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Crime crackdown
Carolyn Kaster/AP/PA
Upfront
Obama‘s climate plans TOO little, too late? US President Barack Obama has launched his long-awaited plan to cut carbon emissions and convince the world he means business when it comes to fighting climate change. “It’s the biggest, most important step we’ve ever taken to combat climate change,” Obama said, launching the plan on Monday. “It’s time for America and the world to act.” Central to the Clean Power Plan is a 32 per cent cut in carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 2030 compared with 2005 levels. Individual states will receive generous incentives to invest in and switch to renewable forms of energy, particularly solar and wind. Those that move quickly will get double the credits of states that delay.
Environmental groups welcomed the plan in general. “It’s a simple idea that will change the world,” says Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington DC, though some groups said it didn’t go far enough. The plan’s launch comes in the run-up to the major UN climate change meeting in Paris this December. “This establishes the credibility of the US participation in the global effort to combat climate change, and to the push by Obama to reach agreement in Paris,” says David Doniger of the NRDC. But while the plan could bring big cuts in power plant emissions, it will only cut US emissions by 6 per cent overall. A cut of 80 per cent is required to prevent dangerous global warming.
–Betting on renewables–
Crime crackdown THE jaws of the trap are closing. A new agreement between 193 countries is set to clamp down on wildlife crime. The UN resolution on 30 July upgraded the seriousness of such crime, putting it on a par with trafficking people and arms – a development that campaigners hope will take the issue out of its environmental niche and make
“The resolution sends a signal to organised criminal networks that their time will soon be up” it a priority for every nation. “For years now, wildlife crime has been viewed by criminal syndicates as a high-profit, lowrisk activity, not least because penalties for those caught have been minuscule,” says Sabri Zain of TRAFFIC, which monitors illegal trade in animals, plants and products such as ivory. Often, says Zain, the same gangs smuggling drugs or arms are those engaged in wildlife crime. Now governments have 6 | NewScientist | 8 August 2015
recognised that tackling wildlife crime may help them crackdown on the other illegal activities, “wildlife crime is not going to be a soft touch for criminals anymore”, he says. The UN resolution calls for greater resources to go to Interpol, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization. It also calls on governments to broaden the resources and legal tools for tackling wildlife crime and for tougher penalties for offences. Governments will have to report their progress to the UN General Assembly each year. “The resolution sends a clear signal to organised criminal networks involved in this illicit trafficking that their time will soon be up,” says Achim Steiner, director of the UN Environment Programme. “Ending wildlife crime is no longer just an ‘environmental’ issue and not just limited to a few countries: it has become a priority for every nation,” says Marco Lambertini, director general of conservation group WWF International.
Hawaii protests AS ASTRONOMERS from around the world gather in Honolulu, conflict still brews over a planned telescope a few islands down the Hawaiian chain. More than 3000 astronomers have converged for the general assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). But the official programme seems to skim over an ongoing controversy focused on a neighbouring island’s peak. Mauna Kea already hosts 13 telescopes – and holds
cultural and spiritual significance for indigenous Hawaiians, who have been opposing construction of the planned Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on its summit. Since 14 July, the access road leading up the mountain has been declared off limits at night. Thirteen anti-TMT protesters were arrested mid-vigil on 31 July. The IAU meeting offers limited chances for dialogue. The most promising, a panel discussion in the meeting’s last three days, reviews the history of telescope construction on the mountain.
Resettled Brazilians cut forests TIMBEEEEEER! Smallholder farmers resettled to rainforests by the Brazilian government have played an unrecognised role in deforestation – and it could be continuing unabated. A team looked at four decades of satellite images around the homes of more than a million migrants given land in some 1900 Amazon settlements since 1970. They found “irrefutable evidence of rapid deforestation” after the settlers arrived (PLoS One, DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0134016). Within the settlement areas, which cover 5.3 per cent of the Amazon rainforest, half the trees have been lost, says lead author Maurício Schneider at the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress in Brasilia. To address the problem, the team recommends the government switch settlement schemes from virgin forest to former forests that are now degraded pastures.
Upfront
Obama‘s climate plans TOO little, too late? US President Barack Obama has launched his long-awaited plan to cut carbon emissions and convince the world he means business when it comes to fighting climate change. “It’s the biggest, most important step we’ve ever taken to combat climate change,” Obama said, launching the plan on Monday. “It’s time for America and the world to act.” Central to the Clean Power Plan is a 32 per cent cut in carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 2030 compared with 2005 levels. Individual states will receive generous incentives to invest in and switch to renewable forms of energy, particularly solar and wind. Those that move quickly will get double the credits of states that delay.
Environmental groups welcomed the plan in general. “It’s a simple idea that will change the world,” says Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington DC, though some groups said it didn’t go far enough. The plan’s launch comes in the run-up to the major UN climate change meeting in Paris this December. “This establishes the credibility of the US participation in the global effort to combat climate change, and to the push by Obama to reach agreement in Paris,” says David Doniger of the NRDC. But while the plan could bring big cuts in power plant emissions, it will only cut US emissions by 6 per cent overall. A cut of 80 per cent is required to prevent dangerous global warming.
–Betting on renewables–
Crime crackdown THE jaws of the trap are closing. A new agreement between 193 countries is set to clamp down on wildlife crime. The UN resolution on 30 July upgraded the seriousness of such crime, putting it on a par with trafficking people and arms – a development that campaigners hope will take the issue out of its environmental niche and make
“The resolution sends a signal to organised criminal networks that their time will soon be up” it a priority for every nation. “For years now, wildlife crime has been viewed by criminal syndicates as a high-profit, lowrisk activity, not least because penalties for those caught have been minuscule,” says Sabri Zain of TRAFFIC, which monitors illegal trade in animals, plants and products such as ivory. Often, says Zain, the same gangs smuggling drugs or arms are those engaged in wildlife crime. Now governments have 6 | NewScientist | 8 August 2015
recognised that tackling wildlife crime may help them crackdown on the other illegal activities, “wildlife crime is not going to be a soft touch for criminals anymore”, he says. The UN resolution calls for greater resources to go to Interpol, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization. It also calls on governments to broaden the resources and legal tools for tackling wildlife crime and for tougher penalties for offences. Governments will have to report their progress to the UN General Assembly each year. “The resolution sends a clear signal to organised criminal networks involved in this illicit trafficking that their time will soon be up,” says Achim Steiner, director of the UN Environment Programme. “Ending wildlife crime is no longer just an ‘environmental’ issue and not just limited to a few countries: it has become a priority for every nation,” says Marco Lambertini, director general of conservation group WWF International.
Hawaii protests AS ASTRONOMERS from around the world gather in Honolulu, conflict still brews over a planned telescope a few islands down the Hawaiian chain. More than 3000 astronomers have converged for the general assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). But the official programme seems to skim over an ongoing controversy focused on a neighbouring island’s peak. Mauna Kea already hosts 13 telescopes – and holds
cultural and spiritual significance for indigenous Hawaiians, who have been opposing construction of the planned Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on its summit. Since 14 July, the access road leading up the mountain has been declared off limits at night. Thirteen anti-TMT protesters were arrested mid-vigil on 31 July. The IAU meeting offers limited chances for dialogue. The most promising, a panel discussion in the meeting’s last three days, reviews the history of telescope construction on the mountain.
Resettled Brazilians cut forests TIMBEEEEEER! Smallholder farmers resettled to rainforests by the Brazilian government have played an unrecognised role in deforestation – and it could be continuing unabated. A team looked at four decades of satellite images around the homes of more than a million migrants given land in some 1900 Amazon settlements since 1970. They found “irrefutable evidence of rapid deforestation” after the settlers arrived (PLoS One, DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0134016). Within the settlement areas, which cover 5.3 per cent of the Amazon rainforest, half the trees have been lost, says lead author Maurício Schneider at the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress in Brasilia. To address the problem, the team recommends the government switch settlement schemes from virgin forest to former forests that are now degraded pastures.