Daunting acronyms rule at climate change discussions

The negotiations for concluding a new worldwide climate pact gather more than 10,000 policymakers, industrialists and campaigners………..Richard Ingham / AFP

Poznan, Poland: Oh dear. The BINGOs are at odds with the TUNGOs and the RINGOs over the NAMAs and the NAPAs.

RFUK is concerned about what REDD is going to do to PAM. But at least the SIDS are keen on LULUCF.

If you thought the science behind global warming was dauntingly complex and believed “low albedo” was something to do with sex drive-it means poor reflection of sunlight-then the UN climate talks in Poznan are not for you.

Running until 12 December, the negotiations for concluding a new worldwide climate pact gather more than 10,000 policymakers, industrialists and campaigners. And they are awash with alphabet soup.

To give the key to the above sentences: BINGOs are Business and Industry Non-Governmental Organizations. TUNGOs and RINGOs are Trade Unions and Research and Independent NGOs. NAMAs are Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, and NAPAs are National Adaptation Programmes of Action.

RFUK is the United Kingdom Rainforest Foundation; REDD means Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation; and PAM is Policies and Measures. SIDS are Small Island Developing States and LULUCF is Land-use, Land-use Change and Forestry.

And these are just a tiny number of the acronyms that have sprung up in the climate arena. “I came upon a new one this week-MRV,” said one delegate, rather proudly. “It means measurable, reportable and verifiable.”

Over the past decade, acronyms and abbreviations have proliferated like hothouse plants, say veterans of COPs, as meetings of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are known (a COP is a Conference of the Parties).

“At my first COP, I kept wondering who this girl LULU was and when I was going to meet her,” said Steve Sawyer, a former Greenpeace campaigner who is now secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council, a Brussels-based industry group. Sawyer’s memory goes back to the misty dawn of UNFCCC talks in the 1990s.

In those simple, far-off times, QUELRO-quantified emissions limitation and reduction objective-was the buzzword. Now QUELRO has gone the way of the dodo. With Darwinian ruthlessness, the term has become extinct, its habitat invaded by newer, fitter species of words.

As climate change measures are debated in the international arena, new short-hand names emerge to make communication easier, although who does the coining is a mystery.

Maybe it’s the Bureau of Acronym, Blurb and Extreme Linguistics-or BABEL, for short. 

URL: http://www.livemint.com/2008/12/04003514/Daunting-acronyms-rule-at-clim.html

PTI
Saturday, September 27, 2008 19:10 IST

AHMEDABAD: After ordering state-run Public Sector Enterprises to contribute to social causes, the Gujurat Government in its new industrial draft policy `mandates’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) for industry associations and corporate houses in the state.

The new draft policy, likely to be released soon, says corporate houses would be allocated developmental activities in sectors like health, education and environment based on the size and scale of their industrial 
operations in respective talukas, villages or districts.

It would be mandatory for the companies to appoint a designated officer as Director for CSR activities. A committee consisting of Director, CSR (of the company), officer from District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) and officer nominated by the district collector would be constituted for the 
purpose, the draft stated.

Earlier, the government had directed the six state-run PSEs to contribute 30 per cent out of the annual profits to Gujarat’s socio-economic development and make provisions for the same as part of their CSR activities.

Principal Chief Industrial Adviser to the state government R J Shah said, “A presentation of the new industrial draft policy has been made before Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Now it’s up to the state government to finalise it and take a final decision on its declaration.”

The committee would decide activities, monitor the progress of it and also allocate funds of the corporates and government, the new industrial policy stated. Corporates would have to support nutritional programmes in villages, enhance capacities and reach of NGO services. It would also provide support for developing comprehensive logistics system and maternal child health (MCH) programme, it added.

Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Deputy General Secretary Bipin Patel said, “The CSR proposal in the new industrial draft policy for the corporates and industry associations on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model could be a win-win situation for both.”

With the participation of industry, the credibility of the government-run ITIs or institutions can be enhanced, and simultaneously a skilled workforce tailor-made to corporate demands can also be prepared, he added.

GCCI President Rupesh Shah said, “The chamber has urged the state government to make one more presentation of the new industrial draft policy.”

Url.: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1193644

Here’s a peek into what we can do for the earth if we put our minds into it. Of course, for something like this to succeed, it’ll need a little more than “environment concious consumers”, it’ll need environment concious governments too.
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