co-operatives addressing the climate threat... together

Wednesday, 27 January 2010

IPCC Denies That It Over Stated The Growing Costs Of Natural Disaters


The UN body has defended its position following the UK based newspaper The Telegraph publishing a story claiming that the cost of natural disasters has risen since 1970 due to climate change.


The IPCC are also currently under fire for including in the same report, claims that Himalayan glaciers will have dissapeared by 2035. While the IPCC have admitted the inclusion of this claim was a mistake, the fact is glaciers are melting faster than predicted and the likelihood of it being caused by human behaviour is very high.


The head of the IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri answered his critics yesterday, who called for him to step down from his role following the inclusion of the Himalayan glacier data, by stating "I am not going to stand down, I am going to stand up".




Posted by ACT! at 09:45 0 comments

Monday, 25 January 2010

'Magic bullets' such as carbon capture and storage, and nuclear are dangerous distractions


A report released by the environmental think tank, New Economics Foundation (Nef) has said that "economic growth cannot continue. It is not possible if nations are to tackle climate change".


The report looked at the main models for climate change and then made an assesment on whether economic growth could continue if we are to limit warming to within two degrees of pre industrial levels.


The author commented on the growing support for community based energy projects, such as decentralised energy systems, but said "without backing from governments this was not possible". This idea of decentralising the energy system is something Jeremy Rifkin believed co-operatives could be central to, when he spoke at the 2009 ICA General Assembly.


The report suggests that if the science is to be believed, then economic growth can not continue and the longer we wait the worse this situation will become.


To read the full article that was featured by the BBC and included counter arguments from an economic think tank visit www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8478770.stm

Posted by ACT! at 10:11 0 comments

Thursday, 21 January 2010

Denmark set to open first solar cell factory


RAcell technology company are set to open the first solar cell factory in Denmark. The Danish owned company believes it can compete on the world market against giants such as Siemens and Bosch due to its patented technology that allows them to double or even quadrouple the size of each cell, when compared to the size of the standard cell on the market.

Along with decreasing the amount of pure silicon RAcell believe they can significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing the equipment and relay this on to the customer.

Production will begin on a small scale in 2010, but expect big things in the near future from this Copenhagen based company as they plan to open a factory of 5000 to 10000 square feet in 2011.


Posted by ACT! at 04:22 1 comments

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

The Obama administration could be stripped of Its power to cut green house gas emissions

Only one month after committing to cut his countries emissions in Copenhagen, Obama's administration may lose the power to decide on emission cuts.

An Alaskan Republican senator is expected to propose a vote tomorrow, that would seek to prevent the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating US green house gas emissions. Lisa Murkowski, the senator in question has been highly critisised for asking energy sector lobbyists to draft the proposal.


With the largely Republican senate stalling and failing to pass climate law, the Democrats had hoped to use the power of the EPA to impose 'climate laws' for health reasons, as a bargaining tool. This highly political move could be disastrous in terms of the USA joining global efforts to reduce emissions. While President Obama struggles to pass his propsed health care reforms through a Republican senate, it looks like his proposed climate actions could possibly suffer the same fate.



Read more at http://www.theguardian.co.uk/environment/jan/19/obama-emissions-congress-murkowski



Posted by ACT! at 08:18 0 comments

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Shell Face Shareholder Revolt Over Canadian Tar Sands Following Co-operative Asset Management Campaign


Co-operative Asset Management along with 141 other institutional and individual shareholders have forced a resolution onto Royal Dutch Shell grop's annual meeting in May, as they call for the audit committee to undertake a review of the risks associated with the extraction of tar sands.


"Given Shell's level of commitment to oil sands, there is a greater obligation to shareholders, to reassure how it would cope under a number of different scenarios", said Nial O'Shea, Head of Responsible Investing at Co-operative Asset Management.

"What if carbon capture and storage proves too costly for tar sands? What if sustained high oil prices and carbon regulation lead to switching away from marginal, high cost, high carbon sources? And then there is the cost of cleaning up the locality. Companies must be more rigorous and transparent with their investors", he added.

Read more on this first step towards an historic co-operative climate victory at




Posted by ACT! at 08:43 0 comments

Monday, 18 January 2010

Israeli Renewable Energy Co-operative Founded


The Israeli government may be lacking support and investment into renewable technologies, but a group of around 100 people have formed a Renewable Energy Co-operative to overcome the problem. The co-operative will not only aim to make a profit to its members but will benefit the community as it will develop projects in areas that the government would not. In October 2009, the co-operative launched its first project, a water heating system based on water pumps, replacing the previous gas heating systems, in Kibbutz Givat Hayim. The new system considerably lowers the heating costs for the community.


Posted by ACT! at 08:52 0 comments

Environmental Exhibitionists, A protest that gathered the attention of the worlds media


A small group of protestors decided to strip off in a rare show of public protest in China, as they called for more sustainable consumption.


China resisted the mounting international pressure in Copenhagen, but this simple protest attracted significant media interest, as it featured on major chinese news channels as well as newspapers all over the world.

Read the full story at


Posted by ACT! at 08:23 0 comments

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

The resurgence of El Niño means that 2010 could yet be the hottest year on record


Despite the 'Big Freeze' that has hit Northern Europe this month, scientists are predicting 2010 could be the hottest on record, reminding those climate change skeptics among us that localised weather events do not constitute global climate changes. The fact of the matter is that the 'Big Freeze' that Northern Europe is experiencing will have little to no effect on global temperature averages. An example of a contradicting localised weather story is that of the record breaking heat wave that Southern Australia is currently feeling.

To read the Guardian, UK's, article on why scientists are predicting 2010 to be the hottest on record please follow this link, www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/10/climate-change-uk-big-freeze
Posted by ACT! at 07:24 0 comments

Thursday, 7 January 2010

Copenhagen Assessment - for the record ?


Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in the UK government gives his assessment of Copenhagen in a statement to the UK Parliament on 4th January 2010.
ACT ! provides a copy of that statement here because it provides a reasonably authoritative view of what was, and was not, achieved. Also, it outlines the next steps and priorities in improving the international agreement that is so badly needed.
For a copy of the statement, please visit:-
Any comments ?
Posted by Bob-at-ACT at 02:40 1 comments
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Wednesday, 6 January 2010

A co-operative good news story


Congratulations to Basin Electric Power
Co-operative !
Located in North Dakota, USA, this electricity
co-operative has announced (31-12-09) the completion of a 77 turbine wind farm, involving an investment of $250 million.
This ambitious project is part of a $1,000 million investment, to be completed in 2010 that is intended toproduce sufficient renewable energy to power some 175,000 homes.
ACT ! congratulates Basin Electric on this great achievement and hopes that it will be an inspiration to other co-ops to become active in renewable energy.
Posted by Bob-at-ACT at 01:13 1 comments
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The sceptics, deniers & vested interests must not win


6th January 2010
RajendraPachauri, chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that, following the disappointing outcome at Copenhagen, that climate change scepticism is likely to surge in 2010 and could exacerbate hardship for the planet's poorest people.
He continued "Powerful vested interests are perhaps likely to get overactive in the coming months, and would perhaps do everything in their power to impede progress towards a binding agreement that is hoped for by the end of 2010 in Mexico City"
See the full article at:-
ACT ! will be encouraging co-ops and co-operators to maintain and increase their efforts to address the climate threat throughout 2010. Our values of equity and social responsibility demand no less - Let us have your comments please !
Posted by Bob-at-ACT at 00:40 1 comments
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Monday, 4 January 2010

A Co-operative 2010 addressing the Climate Threat



Hi there - welcome to 2010 !

I hope that you all enjoyed the Christmas and New Year break. In a curious way, perhaps it came at a good time following Copenhagen, in that it perhaps provided time for us to reflect on what did happen, and on what did not happen. Also, it perhaps provided a chance to re-charge our personal batteries.

Whatever ! - Today, 4th January is the first full workday of 2010. Time for us, and for ACT ! to get back to work, refreshed and raring to go.

Certainly, there is much to do -

Was Copenhagen a success ? - No !

So, can we stop campaigning now ? - No !

Did key countries (we could say names) do the right things ? - No !

Are all co-operatives doing all they can to address the Climate Threat ? - No !

ACT ! will be working on its plans and priorities for 2010 over the next few weeks.
Our objective remains to encourage and support more co-ops to do more to Address the Climate Threat - we invite your views and comments on priorities.

Thank you

Posted by Bob-at-ACT at 04:19 0 comments
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