News digest 25 September – 8 October 2008

Policy
UK appoints climate minister
Sweden selling nearly 30% hybrids
UK Business Secretary backs nuclear power
UN: climate change affecting tourism



Companies
CDP UK results announced
PepsiCo UK cuts food mileage by 1 million
Nissan releases electric car concept
US Postal Service to cut energy use by 30%
National Grid honoured for climate change solutions
Wal-Mart will cut plastic use
HP releases supply chain emissions data
France’s EDF bids for British Energy

Research
Report highlights carbon software ‘smart vendors’
Earth’s natural resources used up
Report: Economy could create millions of green jobs
Survey: Most corporates tackling climate change
Study: cities not biggest cause of climate change

Investment
Over $6 billion pledged for climate investments
Suzlon pledges green energy for India, China





Policy

UK appoints climate minister

Phil Hunt was appointed Britain’s Minister for Sustainable Development, Climate Change Adaptation and Air Quality, announced this week by Britain’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or DEFRA. Hunt also serves as Deputy Leader in the House of Lords. DEFRA Secretary of State Hilary Benn said he looked forward to working with Hunt and the other ministers on upcoming challenges, including improving Britain’s natural environment and tackling issues of waste.

Sweden selling nearly 30% hybrids

More than 28% of cars sold in Sweden during the month of September were alternative-fuel hybrids, say new statistics from the Swedish Automobile Manufacturers Association, BilSweden. Ethanol-petrol and petrol-electric hybrids are widely accepted on Swedish roadways, says the BioAlcohol Fuel Foundation, and 35% of all filling stations now offer the ethanol-petrol mixture E85.

UK Business Secretary backs nuclear power

New nuclear power stations in the UK could yield up to £20 billion in private sector investment opportunities, as well as 100,000 new jobs, according to British Business Secretary John Hutton. In a speech at the first meeting of the government’s new Nuclear Development Forum, Hutton said more nuclear facilities are essential for reducing the UK’s dependence on foreign oil and gas, as well as cutting carbon emissions.

UN: climate change affecting tourism

On World Tourism Day, celebrated on September 27, the UN World Tourism Organization hosted a think-tank on how the tourism industry can respond to climate change and develop practical solutions to help the sector cope with global warming. In addition, a new portal—ClimateSolutions.travel—was launched, with sector-specific solutions for dealing with climate change and achieving what the organization calls “Climate Neutral Tourism.”

Companies

CDP UK results announced

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has announced that the response rate from the UK’s FTSE 100 companies to their carbon emissions questionnnaires amounted to 90%, the highest of any CDP sample in the world. While 90% of FTSE 100 companies reported through CDP, only 58% of FTSE 250 companies did so, a gap the CDP says will close when the UK emissions reduction scheme, the Carbon Reduction Commitment, comes into force in 2010.

PepsiCo UK cuts food mileage by 1 million

PepsiCo UK has announced that its food products now travel1 million miles less each year on Britain’s roads. The company achieved their reductions by working with retailers to combine transport routes and eliminate empty ones, as well as integrating transportation of both raw materials and finished produce.

Nissan releases electric car concept

Nissan introduced a new concept electric vehicle, Nuvu, at the Paris Muto Show in September, modelling some of the technology planned for its production-model EV to be released in 2010. At just 3 meters long less than 2 meters wide, Nuvu focuses on bringing personal comfort and a futuristic style to urban drivers, building on the model that electric powered vehicles will soon be a ‘given’ for city driving.

US Postal Service to cut energy use by 30%

The United States Postal Service announced a plan last week to cut its energy use 30% by 2015. The organisation hopes to meet its goals through a wide variety of tactics, including using energy-efficient mail processing equipment and lighting at processing plants, adopting green building practices, implementing renewable energy systems and utilizing alternative-fuel vehicles. In addition, the USPS hopes to encourage its 685,000 employees at 34,000 facilities to “go green” by taking simple measures like turning off lights, adjusting thermostats and turning off equipment not in use.

National Grid honoured for climate change solutions

A new report by Oxfam calls National Grid, the UK’s largest utility company, a “climate change champion” for its emissions reduction plans. The report, entitled “Forecast for Tomorrow”, praises National Grid for setting emissions reduction goals beyond those required by legislation, introducing carbon budgets into all lines of business, and creatively lobbying on climate change issues.

Wal-Mart will cut plastic use

Wal-Mart Stores announced its goal last week to reduce waste from its plastic shopping bags by an average of 33% per store within the next 5 years, which in total should cut global plastic waste by over 135 million pounds and CO₂ emissions by 290,000 metric tons. The retailer hopes to accomplish this goal through reducing the number of plastic bags it gives out at stores, encouraging customers to use reuseable bags and allowing them to recycle the traditional plastic ones.

HP releases supply chain emissions data

Hewlett-Packard has released emissions data from its largest suppliers, accounting for over 80% of the company’s manufacturing expenses. In 2007, emissions from these suppliers totaled approximately 3.5 million metric tonnes. HP plans to use the figures to incorporate energy-efficiency into its supply chain management, as well as expand these reporting principles to the rest of its suppliers.

France’s EDF bids for British Energy

The board of directors at UK-based British Energy unanimously recommended the approval of a bid by French power provider EDF. EDF’s UK subsidiary EDF Energy says that it aims to reduce the carbon produced from the company’s UK power generation by 60% by 2020, and says the new partnership will help both companies secure affordable power for their customers in the long term, as well as reduce carbon emissions.

Research

Report highlights carbon software ‘smart vendors’

10 vendors of top carbon management software are identified in a new report by business research firm Verdantix, including Carbonops, Enviance, and Supply Chain Consulting. The report, entitled “Smart Vendors: Carbon Management Software,” highlights firms who have approached the industry from different areas—like carbon accounting, business intelligence, and data management—and are considered the leaders because they focus on the future and target climate change problems while creating value for their consumers.

Earth’s natural resources used up

As of Tuesday, September 23, the earth used up all natural resources provided by the planet this year, according to New Economics Foundation, an independent think-tank based in the UK, and calculations from the Global Footprint Network. From this point until year’s end, says the Footprint Network’s executive director, the earth is dipping into its ecological reserves—in effect “borrowing from the future”—and we are using about 40% more natural resources than the earth can renewably supply.

Report: Economy could create millions of green jobs

The emergence of a new “green economy” and efforts to tackle climate change could result in the creation of millions of green jobs in the coming decades, says areport from the United Nations Environment Programme. The report warns, however, that job expansion may not reach the world’s working poor or a new generation of youth who will be seeking employment within the next 10 years.

Survey: Most corporates tackling climate change

Close to three-quarters of corporations e respondents to the “Carbon Offsetting Trends Survey 2008”—conducted by EcoSecurities and ClimateBiz—replied that their organization had already begun implementing activities to reduce internal emissions. More than 88% of respondents indicated that they were either currently undertaking or would consider implementing carbon offsetting activities, and the most desirable locations for projects yielding offsets for purchase were North and South America, respectively.

Study: cities not biggest cause of climate change

Contrary to figures quoting cities as responsible for up to 80% of the world’s greenhouse emissions, a new study from the International Institute for Environment and Development says the true value is roughly half that, closer to 40%. In the study, researchers used data from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to show that only about two-fifths of greenhouse gases generated from human activities are generated within cities, with the remainder coming mostly from agriculture and heavy industry.

Investment

Over $6 billion pledged for climate investments

The World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds received pledges totaling over $6.1 billion last week from 10 industrialized countries: Australia, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Designed to provide funding for developing countries to adapt to climate change and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, the funds will be dispersed as both grants and loans, and projects receiving funding are expected to be announced in early 2009.

Suzlon pledges green energy for India, China

Suzlon Green Energy—held by India’s Tanti family, which also controls Suzlon Energy Ltd.—has pledged to bring 3500 mw of electricity to nearly 10 million people primarily in India and China over the next 5 years by developing $5 billion in green energy assets. The company will provide roughly $1.5 billion in equity for the project, and estimates that their efforts will directly create at least 1000 jobs, and cut 7 million tons of CO₂ equivalent each year.