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2014 Year End Review: Climate Change is Already Here and Left Unchecked it will get Far Worse

There have been a number of reports in 2014 that show that climate change is not only a concern for future generations it is with us here and now. A slew of studies from economists, government agencies, scientific bodies, and business coalitions have all indicated that climate change is a current day reality and we must act now to stave off the worst impacts.

The definitive compendium of climate science was issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Without hyperbole, thousands of pages in the UN's fifth climate assessment report made the scientific case for global warming convincingly and irrefutably clear. It documents the effects of climate change in the present and it warns of an "impending climate catastrophe," the Synthesis Report also said "We have a little time before the window of opportunity to stay within 2 degrees C of warming closes."

A number of other reports rendered the science of climate change in language that all but the willfully ignorant can understand.

A report from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) made three simple points that everyone can follow. First it said that "Climate change is happening here and now," and the risks of irreversible, highly damaging impacts are high. It added that the sooner we act, the lower the cost.

An 840 page report, the US National Climate Assessment, was deliberately written in simple and accessible language. It bluntly stated that climate change "has moved firmly into the present." The report went on to say, climate change's assorted harms "are expected to become increasingly disruptive across the nation throughout this century and beyond." If we fail the act the situation will get far worse. The report's co-author Henry Jacoby, co-director of the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology singled out the energy sector and fossil fuels in particular saying that if we do not curtail the emissions emanating from the energy sector, we are "on the pathway to more damage and danger." He also said, "one of the things this report tries to do is...explain to the person on the street that this is happening now and it’s going to get worse."

The report indicates that in 2011 and 2012 droughts and heat waves cost the farming industry $10 billion, it further projects that flooding alone may cost $325 billion by 2100.

The Risky Business Report stated that climate change is "already costing local economies billions" and explains how there will be hundreds of billions of additional costs if we fail to act. The report estimates that coastal storms could cost as much as $35 billion per year in the US alone. By 2050 the costs of flooding will be over 100 billion and by 2100, $507 billion worth of property will sink below sea level. It further states that in some places agricultural yields could decline by up to 70 percent.

Anything short of immediate action on climate change presents "risky business." As explained by Dr. Al Sommer, dean emeritus of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, "if we stay on the ‘business as usual’ path, things only get worse from there—we shouldn’t take that risk."

2014 Year End Review: People Powered Environmental Movement

In 2014 collaborative relationships were formed that helped grow the environmental movement. More than any other single factor, growing calls for climate action from people around the world give us reason to hope that we will manifest the change we need to see. People are capable of driving change and forcing businesses and political leaderships to act. In addition to protesting, environmentalists are flexing their financial muscles. In 2014 this point was driven home by environmental groups who spent $85 million in support of climate-conscious politicians. While we still have a long way to go before we have responsive political leaderships and widespread adoption of truly sustainable business models, people powered movements are growing and they have the capacity to change both politics and business.

People are contributing to environmental groups and protesting against climate change in record numbers. They are signing petitions and sharing information through their social media networks.

In 2014 a number of environmental organizations helped drive the movement. Bill McKibben and 350.org drove the fossil fuel divestment movement to new heights, particularly on university campuses across North America and they also helped to organize the historic People's Climate March where over 1000 organizations came together to protest.

"All I ever really wanted was to see a climate movement come together, to see that we were actually going to fight," 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben told InsideClimate News. "And finally that day I was fully convinced."

"The movement today looks nothing like it did just a few years ago," said Jane Kleeb, director of Bold Nebraska, a grassroots group leading the fight against the Keystone XL. "There are unlikely alliances now, ones I couldn't have predicted, and we're stronger than ever."

Environmental Defense Fund was among many organizations that launched new campaigns in 2014. The EDF campaing called Defend Our Future, is a grassroots effort that initially sought to get 100,000 young people in Colorado to pledge to vote for climate action. By election day on November 14th they had secured more than 125,000 pledges. Although they did not manage to stave off major Republican gains in the 2014 midterms, it does bode well for the future.

Young people in particular are driving climate action, they have the most to lose from inaction and the most to gain. Seventeen out of 20 young American voters support climate action. This has powerful implications for both Democrats and Republicans. Going forward, politicians vying for office will not have a prayer of getting elected if they fail to respond to the youth demographic.

It is hard to reconcile the growing climate movement with the new slate of Republicans that were elected at the end of 2014. While fossil fuel interests like the Koch brothers continue to outspend environmentalists, there is a growing backlash against Big Oil's deceitful misinformation campaigns. However, even Republicans beholden to the oil lobby cannot ignore the changing demographics and hope to retain power.

Related
2014 Year End Review: Sustainable Business
2014 Year End Review: Climate Change is Already Here and Left Unchecked it will get Far Worse
2014 Year End Review: Renewable Energy Achievements
2014 Year End Review: Reasons for Hope
2014 Year End Review: Climate and Energy Miscalculations
Climate Science Studies 2014 Chronological Review
Climate Focused Legal Battles in 2014 and 2015
Sustainability and (Cause) Marketing in 2014
2014 US State Energy Legislation Review
Video - 2014 was a Big Year for the Climate Movement (Climate Reality)
Video - Environmental Successes by NRDC Activists in 2014

2014 Year End Review: Reasons for Hope

Here are some of the most inspiring and transformative climate stories of 2014. Although global temperatures continue to increase and levels of atmospheric carbon are around 400 ppm, we have seen some reasons to buoy our hope over the course of the last year. People, companies, cities, states, countries, and regions are beginning to wake up and face the challenge of climate change.

There are some technological innovations (like graphene) that may help us to transition to a low carbon. However, even without such game changing disruptive innovations, in 2014 it became apparent that we can still make the transition with existing technologies and at reasonable costs. In 2014, both the Risky Business report and a White House report, illustrated the cost of delaying action.

China and the US have signed an agreement to lower emissions and Europe has shown world leading leadership. Their leadership is important as together they account for more than half of all global emissions of energy related CO2.

The EU already has an emission reduction plan in place. The EPA's Clean Power Plan and vehicle emissions standards go a long way to reducing US carbon emissions.

We have also seen serious progress to reduce short lived pollutants like methane which is responsible for 25 percent of the current warming. The technology to reduce methane emissions in the extractives industry already exists.

Energy efficiency and the idea of putting a price on carbon (eg California and the RGGI states) are other powerful ways of combating climate change that have gained some traction this year.

Perhaps the most important and inspirational climate story has to do with the powerful new climate movement that is emerging. This new movement was in evidence in September at the People's Climate March in New York City. Not only did hundreds of thousands came together in Manhattan, there were also 2,600 events in 162 countries around the world.

We also saw growing interest in the campaign to divest from fossil fuels and invest in clean energy. This is crucial as there is no way we can reduce emissions without substantially reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

In 2014 we saw evidence that from a social, scientific, economic and political point of view it is possible to reverse our perilous trajectory.

Related
2014 Year End Review: Sustainable Business
2014 Year End Review: Climate Change is Already Here and Left Unchecked it will get Far Worse
2014 Year End Review: Renewable Energy Achievements
2014 Year End Review: People Powered Environmental Movement
2014 Year End Review: Climate and Energy Miscalculations
Climate Science Studies 2014 Chronological Review
Climate Focused Legal Battles in 2014 and 2015
Sustainability and (Cause) Marketing in 2014
2014 US State Energy Legislation Review
Video - 2014 was a Big Year for the Climate Movement (Climate Reality)
Video - Environmental Successes by NRDC Activists in 2014

Temperature Charts: Global Warming

Paying Homage to Leading Environmentalist Bill McKibben: The Green Market Oracle's Man of the Year

There are a number of people who have played important roles in advancing climate awareness and engaging crucial solutions in 2014. No one looms larger than environmental activist Bill McKibben, whose fight for the Earth now spans several decades. His accomplishments and recent accolades have earned Mr. McKibben The Green Market Oracle's Man of the Year award.
______________________________

Bill McKibben is an environmental titan who has played a leading role in the war against climate change. McKibben is one of the most influential environmental figures of all times, he has played a crucial role building a new environmental movement
and taking it to new heights.

McKibben is a journalist and author. His first book, titled, "The End of Nature", was published when he was only 28. He is also a former staff writer for the New Yorker and he has penned a number of powerful articles for publications such as the New York Times, New York Review of Books, Rolling Stone, Harper’s and National Geographic.

350.org

McKibben's greatest achievement is the co-founding of 350.org in March 2008. As the world's first truly global grassroots climate change organization, McKibben's work with 350.org has done more to advance the environmental movement than anything that proceeded it.

McKibben and his colleagues at 350.org have harnessed the power of social media to focus global attention on the need for climate action. Some of their successful campaigns include an initiative to get solar panels back onto the White House. 350.org has also reached out to the business community through events like Climate Impacts Day.

In 2009, 350.org made history with their International Day of Climate Action. On October 10, 2010, 350.org staged an event called, "Global Work Party." This was a day intended to celebrate climate solutions and encourage communities to work together on low carbon projects and clean energy. Global Work Party also called on governments to get involved in efforts to combat climate change.

In 2011, McKibben and 350.org worked with others on a number of initiatives including a campaign called "The Next Big Thing" and "Moving Planet: Beyond Fossil Fuels." Another 350.org campaign is titled "Power Shift," it included a rally at the US Chamber of Commerce and youth conferences.

McKibben and 350.org launched the "Connect the Dots" campaign to communicate the relationship between climate change and extreme weather. McKibben has personally worked to help people to see how a world ravaged by climate change will invite weather calamities. He called Hurricane Sandy a "wake up call."

In September 2014, McKibben and 350.org contributed to the success of the historic People’s Climate March, which sent a powerful message to governments and UN climate negotiators convening in New York.

Fossil fuel (divestment)

McKibben has led the charge against a powerful and well funded fossil fuel industry while simultaneously advancing climate solutions. His efforts include pressure campaigns designed to marshal the political will necessary to take on Big Oil. More than any other person, McKibben has succeeded in revealing the fossil fuel industry's destructive environmental impact.

McKibben has called the fossil fuel industry "Public Enemy Number One to the survival of our planetary civilization," and he described efforts to combat Big Oil as, "the fight of our times." His efforts to end our use of fossil fuels include well reasoned arguments about the need to divest. He has also eloquently debated the issue.

Ahead of the Rio+20 meeting in 2012, 350.org organized a social media campaign to end fossil fuel subsidies. In addition to calling on governments to end fossil fuel subsidies through petitions and social media platforms like Twitter, he has also been at the forefront of efforts to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline. McKibben through campaigns like "Draw the Line," he has even gone to jail due to his KXL protests.

He has also shown how Big Oil funds climate denial on a global scale by misinforming the public and blocking attempts at regulating fossil fuel production and consumption. In his famous 2012 article titled "Global Warming's Terrifying New Math," McKibben spelled out the fossil fuel industry's dangerous plans to push carbon levels far beyond climate tipping points. In this article, he shows how scientists estimate that we can add 565 Gigatons of carbon to the atmosphere if we are to have a chance of keeping temperature increases within the 2 degrees Celsius upper limit. The fossil fuel industry's current plan is to dump an additional 2795 Gigatons of CO2 into the atmophere by 2050. That is five times the allowable limit.

He has engaged people through a wide range of campaigns and a movie called, "Do the Math". He has been a leader of the divestment from fossil fuels movement and he has spearheaded successful campaigns at some of the world's biggest universities including Middlebury College. As explained by McKibben, Universities will not be able to resist pressure to divest from fossil fuels.

McKibben's influence extends far beyond university campuses. The efforts of McKibben and 350.org have helped to encourage investors to divest from fossil fuels, this includes financial institutions, asset managers, universities, philanthropic trusts and religious institutions. In total more than 800 global investors including foundations such as the Rockefeller Brothers, religious groups, healthcare organizations, cities and universities have pledged to withdraw a total of $50 billion from fossil fuel investments over the next five years.

"We’ve helped build a movement, that’s the key thing. And it’s beginning to make a dent," McKibben said recently, "I was letting myself think that we’d seen the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel industry."

Despite strenuous opposition from Big Oil, efforts to curtail fossil fuel use made their way onto the agenda at the COP20 UNFCC meetings in Lima, Peru. The final draft explicitly mentions zero fossil fuel emissions by 2050.

In addition to combating fossil fuels, McKibben has helped to galvanize public opinion in favor of a shift to renewable and alternate forms of energy.

Awards

McKibben has received a large number of awards and accolades. He is hailed as an environmental giant by the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) and at university campuses across North America. His reputation extends to Europe and Australia.

McKibben is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds honorary degrees from 18 colleges and universities. In 2013, he was voted "Vermonter of the Year" by the Burlington Free Press and that same year, he won the Gandhi Prize and the Thomas Merton Prize. Foreign Policy named him to their inaugural list of the world's 100 most important global thinkers, and the Boston Globe said he was "probably America's most important environmentalist."

At the end of 2014, McKibben and his wife went to Sweden where the Swedish Parliament gave him the Right Livelihood Award, the so-called “alternative Nobel Prize.”

Future

He recently announced that he will relinquish his role as Chairman of 350.org and assume the role of senior adviser. However, Mckibben is not retiring, he is merely changing his focus. McKibben realizes that there is still a long way to go if we are to have a chance of keeping temperature increases within acceptable limits. He will continue to play an active role devising strategies and organizing campaigns. Relinquishing his role as CEO will give him more time to write and engage universities, governments, environmental organizations, policy makers and the UNFCCC.

"Unless that end to coal and oil and gas comes swiftly, the damage from global warming will overwhelm us." McKibben said. "Winning too slowly is the same as losing, so we have a crucial series of fights ahead: divestment, fracking, Keystone, and many others that we don’t yet know about."

McKibben is "looking forward to the next 25 years—the quarter century that will decide whether we make progress enough to preserve our civilizations. Together we’ve built a movement; now, together, we’ll deploy it to confront the greatest crisis we’ve ever faced.We have found our will to fight, and that gives us a fighting chance to win."

Source: Global Warming is Real

Infographic - The Potential of Solar Power

2014 is the Hottest Year in Recorded History

It looks as though 2014 will qualify as the hottest year on record. This is noteworthy in the context of the string of record breaking heat in recent decades. This decade was warmer than last, which was warmer than the previous decade. With fourteen of the fifteen warmest years on record having occurred in the 21st century, the trend clearly points to a warming world.

The observation that 2014 will be the warmest year in recorded history is confirmed by reports from World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the U.K.’s Met Office and NOAA. We set global average heat records on average every five years, first in 2005 then in 2010 and now in 2014. According to data from NASA, NOAA and the Japan Meteorological Agency, global average heat records were set in the months of August, September and October of 2014.

The cause of this record breaking heat is human activity, specifically climate change causing carbon emissions. We have not seen current levels of atmospheric carbon (approaching 400 ppm) for millions of years.

The oceans are far warmer than usual and according to a WMO report, this extends down to a depth of 2,300 and 6,500 feet. A warmer atmosphere and hotter oceans are known to cause highly destructive extreme weather. The WMO reports that record ocean temperatures contributed to record high global average sea levels. In addition to causing the seas to rise sea, carbon is absorbed by the oceans leading to deadly acidification.

The unavoidable reality is that the earth will continue to warm. Even if we were to stop emitting carbon today a certain amount of warming is "baked into" the climate system.

To make matters worse, the coming year is likely to be even hotter than this one. According to Australian Bureau of Meteorology models, an El Niño effect will make 2015 even warmer than 2014.

Related
Global Temperature Data Underscores the Urgency of Climate Action
El Niño and Global Warming are Locked in a Feedback Loop
Hottest June Foreshadows the Hottest Year on Record
Extreme Heat in the Western World Marks the Start of Summer 2015
At Least 30 Years of Above Average Temperatures
Heat Records Tell the Story of Climate Change
India's Heat Wave Offers a Glimpse into the Future
How Much Heat is Required to Spur Global Action?
Record Breaking Heat Suggests Accelerated Warming

Event - World Engineers Summit on Climate Change (WES) 2015: Call for Technical Papers

The World Engineers Summit on Climate Change (WES) will take place from 21 to 24 July 2015 at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre. The theme is ‘Sustainable Urban Development for Global Climate Resilience’.

After its inaugural success in 2013. WES has become an anticipated platform by the global community to exchange insights and ideas to address the effects of climate change.

Triggered by rapid urbanisation and industrialisation activities, global warming is unleashing undesirable effects across the globe, increasing average temperature, rising seawater levels, causing unpredictable weather patterns and destroying food crops, properties and lives. No country is immune to climate change and the variability it brings to the weather. There is a mounting necessity to place sustainability at the core of urban and industrial development.

With their intellectual and problem-solving capacity, engineers are best placed to lead the transition to a sustainable future, by analysing problems and developing cost-effective technological solutions, bringing knowledge about the problem of climate change and the urgency for resolving it to the community-at-large and working with other stakeholders to bring about real progress.

To harness the collective thinking and expertise of engineers to build climate resilience, The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) will hold WES. Convening engineers from multiple disciplines, urban planning specialists, energy specialists, environmental and water specialists, academia, financiers, policy makers, and business leaders of corporations from across industries around the world, WES 2015 will see the discussion of innovative solutions and sharing of best engineering practices to help realise milestones in the journey to a sustainable and resilient future.

The WES 2015 Organising Committee invites the submissions of technical papers in the following tracks:

Clean Environment & Water Resources
Sustainable Development & Infrastructure
Sustainable Energy
Resilience & Adaptation Against Climate Change

The authors of the abstracts selected by the Abstract Review Committee, comprising various ﬁeld experts, will be invited to submit full papers for presentation at the Summit. Final acceptance will be made upon registration of at least one author for each paper at special rate of $800 (Usual rate: $1,000). The rate is valid for Full Programme including WES Sessions, Expo, Welcome Reception, Gala Dinner and technical site visits, applicable to one author per paper selected and subjected to prevailing Goods & Services Tax (GST).

Accepted papers will be reviewed for publication in an international journal.

Timeline for Abstract Submission 27 February 2015
Notiﬁcation of Abstract Acceptance/Commencement of Author Registration 3 April 2015
Full Paper Submission 15 May 2015

Click here to submit

Event - 11th International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Conference, Partnering & Exhibition

This event will take place on March 17, 2015, from 8:00 to 19:00 at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Gallery Suite in Birmingham UK. The 11th International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Conference, Partnering & Exhibition: Delivering Hydrogen & Fuel Cells to Market. Now in its 11th year, this conference has grown to be the UK's premier Hydrogen and Fuel Cell event, attracting over 200 delegates from UK, Europe and further afield.

Climate Change Solutions Ltd have been committed to the development of this sector for over 10 years. We are delighted to see Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technology maturing, moving from research to delivery ,with examples now around the world where fuel cells are powering transport, homes and businesses. This conference will highlight these latest developments and provide an opportunity to network with the UK and International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell community.

Speakers

Amber Rudd MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Energy & Climate Change
Dr. Jean-Luc Delpalacke, Head of Unit, Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, Horizon 2020
Klaus Ullrich, Director of Business Devek, Fuel Cell Solutions

Who Should attend

– Hydrogen and Fuel Cell manufacturers and their supply chain ( static and transport sector )
– Research Institutions
– Energy/Sustainability – Managers/Consultants
– Local Authorities
– Housing Associations
– Universities
– NHS
– Property Industry – Property Development / Building Management
– Logistics & Fleet Managers

International Brokerage Event – FREE Registration at the Conference available to Midlands based companies Organised by Enterprise Europe Network Midlands, bilateral meetings between SMEs, Enterprises, Universities and Research Centres from all over Europe

The brokerage event will offer you the opportunity to:

· Promote your technology and expertise to a range of UK and International organisations
· Gain access to the latest developments taking place in Europe and beyond
· Develop partnerships leading to technological and commercial collaboration between a range of industrial and research organisations
· Appreciate developments in the sector and understand how to improve the role of your company
· Find partners for EU H2020 funding opportunities within this niche sector

Click here for the programme or to register.

Event - 3rd Water Research Conference

The 3rd Water Research Conference will take place on January 11 - 14, 2015 in Shenzhen Kylin Villa, Shenzhen, China.

The conference will address two main topics:

1) Catalytic processes and new materials and technologies in water/wastewater treatment
2)Water reuse and product recovery from water/wastewater treatment

This event aims to present results of state-of-the-art exploration in water/wastewater treatment and discuss conceptually novel ideas that are necessary to develop well-tuned energy- and resource-efficient treatment technologies designed to remove a wide range of known and emerging pollutants and/or to recover all useful resources like chemicals, nutrients, energy and water itself.

The conference will provide a unique opportunity for the presentation of results of cutting-edge exploratory activities, associated technological applications. Most importantly, there will be an extensive exchange of ideas leading to a shared understanding of the most promising and critically important directions to achieve water security and the improvement of water quality and the recovery of resources on local and global scales.

The program will be particularly focused on water treatment approaches that utilise highly efficient processes, for instance those of catalytic nature or involving interfacial interactions and other microscopic level controls of transformation of pollutants in engineered systems. Specific challenges on recovering resources from water/wastewater, especially water reuse, nutrient/energy/chemicals recovery will be addressed.

Topics List

Catalytic processes and new materials and technologies in water/wastewater treatment
Microscopic level insights into catalytic and related reactions leading to efficient degradation of emerging contaminants.
New materials for water and wastewater treatment operations
Solar and UV-driven technologies in water and wastewater treatment
Catalytic processes and controls in radical-driven treatment reactions
Catalysis in advanced reduction processes
Reactive membranes and membrane materials
Catalytic electrochemical systems for water treatment
Water reuse and product recovery from water/wastewater treatment
Advances in technology for wastewater reuse
Nutrient recovery, technology and market related issues
Decentralized water recycling possibilities
Stormwater harvesting and technologies
Energy recovery
Chemicals recycling/recovery

Click here to view the conference programme
Click here to register.

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Summary of World Water Week 2015: Events, Ideas and Stories
Water for Development: World Water Week 2015
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Water is a Key to Sustainable Development
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Event - International Water Summit (IWS)

The IWS event will be held from January 19 to 22, 2015 in Abu Dhabi at the National Exhibition Centre. This is a premier global forum to drive actionable water security solutions. IWS is a global platform for promoting water sustainability and addressing the water-energy nexus in arid regions. As a natural extension of the UAE’s commitment to sustainability, IWS brings together policy makers, NGOs, scientists, business leaders and innovators to share the latest technologies and proposals for action that tackle the urgent challenges of wastewater and water access and security. Participants will also learn about the growing commercial opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

“IWS is a meeting of the minds,” said Hassan A. Arafat, a professor at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the world’s first graduate-level, research-driven university dedicated to advancing real-world solutions to issues of sustainability. “No other conference unites the full spectrum of stakeholders – from researchers and economists to end users – required to seriously solve the world’s pressing water issues. Water security is a common problem and IWS enables the exchange of ideas that enables effective, viable action.”

Entitled ‘Promoting Water Sustainability in Arid Regions,’ IWS will examine the water-energy nexus and its long-term implications on regional and global food security and energy savings. The exhibition and conference takes place during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), hosted by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company. IWS is also supported by Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority, the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, the Regulation and Supervision Bureau and Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company.

IWS comes at an important time as MENA governments are ramping up desalination capacity in order to meet rising demands – a result of the region’s economic growth and expanding populations. Experts say part of the solution to addressing water security is through the deployment of innovative, new technologies that increase desalination capacity, while reducing the energy needed to process seawater into potable water.

H.E. Dr. Abdurrahman M. Al-Ibrahim, governor of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is sending a delegation of senior energy ministers and officials, observed that IWS is “an opportunity to bring together – at one platform – engineers, researchers, scientists, developers, technologists, manufacturers, public utilities, companies and more to discuss emerging opportunities to tackle regional and global water challenges. The platform, which encourages public-private cooperation, results in meaningful research and joint actions that accelerate projects into the field.

Leading NGOs view IWS as a premier event to facilitate the dynamic commercial partnerships needed to implement to goals set by policy makers. Najib Saab, secretary general of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, said: “IWS plays a crucial role to bring together policy makers and experts from the corporate sector to exchange ideas and to propose actions. It’s also a perfect platform to disseminate public awareness on the issues of water management and security.”

Adrian Sym, executive director for the Alliance for Water Stewardship, agreed: “IWS provides space for frank and open discussions and the sharing of lessons – positive and negative – on engagement at a variety of levels. This has helped to build more trusting relationships over time, leading to better cooperation between all the players required to support sustainable water solutions.”

Industry leaders familiar with IWS appreciate the commercial opportunities the event can generate.

“As an important international water summit with high-level participants, IWS plays a vital role in putting water security issues on the global agenda, while demonstrating that a broad spectrum of technical solutions exist,” Soeren Hvilshoej, the director of International Water for Ramboll Engineering Company.

IWS is a key element of ADSW, which also includes the eighth World Future Energy Summit and the second EcoWaste, in association with Tadweer, Abu Dhabi’s Centre of Waste Management. The fifth assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency and the seventh Zayed Future Energy Prize Awards ceremony will also take place during ADSW.

For more information click here.

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Summary of World Water Week 2015: Events, Ideas and Stories
Water for Development: World Water Week 2015
The Water Crisis and Development: World Water Week 2015 (Video)
Water is a Key to Sustainable Development
The Importance of Water for Sustainable Development
UN's 2015 World Water Development Report
Climate Change Increases Risks of Water Borne Diseases Contracted by Swimming
Beaches are Facing Environmental and Climate Threats
World Water Week 2014
The 2014 World Water Development Report (fifth edition): Water and Energy
World Water Week 2013: Water Cooperation - Building Partnerships
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Video - Hope and the Politics of Climate Change

The speaker in this lengthy video is Anthony Giddens is a former director of LSE and a Member of the House of Lords. It was recorded on 14 October 2014. Professor Lord Giddens published The Politics of Climate Change in 2007 and he is currently preparing a new edition for publication in 2015. In this lecture he explores how much progress has been made since the work was first published in containing global warming - arguably one of the greatest threats to a stable future for humanity.

Scotland is on its way to achieving its goal of 100 percent renewable energy. In 2014, Scotland used more power from clean energy sources than from nuclear, energy and gas. Scottish renewables onshore wind and hydro and other renewables produced 10.3 terra watt hours which is 30 percent more than the power generated by nuclear energy. There is also significant potential for offshore wind, wave and tidal power to add to the mix.

Video - Canada's Dirty Energy: Ban Ki Moon Calls on Canada to Back Away from Fossil Fuels

Due to its emphasis on fossil fuels and the oil sands in particular, Canada is increasingly isolated in the international community. In an interview with Peter Mansbridge, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon calls on Canada to back away from fossil fuels and engage transformative change including renewable energy. However, as addressed in this panel discussion, the Canadian people may not be ready to make the short term economic sacrifices. However, as one panelist argued, Canadians can change their attitudes but they will need federal leadership which is not forthcoming. Putting a price on carbon may offer a means by which Canada can make the transition. The provinces of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia may be at odds with the current energy position of the federal government.

Video - Adaptation to the Earth's Changing Climate (UNFCCC)