Plans for "green fund" - IMF chief

Global talks on a new climate change pact have mostly looked to industrial powers to help finance efforts by developing countries to deal with climate change.

The International Monetary Fund is working on proposals for a multibillion dollar "green fund" to help countries tap funds to deal with the effects of climate change.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that developing countries would need financial help to tackle climate change while rich nations have taken on higher debt in reaction to the global financial crisis.

Mr Strauss-Kahn said the world needed to 'think outside the box and come up with innovative ways to provide the money.' He said the IMF would begin discussions with central banks and finance ministers on whether such a fund was possible.

Strauss-Kahn said resources for the fund, "which could climb to $100 billion a year," could be raised through an allocation to IMF member countries of IMF special drawing rights, or SDRs.

SDRs are international reserve assets and the fund's unit of account. They are disbursed in proportion to each member's IMF quota, or subscription, and can be exchanged for hard currency such as US dollars, yen, euros or pounds

'National Green Technology'

Malaysia-Putrajaya and Cyberjaya will be the first green development areas or centres within the shortest time, the decision was reached during the inaugural National Green Technology Council meeting which looked into ways to lay the foundation for the development and promotion of green technology in Malaysia.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak in his speech when launching the Green Technology Financing Scheme (GTFS) after chairing the Green Technology Council meeting here today. Also present was Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui. This will encourage business investment in green technology, green construction and innovation. It will also encourage the inflow of much-needed foreign direct investment and support technology transfer and capacity building for local companies.

Only those who successfully master the usage and applications of green and sustainable energy will be the winners in the 21st century. The GTFS, amounting to RM1.5 billion, was introduced in the 2010 Budget to promote and support green technology development in Malaysia. It will provide soft loans to companies supplying and utilising green technology. Hence, sustainable business for organisations means not only providing products and services that satisfy the customer but also operating in a socially responsible manner without adversely affecting the environment.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said the government was putting emphasis on high-potential sectors of growth – Islamic finance, biotech and high technology and advanced manufacturing processes along with green technology. Our most promising future will be in high-skill, high-value sectors. Green jobs and green innovation will be part of a dynamic, fast-growing economic landscape.

So another promising area for GREEN MALAYSIA.

25% Carbon Cut Greenhouse Emissions

JAPAN has stuck to its offer to cut greenhouse emissions greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2020.

The target, based on 1990 levels, was submitted on Tuesday to the UN Climate Change Secretariat under a climate accord worked out by major emitters led by China and the United States last month in Copenhagen.

Environment minister Sakihito Ozawa quoted hope that all countries will submit (a target), but... what's important in order to cut CO2 and to stop global warming is for the United States and China, the greatest emitters, to submit this as saying in a news conference.

Japan had hoped to play a big negotiating role at the climate talks in December with its target, so big emitters such as the United States, China and India join a new pact that goes beyond 2012, when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends. But the Copenhagen talks ended with a weak deal.

Experts say the total cuts offered by rich countries at the talks amounted to no more than 18 per cent and fall far short of the 25-40 per cent UN scientists consider necessary to avert dangerous climate change. China, India, Brazil and South Africa will submit their own climate action plans to the United Nations by Jan 31.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's forecast showed that if developed nations reduced their emissions by between 25 percent and 40 percent of 1990 levels between 2012 and 2020, it would increase the likelihood that the Earth's average temperature would not rise more than 2 degrees this century.

Sony Go Green.

Even the computer industry is getting in on the eco-friendly trends of the day. Sony unveiled a mini notebook computer aimed at the hearts of environmentalists.

Sony have announced there own plans for helping the environment introducing the Sony VAIO Eco Friendly Notebook to the market. 

While the notebooks are basically a revamp of the popular VAIO FZ computers, they actually offer a number of eco friendly based elements which include, packaging which consist of recyclable material, non hazardous elements inside the notebook, which does not include any lead for example.  Vaio W Series notebooks have chassis made of plastic consisting of about 20 per cent recycled compact disks and will be shipped in a 'stylish reusable' carrying cases made from recycled plastic bottles.

'Sony is out to lower the power consumption of products and greenhouse gas emissions at its facilities.' Vaio W series machines were billed by Sony as ideal 'secondary' personal computers for light tasks, Internet browsing, and online social networking.

'The W series is so green it doesn't have a printed manual,' Sony president Stan Glasgow said while unveiling the line at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas on January 6. Sony unveiled the mini notebook computer aimed at the hearts of environmentalists.

The notebooks have high-definition, 10.1-inch screens and hard drives with 250 gigabytes of storage. Vaio W notebooks come in "sugar white" but the interiors are, naturally, green.

The best parts the company will be donating 1% of the price of each product sold to environmental causes, there will only be a very limited number of the Sony VAIO Eco Friendly Notebooks available from day one.