particular it is thought that micro or-

ganism at the base of the food chain,

such as pteropods, coccolithophores,
as well as larger calcifying organisms
such as mussels, oysters and crabs will
be worst aected.
Dr Tomas E. Lovejoy, Biodiversity
Chair of the Heinz Center for Science,
Economics and Environment notes
said in the preface to the report that
this publication on the impacts of
ocean acidication on marine biodi-
versity is very timely and germane, as
it conrms again how great the stakes
of sustainability are in the climate
change negotiations.
In November Dr Jane Lubchenco,
the Obama appointed head of the US
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) described
ocean acidication as global warm-
ings evil twin and stressed that it
was equally as important a problem.
Lubchenco was picking up an honor-
ary doctorate from the University of
Copenhagen for her work on sustain-
ability when she made her remarks,
adding that the aim of COP15 should
be To reduce emissions as much as
possible as fast as possible.
Asked whether the problem was
a scientic or a moral one, Lubchenco
told The COP15 Post We owe it to our-
selves, our children and our grandchil-
dren to tackle this problem head on
and x it.
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15 DECEMBER 2009
ISSUE 7
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YOU BY
www.cphpost.dk www.cop15post.com
By Jason Heppenstall
New report warns of dire threat to
marine ecosystems if CO2 rise is not
halted
THE FINDINGS OF a major study on
the health of the worlds oceans have
been released to coincide with the
COP15 climate conference. The report,
which was compiled by The Secre-
tariat of the Convention on Biological
Diversity, highlights the direct link be-
tween manmade CO2 emissions and
the rising acidity levels of the worlds
seas.
The study found that around a
quarter of all carbon dioxide produced
from burning fossil fuels, deforestation
and other human activities, has been
absorbed by the oceans. Without this
absorption the amount of CO2 in the
atmosphere would be markedly high-
er and the eects of global warming
more severe. Although this process
may have bought some time, the re-
port states, it has not been without a
cost: rising levels of marine acidity.
At current rates, the report esti-
mates ocean acidity will increase by
150 percent by 2050, a rate of acidica-
tion 100 times greater than anything
that has occurred in the last 20 million
years. This will leave little chance for
adaptation by marine organisms and
cause the widespread dying o of the
worlds corals. In addition, shelled or-
ganisms will not be able to survive the
increased acidity, which will likely lead
to a wide scale collapse of the marine
food chain.
Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Sec-
retary of the Convention gave this
warning: Ocean acidication is irre-
versible on timescales of at least tens
of thousands of years, and substantial
damage to ocean ecosystems can only
be avoided by urgent and rapid reduc-
tions in global emissions of CO2.
The report stresses that the pre-
cise eect on marine life cannot be
known, but says there is an emerging
body of research that suggests the ef-
fects will be variable and complex. In
Acid oceans: Global warmings evil twin
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now on 33 36 33 00
FORMER US VICE President Al Gore
was welcomed with a storm of ap-
plause as he launched the latest
scientic reports on melting snow
and ice at the Bella Center yesterday
before a captive and appreciative au-
dience.
But the geniality was quickly set
aside for stark warnings, not only
about the Greenland Ice Sheet to the
north, but also ice caps all over the
world.
The Melting snow and ice A call
for action report was commissioned
by Gore and Norways Foreign Min-
ister Jonas Gahr Stre, who drew
Gores attention to the serious prob-
lems of glacial melting during his
tenure as head of the Arctic Council.
The latest ice data from Green-
land and the Antarctic shows that
the decreasing ice mass has lead
to a sea level rise of 1.8mm/year to
3.4mm/7year within the last decade
and shows no sign of slowing down.
Gore also drew attention to the
ice melt from the Himalayas, which
is now being considered the Third
Pole and warned that the disappear-
ing icecaps in the region will severely
impact the some 1 billion people in
Asia who depend on glacial runo
for their water supply. (kr)
Gores glacial warning
Photo: Pamela Juhl
Publisher
Ejvind Sandal
Chief Executive Ocer
Jesper Nymark
Editor
Jason Heppenstall
editor@cop15post.com
Deputy editor
Katie Rice
katie@cphpost.dk
Journalists
Daniel Nielsen
Celia Thaysen
Simon Cooper
Brittany Shoot
Cathy Strongman
Kim Nightingale
Georgina Nitzsche
Tiany Fischer
Peter Sims
Sarah Leszinski
Angela Andersen
Christian Wenande
Daniel Trauteld
Daniel van der Noon
Sta photographers
Pamela Juhl
Hasse Ferrold
Guide/events editor
Ben Hamilton
benhamilton374@gmail.com
Sales and marketing manager
Hans Hermansen
sales@cop15post.com
Sales team
Jeanne Thames
Mark Millen
Lyndsay Jensen
Design and layout
Lyndsay Jensen
Additional graphics
Antonieta Medeiros
Web editor
Theresa Heidecke
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Amanda Knoll
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A/S 2009
Editorial oces:
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The COP15 Post accepts no responsibility for the
content of material submitted by advertisers. The
COP15 Post is published daily by CPHPOST.DK
ApS. Printed by Dagbladet, Ringsted, on sustain-
ably sourced paper. Reproduction in whole or in
part is prohibited by law.
The COP15 Post - 15 December 2009
IMPORTANT NUMBERS:
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Disaster
prevention
By Katie Rice
THE LATEST DISASTER gures for
2009 show the lowest number of
natural disasters this decade, but ex-
perts warn that extreme events like
last years Cyclone Nargis are on the
increase.
The Center for Research on Epide-
miology of Disasters (CRED) released
gures on Monday covering the year,
excluding the month of December,
which showed that of the 245 natural
disasters this year, 244 were weather-
related.
Of the 8900 people to die in a
natural disaster, almost 80 percent
were as a result of weather-related
ones, including ooding. However,
Professor Debarati Sapir, Director of
CRED, stressed that the gures for
droughts that are currently plaguing
Africa were not easy to detect in the
statistics.
Michel Jarraud, Secretary General
of the World Meteorological Organi-
zation warned that national and local
prevention preparation plans must
start looking to the future when plan-
ning, rather than basing data on past
events.
With climate change being one
of the additional complicating factors,
we know that a number of these dis-
asters are more likely to become more
frequent, said Jarraud. Unfortunately
the past is no longer a good indicator
to plan for the future because pat-
terns, such as sea level rise, are chang-
ing.
The eorts of countries to im-
prove early warning systems were
praised in the report, including those
of Cuba, which was hit by ve hurri-
canes in 2008, but only suered seven
fatalities.
Protestors cry foul at Canadas eorts
Dozens braved the cold weather Monday morning to deliver a chilly message to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper at the embassy in Copenhagen. Author Naomi Klein laid out a welcome mat in protest at the tar sands.
Photo: Christian Wenande
US to stop dragging its feet
By Daniel Nielsen
United States Secretary
of Energy Steven Chu
launches an initiative
dubbed Climate REDI
CHU SAID THE US would
invest $85 million in the
Climate Renewables and
Eciency Deployment Ini-
tiative (REDI) over the next
ve years.
The days when Amer-
ica dragged its feet on this
issue are over, the head of
the US Department of En-
ergy said.
He explained that the
initiative would focus on
developing aordable so-
lar lantern and light-emit-
ting diode (LED) technolo-
gy, ecient equipment and
appliances, clean energy
information sharing and a
scaling up renewable ener-
gy such as wind and solar.
Citing investments al-
ready made in research
and development on clean
energy, Chu said: We are
serious about changing our
direction.
People ask, if it saves
money why hasnt the
market picked it up? Well,
there are failures and bar-
riers in markets. We are go-
ing to reduce those nan-
cial barriers to investment,
Chu said.
We want to turn on
the lights where people
live, but in a way that does
not contribute to climate
change, he said showing
a night-time map of the
world illustrating where
most electricity is used.
Chu also revealed that
that the Energy Informa-
tion Agency would soon
release gures showing
that CO2 emissions had in-
creased in the US despite
the economic recession
and would continue rising
without state intervention.
Italian Environment
Minister Stefania Pres-
tigiacomo, Indian Envi-
ronment Minister Jairam
Ramesh and Australian Cli-
mate Change Department
Secretary Martin Parkinson
all spoke before Chu to an-
nounce their respective
countries participation in
the initiative.
Chu also took the op-
portunity to announce a
climate energy ministe-
rial meeting being held in
Washington in 2010.
Victims of climate change demand compensation
The COP15 Post - 15 December 2009 18 Feature
Bend the Trend
By Georgina Neitzche
European Environment Agency collects
pledges
WITH 300 INVITED guests at the Starekassen
Theatre on Sunday evening, the European Envi-
ronment Agency (EEA) launched its One Degree
Matters lm at a special world premiere event si-
multaneously screened in Washington and Lon-
don.
The lm, outlining global scenarios for 1,2,3,4
and 5 C of temperature increase due to man-
made CO2 emissions shows the increasing im-
pact of even one degree and that the sheer pace
of change that makes it dicult for species to
adapt fast enough. It features a group of social
and business leaders, including economists, ac-
tivists and politicians who travel to Greenland to
observe rsthand the eects of global warming
on glacier melt.
Presented by the Executive Director, Profes-
sor Jacqueline McGlade, the evening was also
the launch of the EEAs Bend the Trend campaign;
a web portal through which one can enter per-
sonal lifestyle pledges aimed at reducing green-
house gas emissions. Pledges might include to
travel less by car and increase the amount you
recycle.
This is the start of a social movement to
recognise individual actions, said McGlade, as
she introduced the guests, who made their own
pledges on stage. The portal is the rst global cal-
culator to record the additionality of individual
eorts, and anyone can sign up their pledges.
McGlade hopes that people will be inspired to
do even more to bring a carbon free future into
the present.
The air of optimism was fuelled with the help
of sustainable wines and treats from the organic
Italian La Vialla farm, which is powered by renew-
able energy. The farm was featured in a nal lm:
an Environmental Atlas of Europe, a collection of
local climate change stories from 53 countries,
which was the result of a fruitful collaboration
between EEA, UNEP, the European Space Agency
and Microsoft. Those starring in the short lms,
along with Saami reindeer herders from Norway
wearing traditional costumes, received a stand-
ing ovation from the packed theatre audience.
Go to www.BendtheTrend.net to make your
own pledge.
Cars line up to beat CO2
POLICE ARE USUALLY quick to pull up cars cruis-
ing through the city streets, but Sundays bar-
rage of electric vehicles was given a free pass as
part of an innovative art project.
The CO2 E-Race saw about 100 electric ve-
hicles of all shapes and sizes take part in the
race, which was not about who crossed the n-
ish line rst, but rather driving an intricately laid
out route across Copenhagen from the Bright
Green Expo at the Forum event centre to City
Hall Square.
Artist Jacob Fuglsang Mikkelsen initiated
the idea to ax all the cars with a colour-coded
GPS that would map their progress across the
city and eventually spelled out CO2 on an elec-
tronic map.
Curious onlookers were able to follow the
progress of the vehicles, ranging from a mini
electric Hummers to the COP15 Posts very own
eet of Svenningsen delivery vehicles, on large
screens at Forum and only the rotating globe at
City Hall Square.
Svenningsens electric vehicles get ready to take on the Hummer

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