In other news... 5/02

MPs in the Treasury Committee have called for a climate change minister to coordinate activities. More...
Sir Jonathan Porritt speaks to the Independent. More...
CCS controversy hits the broadsheets. More...
RealClimate introduces the IPCC model simulation archive. More...
EnviroWonk's guide to Super Tuesday. More...
Greener gift cards from Toys R Us. More...

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

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...