co-operatives addressing the climate threat... together

Thursday, 25 February 2010

In A Bid To Win Back Public Trust, 150 Years Of Temperature Data Will Be Re- Examined


The MET office of the UK has called for a 150 years of temperature measurements to be reviewed, during a meeting in Turkey today.


The call for ' A New International Analyisis Of Land Surface Air Tempreature Data' comes at a time when public conviction to fight the climate threat is falling, in the light of email scandals, aggressive if not unpredictable marketing from sceptics and lack of political action.


The current sets of data collated by the US and UK using different methodologies, clearly show temperatures are rising, but the MET office believes there is room for improvement in the analysis process.


The analysis will take three years and will be open to public scrutiny through out the process, the scientists do not expect to see any substantial changes in the data but hope it will add to the credibility of the science behind climate change.


A recent UK study from Ipsos Mori showed that the amount of adults that believe that climate change is 'definitely' a reality dropped by a huge 30% in 2009. Many people surveyed mentioned hacked emails for their doubts but a large proportion commented that the lack of political action has made them question the validity of claims.


There maybe no evidence being put forward by climate sceptic groups, but the small number of sceptics in the world are heavily funded and as a result are holding back climate action, in the same way that a similar group of sceptics held back action on the effect of CFC's, acid rain and indeed more recently the link between passive smoking and cancer for the benefit of big business.


To read an article on the 'Recycling of critics of old' see the article by Jeffrey Sachs in the Guardian UK, www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/feb/19/climate-change-sceptics-science

Posted by ACT! at 05:21 0 comments

Wednesday, 24 February 2010

The UN Have Stated, Emission Gaps Must Be Reduced Now



UN Environment Chief Achim Steiner, has announced that major emitters must move quickly to reduce the gap between their CO2 emission reduction pledges and the 2020 emission targets, if we are to have a chance of limiting temperature rise to under 2degrees.


A new report released yesterday by the UN environment programme ((UNEP), stated that we were clearly not on target to reach the 2020 emission targets. The UNEP Year Book 2010 report was distributed at a meeting in Bali this week and states that even if the current emission reductions being pledged are achieved, we are likely to fall some way short of limiting temperatures to a 2 degree rise, by 2020.


The document highlights the need for further investment in accelerating the creation of clean technologies and investing in marine and terrestrial ecosystems as key areas of focus.


It estimates that investing between $22-29 bn in Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degredation (REDD) could reduce deforestation by 25% by 2015. The crucial role of REDD was acknowledged by the Copenhagen accord, as it called for 'finacial incentives' to mobilise finacial resources.


Read the UNEP press release at http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=612&ArticleID=6472&l=en


Posted by ACT! at 03:48 0 comments

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Is The EU Delivering On Climate Finance Commitments?New figures Suggest Not


The EU member states commitments on climate finance so far add up to less than two thirds of what was pledged in Copenhagen. The EU pledged €2.4 billion per year to help developing countries fight the effects of climate change.


The EU plans to hold talks on how it will spend the climate funds in June, yet a report from the World Resources Institute (WRI) has calculated that the sum so far committed reaches only €1.52billion a year. This includes commitments from Germany, Ireland, France, UK, and the Netherlands.


The global figure, which includes the only other two countries that agreed fast track financial commitments at Copenhagen,the USA and Japan, currently stands at $23billion some $7billion short of an agreed $30 billion a year.


The key concern raised in the WRI study is that the current financial contributions are not new and additional to existing aid and developmnt funds, something that was called for by developing nations during the climate talks in Copenhagen. NGO's such as Greenpeace and Oxfam have continually raised concerns that the financial commitments would simply be made from existing finances already set aside for aid in developing nations.


The WRI report shows that all of the €420m pledged by Germany will count towards their 0.7% Overseas Development Aid commitment, while over half of the £500m pledged by the UK was already paid out to the World Bank after being commited as far back as 2007.



Posted by ACT! at 02:15 2 comments

Monday, 22 February 2010

New Rules For Emissions Trading Scheme Approved By EU Member States


A committee of Member States has backed proposals to transfer carbon allowances recorded in national ETS (Emission Trading Scheme) registeries to a centralised, single, EU registry from 2012. Airlines will also be included in the future ETS.


National administartors will be given more power under the new proposal, allowing them to close accounts. Law enforcement agencies will also now be allowed to share information with the ETS administrators. It is hoped that tighter regulation will cut down the recent incidents of fraudulent behaviour, within the ETS.


Extracted from a Europa press release on the 18-02-10, for more details paste the following address in your internet browser.



Posted by ACT! at 07:12 0 comments

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Finnish Co-operatives Joint Venture To Begin Wind Power Production


Established in Spring 2009 as a joint venture by energy company St1 and consumer co-operative SOK, wind power company TuuliWatti Oy is set to begin the production of wind power at Tahkoluoto in Pori. With an output of three megawatts, the large power station delivered by WinWinD will form the first part of TuuliWatti's wind park project.


SOK had identified industrial wind power as a sector of the clean energy market with huge potential accross Finland.


TuuliWatti focuses on constructing wind parks on land, which according to the projects newly appointed Managing Director Jari Suominen enables them to minimise line loss and grid investments.


This is the first site to be completed, as the Joint venture aims to result in significant wind power capacity being generated accross Finland. Jari Suominen commented, " TuuliWatti allows us to reach a significant volume in the construction and operation of industrial wind power, which will have an impact on the cost efficiency of operations.


Jari Annala, CFO of SOK commented, "With more than 1,600 places of business, the S-Group (SOK) is among the top 10 energy consumers in Finland. In addition to achieving maximum energy efficiency in our operations, our objectives include significantly increasing the amount of electricity produced through renewable energy forms. TuuliWatti provides us with a great opportunity for achieving this."


The wind park projects of TuuliWatti Oy were launched last year with project development and wind measurement taking place for 5 sites. The number of sites being developed will increase to 8 later this year, the first which will be taken under construction in 2011.


The Tahkolouto production plant is the most productive wind power plant built in Finland to date, producing around 8,000 MWh of renewable wind power per year.


Jari Suominen said "The experiences from the commissioning of Tahkoluoto this autumn are extremely promising. In Novemeber we already reached an excellent 43% utilisation rate, which means 930MWh of clean wind power per month. With production at the power plant reaching full swing, we also expect to hit high production figures going forward.


The Pori region is proving to be an excellent example of how existing infrastructure, such as that at the Tahkoluoto harbour area, can provide a suitable site for industrial wind power production.


TuuliWatti is a new player in the Finnish energy market, differing greatly in its operations. Wind power projects have been historically lengthy and the need for resources has depended largely on permit issues. TuuliWatti operations are based on a cost efficient model, where the input of the two partners St1 and SOK, can be flexibly target to projects as neccessary, with representatives of both part owners making up the company's administration.



Posted by ACT! at 06:37 0 comments

Newly Created Climate Departments Within The EU


Two new departments on climate change and energy have been created by the EU Commission following the formal endorsement from MEP's and member states last week.


Amongst the changes that have been finalised since last week, DG Climate Action, will group together the former Commission departments of Environment, External Relations and Industry and is likely to employ over 200 civil servants.


The DG Environment will remain responsible for industrial emissions, however protection of the ozone layer will still move as planned to DG Climate Action.


While the Commission consider the adoption of a transport and climate package, CO2 emissions from transport will now fall under the DG Climate Action.


In a press release displayed on http://www.europa.eu/ this morning, Connie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner for Climate Action, made the following statement."Now we can start- I am pleased that the decision can be made at the very first college meeting. It underlines the fact that the commission as a whole gives priority to Climate Action, and it shows that the EU can make quick decisions when needed. With the newly appointed Director-General Jos Delbeke, who will come with core staff already working on climate action, we will have a good beginning to take the lead of the EU's Climate Action agenda."
Posted by ACT! at 01:51 0 comments

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

As opposition to Canadian tar sands grows, could investment from China refuel concerns?


Following ACT!'s January report on the success of Co-operative Asset Management and several other companies, in influencing the shareholders of oil giant Shell, to consider their involvement in the extraction of Canadian tar sands, several large American companies have signed up to oppose the use of the tar sands due to climate and environmental concerns.

Large US retailers, Bed Bath and Beyond and Whole Foods have become the most recent companies to sign up to the ForestEthics campaign. http://www.forestethics.org/tar-sands, opposing American investment and use of the Canadian oil which is estimated to produce 5times more greenhouse gases than conventional crude oil.


Despite the success of campaigns run by the Co-operative Group, UK and ForestEthics and the mounting political pressure to scale down the extraction of tar sands, Canada is planning to invite business from Asia.


The tar sands were once marketed as a way to secure North American oil supplies, but a change in political opinion, and predictions of a crash in oil prices has led Canada to seek out new customers, China being at this point the most likely. An investment of CA$1.9 billion from state owned PetroChina, has seen China take majority ownership of two tar sands sites already, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggesting China will be investing more very shortly, "Expect more Chinese investment in the energy and resource sectors.... there will definitely be more".


While many US businesses have chosen to move away from tar sands as a way of reducing their carbon footprints, this recent Chinese interest will be sure to raise eyebrows regarding China and its involvement in any global climate agreement.


To read more on this subject visit www.ecofactory.org




Posted by ACT! at 07:25 0 comments

Monday, 15 February 2010

Weekend News; Spain plans to back coal power boost,No time for EU climate talks,UN panel to discuss climate finance


Spanish Government Wish To Promote Coal Power

The Spanish Government has approved a decree promoting domestic coal, in a bid to protect mining employment and increase levels of energy security. The law must however recieve EU approval before it can be implemented.

The Spanish National Energy and Competition comissions warned that it could boost the power sectors emissions by 20%, distort the whole market and break EU competition laws. The Spanish government is using a law put in place in 1997, that allows a limited preference to be shown to domestic fuel sources.

There had been a 21% fall in the Spanish energy sectors emissions in 2009, due to coal generation being down 30%, competition from renewables increasing and an overall drop in electricity usage in line with the economic slow down.

The European Commission competition department have confirmed that no proposal has yet been tabled.


EU leaders Run Out Of Time To Discuss Climate Change

European leaders in Brussels on Thursday ran out of time to discuss the future of the EU in regard to international climate negotiations. The meetings were focused on the financial situation in Greece and the post Lisbon strategy to increase employment and growth levels.

Herman Van Rompuy , the President of the EU Council, has made a staement saying that climate will be placed at the top of the agenda for the next meeting of European leaders in March.

Commission President Barroso has commented that plans for economic growth and employment strategies had been widly accepted, although there are reports that several stakeholders were unhappy with sufficient focus being given to 'green growth'.

On Wednesday the EU Parliament had adopted a resolution calling for a greater than 20% emission cut by 2020, despite no big emitters showing any interest in the offer of 30%.


UN Panel Formed To Speen up Climate Finance Negotiations

The panel will be headed up by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The advisory panel will deal with the issue of raising the $100m annual donation for developing countries to tackle climate change, by 2020. One way of raising the money would be through a global tax on financial transactions, something that French, UK, German and Ethiopian and many other developing nations, leaders support.

The advisory panel will present the ideas at the Mexico climate summit later in 2010.
The 'Robin Hood' Tax as the tax on financial transaction has been termed, is explained in greater detail here http://www.robinhoodtax.org/
Posted by ACT! at 01:16 0 comments

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

The Greens Brand MEP's Hypocrites Over the Approval Of the New Commission


The new EU commission, dubbed Barroso II, was approved by a "coalition of hypocrites" in the European Parliament, Green MEP's said in response to the vote. The Greens and EFA group voted against the new commission.




Green MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit stated that "The Socialist and Liberals played the charade of critisising the Commission, then voted in favour. This European Commission is not up to the challenges of the converging economic, social and environmental crises".

Green MEP Rebecca Harms followed this by adding "Barroso has shaped this Commission with the philosophy of divide and conquer. The new college of commissioners risks being characterised by internal power struggles instead of teamwork, due to the unclear division of responsibilities."


The Council of Ministers issued a statement yesterday evening confirming the approval.


Jos Delbeke, the former Deputy Chief of the Commissions Environment Department, becomes head of the new department on climate action under Barroso's second term as President of the EU Executive.


The former DG Environment is split into two seperate departments on Climate and Environment.


Karl Falkenberg will remain in the position as Director General of DG Environment.


Peter Vis will become Connie Hedegaard's (first EU Climate Commissioner) chef de cabinet, with Maria Kokkonen becoming the climate spokesperson.


The Head of DG Energy is now Philip Lowe.


The former Director General Energy and Transport Matthias Ruete, heads up the new DG transport under Commissioner Siim Kallas.



Source:


http://www.green-efa.org/cms/pressreleases/dok/326/326598/.barrosa_ill_comission@en.htm


Posted by ACT! at 03:10 0 comments

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

EU Climate Position appears to remain unchanged


EU Environment Ministers meeting in Brussels on the 15 March are not planning to set out a new vision for EU leadership in post Copenhagen climate talks according to draft council conclusions reported in the ENDS Report.


The draft document reiterates Europes commitment to a unilateral 20% and conditional 30% reduction n emissions by 2020, however it also states the EU's willingness to further negotiatiate their position in the run up to the talks in Cancun, Mexico, later this year.


The draft paper would see the EU submit 'preliminary reports' during talks in a June meeting in Bonn, on the disbursment of the €7.2 billion of fast track climate aid for developing countries, for 2010-1012.


Ministers would call on the UN finance panel, set up to study the potential sources for the $100bn a year promised to developing countries from 2020, to complete its work by June. The draft suggests that carbon markets should be considered.


The political guidance in the Copenhagen accord must be integrated into the UNFCCC and Kyoto protocol negotiating tracks agreed on in December. The draft does not state that the accord could come from a third negotiating track, contradicting what certain EU Commission officials, that stated this may be so.


Monitoring, Reporting verification (MRV) guidelines for cording greenhouse emissions, a highly controversial issue in Copenhagen, should be developed by the next major UN climate conference in December, according to the document.
Adapted from ENDS Europe report 9th January 2010




Posted by ACT! at 07:50 0 comments

Polish Government Gets new Environment minister


Andrzej Kraszewski, a professor of environmental engineering was appointed the new environment minister on Monday.


After the post has remained empty for over two months it is thought that Kraszewski will initially concentrate his efforts on negotiating a sale of the existing surplus of carbon credits.
Posted by ACT! at 07:35 0 comments

Thursday, 4 February 2010

New EU Commissioners set to take their place, but is housing on the energy agenda?

Gunther Oettinger, the future Commissioner for Energy, recently stated that the EU will continue supporting housing energy refurbshment, within the framework of a new energy efficiency action plan due to be adopted by the EU Commission by the end of 2010.

While Oettinger's comments can be taken as positive, members of CECHODAS are wary following a balancing comment from Johannes Hahn, the future Commissioner for Regional Policy, who in a brief statement seemed to suggest that the DG Regional Policy would not be as ambitious as the DG Energy when it came to the issue of energy efficiency. When Hahn was asked by MEP's how he intends to ensure that the use of structural funds for energy efficiency investment in housing will be reducing poverty, he answered saying all EU member states have access to the stuctural funds and is up to them to use it.

Much work still needs to be done in raising the awareness of the Housing sector and in particular social and co-operative housing to meeting EU energy reduction targets. The future Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Laszlo Ando, highlighted the work that both CECHODAS and going forward ACT! and Co-operatives Europe must undertake to gain clear EU support by commenting that "energy efficiency was not his business", despite the publicity and campaigning around the issue.

CECHODAS plan to write letters to the new Commissioners once they are confirmed on the 9th February and ACT! will be looking to support this lobby work.

Sourced from CECHODAS newsletter Jan-Feb 2010

Posted by ACT! at 02:46 0 comments
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