A global climate agenda

A landmark of sorts. And a pat on the back. Self-inflicted of course!  As this issue marks the third birthday of abc carbon express. 138 issues in three years since we started on 1 March 2008. Some readers have been with us from the beginning but many more thousand added since. We know that we average 60,000 hits a month to our website – www.abccarbon.com – driven largely by our e-newsletter content.Our geographic – or climatic – spread of content and readership is global, albeit with a bias to the Asia Pacific. We started in Brisbane, Australia and now we operate from Singapore, but that doesn’t mean we will ignore events and news from further afield. This issue certainly has information and announcements from Singapore and Australia, but also taps into the views of UK volcanologist Bill McGuire, prompted by last issue’s mention of the climate change connection to geological events, including earthquakes. UN Climate Change chief Christiana Figueres gets a word or two in, as do experts on green buildings from Malaysia and South Korea. Biofuels for aviation are taking off, with views and actions from the US and Australia. China renews its green agenda, while Africa is on the climate page with differing views on whether it faces more droughts or too much water. Australia struggles with its impending carbon pricing plan with support coming from unexpected sources. While Australia has its annual Clean Up Day and Singapore gets set to mark World Water Day on 20 March, the global community looks set to celebrate Earth Hour on 26 March. Turn off the lights and turn on to energy efficiency everywhere. – Ken Hickson