The papers, your boss, your clients, the new intern... everyone's talking green. Thankfully, The Greenery gives you a daily update on what's going on environmentally in UK marketing, business, politics and science. Green things and marketing things, living in beautiful synthesis. Awesome.

Thursday 13 December 2007

In other news...

Greenpeace has called on gamers to persuade Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to make their consoles greener.
Controversy surrounds the true environmental costs of a new runway at Heathrow.
The EU has threatened to boycott a US climate summit next month.
GoodEnergy is planning a dual gas and electricity tariff
E.ON is to offer Combined heat and power.
Cisco is trialling a carbon rationing system with its employees
Ken Livingston launches two new schemes in London to help businesses cut carbon

And a lack of photocopiers could be a huge issue over in Bali...

Buy local.... lead local???

The role of sub-national governments in combatting climate change has been highlighted today at the UNFCC conference, as The Climate Group launches "Low Carbon Leader: States and Regions", it's latest report. Thinking of the progress made in London and Scotland, they may have a point.

Bali Briefing: 3

Following this afternoon's press conference, we can now announce that the technology issue had now been solved, which allows technology needs assessments made by developing countries to be turned into concrete project proposals. Woohoo! Progress!

Bali Briefing: 2

The conference rolls on, despite being described by Charles Clover from the telegraph as "unlikely to produce anything the outside word would regard as comprehensible until it has been to Posnan, 2008". Key points of contention remain, including the 25-40% range. Ban Ki-moon yesterday giving in to pressure and contemplating the fact that it might be "too ambitious" to include fixed emission goals in tomorrow's roadmap. Other key differences include technology sharing and the rich/poor responsiblity division.

From the UNFCC website:

During today’s noon briefing at the midpoint of the critical ministerial segment of the conference, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer voiced concern about the pace of negotiations. He explained that many of the outstanding issues taken into the high-level segement had been linked to each other, thereby creating an “an all-or-nothing situation,” and that if the work on a future agreement was not completed in time, then “the whole house of cards falls to pieces."
Mr.de Boer stressed that it was “imperative for all countries to realize that progress on the future is in their interest." The whole purpose of launching these formal negotiations, he said, was to achieve a broader agreement that would deliver on existing commitments under the Convention; for example on technology and on finance to green the economic growth of developing countries. Without a decision on the future, he said, that prospect would no longer be there.
The discussion on the future was currently bogged down on several points, he explained. These included how to formulate the level of ambition for both rich and poor countries, how to formulate what would be delivered in terms of technology transfer and also financial issues.
On the recurring question of whether emission reduction ranges would be included in the text on the future, Mr. de Boer acknowledged that some countries such as the European Union and a number of G77 countries were in favour of including the 25%-40% range in the text, while others such as the United States had made clear their opposition to this idea. Any inclusion of numbers in the text, he added, would exceed his expectations for this conference.
Mr. de Boer underlined once again the prevailing momentum for political action. Everyone had come here with the stated desire to formally launch negotiations, he said. It would therefore be very difficult for any politician to have to go back home and explain that they had failed to deliver a political answer to what the scientists have been saying.

Wednesday 12 December 2007

I've been away...

... mostly in bed, mostly being ill. Sorry! Back now!

Bali Briefing: 1


As the first day of the High-Level segment of the conference begins, let’s have a look at progress so far.

Launching the negotiations on a climate change deal for the post-2012 period, the UN hopes to set the agenda for these negotiations and to reach agreement on when they will have to be concluded.

The current fly (more like an locust, really) in the ointment is the range of cuts to be achieved by 2020: the UN, supported by the UK and Europe, wants developed countries to commit to cuts of 25-40% from 1990 levels by 2020; the US, on the other hand, rejects any binding commitment to maintain temperature rises to below the two-degree threshold, and wants these ‘hard numbers’ removed from the draft (due to “uncertainties” contained within current scientific studies such as the latest IPCC report.). The US is also pushing for developing nations, particularly its economic rivals India and China, to share the burden of cuts.

However, back home, there are ominous rumblings in the bowels of the US political beast.

Both the Senate and House of Representatives have advanced Bills that would reduce US carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and put further efficiency measures into place.

The Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee has voted 11-8 to cut emissions by about 70 per cent by 2050. This Bill would limit business emissions.

A second Bill, passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday, requires vehicles to achieve an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Under the terms of the bill, electrical utilities would also have to produce 15 per cent of their power from renewable sources by 2020, and conventional lightbulbs would be banned.

Unsurprisingly, Bush is no fan, but his opponents in the upcoming election think differently. Could this be another Australia come election day?

Anyway, back to Bali. The text of the draft agreement will be continuously updated until this Friday, when a final agreement must be reached.

So what has been agreed so far?

Well, consensus has been reached on the Adaptation fund, which will be set up to finance concrete adaptation projects in developing country Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. It will initially be funded by a levy on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM – the CDM provides for Annex I Parties to implement project activities that reduce emissions in non-Annex I Parties, in return for certified emission reductions), and will become operational with the start of the protocol’s first commitment period in 2008.

There’s also been progress on carbon capture and storage, and for the first time it’s being considered for possible inclusion as an activity under the CDM.

It sounds like the 25-40 issue will keep everyone busy for the next few days as the details of the draft are hammered out. And since it’s already 19.15 over there, hopefully we’ll hear more soon!

Wednesday 28 November 2007

News from the EAC

The Environmental Audit Committee will hold a one-off oral evidence session with The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the subject of The Challenge of Climate Change. The meeting will be held on the 4th of December, 2.30pm at The Wilson Room, Portcullis House.

The first evidence session on 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review will be held on Tuesday the 4th of December in Committee Room 16 at 10.20. Friends of the Earth, WWF and the Green Alliance will all be attending.

Building thousands of homes - not the greenest, but certainly necessary.

Monbiot writes a moving article on why, despite potential environmental implications, Britain needs more housing - but also more efficient use of the properties we already have. Read more.

Anna Shepard asks if companies are making empty promises.

"I have noticed a meteoric rise," writes Anna Shepard in the Guardian, "In the number of press releases that plop into my inbox from Companies Doing Something Green. And yet, when I read them closely, it generally emerges that said company is not doing pioneering pea-green thing, not quite yet, but planning to. In other words, it’s a promise."
And she's right - actions are far more exciting than intentions. That's why I love the fact M&S's plan aims for completion in only 5 years. The government, meanwhile, are looking at 43...

Meanwhile, in an attmept to speed things along, Ethicaldirectory are petitioning the Prime Minister to make Local Councils responsible to collect small businesses waste for re-cycling. To find out more, go here.

Boeing hauled up by ASA

Boeing have been reprimanded by the ASA for an advert which claimed new planes produced "less than 75 grams CO2 per passenger km". Boeing's calculation was incorrectly based on presuming full occupancy of seats, and was therefore judged to be misleading. So be careful with your measurements guys!

Also-rans

SMART cars are entering the US marketplace. Reserve yours now!

And some rather funky design ideas for Apple.

Bag boss terms ban "irrational hysteria"

To bag or not to bag? David Tyson, Chief Executive, Packaging and Films Association, goes head to head with activists in the Telegraph.

In the reduce, re-use, recycle hierarchy, the plastic bag has a better score than all so-called environmentally-friendly alternatives - provided we keep on re-using it.
Life cycle analyses of paper, as a replacement for plastic bags, show that far greater pollution occurs in their manufacture and transportation across the globe than plastic which is ten times lighter and thinner.
Similar concerns apply to shipping heavy and bulky cotton bags from Asia - and environmentalists should have serious reservations about the working conditions in which they are made.


How long will it take us to get to the bottom of this and similar environmental arguments?

Local warming

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) is today launching an inquiry into climate change and local, regional and devolved government.

Organisations and members of the public are invited to comment on the following issues by Jan 3 2008. Get writing!

1. How can central government best support and encourage local authorities, regional government and devolved administrations to take action on mitigation and adaptation, and other climate change related areas like waste and transport? What funding, powers, and structures are required to improve joined up delivery of climate change policy at all levels of government?

2. Is there clarity about the role played by local authorities, regional governments and devolved administrations in tackling climate change? How can their actions be coordinated and monitored? How can the accountability and transparency of the response at a local level be improved? How effective has the Nottingham Declaration process been?

3. What, if anything, needs to be changed in the framework governing the actions of devolved administrations, regional government and local authorities? For example, does there need to be a more explicit reference to climate change in the local government performance framework and will the new performance indicators on climate change be enough to stimulate action?

4. To what extent should there be disaggregated targets for different levels of government? How should independent targets, for example Scotland will set its own emissions target for 2050 (80% reduction rather than UK target of 60%) and the Greater London Authority has committed itself to making a 60% cut by 2030, fit together with national carbon targets and budgets? How can Government monitoring and forecasting of emissions be improved so as to disaggregate emissions, and the impact of carbon reduction policies, in different regions and nations?

5. How advanced and co-ordinated are local, regional and national programmes of adaptation to climate change? What support is there for adaptation? How vulnerable to climate change are local authorities, regional government and devolved administrations?

6. How should the Committee on Climate Change reflect the interests and needs of the different levels of government across the UK?

7. What are the barriers to greater local or regional action? Do the different levels of government have sufficient powers to take action? What changes in policy are needed to support action at a local level? What policies are working well?

8. What impact will the new Planning Policy Statement on climate change have on emissions reductions and work on adaptation? How are the so called ‘Merton rules’ affected? How might other planning guidance be changed to reduce emissions?

9. Are local authorities meeting their duty to enforce building regulations in relation to environmental measures? Does the enforcement regime discourage non-compliance?

10. What good practice is there to be shared? How is best practice shared and does central government support for sharing best practice work? What role should UK Climate Impacts Programme, IDeA, Salix Finance, the Carbon Trust and Energy Savings Trust play in providing support?

Driving green forward

The UK motorsport industry today called for a more sophisticated approach to environmentally friendly transport. Motorsport Development UK commissioned research which shows that the industry is not just focusing on alternative fuels development, but is approaching energy efficiency and emission reduction in an holistic way.

Elsewhere in the industry, Honda has seen the success of the Insight Formula 1000 petrol electric hybrid rally car developed by Oaktec, and is now working with the company developing a competition version of their Civic hybrid car. Industry innovations include a biodegradable sports car (Warwick University), hybrid flywheel technology (developed by Flybrid Systems, to be used in an F1 car from 2009), and a hydrogen sports car (Hertfordshire University).

Google gets greener

"Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal" is the title of Google's new green initiative. Larry Pa comments in BrandRepublic:

Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades.

Google has already announced its intention to become carbon neutral, btu I think this is a far more interesting step.

UN talks IT and climate change

The UN heard yesterday that information and communication technologies are largely contributing to climate change but also hold the key to tackling it. Alexander Karsner, United States Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, spoke at the outset of a two-day meeting on the impact of ICT on climate change, and called for “very proactive problem-solving through the deployment of technology,” and commented that “markets alone do not make global strategies.”

Xerox Corporation Environment Vice-President Patricia Calkins also spoke. She told the nference that the paper industry was the fourth largest user of fossil fuels, and nearly half of all office paper became waste within a day.

Office solutions? Recycle paper into scrap notebooks or use a scrap printer. Sent printer defaults to double-sided. Are you buying your paper recycled? Do you use online rather than hard copy newspapers? Defniitely a couple of things to think about.

Tuesday 27 November 2007

...And in the business world

Clifford Chance have released a report on climate change in the workplace, which amongst other lovely stats claims that 81% of employees are in favour of further regulation to enforce workplace change.

Toshiba has launched an offsetting scheme for laptops! For a shiny £1.18, you can 'negate' the CO2 released during your machine's production.

Greenbang questions why it's relatively low emitters such as the financial sector who're taking the thought leadership position on climate change.

The home front.

Greenpeace are a tad unhappy about Brown's nuclear plans. Responding to his CBI speech, John Sauven says:
"The prime minister last week outlined plans to generate twenty per cent of our energy from renewable sources, now just one week later we are back to the old mantra of nuclear power. Declarations like this threaten to strangle the renewables industry before it can even get close to that 2020 target."

Meanwhile, Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute has released a report claiming that homes could make emissions cuts of up to 80%. Amongst other measures, financial support to make changes and appropriate locating of new homes should help achieve this, reports the BBC. The Telegraph reports on a CBI report which claims getting the country back on track for its 2050 commitments could cost just £100 per household. However, nuclear power plays a significant role in this estimation.

Renewables take off

GE has reinforced its capability to meet the growing global demand for wind turbines, signing an agreement with one of the leading wind turbine blade suppliers, TPI Composites. A GE spokesman, somewhat amusingly, claims these are "exciting times in the wind industry". I don't know why I find that amusing, but I do!

BusinessGreen reports on the launch of the UK's first bioethanol plant in Norfolk last week.

HP is buying renewable in Ireland:
HP today announced relationships with two renewable energy providers, Airtricity in Ireland and SunPower Corp. in the United States, as part of the company’s goal to reduce its energy use by 20 percent by the end of 2010.The contract with Airtricty will ensure that nearly 90 percent of HP’s energy use in Ireland is renewable, exceeding the company’s 2007 target for carbon emission reductions.

UN releases research

The UN's Human Development report warns today that we could be less than 10 years from ecological disaster, and it will be the world's poor who are hardest hit in the even of warming.

Saturday 24 November 2007

The future of technology?

The Independent reports on a potential new discovery to be announced shortly. And for a mere 25000, you could attend...

Al Gore is to be the star turn at a dinner where guests have paid at least £1,000 a head, and some will have parted with £50,000 for their share of the Aberdeen Angus steak and pink champagne, under the high ornate ceilings of London's Royal Courts of Justice. The combined wealth of the diners has been estimated at £100bn. But the most unusual aspect of the evening is not the price of the tickets but the nature of the floor show. In place of professional performers, the guests will be regaled by people who are not always thought of as entertainers, though some think they are all mad. They are inventive British boffins who care about climate change.
They are hoping that the showcase dinner will knock years off the time it can take for industry to see the mass marketing potential of a new discovery. And the one that will be shown to Mr Gore and fellow guests is highly marketable and could revolutionise the market in clean technology, according to the founder of the British Inventors' Society, Kane Kramer.

Best Green Companies Award - would your clients qualify?

The Sunday Times today announces that it is launching the Best Green Companies Awards to encourage, acknowledge and publicise businesses and other organisations, which are striving to improve their environmental performance.
At a time when many people are confused by a plethora of green messages and exaggerated claims, The Sunday Times recognises that there is a widespread desire for a stamp of credibility to mark those companies that are genuinely striving to improve their environmental performance.
Companies are invited to take part in the Best Green Companies survey which involves both employers and employees measuring their organisation’s approach to environmental management.
The methodology has been co-created with Bureau Veritas, the environmental performance specialists, and the survey will be co-ordinated by Munro Global, the independent research-focused marketing services group.
The employers’ section measures key performance indicators including standard core areas such as energy use and recycling, and also allows organisations to describe their environmental objectives and efforts to increase awareness of green issues in the workplace. The employees’ section seeks to understand the extent to which management strategies are embedded in, understood and acted on, throughout the organization.
Anyone can nominate their company. All they need to do is to register at www.timesonline.co.uk/bestgreencompanies before February 29, 2008 and complete the survey in the relevant category. The entries will then be assessed by environmental performance specialists and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony and in a Green List supplement to be published with The Sunday Times in May 2008.
Richard Caseby, Managing Editor, The Sunday Times said: “There is no greater challenge facing UK companies today. We believe that if organisations have taken key steps to address their impact on the environment then they should be recognised and celebrated. The Sunday Times passionately supports good employer practice and our Green List seeks to build on this.”
The Best Green Companies awards follow the success of the prestigious Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For awards which celebrate the best practices in employment.

Travel light

The UN Secretary General has welcomed the decision by the World Tourism Organization’s General Assembly to focus on climate change. One of the themes for their next conference is to be adapting to the impact of climate change, and limiting tourism's own contribution to greenhouse-gas emissions.

Blindingly obvious

...but still a fantastic insight. Students at Blakewater college have designed window blinds which generate solar power as part of Comet's "Gren Gadget of the Future" challenge.

Need some more green goodies?

Well, get along to Branch. There's a 20% sale on all their yummy products today. See Inhabitat for details.

Friday 23 November 2007

Airing your (clean) laundry in public

Hmmm... Not sure it's the best ad I've ever seen...

Green governance

The Green Party is only a week away from the results of a referendum on appointing a party leader. Their current system involves two principle speakers instead.

New opportunities for measurement and verification.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil have today released a new certification process designed to allow sustainable producers to correctly label their products. This follows Sainsbury's move earlier this week to source all the palm oil used in their products sustainably.

The carbon trust has launched a business-specific carbon calculator today, designed to give businesses an idea of their emissions levels. A few bit of data are needed, but those are easily accessable. We approve. The Carbon Trust has also responded to recent comments by the NAO, their CEO writing "I believe this report gives us the green light to extend our work and has some valuable recommendations that we will examine as part of our ongoing commitment to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy.” GreenBang reports on signs that the hydrogen power sector is reaching maturity.

CSR is important: too important to lie about.

Speaking to The Guardian today, Chris Smith of the ASA confirmed that the agency has noted the rising numbers of companies making environmental claims in their advertising:

"We are breaking new ground and this is a growing area, as we are increasingly finding that advertisers are using green claims to sell their products and services and to give them an edge over their rivals.
"They are jumping on the bandwagon about their green claims, but as we make more and more adjudications we are building up a body of solid evidence.
"Whether it's wind turbines or airlines or cars with claims about CO2 emissions, the claims have to be accurate and the companies have to be able to justify that. My message is that erroneous claims will not slip through the net."


On a similar theme, Robert Half have released a report on CSR within businesses. Order your free copy from the company's site.

Those shamrocks are looking a little less green than usual

What on earth goes on over in Ireland? Well, whatever it is, they've managed to fairly conclusively top the Telegraph's list of worst polluting regions. Have a look at the full list here. And just to rub it in, the city of London is right down the bottom - go Ken!

Could Peanut Butter & Jelly Save the World???

How many thought leadership pieces does it take...

Good morning all! Now, marketing is all about communication, correct? Well, a recent sruvey (yes, I know, another one...) from EcoAlign (a new green marketing company) "confirms a green gap exists around terms such as energy efficiency, energy conservation, demand response, smart energy and clean energy, and customers’ understanding, acceptance and perceptions of value around those terms".

In all fairness, I'm a bit stuck when it comes to 'demand response'. And 'smart energy'? Is that American for something? Just like any other sector, we need to squish the jargon and keep it simple. Not sure it should have taken a survey of 1000 to work that out...

Thursday 22 November 2007

Green takes on a celebrity sheen, and Brown faces some tough choices.

Not the noisiest of days on the green telephone today, however, we do have a bit of glamour for you. Just to make all that hemp a little more attractive, Colin Firth will be opening a new store called 'Eco' in London next month (Thanks Ecorazzi!). But no, it doesn't seem he'll be serviong behind the counter. Not regularly, anyway.

On a less glamorous note, Gordon Brown will be receiving proposals for both the new Heathrow runway and the UK's first new coal fired power station in 30 years tomorrow. And we have a climate criminal on our hands! Cobra Beer have been caught misbehaving, and have been fined 25.8k for neglecting to recover and recycle upwards of 1000 tonnes of waste!

Unexpectedly, 4x4s are to go carbon friendly, with the announcement of the new 2009 Chevrolet Silverado,the world's first two mode hybrid pick up truck.

But it's business as usual for the politicians. we've had a couple of reports in today from the National Audit Office and Renewables Advisory Board: Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, has encouraged the Carbon Trust to do more to help cut Britain's emissions. According to the Telegraph, the report identified that "less than 40 per cent of the carbon savings identified by the Carbon Trust between 2003 and 2006 had so far been implemented." Meanwhile, the RAB has produced a report on the governments targets for new homes to be zero-carbon by 2016. To find out what all the squabbling's about, read more.

In other news, Ecogeek speaks to Dell's Head of Environmental Affairs on their recent greening.

Fight climate change with good design

Treehugger has brought Thomas Matthews' sustainable design philosophy to the fore, and they go a bit further than reduce, reuse, re-cycle. For ten top tips have a look at the company's site here:

http://thomasmatthews.com/

Wednesday 21 November 2007

You could be taking a gamble on the world's future...

... quite literally!

Greenbang have brought to our attention a new feature launched by Betfair: a series of innovative betting markets which will provide clear indications of how public opinion views the on-going debate about climate change, by allowing people to speculate on climate indices developed to track the extent (or otherwise) of global warming.

What will they think of next?

Oops...

... Sainsbury's hasn't sworn off palm oil after all - they've just promised to use the sustainable stuff. Consider me corrected!

BT talks green again. (But still very coherently!)

Also on BusinessGreen today, Tim Smart of BT writes on how CSR has evolved.
"CSR has become central to the business in a way it never used to be," he writes. CSR is now not only a mechanism for avoiding risk - it can also actively stimulate growth.

Read the article.

Brown's follow-through begins.

Having been slightyl suspicious that Brown was merely adding to toxic emissions by speakign on Monday, I am thoroughly rebuked. Following on from his comments on carbon captuire and storage, today we hear about he first phase of a European-Chinese partnership to nearly eliminate carbon-dioxide emissions from coal plants in China, launched today in Beijing.
The Near Zero Emissions Coal initiative is funded by the British government (!!!) and it's intended to demonstrate technology that would capture carbon dioxide from coal exhaust and inject it underground.

Can we have one too???

PS. In a rather surprising revelation, Wired posts on the Greenpeace founder's support for nuclear technology!!!

Palm oil and the chemicals industry (not all at once, though.)

Bayer launched their group-wide climate programme yesterday. It has, in fact, already begun working on the first lighthouse projects: a global concept for zero-emission buildings for offices and other industrial buildings known as the “EcoCommercial Building”, the development of stress-tolerant plants and systems to encourage the effective use of crops for biofuels, and the "Bayer Climate Check" for optimizing production processes. Bayer will also invest EUR 1 billion in climate-related research and development and other projects in the next three years. Find out more here.

Sainsbury's have finally taken the plunge and banned palm oil - I give the fellow supermarkets a week before they dive after them in a lemming-like fashion (though hopefully with a more pleasant end, for the orangutans anyway.)

Companies lack direction - Investors demand it.

On the research front today, we're learning more about investors thanks to a new survey from Standard Life Investments has revealed that investors still back carbon intensive companies, but only if they are making an effort to limit their impact. Eight of investors' top ten concerns were environmental (Thanks BusinessGreen! - Read more). A Saga survey reveals that only 12% of businesses think the government does enough to help them with environmental issues. (See Greenbang for more!). Has every possible green survey been done yet? I suppose we'll see tomorrow...

The climate is right for trains...

Ok, this wins the prize for the cutest website ever! Have just astonished my colleagues with my cries of glee (yes, glee!) at the awesome animated menus and general fabulousness of www.theclimateisrightfortrains.com

The menus, in particular, are a joy to behold.

Enjoy!

Tuesday 20 November 2007

Viva! ads


It's raining fish.

Fish
Whales, tuna, cod... the headlines are decidedly piscine today. What with the dumping of fish to meet quotas, the rejection of a ban on bluefin tuna, and the resumption of humpback-hunting, it's a bad week to have fins. Thought the sheer quantity of news deserved its own section. This will probably never happen again. Ever.

Politics
Green Alliance prompts the government to ensure that all households have a smartmeter installed in a new report, letting the residents know at a glance how much energy they're using.
Terry Macallistair reports on the incongruity between Gordon Brown's speech yesterday and plans for a new generation of coal fired power stations. Yep, think I see where he's going with that one... Read more.
Polly Toynbee also comments on Brown's speech here...
As does John Vidal.

Gordon Green and the fourth technological revolution...

Brown pressed for “governing, not gimmickry”, as he outlined Britain’s future programme to combat climate change.

Tough targets, including a potential increase of the UK’s 60% cut by 2050 to 8-0%, and a “fourth technological revolution” were at the top of his agenda. Brown expressed absolute commitment to Europe’s 2020 targets on renewable energy – targets which will be revealed over the coming months.

The biggest impact for consumers will come in the form of a mission to end the use of plastic bags, and provide advice on home energy use through a new helpline and free audit service.

Industry will find itself further targeted: Britain will be pressing for a more ambitios target on emissions from new cars of 100 grammes per kilometre by 2020, or no later than 2025. By 2016, all new houses will have to be zero carbon. And from 2010 we will also introduce carbon trading in the UK for large but less energy-intensive businesses - offices, supermarkets, commerce and public sector organisations.

Brown also outlines his intentions for December’s talks in Bali: a global carbon market; "binding emissions caps" for all developed countries; and an assurance that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak within 10-15 years and then reduce by at least half by 2050.

Startling statistics reveal how far we have to go. In Britain we now produce some 654 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. By 2050 we need to be producing between just 155 and 310 million tonnes - less than half as much in an economy which will be two and a half times its present size. The government calculates that within four decades each pound of GDP needs to produce just one sixth to one twelfth of the CO2 equivalent it does today.

Low-carbon energy will be key, and Brown announced a competition to build one of the world's first commercial CCS coal projects, demonstrating the full chain of CO2 capture, transport and storage. Investment in wave, wind, and biomass energy will have to increase.

All in all, a realistic and practical response. Some of my faith has been restored… All that remains is to see if these ideas can be translated into action.

Full text

Green Google

Monday 19 November 2007

The power of the wind.

A conclusion on the climate from the IPCC

Saturday saw the release of the latest IPCC report: the Synthesis Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment. Key points include:

  • There is potential for the earth to warm by an average of 6 degrees over the next century: this would be disasterous.
  • Eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank among the twelve warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature (since 1850).
  • Continued GHG emissions at or above current rates would cause further warming and induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21st century that would very likely be larger than those observed during the 20th century
  • There is a very likely increase in frequency of hot extremes, heat waves, and heavy precipitation
  • There is high confidence that by mid-century, annual river runoff and water availability are projected to increase at
    high latitudes (and in some tropical wet areas) and decrease in some dry regions in the mid-latitudes and tropics.
    Up tp 30% of species are a risk of extinction.
    Up to 5% of global GDP could be lost
    Tropical diseases will spread
  • Sea levels could rise by 23 inches by 2100
  • It has been suggested by the IPCC that a suitable price for carbon emissions would be $80 per tonne. Read more from BusinessGreen on the IPCC and carbon pricing

The report.

Watch the press conference

Drowning in a deluge of standards

Business

  • The Carbon Trust is offering free workshops to help businesses measure their carbon footprint.
  • A new standard has been launched for sustainable events: BS8901. Read more
  • Innovest has launched a study called Carbon Beta and Equity Performance, which compares the success of companies with and those without environmental risk management plans. Chicken or egg, anyone?
  • IATA has warned the IPCC that any attempt to include airlines in the European emission trading scheme will meet severe opposition.
  • Lucy Aitken writes on Greenwash in today's Guardian. Eurostar's transparency gains them her approval, but GE and the major supermarkets don't fare so well. She also provides a great run-down of some of the key green advertisers and how well they each live up to their promises. Read more.
  • Try a toilet audit to clean up your environmental conscience, courtesy of The Guardian.
  • The new Voluntary Carbon Standard launches today. Read more from the Climate Group.
  • OPEC is promoting carbon capture and storage as an emission-reduction mechanism.

Advertising
  • Heather Mills isfronting a new campaign by animal rights charity Viva!. The adverts speak out against the emissions created by the meat industry, and promote vegetarianism as a more ethical choice. According to Viva!, livestock are the second biggest cause of greenhouse gases, with a contribution of 18% compared to 13.5% from all the world's different modes of transport combined. But what about beans??? (Sorry, crude I know...)

Politics

  • A Green Fiscal Commission has been launched to examine issues of green taxation. Both potential rewards and penalties will fall under the remit of its investigaion.
  • The budget for tackling climate change will be cut by 300 million, due to DEFRA shortfalls, it was announced on Friday. Read more.
  • A new Green Homes Service is to offer audits to help people go green. Hilary Benn comments, "The Green Homes Service will cut through the confusion by providing a one-stop shop, including a green MOT for your home and a green home makeover." Read more.
  • The Independent notes a drop in grants for low carbon homes. Read more.
  • Brown will be giving his first major speech on the environment today.
  • The Working Group on Climate Change and Development claims that climate change will reverse decades of social progress in Asia. Read more.

Science
  • The Independent covers the growing acidity of our seas, as revealed in the latest IPCC report. Read more.

Society
  • Great statistic from the Telegraph: half of the world's carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels come from the half billion richest people in the world. That's about 7 per cent of us. So are the rich really the worst climate criminals? Read more

Thursday 15 November 2007

What actually happens when you recycle???


A slower day today, but a couple of interesting smaller initiatives have popped up...

Business

  • Honda announced today that it has begun using the Home Energy Station IV at its Honda R&D Americas, Inc. facility in Torrance, California. This fourth-generation experimental unit is designed to provide fuel for a hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle, as well as heat and electricity for a home.
  • The Independent writes about Unpackaged, an Islington shop where you do more than just bring your own shopping bag...
  • Worried about your online footprint? Go to CO2 Stats to offset your website's emissions...
  • A league table has been published by Carbon Monitoring for Action on power station emissions, with Australia topping the tables, the US in second place, and the UK only slightly lower in ninth position. This article from The Telegraph also names and shames the 100 dirtiest power stations in the UK. Read more.
  • Business Green reports on the UN's new electronic carbon trading system

Politics
  • The Lib Dems will be pushing for an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050.
  • Ken Livingstone announced plans to trial five hydrogen fuel cell buses and five powered by hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engines in London this week.

Science

Lifestyle
  • The Guardian reports on how to drive greener, without changing your car...

Wednesday 14 November 2007

ISO 14001: the movie

News from the EAC

The Government Response to the Committee’s Seventh Report of Session 2006-07: Beyond Stern: From the Climate Change Programme Review to the Draft Climate Change Bill was published as the Committee’s Ninth Special Report of Session 2006-07, HC 1110, at 11.00am on Tuesday 13 November 2007.

Are Biofuels Sustainable?

This is the second evidence session on Are biofuels sustainable, held on Tuesday 20 November, Grimond Room, Portcullis House.

Attendees:
Foley, Head of Sustainable Development and Chris Hewett, Policy Development Manager, Environment Agency

Marcus Yeo, Director of Resources & External Affairs and Jessica Magnus, EU Policy Adviser, The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
Peter Kendall, President & Guy Gagen, Head of Combinable Crops, National Farmers Union (NFU)Greg Archer, Director & Jessica Chalmers, Programme Manager, Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership
Professor Richard Bateman, Head of Policy, and Professor Roland Clift, Biosciences FederationDr Dominick Spracklen, Institute for Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds

Environmental Labelling
This is the first evidence session on Environmental Labelling, held on Wednesday 14 November 2007, Committee Room 20

Attendees:
2.30pmNational Union of Farmers for England and Wales (NFU)
3.10pmMarks and Spencer
3.50pmThe Carbon Trust

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Climate tips of the day...

Kitchen gadgets. Fun, colourful, a complete nightmare to clean, and generally rather useless.

Sick of cappucino-foam-whisking-space-consuming-battery-draining-mini-whisks? Well, here's a better kitchen gadget for those who have neither the garden space nor the desire to go out in the cold to have a proper compost heap. Now, for the city-slicking metrosexual, you can have your very own kitchen wormery!

13 Inches high, it comes with its own live worms. Never again will you be at a loss for what to do with your potato peelings. Have a look!

http://www.eco2you.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=276

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March for change whilst on your solar powered bluetooth headset... It's all about the outdoors folks!

Business

  • The BBC is weighing up possible stances on climate change, as Roger Harrabin and Richard Black argue that there is no need always to balance the corporation's coverage of climate change when the consensus is that it's happening, is serious, but manageable if tackled urgently
  • With the opening of the new Eurostar terminal at St Pancras today, emissions from cross-channel travel have been reduced. The company is also absorbing the cost of offsetting the emission which are released each journey. Details of the company's Tread Lightly initiative can be found here.
  • According to BusinessGreen, Xerox claims it has saved $2bn since 1991 by cutting the waste it has sent to landfill.
  • Speaking at the Guardian News and Media motor industry lunch yesterday, trade and investment minister Lord Jones warned against demonising the car industry and driving manufacturers elsewhere. Read more.
  • Greenbang takes a look at Microsoft.
  • Nokia tells us through Reuters that it's working on new energy-saving products to try to reduce its impact on the environment. It fails, however, to tell us what they are. Greenwash anyone?
  • Orange have created a solar powered bluetooth device! Yey for orange! Read more. (Thanks to Greenbang.com for this one)
  • Sainsbury's has seen the use of its free carrier bags significantly drop in the last six months, suggesting that its 16 million customers are beginning to abandon the single-trip carrier bag in favour of longer-life re-usable bags (the use of which has increased 50%). Finally it's catching on... The sharp decline in free carrier bags follows Sainsbury's first two 'Make the difference' days when Sainsbury's was the first UK supermarket to remove free, disposable carrier bags from check-outs and instead offer free re-usable 'Bags for Life'. Sainsbury's will repeat its day of action for its next 'Make the difference' event that will run over the weekend, from Saturday 17th to Sunday 18th November 2007.

Politics

  • Greenpeace approves of something for once - their climbers scaled the front of St Pancras station today to hang a giant banner reading "Yes", presumably celebrating the new, shorter alternative to high-emissions aviation.
  • A National Climate Day March will take place on the 8th of December.Assemble on Millbank at 12 noon for the main march [Westminster Tube]. At 2.30 pm there will be a rally at the US embassy. Speakers include Chris Huhne MP, Michael Meacher MP, Caroline Lucas MEP, Zac Goldsmith, and George Monbiot. Book the day out in your diary folks!

Science

  • Cod face a new threat - not happy with regular fish and chips consumption, we're now forcing them to deal with climate change too. A report in today's Telegraph covers a study by Prof Bigg at the University of Sheffield which shows that "With regard to future climate change, it is clear that the acceptable habitat will retreat poleward significantly as temperatures warm,"
  • The Telegraph reports some bizarre, spring-like behaviour from nature after an exceptionally mild autumn. Read more here.
  • Is Plastic always bad? Treehugger reports on an article which suggests you plastic drinking vessel may actually be relatively eco-friendly...
  • RealClimate responds to Monday's list of climate scepticisms on the BBC.

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Tuesday 13 November 2007

The IPCC presents...

A fantastic presentation from the IPCC - all the scientific data on Climate Change you ever needed.

http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/docs/Solomon_IPCCWG1.ppt

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Ban the bag

A Q&A from the Guardian

A busy day for Greenpeace.

Business

  • Intel has adopted the sunflower as the emblem of its new Penryn family of processors. Intriguingly, the sunflower has the power to pull lead from the soil - just as lead has been eliminated from the new processor.
  • More on the plastic bag ban in london...
  • Great article on the automotive industry and the pressures it faces from BusinessGreen

Advertising

  • A bizarre exchange of adverts is taking place in Kansas. Have a look here

Science

  • The Telegraph reports on hydrogen power, detailing a new method that relies on bacteria in a specially designed reactor that can efficiently produce hydrogen fuel from any type of biodegradable organic matter. The faces behind the science, Dr Shaoan Cheng and Prof Bruce Logan of Penn State University, report on their findings today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. And yes, following in the footsteps of great minds before them, the name is equally as complex as the theories behind it: electrohydrogenesis.

Politics
  • Greenpeace gives a heated response to the government's intention of offsetting it's flight emissions:
    "This is just plain hypocritical of the government," says Charlie Kronick. "Off-setting is a book-keeping trick that can't stop climate change, because once you've burned jet fuel at altitude there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop your emissions changing the climate. If ministers were serious about reducing greenhouse gases from aviation they'd shelve plans for new runways and airports."
    Not sure if I agreee with them about the value of offsetting, but their second point does have some validity. The govt needs to do a bit of joined-up thinking here.
  • British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his visiting Hungary counterpart Ferenc Gyurcsany pledged on Monday to work together within the European Union to bring progress on economic, environmental and security issues. In a joint statement after bilateral talks at Downing Street No.10, Brown and Gyurcsany said the enlarged EU had the opportunity to become a "genuinely global player" with the signing of the EU Treaty at the informal European Council in Lisbon last month.
  • The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties will be held soon in Bali, to discuss the post-Kyoto framework. An extensive article from ths WBCSD can be found here.
    Greenpeace have launched a video about the conference:







Monday 12 November 2007

What do the sceptics really believe?

In a fantastic series of articles this week, the BBC examines climate change scepticism. Far from denying that the earth is getting warmer, many climate change sceptics actually agree that, in principle, rising GHGs should lead to rising temperatures. So where do they differ from those they attack so fervently?

The BBC publishes the responses of scientist-sceptics in an attempt to get to the bottom of it all, and some of the responses to their arguments. Definitely worth a read.

Unravelling the Sceptics

Climate Scepticisms: the top 10

Small businesses can be green businesses - without splashing the cash.

The BBC speaks to Martin Gibson, Director of Envirowise, about how small businesses can best implement environmental practices. He recommends a five step procedure, giving the example of waste management:

  • Eliminate: avoid generating potential waste. For example, ask your suppliers to find ways of reducing the amount of packaging used or look at the possibility of employing re-usable packaging such as plastic crates.
  • Reduce: think about the quantity of products you buy e.g. coffee. Buy in bulk where possible, and you will reduce the amount of waste packaging you produce.
  • Re-use: there may be opportunities to re-use items normally thrown away after their initial use. Talk to your suppliers about supplying products in reusable containers.
  • Recycle: once the amount of packaging has been reduced and re-used as much as possible, consider recycling waste materials. Speak to your Local Authority or waste disposal contractor.
  • Dispose: you can even reduce the cost of disposing items that must be thrown away, by squashing boxes as flat as possible or breaking down bulky items.
Full article

IPCC reports, green packaging, and too many gaseous cows.

Business

  • GreenBusiness writes about Virgin Games' green datacentre.
  • Green employees - a great insight on a recent Ipsos MORI survey from Marketing Green. Article.
  • Dennis Salazar reflects on how the packaging industry may be impacted by the green trend. Article.

Politics
  • The Lib Dems have spoken out against GM crops, after a Defra survey showed the majority of members of the public are against commercial planting of GM varieties.
  • The Independent publishes comments from Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Association's Environment Board, on recent figures showing that we recycle or compost 30% of our waste. Bettison says: "Britain is still the dustbin of Europe, throwing more waste into landfill than any other country in the EU. While these figures are a move in the right direction, there is an inescapable need to do more."
  • London Councils has annouced its intention to reduce plastic bag usage in the capital, through either an outright ban or a tax on the offending articles. But what of that favourite landmark, the shredded bag billowing in the trees? Alas...
  • The government has announced a carbon offsetting fund to cover flights made by the royal household and central government departments.
  • The Observer reports that three out of four councils in the UK have no plan in place to reduce and monitor carbon emissions. Read more...
  • Parliament gets greener - at a cost of £20 million. Slight inconsitency with it's lack of foresight on a national scale, methinks...

Science
  • The IPCC's synthesis report will be released later this week. A draft already indicates that a decline in GHG emissions must begin before 2015, and that a third of our species are threatened with extinction if temperatures continue to rise.
  • Leo Hickman writes in the Guardian about climate change and the folly of crying wolf...
  • Taking meat off the menu could be a positive course of action, suggests a report from the Food Climate Research Network. A new report is to warn that the livestock industry generates 8 per cent of all UK greenhouse gas emissions - and that means not only meat products but also dairy. Vegans may have something after all...
  • The founder of the Weather Channel calls global warming a scam... read more...

George Monbiot on greenwashing

This screened back in March, but makes fascinating viewing.









Friday 9 November 2007

Thinking and breathing go into competition.

Earlier this month, the Co-operative Bank launched "think", a credit card which offers a lower rate of interest for designated ethical purchases and a package of other benefits, whilst at the same time helping to save the rainforest.

I'm guessing this is going to go head to head with Barclaycard's "breathe". The similarity of the names shows how far green has permeated our language: stillness and contemplation infuse these names as much as any whale song cd or swaying wind chime.

MTV Switch adverts

A series of adverts for the MTVSwitch site have just been loaded to youtube, driving traffic to http://www.mtvswitch.org/ Ok, I'm a bit late, and it did launch in June, but here're some of the ads anyway:







IT industry under the spotlight.

Business

  • The Climate Group launched a study yesterday on the role the ICT sector plays in preventing or facilitating climate change. Though the sector currently accounts for less than 2% of global GHG emissions, the group is eager to assess its exact impact and its potential role in moving to a low carbon economy. Meanwhile, The451Group has released a report on green IT, reviewed here by BusinessGreen
  • General Electric has published a case study on the impact of new process and water technologies.
  • Recycling can be costly, at least that's the case if you're ASAP Ventures, the buyer of the recycle.co.uk domain name. They parted with £150000 for the privilege of informing us all about recycling.
  • The renewables industry is booming, accordingto BusinessGreen
  • ACI will be holding a Green Retail conference in London on 20-21 February 2008. To get a full brochure or to register, please contact Anais Donnee of ACI on +44 (0) 207 981 2503 or adonnee@acius.net.

Consumers

Science
  • The Guardian discusses the benefits of phytoplankton
  • A fascinating article on the phenomenon of 'greenup' on Wired argues that changing patterns in the spring greening of plants reflect climate change.

Thursday 8 November 2007

Wednesday 7 November 2007

Robotic goats and biofuel worries

Business

  • Time to Get Tough - Terry MacAllistair writes about companies' CO2 emission disclosures, and why he thinks disclosure should be mandatory.
  • IBM has started offering verification certificates to third parties who reduce their data centre energy use.
  • Greenpeace has released a report on the impact of palm oil pantations in Indonesia which accuses a number of corporates including Nestle, Unilever, and P&G of irresponsible sourcing. I'm feeling slightly guilty about the kitkat bar on my desk, as they allege it has been produced using palm oil from uncertified sources. Supply chains, once again, are hitting the spotlight with a bang. Read the full report here.
  • The NY Times includes a special section today on green business. Read more...
  • E.ON launched its Carbon Footyprint campaign on Tuesday, which will encourage fans to make simple energy saving changes to help cut their own emissions. And yes, pledges, inevitably, mean prizes...


Politics
  • An Environmental Audit Committee evidence session on the sustainability of Biofuels will be held on Tuesday. Attendees include: Biofuels Corporation, British Sugar, Renewable Energy Association, Environmental Industries Commission (run by a guy called Merlin!!!), The Energy Crops Company, Friends of the Earth and WWF.

Science
  • The Telegraph reports on a proposal to increase sea alkalinity in order to boost its CO2 absorbing properties.

Education
  • Living a paperless life? Well, you could be.. A light-hearted article from Micro Persuasion explains how.
  • Treehugger has pushed the Hippo Works website into the limelight: a cartoon-based educational resource with a new section on climate change. Worth a look for teachers, parents, and anyone who still thinks lollipops and plimsols are cool.

And a crazy one to finish...

Do your customers have eco-fatigue?

The offending advert


Flowers, calculators, and a dark dystopian disaster...

Consumers

  • Charles Clover writes in the telegraph that our recycling figures are up this year, to 31% of all rubbish (in England). We're now recycling 29.1 million tonnes of the stuff a year!
Business
  • Google has launched its own carbon calculator as part of it's igoogle service. It was only a matter of time, really. Has anyone created on of these for facebook yet???
  • Shell has been rapped over the knuckles for it's excessively floral advertising, as the ASA upholds a complaint from Friends of the Earth over adverts released earlier this year.
  • Have you greened your IT? Greenbang reports today that: 80 per cent of executives surveyed at US businesses told analyst firm IDC that ‘Green IT’ is growing in importance for their organisation. And 43 per cent said they consider a vendor’s ‘greenness’ when selecting their suppliers.
Politics

  • The Green Party has branded Brown's vision for the future a "dark, dystopian disaster" in their response to the Queen's Speech.

Tuesday 6 November 2007

Innocent's online campaign


Bulletin - Bring your own bag

The end of the plastic bag is nigh... M&S have just announced that, next year customers in many of their stores will be shelling out 5p for each unfriendly receptacle they use. And thankfully, they've pre-empted the question: yes, profits from the sale of the bags will go to environmental causes.

Vegetarian Society Advert...


Monday 5 November 2007

Today's crop: rapeseed fuel, the Queen, and CFL recycling...


Business

  • Waitrose is to trial a new fuel in its lorries: rapeseed. Read more in The Times
  • General Electric has named a new vice president for environmental programmes: Ann R. Klee.
  • Ikea has announced its intention to offer free CFL recycling (they've got a bit of mercury in - not the friendliest substance). Expect the rush to begin in about ten years time.
  • Solar industry consolidation ups pace, with the German manufacturer Q-Cells last week announcing its intention to acquire US partner Solar Fields LLC. Sharp is also stepping up production of its thin film solar cells. Read more at BusinessGreen
  • Research from The Interactive Annual Report Company reveals the cost of transparency: according to theri calculations, each FTSE 350 company destroys 168 trees on average each year. I hate to think how many of those are sustainability reports...
  • Greenbang is hunting for London's greenest office. If it could be you, let them know: ratemyoffice@greenbang.com
  • Climate change will be high on the agenda for the CBI this month. Their annual conference, on 26-27 November, will feature David Cameron alongside several business leaders debating the topic.

Politics

  • The Queen's Speech outlined a Bill to make the UK the first country in the world to introduce a legally-binding framework to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The 2050 target of at least 60% co2 reductions has been confirmed, alongside an energy bill which foreshadows a new generation of nuclear plants - built by private companies.
  • Lady Young, Chief Exec of the Environment Agency, has compared climate change to World War Three in its scale and potential impact. Read more...
  • The Department of Transport has announced the creation of a Renewable Fuels Agency. Professor Ed Gallagher will chair the Agency, which will have responsibility for the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation, coming into force next April.

Science

In Depth: The GreenList 2007


If you missed a moment of this year’s environmental activity, This is the publication to hunt down today. Published in The Guardian, it contains everything from an overview of the year to commentary on national and international politics and business activities.

Zara Maung reports on inconsistencies in the policies of a government which is at once aiming to promote public transport and expand road and air travel, pointing out that in Ruth Kelly’s recent report, actual investment in public transport infrastructure was lower on the list of priorities than promises to expand the size of airports. David Deans assesses emissions trading and asks what difference it will really make. And Murray Armstrong takes a look at London, and the efforts it’s making to green itself.

Armstrong’s review of those companies which disclosed their emissions to the CDP reveals two distinct reporting standards, the internationally accepted greenhouse gas protocol, and an earlier standard from Defra. Those emissions created by an organisations supply chain, he notes, are not yet included in the survey, however, a system to measure them is currently being researched: it’s only a matter of time.


The extraction industry comes under scrutiny from Terry Macallister, who questions the contradictory goals of reducing environmental impact whilst expanding an energy-intensive business. And in The Hall of Shame, Sally Uren offers us a list of climate criminals: Walmart, Exxonmobil, Shell, BP, General Motors, Daimler Chrysler, Toyota (surely not the maker of the Prius!), Total, and Conoco Phillips.


However, the investment made by these companies into renewable technologies is also noted by Uren, ranging from Toyota’s 13.8% of total annual capital to Shell’s 1.1%.


Back to the green goodies, and Helena Carter is singing The Coop’s praises following their acquisition of British Renewable Energy Pioneer award for 2007. Virtually all the company’s energy comes from renewable sources, making the group one of the largest purchasers of green electricity in the world.


And there’s lots more. This report is a great chance to look back at the key issues fo this year, and though it only offers snapshots, it does give a guide on which standards agencies and clients may be judged by in the future.

The GreenList

Environmental Labelling

Having decided to make everyone's lives easier by condensing most things into one post, I've just tracked down something else to put in. Sorry!
The Environmental Audit Committee will be holding their first evidence session on Environmental Labelling on Wednesday, hearing from LEAF and Tesco. As ever, the hearing is public.

Brazilian Commercial – guess the strapline.

An exploding car is not an environmentally friendly car.

The Guardian Greenlist has been published, a year on from the Stern Report. It reveals that only 48 of the top 100 companies trading on the UK stock exchange have published a plan to address and reduce their carbon emissions and a significant minority refuse even to reveal their carbon footprint.

According to a
BBC Poll, four out of five people say they are prepared to change their lifestyle. I wonder, however, if we’ll ever get on and do it? That human instinct of “I will if he does” suggests those sacrifices could be a long time coming.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), WWF and the RSPB, are urging the government to up its emissions reductions targets to 80%, claiming the current target of 60% is out of date. Crucially, the study includes in its methodology emissions from international aviation. However, it does baffle me how we can come up with any ‘absolute’ target at all – so much depends on international action.

G-Wiz has taken a bit of a blow – the new model, apparently, suffers from an occasional issue – bursting into flames! A total of 629 G-Wiz cars – about two-thirds of the number on Britain's roads – have been recalled and repaired because their battery chargers may be prone to overheating.
Read more

Further reading:
Environmentalism as business strategy – The Guardian
Consumer power – The Guardian
The Deceit Behind Global Warming – The Independent
Should I recycle the waste from carbon offsetting? – The Times
Volatile energy prices demand new form of management – BusinessGreen

Saturday 3 November 2007

Do it in the dark...

Greenthing Green Thing have launched their monthly challenge. Make a beeline for their site to see the latest videos offering inspiration and just a touch of humour.

consuming the earth cartoon

Excess packaging need not apply...

Chiquita have just launched a new range of bananas, pacaged in a way which apparently extends their shelf life by a week. I must confess, LandecsisgI'm not the biggest fan of this move. Does the world need more packaging? Surely that's the advantage of the humble banana - it comes ready-wrapped!

Greening your business

Great article from Fast Company on 50 ideas:

Defining Green Brand Leadership

Events: Green Marketing Conference

2nd Annual Green Marketing

Wednesday 28th November 2007
Location: Jury's, 16-22 Great Russell Street, London

14 leading brands share key insights on how to develop, sustain and communicate green initiatives.

Read more: www.centaurconferences.co.uk/greenmarketing.ashx

Awards: Honda F1

The Honda Racing F1 Team won two prestigious awards at the 2007 Green Awards which were held at the London Guildhall. The team’s environmental myearthdream initiative won its nominated category of Best PR Campaign, and the Grand Prix award for the best overall campaign.

Consumerism under attack

On November the 24th, it's official "Buy Nothing Day". Get ready to leave your wallets at home, folks.

Living the ethical life

A couple of interesting articles from the Guardian about how the companies we invest in and buy from contradict our ethical behaviours.

Direct Mail takes a hit

Notably, we received a mailer from John Lewis today on their new London foodhall - they went slightly OTT on the paper usage, causing even my non-recyclign flatmate to exclaim in horror! No brownie points for you!

Research: Defra publishes survey on green consumerism

Some key stats:

Four in ten people felt they knew a lot about environmental issues
Over half knew nothing about the term 'carbon footprint'
Those of higher social grades were more likely to see environmental issues as a concern

Thursday 1 November 2007

World Energy Congress

...begins today in Rome!

Wednesday 31 October 2007

BT Thought Leadership on environmental business opportunities...

A major international study by the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by BT, has revealed that organizations are failing to realize business benefits from sustainability programs. While almost half (46 per cent) said that sustainability programs helped improve brand value, just one in five (20 per cent) felt they improved profitability.

The research indicates that, while sustainability may be firmly on the boardroom agenda as organizations compete for a 'responsible' reputation, executives have yet to find a way to harness it as a commercial force. One third (33 per cent) of respondents admitted that their company only makes sustainability efforts in markets where it is perceived to have an impact on customers' perceptions of the firm, and a similar proportion (31 per cent) admitted that their company's sustainability efforts mostly center on communication, rather than actual change.

Tuesday 30 October 2007

Intel makes its insides greener.

Intel have announced that theirs new chip factory (Fab32) is among the company's most environmentally friendly, incorporating a number of energy and water conservation measures. Intel intends to certify the facility as the company's first official Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards factory based on new criteria being developed for Fabs by the Green Building Council.

Friday 26 October 2007

Temporary disruption

 
I'm off to Iceland for the week, so forgive the more sporadic updating. Back on the 2nd!