Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD)

LEAD is an international non-profit organisation with a fast growing network of 1600 leaders in more than 80 countries. Our shared mission is to inspire leadership for a sustainable world. We do this by searching worldwide for outstanding people, developing their leadership potential through our innovative training programmes and working with them to mobilise others to make a real difference to the future of this planet.
Our LEAD offices across the world deliver training programmes that challenge traditional notions of leadership with progressive participatory techniques. Using LEAD's experiential learning approach, our participants learn through multi-stakeholder dialogue, systems thinking, and inclusive cross-cultural processes.
We train business executives, government officials, academics, NGO directors, activists, educationalists and media professionals. Our multi-lingual training team works with top-level experts and practitioners from around the world who focus on emerging issues relevant to leadership and sustainable development.

UNFCCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Over a decade ago, most countries joined an international treaty -- the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) -- to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. Recently, a number of nations have approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures. The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the COP, the subsidiary bodies and their Bureau.
This section contains numerous resources -- for beginners or experts -- such as introductory and in-depth publications, the official UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol texts and a search engine to the UNFCCC library.

IUCN - World Conservation Union

IUCN is stand for The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Use of the name “World Conservation Union” began in 1990, but the full name and the acronym are often used together as many people still know the Union as IUCN.

The World Conservation Union was founded in October 1948 as the International Union for the Protection of Nature (or IUPN) following an international conference in Fontainebleau, France.
The organization changed its name to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1956. The World Conservation Union is the world’s largest and most important conservation network. The Union brings together 83 States, 110 government agencies, more than 800 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership.

The Union’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.

The World Conservation Union is a multicultural, multilingual organization with 1100 staff located in 40 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland.

NGOs and Environmental Policy

As informed and effective advocates, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have had a role in shaping the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its agenda from the beginning. Today, participation by NGOs, both local and international, is crucial, not only at the project level but also in GEF policy dimensions. Village organizations and other community-based groups, academic institutions, and foundations are among the NGO partners integral to GEF's efforts.
More than 150 GEF-financed projects are executed or co-executed by, or contain contracts or subcontracts to, nongovernmental groups. More than 60 regional and global NGO networks are involved in the design and implementation of GEF-funded transboundary waters projects. GEF's Small Grants Programme, administered by UNDP, has provided grants of up to $50,000 to finance more than 1,200 NGO-executed projects.

UN Publication

The UN have published the UN Chronicle magazine, which reach the volume XLIV. This volume (Number 2, 2007) have special issue on climate change, “Green Our World!”. It offers a snapshot of where the international community currently stands with regard to climate change. The special issue of the UN chronicle presents a range of perspectives in the form of articles and essays, written by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Prime Ministers of New Zealand, Jamaica and Tuvalu, Ministers and high UN Officials.

Health and Environment: Images From Around the World

WHO make annual photo contest and this is the winner gallery. This year the focus of the annual contest was on health and environment, as part of WHO's efforts to raise awareness about the importance of healthier environments. My personal fav is B & W category.

Global Compact Critics

This is a blog, which is an informal network of organizations and people with concerns about the UN Global Compact. On this blog we gather and share information about the Global Compact, partnerships between the United Nations and companies, and corporate accountability. It is not a database, but rather a collection of opinions, news items and background information. Visit the blog at http://www.globalcompactcritics.net/

World's Cutest Animal Contest

WWF have contest about which animal is the cutest. Cast your vote between Dolphin, Panda, Penguin, Polar Bear, and Snow Leopard. My opinion, Panda or Polar Bear will win the contest. What do you think? The contest will close on September 21.

Year of Dolphin

July 17, 2007, Conservation bodies, Members of Parliament and corporate partners are meeting in Crete to kick off the Year of the Dolphin in Greece. As said in YoD 2007 website, The Year of the Dolphin campaign focuses on raising awareness of dolphins in the wild, the threats they face to their survival and actions that could help their wild conservation.

CGIAR

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), established in 1971, is a strategic partnership of countries, international and regional organizations and private foundations supporting the work of 15 international Centers. In collaboration with national agricultural research systems, civil society and the private sector, the CGIAR fosters sustainable agricultural growth through high-quality science aimed at benefiting the poor through stronger food security, better human nutrition and health, higher incomes and improved management of natural resources. CGIAR mission is to achieve sustainable food security and reduce poverty in developing countries through scientific research and research-related activities in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, policy, and environment.

Celebrating The World Environment Day

5 June 2007 is known as World Environment Day. UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) have a list of 77 ways interesting activities for celebrating that day.
Full list here:
A Announcements by Environment Ministries Art made of recycled materials Auctions to benefit an environmental project Award presentations (for environment-related activities) Awareness campaigns
B Bicycle parades/races Broadcast of public service announcements (TV and radio)
C Carpools Celebrity support Clean-up campaigns Competitions (banner, drawing, essay, painting, poster, poetry) Conferences on the environment
D Debates on environment issues Discussions (small and large groups) Distribution of leaflets, brochures and posters
E Environmental education programmes in schools Establishment of governmental structures dealing with environmental management Excursions to nature sites Exhibitions (drawings, posters, photos and paintings)
F Fairs Festivals Film festivals on the environment/screening of environmental films Football matches
G Green concerts Guidelines on how the community can undertake environmental protection activities
H Hoist banners at major intersections in cities
I Involve various partners (NGOs, ministries of environment, youth groups, celebrities, business, industry, private sector) Issuance of First Day Covers (stamps)
J Join an environmental group
K Keep your neighbourhood clean Kick start an environmental campaign Know your rights
L Launch of government environment policies, books and reports Legislation
M March for the environment Media coverage and activities (TV and radio programmes and interviews, newspaper articles, editorials, letters to the editor on the environment)
N Network Never litter
O Organic farming/cooking Organize a special event
P Parades Performances (plays, songs, poetry) Promotional materials related to theme (T-shirts, stickers, bookmarks) Puppet shows for children featuring environmental messages
Q Quizzes related to the theme for schools, youth groups, company staff, etc…
R Rainwater harvesting Rallies Ratify international environmental conventions Recycle Rehabilitate natural habitats Repair Reuse Rickshaw rally
S Save paper Seminars Sign international environmental conventions Sort rubbish Speeches Sponsorship from private sector Stickers with environmental messages Symposia
T Tours of nature sites Tree planting T-shirts with WED theme
U Use sustainable modes of transportation (walking, jogging, cycling, skating, carpool)
V Vehicle emission monitoring Visits to botanical gardens and other environmental sites Voice your concerns Volunteer for organizations such as Clean Up the World
W Waste collection Waste composting Workshops Write plays, poems, songs Write letters to your civic leaders, members of parliament, national government and newspapers
X X-press your concern for the environment
Y Youth-led activities
Z Zero emissions

Anyone want to add of the list?

Selected Indonesian Regulation concerning Animal, Fish and Plant Quarantine

• Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 16 of 1992 concerning Animal, Fish and Plant Quarantine
• Animal Quarantine on Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia No. 82 of 2000
• Exclusion, Prevention, Eradication, and treatment of Animal Diseases on Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia No. 15 of 1977
• Requirements for the Importation of Livestock for Breeding from Abroad on Decree of the Minister of Agriculture (DOMOA) No. 750/Kpts/UM/10/1982
• Technical Requirements for Dairy Cattle for Breeding Imported from Abroad on DOMOA No. 752/Kpts/UM/10/1982
• Fish Quarantine on Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia No. 15 0f 2002
• Prohibition on the Exportation from the Territory of the Republic of Indonesia of Several Kinds of Fishery Products on Decree of the Minister of Agriculture (DOMOA) No. 214/Kpts/UM/5/1973
• Importation into the Territory of the Republic of Indonesia of Live Fish on DOMOA No. 819/Kpts/UM/11/1980
• Prohibition on the Importation of Several Species of Dangerous Fish from Overseas on DOMOA No. 179/Kpts/Um/3/1982
• Quarantine Requirements for the Importation into the Territory of the Republic of Indonesia of Live Fish on DOMOA No. 265/Kpts/LB.730/5/1986
• Plant Quarantine on Government Regulation of the Republic Indonesia No. 14 of 2001
• Exportation, Seeds, Fruits, Plants. New rules regarding inspection of living plant materials, fresh fruits and products of plant origin intended for export on Decree of the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Fisheries No. 366/HAD/LV/1948
• Exportation from the Territory of the Republic of Indonesia of Plant Propagating Materials on Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture No. 6/PMP/1961
• Procedures for the Application for Permit to Import Plant Propagating Materials into the Territory of the Republic of Indonesia on Decree of the Minister of Agriculture (DOMOA) No. 491/Kpts/UM/7/1980
• Requirements for the Importation into the Territory of the Republic of Indonesia of Plant Propagating Materials on DOMOA No. HK.310/21/Kpts/1/1984

Further information, please visit the Ministry of Agriculture of Indonesia

Prohibited and restricted goods (conservation and environment related)

Edited in original post by: Customs Atache of Indonesian Embassy in Japan.

Prohibited and restricted goods are goods which are prohibited or restricted to be imported into and exported out of Indonesian territory without the approval of government agencies. The violation of these provision will lead to law action.
Amongs 20 lists of item that included in prohibited and restricted goods, 2 of them are related to conservation and environment, especially flora and fauna. Those are Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and Parts thereof, and Certain species of fish. Other items related to environment are Pesticides, Ozone Depleting Substances and Goods containing Ozone Depleting Substances, and Wastes.

Completed article can be found at Customs Atache of Indonesian Embassy in Japan including regulations and explanation.

Kyoto Protocol

From: WWF website.
I hope this article find useful to all environmental activist. Please, we are heating up, do help our planet.

Right after United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - UNFCCC - was approved in Earth Summit 1992, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, all the convention parties started negotiating to form exact regulation on controlling the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.

The 3rd highest meeting authority on UNFCCC called Conference of Parties 3 -- COP - was held in Kyoto, Japan, and agreed to adopt a set of rules called Kyoto Protocol. It is believed to be the most approaching way to reduce the GHG emission from all the parties of the convention. It is set on December 12, 1997; three years after the convention on climate change started to regulate the parties on how should they reduce the emission.

As it is agreed, (http://untreaty.un.org/) we can understand the protocol as a set of rules that order the parties to get certain agreed and united goals. In a protocol all the parties normatively bonded to follow the inside regulation. Usually the protocol is set to sharpening the previous regulation (e.g.: the convention).

The COP 1 and COP 2 found almost no important agreement to reduce the GHG emission. COP 3 was believed as fighting field between ANNEX I who has emitted the GHG longer before the NON ANNEX I did. The developed country's agenda is not to bring the energy consumption out of their country's development; meanwhile mostly their energy resources still are generated from fossil fuel which is placing the biggest portion for GHG emission. To accommodate these importances between two big gaps, the Kyoto Protocol is the only international agreement to committing in reducing the GHG with clearer mechanism and legally-binding.

In Kyoto Protocol has agreed that all the ANNEX I countries are obligated to reduce their GHG emission averagely at 5.2% from their baseline emission in 1990. The year of 1990 has accepted to be the baseline year to count the GHG emission basis as written in the protocol. For the NON ANNEX I countries the GHG reduction is not an obligatory but participation is still yet needed, the principal is known as "common but differentiated responsibility". The Kyoto Protocol rules all those matters for the first commitment from 2008 until 2012.

Three mechanisms to reduce the GHG emission under the Kyoto Protocol are:
1. Joint Implementation (JI), a mechanism that controls the developed countries to work together among them to get credit of the GHG emission reduction which is called ERU (Emission Reduction Unit).
2. Emission Trading (ET), a mechanism that allows a developed country to sell their GHG emission reduction credit to another developed country, since the seller has reached over the targeted emission reduction. The credit point is called AAU (Amount Assigned Unit).
3. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a mechanism that possibly involving the developing countries to reduce the GHG emission from the cooperation with developed country. The emission reduction credit will be on behalf of the developed country who invests the project. The additional value for the developing country is the supports to the sustainable development, besides CDM is the only mechanism that allows the developing countries to get involved in GHG emission reduction under the Kyoto Protocol. The credit point produced from this mechanism is called CER (Certified Emission Reduction).

The three mechanisms above are defining the flexibility mechanism to reach the target of reducing the GHG emission for the ANNEX I countries.
There are two requirements for the Kyoto Protocol to be entered into force, first is the protocol should be ratified minimally by 55 countries to the convention on climate change, and second the total amount of GHG emission of the ANNEX I countries who ratify the protocol minimally should be 55% to their total emission in 1990. The history shows in May 23, 2002, Iceland ratified the protocol means the first requirement has been passed. Then in November 18, 2004, Russia finally ratified the protocol to fulfill the second requirement and has reached over 55% to be 61.79% of the total amount, thus has made the protocol effectively entered into force 90 days later after Russian's ratification, it was on February 16, 2005.

Global Warming

Nowadays we often heard about global warming, climate changes, and disaster cause by it. Actually, what are global warming?
WWF-International give us a good explanation about it. It said that: In the past the Earth's climate has changed as a result of natural causes in our atmosphere. The changes we are witnessing and those that are predicted are largely due to human behaviour: we are burning fossil fuels, and heating up the planet at the same time. We blow exponential amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere every year – 29 billion tonnes of it (2004) and rising – and this warms the globe. Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been burning fossil fuels on a massive scale. We use this energy, almost without care for the consequences, to run vehicles, heat homes, conduct business, and power factories. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide stored millions of years ago as oil, coal or natural gas. In the last 200 years we have burned a large part of these stores, resulting in an increase in CO2 in our atmosphere. Deforestation also releases CO2 stored in trees and in the soil. The increase of CO2 in the atmosphere thickens the 'greenhouse blanket', with the result that too much heat is trapped into the Earth's atmosphere. This causes global warming: global temperatures rise and cause climate change.

Current statistics.
Data from the World Resources Institute show that humans have added 2.3 trillion tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere in the last 200 years. Half of this amount was added in the last 30 years. The largest absolute increase in CO2 emissions occurred in 2004, when burning fossil fuels alone added more than 28 billion tonnes to the atmosphere. Source: WRI, Navigating the numbers, based on data from IEA, EIA, Marland et al, and BP.Overall, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by 31% since 1750, i.e. since the Industrial Revolution. CO2 emissions are now around 12 times higher than in 1900 as the world burns more and more coal, oil and gas for energy. A 1999 study by Mann et al. shows the dramatic increase in temperature in the Northern Hemisphere in the last 50 years. This well-known hockey stick curve has been validated by numerous other scientists.

The (not too distant) future
We simply cannot continue pumping CO2 into the atmosphere without curbs and controls. Even with the best case scenario for the increase in CO2 emissions it is predicted that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will reach double the level of before the Industrial Revolution by 2100. The worst case scenario brings this doubling forward to 2045 – less than 40 years from now! The Third Assessment Report of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts global temperature rises by the end of the century of between 1.4°C and 5.8°C. (source: WWF - International - Global Warming).

Another source about global warming:
Union of Concerned Scientists

Become Responsible To Environment

WWF-UK give some suggestions about being responsible tourist. The points are be responsible using resources and giving beneficial to local people and nature. Full article is here.
Another suggestions are about doing help to environment at home, in the garden, at work, travelling, out and about, and shopping.
WWF-UK also give interesting campaign title One Planet Living Campaign.
Please, think globally act locally, do some help to our better environment

Become Online Environment Activist

Want to do more to help our environment? You, onliner, can help too. Use your voice to demand change for the things you care about. One of tools that you can join, using your voice to demand for change is http://passport.panda.org. WWF Passport is your licence to campaign for the environment, no matter where you are in the world, all over the world. It’s not a toy or an environmental internet game. It is for the genuinely concerned individual who takes action on-line for on-the-ground results. Passport provides concise calls to action on important issues such as endangered species, global warming, and forest protection. The whole idea behind Passport is that it makes it easier for people who are short on time to have a big say on critical issues. The site also give tips for effective online activists in http://passport.panda.org/about/toolkit.cfm
Please join

Eco-friendly pack and move solution

One more idea that can give help to better environment. The full article is bellow:

Moving supplies such as boxes, bubble wrap and other packaging materials remain piled up in landfills long after people have settled into their new abodes. EarthFriendlyMoving has set out to change that by offering eco-friendly moving supplies available at consumer-friendly prices.
EarthFriendlyMoving's RecoPack—short for Recycled Ecological Packing Solution—containers are made from recycled plastic and come in five convenient sizes. Customers can rent RecoPacks for just “a buck a box a week”, which, depending on how long they keep them, may actually be less than they might spend on traditional cardboard boxes. Even better, RecoPack containers are lightweight, sturdy and stackable, and EarthFriendlyMoving delivers them and picks them up in their bio-fueled trucks.
Customers who want to further protect their breakables might wrap them in EarthFriendlyMoving's Giami packing paper, a honeycomb-like recycled paper made to replace bubble wrap. Instead of “packing peanuts,” customers can use RecoCubes, which are made from recycled paper sludge—simply toss them in the yard after use, and they'll compost to help feed trees and grass. EarthFriendlyMoving even employs “Poopy Pallets,” each of which are made from 500 recycled baby diapers. These and other green solutions are available for rent or purchase, and customers can get free estimates as soon as they're ready to begin planning their move.
EarthFriendlyMoving currently operates in Long Beach and Orange County, with plans to expand their reach through more of Southern California in 2007. The company hopes to go nationwide within the next few years. It's a great example of finding a profitable—and ecologically sound—niche market within the trend to go green, and of bringing innovation to an industry that hasn't changed very much over the past century.

Website: http://www.earthfriendlymoving.com/
Contact: info2007@earthfriendlymoving.com
Spotted by: Wakako Takagi
Published on: April 11, 2007
Source: http://www.springwise.com/

Biodegradable milk jugs

I found this idea very interesting that implement recycling principle. The full article is bellow:

Designed and manufactured in Britain, Greenbottle is a biodegradable milk bottle that uses a smart two-part system to aid recycling. The bottles are composed of a cardboard outer manufactured from pulped, recycled cardboard, which is lined with an inner sleeve of biodegradable plastic made from corn starch. The plastic keeps the cardboard from becoming soggy, and the cardboard makes for easy transport, storage and pouring. Once the bottle is empty, the inner sleeve can be pulled out and will decompose in a landfill within six weeks. The cardboard outer can be put out for recycling with other paper or thrown in with kitchen and garden waste for home composting.
Greenbottle just went through a week-long test run at an Asda supermarket, where the new milk jugs sold out quickly. The bottles currently cost up to 30% more than their plastic counterparts, but costs will go down once production steps up.
Three million tons of plastic are thrown away in the UK annually. As manufacturers, retailers and consumers increasingly work to reduce their environmental footprint, now's the time to snap up distribution rights for Greenbottle's innovative (patent-pending) product. One to contact if you work in food and beverage or packaging!
Website: www.greenbottle.com
Contact: info@greenbottle.com
Spotted by: Emma Howarth
Published on: May 30, 2007
Source: http://www.springwise.com

Three's R that help our environment

Everyday we, people of the earth, produce garbage that quickly fill our environment. We are running out of space very quickly. It is the time for us to learn and do about 3R that can help our environment and mother earth. Those 3R's are: reduce, reuse, recycle. Do not buy things you do not need or items that packaging is not environment friendly. Always reuse and recycle whenever, wherever you can.
Several guide to 3R's are:
http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/
http://www.globalstewards.org/ecotips.htm

Welcome

Welcome readers to my "Enviro Information" blog. This blog will be full of information about green industry, trend about green product, recycle, saving planet, flora and fauna, conservation, and all about environment. Please fell free to give comments and sugestions.