• Eco Picture of The Day – July 2010 Top 10 Eco Pic’s

    August 2, 2010

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    Caroline Lucas MP writes alternative Queen’s Speech

    The Green Party’s only member of parliament Caroline Lucas has created an alternative Queen’s Speech for Channel 4.

    In her official address at the opening of parliament the Queen outlined the development of an Energy and Green Economy Bill, which will be used to enhance the production of low-carbon energy and more efficient use of power.

    Ms Lucas also highlighted her desire for further investment in renewable energy sources in her alternative speech, but she spoke about much more ambitious carbon reduction targets than the current government has planned.

    “My government will seek effective global and European collaboration to combat climate change, in a globally equitable manner, which will involve a 90 per cent cut in UK CO2 emissions from 1990 levels by 2030,” the Green Party leader told Channel 4.

    She continued by stating that a ten per cent cut should be made in the coming year.

    Many of the proposals laid out in the party’s election manifesto were reiterated in the alternative speech, such as a lowering of public transport fares and the creation of a fairer tax system.

    Ms Lucas holds the Brighton Pavillion seat with 31 per cent of the vote.

    >>> Please read the full article here

    June 6, 2010

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    Who is performing best in the race towards a low carbon economy?

    For many countries around the world the task they face in the coming years is how to create a more sustainable environment while still competing in the global economy.

    This represents a significant challenge, as businesses have often been reluctant to change their practices for fear of them impacting on their bottom line.

    However, the annual Climate Competitiveness Index, compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and non-profit organisation AccountAbility, suggests that many nations are already making strides in this area.

    Simply put, a country’s climate competitiveness is measured by its accountability, defined as the clarity and support for its policies, and its performance – whether its track record suggests it is able to implement the changes.

    The report analysed the activities of 95 major countries across the world. Together, these nations account for 97 per cent of the world’s economic activity and 96 per cent of its carbon emissions.

    Germany, Europe’s largest economy, was shown to be performing well in many areas. It was named as an “outstanding example” of a country which is making significant strides towards a low carbon economy.

    The country was also said to have achieved “consistent progress” in combining climate accountability with performance, which UNEP said is the key to increasing Climate Competitiveness.

    Sweden, Denmark, Japan and France were all shown to be performing well in this area. North Africa and the Middle East region were of the worst performers in both areas.

    In terms of the performance index, the UK was shown to be the strongest nation in the world. However, it lagged behind a number of other European countries when it came to accountability.

    The Low Carbon Economy Limited partnership with UNEP can be found by clicking here. It includes data and policy, country by country, which can be viewed and analysed.

    UNEP suggested that the countries which performed well in the index had a strong record in reporting and managing carbon emissions, as well as developing their range of low carbon products and services.

    It said that a network of organisations dedicated to the support of low carbon growth was present in those which performed best.

    But in Bolivia, Ghana, Vietnam and Bangladesh, concern among members of the population was a key driver and in Scandinavia and Singapore businesses were playing a major role.

    All signs point to the routes leading to a low carbon economy being varied, which begs the question, is the UK currently travelling down the right one?

    >>> Please read the full article here

    May 11, 2010

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    How big will the carbon footprint of party leaders be during the election?

    By Leo Hickman from the Guardian

    We’ll never know for sure. It’s the only honest answer I can give for the simple reason that the three main parties won’t supply the necessary information to make such a calculation. Are they hiding something? Or do they just not care? It’s hard to say, but given how low down they have all placed the environment on their lists of manifesto priorities I would tend to favour the latter.

    Personally, I think they are right to make an effort to travel to each and every corner of the land to press the flesh. It’s a quintessential part of a leader’s role during a general election campaign. Given the great distances required to hop around the regions during a long campaign it’s no surprise that the leaders have to take – volcanoes permitting – some flights between hustings. It would be nice, though, given their sporadic soundings on the environment, to see them at least make the gesture of saying that they will only take a flight when no other option is practicable.

    However, we do have a good sense of the sorts of journeys the leaders of the three main parties have been making since the election began in earnest following the dissolution of parliament on April 6. Thanks to the on-going efforts of my colleagues Paul Torpey and Emma Sax, we can now view a Google Map of the leaders’ travels. What’s visually striking is how many of the visits have centred on or around the M1 corridor between London and the urban centres of the north-west. (Given that’s where the bulk of the population lives, this isn’t too surprising, but let’s hope they visit the rural fringes, too.) The odd flight to Scotland apart, all of these journeys to date are eminently achievable by train if, as we must assume, the leaders are leaving and returning to London each day.

    Such journeys are dwarfed, though, by the epic distances put in by the US presidential candidates every four years. With some three thousand miles between the coasts (not including the occasional trip to Hawaii and Alaska), McCain and Obama each clocked up colossal mileage during their respective campaigns in 2008. Again, figures are hard to come by, but a US carbon offsetting firm called Carbon Standard did do the math that year.

    It calculated the carbon footprint (PDF) of the whole “ground game”, as they say in America, of each presidential candidate’s campaign. That’s to say, the individual footprints of not just McCain and Obama, but all their campaign staff, too. But they had to base their calculations on campaign expenditure as opposed to odometer readings. It concluded that Obama’s travel-related carbon footprint was 39,178 tonnes of CO2, compared to McCain’s 26,499 tonnes. To put that into some kind of perspective, Carbon Standard said this would equate to Obama needing to plant 911,325 trees to stultify his emissions, and McCain would have to plant 616,395 trees. If you consider that there an estimated 500,000 trees in New York City it helps to give an extra sense of scale.

    >>> Please read the full article here

    May 1, 2010

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    Green policy: We need a seismic shift in thinking

    Andy Atkins

    The massive disruption to European air travel from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland is a stark reminder of the massive force of nature – and the powerlessness of our actions when we feel its full might.

    It’s a timely reminder of the urgent need to heed warnings from the world’s leading climate scientists about the huge threat we face unless we slash greenhouse gas emissions and tackle global warming.

    But despite widespread agreement among the main political parties that climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face, the issue has taken a back seat since Gordon Brown blew the general election whistle earlier this month.

    Before the economic crisis took hold, all the main parties seemed to grasp the importance of making climate change a major issue.

    David Cameron kicked off his party leadership by making the environment a leading priority, urging people to “vote blue, go green” in the runup to the 2006 council elections.

    Nick Clegg told a 2008 climate rally that some were saying: “In a recession we can’t afford the luxury to worry about the planet … they are wrong, you are right.”

    And at last year’s Copenhagen climate talks, Gordon Brown warned of the “economic catastrophe equivalent in this century to the impact of two world wars and the great depression in the last.”

    Cross-party support in the last parliament led to the passing of the historic Climate Change Act. Championed by Friends of the Earth, this was the first national legislation anywhere in the world to set legally binding targets for cutting emissions.

    All three parties have sizeable sections devoted to the environment in their manifestos, and these are certainly stronger and bolder than last time round. But none of them fully grasps the size of the environmental challenge we face.

    There is little to choose between Labour and Conservative electoral pledges.

    Perhaps most deplorable is the fact that neither includes a commitment to delivering the 42% reduction in greenhouse gases that the government’s key advisors – the committee on climate change – say is required by 2020. Labour hinted at it, but only if various international conditions are met, while the Conservatives don’t even have a 2020 target.

    Labour are strong on making our homes more energy efficient, promising to improve 7 million homes through tougher standards for rented housing and a loans scheme for homeowners, with the aim that all lofts and cavity walls will be insulated by 2015. However, these laudable intentions are undermined by promises to widen motorways and build more runways.

    A lack of detail permeates Conservative plans. How much money will its Green Investment Bank have? How big an impact will green government procurement plans have on the markets for eco products? And what emission standards will be set for new power stations? The promise to scrap airport expansion plans is welcome.

    The Liberal Democrats have been most impressive – second only to the Green Party – in putting green issues at the heart of their policy proposals by including them on most pages and in every section of their manifesto.

    The next UK parliament will be critical if the UK is to play its part in reducing emissions and seizing the enormous economic opportunities of developing a low-carbon future, which could deliver hundreds of thousands of new green jobs and business opportunities.

    Strong leadership will be required from whichever party wins the election to ensure that the UK plays a fair role in tackling global warming. And this will be so much easier if they are supported by the other parties too. Climate change is too important to be a political football.

    The starting point for the next government must be a far stronger target for cutting UK emissions – without buying carbon offsets from abroad.

    Local carbon budgets should also be introduced for every local council. They have a crucial role to play in meeting our climate goals. And we need a new law to tackle the significant greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation caused by the UK’s dependence on imported feeds for livestock – which will also support better UK farming and domestic feed production.

    And the next UK government must also play a prominent role in pushing for a strong and fair international agreement on cutting emissions where those responsible make the deepest cuts first, and developing countries are supported to grow in a clean, green way.

    Aviation emissions have been reduced by the Icelandic volcano , but it’s also brought chaos, misery and frustration to tens of thousands of people. Cutting emissions and tackling climate change is essential – but this must be achieved through bold strategies, not volcanic activity.

    It’s a seismic shift in political thinking that we desperately need.

    >>> Please read the full article here

    April 30, 2010

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    Green Party sets ambitious carbon reduction targets

    The Green Party has said that carbon emissions must be cut at a much faster rate than the government is currently proposing.

    In its 2010 election manifesto, it said emissions need to be reduced by 90 percent by 2030, instead of 80 percent by 2050 as the government has advocated.

    “This means an annual reduction of about ten percent per year from now until 2030,” the party pointed out.

    It said that only by achieving these cuts can the UK hope to prevent “runaway and disastrous climate change”.

    To do this, the Greens put forward a number of proposals, such as discouraging the use of fossil fuels by bringing back the fuel duty escalator and introducing carbon quotas for all UK households and businesses.

    The party would also introduce a “massive” programme of direct government investment in large-scale wind and other renewable generation, with the aim of obtaining half of the UK’s energy from renewable sources by 2020.

    Environmental measures also formed part of the election manifestos of all three of the main political parties.

    >>> Please read the full article here

    April 28, 2010

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    Hollywood stars join politicians at Bolivia’s ‘cool’ global warming summit

    Evo Morales says talks will give a voice to world’s poorest and encourage governments to be ambitious after Copenhagen

    Hollywood stars join politicians at Bolivia’s ‘cool’ global warming summit

    Evo Morales says talks will give a voice to world’s poorest and encourage governments to be ambitious after Copenhagen

    John Vidal, environment editor
    guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 13 April 2010 17.03 BST

    In what is becoming the hippest environment meeting of the year, presidents, politicians, intellectuals, scientists and Hollywood stars will join more than 15,000 indigenous people and thousands of grass roots groups from more than 100 countries to debate climate change in one of the world’s poorest nations.

    The World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth which opens next week in the small Bolivian town of Cochabamba, will have no direct bearing on the UN climate talks being conducted by 192 governments. But Bolivian President Evo Morales says it will give a voice to the poorest people of the world and encourage governments to be far more ambitious following the failure of the Copenhagen summit.

    Morales will use the meeting to announce the world’s largest referendum, with up to 2 billion people being asked to vote on ways out of the climate crisis. Bolivia also wants to create a UN charter of rights and to draft an action plan to set up an international climate justice tribunal.

    “The only way to get climate negotiations back on track not just for Bolivia or other countries, but for all of life, biodiversity, our Mother Earth is to put civil society back into the process. The only thing that can save mankind from a [climate] tragedy is the exercise of global democracy,” said Bolivia’s United Nations Ambassador Pablo Solon in Bonn, at the end of the latest UN talks.

    “There will be no secret discussions behind closed doors. The debate and the proposals will be led by communities on the frontlines of climate change and by organisations and individuals from civil society dedicated to tackling the climate crisis,” he said.

    More than 90 governments are sending delegations to Cochabamba, Bolivia’s third largest city. Also expected to attend are scientists such as James Hansen, James Cameron, the director of Avatar, the linguist Noam Chomsky, author Naomi Klein of Canada, anti-globalisation activist José Bové of France, and actors Danny Glover, Robert Redford and Susan Sarandon are expected.

    The meeting will coincide with celebrations of the Cochabamba “water war” of 2000 when a revolt against the privatisation of water in the city acted as an inspiration for social movements across Latin America and indirectly to the election of Morales as Bolivia’s president.

    “We hope that this unique format will help shift power back to the people, which is where it needs to be on this critical issue for all humanity. We don’t expect agreement on everything, but at least we can start to discuss openly and sincerely in a way that didn’t happen in Copenhagen,” said Solón.

    >>> Please read the full article at the guardian, here

    April 24, 2010

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    Labour outlines green plans

    Labour has outlined its green pledges in its 2010 election manifesto, including a commitment to generate 40 percent of the UK’s electricity from low-carbon sources by 2020.

    The party said it wanted to make greener living easier and fairer through schemes such as pay-as-you-save home energy insulation, discounts in energy bills for pensioners and requirements for landlords to insulate rented homes.

    It also outlined plans to introduce smart meters in all homes by 2020, bring in recycling-on-the-go schemes with separate public bins in streets and shopping centres and ban recyclable and biodegradable materials from landfill.

    In addition, the party said it would sustain the Green Belt and ensure that 60 percent of new development is sited on brownfield land, while also extending the Right to Roam to the whole English coastline.

    The publication of the manifesto comes after the government introduced new feed-in tariffs for individuals and businesses generating their own low-carbon electricity.

    >>> Please read the full article here

    April 21, 2010

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    Cynicism over Copenhagen Treaty

    The UK government says it is highly unlikely that a new legally binding climate treaty can be agreed this year – and a full treaty may be a year away.
    Two years ago, the world’s governments vowed to finalise a new treaty at next month’s climate summit in Copenhagen.
    Climate Secretary Ed Miliband has until now said it could be done – but now he says only a political deal is likely, echoing some other senior figures.
    Developing countries reacted with frustration and disappointment.
    “When we left (UN talks in) Bali two years ago, we all expected that would be agreeing on a legally binding outcome to respond to the urgency… that we were on the verge of catastrophic climate change, so we’re very disappointed,” said Selwin Hart from Barbados, speaking for the group of small island developing states.
    “If we don’t take urgent and ambitious action, the reality is that some small island developing states will not be around within a couple of decades – certainly not by the end of the century.”
    This is thought to be the first time that UK ministers have acknowledged the slim chances of achieving anything legally binding.
    In the middle of October, Mr Miliband said a new treaty looked “more do-able” following a meeting of the Major Economies Forum in London.
    His comments now echo warnings from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen and US chief climate negotiator Todd Stern that only a “politically binding” agreement can now be achieved.
    Officials then warned it could take up to a full year to finalise the treaty.

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    The UK government says it is highly unlikely that a new legally binding climate treaty can be agreed this year – and a full treaty may be a year away. Two years ago, the world’s governments vowed to finalise a new treaty at next month’s climate summit in Copenhagen. Climate Secretary Ed Miliband has until now said it could be done – but now he says only a political deal is likely, echoing some other senior figures.

    Developing countries reacted with frustration and disappointment.

    “When we left (UN talks in) Bali two years ago, we all expected that would be agreeing on a legally binding outcome to respond to the urgency… that we were on the verge of catastrophic climate change, so we’re very disappointed,” said Selwin Hart from Barbados, speaking for the group of small island developing states.

    “If we don’t take urgent and ambitious action, the reality is that some small island developing states will not be around within a couple of decades – certainly not by the end of the century.”

    This is thought to be the first time that UK ministers have acknowledged the slim chances of achieving anything legally binding. In the middle of October, Mr Miliband said a new treaty looked “more do-able” following a meeting of the Major Economies Forum in London. His comments now echo warnings from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen and US chief climate negotiator Todd Stern that only a “politically binding” agreement can now be achieved.

    Officials then warned it could take up to a full year to finalise the treaty.

    View full article at bbc.co.uk

    Image sourced from bbc.co.uk - Activists strung a banner from Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia church

    November 19, 2009

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    Taxes to be Introduced for Shopping Bags

    The first shoppers in Britain will be taxed for their carrier bags within 18 months, it was announced on Tuesday.
    Customers in Wales are to be charged up to 15p per carrier bag.
    Other parts of Britain are expected to folbow by introducing the tax aimed at reducing the number of plastic bags which take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.
    Leaders in the the Welsh Assembly announced it will start in early 2011 and pledged cash raised would be spent on environmental projects not go into tax coffers.
    Supporters hope the charge will encourage more shoppers to take reusable bags to supermarkets.
    Welsh Environment Minister Jane Davidson said: “Carrier bags represent a waste of resources and they are an iconic symbol of the throwaway society we now seem to live in.
    “This government still holds the view that the voluntary agreement does not go far enough and we have to take more action now.
    “We are behind the game when you look at what other countries have achieved with stronger action.
    “In simple terms, the evidence shows introducing a charge works.”
    An estimated 480m carrier bags are used in Wales each year and they take up to 1,000 years to degrade.
    Shops will be responsible for collecting cash and spending it on green campaigns.
    But Consumer Focus Wales chairwoman Vivienne Sugar said: “We are concerned about the possible impact a charge will have on lower income groups.”
    The British Retail Consortium said customers should be encouraged to change, and not “clobbered” with new “taxes”.
    But Ms Davidson added: “It is not my intention to create unnecessary additional burden for businesses.”
    Ireland launched a 15 cent bag tax in 2002 – cutting their use by 90 per cent and reducing litter.
    Since then it has raised £109m in tax, with plans to raise the levy to 40 cents.

    bags_1515874c

    The first shoppers in Britain will be taxed for their carrier bags within 18 months, it was announced on Tuesday.

    Customers in Wales are to be charged up to 15p per carrier bag. Other parts of Britain are expected to folbow by introducing the tax aimed at reducing the number of plastic bags which take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. Leaders in the the Welsh Assembly announced it will start in early 2011 and pledged cash raised would be spent on environmental projects not go into tax coffers. Supporters hope the charge will encourage more shoppers to take reusable bags to supermarkets.

    Welsh Environment Minister Jane Davidson said: “Carrier bags represent a waste of resources and they are an iconic symbol of the throwaway society we now seem to live in.

    “This government still holds the view that the voluntary agreement does not go far enough and we have to take more action now.

    “We are behind the game when you look at what other countries have achieved with stronger action.

    “In simple terms, the evidence shows introducing a charge works.”

    An estimated 480m carrier bags are used in Wales each year and they take up to 1,000 years to degrade. Shops will be responsible for collecting cash and spending it on green campaigns. But Consumer Focus Wales chairwoman Vivienne Sugar said: “We are concerned about the possible impact a charge will have on lower income groups.” The British Retail Consortium said customers should be encouraged to change, and not “clobbered” with new “taxes”. But Ms Davidson added: “It is not my intention to create unnecessary additional burden for businesses.”

    Ireland launched a 15 cent bag tax in 2002 – cutting their use by 90 per cent and reducing litter.

    Since then it has raised £109m in tax, with plans to raise the levy to 40 cents.

    Article Source: Telegraph.co.uk

    Image Source: Telegraph.co.uk

    November 18, 2009

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