Top Stories
Insurance giant warns climate 'tipping
points' in sight.—reliability high.
"The world is dangerously close to climatic "tipping points" that could
result in catastrophic environmental, social and economic consequences,
according to a major new study commissioned by the WWF and global
insurance giant Allianz. The report from the UK's Tyndall Centre warns
that, unless carbon emissions peak within the next few years, it is
increasingly likely that irreversible environmental changes will occur
that could have a huge impact on the global economy." From
Business Green. Access report here.
Quebec sets 2020 greenhouse gas emission
targets.—reliability high.
"The Canadian province of Quebec said on Monday it aims to cut its
greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, the
same target as that set by the European Union. 'It is a very ambitious
target for the government, given that 48 percent of Quebec's total
energy currently comes from renewable energy sources,' Quebec Premier
Jean Charest said in a statement." The "province is a member of the
Western Climate Initiative, a group of four Canadian provinces and
seven western U.S. states, which is working on implementing a carbon
cap and trade system in North America by 2012." See
Reuters.
Climate science statement.—reliability
high.
A one-page statement emphasizing that climate change is a real problem.
"A statement from the Met Office, Natural Environment Research Council
and the Royal Society." "As three of the UK’s leading scientific
organisations, involving most of the UK scientists working on climate
change, we cannot emphasise enough the body of scientific evidence that
underpins the call for action now, and we reinforce our commitment to
ensuring that world leaders continue to have access to the best
possible science." "Climate scientists from the UK and across the world
are in overwhelming agreement about the evidence of climate change,
driven by the human input of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere."
"The scientific evidence which underpins calls for action at Copenhagen
is very strong. Without co-ordinated international action on greenhouse
gas emissions, the impacts on climate and civilisation could be
severe." See
Met Office site.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
PG&E to Smart Charge 219,000 Electric
Cars.—reliability medium.
"Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) . . . is planning to service
between 219,000 and 845,000 battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids
by 2020, under three different planning scenarios". From
Clean Fleet Report.
Timberland Reinforces Commitment to Minimize
Its Carbon Footprint by Converting to LED Lighting.—reliability
high.
"In an effort to reduce its energy demand and contribution to global
warming The Timberland Company announced today that state
of the art LED lighting will be replacing less efficient incandescent
spotlights in 70% of its North American stores by the end of 2009. By
reducing the electricity used on a daily basis for lighting in its
stores, Timberland expects to shrink the carbon footprint of its US
stores by an additional 11%." See
Business Wire.
SC Johnson Discloses Ingredients in All
Consumer Cleaning Products.—reliability high.
Responding to concerns that cleaning products don't have to disclose
all their ingredients, "SC Johnson has added all of its home cleaning
and air care products to a website that lists the products' ingredients
and explains the purpose of the ingredients." "originally planned to
add the rest of its products over the next three years, but recently
finished adding all of its 129 air care products and 76 home cleaners."
See
GreenBiz. More here.
Government and
Regulation
Conservatives pledge to stop UK fossil-fuel
subsidies.—reliability high.
"The government has provided almost three-quarters of a billion pounds
in subsidies to fossil-fuel burning power stations over the past 13
years, according to figures highlighted today by the Conservatives.
Shadow secretary of state for international development, Andrew
Mitchell, today promised to stop the subsidies, which are delivered
through the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD), arguing that the
scale of support for carbon-intensive industries was 'scandalous'." From
Business Green.
Major Investors Call for SEC to Require
Disclosure of Companies' Climate Risks and Opportunities.—reliability
high.
A supplemental petition has been submitted to the Securities and
Exchange Commission by a coalition of 20 institutional investors,
asking it to provide interpretive guidance outlining climate-related
'material risks' - such as new regulations, physical impacts, new
economic and business opportunities and other climate-related trends -
that companies should be disclosing to investors. "The 20 signatories
to the petition include leading U.S. and Canadian institutional
investors managing more than $1 trillion in assets" From Ceres.
Climate change: What price will future
generations pay?—reliability medium.
Opinion piece by Lord David Puttnam, an ambassador for Unicef UK. "What
price will children have to pay for the three or four carbon-happy
generations that have lived before them?" "There is no doubt that my
generation has uniquely contributed to this increasing chaos, and the
burden my grandchildren and those of others will have to carry because
of it. What is less clear, however, is what price today's decision
makers will place on the well-being of future generations when carving
out their response to climate change." See
BBC News. [See
our blog
post on the subject.]
East Anglian
Email Scandal
Climate change email hacking to be looked
into by University of East Anglia.—reliability high.
Purloined emails of climate scientists have caused embarrassment, and
have led to a field day on denier blogs and the like. Article discusses
impact and issues. "Selected and unverified extracts from the emails
have been used by climate change deniers to claim that the scientists
colluded to manipulate climate data, causing a storm on deniers' blogs.
The charge is rejected as 'despicable' by those involved and as
groundless by leading scientific bodies." From
The Guardian.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2009 HaraBara, Inc.]
