Carbon Footprints

A pair of Great Tits

The BBC is reporting some good news on the climate for a change in a story Great tits cope well with warming.

Researchers found that great tits are laying eggs earlier in the spring than they used to, keeping step with the earlier emergence of caterpillars.

Writing in the journal Science, they point out that the same birds in the Netherlands have not managed to adjust. Understanding why some species in some places are affected more than others by climatic shifts is vital, they say.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commented that other species are likely to fare much worse than great tits as temperatures rise.

While this may be good news for the Tits, it’s about the only bird in the UK that seems to be adapting to the changed seasons. The changing climate spells a disaster for many species with predictions of up to 50% of species we know and love today being extinct within 40 years. Action today is critical. Economists are quick to point out that the costs of acting today are a fraction of the costs of inaction, or delayed action. But for many species of animals and plants the costs of inaction or delay are permanent, irreversible annihilation. No amount of money can bring whole species back from the dead. — DS

Technorati Tags: biodiversity, birds, climate change, disrupted nature, global warming, Great Tits, species loss, UK

Australia’s Future Climate is quite well modeled and the results of that modeling have been made available online.:

Our future climate will depend on greenhouse gas emissions, so the regional projections are available for low, mid-range and high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. These scenarios were developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and are based on various assumptions about demographic, economic and technological factors likely to influence future emissions.

The regional projections are relative to the period 1980-1999. For convenience, the baseline is called 1990.

Projections are given for 2030, 2050 and 2070. The projections give an estimate of the average climate around these years under future greenhouse gas emission scenarios, taking into account the consistency among climate models. Individual years will, of course, show some variation from this average.

Note that not all of the uncertainty associated with projecting future global and regional climate change can be easily quantified. Changes outside the ranges given here, and particularly those beyond the upper limit of the ranges given for 2070, cannot be excluded, although the likelihood of this occurrence cannot be estimated at this stage.

The site also has a section on observed changes. Enjoy. — DS

Technorati Tags: Australia, climate change, drought, emissions reduction, farmers, forest fire, global warming

On Wednesday I gave a talk at the 2008 Australian Carbon Trading Expo in Melbourne called “The Train is Leaving: Implications for Business of the new Carbon Constrained Economy,” which just so happens to be the title of the book I am currently writing. The slides above give you some idea of what I talked about. The book should be ready in a couple of months. Enjoy. — DS

Technorati Tags: Australia, business, carbon credits, carbon neutral, carbon offsetting, Carbon Planet, climate change, climate optimism, climate porn, economics, education, emissions reduction, emissions trading, emissions trading scheme, global warming, IPCC, Kyoto Protocol, NETS, NGAC, NGER Act 2007, origination

Conservative British flagship paper The Times has a great story Top 12 UK farmers’ markets.

Dirty dozen: the best of Britain’s 600 local-produce markets where you can buy muddy carrots and misshapen fruit that tastes as it should.

1. St Giles farmers’ market, Shipbourne, Kent
2. Winchester farmers’ market, Hampshire
3. Stroud farmers’ market, Gloucestershire
4. Kings Norton farmers’ market, Birmingham
5. Cardiff Riverside farmers’ market
6. Wirral Urban farmers’ market, New Ferry (alas no link)
7. Hexham farmers’ market, Northumberland
8. Alnwick farmers’ market, Northumberland
9. Orton farmers’ market, Cumbria
10. Haverfordwest farmers’ market, Pembrokeshire
11. Bristol Slow Food market
12. Edinburgh farmers’ market, Scotland

There’s a real joy to be had in buying fresh local produce direct from the farmers. The food just tastes better, for one thing. Some years ago my wife and I made a commitment to not shop from large supermarkets unless we really had to. We noticed almost immediately that we went from having a full rubbish bin each week to hardly ever coming close to a quarter-full bin per month. Suddenly we were not accumulating plastic bags, plastic wrapping, plastic and polystyrene base-plates. By thinking about what we were going to eat throughout the week, and then buying what we needed, rather than popping into the supermarket each night to get stuff we thought we might like, we cut our food bill by 25%. We bought a worm farm and, a year later have good enough soil that our home crop of herbs and tomatoes is booming. Eating local, eating fresh, eating seasonal; these are easy ways to both help the planet, help the farmers and improve your quality of life. — DS

Technorati Tags: emissions reduction, farmers, farmers’ market, farms, food, food waste, fresh food, gardening, real food

In 1999 the ABC TV in Australia broadcast an episode of Four Corners, a show whose theme music for is entrenched into the mind of most Australians my age I suspect. This particular episode, the last for the year, was not, as some would guess, about the Y2K bug, but concerned global warming. Emission Impossible was the title.

This program examines the big issue for the next millenium, global warming. Reporter, Ian Henschke, examines the threats that face us and the arguments about what we should do. He also examines Australia’s role in climate change and asks - are we doing enough?

Deep into the show they started talking about carbon credits and the historic deal that had just been closed between Norway and Costa Rica.

Ian Henschke: Franz Tattenbach heads a nongovernment organisation called FUNDECOR. He set up the world’s first carbon offset deal worth two million dollars with a Norwegian consortium in 1997. Today he has a group from the German Development Bank and the World Bank looking at how his country is capitalising on Kyoto. Farmers are now being paid to plant trees, and paid not to cut down forest on their land.

Franz Tattenbach, FUNDECOR, Costa Rica: It is a surprise now how in Costa Rica a farmer, any simple farmer, could tell you about carbon offsets and why they might be producing some sort of global good that might be interested to be purchased by some Norwegian company or the Norwegian Government. And that’s quite fascinating, the level of understanding of this global issue that some Costa Rican farmers get now.

Ian Henschke: Costa Rica still harvests timber and runs sustainable forestry programs, and although it means in many cases there’s less money for the people, conservation of forests is still seen as a priority.

Carlos Gonzales, Timber Worker: In my opinion they just haven’t realised that we are all going to destroy ourselves. If nature disappears, this will just become a hell, right?

It was this show that gave Ross Williams the idea of setting up Carbon Planet and I am grateful every day that Ross chose to phone me up and see if I’d be interested in being part of it. — DS

Technorati Tags: Australia, biodiversity, carbon credits, carbon neutral, carbon offsetting, Carbon Planet, climate change, economics, emissions trading, forests, interview, Norway, Cosa Rica, trees

bikes4work is an advisory service that can help organisations set up workplace bike fleets. Bike fleets can be set up in most workplaces where staff are required to travel on-site, between worksites or within the local area.

Benefits to employers include:

• Productivity increases and lower levels of absenteeism from a healthy and motivated workforce
• Transport cost savings, especially if your motor vehicle fleet can be reduced. Savings can also be made in taxi fares and car parking costs
• Reduced travel times, particularly where there is traffic congestion and parking is difficult to find
• Lower levels of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions; and possibly carbon trading benefits through Carbon Planet (no really, we are looking at this now)
• An improved public image for your organisation - a bike fleet is a very visible way of demonstrating an investment in your employees’ health and fitness; and your concern for protecting the environment from global warming and pollution

Benefits to employees include:

• Improved health and fitness from increased levels of physical activity
• A quicker and more enjoyable way of getting around

I lived in Amsterdam for years and loved riding my classic Dutch city bike around. I really don’t enjoy the ride on my 18 speed mountain bike and long for a Dutch bike again. Bikes in the bike shops here all seem to be built to be strapped to cars and thrown down a mountain with you on top of it. I want a bike with a stand and mud-flaps, a comfy seat, panniers, chunky simple frame, thin-ish puncture proof tyres and no suspension. I want an electromagnetic hub for my lights and a capacitors in there somewhere to stop them going out when I stop moving for a few minutes. I use my bike for shopping, for commuting, as a mass transport system. Or I would if I didn’t have to share my bike paths with iPod wearing dog walkers and all manner of obstacle. Roads need to be remarked such that pedestrians, cyclists, car parks, busses and cars all get a place to go, and it’s in that order on the road. Cities need to get more bike friendly and that will happen with critical mass. So next time someone says “on yer bike,” say “Heck yeah!”. — DS

Technorati Tags: Australia, bicycle, bike, business, emissions reduction, energy efficiency, global warming

I’m in China right now getting ready for the start of Carbon Trade China 2008.

Asia & Pacific accounted for 80% of carbon trade volume in the CDM market. New projects in Asia increased dramatically.China accounted for 51% of the world’s CDM carbon emission credits. During the first three quarters 2007, the number of CDM projects is over 500, 2.5 times more than that in 2006. China will continue to be the biggest seller of CDM credits from UN reports.

As EU NAPs are set and the execution time (2008-2012) is approaching, you must have the following questions in minds[sic]:

• What is carbon market outlook in the next 5 years and post 2012?
• How will any future mechanism affect Asian market?
• What roles will China play in the future market?
• Where could we find suitable CDM project information and right project sellers quickly and effectively?

There is no doubt that China, the world’s largest producer of CO₂e per annum by overall volume on one hand and also the world’s leading CDM project developer on the other, is the 800 pound gorilla in the carbon market. I hope to meet some of the main players in the carbon trade while I am here. Interestingly most of the people I have met here have been European and Scandinavian so far. More news as it comes to hand, and maybe some photos. — DS

Technorati Tags: business, carbon credits, Carbon Planet, CDM, China, Clean Development Mechanism, climate change, economics, emissions reduction, emissions trading, emissions trading scheme, energy efficiency, Gold Standard, Kyoto Protocol, origination

Carbon Planet is about to launch its first Australian corporate seminar series as part of a broader ‘Carbon Insights’ programme. The first series concerns The Economics of Carbon Management and covers new legislation such as the National Greenhouse and Eenergy Reporting Act 2007, the emergence of an Australian Carbon Trading Scheme, and the implications for australian businesses of our recent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

Carbon Insights: The Economics of Carbon Management is a seminar designed to help senior finance professionals understand if climate change is a real and present risk to their business today and whether climate change will impose new risks upon their business? When will they need to meet new emissions regulations? What will this cost? What will their clients, suppliers and employees expect them to do?

The seminars will be running over April in every capital city and cost AU$250 per seat. See seminars.carbonplanet.com for details and registration. But hurry as tickets are selling out fast. — DS

Technorati Tags: Australia, business, carbon credits, carbon neutral, carbon offsetting, Carbon Planet, climate change, climate optimism, economics, education, emissions reduction, emissions trading, emissions trading scheme, energy efficiency, Garnaut Review, global warming, Kyoto Protocol

It’s been just over eight years since we started Carbon Planet. Here’s a little bit of history. At the end of 1999 there was a TV show on the Australian current affairs show “Four Corners” titled “Emissions Impossible.” This show highlighted the role of Carbon Dioxide in the heating of the planet, described in very clear terms the way the ‘Greenhouse Effect’ works, and, towards the end mentioned a deal that the country of Norway had done with Costa Rica in order to offset a portion of its own carbon emissions by buying carbon credits. It amazes some people to discover that carbon credits, despite what they may have been lead to believe, were not invented by Al Gore or the wily Japanese.

My old mate Ross Williams, sitting in his lounge in Adelaide, Australia, saw that show and scribbled a few numbers down on the back of an envelope. If global excess carbon emissions were around 6.8 billion tonnes per year (as they were then compared to 27 billion now), and the global population was around 6 billion people, then logically just over one tonne of CO₂e offset per person would halt the whole problem. And 2 tonnes would begin to reverse it quick swiftly.

I was living in London at the time and Ross phoned me up and said something along the lines of “I think we should buy loads of carbon credits, divide them into one-tonne units and then sell them to people who want to offset their own personal greenhouse gas emissions.” I said “Mmhm.”

I’ve known Ross for a long time and he is the sort of person who not only likes to solve problems, he likes to create systems that keep on solving problems. Ross suggested we set up a company to retail carbon credits to the general public and on January 12, 2000 Carbon Planet was officially born. Here’s what our first website looked like:

This actually stayed as our website for over two years. Ross kept on working as the head of technology for his software company, Rocksoft, and I moved from online fashion retail into satellite re-insurance trading and moved house from London to Amsterdam. September 11 killed the re-insurance business for me and I went back to being a freelance software developer. In the meantime Ross and I had been learning everything we could about the carbon economy, carbon trading and looking at companies like Future Forests, who later became The Carbon Neutral Company. We were nowhere near being ready to actually trade but after a while Ross decided the website needed an overhaul. Here’s the next version of the web:

Needless to say it didn’t stay that way for long. I demanded it be reverted to something very white and non-commital. So within a few months we tore that one down and put up this:

This website stayed in place for years. During this time Ross and I kept an eye on the world of carbon. We watched as Russia stepped in and ratified Kyoto in 2003 and then all of a sudden the Kyoto Protocol was real. In 2005 the NSW Government created the NGAS carbon abatement scheme and it was suddenly the second largest carbon trading scheme in the world after the European Trading Scheme; and it still is. This was our cue to actually get trading. Carbon Planet bought 2000 Forestry NGACs off Forests NSW and launched the following website to sell them, as per our original plan:

Sure it was not the world’s prettiest site, but it did the job and the brand began to grow. We commissioned a designer called Dallas Ransom to make it much prettier once we had some more money:

We stuck with that website for almost 2 years and it evolved subtly but slowly. In that time Carbon Planet built an entire engineering team, scientific advisory team, opened offices in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and London and is now regarded as the leading global carbon management company with clients in over 20 countries.

We just launched our new logo, website and commercial services suite last week and already the volume of work is skyrocketing. Last year alone we traded almost 1 million tonnes of carbon credits, of all different kinds. Our Audit and Advisory service completed around 200 GHG Protocol Audits in that time I think I gave about 100 public speeches as various conferences and events. This next year looks to be even busier. Stay tuned for more news. — DS

Technorati Tags: business, carbon credits, carbon offsetting, Carbon Planet, climate optimism, emissions trading, global warming, website

In a press release today (PDF) the Australian Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong, announced the draft timetable for the adoption of an Australian national emissions trading scheme.

The timetable includes four phases of consultation on key design and implementation issues.

• March to June 2008 Phase 1 consultation with stakeholders to inform the development of the Green Paper, including:
  • ongoing consultation with states and territories through the Council of Australian Governments;
  • roundtable discussions with peak industry and non-government organisations, with inaugural meetings held on 3 March;
  • consultation with the agriculture and forestry sectors on the question of their inclusion in the emissions trading scheme and on the timeframe for that inclusion; and
  • targeted consultations on technical design issues.
• July 2008 Public release of the Green Paper on scheme design
• July to September 2008 Phase 2 consultation on the Green Paper
• December 2008 Public release of exposure draft of legislative package
• December 2008 to February 2009 Phase 3 consultation on exposure draft legislation package
• End 2008 Firm indication by Government of planned medium-term trajectory for the scheme
• March 2009 Bill introduced into Parliament
• Mid-2009 Government aims to achieve passage of bill by Parliament at this time
• During 2009 Phase 4 consultation on emissions trading regulations
• 3rd quarter 2009 Act enters into force; scheme regulator established
• 2010 Emissions trading scheme will commence

Consultation has begun with the convening of two roundtables involving peak industry and other non-government organisations in early March. Senator Wong and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke, will begin discussions with agriculture sector leaders soon.

“The roundtables are part of a larger process for listening to the Australian community’s views as we work on design of the scheme,” Senator Wong said.

The [proposed] Green Paper will canvass options and preferred approaches on issues, such as which industry sectors will be covered and how emission caps will be set. It will also include ways to address the impacts of emissions trading on Australian households, emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries and other strongly affected sectors.

The design of emissions trading will also be informed by economic modelling work being undertaken by the Australian Treasury, the work of the Garnaut Review, and the work done to date at the Federal, State and Territory levels.

Emissions trading is central to achieving the Government’s goal of reducing Australia’s greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.

Professor Garnaut’s report is urging for a reduction in harmful greenhouse gas emissions by 90% however and one hopes that in the course of this timetable his opinion will be reinforced and not sidelined by vested industry interests. — DS

Technorati Tags: Australia, business, carbon credits, carbon neutral, carbon offsetting, climate change, climate optimism, economics, education, emissions reduction, emissions trading, emissions trading scheme, ETS, forests, Garnaut Review, global warming, National Emissions Trading Scheme, NETS, Penny Wong, politics, Ross Garnaut