Posted on 03 November
2009 - Gland, Switzerland: The latest update
of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
should cause alarm over
the continuing unprecedented loss of species
and the failure so far of mechanisms to
arrest biodiversity loss, WWF said today.
The 2009 Red List update,
issued today by the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature, shows more
than one-third (36 percent) of the 47,677
species assessed are threatened with extinction.
The assessment featured a special focus
on freshwater species, which are being hit
hard by pollution, loss of wetlands and
water diversions.
The Red List ranks species
according to their population status and
threat levels. It shows the effects that
habitat loss and degradation, over-exploitation,
pollutants and climate change are having
on the world’s species.
“As crucial climate
talks in Copenhagen draw near and with the
International Year of Biodiversity around
the corner, this is a wake-up call for world
leaders.” said Amanda Nickson, Director
of the WWF International Species Programme.
“We are a world away from meeting the globally
endorsed 2002 commitment of the Convention
on Biological Diversity to deliver a significant
reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss
by 2010.”
“This failure and the
mechanisms to overcome it will need to be
the dominant agenda item on next year’s
meeting of parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity.”
Growing threat of climate
change
Through its global initiatives,
WWF is pursuing major efforts to arrest
biodiversity decline in some of the most
spectacular and highly diverse places on
the planet, and to recover populations of
some of the most endangered species, such
as tigers.
It is estimated that
less than 3200 tigers exist in the wild
in a wide arc of countries from far eastern
Russia to India and Indonesia. Tigers -
a top predator residing at the top of its
food chain - occupy less than seven percent
of their original range, which has contracted
40 percent from 10 years ago.
As tigers require a
large home range, protection of the species
and its habitat bring huge benefits to thousands
of other species. An international summit
scheduled for 2010 in Vladivostok in Russia
is a critical opportunity to reverse the
decline in tiger numbers and ensure their
survival in the wild.
“Tigers are a symbol
of what is happening to many species across
the globe, and demonstrate the urgent need
for the world to come up with the political
will, policies, resources and incentives
to maintain a living and diverse planet.”
said Ms Nickson. “The IUCN is frank that
its assessments are likely to understate
the real extent of the loss of species.”
Significant international
meetings next year to address biodiversity
loss and the threats to planetary life support
systems include a major Conferences of Parties
to the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) and the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Ms Nickson noted that
the CBD’s 2010 target had probably underestimated
the growing impact of climate change, which
is now being increasingly recognised as
an additional threat leading species of
animals and plants towards extinction. Polar
bears earned US endangered status last year
on the basis of climate change and the Red
List notes more.
The Queen of the Andes,
largest of one the world’s cactus families
which dies on flowering and setting seed
after an average 80 year growing span, may
be having its ability to flower impaired
by climate change.
Alarm on freshwater
species
The assessment of freshwater
species continued to alarm, with more than
one third of assessed freshwater fishes
under threat of extinction and approaching
half of all molluscs. In Lake Dianchi in
China, the assessment found all seven freshwater
snails and 12 of the 13 freshwater fish
species new to the Red List were threatened
by overharvesting, pollution and introduced
fish species.
The planet’s amphibians
are the most threatened of all species with
1895 of 6285 species assessed in the Red
List threatened with extinction.
However, in a rare ray
of hope in the new assessment, one freshwater
fish, the Australian Grayling has been moved
from being listed as Vulnerable to being
listed as Near Threatened as a result of
conservation efforts which included putting
fish ladders on dams, improving streamside
vegetation and policing anglers.
+ More
Too many A-Grades lead
to failure on European appliances
Posted on 03 November
2009 - Brussels, Belgium: Negotiations between
Europe’s Presidency, Parliament and the
European Commission have failed to reach
agreement on new energy labeling requirements
for electrical appliances.
The debate on the energy
label has been very heated so far, with
the European Parliament strongly voting
in favour of a simple closed scale from
A to G to grade the energy efficiency of
the products, which was the option supported
by WWF. The Commission favoured a complex,
open scale and introduced percentages to
the A grades, i.e. A-20%, A-40%. This proposal
was rejected by the European Parliament,
as well as consumer and environmental organizations
for its confusing layout.
These opposite positions
mirror the clashing interests of the industry
on one hand, and consumer and environmental
groups on the other hand.
The Swedish Presidency,
leading what was supposed to be the last
Trialogue on the new Energy Labelling Directive
for appliances to have the new statndards
ready for adoption in early December, published
a compromise text suggesting the introduction
of additional A grades (A to A++++).
WWF felt the proposal
took into account most of the industry-driven
demands, would confuse consumers and would
make an A-grade accessible to products with
low energy efficiency.
“Not everybody deserves
an A-Grade. That’s why WWF is very pleased
with the European Parliament’s determination
to find a solution which serves the best
interests of consumers and the environment,”
said Mariangiola Fabbri, Energy Policy Officer
at WWF's European Policy Office.
A new Trialogue on Energy
Labelling is yet to be scheduled.
Also upcoming is the
last Trialogue to revise the Energy Performance
of Buildings Directive (EPBD) on 17 November.
Currently, Europe’s buildings account for
40% of EU final energy use - which they
waste in large proportion.
This energy warms the
climate instead of homes, wastes money in
the family budget, and increases the EU’s
dependence on foreign energy supply for
absolutely no benefit to Europe or its citizens.
Improving energy efficiency
is a relatively cost effective way of reducing
energy related emissions that are a major
contributor to climate change, and can also
help reduce the need for expensive and often
environmentally damaging new power infrastructure.
