The government came into power and signed Kyoto but what will they actually do?  They are facing growing domestic pressure from business groups to water down cutting greenhouse gas emissions.  It sounds as though some sectors want business as usual, and bother the consequences.

There is a global financial problem but we are headed for a much worse one if we do not address climate urgently.  The longer we leave it, the worse the impact.

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former US vice-president Al Gore have been phoning and urging Kevin Rudd to publicly back a tough global climate change agreement and leave open the possibility of cutting domestic emissions by 25 per cent by 2020.

European NGOs last week ranked Australia below almost all developed countries and even below Russia in terms of its climate-protection performance. On a table of the 57 largest CO2 emitting nations, Australia was ranked sixth worst, ahead of only Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, the US, Canada and Saudi Arabia.   Partly this is our very greedy consumption but to be fair it is also heavily influenced by being the world’s largest coal exporter and the impact of our vast distances and small population on out travel and freight needs

Big banks, such as NAB and Westpac, and also News Limited are suggesting Australia should promise deep and unilateral greenhouse emission reductions

The Australian Industry Group, which represents the manufacturing sector is urging the Rudd Government to rethink even modest plans because of the global financial crisis – either starting its scheme as a “dry run” until the economic situation improves, or delaying the proposed 2010 start date.

Australian Workers Union leader Paul Howes, a leading unionist and the head of the nation’s peak mining industry body attacked insisting the Government should tie any commitment to international agreements.  His members work in heavily affected industries including oil and gas, cement, steel and aluminium.  His comments were backed by the chief executive of the Minerals Council, Mitch Hooke.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong was adamant the Government would stick to the 2010 start-up date for carbon trading.  “It would be wrong to introduce any uncertainty about the Government’s intentions,” she said. “One of the key considerations is to give business the certainty they need. We are talking, particularly in the energy sector, about long-run decisions that are going to be critical in Australia reducing its emissions over the next 10 or 20 years.”

Technorati Tags: Aluminum, Aluminium, Australian Industry Group, Australian Workers Union, Carbon trading, Climate change agreement, Domestic emmissions, Energy, Greenhouse gas emissions

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

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Dozens of small island nations threatened by climate change have taken their case to the UN talks in Poland, saying rising seas are already lapping at their shores and may eventually wash some of their number off the map.  They want to cap global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees compared with pre-industrial times.

However the conference is having trouble endorsing an even more modest target of 2 degrees rise wanted by the European Union and most green groups.  The Island states say that  ”Two degrees is simply too high. It is not a sector that needs to be adjusted we are talking about the survival of countries.”

The new President of the Maldives, Mohamed Anni Nasheed, has said his Government will begin saving now to buy a new homeland for his people to flee to in the future.

Mark Serreze, of the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado, said, ”There is an informal consensus among climate scientists that sea levels will go up by about a metre by century’s end…..A 2 degree increase would cause a significant bleaching of coral reefs, which would devastate our food supply and our livelihoods,” he said. More intense and frequent hurricanes would ruin low-lying agricultural land.

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, Albert Binger, of Antigua, points out that tourism underpinning the region’s entire economy could be devastated.

Technorati Tags: Caribbean, Climate change, European union, Global warming, Green groups, Rising seas, Maldives

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

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There are some new trials and services collecting food waste, in Australia and composting it od sending it to anaerobic digesters to prevent the generation of methane in landfill. In several places overseas much more is done in terms of collection, community education, processing and marketing of end products.
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The UK is in a dramatic state of change with regard to food waste management. being driven by the EU Landfill Directive and the Energy White Paper, 2007.   This requires the total amount of biodegradable municipal waste going to landfills must be reduced to 75% by 16 July 2006, 50% by 16 July 2009 and 35% by 16 July 2016. based on the total amount of biodegradable municipal waste produced in 1995.

As a result the UK government has substantially increased the tax on waste disposal and this is providing motivation to develop processing facilities as well as encouraging both businesses and local authorities to divert food and other organic waste.

Another important factor in changing organic waste management in the UK is the renewable energy target of 20% by 2020, and the government’s position that converting waste to energy can assist in meeting these targets.  Under the proposed changes electricity generated from anaerobic digestion will be eligible for two Renewable Energy Certificates whilst electricity generated from capturing landfill gas will be eligible for only one quarter of a certificate -8 times less!.

In Norway, over 60% of households have access to a food waste collection service and investigations are being made into upgrading biogas for use in vehicles and buses

Toronto in Canada has a ‘Green Bin’ program which is central in its strategy to reach diversion targets of 70% by 2010 and collects food waste from over 500,000 single houses and is expanding the service to 500,000 multi unit dwellings, based on a successful 30 building trial. All food waste collected is processed in anaerobic digestion plants.  Note that Toronto, while cold in winter, has similar summer temperatures to many of Australia’s cities  so we can’t use heat as an excuse not to collect food waste.
[tags] Anaerobic digestion, Energy, Food waste, Green Bin program, Landfil, Methane, Renewable energy, Renewable energy certificates,

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

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A new global carbon accounting standard with robust rules – and a new global map -are designed to unlock vital funding for credible agriculture, forestry and other land use, aimed at reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation projects.Although agriculture and forestry together account for about a third of all global greenhouse gas emissions, it is the first time a standardized approach has included major project types – such as reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation – and made them accessible to all market players in the USD $330 million voluntary carbon market.

Starting in November 2008, land use projects including forestry and agriculture can be validated and verified against the VCS and new methodologies can be approved. The innovative and robust new VCS rules enable AFOLU activities to generate permanent carbon credits (VCUs) that are completely fungible with other carbon credits generated by non-AFOLU activities (eg energy and industrial project types).

Forestry projects have particular appeal for investors not just because of the carbon benefits, but because of their unique potential to create sustainable livelihoods in developing countries and to protect threatened biodiversity.  The new carbon accounting gives forest carbon projects a major boost as it is the first time offset buyers and market participants can I knowing that the carbon credits generated are real, additional, permanent, independently verified and tracked within a registry system

[tags) Carbon, Carbon dioxide, Greenhouse gases, Global carbon accounting, Global greenhouse gas emissions [/tags]

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

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Scotland has a draft Climate Change Bill aiming to set targets to slash greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland by 80 per cent by 2050 and emissions cut by 3 per cent each year from 2020, with all six greenhouse gases included. This puts Scotland at the forefront of global efforts to tackle climate change”

The bill includes cutting emissions from air travel from the start but does not contain detail on how the ambitious targets would be achieved.

Richard Dixon, the director of WWF Scotland, “This is the best piece of climate change legislation proposed anywhere in the world. It’s better than the UK legislation because it includes aviation and shipping from the start.”

There is huge potential in terms of low-cost reduction in emissions from retrofitting housing. The Scots said that hard decisions will be needed.

It is difficult to predict the changes needed between now and 2050 to meet the ambitious targets to cut emissions by 80 per cent but most experts agree they will have to be radical.

Some experts predict many positive outcomes could come from efforts to cut emissions. Fuel poverty could become rarer as homes become more energy efficient.  People could become more likely to grow their own vegetables rather than travel to shops – producing emissions from the journey. If there were fewer cars on the roads, it could become safer to walk and cycle.

Dr Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, summed it up. “Sitting in 2008 and trying to think what 2050 is going to be like is a fun game but you are bound to be totally wrong,” he said.

Technorati Tags: Climate change, Emissions, Greenhouse gas emissions, aviation

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

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Queensland is the nation’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. That’s a fact.  This is largely due to Queensland being the state most dependent on coal as an expert earner and as the predominant fuel for power stations.
However the State is also the poorest promoter of renewable energy.  There is some great research and trialling is going on with carbon capture and storage, plus they are looking to locate and use and utilise coal seam methane.
They have just held a forum called “Transport in the age of climate change and peak oil” with very capable speakers  but little is actually being done to change the urban transport infrastructure, the fuels used or work to change public attitudes.
From other parts of the world we hear a lot about hybrid, electric, hydrogen, fuel cells and such as the fuels of the future, but Queensland even seems to be reluctant to accept a 10% ethanol blend for our private cars.
The bright spots on the stage came from Virgin Blue, based in Brisbane, showing that the aviation industry is making distinct and positive moves to clean up its act.

At home and aboard, airlines are working on ways to reduce fuel use through better flight planning and management, as well as trialling bio jet fuels. Virgin Atlantic was the first in the world to operate a 747 with one of its four engines utilising a plant-derived clean jet fuel.
At times, those of us aware of the need for climate change awareness and action, might feel we are fighting a losing battle, particularly when we see Governments – state and federal – saying one thing and then backing down and doing very little.

We need real leadership on climate change. We need a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme that does what it says and not a feeble excuse for one, with so many concessions provided to “polluting industries” that any real reduction in emissions will be miniscule.

Technorati Tags:   Aviation industry, Climate change, Coal, Greenhouse gases, Emissions, Fuel for power stations, Renewable energy,   Peak oil, Urban transport, hybrid, electric, hydrogen, fuel cells, fuels of the future,  

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports that global concentrations of carbon dioxide in 2007 reaching the highest levels ever recorded.
Greenhouse gases trap radiation within the Earth’s atmosphere causing it to warm. Human activities, such as fossil fuel burning and agriculture, are major emitters of the gases, which scientists widely recognize as drivers of global warming and climate change. After water vapour, the four most prevalent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chloro fluoro carbons. The WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) coordinates the measurement of these gases in the atmosphere through a network of observatories located in more than 65 countries.
The latest numbers show that the total warming effect of all long-lived greenhouse gases has increased by 1.06 per cent from the previous year and by 24.2 per cent since 1990. Since the mid-18th Century, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have risen an unfettered 37 per cent. Population growth and urban development worldwide continue to increase the use of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas, which emit carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere. At the same time, the clearing of land for agriculture, including deforestation, is releasing carbon dioxide into the air and reducing carbon uptake by the biosphere.

Technorati Tags: Carbon dioxide, Greenhouse gases, fossil fuels

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

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Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM) published the research paper, “Investing in Climate Change 2009 — Necessity and Opportunity in Turbulent Times.”  This is a framework for understanding the investment opportunities that climate change offers but it also states that the economic downturn offers governments across the developed world a prime opportunity to boost their spending on ‘green’ infrastructure as a stimulus to avoid severe recession.

Mark Fulton, DeAM’s Global Head of Climate Change Investment Research, says that “Encouraging investment in renewable energy is a key focus. Energy efficiency technologies are obviously highly desirable in economies facing recession. Infrastructure stimulus can be tied directly to climate-sensitive sectors such as power grids, water, buildings, and public transport, which present a vast field for the creation of new technologies and jobs. Governments have before them a historic opportunity to ‘climate proof’ their economies’ as they upgrade infrastructure as a core response to any economic downturn.”

The debate around climate change is shifting from cost and risk to how to capitalize on exciting opportunities.

Kevin Parker, Global Head of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division and a member of the Bank’s Group Executive Committee says that this is no time for governments to back away from climate change initiatives in the face of tough economic conditions.  He points out that carbon in the atmosphere has reached an 800,000 year high and that global warming may be only a few years away from the point of no return.  “Severe though it is, the current financial crisis can eventually be fixed, and should not be used as an excuse for inaction.”

Technorati Tags: Carbon, Climate change,   atmosphere, Global warming, Financial crisis

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

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The world’s second largest offshore wind farm will be off the coast of North Wales It will combine with three other windfarms and is anticipated to provide enough clean, green electricity to power the equivalent of 680,000 homes.  250 turbines eight miles off the coast.  Ed Miliband, Energy and Climate Change Secretary. Said that the UK is leading the world in offshore wind farming.
The distance offshore certainly minimises visual impact although my feeling is that the turbines are very elegant structures and much better looking than belching chimneys!

Technorati Tags: Climate change, energy, turbines, visual impact, wind farms

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

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California signed a declaration Wednesday with 11 other U.S. states and provinces or states in five other countries to help slash greenhouse gas emissions.  There were 700 delegates from 19 countries at his “province by province” worldwide initiative. The signers included 12 U.S. governors and state or provincial representatives from Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia and India.

California has developed more technical expertise in controlling planet-heating emissions than any U.S. state in the two years since it passed a law requiring its emissions to fall by about 15% in the next 12 years.  Although US federal government is slow to adopt economy-wide climate legislation, California is charging ahead with renewable energy standards, automobile tailpipe regulations, efficiency incentives and forest carbon protocols.

Technorati Tags: California, Emissions, Greenhouse gas emissions, Renewable energy,   carbon protocols

Jean Cannon

Jean is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want greater efficiency and reduced stress!

If you sometimes need to deal with staff errors and what is even worse, covered up errors that come back to bite, you are riding a time bomb and Jean will help you defuse it. Plus get you real recognition from markets and regulators.

The good news is that this is now available as online training so you only need to commit to one hour per week and no travel. You can even Do-It-Yourself! .

Tweet This Post