CENN – August 12, Daily Digest
Table of Contents:
1.. Oil crosses into the Georgian section of the BTC pipeline
2.. Environmentalism Slam Award for Dead Wolves
3.. Quest for Georgian oil continues
4.. World’s Largest Environmental Awareness Program
5.. Analysis – Global Warming May Take Economic Toll
6.. Call For Papers – Towards the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
1. Oil crosses into the Georgian section of the BTC pipeline
Source: The Messenger, August 10, 2005
BP, as operator of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil pipeline, is pleased to announce that the first barrels of oil through the line have crossed the border from Azerbaijan into Georgia. The oil has been received at Pump Station 1 (PSG1) near Gardabani, following the commissioning i and inauguration of the pipeline in Baku in May.
With construction of the BTC pipeline now complete in Georgia, Mr. Wref Digings, BP Georgia Head of Country said: “This is a very significant day for Georgia, for the investors in the BTC pipeline – and for BP, as constructor and operator of the pipelines. It is j a day when we see the first tangible results in Georgia of the completion of one of the I most challenging pipeline projects ever undertaken; and it shows how good co-operation between the Government of Georgia and private investors can achieve extraordinary results.”
Staged filling of the pipeline along its entire 1,770-km route-from the Sangachal terminal near Baku through Georgia to the newly built Ceyhan marine terminal on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey-is a gradual process over a period of several months and involving more than 10 million barrels of crude oil. Oil production comes from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea and loading of the first tanker at Ceyhan is expected in 40 2005.
Official First Oil Celebrations, hosted by the Government of Georgia and BTC Co, in the presence of invited national and international guests, will take place in Tbilisi on October 12th 2005.
The BTC Co. shareholders are: BP (30.1 %); AzBTC (25.00%); Unocal (8.90%); Statoil (8.71 %); TPAO (6.53%); Eni (5.00%); Total (5.00%), Itochu (3.40%); INPEX (2.5C%), ConocoPhillips (2.50%) and Amerada Hess (2.36%).
For further information, please contact: Tamila Chant/adze
Tel: + 995 32 593 400
2. Environmentalism Slam Award for Dead Wolves
Source: The Messenger, August 10, 2005
Environmental groups have criticized an order issued by the presidential representative in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region Vasil Maghlaperidze to issue an award of GEL 100 for any residents who kill a wolf in the region.
The order came in the wake of a wolf attack in the Dusheti district of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region at the beginning of August. A wolf mauled three children from a Dusheti village.
Two of them, 10 and 13 years old, were placed a Tbilisi hospital with bite injuries. Doctors say one boy was significantly injured in his face.
The Georgian environmental group Green Alternative slammed the order of Maghlaperidze as a call to eradicate wolves as a species.
“According to Article 36 of the Georgian law on the animal world, the existence of an award system for preying on separate animal species is prohibited. Consequently we think that Maghlaperidze violated the law,” says the group’s statement.
The NGO also says reports I describing a fine of GEL 400 for killing a wolf are incorrect and ignore a part of the law that allows for controlled hunting.
“It’s not true, because according to the same article 36 of the law, it is allowed to control the amount of wild animals if a certain animal creates a danger for the health and life of the population,” explains the group.
Green Alternative says this measure in the law allows for the destruction or isolation of an individual animal creating danger but not announcing a call to kill any and all members of an animal species.
“It’s the same as if the American government instead of setting an award for the liquidation of Osama Bin Laden would give an award for the liquidation of all dark-haired men with long beards,” Green Alternative says about Maghlaperidze’s order.
The group says the order by the Mtskheta-Mtianeti administration violate national environmental laws as well as international environmental principles that Georgia is obliged to follow under signed conventions.
Article 36 of the law also says “the control [of animal populations] should be held by humane means” and that the list of species to be controlled must be developed together with input from scientific organizations and state structures.
“We will apply to international organizations over this fact,” warns Green Alternative. Another environmental group, the Center for Conservation of Species, also criticized Maghlaperidze’s order.
However, according to the deputy governor of Mtskheta-Mtianeti Shadiman Shamanidze the award system is an urgent necessity and temporary. “If this wolf bites other wolves they would be infected with rabies as well and it would create more danger for the population,” he said according to Rezonansi.
Doctors say the wolf almost certainly was infected rabies to attack the three people. The National Center for Disease Control says there has been just one case of rabies registered in Georgia in the first four months of 2005.
The newspapers reported that a man in Tskhinvali region died this year after a rabies-infected wolf bit him.
The National Center for Disease Control warns the danger of being bitten by animals, especially by dogs, rises in summertime. The Center advises pet owners to vaccinate their animals against rabies and for the country in general to control the animal population. If a person is bitten or scratched, they should immediately turn to a doctor for vaccinations.
3. Quest for Georgian oil continues
Source: The Messenger, August 11, 2005
The search for petroleum in Georgia continues. Many specialists say that the investments placed in such efforts will pay off in the near future and the country, which until today has been primarily a transit country for oil, will become a petroleum exporter itself.
In early August at well No. 60 in the Kakheti town of Teleti, a fountain of crude oil gushed forth from the earth. The well is currently producing 13 tons of petroleum every 24 hours. According to analysts’ calculations, if oil drilling becomes a systematic practice, the state budget will receive an additional GEL 3.5 million per year.
The Teleti well was drilled in November of 1990, though at that time no crude oil was found and the well was labeled “dry” and closed. However, in June of this year, drillers returned to the well and drilled deeper, down to 950 meters, where the oil made its appearance.
According to the paper Rezonansi, the general director of the national oil company Saknavtobi, Vano Nakaidze, has stated that from the Soviet period to today, a total of 1,300 various types of oil wells have been drilled in Georgia. Of these the number yielding oil today is at most 200. Oil drilling began in Georgia in 1929 and one of the first deposits was that of Mirzaani in Kakheti.
By far the most generous, however, was the Samgori deposit, which was drilled in 1974. In 1980, the oil yield reached 3 million tons. This continued for three or four years and then began to fall sharply. According to the newspaper Rezonansi, since 1929 a total of 27 million tons of oil have been found in Georgia, of this 24 million were from the Samgori deposit.
The search for oil has been especially intense since Georgia reclaimed its independence. From 1992 to 2004, a total of USD 250 million was invested in the petroleum and natural gas sectors. This money, however, was not directed towards finding new deposits, but rather improving old ones. The result, from the standpoint of the oil found, has not been very successful.
In 1992, 202,000 tons of oil was found, in 2004, however, a mere 98,000. The new management of Saknavtobi considers this to be a result of incorrect policy. “There is oil in Georgia, it just needs to be found. We must make investors focus not exhausting the resources of old deposits, but rather on opening new ones; we should approach them about holding new surveys and investigations. If we fail to open new deposits, finding the resources that remain in Georgia will take a maximum of five years,” said Nakaidze according to Rezonansi.
An especially bright prospect for prospectors is considered the Black Sea coast. The American company Anadarko has been working in this area since 2000. In March 2005, after the company conducted surveys of the area, a consortium was created including British Petroleum (BP), the Turkish National Oil Company and the company Unocal. Drilling wells on the Black Sea shelf will cost approximately 110-120 million dollars. If this search proves successful, Georgia may indeed become an oil exporting country.
5. WORLD’S LARGEST ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS PROGRAM
Source: Planet Ark, August 11, 2005
Inventor & CEO of Hooked On Recycling & The Original Bottle Cap Lure Company is on fire. He is starting the world’s largest bottle cap recycling program. He’ll be recycling metal beer and soda caps that have been thrown away for 116 yrs. Why do our world’s governments allow this? Why do we allow it?
Norm Price has been in contact with major beverage companies to educate them about how easy it would be to collect the bottle caps as they are collecting their bottles. They all told him to get stuffed and that people have been throwing them away for years. He said that’s the point. Your customers have been throwing them into our lakes, rivers and parks & cities. Special events, bars, sporting events discard them by the billions here in North America alone. This is reusable metal.
That is not even the best of it yet. He told them that he makes fishing lures out of them and they would make a great promotional gift. They told him that they are their caps and that he cannot use them for fishing lures. Mr. Price told them to get stuffed. Round, round we go. Even the government has been shy about getting involved. He has volunteers collecting for him at schools, bars, pubs, events, campsites, marinas, tackle shops, and many other places. He will be having a national fishing contest, free for the public. It will be called… the Battle of The Brands.
Beer vs. Beer …Soda vs. Soda. Which one will win?
Told you it gets better.
College and university students manufacture the lures that are made out of these bottle caps. This product has many pluses and no downfalls. Mr. Price’s friend, Andy Vander Ploeg, is the three-time Canadian sport fishing champion. Vander Ploeg, with the help of this functional lure, has won the title three years in a row. The Bottle Cap Lure was featured on the front page of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Business page, in July’s issue of Field & Stream and the UK’s Tackle Trade World magazine & the September issue of FHM US swimsuit magazine, with more yet to come.
This is a fun project for Mr. Price and he is even custom printing company’s & group’s logos on bottle caps and the packaging. Hooked On You Promotions… Hooked On Education….. Hooked On Recycling… Hooked On Beer…. Hooked On Employment….. Hooked On World Peace.
Norm is hoping to pick up sponsors along the way. Meanwhile sales are helping him right now. For those who have tossed caps away, you too can make a difference now. Vote in the online poll on his website.
Find out more online at: and
He has no support from the beverage industry and no support from governments. Both have declined. All his profits are going into collecting more bottle caps.
CONTACT:
Norm Price
THE ORIGINAL BOTTLE CAP LURE COMPANY
416-628-9750
6. ANALYSIS – Global Warming May Take Economic Toll
Source: Planet Ark, August 12, 2005
Washington – The White House’s refusal to consider government caps on greenhouse gas emissions may save the US economy short-term pain, but experts warn unchecked global heat could exact a heavy long-run toll.
“While there are costs associated with reducing emissions, there are certainly costs associated with not doing anything,” said Kevin Forbes, head of Catholic University’s economics department. “It would be, in my opinion, folly not to try to do something.”
According to Ralph Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences, earth surface temperatures could be up to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit above 1990 levels by 2100, potentially worsening storms, raising sea levels and eating away ice caps.
After shunning the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases, which President George W. Bush said would have “wrecked” the economy, the United States last month joined Japan, Australia, China, India and South Korea in a pact focused on technology-sharing, without set targets.
The world’s richest economy is also its biggest carbon dioxide emitter, pushing out 5.8 billion metric tons in 2003. China, in second place, emitted 3.5 billion, with all of Western Europe at 3.9 billion.
US emissions are projected to keep rising, despite plans to lower carbon intensity, or use per unit of economic growth.
The White House wants cuts to be voluntary and resists measures that would impose restrictions on output of such gases as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, seen as culprits behind global warming, saying this would hurt economic growth.
“We oppose policies like mandatory caps on emissions, that would achieve reductions by raising energy costs, slowing the economy, and putting Americans out of work,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
While experts agree new technologies are vital, many see the economic argument as spurious. Higher costs may also be a necessary evil since they spur innovation and companies will act more aggressively if inaction hits where it counts.
John Reilly of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change has examined the economic effects of several proposals.
“When we looked at implementing Kyoto … we estimated that would be 6/10ths or 1 percent of the economy. We thought that was costly but that’s not wrecking the economy,” he said.
Still, even those who back government restrictions agree Kyoto isn’t the answer for the United States.
They call its targets too tough, its deadline too near and say the absence of developing countries such as India and China could distort the global economic playing field.
What is needed, they say, is a world-spanning deal with fair goals. “You will never be able to solve this problem without all of the major emitters being involved,” said Katie Mandes of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Experts say economic risks could be eased with a Kyoto-like allowance trading system so the regions best able to make affordable cuts can sell their achievement to those less able.
While the United States can’t fix the problem alone, Reilly said it should lead the way with meaningful steps.
“I think it’s one of the great tragedies of our era that the administration hasn’t risen to the occasion on this. It’s committing future generations to extraordinary costs and problems,” said James Gustave Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. “In the same breath, I have to say I wish the prior administration had done more itself.”
The great unknown is the price of inaction.
“There are real economic costs associated with not taking action, including changes to water supply infrastructure, industrial capital, like pipelines, and with human health,” said Janet Peace, senior research fellow, economics at Pew.
“With droughts, there’s a cost. With increased flooding, there’s a cost (and) with increased hurricanes and tornadoes.”
Cap critics say real change would take many Kyotos.
“Scientists who support Kyoto have estimated that emissions cuts equivalent to 30 Kyotos will be needed,” said Myron Ebell, director of global warming at the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute, which supports “free enterprise and limited government.”
He said costs would rise with each new target since companies make the cheapest cuts first. “I can’t imagine that any informed person could claim that the total costs will be anything less than astronomical.”
Reilly admitted the ultimate price will be high although solutions can and should include economic safety valves.
“Starting on a path isn’t committing to the entire path,” he said. “If the cost becomes too great for the economy, we have to reconsider where we go. If the climate effects become more severe, or less severe, then we reconsider as we go.”
And a fix may cost less than feared.
“When you turn the genius of the private sector loose on solving the problem, they do things,” said Speth.
Chemical giant DuPont has cut emissions by 72 percent, beating both its 65 percent target and its self-imposed 2010 deadline at a cost of $55 million.
Tom Jacobs, DuPont’s senior adviser on global affairs, said the company sees caps as inevitable and exploited “unique opportunities” for big, low-cost reductions, though he admits cheap options are not limitless.
7. CALL FOR PAPERS – Towards the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
V Annual International Conference of REC Caucasus
Education for Sustainable Development
November 1-2, 2005
Tbilisi, Georgia
Background
V Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” (Kiev, 2003) has endorsed a number of documents in the field of Sustainable Development, including the Statement on Education for Sustainable Development.
Environment ministers from UNECE countries recognized that education is a fundamental tool for environmental protection and sustainable development. They stressed that cooperation on education for sustainable development can build and strengthen mutual understanding, trust, tolerance and friendly relations between nations, respect for cultural values, and contribute to peace, security and welfare.
At the High-level Meeting of Education and Environment Ministries of UNECE Countries (Vilnius, 2005) was officially declared the beginning of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) 2005-2014. The meeting adopted the UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development and decided on the framework for its implementation, according to which member States take the responsibility for its implementation in cooperation with UN, UNESCO, OSCE and the Regional Environmental Centres.
Taking into account the special role of RECs in this process it was decided to dedicate the REC Caucasus Annual Conference to Education for Sustainable Development in the South Caucasus.
The overall goal of the REC Caucasus Annual Conference “Education for Sustainable Development” is to discuss problems and prospects of Education for Sustainable Development in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and to identify ways of its development.
In parallel the “Students and Education for Sustainable Development”- event shall take place.
Objectives of the Conference and issues to be covered
Conference aims to:
Provide a forum for all the stakeholders: Ministries of Education, Environment, Economy, Health, Parliaments, NGOs and individual experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia;
Get acquainted with the trends in education for sustainable development followed by governments, parliaments, NGOs and scientists, as well as by international organisations working in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia;
Work out proposals on further development of environmental education in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia taking into account the experience and recommendations of international organisations and region specific conditions;
Promote information exchange and transfer of experience within and beyond the region;
Raise awareness among target groups;
Identify the ongoing activities undertaken by the countries corresponding to the UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development and define priorities of further actions required for implementation of the Strategy by the countries;
Revise current policies, existing legal and operational frameworks.
Main issues to be discussed at the Conference
General Issues
Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development;
Management of transboundary decision making process through education;
Objectives and framework of Education for Sustainable Development;
Education for Sustainable Development in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia;
Education for a Sustainable Future;
Legal basis of Education for Sustainable Development in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Formal education
Preschool and secondary education
General review of environmental educational systems in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia;
Sustainable Development and integrated education approach in formal education in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia;
Sustainable Development at all stages of school educational programmes;
Sustainable schools;
Trainings and Education for Sustainable Development.
Higher education
Education for Sustainable Development in curricula of higher educational institutions of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia;
Training for trainers and tutors
Informal education
How to introduce Sustainable Development principles into informal educational systems;
Role of NGOs in formal and informal education systems;
National Parks and Education for Sustainable Development;
Media and Education for Sustainable Development;
Promoting educational processes for ensuring public participation in decision making processes;
Networking activity of NGOs and private persons directed towards the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
The papers shall be originally prepared for the Conference, and shall not be earlier presented at any other conference, or printed in any edition. The papers shall be sent in electronic format to the below address. They shall be prepared in English or Russian, in MS Word format, with 12 font size. The papers shall have the following structure:
1. Name of the paper;
2. Name of the author and his/her regalia;
3. Resume (200-250 words, in Russian or English)
4. Paper (4-5 A4 format pages, with upper and lower margins of 2.5 cm, and left and right margins of 2.2 cm)
5. Bibliography
The papers shall be sent to: keti.grigolia@rec-caucasus.org
Deadline for submission of papers – September 20, 2005
Only resumes of the selected papers will be published in conference report. The papers not complying with the above requirements will be disqualified.
Authors of the best papers will receive compensation for accommodation and transportation fees (train or minibus tickets). Organizers will be able to pay such compensation only to one of the authors; co-authors (if any) shall undergo official registration procedure for participation in the Conference.
Registration forms can be found at:
For further details, please visit:
or contact: keti.grigolia@rec-caucasus.org
Regional Environmental Centre for Caucasus
Office 901, 74 Chavchavadze Ave.
Tbilisi 380062, Georgia
Tel./Fax: +995 32 253649/ 253648
E-mail: info@rec-caucasus.org
CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)
Tel: ++995 32 75 19 03/04
Fax: ++995 32 75 19 05
E-mail: info@cenn.org
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