Europe is Leading the Fight Against Climate Change

Despite its ongoing economic woes and high unemployment, Europe has shown that it is serious about tackling climate change. They have demonstrated leadership on the level of individual nation states and in terms the EU as a whole.

According to the Climate Change Performance Index, the top ten climate change fighting nations are European and eight of those ten countries are part of the European Union. The rankings are based on countries greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, emissions-reduction efforts, energy efficiency, renewable energy portfolios, and policies aimed at slowing climate change.

Europe is putting their money where their mouth is. The European Parliament has adopted a seven-year budget that includes an unprecedented $243 billion for climate projects which will be invested both in Europe and go towards aid for developing countries.

Smog Pollution Mutes Chinese New Year Celebrations

The Chinese Lunar New Year is usually celebrated with a barrage of fireworks, but this year due to serious smog pollution problems, Beijing has been forced to scale back celebrations. In the Chinese capital there were 23 days of record breaking smog in January, which is twice the recent average.

Last year's pyrotechnical display sent 2.5 microgram pollution levels as high as 1,500 parts per milion in Beijing. This year the reduction of fireworks appears to have had a significant impact as Sunday's readings showed levels around 200 which is well below the readings of more than 700 that were seen last month.

Carbon Measurement Guide for Companies

A free guide helps companies to measuring their carbon footprints. The guide provides practical suggestions to help you measure the carbon footprint of your organisation. Learn how to define what your measure, where to find the relevant data, hints and tips to make the process easier, and pros and cons of online and offline measurement tools, as well as considerations for outsourcing your carbon footprint measurement.

Webinar: Low Carbon Future

A complimentary webinar on the low carbon economy entitled, "Steps towards a low carbon future: solutions and technologies that will support the global revolution required," will be aired on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 11:00 am ET / 4:00 pm GMT.

The Greening of China's Cities, Counties, Towns and Industry

According to China's deputy director of the National Energy Administration, Qian Zhimin, Chinese cities, counties and towns will be increasingly green in the next few years. As reported in China Daily, Qian estimated that by 2015, the country could see as many as 100 cities, 200 counties and 10,000 towns relying on alternative sources of energy like renewables.

“Against the backdrop of combating climate change and pursuing development in a way that saves energy and avoids harming the environment, the notion of a low-carbon town is becoming prevalent, and promising exploration have been conducted by a multitude of…cities,” Qian said. “Priorities should be placed on the development of public and rail transit and the construction of smart grids. We should also make cities more energy efficient”

China's first model town, Tianjin Yujiapu financial district was nominated as the first low-carbon model town project in the Asia-Pacific region at a forum that discussed low carbon model towns. The initial planning for the city was conducted by international design teams from Manhattan, Chicago, London, and Japan.

“In recent years, test projects have begun for regions that will emit relatively little carbon and have been preliminarily tried out in five provinces and eight cities, including Tianjin,” Qian said.

Li Bo, the president of the Tianjin Innovative Finance Investment Ltd., noted that the buildings in the city are being constructed in accordance to green standards. “Last year, we signed cooperative agreements with more than 60 low-carbon enterprises from home and abroad,” Li said. At present, 260 enterprises have invested in the Yujiapu financial district, with a total capital registered for the project at around 60 billion yuan, or $9.27 billion.

Xinhua reports that China’s minister of industry and information technology, Miao Xu, said that the government has plans to green the country’s industrialization strategy. The minister indicated that China will promote energy efficiency and emissions reductions. These measures are significant given the fact that as of 2011, Chinese energy consumption in industrial production accounts for 70 percent of the nation’s total energy consumption.

These efforts are consistent with China’s five-year plan which mandates movement away from fossil fuels, and lowering energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 16 percent.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The False Choice Between the Economy and the Environment

In debates on the issue of climate change we are often asked to make a false choice between the environment and the economy. However, an intelligent discussion of climate change cannot be framed as a choice between the environment and the economy.

The rise of sustainable business is making it abundantly clear that we can have it both ways. Businesses are adopting new models that both contribute to the economy while minimizing their environmental footprints.

According to a May 2011 Yale Survey, 56% of Americans now believe that protecting the environment improves economic growth and provides new jobs.

Previous polemics argued that you can either have the economy or the environment. Contemporary wisdom reveals that you can have both.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Is Capitalism Sustainable?

Business has created the environmental crisis and now the same capitalist system that was behind the industrial revolution, is beginning to play a vital role in solving the problems it created.

Despite the link between environmental practices and profitable, long-term business sustainability, many believe that capitalism itself is unsustainable. The Earth has finite resources, so their argument goes, but capitalism depends on ever expanding consumption. The truth is that dating back to the origins of our species, we have seen our use of resources evolve, from stone, to bronze and then iron. More recently we entered the information age which may prove to be the gateway to a more sustainable use of resources.

Although we should do everything we can to preserve finite resources, human ingenuity is infinite. In this way we are slowly moving away from finite fossil fuels to infinitely renewable fuels such as wind, wave and solar.

Market driven solutions can be incredibly powerful as they have the power to extend, promote and invest in sustainable innovation. Although new market based mechanisms like regulation, incentives and tradable permits are still a few years off, it is inevitable that the true cost of carbon will be made absolutely clear. As a tenant of the free market business should pay for the costs they incur.

Sustainability will continue because it is an unstoppable mega-trend that is destined to keep growing at even faster rates. With the rise of the green consumer, businesses want to cash-in on the steady and growing demand for green goods and services. Various partnerships are emerging to help in the development of sustainable best practices. One such arrangement involves the new partnerships between corporations and environmental organizations.

There are also other factors that make sustainability entirely consistent with capitalism. Renewable energy solutions are seen as a potent symbol of a new modernity. Numerous studies have shown that environment issues have a significant effect on workforce morale. A workforce seeing a forward-looking and responsible company is more likely to feel good about working for such a company and a happier workforce is a more productive workforce.

Increases to employee productivity and benefits to the brand are just two ways in which integrating sustainable practices serve a company's best interest. Avoiding public pressure and attracting customer loyalty are additional factors that add to the capitalist appeal of sustainability.

Factoring environmental considerations into economic equations makes sense and the profit motive is a powerful incentive. The marketplace is always looking for cleaner, cheaper, faster, more efficient and more effective solutions, and the market is better at identifying opportunities than most government planning. Although short sighted greed makes long term planning difficult, with the right long-term incentives it can be made to work.

The green market is now estimated to be worth $5.27 trillion (£3.2 trillion) worldwide and in the next couple of decades the clean energy market alone is expected to be worth more than$13 trillion. With that much at stake, businesses cannot afford to ignore the green market.

In the business environment of tomorrow, sustainable practices are a strategic priority. The Survey of America's Greenest Brands show that even companies with very poor environmental reputations can redeem themselves and go from environmental pariah to eco-superstar by incorporating sustainable practices.

If we are to make the changes within the time frames we have left we will have to make use of the mechanisms that are available to us today. We do not have time to reinvent our world. As Paul Hawkin once said, "business is the only mechanism on the planet today powerful enough to produce the chances necessary to reverse global environmental and social degradation."

With the appropriate incentives and disincentives we can integrate environmental and social issues into the economic equation. An economy based on fossil fuels can be replaced by a low carbon economy. Capitalism is our last best hope to manage the environmental crisis we are facing.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Growing Demand for Greener Vehicles

Demand for electric and hybrid cars has risen dramatically in recent years. The steady growth in this market is driven by a wave of new technologies, shifts in global competition and changes in public policy.

We have come to expect green vehicle development from nations like Japan, South Korea, China, Germany and France, but even lesser automotive powers are responding to this growing international demand. Public opinion is getting behind greener vehicles.

Governments and private enterprise are responding to this growing demand. Consistent with public policy initiatives all around the world, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is joining the chorus of countries that see electric and hybrid vehicles as a fundamental part of the move to a low carbon economy. Russian car maker YAROVIT Motors and financial company Onexim Group are making an electric hybrid vehicle called the E-Mobile (or Yo).

Demand for greener vehicles is growing almost everywhere. Even in America, where the public has been brainwashed by Republicans and corporations that are beholden to the old energy economy, acceptance of the new environmental and economic realities is growing. According to a 2010 survey from Ernst & Young, nearly 30 million Americans would consider buying a hybrid or fully electric vehicle. The commercial transportation industry is also getting serious about greener vehicles.

A late-2009 report from Pike Research forecast that hybrid fleet sales would increase from 300,000 in 2009 to nearly 4 million hybrid vehicles by 2015. "Manufacturers are beginning to turn their attention beyond light duty vehicles to the efficiency opportunities for hybrid drive in heavy trucks," Clint Wheelock, a managing director at Pike, said in the report. "For example, in North America nearly 10 percent of buses sold in 2015 will be hybrids."

A new study by California-based J.D. Power and Associates indicates that battery-based vehicles are likely to capture 7.3 percent of the global automotive market. However, J.D. Power researchers say that several factors could radically increase that number. These factors include battery cost reductions, increases in petroleum prices and new government mandates.

In a speech at the Fortune Brainstorm Green 2010 conference, Ford Motor Co. Chairman William Ford outlined some of the key forces influencing the demand for green cars in the US.
Federal subsidies are critical because, as Ford explained, it is "really important that we are competitive as a nation in this really critical technology." Removing subsidies would be a mistake because "that's not what other countries are doing."

China's funding of green automotive tech makes China a competitive threat. "They all have plans to come over, and we would be absolutely crazy" to underestimate China's affect on the US auto market, Ford said.

To make it easier to adapt to changing demand, Ford is developing common platforms using existing car models.

Due to increasing global urbanization automotive companies may consider alternatives to traditional ownership and leasing arrangements and provide "mobility as service," such as car sharing programs.

However, there are limits to the number of battery powered electric vehicles that can be manufactured. Lithium is a key ingredient in advanced batteries. The future demand for lithium is expected to outpace supply. Companies like BYD are already looking for new sources of lithium. According to a European Commission study of raw materials for high technology goods, if drivers continue opting for battery powered electric cars, by 2050 the supply will not be able to keep up with the demand.

To achieve real market penetration greener vehicles must appeal to consumers through features, functionality and price. Creative innovation in both business models and technology, will drive demand in the greener car market.


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Senate Democrats and the Environmental Agenda

Despite midterm election losses in the Senate, the Democrats managed to hang on to a narrow majority. But what does that mean for energy and climate issues?

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has won re-election and will remain Chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Boxer will continue to work for clean energy and the environment.

Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev) will retain his position as Majority Leader. Senator Reid has been the President’s lead advocate on advancing renewable energy and regulating the fossil fuel industry.

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) will remain the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Senator Bingaman is a lead proponent of a renewable electricity mandate. Bingaman is also an advocate of more responsible rules for offshore oil and gas production.

Besides control of these committees, the Democratic Senate majority could stop the Republican controlled House from getting environmentally destructive legislation onto the President's desk. But we should remember that Democratic Senators have little respect for party discipline and some have demonstrated a propensity to break ranks when they feel it serves their political interests.

Democratic Senators who have betrayed the party, the President and the environment, include Sens. Ben Nelson, (D-Neb.), Jim Webb, (D-Va.). Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).

With the Democrats holding 23 of the 33 Senate seats being contested in 2012 (including two independents who caucus with the Democrats), Senators will have to choose between pandering to public confusion or taking on the tough issues. It remains to be seen whether Democrats will try to lead America to a cleaner more secure future or follow the polls and cower in fear.


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Democrats Learning the Wrong Lesson from Republicans

Although Republicans are the undisputed masters of the smear campaign, some Democrats are no better. In the 2010 midterm elections, Democrats followed the polls and fell silent on the issue of climate change. In the process, Democrats abandoned their President and their parties agenda.

To gain political favor Democrats used tactics more commonly associated with Republicans. Democratic candidates for the House resorted to attack ads devoid of an issue oriented message. They dug up Republican candidates’ personal financial records and Democratic candidate Ron Klein put his Republican opponent’s Social Security number in a TV ad.

Democratic candidate Frank Caprio told Obama to “Shove it!” on a radio show, referring to the President's endorsement. Caprio subsequently failed in his bid for governor of Rhode Island, but this tactic is reminiscent of South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson shouting, "You lie!" during President Obama's speech to Congress.

Democrats should not look to the Republicans for anything, the right is the wrong direction for America. Rather than engaging the misinformation that passes as fact, Democrats are looking for a strategy to win re-election thereby putting self interest ahead of the national interest.

Democrats need to do a much better job addressing the issues and communicating a party platform that explains the need for action on energy and climate change. Above all Democrats need to stop following Republicans and show America they know the meaning of leadership.


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House Democrats Punished Despite Populist Pandering

Many Democrats are guilty of pandering to populism. Rather than sticking to the facts and communicating the truth, Democratic candidates are avoiding contentious issues to save their political skins.

Although it is clear that Republicans are global warming deniers, the Democrats must also shoulder blame for the failure of Congress to secure climate and energy legislation in President Obama's first term.

Taking their cues from polls, Democrats ignored the environment during the 2010 midterms. They failed to communicate the urgency of climate change and the importance of being a competitive player in the burgeoning green economy. This kind of political cowardice undermines efforts to engage the struggle against climate change and puts American global comptitiveness at risk.

In 2009, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as the Waxman-Markey energy and climate bill. With increasingly numbers of Americans succumbing to misinformation, Democrats who resisted the bill could be mistaken for a shrewd strategists intent on self preservation.

However, many House Democrats who voted against the bill, lost their bids for re-election. Two dozen House Democrats who voted for the energy and climate bill were voted out of office in the 2010 midterms, along with 19 who opposed the bill.

With the electorate so woefully confused on climate change, America needs leaders that will aggresively engage misfinformation. By following public opinion on climate change rather than leading the discussion, Democrats are reifying the Republican's lies.


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