Sat, Nov 17 2007
I'M OUT OF DOLLARS
I've pulled my money out of dollars and put it in gold, euros, and energy.
Screw the coming US economic meltdown.
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Saudi minister warns of dollar collapse
London Telegraph - The dollar could collapse if Opec officially admits considering changing the pricing of oil into alternative currencies such as the euro, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister has warned.
Prince Saud Al-Faisal was overheard ruling out a proposal from Iran and Venezuela to discuss pricing crude in a private meeting at the oil cartel's conference.
In an embarrassing blunder at the meeting in Riyadh, ministers' microphones were not cut off during a key closed meeting, and Prince Al-Faisal was heard saying: "My feeling is that the mere mention that the Opec countries are studying the issue of the dollar is itself going to have an impact that endangers the interests of the countries.
"There will be journalists who will seize on this point and we don't want the dollar to collapse instead of doing something good for Opec."
After around 40 minutes press officials cut off the feed, which had been accidentally broadcast to the press room.
Prince Al-Faisal added: "This is not new. We have done this in the past: decide to study something without putting down on paper that we are going to study it so that we avoid any implication that will bring adverse effects on our countries' finances."
Iran and Venezuela have argued that the meeting's final communique should voice concern about the level of the dollar, which has recently fallen to new record lows against the euro. They are pushing for oil to be denominated against a basket of currencies.
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The greenback also weakened slightly against the pound, although sterling's own recent weakness has pushed it down from $2.10 to $2.0457 during the week.
Nigerian finance minister Shamsuddeen Usman said that Opec could declare in the communique that: "While underlining our concern for the continued depreciation of the dollar and its adverse impact on our revenues, we instruct our finance ministers to study the issue exhaustively and advise us on ways to safeguard the purchasing power of our revenues, of our members' revenues."
Chancellor Alistair Darling will today urge his fellow finance ministers at a major G20 summit to increase investment in oil production and refinement.Sat, Nov 17 2007
WE'VE ALREADY CROSSED THE LINE, NOW THE DAMAGE MUST BE CONTAINED
Grim climate change report spurs UN call for 'breakthrough'
VALENCIA, Spain (AFP) - The Nobel-winning IPCC group of climate scientists on Saturday issued their starkest warning yet on global warming, prompting a UN demand for politicians to smash the deadlock on tackling the worsening threat.
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In a panorama of the evidence, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared that the impact of global warming could be "abrupt or irreversible" and no country would be spared.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed to political leaders to push for "a real breakthrough" at a key conference running on the Indonesian island of Bali from December 3-14.
"We cannot afford to leave Bali without such a breakthrough," he said, branding climate change as the "defining challenge of our age."
Global warming bore the seeds of "catastrophe" yet there was also hope, he said. "There are real and affordable ways to deal with climate change."
The new report is intended to act as a guide to policymakers for years to come.
It summarises three massive assessments published this year on the evidence for global warming, its impacts and the options for tackling the emissions that cause it.
The report said notably:
-- Evidence of the planet's warming was now "unequivocal" and the effects on the climate system could be "abrupt or irreversible."
-- Retreating glaciers and loss of alpine snow, thinning Arctic summer sea ice and thawing permafrost show that climate change is already on the march.
-- By 2100, global average surface temperatures could rise by between 1.1 C (1.98 F) and 6.4 C (11.52 F) compared to 1980-99 levels.
-- Sea levels will rise by at least 18 centimetres (7.2 inches). An earlier estimate of an upper limit of 59 centimetres (23.2 inches) does not take into account "uncertainties" about the impact of disrupted carbon cycles and melting icesheets in Greenland and the Antarctic, the new report says.
-- Heatwaves, rainstorms, tropical cyclones and surges in sea level are among the events expected to become more frequent, more widespread or more intense this century.
-- "All countries" will be affected by climate change, but those in the forefront are poor nations, especially small island states and developing economies where hundreds of millions of people live in low-lying deltas.
-- Reducing emissions can be met at moderate cost relative to global GDP, but the window of opportunity for quickly reaching a safer, stable level is closing fast.
"We need a new ethic by which every human being realises the importance of the challenge we are facing and starts to take action through changes in lifestyle and attitude," said IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri.
"Every country in the world has to be committed to a shared vision and a set of common goals and actions that will help us move toward a much lower level of emissions.
Green groups said the IPCC had highlighted the dangers of warming more clearly than at any time in its 19-year history.
"This is the strongest document the IPCC has produced," said Hans Verolme, director of WWF's Global Climate Change Program.
The Bali conference, taking place under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is tasked with launching a two-year round of negotiations for intensifying cuts in carbon emissions beyond 2012, when current pledges run out under the Kyoto Protocol.
"This report is clear in its findings in terms of the scientific certainty, and the fact that we have so many technological solutions available that could go a long way to solving this problem in an affordable way," UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer told AFP.
"It makes it very difficult for politicians to say 'no' to a launch of negotiations."
EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the report was "a stark warning that the world must act fast... the good news is that it also shows that deep emission cuts are both technologically feasible and economically affordable."
"The global community must respond to this scientific call for action by agreeing in Bali to launch negotiations on a comprehensive and ambitious new global climate agreement," he added.
"Efforts will be needed by all major emitters if we are to have a chance of controlling climate change before it is too late."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to "the IPCC's measured assessment" of an "urgent challenge."
"It is vital that we launch negotiations on a comprehensive global agreement on tackling climate change," he said.
Carbon pollution, emitted especially by the burning of oil, gas and coal, traps heat from the Sun, thus warming the Earth's surface and inflicting changes to weather systems.
Emissions are now spiralling, driven especially by carbon dioxide (CO2) spewed from coal-fired plants in fast-growing China and India, and Kyoto's present commitments will not even dent the problem.
Reducing emissions implies a cost in converting to cleaner energy or more efficient energy use.
The cost of such a switch is a mighty political hurdle, even though experts say the cost of inaction will be many times higher just a few decades from now.All news articles and images provided under the Fair Use Notice.