Definitive agreement on zero emission mobility

619 free charging points to be installed by 2011 in North East England

Regional Development Agency One North East and car manufacturer Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today entered the next phase of their partnership on the development of zero emission mobility in North East England. The two parties have signed a definitive agreement which sets out a road map for the roll-out of electric vehicles and infrastructure in North East England and cements the region's status as the national centre for the development of ultra low carbon vehicles.

Current emissions reductions add up to dangerous climate change

Photo:Stefan Wernli/WikimediaA confidential UNFCC secretariat analysis confirms that current emissions reductions pledges by developed and some emerging economies leaves the world on track to global warming of at best three degrees warming – and probably more.

"The stark message for world leaders at Copenhagen is that the proposals on the table - especially from industrialised countries – fall far short of what the world needs," said Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF-UK.

New report underlines multiple benefits, new challenges to biodiversity-rich sites

Deforestation in the Usambara Mountains in Lushoto District, Tanga Region, Tanzania.Photo:Mohsin S. Karmali/WikimediaAn agreement in Copenhagen to fund reduced emissions from deforestation may generate multiple environmental and economic benefits if investments simultaneously target sites that are both carbon and biodiversity-rich.

But the new report, published in the journal Conservation Letters, also warns of challenges in countries such as Brazil and parts of East Africa unless safeguards are followed. This is because funding Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) might also displace and intensify activities such as agriculture in lower carbon but equally biodiversity-rich locales. Such areas include parts of East Africa and Brazil.

UN publishes results of two years of climate talks

The official outcome of two years of climate negotiations was released at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen.

The results of discussions in two parallel negotiating tracks showed some progress on the detail but left all the big questions unanswered, including what legal form the agreement in Copenhagen will take, the scale of the climate finance package, and the level of rich country emissions reductions.

Small emissions reductions, large loopholes add up to world on way to disaster

Photo:National Geographic Stock/ Sarah Leen / WWFPledges for emissions reductions now on the table from developed nations at the Copenhagen climate change conference could be lost in loopholes being built into an agreement, WWF warned.

"It is possible for developed nations to spin their way out of real emissions reductions, but they can't spin their way out of climate catastrophe," said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF's global climate initiative."That is the track we are on if the industrialised world's find ways to increase emissions while saying they are reducing them through creative accounting which allows us to not count emissions, count them twice or count them in strange ways."

International framework needed to address climate change

Photo:Gyre/Wikimedia"The world urgently needs an international framework to address climate change, but cannot wait for political agreement. Effective actions must be taken now," said David Runnalls, president and CEO of the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

IISD is kicking off the second week of the international climate change conference in Copenhagen with three separate side events to build momentum for low carbon development strategies, fossil-fuel subsidy reform and action on trade and climate change.

Framework delivered, numbers needed now

Negotiators at the UN climate summit have delivered a framework that can be developed to ensure a fair, ambitious and binding Copenhagen climate deal, WWF said.

"It is the job of the ministers now arriving to fill in the numbers against both the cuts in emissions and the money to make the deal possible," said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s global climate initiative."Putting in the numbers is where we can bridge the divide between the ambitions governments have shown so far and what we really need to do to stay out of the climate catastrophe zone."

Carbon efficient index for emerging markets

The world's largest public environment fund, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is joining with the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Standard & Poor's to launch the world's first carbon efficient index for emerging markets. The partners predict their efforts could mobilise more than USD1 billion for carbon-efficient companies over the next three years.

The innovative S&P/IFC Carbon Efficient Index will encourage carbon-based competition among emerging-market companies, give carbon-efficient companies access to long-term investors, and should lead to important reductions in carbon emissions in developing countries.

The first carbon abatement consultancy licensed to operate from Masdar city

The Neutral Group, a carbon abatement consulting and execution company, announced today it has received a license to operate from Masdar City, the emerging global clean technology cluster in Abu Dhabi. The company, which is relocating its headquarters to Masdar City, is the first carbon abatement consultancy to be licensed by the zero-waste, carbon-neutral, renewable energy-powered city.

With offices already in London and New York, The Neutral Group selected Masdar City for its headquarters because of the city's emerging global role as a hub of the flourishing cleantech sector, the numerous business opportunities in the fast-growing region and the city's tax-free, free zone status.

Bridging the emissions reduction gap in Copenhagen

Countries meeting at the United Nations climate change conference may be closer than some observers realise to agreeing the emissions cuts required to give the world a reasonable chance of avoiding global warming of more than 2^˚C, according to an analysis launched today in Copenhagen by Nicholas Stern and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

An analysis of national proposals for annual emissions reductions, published on the eve of the UN climate change conference, indicates that the gap between countries' strongest proposed cuts and what is needed may be only a few billion tonnes of greenhouse gases.

Novel carbon-trading scheme could stop large-scale extinctions

Researchers advocate a biodiversity-focused strategy

A new strategy for saving tropical forest species was published in the leading journal Science on the eve of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark, by a team of researchers, including William Laurance, senior staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and distinguished professor at James Cook University. The authors state that wealthy countries should adopt a carbon-payment system that explicitly incorporates biodiversity values.

Forest deal at Copenhagen must avoid creating 'carbon refugees'

Forest dwellers must be included in the design of the upcoming forest deal at Copenhagen in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis, according to a scientist at the University of Leeds.

Writing in Nature, Dr Simon Lewis argues that at least 50 per cent of the carbon credit payments to be agreed at Copenhagen, known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degredation), should be made to forest dwellers directly, and their property rights assured.

Main greenhouse gases reach highest level ever since pre-industrial time

Levels of most greenhouse gases continue to increase. In 2008, global concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which are the main long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, have reached the highest levels recorded since pre-industrial times.

Since 1990, the overall increase in radiative forcing caused by all long-lived greenhouse gases is 26 per cent and the increase was 1.3 per cent from 2007 to 2008. These latest figures, published today in the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) 2008 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, confirm the continued trend of rising atmospheric burdens of greenhouse gases since 1750.

A step towards zero emission communities

The CSIRO Renewable Energy Integration Facility is multi-tiered with diverse generation and load types. Photo: CSIRO
A new CSIRO research centre to help transform Australian electricity networks and lower greenhouse gas emissions was opened today at the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle, NSW.

CSIRO has established the Renewable Energy Integration Facility to develop new grid management technologies that will allow greater penetration of renewable, low-emission energy resources into electricity networks.

The facility will also be used to develop automatic fault detection techniques to help improve electricity supply reliability and reduce blackouts.

The official opening was attended by Ms Sharon Grierson MP Federal Member for Newcastle, representing Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon. Kim Carr.

"This project is yet another example of the important and valuable work happening at the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle to help Australia reduce its greenhouse gas emissions," Ms Grierson said.

CSIRO scientist Dr David Cornforth said the AUD1 million facility represents a major upgrade of CSIRO's experimental capability in energy management, and electricity grid operation and planning.


"The facility is state-of-the-art in its diversity of resources and experimental range," Dr Cornforth said.

"It incorporates a large range of electrical generators and replicates the way electrical load for an entire complex changes during the day."


"This means researchers at the facility can test new grid design and operation techniques in a real-world environment using a variety of electrical generators and loads."

The Renewable Energy Integration Facility is connected to solar photovoltaics, wind and gas turbines, battery storage and a load bank. The technologies being developed are designed to be used on any generation method, now and into the future.

"The facility demonstrates how electricity networks will work in the future where the electricity supply mix will include greater numbers of small power sources in conjunction with large, centralised power sources," Dr Cornforth said.

"This research will not only benefit developed countries with existing electricity networks, such as Australia, but also assist in the low-emissions electrification of developing countries."

New design and operation techniques have the capacity to transform electricity networks by increasing electricity reliability, improving system efficiency, removing common failure points, boosting renewable energy resource integration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Renewable Energy Integration Facility will be used for in-house research, as well as collaborative projects with industry and other researchers.

CSIRO has already established a research collaboration with The Energy Resources Institute of India (TERI) to assist with the low-emissions electrification of rural areas in India.

CSIRO will share information to help TERI develop its own technology suited to Indian conditions.

Biofuels, the burning questions

Photo: BirdLifeBirdLife International, the European Environmental Bureau and the Transport and Environment organised a high level event at the European Parliament entitled: 'Biofuels: the burning questions'.

The event, hosted by Fiona Hall MEP (Member of the European Parliament; Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) and Sirpa Pietikainen MEP (European People’s Party) includes some of the world’s top scientists studying the impacts of bioenergy such as Jerry Melillo and Tim Searchinger, and key decision makers, such as Karl Falkenberg, Director General of DG Environment, European Commission.

In December 2008, the EU passed a new Renewable Energy Directive which sets a mandatory target of 20 per cent of final energy consumption to come from renewable sources by 2020. The Directive also includes a special 10 per cent target for renewables in transport, which is expected to be met mostly through a large increase of biofuels use.

The EU has introduced a set of sustainability standards for biofuels, but not for other forms of bioenergy such as solid biomass burning for heat and power production. The NGOs believes current safeguards are insufficient even for biofuels. For example current rules do not account for the impacts arising from indirect land use change (ILUC) caused when agricultural land is taken for biofuels and food production is therefore displaced elsewhere.

The surge in the use of bioenergy poses many sustainability issues both in Europe and globally, such as the clearing of rainforests and other habitats for expansion of plantations or the increased harvesting of fuel wood from natural forests.


The event mainly focussed on the need to fix the currently flawed methodology used to calculate the greenhouse gas costs and benefits of biomass. The EU currently considers biomass burning to have zero emissions and ignores ILUC. Recent research shows that a failure to correct this could lead to a widespread destruction of carbon stocks such as forests and grasslands.

"Bioenergy can and must be part of the solution to climate change, but under current EU rules there is a great risk of perverse outcomes: the wrong technologies and feedstocks being chosen, emissions increasing and ecosystems being damaged", commented Ariel Brunner, Senior EU Agriculture Policy Officer, at BirdLife International’s European Division.

Today BirdLife and a group of environmental and social NGOs have also launched a new publication analysing the current EU biofuels policy, highlighting its shortcomings and containing detailed recommendations for improving it.

"The European Parliament was key in improving the sustainability criteria in the Renewables Directive", said Fiona Hall - MEP. "MEPs fought very hard for a good calculation method which would take account of the impact of indirect land use change. When the proposals on indirect land use change and also on the sustainability criteria for biomass are published by the Commission, we will be looking at them very carefully in order to get a framework in place that will ensure that bioenergy genuinely reduces greenhouse gas emissions".

EU hopes for a legally binding global climate deal

Photo: WikimediaThe European Union has announced its position and state of play in the climate deal negotiations for the upcoming Copenhagen conference. The EU aims to press for a climate treaty that would prevent global warming from reaching dangerous levels by keeping the average temperature rise at 2⁰C.

In a recent press release stating the union's position, EU has emphasised upon the need to cut global emission by 50 per cent by 2020. That includes a 25-50 per cent emission cut by the developed world and a 15-30 per cent cut by the developing world.

Among the action plan the release mentions that the EU "is implementing the climate and energy package as well as a programme of energy efficiency measures to achieve this. Moreover, it has committed to scale up its emission cut to 30 per cent on condition that other industrialised countries agree to make comparable reductions and developing countries contribute adequately to a global deal."

The union also finds serious shortcoming with the low emission cut target set by the industrialised countries and holds that this needs to be changed.

The European Council has also called for contribution from the member states towards the estimated amount of Euro 22-50 billion for supporting the developing countries. This is a commendable move by the EU which should be followed by other bodies in the industrialised world if emission targets are to be met.

Further, the EU has also announced its commitment towards providing its share towards the 'fast share' financing required to help the developing countries meet the challenges of climate change. "The European Commission estimates a global total of Euro 5-7 billion could be needed annually over the three years following an ambitious global agreement."

The EU maintains that much work is still needed to reach upon a fully fledged treaty in Copenhagen. In the event of failure to reach this goal the Union hopes that "the minimum outcome in Copenhagen must be a strong framework agreement covering the essential building blocks of the new treaty and a deadline for completing it."

Among the essential elements of such a framework are "an ambitious set of emission reduction commitments by developed countries including the United States; adequate action by developing countries to curb their emissions growth," states EU.

The release stresses upon a two-track approach that the EU takes towards a legally binding international treaty. "This must incorporate and build on the essential elements of the Kyoto Protocol, such as emission reductions by industrialised countries, market-based mechanisms, accounting rules for changes in emissions due to land use, land use change and forestry, and a strong compliance regime."

The EU also promises to comply with the obligations of the Kyoto Protocol regardless of the outcome of the Copenhagen conference.

The European Union has indeed taken a crucial step towards a global climate deal. Yet, the recent release also brings to light the road yet not travelled towards reaching that dream deal. With just under a month to go for the historic conference, sealing the deal seems still distant.

International Energy Agency fails to light the way to a safe climate future

The keenly awaited 2009 World Energy Outlook contains some remarkable analysis but does not light the way to a safe carbon future, WWF said.

Emissions cuts canvassed in the outlook, the flagship annual publication of the International Energy Agency (IEA), are too small and too slow to keep the world out of the danger zone of unacceptable risks of catastrophic climate change, said Dr Stephan Singer, WWFs Director of Global Energy Policy.

Scientists, the UN and many governments including the G8 group have accordingly endorsed an objective of keeping average global warming less than two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times - an objective WWF maintains would require developed nations cutting their emissions 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

But IEAs low emissions scenario sees OECD fossil fuel CO₂ emissions down just 4.5 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.

“The proposed CO₂ emissions reductions by the IEA for the energy sector of the rich nations are dismal,” Dr Singer said. “The reductions seen as low carbon by the IEA are less even than the inadequate reductions so far on the table from developed nations for the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen next month.”

Also according to the IEA, global energy emissions would be one quarter more in 2030 than in the 1990 reference year.

"World-wide fossil fuel emissions in twenty years must be on a pathway to be reduced to more than 80 per cent below 1990 levels by mid-century to curtail the climate crisis. The IEA's scenarios violate this trajectory," Dr Singer said.

For WWF, with about two thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions, the energy sector has to lead the way to a low carbon future.

And although its alternative lower emissions scenario is clearly inadequate, WWF is pleased that the IEA identifies energy conservation as the measure with the best potential to bring it about.

“The IEA also finds most of the emissions savings mechanisms it identifies will be cost effective through the saving of fuel costs and this is a useful rebuff to those urging slow action or no action on climate on the basis of costs,” Dr Singer said.

“It is a pity that the IEA couldn’t stay up to date with the science on the level of emissions the atmosphere can safely digest and use this to point the way to a fully renewable power sector by mid-century.”

“What they are suggesting is not only dangerous, but it is much below what is technically possible.”

Dump dirty coal and generate clean energy vision

Despite the publication of a suite of National Policy Statements on energy, the Government failed to make clear how dirty coal would be ruled out of the energy system by the early 2020s, and a zero-carbon power sector achieved by 2030, according to the RSPB.

These are the two critical recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change that must be achieved if the UK is to meet its legally binding target of an 80 per cent emissions cut by 2050.

They are also a critical test of the credibility of UK climate policies going into December's talks in Copenhagen on a new global climate deal.

Stemming the coal rush

Ruth Davis, the RSPB's Head of Climate Change Policy, said, "Ed Miliband can take personal credit for stemming the coal rush which threatened to engulf the UK energy sector in 2008. He has secured much-needed investment for testing and carbon capture and storage equipment, and set out a timetable for the Environment Agency to ensure that any new coal plants built now will not run without full CCS beyond 2025."

"But these are only baby steps. Promises about future regulation are not enough to deliver climate safety. What the energy sector – and environmental campaigners – need now is a long, loud, legal signal that we are heading for zero-carbon power by 2030. The perfect opportunity to deliver this will come in the Energy Bill this Winter. We can only hope that, when the Bill comes, the fog will lift once and for all."

Six draft National Policy Statements have been unveiled. They will guide the decisions of the new Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), which will rule on major developments such as roads, airports and power stations.

Importance of our natural environment

As the criteria against which all such developments will be measured, it is vital they reflect the importance of our natural environment and the need to build a low carbon economy in the fight against climate change.

The RSPB is now urging people to respond to the Government's consultation on the statements in a final bid to influence changes to planning policy that could have a huge impact on the places where they live, the wildlife they love and the climate they depend on.

The RSPB is also urging ministers to make the consultation as widespread and effective as possible to give people a say.

Profoundly undemocratic

Simon Marsh, the RSPB's Head of Planning, said, "We believe the new Commission is profoundly undemocratic because it takes the final decision on large developments away from elected ministers.

"That is why it is so important people seize this chance to shape the guidelines under which it will operate.

"The Commission cannot be allowed to become a fast track for developments which harm wildlife and the special places they rely on or for dirty-coal fired power stations which threaten our climate.

"This is our one and only chance to try and shape these statements. I would ask everyone to respond and to be nature's voice in this process."

He added, "The Planning Act, which spawned this Commission, says that ministers must 'look at the desirability of mitigating and adapting to climate change'. We want a much stronger commitment than that.

"The IPC should consider all development in the light of the Climate Change Act, which calls for an 80 per cent reduction in green house gas emissions by 2050. The National Policy Statements should be worded to make sure they do."

Carbon trading 'the next sub-prime' - new research

Plans to expand carbon markets at UN climate talks this December could trigger a second ‘sub-prime' style financial collapse and fail to protect the world from global warming catastrophe, a new report from Friends of the Earth warns.

‘A Dangerous Obsession' focuses on the buying and selling of a new artificial commodity - the right to emit carbon dioxide - which the UK and other developed country governments want to see expanded into a massive worldwide market and are pushing in the negotiations running up to the big Copenhagen climate talks in December.

The trade in carbon permits and credits, mainly based in Europe, was worth USD126 billion in 2008 and is predicted to balloon to USD3.1 trillion by 2020 if a global carbon market takes off.

But the majority of the trade is carried out not between polluting industries and factories covered by carbon trading schemes, but by banks and investors who profit from speculation on the carbon markets - packaging carbon credits into increasingly complex financial products similar to the ‘shadow finance' around sub-prime mortgages which triggered the recent economic crash.

Video: Friends of Earth/Youtube

This risks the development of sub-prime carbon and the possibility of an eventual collapse in confidence in the market, with catastrophic consequences for the global economy and also for our prospects of avoiding runaway climate change.

Friends of the Earth's report warns that the Government's obsession with carbon trading as a solution to climate change is high risk, irresponsible and dangerous.

Existing carbon trading schemes are not delivering the emissions cuts promised, and relying on this mechanism to reduce emissions globally is gambling with the health of the planet and the future of billions of people.

Carbon trading is also being used as a smokescreen by rich countries to avoid their legal and moral commitment to provide money and technology to developing countries to grow cleanly and adapt to climate change. The green campaign group is calling on the Government to use simple, direct and proven policy tools like regulation, a carbon tax, and major public investment in greening the economy to reduce our emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2020, without offsetting.

Friends of the Earth's international climate campaigner and author of the report Sarah Jayne-Clifton said, "Pushing a world carbon market as part of a global agreement to tackle climate change risks a double whammy of financial and environmental disaster.”

"Carbon trading is failing dismally at reducing emissions, yet allows speculators to grow rich from the climate crisis and hands politicians and industry a get-out clause for polluting business as usual.”

"Science tells us rich countries must act first and fast to cut their emissions at home if we are to avert climate catastrophe - and support poorer countries with adequate public money to grow cleanly and adapt to the effects of climate change which they are already feeling.

"The credit crunch has taught us that Governments, not markets are best placed to safeguard our future - at this critical point in the fight against climate change Ministers must step in and lead the way with a new, direct approach to tackling carbon emissions to create a safe and green future for us all."

Friends of the Earth is demanding that the Government changes its approach to climate change with its Demand Climate Change campaign. The green campaign group is asking everyone to sign its international petition to world leaders for a strong and fair climate deal. Sign the deal.

Palm oil roundtable breaks emissions logjam

Photo: WikimediaMembers of the Roundtable on Responsible Palm Oil this week agreed to consider implementing voluntary measures to encourage producers and buyers of palm oil to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Roundtable’s 7th annual conference came to a close Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Titled “Moving Ahead in Challenging Times,” the three-day conference drew more than 800 people from inside and outside of the palm oil industry, including buyers and producers.

After several rounds of heated discussion this week, the Roundtable’s Executive Board reached a compromise in which some emissions reduction requirements will be directly incorporated in the Roundtable’s certification standards.

They agreed to further address the issue and hammer out emissions measures related to land use change before the next Roundtable conference in 2010. To this end, they will develop a voluntary framework within which companies will work together to reduce emissions.

This objective received considerable support by producers from outside Malaysia and Indonesia who said they will use this voluntary standard as soon as it becomes available, while committing to stop the expansion of plantations on peat lands.

“This is a move in the right direction,” said Adam Harrison, WWF’s representative on the RSPO Executive Board. “We encourage companies to embrace emissions reduction standards once they become available and do their part to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change.”

The conference also focused on the frustration by producers concerning the slow uptake of certified sustainable palm oil by buyers. The sluggish market prompted WWF to publish the Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard on Oct. 28, a project that assessed the performance of 59 European retailers and manufacturers buying palm oil.

The Scorecard showed that the majority of European palm oil buyers are failing to buy certified sustainable palm oil, despite its availability and the previous commitments by many companies to purchase it.

The Scorecard was presented and widely discussed at the conference. It was praised by producers and buyers alike as a positive vehicle for bringing much needed transparency to this growing market and showing companies buying palm oil that they are expected to do their part in transforming the palm oil market.

The growing demand for palm oil is adding to the already severe pressure on remaining rainforest areas of the world. The loss of forest in Indonesia is threatening the survival of species such as the orang-utan, the Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant. Forest loss and the draining of peatlands for palm oil plantations is also contributing to climate change and displacing local people who rely on the forest for food and shelter. Palm oil is one of the world’s fastest expanding crops in Southeast Asia as well as West Africa and South America.

It is because of threats like this that WWF worked with other NGOs and the palm oil industry to set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2003. Since then WWF has worked with the industry to ensure that the RSPO standards contain robust social and environmental criteria, including a prohibition on the conversion of valuable forests. Certified Sustainable Palm Oil has been available since November 2008 and provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environmental and social safeguards have been met during the production of the palm oil.

WWF opted to grade palm oil buyers after releasing figures in May showing that only a small percentage of the sustainable palm oil available on the market had been bought. Since then, the situation is starting to improve. Over the last year, RSPO certified plantations have produced over 1,000,000 tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), and over 250,000 tonnes have been sold to date. While this still represents only 22 per cent of the available supply on average, the RSPO has reported that CSPO sales have been growing in recent months.