In green technology news this week, just hours before the culmination of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa, consensus had not been reached on a second commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, but a transitional committee was close to reaching a framework for the Green Climate Fund.
As for other developments, former U.S. President Clinton joined with current President Obama in announcing $4 billion in public and private funding for nationwide building energy retrofits; Bill Gates (News 
- Alert) went to China to pitch a “safer” nuclear reactor; and a process for getting the lead out of recycled batteries in Mexico was reported to be unsafe.
As the world’s two biggest world powers faced off in a “game of chicken,” the fate of the Kyoto Protocol—and the survival of the Earth’s population—hung in the balance at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa. Negotiators from the European Union and 191 nations met at COP17 from November 28 through December 9, but just hours before the end of the conference, still were unable to find common ground on a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; with the two biggest holdouts, China and the United States, reluctant to reach an accord.
A more positive outcome was expected for the Green Climate Fund, a pool of money from wealthier nations designed to help to help the countries that are most vulnerable to flooding and climate-related destruction. The developed nations of the world had reportedly pledged about $100 billion a year by 2020 , but as the eleventh hour approached, a transitional committee had not yet hashed out how the funds would be collected and disbursed.
In related news, Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by 49 percent over the last two decades, according to the latest findings released by an international team, including researchers at the Norwich, U.K.-based Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia. Published this week in the journal, Nature Climate Change, the new analysis by the Global Carbon Project shows an upsurge in fossil fuel emissions of 5.9 per cent in 2010, alone – and of 49 percent since 1990, the reference year for the Kyoto protocol.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton joined President Barack Obama on December 2 in Washington, D.C., to announce that a total of $4 billion—half, from the public sector; and half, from the private sector— will be used to upgrade the energy efficiency of buildings nationwide over the next two years. Of the $4 billion in funding, $2 billion will be earmarked, by means of a Presidential Memorandum, to energy retrofits of federal buildings—using long-term energy savings to pay for up-front costs, at no cost to taxpayers.
In addition, 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents, and labor leaders have committed nearly $2 billion in private capital to energy efficiency projects—which will upgrade energy performance by a minimum of 20 percent over the next decade, in 1.6 billion square feet of space in office, industrial, municipal, hospital, university, community college, and school buildings—reducing energy costs for American businesses by nearly $40 billion. This major announcement expands on a commitment made last June by the Obama Administration and 14 partners at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI (News - Alert))–America conference
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is apparently trying to get China interested in what is being described as a “safer” nuclear reactor. Gates traveled to China to meet with officials on his proposal and discuss other topics, according to a report from The Associated Press (News - Alert). Gates also happens to be a top investor in U.S.-based TerraPower, which is working on a reactor that it says can operate on depleted uranium.
Finally, a new report has found that a growing number of recycled batteries from the United States are being sent to Mexico. Once they arrive in Mexico, the lead they contain is being removed in dangerous ways that are actually illegal in the United States. Because of these practices, it appears that some toxic materials are leaking into the soil, poisoning both the workers that are removing the materials as well as townspeople in the local regions.
Worse yet, the situation appears to be a by-product of tough new environmental standards instituted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A loophole in the new standards does not prohibit the exporting of the recycled batteries to other countries and that is where Mexico’s problem begins.
Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
