Renewable Energy Revolution Has Arrived For Small Island States

While many have traditionally associated us island states as inevitable victims of the warming planet, the opposite is true.

We are leading the rush to the greatest global energy transformation the world has seen since the industrial revolution.

Lying out in the middle of our vast oceans, this might not seem a natural choice for our islands.  But after years of subjecting our fragile economies and communities to the high cost of imported fossil fuels, we are moving to a new energy paradigm.

In 2008, a global oil price spike forced the Marshall Islands Government to declare a national economic emergency, with the nation no longer able to pay for the imported diesel used to generate up to 90% of the country’s power.

After the energy policy review that followed, the Marshall Islands chose a different path.  More than 95% of its vast outer island communities – spread out over a million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean – now power their livelihoods by the energy of the sun.

El Hierro (Spain)

Pushing ahead

Through initiatives like the Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership and the CARICOM Regional Energy Policy, we have set ourselves some of the world’s most ambitious targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency, throwing down the gauntlet for the big emitters to follow our lead.

Biosphere Reserves in Korea as living laboratories

Man and the Biosphere reserves are UNESCO-designated “living laboratories” numbering 621 in 117 countries and are intended to cultivate research, conservation and public understanding of unique ecological sites. In 2002, Mt. Halla, the Yeongcheon and Hyodon-cheon valleys, and the Beomseom, Munseom and Seopseom islets were incorporated into Jeju’s biosphere reserve and there are four other such sites nationwide.

MAB designation is dependent on a diverse, mosaic composition of eco-systems. Given this fact and the Korean peninsula’s sloping geology, it is perhaps unsurprising that - in addition to Jeju - three of the four sites lie among the more mixed ecosystems of the lower, wetter, west, rather than the simply high and mountainous east.

The program has brought the five sites, and South Korea generally, considerable international attention. Reserve status however, is politically ambiguous: whether it represents true conservation, or merely embellishes “green” cre-dentials, is dependent on national governments as there is merely a review process, rather than binding inter-national law.

Despite this note of caution, MAB has arguably raised the profile of threatened ecosystems and encouraged - if not ensured - their preservation.

These are the principal Biosphere Reserves of Korea

Mt. Sorak, Gangwon Province

 MAB National Committee of the Republic of Korea

Gochang County, North Jeolla Province

 MAB National Committee of the Republic of Korea

Shinan Dadohae, South Jeolla Province

MAB National Committee of the Republic of Korea

Gwangneung Forest, Gyeonggi Province

MAB National Committee of the Republic of Korea

Source: the Jeju weekly

Urmia Biosphere Reserve: Largest Lake in Middle East May Dry Up

Urmia, the Middle East’s largest lake, is in danger of drying up as Iran’s Energy Ministry and local officials failed to ensure critical water transfers, Aftab News said, citing a lawmaker.

Lake Urmia Satellite image

The energy ministry is not standing by its commitment regarding Urmia Lake, Nader Ghazipour, who represents the city of the same name in the Iranian parliament, was quoted as saying on Aftab’s website. No funds have been allocated for the lake and “efforts to remedy its critical condition are leading nowhere,” he said.

Stranded ship evidencing recent desiccation of
Lake Urmia. Source: Harrijet News

Urmia in northwestern Iran, one of the largest hyper-saline lakes in the world, is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, according to a United Nations report. The lake’s surface area has declined since the mid-1990s due to drought, increased water diversion for agriculture and mismanagement, it said.

Urmia lake is now only a third full of water, Ghazipour said. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Tabriz and Urmia in 2011, critcizing authorities for mininal actions to save the lake, the UN said. A plan to transfer water from nearby Aras River wasnt´t followed through on,  Ghazipour said.

Source: Bloomberg Businesswek

Learn more about Urmia and another Biosphere Reserves in  http://biospheresmart.org/