spectre of Global Warming closer, farmers worried but wheat crop safe’
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‘Try living without electricity. Biomass kills 100,000s every year’
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Indian Greens: ‘Electric grid will accelerate climate change’ — ‘Poor people should forgo access to electricity because of climate change’
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Poor in India to be denied energy due to climate fears?! ‘Electric grid will accelerate climate change in Sundarbans’– Warned electricity ‘will also accelerate the process of climate change’
‘Electric grid will accelerate climate change in Sundarbans’
Last Updated: Sunday, December 16, 2012, 13:58
The ongoing extension of the electric grid to the remote islands of Sundarbans will not only adversely affect the viability of existing renewable energy projects, but will also accelerate the process of climate change, experts say.
“In view of the growing threat of climate change and contribution of the electricity sector to the overall green house gas emission, there is need for adopting appropriate strategies to rationalise use of coal and fossil fuel in the electricity sector,” according to a latest report by research body CUTS International.
India’s fossil fuel-driven energy sector is one of the biggest contributors (more than 50 per cent) to carbon emission, widely considered to be chiefly responsible for climate change worldwide.
In West Bengal, 96 percent of electricity is generated through use of coal, officials say.
Under the Remote Village Electrification scheme by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, it is mandated to develop off-grid projects using renewable energy sources for remote villages in India.
However, with the demand for electricity expected to grow 10 to 20 fold between 2010 and 2020, the West Bengal government is extending grid-based electricity to about 1,076 villages in the Sundarbans.
Environmentalists warn that the soil in the wetlands of Sundarbans is soft and setting up of large and heavy transmission poles may increase erosion and even change the tidal patterns when installed in rivers and creeks, surrounding the fragile islands.
“The ecological footprint of this scheme will be massive with all these electric poles across the river,” says Anshuman Das of Sabuj Sangha, an NGO that has been working in the Sundarbans for over 10 years.
The State Action Plan on Climate Change admits that the electricity generation sector within the state will continue to be a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
SP Gon Chaudhuri, former director of West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Limited (WBGEDCL), feels that renewable energy is the only solution in the fragile delta ecosystem of Sundarbans, declared a World Heritage Site for hosting dense mangrove forests, unique bio-diversity and the famous Royal Bengal Tiger.
A report by the New Delhi-based research body Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says the grid extension is also threatening to make the existing investments in various solar projects in large islands like Sagar island redundant.
“Since the conventional grid …