Although global climate change raises dreadful problems that the Kyoto Protocol does little to address, Michael Grubb's book hails it as a "remarkable achievement". This should be taken with a pinch of salt. If you asked people from the Maldives what they felt about the Protocol, they would probably say, frightened about their lack of a future. They know that accumulating greenhouse gas emissions warm the planet and expand the oceans and obliterate them, and God knows whom and what else. Their fears have a message for us all: this problem is global and needs a global solution. "Equity and survival" sums it up. Everyone has to be in as no one is saved until everyone is saved.

Grubb's book gives in some detail the history of these negotiations for the development of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) over the last 10 years. It summarises the science and describes the shaping of the Kyoto Protocol and in particular how the 'sub-global', or developed country only, 'commitments' (such as they are) to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) were arrived at. It also analyses in detail the Protocol's so-called market or 'flexible mechanisms', namely 'emissions-trading' and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), giving much critical attention to the conceptual weakness of the latter.

Grubb's story of the inadequate and permissive Protocol fails to sufficiently emphasize the following. Contraction of GHG emissions to an overall output level 60 to 80% less than output in 1990 by some agreed date, simply stabilises their atmospheric concentration at some new and unprecedentedly high value. Not for the last half a million years have GHG concentrations in the atmosphere risen so far and so fast. On that time scale industrialisation has already added one trillion tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere 'overnight', and Kyoto is offered in the context of a political economy which apparently foresees this being doubled and even trebled!

It is impossible to over-stress the need to rise to this precautionary challenge and the need for GHG emissions contraction. Rising global temperature is a function of rising emissions and will continue for some time even assuming concentrations are stabilised. In other words the possibility of dangerous, even disastrous, global climate change is increasing from here on proportional to delay in achieving full contraction.

So however much we are invited to view the Kyoto Protocol as a "remarkable achievement", its sub-global emission reduction targets are in the overall context of a continuing rise in global emissions, never mind concentrations. Moreover, the battle to interpret the 'flexible mechanisms' actually foresees that the developed country reductions may largely be achieved on paper rather than it situ. So even in quantitative terms, the Protocol may yet enshrine in international law, policies and measures that will legalise:
(i) a continuing uncontrolled rise in GHG emissions,
(ii) an increase in damage from climate changes,
(iii) inequitable global ownership patterns in the use of the global public good,
(iv) an unresolved political quarrel that may easily result in the whole debate being switched from mitigation to adaptation to rising adversity, in effect making the problem insoluble.

With an eye on the last point and the future and long-term development of the process, Grubb after 10 years, now openly advocates in some detail the global solution for emissions management known as "Contraction and Convergence". He describes it as, "the most politically prominent contender for any specific global formula for long-term allocations with increasing numbers of adherents in both developed and developing countries," saying that it, "emerged from the academic debate" (p 270).

The point about its prominence is true. The point about its provenance is nonsense. It is the approach that the Global Commons Institute (GCI) modeled, developed and also campaigned for since the climate negotiation began in 1990, in spite of indifference, incompetence and stonewalling from 'experts' within academia. In fact, until last minute legal pressure was put by GCI on Grubb and the Institutions involved in the publication of his book, he and his colleagues laughably declined to acknowledge any role for GCI in both the authorship and 10-year advocacy of "Contraction and Convergence" at all.

The idea of "Contraction and Convergence" is simple. It puts 'equity' at the centre of the debate and suggests how the global solution can be organised on that basis. It constitutes an attempt to cut through the endless expert quarrels that have been largely just a smokescreen for deliberate international filibustering, grievances and specious 'economic efficiency' arguments. It is in effect a right-based constitution, which observes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)). "Contraction and Convergence" in essence proposes:
(i) a precautionary limit to greenhouse gas accumulation in the global atmosphere by definition gives rise to a global contraction budget of future fossil fuel emissions, and
(ii) an international distribution of this budget based on a deliberate convergence to per capita equality of shares globally by an agreed date with pro rata reductions thereafter, resulting in what are only then
(iii) an allocation of internationally tradable permits.

Grubb says privately that he proposed this scheme in 1989. However, he avoids saying that in his book and so avoids having to explain why for the last decade he gave up on it. In now taking a position in favour of "Contraction and Convergence", he actually (as well as by definition) and correctly acknowledges the inherent structural weakness of the Kyoto Protocol itself. Indeed, the combination of all the arguments his book now brings together, expose its quantitative inadequacy. Perhaps more seriously it exposes the very problematical contradictions which should it be ratified, the Protocol will embed in the fragile international efforts to develop the UNFCCC for the long term. The truth is that while principles without practice are useless practice without principles is dangerous. Authors and advocates of the Protocol have yet to face its failure to resolve this.

Grubb has failed to sustain an analysis of the "equity-and-survival" tension at the heart of these negotiations. Common sense in a nutshell says, "if saving the planet depends on clarifying who it belongs to, it obviously prudent to assume that it belongs to all in equal measure." This is 'rights-by-people' or equity. It must now take precedence over the status quo of efficiency or 'rights-by-income'.

Indeed this equity formulation is positive and inclusive and has been at the heart of GCI's case from the outset. The efficiency formulation, asserted by experts on behalf of vested interests, fails simply because no matter how efficient you are, it is obviously impossible to build a global consensus for survival on the idea of "unequal rights". Indeed it was this idea which led directly to the economics fiasco concerning the 'unequal valuation of life' which Grubb refers to as "the most unpleasant controversy" (p 20) linking GCI to this (p 306).

It is true that between 1993 and 1995, economists assessed the damage costs of climate change for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC) as part of an attempt to steer global policy with the rudder of 'efficiency' and cost-benefit analysis. They attempted to establish the now notorious and discredited idea that the value of future mortality from climate change was proportional to the incomes of the victims involved. It is quite true that GCI ran a successful campaign against the idea, citing as absurd that, "15 dead Chinamen equalled one dead Englishman." It is true that this resulted in the economic method and the results of its use being formally rejected within the IPCC. Grubb links us to the Indian Government's letter (which he quotes at length p 306) to all countries' delegations at the First Conference of the Parties (COP1) in Berlin in 1995 rejecting this economic methodology, understandably ignorant of the fact that we wrote the letter.

But since Grubb was prepared to link us to this unpleasantness, why does his book completely ignore that the Indian Government formally advocated "Contraction and Convergence" at the ministerial section of COP1. Could it have been because he did know that GCI wrote the relevant section of the Minister's speech with all that implies?

"We face the actuality of scarce resources and the increasing potential for conflict with each other over these scarce resources. The social, financial and ecological inter-relationships of equity should guide the route to global ecological recovery. Policy Instruments such as "Tradable Emissions Quotas", "Carbon Taxes" and "Joint Implementation" may well serve to make matters worse unless they are properly referenced to targets and time-tables for equitable emissions reductions overall. This means devising and implementing a programme for convergence at equitable and sustainable par values for consumption on a per capita basis globally."

This was a clear response to the US and others who were insisting that the "global problem of climate change required a global solution". 'Global solution' was always the barely coded US language for "no-solutions without developing countries". India responded with this global argument, with the consent of the G-77, at a key moment of setting up the so-called "Berlin Mandate", the process that was to lead over three years to the Kyoto Protocol.

In Grubb's account this is ignored. And it is all the more extraordinary as this section of the Indian Government's intervention at COP1 is a direct quote from a document prepared by GCI at the request of the IPCC for the 'Equity' section of their Second Assessment Report (SAR). The equity section chairman and lead author was Michael Grubb himself. It was his job to know about that text, its provenance, its significance in the argument and the significance of it being led in that way at that moment by that party.

This behaviour has been part of a pattern over the last ten years from the expert peer group where they have nested safely inside the status quo sustaining silly arguments. Grubb had already rejected association with the campaign for "Contraction and Convergence" when GCI launched it in 1990. I asked him for support shortly after he joined the Energy and Environment programme at Chatham House or the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA). He refused outright. Since then little has changed except that the growing international support for GCI's campaign made it progressively harder for the experts to ignore it.

Or so you would have thought. But consider Gubb's account of the row in Kyoto at 3.00 a.m. in the morning. This was the moment that led to what is now Article 17 of the Protocol, the article intended to enable international emissions trading to occur. For not the first time in the last decade developing countries asserted equal rights as the basis of the global solution, particularly as emissions trading is contingent on global property rights being established. Chairman Estrada (Argentina) abruptly suspended the negotiations saying the whole thing was going to be lost. Until that moment, the developing countries had remained united in opposition to so-called 'voluntary commitments' being demanded of them particularly by the USA, but almost completely united for the proposition of global equity regarding the creation of these property rights. Led by China, India and the Africa Group of Nations, they specifically demanded equitable international allocations based on per capita equality and the principles of "Contraction and Convergence" if international 'emissions trading' was to be agreed. This was as dramatic as it was unforeseen especially as the acting head of the US delegation (Jonathon Pershing) responded by asking was this really the moment to introduce "Contraction and Convergence". For any advocate of the approach, it was high drama. Not only was it obviously developing countries saying that the responsibilities they were being pressured to take for climate change had to be based on equal rights, again major players within the G-77 group were advocating that in principle "Contraction and Convergence" was the vehicle through which to negotiate this.

It is extraordinary that these specifics and the events that led to them are as good as omitted from Grubb's history, especially given his after-the-fact advocacy of the "Contraction and Convergence" approach now. He prefers to cite the "comical touch" about the OECD officials who were trying desperately at the last moment to contact the Indian Prime Minister to ask him to instruct his negotiators to give way. Grubb apparently just didn't know what was going on. Soz, the Indian environment minister, had explicitly told his negotiators to keep fighting for "Contraction and Convergence" and that is exactly what they, the Chinese and the Africa Group did. If all this was lost on Grubb and the OECD, it was not lost on US. During the hiatus one of their diplomats lurched at me across the lobby and in front hundreds of witnesses spat, "if this whole thing f . . . . s up now, its all your f . . . ing fault." I told him to get a rabbit's leg. Chairman Estrada's dilemma was acute. He had been on the record six months before Kyoto saying, "in these negotiations you make up the principles afterwards to explain what happened in practice."

Once again these explosive exchanges summed up the entire struggle for global equity. But when Grubb deals with this and at length (pp. 94 -96) he fumbles and omits to record that it was another on the record struggle to establish "Contraction and Convergence" as the global solution. The residue of this battle is phrased in Article 17 as follows: -
"The Conference of the Parties (COP) shall define the relevant principles, modalities, rules and guidelines, in particular for verification, reporting and accountability for emissions trading."

In calling for principles and rules governing the trade, it is obvious these will have to precede the trade just as principle precedes practice in the UNFCCC itself. Grubb draws attention to this but only post facto, as affirmed by the entire Non Aligned Movement of countries (most of the countries of the Developing World) at their heads of government conference in Durban South Africa a year later in August 1998.

"Emission trading for implementation of (GHG reduction/limitation) commitments can only commence after issues relating to the principles, modalities, etc of such trading, including the initial allocations of emissions entitlements on an equitable basis to all countries has been agreed upon by the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change."

The real question has always been what are the global principles for distribution that achieve a precautionary, orderly, timely and inclusive international retreat from fossil fuel dependency? It is the question that has dominated these international negotiations since the outset. It is not going to go away.

(This review is a truncated version of the one carried on the Global Commons Institute website)

Bird watchers in the Indian subcontinent have long awaited a well-illustrated, comprehensive yet concise guide to all 1300-odd species. This book finally appears to have met that need, albeit its size (25x17x5.5 cm) and weight (>2 kg) hardly conform to the conventional concept of field guide. Although illustrations of Indian birds in field guide style have appeared before, this is the first time a detailed text focusing on field identification has been combined with a comprehensive set of high-quality illustrations, and, as such, this book represents a milestone in South Asian bird literature.

The taxonomic sequence and scientific and English names follow An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of the Oriental Region (Inskipp et al., Oriental Bird Club, Sandy, Bedfordshire, U.K., 1996). An introductory section deals briefly with criteria for inclusion of species, descriptive terminology, climate and bird habitats in the region (including conservation issues) and more, and includes lists of birds-related organisations and a glossary.

The colour plates are grouped together separate from the main descriptive text and a list of references and an index of bird names are given at the end. About two or three species are covered per text-page, but some species (e.g., Yellow-legged Gull Larus cachinnans, Booted Warbler Hippolais caligata) are allocated more space, while certain others (e.g., Andaman Hawk Owl Ninox affinis, Persian Shearwater Puffinus persicus) are dealt with briefly, reflecting differences in complexity of identification of different species. Following the English and scientific names (with alternate names used in selected works listed on p. 11) and plate reference, each species account covers identification, voice, habits, habitat, breeding, distribution and status, and references (some omitted by oversight in the references list). The identification section draws attention to diagnostic features, differentiates clearly between similar species, and discusses subspecies of polytypic species. However, not all subspecies are indicated in some cases (e.g., Black-rumped Flameback Dinopium benghalense, Greater Flameback Chrysocolaptes lucidus), which may cause some confusion. A range map faces each species account. Those maps, unfortunately, have been reduced in size almost eyond the point of practical value. Some distribution/status symbols cannot be distinguished without magnification.

All but three species included in text are illustrated in colour. The plates are the work of 12 well-known bird illustrators and are of exceptional quality overall. Most species are illustrated with at least two or three figures and many species (e.g., raptors) with considerably more. Captions facing figures summarise key features and distribution. Some errors are noticeable: comb in male Sri Lanka Junglefowl Gallus lafeyetii (plate 5) should be larger; gloss on cormorants Phalacrocorax spp. (77) exaggerated and too pale; legs of Black Ibis Pseudibis papillosa (81) should be red; dippers Cinclus spp. (95) are disproportionate; Brachypteryx major major and B. m. albiventris (99) switched in caption; black head of Black-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus atriceps races (117) too restricted; and Sand Lark Calandrella raytal (138) should show white outer rectrices.

The precursor of this book is the Inskipps' A Guide to the Birds of Nepal (C. Helm, 1985) and evidently the authors are most familiar with Himalayan avifauna. However, the book is relatively weak in coverage of southern forms. Many birds occurring in the Chennai (obsoletely indicated as 'Madras' on page 8) area are shown absent (e.g. Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus, Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis, Lesser White-throat Sylvia curruca, Chestnut-tailed Starling Sturnus malabaricus, Thick-billed lowerpecker Dicaeum agile) or shown present though absent (Brown-headed Barbet Megalaima zeylanica). Similarly, common birds here are deemed scarce (Brown and Blue-throated Flycatchers Muscicapa dauurica and M. rubeculoides) and rarities indicated common (Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus); Yellow-throated Bulbul P. xantholaemus range in text omits Kerala; breeding range of Honey Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus and Grey-headed Fish Eagle Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus should include the Anaimalai Hills (R. Kannan, 1998. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 95:193-214); and description of Eurasian Thick-knee's (Burhinus oedicnemus) call (p. 488) is incomplete.

The range maps accompanying the species accounts are a welcome feature. Unfortunately, many of those maps are marred by errors. Some status symbols (two different asterisks) or shading (passage migrant and former distribution) are similar and have been switched frequently or used inappropriately (e.g., some seabirds); some maps indicate solid dots, a symbol which is not keyed on p. 15. In a number of cases, maps contradict information in text or plate captions, with the text appearing more reliable than maps. Apparently, the authors worked on different sections and failed to cross-check for consistency.

Examples of such discrepancies relating to Sri Lanka include Black-capped Kingfisher Halcyon pileata (visitor), Changeable Hawk Eagle Spizaetus cirrhatus (resident), and Spot-winged Thrush Zoothera spiloptera (endemic resident). Sri Lankan and Andaman/Nicobar endemics are mapped on larger scale, but some ranges are incorrect (e.g., Sri Lanka Junglefowl G. lafeyetii, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill Ocyceros gingalensis, Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot Loriculus beryllinus).

The authors have used museum specimens, personal field experience, and published and unpublished observations of others. In some cases undue weight has been given to stray sight records. At least one species (White-winged Scoter Melanitta fusca, p. 377) is included based on an unpublished sight record, yet, p. 11 states some species were omitted because "no details have been published". Similarly, the Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis (p. 397) is erroneously shown in c. India, far from its known range and appropriate habitat, and the Little Pied Flycatcher Ficedula westermanni (p. 638) described as wintering in "plains south to Tamil Nadu," both based on questionable single sightings. The reference list includes many unpublished survey reports and trip lists. Until local bird-records committees are established to evaluate sight records, it would be wise to exercise caution in their interpretation. It is not clear how unusual sight records were evaluated before their acceptance.

Some incorrect past records have been re-evaluated and expunged (e.g., Black-nest Swiftlet Collocalia maxima, p. 424) and records attributed to R. Meinertzhagen are justifiably treated with caution. However, in some cases the book diverges from generally held position (e.g., S. Ali and S. D. Ripley's Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1967-1974), without adequate explanation for the change. For example, the Handbook indicates breeding populations of the Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes in south India, yet here it is regarded as winter visitor only. References to unlisted works "in preparation," as in this particular case, do not offer much clarification.

The change in scientific name of White-faced Starling Sturnus albofrontatus (G. F. Mees, 1997, Bull. Brit. Ornithol. Club 117: 67-68) evidently appeared too late for inclusion. The incomplete entry for Moluccan Scops Owl Otus magicus (p. 431) suggests it was added late in the book's production, which is puzzling since its inclusion is based on a 1980 publication. Many alternate names listed under individual species are incorrectly attributed to works listed on p. 11 (e.g., D. P. Wijesinghe, 1994 (not 1991!), Checklist of the Birds of Sri Lanka, Ceylon Bird Club, Colombo, Sri Lanka).

Despite the plethora of minor errors, this is an outstanding compendium and fills a long-felt need for a complete illustrated guide to Indian birds that focuses specifically on field identification. Its shortcomings only serve to highlight the difficult task of collecting, organising, and presenting in one volume information on nearly 15% of the world's avifauna. The splendid colour plates and detailed descriptions will make this indispensable to the further study of the subcontinent's birds. While Ali and Ripley's Handbook will remain the standard general reference to South Asian birds for many years, this new book will establish itself as the most useful work for their field identification.

[This review has appeared in the November issue of Condor (Vol 101 No 4). The review has been reproduced here with permission from Condor]


Book description

Birdwatchers have long waited for a comprehensive and up-to-date identification guide for the Indian subcontinent. This exhaustively researched and beautifully produced book will finally meet that need. Written by three leading experts on the region - Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, and Tim Inskipp - the book provides complete information about the 1,300 species of birds found in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The guide is firmly rooted in the authors' extensive field experience, reflected in the accuracy and fullness of their bird descriptions.

The guide features more than 150 colour plates by eminent bird illustrators from Europe and India that depict all the species in the region, ranging from the Himalayan Snowcock in the north to the Sri Lanka Spurfowl in the south. The plates include all relevant identifiable subspecies, as well as ages and sexes. The text consists of a detailed identification section, discussing the differences between similar species and containing descriptions of vocalisations, habits, habitat, breeding, distribution, and status. There are distributional maps for nearly all species. And the authors' introduction provides useful background information about such subjects as conservation, the history of ornithology on the subcontinent, and the climate. A detailed bibliography provides an introduction to the prolific literature on the subcontinent.