|
Dr. Terry BarkerDirector |
|
|
|
|
Abstract: |
The financial and climate crises are linked. It is vital that two pressing global social problems be solved (1) the obvious degradation of the planet and its atmosphere by over-consumption and over-production through the exploitation of resources in pursuit of monetary gain and (2) the toxic pollution of the global money supply, also obvious, caused by financial practices over the past twenty years, led by the investment banks of Wall Street and the City of London. The problems are related: both arise out of the pursuit of self interest, sanctified by the economic utilitarianism that underlies equilibrium economics; both are non-linear catastrophic events, although on different time scales; and both can be described as the greatest market failures in human history. Both can be solved, initially, by the same solution: the financial risks of a global depression and the climate risks of wild weather can be reduced by massive immediate investments in low-greenhouse-gas products and processes in every sector and every country, coordinated by international agreement and action." |
|
|
Terry Barker is the Director of the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research (4CMR), Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Leader of the Tyndall Centre’s Integrated Modelling programme of research and Chairman of Cambridge Econometrics. He was a Coordinating Lead Author in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (2007) for the chapter on mitigation from a cross-sectoral perspective, covering the macroeconomic costs of mitigation at national, regional and global levels in the short and medium term (to 2030). Research interests are in GHG mitigation policy, large-scale computable energy-environment-economy and world energy modelling. Recent relevant publications include: ‘The economics of avoiding dangerous climate change’, Climatic Change, 2008. ‘Achieving the G8 50% target: modelling induced & accelerated technological change using the macro-econometric model E3MG’, Climate Policy, 2008. (with T. Foxon & S. S. Scricieu) ‘Representing global climate change, adaptation and mitigation’, Global Environmental Change, Viewpoint, Vol 13, 2003, pp 1-6. See http://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/4CMR/4CMR.htm |
|
|
Dr. Walter Leal (BSc, PhD, DSc, DL, FRGS, FRSA, FIBiol)
|
|
Presentation Title: |
Climate Change and Governance: state of affairs and actions needed |
|
Abstract: |
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) by means of its “Strategy Note on Governance for Human Development” defines Governance as the system of values, policies and institutions by which a society manages its economic, political and social affairs through interactions within and among the state, civil society and private sector. The principle of Governance especially applies to climate change, since it pays due attention to the This paper discusses the concept of climate change governance (CCG), outlining the current state of affairs and, by means of some examples of good practice, documents some of the on-going initiatives in this field. It also describes some of the action needed in order to make the principles of climate change governance be implemented in practice. |
|
|
Professor Walter Leal (BSc, PhD, DSc, DL, FRGS, FRSA, FIBiol) is a trained biologist, has a PhD and a DSc in environmental technology, plus a honorary doctorate (DL) in environmental information. He is the Director of the Research and Transfer Centre “Applications of Life Sciences” at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, where he is in charge of a number of European projects. He has authored, co-authored or edited over 50 books on the subjects of environmental management, technology, innovation and climate change has in excess of 120 published papers to his credit. Professor Leal is also the editor of the Journal "Environmental Management and Health" and founding editor of the "International Journal of Climate Change Starategy and Management (IJCCSM) and the "International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education" (IJSHE). He is a member of the editorial board of various journals such as "International Journal of Sustainable Development" and "Sustainable Development and World Ecology". He is a specialist on environmental management and sustainable development issues, being involved in a number of climate-related projects across the world. He is editor of the award-winning series “Environmental Education, Communication and Sustainability” and the initiator of “Climate 2008”, the world´s first scientific conference on climate issues on the internet.Professor Leal is fluent in English, German, Portuguese and Spanish, has a good knowledge of French and a basic knowledge of the Danish language. |
|
|
Dr. T. Nejat VezirogluPresident, International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE) Tel: 1-305-442-4540 |
|
Presentation Title: |
Hydrogen Energy: Ultimate Solution to Global Warming |
|
Abstract: |
Most important environmental problem facing the humankind in this century is the global warming. It is mainly caused by the carbon dioxide produced as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels. The utilization of fossil fuels also cause other environmental problems such as the ozone layer depletion, acid rains, pollution, oxygen depletion, oil spills and mutilation of top soils. Many engineers and scientists agree that the solution to these global problems would be to replace the existing fossil fuel system by the hydrogen energy system. Hydrogen is a very efficient and clean fuel. Its combustion will produce no greenhouse gases, no ozone layer depleting chemicals, little or no acid rain ingredients, and no pollution. Hydrogen, produced from renewable energy sources, would result in a permanent energy system, which we would never have to change. However, there are other energy systems proposed for the post-petroleum era, such as a synthetic fossil fuel system. In this system, synthetic gasoline and synthetic natural gas will be produced using abundant deposits of coal, shale oil and tar sands. In a way, this will ensure the continuation of the present fossil fuel system. The two possible energy systems for the post-fossil fuel era (i.e., the solar-hydrogen energy system and the synthetic fossil fuel system) are compared with the present fossil fuel system by taking into consideration production costs, environmental damages and utilization efficiencies. The results indicate that the solar-hydrogen energy system is the best energy system to ascertain a sustainable future, and it should replace the fossil fuel system before the end of this century.
|
|
|
Dr. Veziroglu, a native of Turkey, graduated from the City and Guilds College, the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, with degrees in Mechanical Engineering (A.C.G.I., B.Sc.), Advanced Studies in Engineering (D.I.C.) and Heat Transfer (Ph.D.). In 1962 –after serving in some Turkish government agencies and heading a private company – Dr. Veziroglu joined the University of Miami Engineering Faculty. In 1965, he became the Director of Graduate Studies and initiated the first Ph.D. Program in the School of Engineering and Architecture. He served as Chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering 1971 through 1975, and was the Associate Dean for Research 1975 through 1979. He took a three years Leave of Absence (2004 through 2007) and founded UNIDO-ICHET (United Nations Industrial Development Organization – International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies) in Istanbul, Turkey. At present, he is the Director of the Clean Energy Research Institute at the University of Miami. Dr. Veziroglu organized the first major conference on Hydrogen Energy: The Hydrogen Economy Miami Energy (THEME) Conference, Miami Beach, 18-20 March 1974. At the opening of this conference, Dr. Veziroglu proposed the Hydrogen Energy System as a permanent solution for the depletion of the fossil fuels and the environmental problems caused by their utilization. Soon after, the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE) was established, and Dr. Veziroglu was elected president. As President of IAHE, in 1976 he initiated the biennial World Hydrogen Energy Conferences (WHECs), and in 2005 the biennial World Hydrogen Technologies Conventions (WHTCs). In 1976, Dr. Veziroglu started publication of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (IJHE) as its Editor-in-Chief, in order to publish and disseminate Hydrogen Energy related research and development results from around the world. IJHE has continuously grew; now it publishes twenty-four issues a year. He has published some 350 papers and scientific reports, edited 160 volumes of books and proceedings, and has co-authored the book “Solar Hydrogen Energy: The Power to Save the Earth”. Dr. Veziroglu has memberships in eighteen scientific organizations, has been elected to the Grade of Fellow in the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is the Founding President of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Dr. Veziroglu has been the recipient of several international awards. He was presented the Turkish Presidential Science Award in 1974, made an Honorary Professor in Xian Jiaotong University of China in 1981, awarded the I. V. Kurchatov Medal by the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy of U.S.S.R. in 1982, the Energy for Mankind Award by the Global Energy Society in 1986, and elected to the Argentinean Academy of Sciences in 1988. In 2000, he was nominated for Nobel Prize in Economics, for conceiving the Hydrogen Economy and striving towards its establishment. |
|
Copyright @2008, gcgw.org