It’s less than a year until the major UN climate change meeting in Copenhagen – where the nations of the world are meant to settle on an agreement that will take us the next step on from the Kyoto Protocol. In the lead-up to Copenhagen, nations have been meeting at Poznan in Poland to prepare the ground.

One of the many issues in the climate debate has been how to halt rampant deforestation in developing countries. Destruction of forests is a significant contributor to global warming. It’s thought to be up to 20% of the problem.

But how do we get poor countries to stop chopping down their trees when they need money for the basics we take for granted – like food and education? And as some in the developing world would argue, why should they stop when the West has already done the deed on its own forests.

On the sidelines of Poznan green groups are pitching their own solutions. In the following interview, we examine an interesting proposal from Greenpeace on deforestation. It proposes that the money generated from auctioning pollution permits in Developed countries be used to encourage Developing countries to keep their trees.

Audio: Paul Winn is Greenpeace’s ‘Forests for Climate’ campaigner. He’s speaking with Carolin Wenzel about Greenpeace’s deforestation proposal . Paul is on the ground in Poznan Poland.

Useful links:
Official 2009 Copenhagen Meeting website
Background on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Greenpeace’s Forests for Climate Report “Preserving Paradise”
Greenpeace Poznan blog
Oxfam’s Climate Change Campaign

Video:
UNFCCC Exec Sec Yvo de Boer explains what the conference is meant to achieve. And MIA President Elect Obama gives us his thoughts on climate change.

Articles:
The spin sounds good in theory, but as we’re hearing from Poznan, the reality of these climate talks is somewhat different. Check out this recent article from The Age – ‘Hot air but little else at global climate talks’. No surprise really when you get that many bureaucrats and politicians in one place.

See also this BBC article ‘Peru says it can reach zero deforestation in 10 years with funds from the West’.

Photo:
Let the hot air begin. The UN Climate Change Conference opening. Shot by Piotr Fajfer from Oxfam International. And you can see the reality of third wild forest logging at Phil’s photo favourites.

So what will be the fate of the Greenpeace proposal? Maybe it will plant the seed.

Theres one person whos been to every beach in Australia – all 12,000 of them. It’s Professor Andy Short, Director of the Coastal Studies Unit at the University of Sydney. In this interview Andy explains how he came to visit every one and why Australia has the world’s best beaches – by far.

Audio: Interview with Prof Andrew Short on why Australia’s beaches are best.

Useful link: How Australia got the world’s best beaches (Herald article)

Photo: Not bad for the middle of Australia’s largest city hey? The infamous ‘Bra’ – Maroubra Beach. My local. (Where I go to wake up in the morning.) Shot by betta design.

Not that long ago, surfing was seen as a renegade sport in Australia. In the early 60’s, surfers were even required to have a license to use some beaches. Just how far things have come can be seen in the establishment of a number of ‘National Surfing Reserves’ in recent years.

Audio: Interview with Andrew Short on Australia’s Surfing Reserves.

These reserves recognise the iconic nature of the sites and the special bond surfers have with them. In New South Wales they’ve been gazetted under state law.

The following places have been designated as Surfing Reserves so far: Maroubra, Angourie, Lennox Head, Crescent Head, Cronulla and Bell’s Beach.

Useful links: This article by Neil Lazarow goes into more detail. It’s entitled ‘What is a Surfing Reserve and why should surfers care about them?’ And here’s the official spiel from the NSW government on National Surfing Reserves.

Photo: Lennox Head locals and the National Surfing Reserves Australia committee. Lennox was recognised earlier in the year. (The point break, just below here, ‘goes off’ when there’s big swell.)

Rob Stewart, an underwater photographer, set out to show the beauty of sharks in his film ‘Sharkwater’, but stumbled instead onto the billion dollar shark fin industry. He found sharks having their fins cut off and their bodies thrown back in the ocean on a large scale. All to supply the demand for shark fin soup in Asia.

I went to see the film, then tracked down the director – who was in Paris on his way to Cannes – to flesh out the story. Click here to listen to the interview with the PR Manager for sharks, Rob Stewart.

Check out the trailer and the making of the Sharkwater film.

And if you want to help, you can adopt a shark through the Nature Conservation Council. They’re one of the few organisations campaigning to protect sharks in Australia.

The Cartaret Islands, north east of PNG, are only a metre above sea level. Each year tidal surges on the island get bigger.

The tides have damaged the islands’ fresh water sources and food growing areas. To the point where the people of The Cartarets are now planning to evacuate to nearby Bougainville. It’s estimated their island will be unihabitable by 2015.

Phil spoke with Charlotte Sterrett, Climate Campaigner for Oxfam Australia, to find out more about the situation and what can be done. Listen to the interview.

But the Japanese deny the claim. Read more.

For more on whaling and Watson, check out past Environment Show stories.

Meanwhile, there’s talk of Japan halting its “scientific” whaling in the Antarctic in return for a resumption of commercial whaling off its own coast. Read more.

I spoke with Kate Noble, sustainable cities campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation, to find out. Listen to the desalination interview with Kate Noble.

Many state governments in Australia are well on the way to building desalination plants. The New South Wales and Victorian governments are forging ahead and the Western Australian government already has its plant in operation.

But most visitors would be oblivious to the fact nature hasn’t quite finished its work there. And with climate change, it may be working overtime to bring some changes which may be a tad unwelcome – particularly for the rich folk who’ve built their designer houses right on the sand dunes. I spoke to Australia’s leading coastal expert Professor Bruce Thom (of the Wentworth Group of Scientists) to explore what nature has in store for Byron. Listen to the Byron Bay – Bruce Thom interview.

An important listen if you’re going to spent some time at Byron in the future.

Paul Watson is a man on a mission. He has played a leading role in alerting the world to what he calls the illegal actvities of Japanese whalers. In 2007 I spoke by satellite phone to Paul in the Antarctic, the day after his ship the Farley Mowatt had chased down and collided with a Japanese whaling vessel. Click on the link above to play this podcast.

Following is a link to an emotive video posted by Watson’s organisation Sea Shepherd on YouTube. It explains where he’s coming from:

Wikipedia sums up some opposing views on Watson:

“Paul Watson has been denounced as an ecoterrorist. Some former colleagues in Greenpeace have distanced themselves from him. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jim Bohlen, one of the founders of Greenpeace, said: ‘I’ve known the guy for 15 years, and he’s absolutely insane’.”

“Thus far, all attempts at prosecuting Watson have failed. Watson defends his actions as falling within international law and Sea Shepherd’s right to enforce maritime regulations against illegal whalers.”

What’s the latest? Well, the new Rudd government in Australia appears to be taking Watson’s outcries more seriously, recently sending a large Australian Customs vessel to monitor the Japanese whalers and gather evidence which may be used in international courts against them.

There’s more on the new Australian government’s stance in this ABC story just prior to Christmas. Click here.

Expect to see Paul’s ship tangling again with the Japanese on a TV screen near you. They’re down there now. How he finds them, I don’t know. Next interview.

Castrission speaks by satellite phone in an exclusive interview about the expedition to be the first to cross the Tasman Sea – from Australia to New Zeland with kayaking partner Justin Jones. At the time of the interview, James and Justin were out on the Tasman, 115 kilmetres short of NZ. A few kilometres later, they were to sight Mt Taranaki in New Zealand and paddle non-stop, flat out to reach their goal. This was their last interview in the midst of their journey.

Click on this link for an article from the Sydney Morning Herald on the kayakers and how they’ve almost reached NZ. My satellite phone interview with James Castrission gets a mention.

Just a few days before his recent death, Sir Edmund Hillary had been planning to meet the two young Australian kayakers who had the courage to paddle for two months from Australia across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand.

After paddling 2000 kilometres, kayakers James Castrission and Justin Jones are now within kilometres of achieving their goal, but will miss out on meeting the legendary New Zealander Hillary following his passing last Friday.

There are echoes of Hillary though in the tenacity and determination of the kayakers’ expedition. No one has yet paddled a kayak between the two countries. A year ago Australian adventurer Andrew McAuley tragically disappeared just 90 kilometres short.

Conditions on the Tasman Sea, casually referred to by New Zealanders as “the ditch”, are in fact notoriously difficult and Catrission and Jones have not been spared.

With a short distance to go, Castrission spoke by satellite phone with Phil Stubbs for The Environment Show. The pair come across as remarkably positive and determined which is extraordinary given what they’ve been through and the photos which clearly show they look physically knackered.

Sleep deprivation was probably the worst part of the trip Castrission told me. The pair went without sleep for long periods, almost 4 days at one stage, when they were battered by huge swells of up to 10 metres and spent days on end stuck in their cabin “being tossed around like a sock in a washing machine”. The swells a consequence of a cyclone north of New Zealand.

They’ve pair have done it tough too with currents. When they left Foster, the Eastern Australian Current gave them huge distance toward NZ in only a few days. Half way across the Tasman though, they got stuck in a massive eddy which pulled them backwards, so much so they ended up being back where they were 10 days before. Incredibly, Castrission and Jones decided to paddle west back to Australia to get themselves out of the whirlpool. And in the last few days, frustratingly close to finishing, the pair were trapped in another eddy caused by the NZ continental shelf.

The duo have been posting podcasts to their internet site throughout their trip. The standout for me is the ’shark’ podcast. They had 2 and 4 metre sharks circling them for an hour and banging up against their hull. Justin and James had to go to sleep that night knowing those sharks were only centimetres away from their heads.

James and Justin are two remarkable young Australians. The determination and professionalism of their expedition is impressive, particularly given they are in their mid-20’s now and started preparing for this trip in their early 20’s. It’s that determination which will get them over the line. Like marathon runners though, I reckon they may collapse in a heap when they get there. And they may not have enough strength in their legs to stand as their muscles have slowly deteriorated over the two months of paddling.

A huge welcome is expected in New Plymouth, south Auckland, where the pair are expected to land. Depending on weather and current conditions, they are expected to arrive on Sunday, but keep watching their site.

I asked James Castrission if he would be adverse to a Kiwi bringing out a beer each for them when they got close to the coast. He didn’t say no.

You can see how close the pair are, hear previous podcasts and write them a message at: www.crossingtheditch.com.au I am compiling a ‘best of’ their podcasts from “The Ditch” for the team’s managers Race Recon. Check their site again for it on Monday 21 January.

Click on this interesting article from the Sydney Morning Herald to find out how we got them.

The article also mentions one small catch with our love affair with the beach. Sand formations can change rapidly, which is bad news for the thousands of people with homes in prime beachfront positions – given current cliimate change predictions.

Anyway, where else in the world does have the best beaches? I’d be keen to know if there’s some good ones I’ve missed. Don’t say Thailiand or Greece, because they didn’t cut the mustard. (Tips on good surf breaks for long boards are welcome too.)