Climate 'could hit Canadian GDP'

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29 September 2011 Last updated at 23:19 GMT Current federal estimates say climate change will cost Canada about $5bn a year by 2020 Negative effects of climate change could cost Canada the equivalent of 1% of its GDP by 2050 and 2.5% by 2075, a government-backed report has said.

Damage could reach C$41bn ($20bn; ￡27bn), estimates say, depending on global emissions, the economy and population growth.

Higher temperatures could kill forests, flood low-lying coastal areas and spread disease, the report said.

The panel denied that Canada would gain from global warming.

"Climate change presents a growing, long-term economic burden for Canada," said Canada's National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE).

'Strong, stable, responsible'

In a 162-page report, measures proposed included enhanced forest fire protection, pest control and an effort to foster the growth of climate-resilient trees.

The panel also recommended limiting construction in in low-lying coastal areas vulnerable to flooding, and developing technologies to limit pollution and slow ozone accumulation.

It said climate-related costs to Canada could increase from C$5bn in 2020 to between C$21bn and C$43bn by 2050.

These figures depended on co-ordinated global action to limit warming to 2C by 2050, the report said.

The findings of the panel were seized on by opposition politicians who believe the Conservative government should be doing more to confront the threat of global warming.

"Our coastal communities, our forestry industry, and the health of Canadians will all suffer unless we take action right now," said Laurin Liu, of the New Democrats, Canada's main opposition party.

"This out-of-touch government has produced no plan to deal with the impact of climate change," he added.

But Environment Minister Peter Kent said Canada needs "a strong, stable, environmentally responsible ... government to take care of the environment, and that is exactly what we are doing".

The report also said Canada had much to gain from an international, Kyoto-style treaty focussing on cutting carbon emissions beyond 2012.

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AUDIO: Euro fund 'like a Ponzi game'

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30 September 2011 Last updated at 16:11 GMT Help

The euro bailout fund cannot work because already indebted countries like Spain and Italy are contributing to it.

That's the view of Satyajit Das, author of "Extreme Money - Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk".

Speaking to the BBC's Mike Johnson, Mr. Das, a derivatives trader in Sydney for 30 years, said the European Financial Stability Facility is like 'a ponzi game', and that Europe's financially troubled countries will end up borrowing from themselves.

Transcript is below

Satyajit Das: What they have been trying to do is replace the lenders. So because the commercial lenders, which is banks and investors, will no longer buy debt issued by Greece, Ireland or Portugal and increasingly are questioning Spain and Italy, they had to find somebody else to give them the money. The problem is who is going to give them the money?

So they have patched together this European Financial Stability Fund which is a very tenuous process, because it doesn't have any money either, but it's guaranteed by a bunch of countries. But the problem here is that those countries themselves are in need of the money from the funds. It's almost a surreal secularity.

Then there is now the suggestion which was foisted on the Europeans by Timothy Geithner, the U.S. Treasury's Secretary that they ought to take the European Financial Stability Fund and the catch phrase being leverage. So we take a vehicle which doesn't have any money backed by dodgy guarantees, but then they will go and borrow even more money. So, basically, it's almost like a Ponzi game on a large scale.

Mike Johnson: It's an extraordinary thing to get your head around. Let me just get this clear, what we are going to have is a situation where countries which are on the verge of bankruptcy are going to be borrowing money effectively from themselves?

Satyajit Das: That's exactly what's going to happen. I will give you the picture. The European Financial Stability Fund is guaranteed by a whole bunch of countries including, interestingly enough, Spain and Italy. Spain and Italy between them make up 30% of the guarantee of the European Financial Stability Fund.

Now what they are going to do is then the European Financial Stability Fund is going to borrow from the European Central Bank, which has also obviously got support from Spain and Italy, and then lend the money to Spain and Italy. It's almost self dealing raised to an art form. It's abstraction on a level of money which is almost incomprehensible.

Mike Johnson: And is there anyone out there who think this is actually going to work?

Satyajit Das: The only people I think who think that are the politicians in Brussels and a few policymakers because to be very honest they don't have any solutions, and they are now playing almost confidence games to try to actually convince people that this will work. And ultimately it won't work because it all boils down to a simple fact.

At the end of the day, if you are going to do the shuffling of debt, you are going to have to have somebody who is good for the debt and we all know who that is, it is Germany. So they have to actually step up and their taxpayers, their savings have to be used to prop up these other countries. Now the body politic in terms of voters aren't willing to do that.

Mike Johnson: You think Germany, the German people will run out of patience with all of this before long, do you?

Satyajit Das: Well, before they run out of patience, they will run out of money because in the end if you actually look at the amount needed just to get through the next two or three years, if you take Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy, they have maturing debt. This is debt they have issued, about $1.5 trillion between now and the end of 2013.

So all of that money has to be found and at the end if Germany and France and the stronger countries start to take on that burden, their own credit worthiness will be called into question. And if they lose their triple-A ratings, well then the whole game starts to unravel yet again, and it's very difficult to see this having what could be called a happy ending.

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Video: protesters March on Wall Street

Help 6 October 2011, last updated on: 10: 05 GMT

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Where are the Occupy Wall Street protests heading?

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 22:58 GMT By Laura Trevelyan BBC News, New York Commentators are wondering if this movement could become a "Tea Party" for the left As a man known as Mercury puts the finishing touches to his corporate zombie make up, he explains why he's joined the anti-capitalist protests here in the shadow of Wall Street.

"We are inspired by the Arab Spring. Americans have rights but they're too often apathetic."

Welcome to Zuccotti Park, where the leaderless protest is now entering its third week.

Sophie is here to protest about the execution of a Georgia man, Troy Davis.

Will Estrella believes this is his generation's revolution.

And Brian Phillips, a marine turned housing community official, wants to see the Federal Reserve abolished.

The protesters aren't unified in their motivations or their demands, but they're tapping into discontent about inequalities in an America still struggling after one recession and fearful about entering a second.

'We're the 99%'

Brian Phillips, who wears his marine dog tags round his neck, says he has been lied to all his life by officialdom and he's had enough.

The protesters want a change in political and economic culture

That's what made him leave Washington state and his job at a low-income housing unit to come here.

Now Brian is efficiently dealing with media requests.

I tell him that I want to speak to one of the 700 arrested on Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday.

"Arrested Sunday!" calls Brian. Two young men step forward for me to interview.

That's how we communicate, Brian explains, with marine-like efficiency, as to his left a group start the day with yoga.

Police officers stand at the edges of the protesters' encampment, and today at least relations seem cordial enough.

But on Saturday the demonstrators say the police ushered them on to a roadway section of the Brooklyn Bridge rather than the pedestrianised walkway, fenced them in and then arrested them for disorderly conduct.

The NYPD says this isn't correct, and has released a video of the police telling the protesters not to go on the roadway section of the bridge.

Freelance photographer Will Estrella says the police clearly guided him and others on to the bit of the bridge they weren't meant to be on.

The NYPD's tactics for policing this protest have been called into question after a high ranking officer was seen on a YouTube video using pepper spray on demonstrators the weekend before last.

Will Estrella wants this to be a peaceful protest, a theme echoed across Zuccotti Park.

Most of the protesters I saw camping out at Zuccotti Park were young - in their mid-20s. Many have gone from job to job since graduating.

They have known difficult economic times in young adulthood, and they don't like a system which to them seems to reward what they call the "1%" of society.

"We're the 99%", they say.

Their manifesto supports the people of the world against corporate greed, and calls for people to assert their power and create a process to address the problems we face.

In the centre of Zuccotti park, amid the sleeping bags, is the communal food area.

Ange, a 24-year-old redhead who does freelance art work in Manhattan, is helping organise the food for the protesters.

"I like communal decision making, something that comes from the bottom up," she explains. Ange isn't sure how long she'll be here, but she's pleased to be part of a grassroots movement.

Where will this lead? No-one knows. But the protesters say their enthusiasm won't fade with the autumn sunshine.

The question is whether this ad hoc group of protesters - who feel they're getting the short end of the stick while corporate America hoards money - could morph into a political movement, a kind of left wing Tea Party.

The city's unions are now starting to back the protesters, something they didn't at first, suggesting they see the potential here.

Jesse Cooper Levy, a bearded 24-year-old, hopes this movement will influence politics.

His particular concern is what he sees as the corrupting influence of corporate lobbyists on Washington DC.

"What do you want?" I ask the protesters. "Change", comes the answer - a change in political and economic culture.

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New Ryanair card facing criticism

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 10:37 GMT James Daley from Which?: "The card only benefits passengers who fly solely with Ryanair"

A branded pre-paid card for Ryanair passengers launched on Tuesday has been criticised by consumer group Which?

The airline's passengers must sign up for the Ryanair Cash Passport to avoid an administration fee of ￡6 per person per journey.

However, as with many pre-paid cards, charges are levied for withdrawing cash or not using the card for six months.

Which? described the card as an "insult" to customers, but Ryanair said the card would be more accessible.

The specific type of card that avoided the Ryanair administration fee had previously been changed from the Electron card to Mastercard pre-paid cards. Anyone using the Mastercard pre-paid card will be charged from November.

When the new card was announced, a Ryanair spokesman said that 25% of all UK bookings were made using a Mastercard pre-paid card.

He said that the airline hoped to increase this proportion by changing to the new Cash Passport card that, unlike the current cards, would be available on its website.

But Which? said that switching to the new card complicated the process further and added "insult to UK consumers who have little opportunity to avoid such fees".

Fees

The card will need to be pre-loaded with cash before any booking is made. There will also potentially be additional costs to anyone who signs up for the new card.

It will initially cost ￡6 to buy, although each customer will be given a ￡6 Ryanair travel voucher. Charges include a fee for withdrawing cash from the card over the counter at a bank or from an ATM.

There is also a 50p charge for all transactions, other than Ryanair bookings, from April 2012 and a rolling fee of ￡2.50 if a card is not used for six months.

The OFT recently held an inquiry into card surcharges for passengers booking travel online. Ryanair said that its charge was for administration purposes, such as the cost of running a website, rather than a surcharge for using a credit or debit card.

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VIDEO: China currency vote: US view

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3 October 2011 Last updated at 00:27 GMT Help

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US bank hit after debit fee news

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30 September 2011 Last updated at 21:56 GMT Bank of America will roll out the change from next year on a state-by-state basis Shares in Bank of America have fallen 2%, a day after it announced plans to charge debit card users $5 (￡3.20) per month to pay for their purchases.

Bank of America, the largest US bank by deposits, said it would introduce the fee early in 2012.

The move comes ahead of a new rule that will limit how much lenders can bill retailers for customer debit card transactions.

The bank's debit card holders will still get free cash withdrawals.

The monthly charge will apply to users of Bank of America's basic bank accounts, and will be in addition to any service fees they already have to pay.

A number of smaller US banks, such as SunTrust, a regional lender based in Atlanta, have already introduced charges for debit card purchases.

So far only Citigroup has ruled out introducing the change.

'Changed economics'

Bank of America said the new fee would be rolled out on a state-by-state basis.

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Bank of America is trying to find new ways to pad their profits by sticking it to its customers”

End Quote Richard Durbin Domocrat Senator Its move comes as an amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act goes into effect from 1 October.

The amendment, brought by Democrat Senator Richard Durbin, limits the fees that banks can charge retailers for processing debit card transactions to 21 cents.

This compares to the previous average of 44 cents, meaning a substantial fall in revenues for the banks.

A Bank of America spokeswoman said: "The economics of offering a debit card have changed."

Sen Durbin said Bank of America's move was "overt and unfair" and that he hoped its customers would "have the final say".

"Bank of America is trying to find new ways to pad their profits by sticking it to its customers," he said.

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