A fresh analysis of the world’s
energy management software vendors has named CarbonSystems, a Green Quadrant
leader, as big business struggles to manage spiralling energy costs and risks
to energy security. The latest Verdantix study shows that the four market
leaders — CarbonSystems, CA Technologies, IBM and Verisae – offer strong
energy management functionality, proven integration with a wide range of meters
and controls, deep expertise in energy domains, an impressive customer base,
and meaningful implementation partnerships. Read More

Verdantix reports on Carbon
Systems (6 December 2011):

A fresh analysis of the world’s
energy management software vendors has named CarbonSystems a Green Quadrant
leader as big business struggles to manage spiralling energy costs and risks to
energy security.

Independent analyst firm Verdantix judged
Australian company CarbonSystems as one of four global leading software vendors
based on an independent, fact-based comparative analysis of companies offering
energy management software applications.

Published today, the new
Verdantix report combined benchmark data from 15 live product demonstrations,
responses to a 115 point questionnaire, and interviews with an independent
panel of 15 enterprise customers who have bought or are planning to buy energy
management software.

Verdantix reported that the four
market leaders — CarbonSystems, CA Technologies, IBM and Verisae – offer
strong energy management functionality, proven integration with a wide range of
meters and controls, deep expertise in energy domains, an impressive customer
base, and meaningful implementation partnerships.

However Verdantix noted that many vendors do
not have the product architecture to scale up to a global deployment — just 15
companies were assessed for review from 60 vendor applicants from around the
world.

The trend to manage corporate
energy has seen the rise of energy management software vendors that assist
companies to capture, track and report their energy use. Verdantix analysis
reveals that the US market for carbon and energy management software in 2011
will be $207 million and will grow to $558 million by 2014; the global market
is expected to reach $742 million in size by 2017, according to Pike Research.

Post-2013 Verdantix believes that a handful of
established software suppliers will dominate the enterprise energy management
software market with three firms established as clear leaders by 2016.

Energy software buyers face
complexity

Buyers of energy management
software face a plethora of software vendors, equipment and controls firms,
energy consultants, and services firms, according to Verdantix CEO, David
Metcalfe.

“To help buyers save time and
money in the software selection process, as well as reducing risk in purchase
decisions, Verdantix conducted an independent, fact-based analysis of the 15
enterprise energy management software suppliers with the strongest claim to
support global deployments.

“The report aims to guide
decision makers such as CFOs and VPs for sustainability and energy that are
assessing software vendors that manage and streamline their firm’s energy
supply, consumption and costs,” he said.

CarbonSystems leadership position

“CarbonSystems’ position in the
leaders’ quadrant is based on their strong capability in several important
domains – energy data capture, systems integration, security and audit, and
energy reporting and analysis,” said David Metcalfe.

“CarbonSystems is among a few
providers at the forefront of energy management software market worldwide.
Their proven ability to capture, integrate and manage energy data for large
firms in diverse industries gives them a strong competitive advantage.”

Commenting on the report,
CarbonSystems’ chief executive David Solsky said: “Companies want solutions
that take away the pain and headache caused by the complexity of managing
energy data and that show them where to reduce consumption and save money on
their energy bills. That’s what we do for clients around the world. That’s why
we’re leading in the energy management software market.”

What energy software buyers want

“Most customer panel members said
that a proven ability to deliver value by identifying energy consumption
reduction opportunities was critical,” said David Metcalfe. “Proven integration
with meters and controls across data centres, commercial buildings and
industrial plants was also rated highly.

“Integration across multiple
energy domains is complex because it requires integration with meters, Building
Management Systems, lighting systems within commercial buildings, Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA) in manufacturing facilities and
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) units, servers and racks within data
centres.”

About CarbonSystems

CarbonSystems is a global provider
of sustainability software. Its technology helps companies manage their carbon,
energy, environmental and social responsibility performance and operate more
efficiently by driving cost savings in their use of energy, fuel, gas, water,
waste, and other environmental metrics. The company has clients in corporate
property management, education, electricity and gas, government, food services,
fast moving goods distribution, information technology, managed services,
mining, logistics, and professional services. Its core technology was developed
in 2004 to read electricity smart meters.

CarbonSystems has a customer list
that boasts 25 companies with billion dollar plus revenues and more than 110
clients worldwide. The company has strategic partnerships with AGL Energy,
Colliers International, E.ON, and Fellon McCord. Companies with over 45,000
combined locations around the world are using our Enterprise Sustainability
Platform (ESP) to streamline and automate the capture, management and reporting
of their sustainability metrics. CarbonSystems is a privately owned and funded
Australian company with offices in London, New York and Sydney.

About Verdantix

Verdantix is the fastest-growing, independent,
analyst firm focused energy, environment and sustainability. Through our global
primary research and deep domain expertise we provide our clients with
strategic advice, revenue generating services, best practice frameworks,
industry connections and competitive advantage.

Source: www.globalcarbonsystems.com and www.verdantix.com

Sustainability Sees the Light at Singapore’s Marina Bay

Asia’s first and only sustainable
light art festival – i Light Marina Bay 2012 – will return next year from 9 March
to 1 April, with the theme “Light Meets Asia”, featuring innovative and
environmentally sustainable light art installations by 30 multi-disciplinary
artists, including Coral Gardens (pictured left) by French-Filipino artist
Olivia d’Aboville. There are messages about sustainability, as well as climate
change and deforestation, in the exhibition of “The Chronicles of Narnia”,
designed by Robin Stapley (pictured at right), which is currently running at
Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Asia’s first sustainable light
art festival shines the spotlight on Marina Bay

Singapore, 8 December 2011 – i
Light Marina Bay 2012, the second edition of Asia’s first and only sustainable
light art festival, will return next year from 9 March to 1 April 2012.  Themed “Light Meets Asia”, i Light Marina Bay
2012 will feature innovative and environmentally sustainable light art
installations by 30 multi-disciplinary artists, with a strong focus on works
from Asia.  Organised by the Urban
Redevelopment Authority (URA) in collaboration with Smart Light Singapore, the
2012 Festival builds on the success of last year’s festival.

Mr Mark Goh, Deputy Director of
URA’s Place Management Department, remarked: “We are glad to bring this
festival back to Marina Bay for the second time.  i Light Marina Bay provides a great
opportunity for locals and tourists to come down to appreciate the creative
light art installations and explore our city’s signature waterfront.  i Light Marina Bay also aims to promote the
awareness and use of energy-efficient technology so that we can all play a part
in creating a more sustainable urban environment.

The Festival’s curatorial team is
helmed by Festival Director Ms Mary-Anne Kyriakou, and includes two
co-curators: Ms Charmaine Toh, a Singapore visual arts curator; and the team
from local award-winning design studio FARM.
In line with the theme “Light Meets Asia”, the curatorial team has
selected 30 light art installations from almost one hundred submissions.  The list of selected installations features a
strong representation from new, emerging, and well-known artists from countries
across Asia, including Singapore.  See
Annex A for more information about the curatorial team.

“The success of the inaugural
event in 2010 has drawn strong participation from the creative industry in the
upcoming Festival.  We are very heartened
by both the number and quality of submissions this year.  We saw not only a significant increase but
the quality also sets a new benchmark for future Festivals.  This time round, the event will have a
stronger Asian focus featuring more Asian multi-disciplinary artists, many of
whom will be creating light art for the very first time,” said Festival
Director Ms Mary-Anne Kyriakou.

Ten artists and their works were
unveiled at the media conference held at the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands
this morning.  Five of the featured
artists were in attendance: Mr Li Hui from China; Ms Olivia d’Aboville from the
Philippines; Mr Takahiro Matsuo from Japan, and Mr Ryf Zaini and Ms Olivia Lee
from Singapore.  See Annex B for details
of the artists and their artworks.

The Festival has also seen strong
support from the Marina Bay community, with Marina Bay Sands coming on board as
the first sponsor.  Mr George
Tanasijevich, President and CEO of Marina Bay Sands, said: “It has been our
privilege to play a key role in the transformation of Marina Bay, Singapore’s
most exciting urban district.  It is
therefore an honour for us to contribute back to the community through this
innovative showcase of artistic talents at Asia’s premier light art festival.  We are happy to give our support to pave the
way for a bolder show at i Light Marina Bay 2012.”

Apart from the visually arresting
and interactive sustainable light art installations, visitors to next year’s i
Light Marina Bay can look forward to a full array of complementary programmes
and activities – including a night picnic and carnival, outdoor performances,
guided light walk tours, educational talks and workshops – all to ensure that
there is something for everyone.

i Light Marina Bay will open nightly
from 7.30pm to 11.00pm from 9 March to 1 April 2012.

About Urban Redevelopment
Authority (URA)

The Urban Redevelopment Authority
(URA) is Singapore’s national land use planning and conservation agency. URA’s
mission is “to make Singapore a great city to live, work and play in”. We
strive to create a vibrant and sustainable city of distinction by planning and
facilitating Singapore’s physical development in partnership with the
community. As the main land sales agent for the state, our multifaceted engagement
strategy includes the sale of state land to attract and channel private capital
investment to develop sites for meeting our land use needs. As the place
manager for Marina Bay, we promote exciting activities within Marina Bay in
collaboration with other government agencies and private stakeholders. To
create an exciting cityscape, URA also actively promotes architecture and urban
design excellence. For more information, please visit us at www.ura.gov.sg.

About Smart Light Singapore

Smart Light Singapore (SLS) was
established in 2010 as a not-for-profit entity to develop urban lighting
festivals that would set new international standards for energy efficiency and
provide family-friendly, outdoor celebrations by illuminating public spaces
through art sculptures and other smart light activities.

Through these events and
activities, SLS aims to increase awareness in the reduction of energy usage,
engage public and professional participation in best practices in lighting
design, promote dark city skies and improve on energy-efficient lighting
performances.

A feature of the press conference
launch of I Light Marina Bay was the only one of the selected 30 works on
display – Coral Gardens by French-Filipino artist Olivia d’Aboville.

She graduated with honours from
Duperré, a prestigious Textile Design school in Paris in 2009 and Olivia
D’Aboville specialised in tapestry and textile structures. She rapidly adapted
the techniques to create her own woven forms. She has been exploring sculpting
with textile techniques since then and had her first solo exhibition Chasm of
Fantasies at the Ayala Museum in Manila, the Philippines, in 2010. She was
nominated and shortlisted for the Ateneo Art Awards 2011.

From plastic spoons to pins and
water bottles, d’Aboville is fascinated by ordinary mass-produced objects.
These objects, due to our society and our lifestyle, are inevitably destroying
our environment and polluting our seas. She manipulates materials at hand to
create new work, recycling them to generate objects which are completely
different. For every interesting element which inspires her, d’Aboville asks
herself what she can do this it: can it be cut, bent, heated, stretched, or
accumulated to create a new form?

D’Aboville is very sensitive to
light, fluidity and movement and finds endless inspiration from the ocean. She
is fascinated by the mystery, beauty and creatures of the underwater world and
tries to raise awareness about the importance of preserving marine biodiversity
through her work. Her work has been exhibited in museums, galleries, hotels and
festivals in France, Hong Kong, Manila and the United States. It ranges from
textile jewellery to sculptures, lighting design and installation art.

Concept

Coral reefs form some of the most
diverse and productive ecosystems on earth. They occupy less than a tenth of 1%
of the ocean surface, yet provide as home for 25% of all marine species.
However, coral reefs are fragile ecosystems which are dying. They are under
threat from climate change, ocean acidification, blast fishing, over-use of
reef resources, urban and agricultural runoff and water pollution.

Coral Garden is an installation
of a multitude of coral-like sculptures made of transparent cocktail stirrers
and an acrylic base. The composition of the sculptures resembles a coral reef
which viewers will be drawn to and can interact with, as fish do with actual
reefs.

Source: www.ilightmarinabay.sg

Note from the Editor: We must declare our interest! Sustain Ability
Showcase Asia (SASA) has been appointed the Sustainability Consultants for i Light
Marina Bay 2012, working with Pico, the event management company, as well as
the URA,  the Festival Director Mary-Anne
Kyriakou and Smart Light Singapore.

Kimberly Spykerman in Straits
Times (3 December 2011):

There are messages about sustainability,
climate change and deforestation in the exhibition of The Chronicles of Narnia,
designed by Robin Stapley (pictured at right), which is currently running at
Marina Bay Sands in Singapore

Feel the icy chill of the White
Witch’s throne, the weight of a heavy suit of armour and watch how a catapult
is used to launch a huge boulder in a battle.

Visitors can get up close and
personal with these interactive elements when The Chronicles Of Narnia
exhibition opens at the Marina Bay Sands skating rink today.

The show features more than 100
costumes, props and set pieces from the three Narnia films, based on C.S.
Lewis’ books, which trace the adventures of four children after they enter the
magical world of Narnia through a wardrobe.

Fans of the films who walk
through the doors of the ‘wardrobe’ at the show will find many familiar items.
These include the elaborate dress and headgear worn by the White Witch, played
by Tilda Swinton; the battlegear and weapons used by the characters; and the
life-sized petrified animals found in the courtyard of the White Witch’s
palace.

Even the homes of the beavers and
Mr Tumnus the faun, featured in the first film The Lion, The Witch And The
Wardrobe (2005), have been recreated, and contain original film props such as
silverware, furniture and even an arrest warrant.

The exhibition also houses a
study containing items belonging to the writer of the beloved children’s
series. These include a pipe, a glass mug, a handwritten letter and a copy of
the book Phantastes by Scottish writer George Macdonald, which C.S. Lewis said
‘baptised his imagination’.

The exhibition’s creative
director, Mr Robin Stapley, 47, said: ‘These real elements help the audience to
connect to the writer and give them a sense of the world he lived in. After
all, these books came out of his imagination.’

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE
EXHIBITION

Source: www.marinabaysands.com

Grand Designs for Sustainability at London Olympics

Grand Designs presenter, Kevin
McCloud (pictured left) and five other London 2012 Sustainability Ambassadors
paid a special visit to the Olympic Park recently to see the grand designs for
London 2012. The role of the Ambassadors is to help to bring to people’s
attention the importance of sustainability at the Games. Unveiled in February,
the sinuous velodrome (pictured right) was chosen to represent London’s claim
for the “greenest games ever,” because of its sustainability and
efficiency initiatives.

Photo One of the four permanent
venues in the London Olympic Park, the velodrome was one of the last to be
commissioned, and the first to be completed on time and on budget. Unveiled in
February, the sinuous velodrome was chosen to represent London’s claim for the
“greenest games ever,” because of its sustainability and efficiency
initiatives. Inspired by lightweight and streamlined racing bikes, the Hopkins
Architects-designed velodrome will provide a venue for the indoor track cycling
events at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

London 2012 sets the standard for
sustainability

02 Nov 2011

Grand Designs presenter, Kevin
McCloud and five other London 2012 Sustainability Ambassadors paid a special
visit to the Olympic Park recently to see the grand designs for London 2012.

McCloud was joined by campaigner
and author, Eugenie Harvey; author and environmentalist, Saci Lloyd;
entrepreneur and businesswoman, Deborah Meaden; environmentalist and writer,
Jonathon Porritt; and co-founder of the Eden Project, Tim Smitt.

The role of the Ambassadors is to
help to bring to people’s attention the importance of sustainability at the
Games. During the day on the Olympic Park, they visited the new Parklands
running through the heart of the Olympic Park and the lightest Olympic stadium
ever built, meeting members of the team working on the project.

Jonathan Porritt, who chairs the
Sustainability Ambassador’s Group said: ‘The Games provide an important
opportunity to feel proud of what we’ve achieved. London and the UK will be on
show to billions of people during the Games and this is a precious once in a
lifetime opportunity to visibly display our leadership in sustainability
issues.’

Deborah Meaden said: ‘I am
delighted to have been asked to be a London 2012 Sustainability
Ambassador.  It is amazing to see how
sustainability has been embedded at such scale into the building of the venues
and the delivery of the Games.  I am
genuinely excited about what we have achieved and can’t wait to share it with
the world in 2012.’

The London 2012 Organising
Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is the first Games
Organising Committee to be certified to the British Standard 8901:
Specification for a Sustainability Management Systems for Events.

This follows a series of
assessments carried out this summer by independent certification body SGS
United Kingdom who audited all activities delivered by LOCOG including the test
event in Greenwich Park. The following audits will also cover the preparations
for delivery of the Games, management of the Villages, coordination of the
Olympic Torch Relay, opening and closing ceremonies and the delivery of medal
events.

BS 8901 was inspired by the
London 2012 bid and has been developed specifically for the events industry
with a purpose of helping event organisers, venues and suppliers to operate in
a more sustainable manner.

LOCOG Chief Executive, Paul
Deighton said: ‘We set out to achieve new standards of sustainability in the
staging of the Games.  Certification to
BS 8901 is an Olympic and Paralympic first and is a fantastic achievement that
shows how far sustainability is embedded into the heart of our organisation.’

‘We still have more work to do
but we are well on track to achieve some fantastic results and uncover more
opportunities that have not been realised before in an Olympic or Paralympic
context.’

There are eight London 2012
Sustainability Ambassadors: James Cracknell, Eugenie Harvey, Ellie Hopkins, Saci
Lloyd, Deborah Meaden, Kevin McCloud, Jonathon Porritt and Tim Smitt.

As it heads towards its £2bn
budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games, LOCOG has seven domestic
Tier One Partners – adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB.
There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury,
Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twenty-eight domestic Tier
Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting
Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP,
G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heathrow Airport, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis,
McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, NATURE VALLEY, Next, Nielsen, Populous, Rapiscan
Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Thames Water, Ticketmaster, Trebor and
Westfield.

Source:  www.london2012.com

Redrawing a Line in the Sand: Reporting Climate Change

Mobilizing a critical mass of
people, communities, and cities to drive demand for clean energy, transport,
and environmentally sustainable consumption is the focus of a campaign launched
last week at the Asia Television Forum in Singapore. “Redraw The Line” is a
public awareness campaign created by The Asia-Pacific Media Alliance for Social
Awareness and Ogilvy & Mather with the support of the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

A Media Leaders Forum on the
subject “ Media and Multi-Sector Partnerships in Achieving Positive Social
Change” , featuring Dr Martin Blake and Ken Hickson, among others, and ably led
by the BBC’s Sharanjit Leyl, was a feature of the day’s events. Jessica Cheam
has the story. Read More

By Jessica Cheam in Straits Times
(9 December 2011):

There is far less coverage of
climate change – an important topic affecting billions of people – than
coverage of conflicts.

Media organisations, especially
in Asia, should devote more resources to reports on environmental issues, says
a senior United Nations official.

In recent days, publications
around the world have given far fewer column centimetres to the UN climate
change talks in Durban, South Africa, than the conflict in Afghanistan, said Mr
Shun-ichi Murata, deputy executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap).

‘It is an important conflict, but
so is climate change, and it has far-reaching consequences for billions of
people,’ he told The Straits Times on the sidelines of the Media Leaders’ Forum
at Marina Bay Sands on Wednesday.

Government leaders from around
the world have converged on Durban to negotiate the issue of reducing global
carbon emissions to combat worsening climate change.

Mr Murata says the media has been
biased in its coverage of the talks – predicting their failure even before
negotiations started. ‘It’s unfair of the media to make such statements even
before the talks begin. There is still the possibility of progress being made,’
he said.

Dr Martin Blake, executive
director of GreenAsia Group, a Singapore-based environmental management
solutions firm, who also spoke at the event, noted that there have been
encouraging trends in Asia. The region has seen an increase in climate change-
and environment-related news in the past few years.

‘In Singapore, we’ve seen
publications dedicating journalists to this agenda and this is very good. But
the media can do more,’ he said. One way is to take a more practical approach
to reporting on the issues, and avoid sensationalism.

He noted that there is a
misguided tendency for the media to focus on ‘bad, apocalyptic-type news’ on
climate change, such as disasters and doomsday scenarios, which can turn
readers off a serious topic.

There are many opportunities to
focus on ‘good news’, such as positive examples of businesses and communities
responding to the climate change challenge, he said.

Escap’s Mr Murata added that
media organisations could play a key role in getting Asian consumers to accept
green products and shift to a more sustainable lifestyle and pattern of
consumption. ‘This is crucial for Asian economies to grow sustainably. They
need to build resilience against volatility of prices for food, energy and
resources,’ he said.

Media reports are also important
in giving a voice to vulnerable and poor communities throughout Asia, who would
otherwise not be heard, he added.

The inaugural Media Leaders’
Forum, which attracted about 100 participants, aimed to discuss the role and
responsibility of media companies in affecting behavioural change on climate
change issues.

It was organised by Media
Alliance, a Singapore-based non-profit organisation, in partnership with the
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Asian Development
Bank, among others.

Source: www.eco-business.com

Asia Development Bank reports (7
December 2011):

SINGAPORE – Mobilizing a critical
mass of people, communities, and cities to drive demand for clean energy,
transport, and environmentally sustainable consumption is the focus of a
campaign launched today at the Asia Television Forum in Singapore.

“Redraw The Line” is a public
awareness campaign created by The Asia-Pacific Media Alliance for Social
Awareness (The Media Alliance) and Ogilvy & Mather with the support of the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency (SIDA) in response to the challenges posed by climate
change.

The campaign draws on the
participation of the media, entertainment, and advertising industries; private
sector sponsors; bilateral and multilateral development agencies; and youth or
university students.

“We are still waiting for an
international commitment that will drive our nations to respond to the climate
challenge as a global community, however, there are agents of change responding
to climate change at every level,” said David McCauley, ADB’s Lead Climate
Change Specialist. “Our goal is to mobilize a critical mass of people,
communities and cities to take action that addresses the main impacts of
climate change.

“Redraw The Line” is an Asian
regional initiative that is emphasizing the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam
during its first year. Other countries may be added over the next five years.

Under the direction of regional
media partners Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific and Viacom International Media
Networks, youth teams will produce locally and culturally relevant messages and
communication techniques. These will be based on the main climate change
concerns of their country, as determined by their national climate change
commission and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Selected institutions include
Bangkok University’s International College Media Lab and Assumption
University’s School of Mass Communication in Thailand, along with the Academy
of Journalism and Communication in Viet Nam. A university in the Philippines is
still being selected.

National media companies in the
three target countries are being invited to join the awareness campaign.
Synovate, a market research company, is supplying pre- and post-measurement
support through a climate change market survey on consumer awareness and
attitudes.

Source: www.adb.org

Not-So-Great Expectations

On the eve of the 17^th UN Climate Change
Conference in Durban, South Africa (28 November
to 9 December), what’s the least we should expect to see coming out of
this? Expectations have been dampened, especially when hopes have been raised
too high in the past. Here’s our wish list – our Plan A – and we have
supporting articles on practically all of this:

A global commitment to a new (or renewed) Kyoto Protocol – retitled as the
“Durban Declaration 2011” – to stop greenhouse gas emissions in their tracks.

Allow every nation to fix its own way forward, through a carbon price, clean energy
investment or a mix of measures, but committing to verifiable emissions targets
and actions.

Advance REDD mechanism into international law as the best way to stop deforestation and
open up investment into clean energy, forest carbon & sustainable
development.

Act to get the Global Green Fund up and running to provide adequate funding to
developing and vulnerable countries to undertake mitigation and adaption
measures immediately.

There are plenty of health and humanitarian reasons to act. Solar
is rising to the top of renewable energy options for the future. Energy
efficiency is still the most cost effective and quickest way to reduce
emissions. Europe’s aviation emission plans are questioned and the shipping
industry is being told to act. Environmental pioneer Sir Jonathon Porritt makes
a welcome appearance and business is showing its sustainability shine.
Australia moves to protect the Coral Sea and Alaskans mount a fight against
“big oil”. China moves ahead on clean energy and green jobs, while the role and
opportunity for media is advanced.  The pen is mightier than the sword after all!– Ken
Hickson

Profile: Sir Jonathon Porritt

Britian’s environmental pioneer Sir Jonathon Porritt is
leading the charge to get the shipping industry to acknowledge the emissions
it’s responsible for and do something about it. Forum of the Future started the
Sustainable Shipping Initiative, which was launched in London late October. Now
with its launch in Singapore Vision2040 goes global.

Sir Jonathon Porritt is leading the charge on his latest
global campaign. This time to get the shipping industry to acknowledge the emissions
it’s responsible for and do something about it. His Forum of the Future started
the Sustainable Shipping Initiative, which was launched in London in October.
Now its vision2040 goes global.   See
separate article on shipping emissions.

We met and talked to Jonathon – as this Knight is happy to
be addressed – and we discussed his early days in New Zealand where his father
was Governor General for a time.

He was born in 1950. He describes his younger years
thus:  “The next couple of decades flowed
by effortlessly at Eton, Magdalen College, Oxford, and dossing around planting
trees and farming in New Zealand and Australia.”

He first got involved with environmental issues in 1974 –
that makes him a definitive pioneer – at the same time as he became a teacher
in a West London comprehensive, which he says he “absolutely loved”.

Ten years later, he left teaching to become Director of Friends
of the Earth where he stayed until 1991, just prior to the Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro in 1992, which he describes as “a life-changing experience”.

In 1996, he was instrumental in setting up the Forum for the
Future, which remains his ‘home base’ in terms of all the different things  he does these days do today. He is also Co-Director
of the Prince of Wales’s Business & Sustainability Programme, and was Chair
of the UK Sustainable Development Commission between 2000 and 2009.

In inveterate campaigner, lobbyist and advocate for all
things environmental and sustainable, he has taken to blogging in a big way.
See www.jonathonporritt.com

“I’ve been blogging for a long time, but that’s only a small
part of all the different things I’m involved in these days. It’s a funny old
mix. Part advising, part campaigning, part writing and broadcasting, part
lecturing and giving talks. And all done with a funny old mix of companies,
NGOs, Universities and public sector bodies. It’s mostly through Forum for the
Future, but through all sorts of other organizations too – as you’ll see”.

His involvement with government used to be much greater than
it is today. Up until July 2009, he was Chair of the UK Sustainable Development
Commission, a post to which he was appointed by Tony Blair back in 2000.

“The Commission itself is no more, Jonathon says in
exasperation, “as the Coalition Government idiotically decided to get rid of it
which demonstrated, early on, just how utterly vacuous its commitment to being
‘the greenest government ever’ looks like in practice.”

More glimpses into the life and times of Jonathon Porritt
through one of the many biographical portraits on him:

Co-Founder of Forum for the Future, he is an eminent writer,
broadcaster and commentator on sustainable development.  Established in 1996, Forum for the Future is
now the UK’s leading sustainable development charity, with 70 staff and over
100 partner organisations including some of the world’s leading companies.

In addition, he is Co-Director of The Prince of Wales’s
Business and Sustainability Programme which runs Seminars for senior executives
around the world.  He is a Non-Executive
Director of Wessex Water, and of Willmott Dixon Holdings.  He is a Trustee of the Ashden Awards for
Sustainable Energy, and is involved in the work of many NGOs and charities as
Patron, Chair or Special Adviser.

He was formerly Director of Friends of the Earth (1984-90);
co-chair of the Green Party (1980-83) of which he is still a member; chairman
of UNED-UK (1993-96); chairman of Sustainability South West, the South West
Round Table for Sustainable Development (1999-2001); a Trustee of WWF UK (1991-2005),
a member of the Board of the South West Regional Development Agency
(1999-2008).

He stood down as Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development
Commission in July 2009 after nine years providing high-level advice to
Government Ministers.

His latest books are Capitalism As If The World Matters
(Earthscan, revised 2007), Globalism & Regionalism (Black Dog 2008) and
Living Within Our Means (Forum for the Future 2009).

Jonathon received a CBE in January 2000 for services to
environmental protection.

Here’s what he reports on his work for the Sustainable
Development Commission (2000-2010):

“Between 2000 and 2009, a big chunk of my working life was
dedicated to the Sustainable Development Commission, as its first Chair.

“The SDC was set up by Tony Blair to be the principal source
of independent advice to all branches of government – and across the whole of
the UK. It started small, but gradually established its role, and after the
publication of 2005 Sustainable Development Strategy (which transferred responsibility
for scrutiny of government performance from Defra to the SDC), it grew to an
organisation of about 70 people.

“It is now widely recognised that this put the UK out in
front in terms of equivalent SD initiatives elsewhere in the world. And in a way
that surprised a lot of people, both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown absolutely
respected the independence of the Commission – though they didn’t always like
the advice we gave them!

“We were also allowed to reflect the full breadth of the SD
agenda, with as much of a focus on education, health, the economy and
governance issues as on climate change, land use, transport, food and farming
and so on. And we did a huge amount of stuff on SD strategies, Departmental
Action Plans, procurement, policy appraisal – and all sorts of geeky things that
never saw the light of day!

“The essence of the SDC’s success was an extraordinary
combination of a really smart, highly-motivated Secretariat, and the
Commissioners themselves – all experts in their own respective fields, all
sharing a passion for sustainable development as ‘the central organising
principle’ for the whole of government.

“Sadly, the SDC is no more. It fell foul of the incoming Coalition
Government’s ‘quango cull’ – or, to be more accurate,  it fell foul of some deep ideological
prejudices and a craven reluctance to expose government performance to any kind
of independent scrutiny. As was subsequently confirmed when the Government also
got rid of the Audit Commission.

“I’m still spitting
with rage one year on from this act of cretinous vandalism  – as is still reflected in my blogs from
2010!

“To get a better sense of what we were able to achieve
through the SDC’s ten year span, you can still check out the archive website http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/

Jonathon might appear in every respect as an important
English gentlemen, maybe even resembling a British businessman (which he is) or
even a “conservative” politician, which he is certainly not!

Here’s a delightful
piece he wrote on:

Trees In The Blood

I often wonder how trees get into one’s blood. Neither of my
parents had the remotest interest in trees, and my mother would endlessly wax
lyrical about the landscapes of Lincolnshire (where she grew up) which for me
border on the god-forsaken precisely because they are so tree-less.

I grew up in London – more particularly, near Hampstead
Heath, a precious oasis of semi-natural green in the middle of London. It’s
small, in real terms, no more than a couple of hundred acres. But through the
eyes of an eight-year old boy, it was absolutely huge and much too large to be
properly encompassed at ground level.

So my first relationship with trees started predictably: God
had obviously put them on Earth for me to climb. I first learned about nature
and my interdependence with nature hanging precariously out of the branches of
those wonderful, long-suffering trees, taking equal pleasure in the sense of
danger, the sense of isolation and the sense of being utterly at home.

From that time on, I was completely hooked, and remain an
unreconstructed dendrophile to this day. I’ve encountered many trees, many
woods, many forests since then, and fashioned many intimate relationships with
those trees. I have found myself replenished and enriched in more ways than I
could begin to describe.

In the early 1970s, over three separate years, I ended up
(for all sorts of peculiar reasons) planting a 70-acre patch of scrubby land
just outside Auckland in New Zealand with tens of thousands of radiata pine.

I have to say I felt very good about every aspect of that
process. I revelled in the planting, month after month, often in high wind and
pouring rain; I loved watching the trees grow, thinning them out pretty
ruthlessly, pruning them rigorously to maximise end value; I even enjoyed (in a
rather more confused and painful way) the moment when they were all cut down at
the end of a normal cycle of 30 years.

So I love trees as much as the next person. But I’m not
sentimental about cutting them down – at the right time – and managing them
properly until that time. As long as there’s respect – and even awe – embedded
in that relationship.

That’s why the Coalition Government’s crass,
ideologically-inspired decision in 2010 to flog off the whole of the Public
Forest Estate instantly enraged me. It was both arrogant and cheap at the same
time; it was equally contemptuous of local communities (with their own
particular set of loyalties and affinities for their woodlands), and of the
Forestry Commission, which had transformed itself into a highly effective
manager/regulator after the “bad days” of the 1980s. It was despicably
care-less – as were the craven reactions of the national NGOs that so
unquestioningly went along with this sell-off proposal.

And that’s why I helped set up Our Forests – with an
eclectic bunch of people who all care as deeply about England’s woods and
forests as I do, albeit for all sorts of different reasons.

And that’s why I’m still determined to see things through,
even though the Government would appear to have backtracked on its original
proposals. I don’t trust them an inch, and though I think that the big NGOs
have now got the measure both of this Government and of the general public’s
determination to protect its woodlands and the Public Forest Estate in general,
I’m not sure I can quite trust them either on this particular issue.

I know that’s not a very “friendly” position to be adopting,
and it’s obviously caused some strain between myself and many others in today’s
Green Movement. Not least because I know that most of the individual members of
those organisations care about forests and woodlands in pretty much the same
way as I do, and would instantly resonate with these powerful words from John
Fowles:

“No religion is the only religion, no church the true
church; and natural religion, rooted in the love of nature, is no exception.
But in all the long-cultivated and economically-exploited lands of the world,
our woodlands are the last fragments of comparatively unadulterated nature, and
so the most accessible providers of the relationship, the feeling, the
knowledge that we are in danger of losing.”

Jonathon received a CBE in January 2000 for services to
environmental protection.

Not expecting Sir Jonathon Porritt to ever stop in his
efforts to set the world on a greener or more sustainable path, he gathers a
lot earnest and well-connected people around him.

He has not only successfully spread the word, but also his
influence, and as with his latest Sustainable Shipping Initiative he brings
together movers and skakers in the business world, who see this is the right
thing to do.

He might be one of Britain’s environmental pioneers, but he
is unlikely to see that his job is done for a long time yet.  A knight in shining armour?  He wouldn’t see it that way. But he is a man
who means business and gets things done.
Just what’s needed to lead the “action for a sustainable world”.

Source:  www.forumforthefuture.org

Carbon Price Ok , Now Let’s Save the Coral Sea

A price on carbon is essential to combating global warming,
to stimulate clean energy development and greater energy efficiency,  says a report by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), coming out as the international
community prepares for the Durban conference on climate change. Meanwhile,
Australia, with its carbon price legislation tied up, has committed to
establish the world’s largest protected marine area in the Coral Sea, covering
989,842 square kilometres off the north east coast of the Queensland,
Australia.

By David Wroe, Canberra, in The Age (25 Noveber 2011):

A price on carbon is essential to combating global warming,
a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has
found, giving a boost to the federal government after weeks of debate on the
carbon tax.

As the international community prepares for the Durban
conference on climate change, set to start in South Africa on Monday, the
OECD’s environmental outlook to 2050 urges countries to adopt carbon prices to
stimulate clean energy development and greater efficiency.

”A significant carbon price is needed to induce
technological change,” the report said.

Carbon taxes and emissions trading schemes would ”provide a
dynamic incentive for innovation and private investment in low-carbon,
climate-resilient infrastructure, plant and equipment,” the report states.

In one of the gloomiest recent forecasts, the report found
that without more ambitious policies, the atmospheric concentration of carbon
dioxide equivalents would reach nearly 685 parts per million by 2050 – much
more than the 450 ppm scientists believe is needed for the world to have a
chance at keeping the average global temperature rise to 2 degrees. If this
happens, the global temperature is likely to rise by 3 to 6 degrees by the end
of the century, which would ”continue to alter precipitation patterns, melt
glaciers, cause sea-level rise and intensify extreme weather events to
unprecedented levels”.

The latest global climate conference in Durban is widely
expected to deliver no new international treaty for binding carbon dioxide
cuts. However, the report by the OECD – a collection of 34 developed nations –
is likely to help inject some sense of urgency into discussions, warning that
delays will make climate action costlier in years ahead.

”Delay is costly and could become unaffordable. The further
we delay action, the costlier it will be to stay within 2 degrees,” the report
found, ”450 ppm is still achievable, but the costs are rising every day, month
and year that passes to compensate for the increased emissions.”

The report came as China confirmed it was establishing seven
pilot carbon market schemes in the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and
Shanghai, as well as the industrial regions of Shenzhen, Hubei and Guangdong –
covering as many as 200 million people.

A spokesman for Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the
OECD report confirmed that ”putting a price on carbon is the most effective
policy because it creates dynamic incentives for investment in cleaner
technologies and infrastructure”.

Source: www.theage.com.au

By Matthew Knight on CNN (25 November 20110:

The Australian government has announced plans to establish
the world’s largest protected marine area in the Coral Sea.

The proposed Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve will
cover 989,842 square kilometers (around 380,000 square miles) — an area
roughly one tenth the size of the U.S.

“Australia’s vast oceans provide a source of food and
resources, and are a place of recreation. But we cannot afford to be
complacent,” Australia’s environment minister Tony Burke said.

“In the space of one lifetime, the world’s oceans have
gone from being relatively pristine to being under increasing pressure.

The environmental significance of the Coral Sea lies in its
diverse array of coral reefs, sandy cays, deep sea plains and canyons.

Tony Burke, Australia’s environment minister

“The environmental significance of the Coral Sea lies
in its diverse array of coral reefs, sandy cays, deep sea plains and canyons.
It contains more than 20 outstanding examples of isolated tropical reefs, sandy
cays and islands,” he added.

The Coral Sea is located off Australia’s northeast coast and
stretches from the Great Barrier Reef to Papua New Guinea in the north and the
Solomon Islands in the east.

Its shallow reef systems, say the Australian government,
support tropical ecosystems abundant in hard and soft corals, sponges, algae,
fish communities and other creatures such as nautilus and sea stars.

The largely uninhabited islands also support critical
nesting sites for green turtles and a range of seabird species.

Protect Our Coral Sea — a environmental campaign group
supported by several conservation organizations — described the announcement
as “a good start,” but said the plans fall short of full protection
for coral and marine life.

“Only the eastern half of this ocean treasure has been
set aside as a safe haven for marine life. The western half contains most of
the species-rich coral reefs and critical spawning sites for black marlin and
threatened tuna,” Darren Kindleysides from the Australian Marine
Conservation Society said in a statement.

There now follows a 90-day public consultation period which
the government says will assist in finalizing the proposals.

Source: www.edition.cnn.com

REDD Alert: Who Can’t See the Wood for the Trees?

There is a clear consensus around the forest preserving
scheme REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and
it offers the best chance for progress on UN climate change negotiations, said
Louis Verchot, scientist with the Center for International Forestry Research
(Cifor). While WWF Indonesia says officials must consider the safety mechanisms
and financing of REDD+ including the MRV – measurable, reportable and
verifiable – programmes in the country, with special attention paid to the
negotiation process.

Written by Michelle Kovacevic (23 November 2011):

There is a clear consensus around the forest preserving
scheme REDD+ and it offers the best chance for progress on U.N. climate change
negotiations to be held in Durban next week, said Louis Verchot, scientist with
the Center for International Forestry Research.

“REDD+ offers a better chance for progress than other
proposed climate initiatives being discussed at COP17,” said Verchot in an interview.

“Certainly there is a clear consensus around REDD — we’ve
been discussing it for 7 years now and we’ve got a number of decisions that are
already in place that will allow that to move forward.”

REDD+ is a set of steps designed to use financial incentives
in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and
forest degradation. It was first proposed at COP11 in 2005 as a way to tackle
issues associated with land use change emissions which, due to their
complexity, the Kyoto Protocol could not address.

Many countries including the United States, Japan and Russia
have stated that they will not sign up to a second commitment period of the
Kyoto Protocol – a scheme focused on emissions reductions – leaving the door
wide open for decisions on REDD+ to progress at the negotiations.

While many countries
are already implementing REDD+ pilot projects, a number of issues still need to
be addressed, such as how REDD will be financed, how carbon emissions will be
reported and verified, and how safeguards will be reported and enforced. These
will be the focus of negotiations to advance with REDD+ at next week’s
meetings.

Countries need long-term funds they can count on

“As it now stands,” said Verchot, “there is an agreement on
the part of developing countries to implement REDD+ and reduce emissions, and
on the part of the developed countries to provide financial and technical
assistance to achieve this. But there is not yet an agreement on the mechanisms
for how that’s going to happen – whether it will be market based or publicly
financed — and there is no agreement on the magnitude of the assistance or the
goal for emissions reductions.

“A number of countries are putting in place REDD
actions…they want to know what sort of funds they can count on and what’s the
plan for the long term.”

“At Durban we would like to [see an agreement on] how the
money is going to get into the hands of governments and communities to
implement the program and how we are going to ensure the sustainability of the
financial stream so this is not just a 5 year project, but a long-term
component of the solution to climate change. “

There is also some concern that, in the absence of a second
phase of the Kyoto protocol, market mechanisms may not work in a world where
there are no emissions reductions obligations. Verchot assures however, that
there are legally binding emissions reductions agreements already in place.

“Europe already has legally binding unilateral decisions
about emissions reduction, the North-eastern states of the US have committed to
emissions reductions and California will allow credits from REDD into their
emissions reductions scheme. The question is whether we use markets to help
implement (emissions reductions) and whether REDD can tap into those markets
and benefit from them.”

How do you measure something that does not happen?

Quantifying carbon emissions has been an ongoing area of
research – in the case of REDD+, carbon emissions refer to those that do not
happen i.e. emissions that would have happened in a business-as-usual scenario
without REDD+.

This can then be calculated in two different ways: one
focused on total carbon dioxide emitted due to deforestation, not counting any
uptake by trees that continue to grow; or as the net balance between carbon
dioxide that is currently being emitted by deforestation and forest degradation
and that which is being taken up by the forests.  While this might seem like an arcane
difference, it affects how you set up accounting systems and how you reward
emissions reductions.

“We would like to see some clarity on this issue,” says
Verchot, “and we have put on the table an idea about a tiered approach which is
already in the draft text that’s going to the negotiators.”

The idea behind a tiered approach is that there is a simple
means to estimating business as usual emissions that all countries could do
with existing data, but this approach is not particularly accurate,” explains
Verchot.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is already
collecting deforestation data from countries but those data are not as actively
updated as would be required for a compliance mechanism.

“But as countries put in place national forest inventories
and begin collecting spatial data on their forests, they could start simply and
progressively set their reference emissions level with greater certainty and
less error, which would then allow them to get into the REDD+ mechanism, said
Verchot.

“We would like to see a minimum standard of what would be
required for a country to enter into the REDD+ mechanism as well as the steps
that countries could go through to get up to what’s considered good practice
for this carbon accounting.”

Safeguards must be reported and enforced

Safeguards are a series of conditions that REDD+ must
respect so community rights, biodiversity conservation and governance are not
compromised under this mechanism. “While all these safeguards have been agreed
upon, there is still disagreement as to how they are going to be reported and
enforced”, says Verchot.

“Countries have agreed that they actually need to report to
the UNFCCC on how they are implementing these safeguards, but there is no
agreement on what that reporting consists of. How will it be monitored, does it
need to be quantitative and do remediated measures need to be foreseen if we find
we are not achieving a certain level of performance?”

Will Durban be a “summit of small steps”?

What seems to be most important, says Verchot, is ensuring
that countries who are already implementing REDD+ will see some progress on
these issues at the forthcoming negotiations.

“Countries are implementing REDD+ already. They need some
assurance that this is not going to all disappear in the rhetoric and discussions.

While we may not get full closure on all of these issues, we
at least need to have some concrete proposals on the table and a deadline for
these activities to start being functional on the ground.”

CIFOR will have a team of experienced writers covering the
climate change negotiations and events of COP17 to be held in Durban, South
Africa from November 28 to December 9.

Source: www.cifor.org and
www.theredddesk.org

The Jakarta Post (23 November 2011):

Environmental NGO World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia
has urged that improvements be made to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation (REDD+) infrastructure and management.

“The development of those components on the national level
is necessary to accompany any environmental agreements on the international
level,” WWF Indonesia director of climate change and energy Nyoman Iswarayoga
said on Tuesday.

Nyoman added that Indonesian officials should participate in
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa,
this month.

WWF Indonesia suggested that officials consider the safety
mechanisms and financing of REDD+ and MRV (measurable, reportable and
verifiable) programs in the country, with special attention paid to the
negotiation process, at the meeting.

Additionally, WWF Indonesia also asked officials to consider
the dissemination and mapping of climate change and the engagement of civil
society and local communities, to access funds on environmental initiatives in
the country.

Source: www.thejakartapost.com

Who’s To Blame for Pollution, Warming, Storms & Loss of Sea Ice?

The battle between some of the world’s most powerful energy
companies and an Alaskan village that’s losing ground to climate change heads to
federal appeals court on Monday. Nine Kivalina residents, having survived the
recent mega-storm that walloped western Alaska, will be watching their lawyers
argue that ExxonMobil Corp., BP, ConocoPhillips and other corporate Goliaths
owe the village at least US$95 million in damages.

Alex DeMarban in Alaska Dispatch (25 November 211)

Kivalina attempts to contain storm panic

The battle between some of the world’s most powerful energy
companies and an Alaska village that’s losing ground to climate change heads to
federal appeals court on Monday.

Nine Kivalina residents, having survived the recent
mega-storm that walloped western Alaska, will be at the Ninth US Circuit Court
of Appeals in San Francisco to watch their lawyers argue that ExxonMobil Corp.,
BP, ConocoPhillips and other corporate Goliaths owe the village at least $95
million in damages.

A key Kivalina argument charges that the energy companies
are engaged in a conspiracy to cover up the link between their emissions and
the earth’s warming temperatures. A similar argument proved pivotal decades ago
in helping smokers prevail in court against tobacco giants.

The Northwest Alaska village lost the first round of its
lawsuit in 2009, when a US District Court dismissed it, saying climate-change
pollution needs to be regulated by Congress and the administration, not courts.
The village lacked standing, the court said, because it could not show the
companies’ emissions caused the erosion threatening the village.

But Kivalina is optimistic this time around.

“What we have going for us is the science is changing
by the day,”  and the causal
connection between greenhouse-gas emissions and the climate is clarifying, said
Heather Kendall-Miller, an attorney for Kivalina and head of the Alaska office
of the Native American Rights Fund.

Alaska spokespeople for ConocoPhillips and BP, and a
ConocoPhillips attorney named in the case, would not comment about the
companies’ arguments.

A storm’s brewing

The effect of climate change on Alaska’s coastal villages
was back in the news during last week’s monster storm, called the worst to
strike western Alaska in four decades.

As it bore down on Kivalina, many residents feared for their
safety and wondered how much coastline this latest storm would wipe out, said
Colleen Swan, a city councilwoman.

The Inupiat village of 375, founded in the early 1950s when
the federal government built a school there, clings to a low-lying barrier
island about 80 miles northwest of Kotzebue.

In recent years, warmer temperatures have removed a
wave-dampening layer of coastal sea ice, leading to increased erosion, the US
Army Corps of Engineers has reported.

Seven years ago, fall storms ripped away some 80 feet of
land, destroying some teacher housing and other infrastructure, according to
the Corps. Four years ago, during another storm, residents evacuated the
village and waves punched out part of a new sea wall.

In this latest tempest, despite dire National Weather
Service warnings that the village faced serious danger, Kivalina was largely
unscathed. At the storm’s height, winds howled from a favorable direction. And
a new 14-foot seawall did its job, preventing erosion even though the Chukchi
Sea nearly topped it.

“We escaped by a hair,” said Swan.

Finding a new home

The quarter-mile-long rock revetment, installed in 2009 by
the Army Corps, will buy the village an estimated 10 to 15 years before it must
move.

But in 2019, what then?

The village is trying to find a new site where it can
rebuild, out of harm’s way. But when it does, how will it pay to build a
school, homes and other facilities, and to scrape roads and an airstrip on the
tundra?

That’s where the lawsuit comes in. Moving could cost between
$95 million and $400 million, according to figures from the Army Corps of
Engineers and the General Accountability Office. That’s at least $350,000 to
$1.4 million for each village resident.

The city and tribe hope their lawsuit — Kivalina v.
ExxonMobil — forces about 20 of the world’s largest oil, power and coal
companies to cough up the cash.

The village has prevailed against industry before. In 2008,
with legal help from the San Francisco-based Center on Race, Poverty and the
Environment, Kivalina forced mining giant Teck-Cominco to settle a lawsuit and
spend $120 million on a pipeline to protect drinking water.

The center is involved in this case too, playing a lead role
along with the Native American Rights Fund’s Alaska office.

Are oil companies to blame for Kivalina’s woes?

To win, the village doesn’t have to trace emission molecules
to prove which company caused what damage, said Matt Pawa, Kivalina’s lawyer
from the East Coast.

“All we have to prove, like other victims of
pollution,” is that the defendants contributed to overall pollution, he
said.

There’s a critical second part to the lawsuit that makes it
similar to the tobacco cases that smokers eventually won in the 1980s, said
Kendall-Miller.

The village alleges industry is engaged in a conspiracy –
in part by funding junk science — to cover up the link between their emissions
and the rise in global temperatures.

Lawsuits against the tobacco companies weren’t successful
until it was shown they intentionally hid the link between smoking and the
health problems, including lung cancer, it caused.

“There was the same question at that time: How is it
possible to prove this?” said Kendall-Miller. “Back then people
smoked all the time, and they did it voluntarily. The courts kept throwing
cases out, until it was discovered that tobacco companies were engaged in a
conspiracy. They knew all along it was bad for one’s health but they had PR
campaigns to say it was not.”

The revelation that they had covered up the truth ultimately
led to a huge settlement, she added.

Source: www.alaskadispatch.com

Each Year of Delay Makes Failure More Expensive & Harder to Avoid

GreenBiz reports that the vast majority of US business
executives in a recent survey – 83% — view a multi-lateral climate change
agreement as a prerequisite to address the issue, but just 13% believe it will
happen in Durban — or anytime soon. Sad, but true. And the UK’s Guardian
newspaper says in an editorial that the will to act on climate change is out of
political energy, running on empty. But inaction is not an option.

Editorial in The Guardian (25 November 2011):

The will to act on climate change is out of political
energy, running on empty. The problem is (relatively) distant, complex and
intractable. The solution is costly, immediate, and the gains uncertain. It is
the kind of slow-burn crisis that democratic politicians only tackle under
sustained popular pressure and right now western voters have other things on
their minds. Here, the government that promised to be the greenest ever is
allowing emission-cutting policies to appear an indulgent hangover from a more
prosperous age. Starting on Monday, when the 17th climate change conference
opens in Durban, Africa has the opportunity to remind the rest of us why
inaction is not an option.

Expectations for the summit have already been managed down
so far that the debate now appears to be whether it is better to disagree on
what to do, or to agree to do nothing. Although the energy secretary, Chris
Huhne, insists that he has not given up on reaching a deal that could be
implemented from 2016, the EU’s climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, sounds
much less positive. She insists nothing is possible unless everyone signs up,
and not on the old north-south terms of the expiring Kyoto agreement which she
argues no longer reflects reality.

In the world in 1998, when the Kyoto deal was struck, the
developed countries were required to cut emissions while the developing
countries – with much lower emissions – were only required to adopt mitigating
measures. Now the Europeans point to the rise of China, Russia and India up the
emissions scale – even the per capita emission figures are beginning to reflect
economic growth – and want the less developed countries to move beyond
mitigation and start to cut emissions.

China – nationally now topping the emissions chart, but
actually dropping down the table of emissions per capita – argues instead for a
new version of Kyoto. But even if progress were possible here, President Barack
Obama, a year away from an election, cannot face down the Republican-controlled
Congress where they think climate activists are a sect dedicated to destroying
the American way of life.

Reduced to numbers, the minimum target should be a date for
peak emissions. Most of the world’s governments have already agreed that, to
avoid disaster, the global temperature rise must be limited to 2ºC. To have an
even chance of success, global emissions will need to start to fall within the
next five years or so. Each year of delay makes failure more expensive and
harder to avoid. This is another stand-off between the strong and the
vulnerable, and there is talk of an Occupy Durban. It needs an objective. Then
the talking can really begin.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

By Tilde Herrera in Green Biz.Com (17 November 2011):

Is there hope that an international climate change deal will
emerge at the upcoming U.N. negotiations in Durban, South Africa?

Don’t hold your breath, many business leaders might tell
you.

That’s not to say one isn’t needed. The vast majority of
business executives in a recent survey — 83 percent — view a multi-lateral
climate change agreement as a prerequisite to address the issue, but just 13
percent believe it will happen in Durban — or anytime soon.

The down economy complicates the upcoming talks, according
to the new report from Ernst & Young, “Durban Dynamics: Navigating for
progress on climate change.”  The
report offers a nice primer of the contextual backdrop of the negotiations,
which are scheduled to run Nov. 28 through Dec. 9.

One of the major factors that promises to stymie the talks
is the persistently terrible economy. Climate change efforts will suffer as a
result, with the report finding that current austerity measures will leave a
big gap in the amount of funding devoted to mitigation.

The US, for example, will spend about $2 billion less on
climate change efforts between 2011 and 2015, compared to 2010. Overall, 10
large economies tracked in the report will spend $22.5 billion less on climate
change in the coming years than historical levels.

While governments are pulling back on funding, business
leaders are more bullish, the report found. E&Y surveyed more than 300
business executives and found that 88 percent said their sustainability spending
has stayed the same or grown over the past year. More than half indicated that
a climate deal provide lots of opportunities for business, but prospects are
dim.

The report also addresses many lingering questions
surrounding the Durban talks, including the fate of the Kyoto Protocol, the
existing climate change agreement that ends next year. The US and developing
countries are not bound under Kyoto to reduce their emissions.

E&Y gives a relatively positive spin to the future of
global carbon markets should parties fail to produce a successor to the Kyoto
Protocol. The largest player is the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU
ETS), The world’s biggest cap-and-trade program was created to help European
nations meet their Kyoto commitments.

“Although the prospects of a global carbon deal will
recede in the absence of a successor to the Kyoto Protocol,” the report
said, “carbon trading will continue as long as there is demand and a
market for it.”

Source: www.greenbiz.com