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Posts Tagged ‘reduce carbon emissions’
Hundreds of climate change protesters have marched on the Houses of Parliament calling for the world’s rich countries to reduce their emissions.
The march, which began at Blackfriars Bridge and ended at Parliament, coincided with the United Nations climate change conference being held in Durban, South Africa.
Protesters split unevenly to symbolise the richest 7% of the world’s population versus the poorest 50% at the footsteps of Parliament.
Climate Justice rally co-ordinator Phil Thornfield said it represented the Princeton Environment Institute’s calculations which found the richest 7% of the world’s population created half of the world’s emissions while the globe’s poorest 50% accounted for only 7% of emissions.
“In Africa there are already a lot of people suffering from climate change impacts such as exceptional droughts but they have done little to create the problem,” Mr Thornfield said.
The UK’s public sector has almost doubled its average carbon reduction target since 2006, according to new research by the Carbon Trust.
Despite the difficult economic times over the last five year, the 472 public sector bodies that the Trust looked at have increased their average carbon reduction targets from 16% to 28%.
The findings indicate that central government targets to reduce its own carbon emissions by 25% by 2015 are achievable and could be replicated across the whole public sector.
Making carbon emission savings at this level could add up to more than £2 billion in cost savings, says the Carbon Trust.
“The public sector has a vital leadership role to play in helping the UK to meet its carbon targets,” says Tim Pryce at the Trust. “We believe there is a case for this 25% ambition to be taken up by the wider public sector estate to ensure continued delivery on national carbon targets and further cost savings.”
Over the last eight years, the Carbon Trust has helped some 2500 public sector organisations cut 12 million tonnes of CO2 and save £426 million.
Chris Huhne has challenged businesses to help deliver deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions, as part of a binding international deal that he hopes to see agreed by 2015.
Speaking at Imperial College London today, the energy and climate change secretary said that while next week’s Durban climate summit would not produce such a deal, it was vital negotiators lay the groundwork for a “treaty framework covering everyone now”.
“At Durban, we need major economies to commit to a global legally binding framework – building on what Kyoto started, but going much broader,” Huhne said. “And we need negotiations on this new agreement to complete as soon as possible, and by 2015 at the latest.”
Huhne, who will be travelling to Durban along with climate minister Greg Barker and 46 officials, admitted in a press conference after his speech that the process of ratifying such an agreement would take time, but insisted that “it has to be actually biting on the problem by 2020″.
“We have a clear commitment to get world emissions down by 2020, we want to see the world agreement biting by then and we hope to see it agreed by 2015,” he told reporters, while downplaying recent reports suggesting industrialised nations did not expect to finalise any treaty until 2020.
Britain’s companies are failing to meet the challenge of climate change, according to a report published today which assesses the sustainability performance of UK business.
Despite encouraging progress in many areas, it finds that UK plc is “nowhere near the path” to achieving government targets for an 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Sustainable Business 2011: Reflecting on Progress is the first independent indicator-based assessment of UK business sustainability. It is published by environmental information specialist ENDS (Environment Data Services), in collaboration with Forum for the Future.
The report finds that in the last year UK business has slipped back on industrial carbon emissions, energy efficiency, decarbonising electricity generation, and greenhouse gas emissions from freight transport – all areas which are crucial to the fight against climate change.
It states: “Electricity carbon intensity will have to fall by 17 grams of carbon dioxide per year, every year, to 2020 to support a halving of UK emissions, according to the Committee on Climate Change. The average annual fall since 2000 has been 6.7gCO2. Industrial energy intensity has not shown a net improvement since 2007. Road freight carbon intensity has retreated to 2007 levels.”
Nick Rowcliffe, Editor-in-Chief of ENDS said: “Current business efforts to engage with the climate change dimension of sustainability are not sufficient. Radical action is needed, including rethinking of business models.”
David Bent, Forum for the Future’s deputy director of sustainable business, said: “More and more companies are seeing that sustainability makes good business sense, but UK plc as a whole is risking its long-term future by not acting fast enough to meet the challenge of climate change. ”
The report tracks 16 indicators, each representing an important aspect of environmental, social and economic sustainability, to capture a snapshot of the state of UK business. It gives a mixed picture of companies’ performance on sustainability and creating a green economy.
Steve Housden, sector strategy manager for CITB-ConstructionSkills Yorkshire and the Humber, looks at the importance of helping the construction industry prepare for a ‘low carbon future’ and how the government’s Green Deal offers Yorkshire SMEs working in the sector some welcome opportunities.
As a result of new legislation, by 2020 construction will become a low carbon industry, but research shows that a growing number of clients want construction SMEs to deliver carbon reduction solutions now.
The government’s eagerly awaited Green Deal initiative signals an environmental pledge to reduce carbon emissions from existing housing stock.
In addition, it provides an economic boost for construction SMEs, with the need to modernise 14 million homes to make them more energy efficient with improvements to insulation and airtightness.
With carbon emissions from homes accounting for 27 per cent of all carbon emissions, it is vital that the thermal efficiency of existing housing stock is addressed.
At a time when many small businesses in Yorkshire are battling with the impact of the recession, the prospect of new work in the construction and the built environment sector couldn’t come at a better time.
It is well documented that approximately 45% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from the built environment, with commercial buildings being responsible for approximately 20%. These emissions come from activities within buildings, travel to and from them and materials used in outfitting, alteration and refurbishment work. However, the sector has historically been profligate in its attitude to energy use. Such energy wastage not only results in unnecessary cost to business, but is fundamentally detrimental to the industry’s efforts to drive down CO2 emissions in line with the government’s ambitious, but necessary, reduction targets.
Given that a significant proportion of the commercial building stock that will exist in 2050 has already been built, improvements cannot come from simply improving the efficiency of new buildings. Substantial carbon reductions are required from the whole sector – every building owner and every occupier of every building has to play a part in achieving the necessary reductions.
In recent years incentives have emerged for businesses to reduce their environmental impacts: the introduction of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and Energy Performance Certificates, as well as other regulatory drivers, such as rising landfill taxes and rules on waste separation, are examples of the increasing carbon-focused environmental legislation affecting the operation of buildings. Energy price rises and the growing importance of sustainability and CSR reporting are further drivers for both occupiers and owners.
There are significant cost-saving and carbon-reduction opportunities in most commercial buildings, particularly in terms of how the building is managed. For example, having lights on when they are not needed or leaving air-conditioning running at the weekend when the building is not in use. Many of these opportunities are either behavioural-change or no-cost measures, so the question has to be asked ‘Why don’t people just do it?’ The answer lies in the relationship between owners and occupiers.
19th May 2011, LONDON, UK – ProcServe, a leading provider of eProcurement solutions, today announced that they have partnered with Planet Positive, an international environmental certification organisation, to promote lower emissions in the supply chain.
According to DEFRA, “Good procurement is sustainable procurement”, and “sustainable procurement is not simply about buying green products – although that is important. It’s also about ensuring energy and resource efficiency as well as long term cost effectiveness.”
Sustainable procurement is increasingly important in the public sector. All UK central government departments and their related organisations will need to meet the minimum mandatory specifications in the recently announced Government Buying Standards. Following the standards will help central departments reach their target to reduce CO2 emissions by 10% this year and drive the development of the Green economy. However, a recent survey conducted by ProcServe and Planet Positive indicates that 69% of suppliers are unaware of the new Government Buying Standards.
Budget spending cuts have turned CRC environmental carrots into financial sticks, claims on365
Loughborough, October 26, 2010 – Following the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review last week, several cuts and reductions are being put into place and the effects are already being felt across the UK. on365, a specialist in the planning, installing, management and optimisation of physical IT infrastructure and utility services calls for a review of the proposed restructuring of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC).
When the CRC was initially introduced, it was positioned to the market as an initiative to ensure greener data centre operation and to significantly reduce UK carbon emissions. Originally, from April 2011 results would be published in the CRC league table and these would influence the organisations’ future energy costs and financial reimbursements or fines which would be determined by performance.
The restructured CRC means that the scheme has now become a stealth carbon tax due to government’s decision to direct CRC funds back to the Treasury, instead of being redistributed, as originally planned, to the top performing businesses. It is estimated that revenues from allowance sales totalling £1 billion p.a. by 2014-15 will be used to support public finances rather than going back to scheme participants. However, under the restructuring the burden on businesses will, in the first instance, be slightly reduced by the fact that the first allowance sales for 2011-12 emissions will be pushed to 2012 instead of 2011, giving businesses a deferral of cash flow.
Chris Smith, sales and marketing director at on365, comments that: “I think that CRC now reads ‘Corporate Restraining Charge’. In effect this is now a tax and not an incentive to reduce carbon emissions. Corporate environmental responsibility is now measured in pounds sterling with the carrot to encourage businesses to participate being replaced by a stick.”
About on365
on365.co.uk is a specialist in the planning, installing, management and optimisation of physical IT infrastructure and utility services, from the desktop to server rooms to data centres. Its comprehensive IT support capabilities encompass installation, system testing, network integration, on-site maintenance and audit/review services. It has clients across the UK and EMEA in the financial, telecommunications, utility, transport and leisure sectors.
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