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National News - Climate - January 2008 |
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31/01/08 Companies doubt greenhouse figures Mathew Murphy , The Age
24/01/08 Australia 'lowly ranked' on environment AAP 2008 Environmental Performance Index
23/01/08 Scientists find clues to climate in nuclear fallout Richard Macey, The Age
22/01/08 Origin, Epruon to develop wind power AAP New South Wales, Jan 08
21/01/08 Supermarkets cut gases to go green Ben Cubby, The Age Links
18/01/08 It's not all bad news for companies tackling climate change Carol Adams, The Age , Opinion
11/01/08 Investment flows with the weather Adam Morton, The Age , with AFP Worldwatch Institute our highlighting
Mathew Murphy , The Age
January 30, 2008 - 12:00PM
The integrity of emissions data has been thrown into question with only a small number of businesses expressing confidence in their own greenhouse figures.
A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of chief executives and chief financial officers of over 300 Australian businesses found that only 2% believed the company's recorded emissions levels were of a high quality and would hold up to scrutiny.
Company executives also overwhelmingly want more information, 70% of those surveyed believing they don't know enough about the risks of climate change on their business.
Leading the way in addressing climate change is the resource sector - 28% of resource companies have established a budget to respond to perceived risks compared to 5% of the total sample. Over 75% of businesses have not formally assessed the risk of climate change to their operations.
Andrew Petersen, PwC climate change leader, said the government needed to collect investment-quality emissions data to ensure that Australia created a robust emissions trading scheme.
"Business is saying we need to be more regulated. They are not saying they want over regulation, they want predictability," he said. "The resources sector is skilled in understanding the implications of the issue and has been pricing carbon into their future operations and future acquisitions. Is it accurate? I don't think anyone would say the information it has is perfect but again it is not a market that has given clear signals about what the price is going to be."
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Carbon Countdown - PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of chief executives PDF
January 24, 2008 - 2:08PM AAP
Australia has been given a lowly global ranking for environmental performance, mainly because of its assessment as a climate change laggard.
The nation is ranked 49th out of 149 countries on the 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with a score of 79.8 per cent, behind countries like the United States and Brazil.
While major polluters China and India fared worse overall, they outperformed Australia on climate change.
The assessment was made before the federal Labor government ratified the Kyoto Protocol last month.
The rating sees Australia drop 29 places from its number 20 position in the 2006 inaugural index, which is produced by a team of environmental experts from the US universities Yale and Columbia.
The researchers gave the nation a 99.3 per cent score on environmental health, but it was dragged down by a 60.4 per cent mark for ecosystem vitality.
In the category of climate change - which makes up 50 per cent of the weighting for ecosystem vitality - Australia was rated at 42.5 per cent.
By comparison, China had a 52.7 per cent climate change score, India 57.9 and the United States 56.1.
"The laggards on climate change are typically countries with particularly carbon-intensive industry and electricity generation sectors, such as United Arab Emirates and Australia, or countries with high rates of deforestation relative to their small populations," the index report says.
Australia's greenhouse gas emissions per capita was given a 45.4 per cent score and for emissions per kilowatt-hour, 5.9 per cent. Water stress was 49.6.
Switzerland topped the EPI with a score of 95.5, followed by Norway and Sweden.
African nations filled the bottom spots, with Niger listed last.
The Central American nation of Costa Rica was the highest-ranked developing nation at number five.
New Zealand - which stood at number one in the 2006 index - came seventh in 2008.
"As the corporate sector has long understood, the ability to benchmark performance provides an important spur to lagging performers and valuable guidance on where to look for best practices," said Daniel Esty, director of the Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy.
"Every country has something to learn from the 2008 EPI."
Richard Macey, The Age
January 23, 2008
RADIOACTIVE fallout from nuclear bombs detonated in the atmosphere more than 50 years ago has been found far underground, in limestone cave stalagmites around Australia, helping scientists understand climate changes over the past half a million years.
Seeking ways to map past climate patterns, researchers from the Australian National University, Newcastle University and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation proposed harnessing stalagmites as ancient rain gauges.
In dry years, they suspected rainwater, dripping into caves to grow stalagmites, would seep in so slowly it would have plenty of time to soak up rare metals and natural isotopes from the soil.
But in wet years the water would gush in so fast it would have no time to leach out the elements.
If the theory was right, varying levels of isotopic and rare metal concentrations deposited in stalagmites should point to droughts and deluges in Australia as far back as 500,000 years.
To test the idea, the scientists decided to study young stalagmites, comparing the results with official rainfall figures from the last century. But first they would have to find a way to accurately age the cave formations.
Ed Hodge, a carbon-dating specialist and speleologist at Lucas Heights, said yesterday the solution was to look for minute amounts of nuclear fallout from bombs detonated in the 1950s and 1960s.
The radioactive material would have settled on the surface before seeping into the caves with rainwater, dripping down to become part of the stalagmites.
To the delight of the scientists, they found the fallout.
Dr Hodge said: "What really surprised me was the amount of radioactive carbon that was deposited in the stalagmites."
He said the radioactive carbon "pulse" in the stalagmites — while far too low to pose health risks to people — "sticks out like a sore thumb".
"But it immediately tails off after 1965," he said, marking the year an international treaty started reducing atmospheric blasts.
Their research showed that stalagmites could be used to reveal past weather patterns, he said. "One stalagmite in Western Australia, known to be 81 years old, showed a 20% decrease in annual precipitation since 1965." This closely matched official weather records.
The scientists are confident they can date stalagmites up to 500,000 years old by dating their ratios of natural uranium and thorium.
January 22, 2008 - 9:56AM, AAP
Origin Energy has partnered with wind generation developers Epruon to develop 590 MegaWatt wind farm projects in New South Wales.
The fist project will be the construction of the 30 MW Cullerin Range wind farm in NSW, about 30 kilometres west of Goulburn.
Origin expects to start commissioning of the wind farm next year.
Origin chief operating officer Karen Moses said the deal, which is the firm's first generation investment in NSW, would allow Origin to build its own wind facilities for the first time.
"It provides Origin with greater flexibility in managing our carbon, retail and generation portfolios," she said.
When fully operational, the Cullerin Range will save about 100,000 tonnes of carbon per year or provide enough renewable electricity to power nearly 15,000 average homes in NSW, Origin said.
The Cullerin Range wind farm is one of three permitted sites in NSW, including the 30 MW Conory's Gap site and the 30 MW Snowy Plains site, where Origin has also acquired the rights to develop these projects.
"Origin is well placed to make significant contribution to helping reduce the carbon intensity of the Australian economy and the federal government meet its 20 per cent renewables target by 2020," Ms Moses said.
Other recent investments and initiatives in the renewable space by Origin include its joint venture with hot rocks geothermal developer Geodynamics, research and development of SLIVER solar technology, and the development of its Carbon Reduction Scheme and other offset products.
Origin also hold a 51.4 per cent stake in New Zealand's Contact Energy, which is looking to inject $2 billion into wind and geothermal projects over the next five years.
Woolworths, acting on fridge leaks
Photo: Michel O'Sullivan
Ben Cubby, The Age
January 21, 2008
ALL new Woolworths supermarkets will conform to stringent environmental standards, and most old stores will be upgraded after the success of the company's pioneer "green supermarket" in Sydney's Rouse Hill.
Chronic leaking of potent greenhouse gas from supermarket fridges, as well as high energy consumption, led to the changes, Woolworths — which trades as Safeway in Victoria — said.
The Natural Refrigerants Transition Board, which has received government funding to examine ways of reducing greenhouse emissions from refrigerants, estimated that leaks from fridges in Woolworths stores nationally would be equivalent to the annual emissions of 240,000 cars. Other supermarket chains had similar leakage levels, which could be greatly reduced by switching to safer gases, the board said.
Keeping produce cool accounts for 48% of Woolworths' total carbon emissions, lighting for 21% and air-conditioning 19%, the company said.
Changes included in new supermarkets will include "cascade" cooling systems for fridges, in which some of the most harmful gases are replaced by the much safer carbon dioxide, while better fans, roll-down screens to retain chilled air and light-emitting diodes instead of hotter conventional lights would be fitted as standard lights.
The company aims to hold its carbon emissions at 2006 levels, save 200 million litres of water a year and reduce food waste to nil by 2015. "We have to do it in order to meet our sustainability targets," a Woolworths spokeswoman, Clare Buchanan, said. "It will save money, it will save carbon emissions and, like any other company these days, we want to get our house in order."
Coles Myer, the other major supermarket chain, has opened its own "green supermarkets" at Winmalee and Ropes Crossing in Sydney and plans to incorporate energy and greenhouse gas-saving technology in new stores.
The Natural Refrigerants Transition Board, which helped co-ordinate a refrigerant gas reduction program at five supermarkets, said upgrades to supermarket cooling systems were a step in the right direction, and all retailers should consider similar moves. "It's a hugely serious problem, but it's just such an easy problem to solve," said spokesman Brent Hoare. "By using carbon dioxide as a refrigerant you immediately eliminate a large chunk of your emissions."
Environmental group Planet Ark called on the Federal Government to legislate for energy saving and pollution reducing refrigeration in all food shops.
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Carol Adams, The Age , Opinion
January 18, 2008
MANY Australian companies and public sector organisations will need to change the way they do business if we are to achieve the reductions needed to limit climate change.
Companies operating globally are aware that they are behind their competitors in Europe and elsewhere in developing the intellectual capital and know-how to respond to the concerns of their stakeholders about their environmental performance.
As the population becomes increasingly concerned about the values of the organisations they choose to work for — and buy goods and services from — companies are finding they need to change. There are a number of key ingredients to doing so.
Leadership is crucial, both corporate leadership and leadership from government and the public sector. Too many chief executives and corporate boards are either uninterested or actively curtailing initiatives from staff to reduce the impact of climate change. Some corporate and public sector leaders are unaware of those impacts, not having data on their carbon dioxide emissions.
Boards need to gain an understanding of climate change and the risks and the economic consequences associated with it. They need to be more than narrowly educated accountants and old-style authoritarian leaders focusing on what can be measured in dollars.
Our leaders must be able to instil a culture of social and environmental responsibility. The survival of much of our planet, and business, depends on responsible leadership, leaders with values who listen to the concerns of staff and other stakeholders. They must be able to create an organisation employees are proud to work for, and valued for driving environmental initiatives. Shareholders must recognise that business survival depends on it, and not let short-term greed stand in the way of boards and managers making progress.
Regulators, too, have a role. Legislation requiring companies to measure and manage their environmental impacts is essential. This will mitigate both fears of creating competitive disadvantage by reporting environmental performance information and also shareholder focus on short-term profits.
External public reporting requirements often drive much-needed development of internal data collection systems. Once data is collected it can be monitored. Targets can be set.
Managers will compete with each other to improve performance. Tools, such as balanced scorecards, can be used to encourage a different view of what constitutes good performance. Making public commitments to targets through sustainability reports enhances the organisation's focus on environmental performance.
Sustainability issues can be incorporated into corporate and public sector organisation strategies and plans made to ensure targets are met.
Voluntary reporting initiatives such as the corporate social responsibility indices and sector-based initiatives have played a part in assisting organisations that have chosen to change. But the increasing number of these has also been a source of confusion for environmental and sustainability managers who come to their roles from diverse backgrounds often with no relevant formal training and limited experience.
Environmental management systems can play a part in developing processes, training staff and raising awareness, but do not on their own ensure adequate data availability. Engaging stakeholders, hearing their concerns, can be a powerful force for change.
While some companies will drag their feet and struggle to deal with stakeholder concerns and meet the demands of new regulation, others will reap the benefits of improved reputations from adopting practices that go beyond mandatory reporting and target requirements and selecting suppliers on the basis of social and environmental responsibility.
These are the organisations that will attract and retain the best staff, increase their market share and long-term success.
Carol Adams is professor of accounting and sustainable development strategy, and deputy dean, faculty of law and management, at La Trobe University.
Adam Morton, The Age with AFP, our highlighting
January 11, 2008
CLIMATE change is dramatically rewriting the rules for business, investors and consumers worldwide, affecting more than $100 billion in annual capital flows, a new report says.
Global spending on renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro and geothermal leapt by 27% to an estimated $66 billion last year, following a 33% jump in 2006, according to the annual Worldwatch Institute State of the World report.
Investment in carbon trading is growing even faster, nearly tripling in 2006 to an estimated $30 billion.
In Australia, a surge in corporate spending on energy technology is expected as the Labor Government promotes its target of 20% of the nation's electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020.
It has pledged a national carbon trading system from 2010, possibly requiring businesses to pay for emission permits.
Launching the report, which is in its 25th year, Worldwatch president Chris Flavin told reporters in Washington that the world had woken up to the environmental challenges facing it and was moving towards a "vibrant, sustainable economy".
Yale University environmental law professor Daniel Esty said there was a "sea of change in business attitudes towards the environment".
Global corporations such as General Electric, Toyota and Dow were embracing clean technology, not because they were "do-gooders" but because the bottom line was right, he said.
According to World Bank data, 39 countries experienced a drop in wealth of at least 5% when taking environmental damage — unsustainable forestry, carbon emissions, depletion of non-renewable resources — into account.
It coincided with clean technology growing rapidly — by 78% to nearly $3 billion in 2006 — to be the third largest area of venture capital investment behind the internet and biotechnology.
The report says more needs to be done, calling for a government policy overhaul to steer investment away from fossil fuels and towards sustainable practices.
The Age this week revealed that Victoria's annual energy-related greenhouse emissions have surged by nearly 30% since 1990 because of its reliance on brown-coal power stations.
"We have the tools today to steer the global economy onto a sustainable path," the report says. "The task now is to bring them together and scale them up so that they become the norm across today's economies."
The report praises Australia for the Howard government policy of replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, which are four times as efficient.
■ Japan is expected to pledge $11.35 billion over the next five years to help developing countries such as China and India combat the effects of global warming.
The step, reported in the Nikkei business daily, comes after Japan was criticised by environmentalists for arguing against compulsory greenhouse emission reduction targets at last month's climate change summit in Bali.
With AFP
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