Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category
Carbon Retirement
Friday, July 18th, 2008
Dan, colleague and top eco blogger, launched Carbon Retirement this week. It’s a new twist on carbon offsetting - you can actually buy (and then retire) carbon credits and from the official EU exchange. As the site explains:
Carbon Retirement uses your money to purchase carbon allowances out of the EU Emission Trading Scheme. This is the EU’s central tool for cutting carbon emissions. It works by giving heavy industry a fixed number of allowances to emit greenhouse gases.
Each time we buy an allowance, we retire it. Retiring permanently removes allowances from the market so they are unavailable to the industries that would otherwise use them as rights to pollute. You buy emissions out of the system.
The logic of cap-and-trade is that as the price of carbon credits goes up, it gets more attractive for polluting firms to reduce their emissions and invest in cleaner ways of doing business. Under the EU scheme, the price will go up because over time, the number of permits will be reduced.
By offering people outside the scheme (like you and me) the chance to buy credits on the ETS, Carbon Retirement reduces the number of permits on the market, so polluting becomes more expensive more quickly. Which should mean that emissions are reduced. Which is a good thing. Their site is available at: www.carbonretirement.com
JP Morgan buys Climate Care
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
Climate Care - one of the largest voluntary carbon offset providers - has been bought by JP Morgan.
As Dan points out, voluntary offsets are for those who aren’t covered by regulation, so it assumes big growth in businesses who are buying offsets because they want to, rather than have to.
Unlike others in the offsetting business, Climate Care originate their own projects, which makes them more than a broker and a more attractive acquisition target for JP Morgan.
Like most people, we think offsetting should be seen as a “last resort” option. It definitely has its place in an environmental strategy, but it’s far better to look first at your own operations, customers and suppliers to see the changes you can make closer to home. You can offset what’s left, but there is a bigger prize for those who take a good hard look at their own business.
But such a big deal shows that there’s room for innovation in offsetting and I’m excited (but can’t say too much) about other projects I know about in that area.
For more on how business can think about their low carbon strategy, take a look at this presentation.
In Balance
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
In Balance, Dan’s thoughtful blog about environmentalism and economics, has been named one of the Top 50 eco blogs by the Times.
Congratulations!
Carbon footprints & google maps
Friday, November 30th, 2007
Couple of interesting map based carbon calculators have been launched recently.
Google have just launched their Carbon Footprint project in association with the Energy Saving Trust. It lets you work out your footprint, commit to some actions and put a pin in the map.
It’s very similar to iCount’s “Get Involved” map. It also has individual actions and commitments, but iCount - with its focus on campaigning - also has “Groups” on it, so you can find likeminded people in your area.
Sharkwater
Monday, October 29th, 2007
Looking forward to this - a film that reclaims sharks from the sensationalised caricature we’ve been presented with in Jaws, Open Water and tourist cage diving. Some of the underwater photography looks incredible.
Gore and IPCC share Nobel Prize
Friday, October 12th, 2007
From the citation:
His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change. He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted.
Let my people go surfing
Sunday, October 7th, 2007
I keep meaning to write a long post about this book by Yvon Chouinard, founder of the outdoor firm Patagonia. Their mission statement sums up their approach:
Build the best product, do no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
One of the reviews on Amazon sums it up: “Who would’ve thought you could read a book that inspires you to climb, surf, make obscure pieces of ironmongery, design clothes and run a company - all in one slim volume.”
One interesting question is whether they would have been able to do what they’ve done if they had been a public company. Chouinard thinks not.
Unbowed
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
On Monday, I went to see Professor Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
She talked about her work in Kenya and how her Peace Prize was the Nobel committee’s way of signalling the interdependence of peace, security and natural resources. She also talked about her new autobiography- Unbowed.
She has done some incredible things, including leading an organisation that has planted 30 million trees in Kenya. She was robustly critical of the current aid infrastructure in Africa.
This was part of a new RSA speaker programme. It’s an interesting series of events with a wide range of speakers. They’re also hosting an audio file of the event here.
Plan A - Marks and Spencer Climate Change Strategy
Monday, January 15th, 2007
Called Plan A “because there is no Plan B”, Marks and Spencer has just announced their strategy for addressing climate change.
It’s long-term, it’s embedded in the core business and it deals with customers, suppliers and employees. It’s got some serious ‘grown-up’ statements about climate change, it’s healthily sceptical about offsetting and it recognises that this is a long term initiative.
It’s worth reading the Chief Executive’s statement in full:
“Every business and individual needs to do their bit to tackle the enormous challenges of climate change and waste. While M&S will continue to sell great quality, stylish and innovative products, our customers, employees and shareholders now expect us to take bold steps and do business differently and responsibly. We believe a responsible business can be a profitable business. We are calling this “Plan A” because there is no ‘plan B’.
“M&S will change beyond recognition the way it operates over the next five years. We will become carbon neutral, only using offsetting as a last resort; we will ensure that none of our clothing or packaging needs to be thrown away; much of our polyester clothing will be made from recycled plastic bottles instead of oil and every year we will sell over 20 million garments made from Fairtrade cotton.
“We will clearly label the food we import by air; UK, regional and local food sourcing will be a priority and we will trial the use of food waste to power our stores. We will do this without passing on the extra cost to our customers.”
“We will also help our suppliers and customers to change their behaviour. Because we are own-brand our influence extends to over 2,000 factories, 10,000 farms and 250,000 workers, as well as millions of customers visiting over 500 stores in the UK.”
“This is a deliberately ambitious and, in some areas, difficult plan. We don’t have all the answers but we are determined to work with our suppliers, partners and Government to make this happen. Doing anything less is not an option.”
I can’t think of many other UK companies who have taken their climate change strategy to the heart of their business in this way.
More commentary here and here.
Stern Review published
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
Climate Change is “the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen” according to the Stern review on the economics of climate change.
The official HM Treasury page is here and the BBC has a good synopsis of the report.
Other climate change links are here.
The Stern review talks the language of this article on the problems faced by people pursuing environmental and development agendas.
“The power of economics can move companies, individuals, and governments far more effectively. The U.S. tobacco industry has been hugely impacted by the economic impact of lawsuits and anti-smoking laws and advertising. The moral arguments that the anti-smoking community makes fall on largely deaf ears in the corporate suite, but the market and profit impacts of reducing the number of smokers have triggered the beginnings of real change … My advice to students would be to take their personal instincts and to figure out not how to convince someone that they are right, but how to convince someone that it is in their economic interest to act in accord with those instincts.”
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