Climate Change > What are we doing about it around the world?

What are we doing about it around the world?

• United Nations Framework 2006 Convention on Climate Change - "Nairobi Framework" to help developing countries participate in the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol sets a national greenhouse gas reduction goal of seven percent below 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012.



• World Cities Leadership - Climate Change Summit in London met in October 2005. More than 20 major cities from across the developed and developing world met in London to discuss how to adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change and to exercise leadership in reducing emissions in the future. They plan to meet again in 2007 to assess progress & report to the UN.



• Northern Ireland mandates that all new homes starting in April 2008 must have solar roof panels.  The government will pay 100% of cost to install solar hot water systems in 500 poor households, and help with 50% of the cost of another 4,000 homeowners by 2012.



• South Africa set a goal of producing an additional 10,000 GWh of renewable power annually by 2013, an estimated 4% of demand.



• Insurance companies, who like to stay out of the limelight, are becoming leading business protagonists in the assault on global warming. The world's second-largest industry, worried about losses related to climate change, offers incentives to 'go green.'



• British billionaire Sir Richard Branson pledged all the profits from his airline and rail businesses -- an estimated $3-billion over the next 10 years -- on combating global warming.



• In August of 2006, 22 of the world's largest cities pledged to work together to cut their emissions. The Clinton Foundation plans to help major cities measure their emissions and track their reductions, as well as share information about energy-efficient building design and street lighting. Smaller cities such as Baltimore and the District cannot formally join the initiative, but they will be able to buy energy-efficient products at the same low negotiated prices as larger cities, The 40 targeted cities account for 15 to 20 percent of the world's emissions.



• Carbon Disclosure Project web site is the largest registry of corporate greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Responses from corporations can be downloaded without charge.



• Renewable energy and energy efficiency partnership – international effort to expand and accelerate the global market for renewable energies and energy efficient technologies.  The partnership has funded more than 50 high quality projects in 44 countries that address market barriers to clean energy in the developing world and economies in transition.



• The Climate Group - The Climate Group is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing business and government leadership on climate change. They are based in the UK, the USA and Australia and operate internationally.



• Denmark was hit as hard as the rest of the world by the 1970s oil crisis. Now it‘s a net exporter of energy. The country achieved this turnaround through government incentives for local, cooperative energy production, especially wind power. Today, nearly 20 percent of Danish energy comes from wind turbines, about 80 percent of which are owned by small cooperatives or individuals. Wind energy employs more than 20,000 people, and turbine exports bring in $3.4 billion a year. According to the World Alliance for Decentralized Energy, 50 percent of Denmark‘s energy comes from renewable sources. For the U.S., the figure is 9 percent. — Catherine Bailey



• In CUBA the solutions to energy problems were not easy. Without money, it couldn't invest in nuclear power and new conventional fossil fuel plants or even large-scale wind and solar energy systems. Instead, the country focused on reducing energy consumption and implementing small-scale renewable energy projects.