Green Tariffs: Check what yours delivers
17th June 2008
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is today advising how consumers and businesses can establish what benefits their green electricity tariff delivers above and beyond the supplier’s existing legal obligation to provide electricity from renewable sources.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said:
“I want to make sure that the green tariff market, which has grown rapidly over recent years, is clear for consumers and businesses about the precise benefit their tariff brings.
“Many energy suppliers offer green tariffs to businesses and domestic customers who want to make a contribution to environmental projects or help tackle climate change, but these differ in what they deliver.”
To help make the situation clearer, Mr Benn has:
- asked Ofgem to provide detailed guidelines for suppliers of green tariffs with a view to developing a rating system that will distinguish between the different environmental potential of green tariffs;
- written to the Chief Executives of energy suppliers to ask them to provide the clearest possible information about the benefit their green tariff brings for the environment; and
- announced that Defra will change its guidance on corporate reporting so that it reflects the latest evidence on the benefits of green tariffs.
He said:
“This market is changing rapidly, partly because we have committed to the largest expansion of renewable electricity in our history. We will shortly be consulting on a range of measures that will encourage energy suppliers to increase their investment in renewable energy.
“I want to be sure that people and businesses who buy green tariffs have clear information about what environmental benefits they are getting linked to renewable electricity and whether this is in addition to that which energy suppliers must provide anyway. As with any product in the marketplace, we need to know what we are paying for, particularly as in some cases, choosing the tariff may cost more.”
Defra’s Best Practice Voluntary Reporting Guidelines advise business on how they should calculate their emissions from their energy use. When the guidelines were produced in 2005, the department advised that green tariff electricity could be reported as zero emissions, with the intention that increased demand for renewable energy would draw through increased supply.
Mr Benn added:
“It is increasingly difficult to demonstrate that buying a renewable electricity tariff is offering additional carbon emissions reductions compared with what suppliers are required to source to meet the Renewables Obligation. It is now clear that businesses signed up to green tariffs based on the evidence available at the time but their choices have been producing only limited additional renewable generation capacity. This also means individuals opting for green tariffs may not have been generating the environmental benefits they anticipated their actions would encourage.
“I have therefore decided that we will change the voluntary corporate reporting guidelines to bring them into line with current best practice and provide coherent carbon accounting. This will mean that for the reporting year 2008-9, best practice is expected to be for businesses to use a grid average rate - average rate of carbon emissions associated with electricity transmitted on the national grid - unless their supplier can prove the carbon benefits are additional. This is to reflect the existing evidence that the additional carbon benefit of green tariffs is not transparent. However, we do recognise that some existing and future green tariffs may well deliver broader environmental benefits and we will consult on how these benefits should be treated.”
In support of Defra’s announcement The Carbon Trust has issued specific guidance to business on the issue of green tariffs. Tom Delay, Chief Executive of The Carbon Trust said:
“We strongly support the move made by Defra today as the green tariffs market currently lacks transparency, delivers minimal additional carbon savings and suffers from significant double counting problems. Renewable power is key to delivering the UK’s carbon reduction targets. However, a coordinated approach is required to ensure that green tariffs deliver genuine carbon reductions and that the benefits of renewables can be accurately reported by businesses towards their carbon reduction targets”
Ofgem Chief Executive, Alistair Buchanan, said:
“Ofgem is eager to clear up the confusion among consumers over green tariffs. We have worked for some time on revising our guidelines on how suppliers should market their green tariffs and last November we proposed an accreditation system that will make clear which tariffs offer real environmental benefits.
“We have since worked on a revision of the proposal based on consultation with stakeholders on the complex issues surrounding green tariffs and we intend to publish a revised accreditation scheme proposal in July, consistent with Defra’s position on carbon reporting.”
The expansion of the green tariffs market reflects the fact that more and more people want their energy use to have benefits for the environment. This growth in green tariffs has sent a clear signal to energy suppliers that people want them to do more on the environment, and promote renewables. It has also supported the Government in mandating energy companies to produce an ever greater share of renewable energy.
Burma Needs Aid
25th May 2008
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today underscored the importance of effective aid delivery to victims of Myanmar's deadly Cyclone Nargis, noting that efforts to assist the vulnerable are still in the relief phase.
“The needy and the vulnerable depend on the delivery of emergency assistance,” Mr. Ban said at the opening of the Don Mueang Air Hub in Bangkok. “Therefore, the channeling of aid into Myanmar should be as efficient and logistically sound as possible.”
He said that the facility will act as a “critical staging area” for the relief effort, allowing larger planes to land and more aid supplies to be flown in from around the world.
“It will save lives,” the Secretary-General said at the event, which was also attended by Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Surin Pisuwan.
Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar on 2 May, has left up to 2.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and the UN estimates that more than 100,000 people may have been killed.
In his remarks today, Mr. Ban thanked the Governments of Australia, Canada and Thailand for their support.
The arrangement regarding the new air hub “underscored the collaborative spirit between key ASEAN member states, the Government of Myanmar and the United Nations,” he said.
Yesterday, following talks with Myanmar's Senior General Than Shwe, the Secretary-General announced that the country's leader had agreed to allow international relief workers – regardless of their nationality – into the worst-hit areas.
“He has taken quite a flexible position on an issue that, until now, has been an obstacle to organizing coordinated and fully effective international aid and assistance operations,” Mr. Ban said following what he characterized as a “good meeting” with the Senior General held in the South-East Asian nation's new capital Naypyidaw. “He has also agreed that [the] visa issue will be speeded up.”
Mr. Ban, who toured some of the worst affected areas in the Irrawaddy delta and spoke with families who had been forced to leave their homes, said the leader had agreed that the main airport at Yangon, Myanmar's most populous city, could be used as a logistics hub for international aid.
“I hope all these agreements can produce results quickly. Implementation will be the key. Finally, we have agreed on the kind of effective coordination and consulting mechanisms we need,” he said.
The Secretary-General, who today also visited the region devastated by the recent Chinese earthquake, will return to Yangon tomorrow for a pledging conference, which is co-sponsored by the UN and ASEAN, to raise funds for the Myanmar disaster.
Some 50 countries have signed up to attend the gathering – hosted by the Government of Myanmar – also bringing together UN agencies, the Red Cross and non-governmental organizations NGOs).
“This meeting intends to encourage cooperation in providing assistance to victims of Cyclone Nargis and to show that the international community is united in helping the people of Myanmar,” said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes.
Mr. Ban, along with Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein and George Yeo, Foreign Minister of Singapore which currently chairs ASEAN, will address the conference's opening.
The Government of Myanmar will brief participants on the humanitarian situation and response to the cyclone.
Mr. Holmes, who also serves as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, will present a joint ASEAN-UN briefing on the international response, and Mr. Pitsuwan will discuss an ASEAN-led tripartite coordinating mechanism involving the UN and Myanmar.
Greens Deliver
Norwich 20mph victory sees Greens delivering on election pledges
23rd May 2008
The Norwich Greens are one group in a growing movement nationally of local Greens who work hard to turn radical and progressive ideas into a reality, and who bring a truly constructive attitude to local politics
Green Party Principal Speaker Derek Wall today congratulated the Norwich Greens for successfully introducing a blanket 20mph speed limit across the city.
The Green Party Group is now the official opposition on Norwich City Council; within a week of the new council's first sitting, the Greens have already begun delivering on their promises. The Norwich Highways Agency Committee has approved the principle of introducing a blanket 20mph speed limit across residential roads in the City, proposed this morning by Norwich Green Councillor Rupert Read.
Dr. Wall said
"I am delighted that the expanded Norwich Green Party Group have begun their council term by introducing this progressive proposal. It follows similar initiatives by Greens in Council chambers right across the country. Lower speed limits can only benefit local communities - safer streets that encourages more cycling and walking, which leads to better air quality, a healthier population and lower carbon emissions.
"More and more people are realising that if you want real action on supporting local areas and communities, putting people before profit and combating manmade climate change, the Green Party are the only option. The Norwich Greens are one group in a growing movement nationally of local Greens who work hard to turn radical and progressive ideas into a reality, and who bring a truly constructive attitude to local politics.
"And that really matters, because Greens, when we get elected, deliver what we promise. There is real commitment to putting social and environmental justice at the top of the political agenda. Whether we're talking about affordable housing or 20mph speed limits, or whether we're talking about renewable energy and energy efficiency, these are measures that Greens are already implementing in local authority council chambers up and down the country, and it is certainly what we will implement when we are elected to Westminster as well."
Amazon Award
Peruvian Amazon campaigner wins top conservation award
23rd May 2008
The WWF-sponsored Whitley Award for conservation was awarded on 21 May to a Peruvian ecologist for his community-based approach to saving a region of the Amazon in south-western Peru, from over-development. "My aim is to support the conservation of the unique Tambopata region – especially from the destructive building of damaging highways and dams, through sharing 'public science' with a broad network of people," said Ernesto Ráez-Luna, who was presented with the award by HRH The Princess Royal, at a ceremony in London last night.
Ráez-Luna has been working to help safeguard this almost untouched part of the Amazon from the threat of four hydro-electric dams, a gold and oil boom and the construction of a major highway. The region is a key area of biodiversity in the country.
"This approach allows local communities to do many things such as confirm the accuracy of environmental impact reports, plan sustainable land use activities such as organic coffee growing, and inform us of illegal activities occurring in remote regions," he explained.
The Tambopata river basin in Peru is a wildlife rich headwater that links to the Amazon via the Madeira river.
Today, the region is mostly untouched wilderness, but the area is threatened by the planned construction of hydro-electric dams and a new Peru-Brazil Highway. It is also under threat from gold and oil extraction.
Not only is Ráez-Luna educating and rallying local people to care and work for the protection of the region but he is managing and coordinating an approach, never previously attempted in Peru – a cross border working group of over 50 stakeholder groups, to plan and fund a way forward to safeguard the natural environment of the area. This will also improve the economy of the region too.
Glyn Davies, Director of Programmes at WWF-UK, said: "It's a great pleasure to recognise Ernesto's hard work and great dedication to involving many stakeholders in plans for economic development that are sensitive to global environmental issues – such as the Amazon's headwaters. WWF-UK appreciates the many partnerships needed to achieve conservation and sustainable development, and Ernesto has shown a great way of forging partnerships for conservation".
UN Launches Burma Appeal
10th May 2008
The United Nations today appealed for $187 million to help provide humanitarian relief to some 1.5 million people severely affected by the recent cyclone in Myanmar for the next six months.
Launching the Flash Appeal in New York on behalf of 10 UN agencies and 9 non-governmental organizations, the UN’s top relief official emphasized that “the extent of the humanitarian catastrophe is enormous.”
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes noted that the number of those severely affected is between 1.2 and 1.9 million. But he added that “the numbers of people in need may well increase further as we come to understand better the situation on the ground.”
Cyclone Nargis, which struck the South-East Asian nation on 2 May, left a path of death and destruction across the Irrawaddy delta region and the country’s largest city, Yangon. The Government estimates that more than 22,000 people have died and over 41,000 remain missing.
Mr. Holmes noted that the number of deaths has been climbing daily and “could be anywhere between 63,000 and 100,000, or possibly even higher.”
Stressing the need to act quickly and for the Government to facilitate aid delivery, he said that “the sooner humanitarians are allowed in, and the less procedural and other obstacles we encounter, the more lives we can help save.”
He later told reporters that countries at the launch voiced strong hope that the cooperation which is necessary between the international community and the authorities in Myanmar will be “as forthcoming, as flexible, and as rapid as possible to make sure that not only material relief goods can get in but also humanitarian aid workers.”
Today’s Appeal covers 12 areas, with the largest portion of the funding sought for food, water and sanitation, logistics, health and shelter. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is seeking $56 million to provide daily food rations to 630,000 people in severely affected areas or temporary shelters.
Also, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has appealed for $10 million to assist poor farming and fishing communities devastated by Cyclone Nargis, which made landfall in the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) delta region last Friday and then moved on to Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.
FAO said the five worst-affected areas – Ayeyarwady, Yangon and Bago Divisions, and Mon and Kayin states – are considered Myanmar’s food bowl, producing much of the country’s staple food of rice and fish, and the overall food security situation in Myanmar is “seriously threatened.”
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which is appealing for $3 million, said today that tens of thousands of pregnant women made homeless by the cyclone urgently need lifesaving assistance. UNFPA is working with humanitarian partners to mobilize emergency reproductive health supplies, including safe delivery kits, for those affected.
The agency added that disasters like Cyclone Nargis put expectant mothers and their babies at special risk because of the sudden loss of medical support, compounded by trauma, malnutrition and disease. Another $8.2 million is being sought by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to meet the critical needs of children and women in the wake of the tragedy.
Mr. Holmes said he will be allocating $20 million immediately from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to projects from the Flash Appeal to help ensure that the most urgent needs can be addressed quickly. Some $77 million has been pledged so far by countries, toward the Appeal and in bilateral assistance.
Legal Eagles
Government must make legal action affordable in environmental cases
10th May 2008
The Worldwide Fund for Nature's (WWF) long-running campaign to secure affordable access to environmental justice took an important step today with the launch of a report which concludes that the government must make legal action more affordable in environmental cases if it is to comply with an international convention on citizens' environmental rights. The report, Ensuring Access to Justice in England and Wales, was compiled by a Working Group on which WWF sits, and which is chaired by the Hon Mr Justice Sullivan. The Working Group examined whether current law and practice prevents concerned individuals and groups from achieving access to justice in environmental matters. It also made recommendations where such barriers exist.
The report concludes that for the significant majority of the public and NGOs, current rules about costs – and particularly the potential exposure to costs if an application should fail – are not consistent with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention. Among its aims, this Convention seeks to ensure that the public, including organisations, are able to access effective judicial mechanisms in a way that is 'fair, equitable, timely and not prohibitively expensive'.
Speaking at the launch of the report, the Hon Mr Justice Sullivan said: "We should not be complacent. While the Administrative Court is capable of dealing effectively with environmental law challenges, that is of limited practical value in protecting the environment if only the very rich or the very poor can afford to use the Court's procedures. If the problems identified in this report are not addressed it will not be long before the UK is taken to task for failing to live up to its obligations under the Aarhus Convention."
The report comes at a time when the UK's compliance on 'prohibitive costs' is under investigation. It highlights UK cases in which concerned citizens have risked significant personal financial loss to challenge important points of public principle. In 2001, Mrs Shirley of the Canterbury Green Party was faced with a claim for over £100,000 for a one day hearing concerning alleged breaches of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive in the approval of an out of town college.
In a recent case in the West Country, local resident Francis Morgan was advised that judicially reviewing his local council's decision to grant planning permission for the disposal of waste 300 metres from his home might expose him to legal costs in excess of £50,000.
Carol Hatton, a solicitor for WWF, who heads our work on access to environmental justice, said: "The current system in the UK makes it almost impossible to take environmental court action without the threat of losing your home or exposing your organisation to unacceptable risk. The present system means that the environment will continue to be the victim and no one can afford to protect it."
Burma:
Death toll may reach 100,000
The US embassy in Burma has estimated that the true death toll from the cyclone could rise rapidly to 100,000 unless there is urgent action to tackle the threat of disease from the lack of drinking water supplies and emergency aid to the affected areas.
Up to a million people are thought to have been left homeless in the crisis, which has left thousands of square kilometres of the Irrawaddy delta under water.
Poor sanitation, rotting bodies in the water, and flooding could all bring disease, aid agencies warn. They highlight the risk of mosquito-borne malaria and dengue fever, along with water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery.
Burma is also a major rice producer, and much of the crop has been ruined by sea water, pushing up the price still further at a time of concern about the general rise in food costs for the poor.
World governments have pledged emergency relief funds. Britain announced it was providing £5m and President George Bush pledged $3m, saying:
"We're prepared to move US Navy assets to help find those who have lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilise the situation. But, in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country."
Aviation:
Another Dodgy Dossier
6th May 2008
The Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) has uncovered an unpublished study by the world's leading experts that reveals that airlines are pumping 20 per cent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than estimates suggest, with total emissions set to reach between 1.2 billion and 1.5 billion tonnes annually by 2025. Soaring carbon emissions from aviation could lead to the "worst case scenario" for climate change, as envisaged by the United Nations. The aviation industry is not included in the Kyoto Treaty on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The study, "Trends in Global Noise and Emissions From Commercial Aviation for 2000 through 2025", found that the number of people seriously affected by aircraft noise will rise from 24 million in 2000 to 30.3 million by 2025, despite the introduction of quieter jets, and that the amount of nitrogen oxides around airports, produced by aircraft engines, will rise from 2.5 million tonnes in 2000 to 6.1 million tonnes in 2025.
Jeff Gazzard, a spokesman for the AEF said:
"Growth of CO2 emissions on this scale will comfortably outstrip any gains made by improved technology and ensure aviation is an even larger contributor to global warming by 2025 than previously thought. Governments must take action to put a cap on air transport's unrestrained growth."
The report was presented in 2007 to the USA/Europe Air Traffic Management Seminar in Barcelona but withheld from wider publication. The authors at the US Department of Transport, the European air traffic management body, Eurocontrol, Manchester Metropolitan University and the technology company QinetiQ, predict that CO2 emissions from aviation will rise from the current level of 670 million tonnes to up to 1.48 billion tonnes by 2025. This exceeds the previous estimate, made in 2004, of 1.03 billion tonnes by 2025. The growth in aviation CO2 means that the highest forecast for aviation emissions produced by the International Panel on Climate Change will be met or exceeded.
Green Party Peer Lord Beaumont dies, aged 80
10th April 2008
Green Party life peer Lord Timothy Beaumont died yesterday evening at St Thomas's hospital. Green Party Principal Speakers Caroline Lucas MEP and Derek Wall paid tribute to his services to British politics and to the Green Party, calling him a "pioneering spirit" in green politics.
In 1967, Lord Beaumont was created a life peer for the then Liberal Party as Baron Beaumont of Whitley, of Child's Hill in Greater London. Although initially chair of the Liberal Party in 1967-8 and President 1969-70, in 1999 he joined the Green Party, citing his opposition to the Liberal Democrats' support for ever-increasing global free trade.
As a Green Party peer, Lord Beaumont drove forward campaigns opposing biofuels, promoting food security and supporting indigenous farmers. He was a champion for freedom of information and highlighted Government deception when measuring carbon emissions from housing. As recently as March this year, he was promoting renewable energy as part of the Government's Energy Bill.
Lord Beaumont campaigned passionately for the Green Party and, in November 2006, said of the Greens:
"Such a vision offers greater community and personal satisfaction: a world where conviviality replaces consumption, where local identity replaces global trade, and where community spirit replaces brand loyalty."
Principal Speakers Caroline Lucas MEP and Derek Wall paid tribute to Lord Beaumont, saying:
"Lord Beaumont will be enormously missed by the Party. He was a pioneering spirit in green politics, and a passionate defender of human rights and civil liberties. He worked tirelessly to put sustainable development higher up the political agenda and, in particular, to promote sustainable energy."
It is expected that the Prime Minister will appoint a new Green peer in due course.
Badger Cull
9th April 2008
The first full-scale badger cull in Britain in decades has been announced by Elin Jones, rural affairs minister at the Welsh Assembly, after Wales's chief vet declared the disease "out of control." The annoucment does not say who will carry out the cull or over how large an area. There has been a furious response from wildlife groups, including the RSPCA who described the decision as a "colossal mistake" and the Badger Trust who described the move as "cyncical".
Dr Christianne Glossop, the chief vet for Wales, stated that the existing strategy for controlling bovine TB in Wales was not working and the number of animals testing positive for the disease had increased from fewer than 700 animals in 1997 to 8,000 animals last year.
Dai Davies, President NFU Cymru said:
"We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the ever increasing raft of scientific evidence which points to both cattle and badgers being involved in the transmission of bovine TB. Despite the measures already taken and aimed at containing the disease in cattle there has been a 750 per cent rise in the number of cattle slaughtered last year compared to a decade ago. It is evident that unless a holistic approach is taken to deal with the disease in both cattle and infected wildlife bTB will continue to wreak havoc in the countryside and its unremitting spread will continue."
However Trevor Lawson for Badger Trust Cymru said: "This cynical culling proposal is sacrificial politics at its worst and has nothing to do with science. Last year, the expert scientist on bovine TB told the Assembly that badger culling would be 'a disease-control policy... that actually spreads the disease'. Yet both the Assembly and Elin Jones have ignored that explicit summary of the scientific evidence."
A spokesman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs distanced the Government from the decision, saying:
"This is a devolved matter. The Government is considering all the available evidence before coming to a decision."
Elephants' Graveyard
18th March 2008
African militias are turning to the wholesale slaughter of elephants to fund their civil wars. In Chad, Janjaweed militia from Sudan killed around 100 elephants in one day. In Kenya, Somali warlords armed with rocket-propelled grenades killed four wildlife rangers during a bloody raid on herds in the Tana Delta. In Democratic Republic of Congo, rebel groups are slaughtering the country's dwindling elephant population for its ivory.
These militias are now " the greatest problem for the protection of elephants in Africa", according to Michael Wamithi, the head of the elephant programme for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw).
"Small groups of people used to kill elephants and take their ivory for purely commercial reasons," he said. "Now it is a very different thing. It is organised and it is funding these dangerous groups." In one incident in Chad's Zakouma National Park a gang of more than 30 Janjaweed men on horseback killed more than 100 elephants in a single attack.
"It was a targeted operation, very well planned," Mr Wamithi said. "To kill that many elephants in one go takes a lot of organisation. We have not seen attacks like this before."
Demand for ivory in the Far East, particularly China, has reached record levels. Ivory taken by the Janjaweed in Chad is taken back to Khartoum where it is sold on to China, according to Ifaw.
Glaciers Shrinking
17th March 2008
Just when it seemed that news of global warming couldn't get much worse, comes evidence that the world's glaciers are retreating at an increasing rate. The glaciers are a vital source of drinking water for millions of people, and if they disappear there will be huge migration of populations around the world.
News of the shrinking glaciers comes from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), who report that average glacial shrinkage has risen from 30 centimetres per year between 1980 and 1999, to 1.5 metres in 2006.
Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary General of the UN and executive director of its environment programme (UNEP), told Eco:
"Millions if not billions of people depend directly or indirectly on these natural water storage facilities for drinking water, agriculture, industry and power generation during key parts of the year.
"There are many canaries emerging in the climate change coal mine. The glaciers are perhaps among those making the most noise and it is absolutely essential that everyone sits up and takes notice..... governments must agree on a decisive new emissions reduction and adaptation-focused regime. Otherwise, and like the glaciers, our room for manoeuvre and the opportunity to act may simply melt away."
Dr Ian Willis, of the Scott Polar Research Institute, said: "It is not too late to stop the shrinkage of these ice sheets but we need to take action immediately."
The findings were compiled by the World Glacier Monitoring Service which is supported by UNEP. Thickening and thinning is calculated in terms of 'water equivalent'.
Glaciers across nine mountain ranges were analysed.
Dr. Wilfried Haeberli, director of the service, said: "The latest figures are part of what appears to be an accelerating trend with no apparent end in sight.
"This continues the trend in accelerated ice loss during the past two and a half decades and brings the total loss since 1980 to more than 10.5 metres.
Terminal Five Opened
17th March 2008
The opening of the new Terminal Five building at Heathrow has been greeted with fury from green campaigners who see it as evidence of the Government's lack of joined up thinking on environmental issues.
Reacting to the opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport, Greenpeace senior transport campaigner Anita Goldsmith said:
"Terminal Five stands as a monument to the binge-flying culture this government has done so much to encourage. It's part of an obsession with expansion which can only mean more flights, more emissions and more climate change."
"The ribbon has been cut on a notorious broken promise. When Terminal Four was given the green light in the eighties the government said there would never be a fifth terminal. Then BAA categorically stated they would never build a third runway. When will we have a Prime Minister who has the courage to stand up to the aviation industry?"
"Aviation accounts for 13% of our country's damage to the climate and is growing fast. If we build the new terminals and runways the government is pushing for we won't stand a chance of meeting our climate change targets."
A further test of the Government's green credentials will come later in 2008 when a decision is to be made on whether to build a third runway at Heathrow. There is every expectation that it will be approved.
Oil and gas threat
to dolphins
17th March 2008
WWF-UK is urging the government not to grant licenses for oil and gas activities in Scotland and Wales, near Britain's two main protected areas for bottlenose dolphins. "Bottlenose dolphins are a national treasure, adored by many and vital to our oceans. But their ability to feed, breed and communicate could now be seriously disturbed by sounds from oil and gas activities. WWF-UK calls on the Government to respect the protection that these areas should be afforded under the Habitats Directive," said Emily Lewis-Brown, Marine Climate Change Officer at WWF-UK.
Today, the public consultation on the plans to allow oil and gas development in the Scottish Moray Firth and the Welsh, Cardigan Bay Special Areas of Conservation ends.
Giving the green light to oil and gas developments in these areas would contravene the Habitats Directive, established to safeguard the dolphins from damaging activities, and draws into question the Government's commitment to protecting our seas.
WWF has raised its concerns about the proposals over the past 18 months, warning that the intense loud noise used in oil and gas exploration, alongside the disturbance and pollution risk associated with production pose unacceptable threats to the dolphins in an area so critical to their survival.
The threat to this species further demonstrates the urgent need for UK Marine Acts, and secondary devolved legislation, that will improve the management of our seas and help protect our marine species and habitats from man's harmful activities. At present, less than 0.001% of our seas are protected from damaging activities.
In 2005, WWF-UK published a Marine Health Check Report, which concluded that 13 out of 16 key species and habitats are in decline in UK waters. WWF has campaigned for several years for a Marine Act, and hopes the forthcoming Draft Marine Bill alongside a Scottish Marine Bill and other devolved legislation will deliver the effective marine legislation that our seas so desperately need.
Lewis-Brown adds: "This is a particularly crucial time for UK seas as they are facing the global environmental challenge of climate change as well as the continuing pressures of other human activities. WWF-UK looks forward to the publication of the Draft Marine Bill, and urges the Government to introduce a full Marine Bill in the Queen's Speech later this year, and to work with devolved administrations for the required complementary legislation that is vital to ensure nationally important marine species and habitats are safeguarded."
Blair: not right for the job
If Blair couldn't cut UK's emissions in 10 years, what hope the world's?
17th March 2008
There has been widespread criticism of former Prime Minister Tony Blair's move to put himself forward as a global environmental ambassador. Blair called for a global environmental revolution over the weekend. Green Party Principal Speak Dr. Derek Wall today labelled Tony Blair as "no friend of the earth", and attacked the former Prime Minister's "woeful record" on carbon emissions reduction in the decade he was Prime Minister of the UK, questioning whether he is the right man to lead the new global initiative to tackle climate change by cutting the world's emissions.
Dr. Wall highlighted the fact that despite 3 manifesto pledges to decrease emissions to 20% of 1990 levels by 2010, a year before Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister in 2007 the UKs carbon dioxide emissions were the highest they have ever been under Labour - 2.2% above 1997 levels. To be on track to meet the 2010 target, emissions should have been around 10% lower than 1997 levels by then. Dr. Wall said:
"Tony Blair is an insane choice for climate change czar. His woeful record in 10 years of Government saw an expansion of CO2 levels and a criminal neglect of renewable and sustainable energy policies in favour of more roads, more carbon intensive international trade and a dangerous new nuclear energy programme.
"His first call should be for an end to the expansion of Heathrow and short haul flights, a stop to the investment and promotion of agrofuels, and a greater emphasis on renewable energy production.
"Blair is trying to create a niche in international environmental negotiations based on an appalling record of disregard for the cause of climate change.
"Tony Blair is no friend of the earth and everyone knows this."
Whaling Tempers
Still Frayed
9th March 2008
An inter inter-sessional meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has sought to calm tempers between the warring factions in the dispute over whether the IWC should support conservation or renewed whaling. The meeting called on anti-whaling campaigners to be less aggressive in their actions at sea, singling out the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society whose boat has been involved in clashes with Japanese whalers in the Antarctic. In the last week the Japanese have thrown flash grenades at the protestors and the Captain of the "Steve Irwin" vessel, Paul Watson has claimed he was shot at:
"I felt this impact on my chest," Watson told Australian radio. "I found a bullet buried in the Kevlar vest that I wear. It bruised my shoulder but it would have hit my heart if I didn't have the vest." The protestors have been throwing "stink bombs" containing butyric acid at the whalers.
A delegate at the mediation meeting commented anonymously:
"It was a lot more relaxed than I feared it might be. The presence of three top rank negotiators really helped focus minds ...But it did not even go near the central question of whether the IWC should allow more whaling or become a serious conservation organization."
Commercial whaling was outlawed in 1986 due to a sharp drop in whale numbers due to industrial scale hunting.
Japan, which already conducts " scientific" whaling that conservationists say is a sham cover for commercial hunting, and has along with Norway been behind efforts to get the ban lifted.
"The IWC has in recent years shown increasing signs of polarisation and has reached something of an impasse. That is why the Annual Meeting in Anchorage last year decided to hold this London meeting," IWC chairman William Hogarth said in a statement following the meeting. The next full meeting of the IWC is in June in Santiago.
Troops Protect Trees
8th March 2008
In a sign of the growing conflict between economic and environmental forces, troops have been deployed in the Amazon by the Brazilian government, to protect trees from illegal logging. This move comes in response to the revelation in January that rainforest loss in the Brazilian Amazon accelerated in late 2007.
The 200 troops have entered the remote town of Tailândia in an operation codename "Arc of Fire", and have confiscated around 13,000 cubic metres of timber, worth about £1.5m, said to have been felled illegally. The town is in the state of Pará in the Eastern Amazon, and has a population of 67,000. It is a lawless area that has lost up to 60% of its forest cover. The crackdown by the Brazilian government is believed to have put up to 6,000 people out of work that includes making charcoal for the steel-making industry.
Prince Charles Alarmed
8th March 2008
Prince Charles, who is on holiday in Trinidad, has spoken of his alarm about climate change, and said that drastic action needs to be taken in the face of "urgent wake up calls". He is travelling around by yacht to avoid the need for air travel, as his personal statement on environmental issues. The yacht, named the Leander, is one of the most luxurious in the world, and is hired from a British businessman.
Charles continued, speaking to a reception in Trinidad and Tobago which included the country's president and prime minister:
"If I may speak plainly among friends, this is sheer madness. The scientific facts are as plain as they are alarming. Worryingly in the last few months we have learnt that the North Polar ice cap is melting so fast that some scientists are predicting that in seven years it will completely disappear in summer."
"You know only too well in Trinidad that your coastline is being encroached upon by rising sea levels and the danger this poses for supplies of drinking water. Is this not just the latest in a series of evermore-urgent wake up calls that should alert us to the alarming fact that we are literally destroying our own life support mechanisms."
He added: "There are those who think we should do nothing but very much, at any rate, very little to disturb the business as usual approach. Quite simply we are not doing nearly enough to stop it or doing it fast enough."
Food Crisis
8th March 2008
The Government's new Scientific Adviser, Professor John Beddington, has warned that major climate change, that now seems certain to affect the world, will be preceded by an unprecedented food shortage. Food supply is now in a "perfect storm", being hit by droughts and other climate disasters, and the competition over land from biofuel crops, while demand is soaring due to the earth's growing population and the changing diet of the new middle class of Asia, who are switching to eating more meat. The growth of biofuels is not only pushing up food prices, but also driving climate change in areas where rainforest land is being cleared for fuel crops.
Professor Beddington said:
"Some of the biofuels are hopeless. The idea that you cut down rainforest to actually grow biofuels seems profoundly stupid."
In Mexico and Pakistan there have been riots over food prices, and the United Nations has reported that 25 million people in India have cut their food intake from two to one meal a day. Global grain stores are currently at the lowest levels ever, just 40 days from running out.
It's HIP to be Green
7th March 2008
A new survey published today showing that nearly one third of new home-buyers plan to carry out some of the energy saving recommendations in their Home Information Packs (HIPs), has been welcomed by green groups inclduing Friends of the Earth. But the environmental organisation warned that without greater financial incentives homeowners are much less likely to turn their intentions into action, and called on the Government to regulate to ensure that EPCs are provided to all prospective buyers when a property is first put on the market.
The recommendations are part of the Energy Performance Certificates element of HIPs, which assesses the energy efficiency of the property. Today's survey was carried out IPSOS MORI for the Communities and Local Government Department.
Friends of the Earth's Green Home campaigner, Dave Timms, said:
“This survey shows that EPCs can play a powerful role in encouraging homeowners to improve the energy efficiency their property. If they act on this information they will save money on energy bills and cut their carbon emissions. However there is a big difference between knowing what you can do and actually doing it. The Government must introduce a range of tax breaks to make people more willing to act on this information. The Chancellor promised to put sustainability at the heart of next week's Budget. With over a quarter of UK carbon emissions coming from our homes, Mr Darling must make it cheaper and easier for us all to go green."
?Friends of the Earth is calling for the Chancellor to announce a range of measures to cut carbon dioxide emissions. These include:
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A stamp duty rebate for people installing renewable technologies or energy efficiency measures in their homes
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Funds for councils to give council tax rebates for people installing energy efficiency measures in their homes
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An increased tax break to ecourage landlords to invest in making their properties energy efficienct
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Reduce VAT on refurbishment of properties to a high environmental standard.
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A feed-in-tariff guaranteeing a long-term premium price for renewable electricity generated in people's homes and by businesses
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A £1 billion fund for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, with a 50 per cent grant to help householders with the up-front capital costs of installing renewable technologies
Malaria Warning
13th February 2008
The government has warned the NHS to be prepared for malaria outbreaks, fatal heatwaves and contaminated drinking water within five years because of global warming. The warning is being given to hospitals, care homes and institutions for dealing with rising temperatures, increased flooding, gales and other major weather events.
A spokesman for the Health Protection Agency told Eco: "Our work is based on what is likely to happen if we do nothing to prevent it - and it could well be that we see an increase in diseases such as malaria. Malaria has been seen in these islands in the past, and it is not impossible that it will return regularly if the UK experiences more tropical temperatures and rain on the scale experienced last summer. Our nearest continental neighbour, France, has already experienced a severe heatwave, with thousands of people dying, mostly the old and frail, so it was very clearly seen by scientists as possible here within a short timeframe."
Low Carbon Man
12th February 2008
How far would you go to save the environment? Ben Clowney, the campaign officer for Tearfund organisation is living in a tent for a week as part of his plan to cut back on carbon for Lent. He has hung up his car keys and is canoeing to the shops. Ben comments:
"I am currently redefining what it means to be a wind-up merchant. Yesterday I was sitting in my warm office surrounded by a plethora of wind-up devices including a torch, a radio and a lantern. Today will mark the beginning of a somewhat foolhardy challenge to live for a week as low-carbon man, which means waving goodbye to my bed and my car, and moving into a tent in the office car ark. I'm aiming to reduce my carbon emissions by about 95%, to draw attention to Tearfund's Carbon Fast, a 40-day challenge that highlights simple steps we can all take to reduce our impact on the climate. Even with such drastic cuts, my week's emissions will still be more than the monthly average emissions in Malawi, a country that is feeling the devastating effects of climate change now.
There will be blogs and videos on www.myspace.com/lowcarbonman. Ben is not sure how much his girlfriend will appreciate Valentine's day in a tent, but hopes his sacrifices will make people think about what they too can do for the environment.
See also Guardian feature - 12/2/08
'Are Biofuels Sustainable?'
Greens respond to EAC report
22nd January 2008
Green Party Principal Speakers Dr. Derek Wall and Dr. Caroline Lucas today responded to the report 'Are Biofuels Sustainable', released by the cross-party Environment Audit Committee (EAC). The Committee launched the inquiry on 25 July 2007, examining the role biofuels might play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as the wider economic, social and environmental impacts of agrifuels.
Dr. Lucas, MEP for the South East, said:
"Today's report by the EAC is very welcome. Its long overdue recognition of the serious environmental impacts of large scale monoculture biofuels is one more nail in the coffin of the mass biofuel industry. It sends a very clear message to the Government that it must scrap its plans to push the UK towards a 5% biofuels target in two years' time."
Dr Lucas, who has campaigned for several years against the current approach to biofuels, added: "This report adds to the ever increasing evidence that mass biofuels do not provide a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. Last week, the Royal Society published its own report questioning the real effects of mass biofuel, and on the same day the EU Environment Commissioner himself revealed grave misgivings. These come on top of the numerous reports from environmental experts and NGOs. How much more evidence is needed to persuade the Government to put the brakes on biofuels?
"The UK and the EU are only now slowly waking up to the stark reality of a mass plant-based energy drive, having set biofuel targets that cannot possibly be achieved in a sustainable way. We need to actively seek to replace mass biofuels with less harmful, more sustainable and more environmentally beneficial alternatives."
Dr. Wall, who campaigns against global rainforest logging for large scale agrifuels, and who was harassed by police while taking part in a biofuels demonstration last year, said:
"I warmly welcome this report. Those of us critical of the drive to agrifuels need to remain active, but the tide is turning.
"Biofuels based on palm oil plantations destroy rainforests and accelerate climate change. World food prices are already rising making the poor suffer because of land competition between food and energy fuels.
"I am especially pleased that the EAC has finally come to realise the urgent Green Party message on biofuels. The report's admission that 'most first generation biofuels have a detrimental impact on the environment overall' could come straight from the Green Party manifesto."
Dr. Wall finished by pointing to more similarities between the EAC report and Green Party policy:
"The report's summary concludes by echoing other Green policies: 'Other more effective ways of cutting emissions from road transport should be pursued.' The Green Party has the courage to comprehensively support truly clean sources of energy, and are the only party willing to lesson our addiction to the car by investing in clean, decent and cheap public transport."
Oil Price a Boost
for Green Power
With oil prices over $100 a barrel, and gas and electricity prices due to go up by 15%, many of us will be feeling the pain. But it is good news for firms trying to develop renewable energy like wind and solar power. At the moment solar power is around 5 times more expensive than oil-generated power, and solar panels have a very long payback time. Few people will invest until the price of panels comes down however.
The high oil price will also be a boost for farmers growing biofuels, at a time when questions are being raised about whether biofuels are really less polluting, and are pushing up food prices.
Lord Oxburgh, the former chairman of Shell who now heads Aim-listed biofuels company D1 Oils, says: 'We are quite a long way from anything we can describe as a "post-oil world". But $100 a barrel makes a heck of a difference.'
New Energy Finance estimates that last year, the amount invested in the clean energy sector grew to $117bn, up 41 per cent from 2005 and much more than expected. It now accounts for 10 per cent of the energy market globally.
Silvine Sinks Sunk
Scientists have discovered that the world's forests are absorbing less carbon dioxide than expected after studies of 30 sites over two decades of measurements. This means that instead of being safely locked away in trees, the carbon is released into the atmosphere to speed up global warming. This accounts for the discovery that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing faster than expected. The Global Carbon Project has confirmed that the rise in CO2 levels in the atmosphere is accelerating. Between 1970 and 2000 the concentration rose by about 1.5 parts per million (ppm), but since 2000 the annual rise leapt to an average of 1.9ppm - 35% higher than expected. Part of the rise is due to increased CO2 production by China. We now know that weakening carbon sinks are also to blame.
$100 a Barrel
Oil has traded at $100 a barrel for the first time in New York. The price has been inflated by violence in Algeria and Nigeria, cold weather in America, and the continuing booming demand from China and India. Reaction to the assassination of the former Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhuto, also contributed to the rising prices.
Last Friday Npower, Britain’s fourth largest energy supplier, said it was raising electricity prices by 12.7% and gas bills by 17.2%.
Like oil, wholesale prices for gas and electricity have gone up sharply, by 60% and 66% respectively. These increases are now feeding through to customers. The other energy suppliers are likely to follow Npower’s lead in the next few weeks.
There is ongoing speculation that the point of "Peak Oil" has been reached or already passed, the point at which more than half of the world's reserves of oil have been used up. Once this point is reached the market for oil is affected by panic buying and the price become distorted as speculators move in to make profits, as Jeremy Leggett warns in his book "Half Gone".
Rising oil, gas and electricity prices will also increase inflation, and make interest rate cuts to boost the flagging housing market and general economy more difficult.
Eco feature: The End of Oil
RSPB under fire for allowing shooting
The RSPB has come under fire for allowing shooting on one of its reserves. The hunting is being permitted on its reserve at Langstone Harbour near Portsmouth in Hants where thousands of migrating Arctic birds, including ducks and geese, spend the winter.
Barry Hugill, from the League Against Cruel Sports, said: "I find it exceedingly distasteful. It's a wildlife sanctuary. How on earth can it be a sanctuary if someone is going to come and kill the birds that are resident there simply because they enjoy killing things? I think it's scandalous and I do hope the RSPB will reconsider their decision. I don't think it's acceptable. It's a blood sport. I can't see any justification for it. It's a macho, egotistical, self gratifying act and I think it's disgusting. No-one owns wildlife. These poor animals come in for sanctuary and end up getting blown out of the air."
A local wild-fowling group has had shooting rights since 1979, and hunting has taken place in the harbour since the 1600s. The group has to report every bird shot to the RSPB and a maximum of 10 birds a day may be killed.
Chris Cockburn, RSPB warden for Langstone harbour, comments: "If wildfowling was banned the only way we could make it work would be by policing it. The reality is that would be very difficult whereas by licensing it we are effectively controlling the amount of shooting that can occur. At the moment the controls in place are pretty stringent. The alternative to the situation we have is grim. Poaching would be disastrous for the harbour. It would be disastrous for the bird populations."
Eco-friendly fashion fair comes
to the heart of the Cotswolds
Stroud Vintage is hosting a series of Vintage Fashion, Textile & Accessories Fairs in the Ballroom at the Subscription Rooms, Stroud, during the whole of 2008. The fairs offer a wonderful selection of affordable quality vintage clothes, jewellery, books, shoes, hats, bags and accessories from the 1800s to the 1980s, with Specialist sellers coming from the UK and Europe. For more information about the fairs, visit www.stroudvintage.com
A visit to Stroud on any of the fair days will offer you the chance to indulge yourself to the hilt; with a treasure trove of wonderful affordable vintage delights for any season. Stroud has a proud textile heritage with more than 100 cloth mills gracing the Five Valleys in its heyday. To this end, Stroud Vintage will be linking with the Stroudwater International Textile Festival during May 2008. Vintage is the acceptable face of fashion – where unique pre-owned pieces leave just the lightest of carbon footprints behind.
Green Party to
Elect a Leader
Caroline Lucas and Derek Wall, the two current "Principal Speakers"
The Green Party in England and Wales has voted to change its rules so it has just one leader in future.
The decision, backed by 73% of members who took part in a ballot, ends the previous system of having two "Principal Speakers". Joint Principal Speaker Caroline Lucas comments: "I'm delighted about this result. The party can now move forward together and onto the job in hand. We have an urgent greenmessage to communicate and many votes to win.
"This is a fantastic day for the Green Party and will help ensure we have a party that is understandable, recognisable and effective.
"But we now need to demonstrate to all our members, regardless of which way they voted, that this is not about weakening our principles, it's about strengthening our effectiveness." The other Principal peaker Derek Wall opposed the move to have a leader. About 7,000 Green Party members were balloted, with just over half taking part.
Comment: A Fresh Start
Protestors block
nuclear plant
Protestors have blocked the main entrance road at Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station. Police said three women and a man had "locked" themselves into place outside the power station using concrete. Officers said a small group also gathered at the site to offer the protesters support, and people arriving for work had found the way in blocked. British Energy announced earlier in the week it had earmarked eight of its sites as possible locations for "next-generation" nuclear plants, as part of a review of work needed to counter the impact of climate change.
A spokesman for the protesters said various groups opposed to nuclear power and the development of Sizewell had been involved.
"The protest is being staged because British Energy suggested last week they aim to build four nuclear power stations at their sites in the UK," he said.
"We want to show them that it isn't going to be quite as simple as that." A Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament spokeswoman said the group wanted to spell out the dangers of nuclear expansion to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"We were lying across the road for 15 minutes fastened together before the security guards came," said campaigner Mell Harrison, 36, of Bungay, Suffolk.
"We were 200 metres from the reactor, if that. If we can do it so can terrorists. Imagine that. We didn't get inside the fence. But protesters have done that before.
"If Gordon Brown wants to expand the nuclear industry he should realise that he will face an awful lot of opposition. All the old problems with nuclear power have not gone away.
"The Government will discover that an awful lot of people have concerns and people will protest. The answer isn't nuclear power. We must explore alternatives." The protestors were later escorted away by police and no arrests were made.
Whale meat again
Whale vindaloo is on the menu for Japanese consumers, after enterprising traders invented a new dish that many will find hard to swallow. The whale curry is being served up after Japan resumed its hunting of Humpback whales for “scientific purposes” for the first time in 20 years. A Greenpeace vessel is chasing the Japanese whaling fleet, and numerous nations have appealed to Japan to call off the hunt. The fleet aims to catch 950 Minke whales, 50 Fin whales, and 50 Humpbacks. The Japanese public gave a mixed response to the curry, with some keen to try something new, and others more cautious, aware of international criticism.
Ryanair feels the heat
Controversial boss of Ryanair Michael O'Leary is clearly feeling the heat over climate change. He has fired off an angry letter demanding an apology from Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies who stated during a debate that Mr. O'Leary "says that he does not give a toss for the environment so long as he can stuff his pockets and those of his company full of gold”.
Mr O’Leary, who is worth more than £200 million, wrote: “To suggest that I and Ryanair do not have regard to the environment is clearly untrue and damaging to Ryanair’s good name and reputation.” O'Leary claims that Ryanair is Europe’s greenest airline because it operates modern aircraft and fits as many passengers as possible on each flight. He claimed to have made “huge efforts” to ensure Ryanair was “environmentally sustainable”.
Yet only three weeks ago Mr O’Leary dismissed the climate change debate as a “middle-class, mid-life crisis” as he announced that Ryanair’s half-year profits had soared by 24 per cent to record levels. He has dismissed those worried about climate change as "environmental headbangers" and said that “hairy environmentalists” were hypocrites for eating organic food flown to Britain. “Why don’t they eat British turnips all winter if they want to save flights?”. O'Leary has also referred to environmentalists as "half-witted loons", and come up with the bizarre statement: “Human breathing is one of the biggest problems as far as I can see. Why don’t environmentalists just shoot all the humans?” Other gems from O'Leary include:
“The guilt-ridden middle classes chatter on about the bloody environment as they drive their SUVs to Sainsbury's to buy kiwi fruits flown halfway around the world. There is no link between aviation and climate change” and:
“I am far too busy doubling Ryanair to be joining any carbon emissions trading scheme”.
Nightclub launches £35,000 cocktail
In one of the most obscene examples of decadence and social irresponsibility, the Movida nightclub in London has
launched the world's most expensive Christmas cocktail, costing £35,000 a glass. At a time when many are trying to reduce their carbon footprint and cut back on consumption of scarce resources, this extravagent drink smacks of the worst examples of excessive comsumption.
The cocktail consists of a large measure of Louis XII cognac, half a bottle of Cristal Rose champagne, some brown sugar, angostura bitters and a few flakes of 24-carat edible gold leaf. The drink is described as warming and refreshing, but that is not the main reason for the exorbitant cost: at the bottom of the crystal glass is an 11-carat white diamond ring.
Customers will be treated to a floorshow, as the drink will be mixed in the presence of two security guards, who watch over the client's table until it is finished.
Incredibly there have already been customers ordering the drink. Among the first was Max Reigns, 28, a property developer and manager. He intends to give the ring to his girlfriend for Christmas.
"I just thought it would be a nice thing to do for her. She has so many other things." Asked whether he couldn't think of a better use for £35,000, he replied: "It's about the same as a holiday, isn't it?" As an annual income, £35,000 is more than about three quarters of the workforce earns in a year.
Some commentators have condemned news of the drink as further evidence of the spending power and irresponsibility of the super-rich. "It's like sticking two fingers up at the rest of society," said the Labour MP Sion Simon. "You might as well set fire to your money in front of those less well-off. It's a very deliberate way of saying 'We are not part of the same country as you." For those with a little more awareness, £35,000 would buy 500 acres of rainforest through the charity Cool Earth, or save the lives of many Third World children who die through lack of clean water supplies.
The Future is Green
Sheffield Based Firm VeryPC was announced last night as the winner of a prestigious PC Pro Award. The Environmental Innovator award was given to VeryPC for its energy efficient PC & Server range, which help reduce computer power consumption whilst still providing the same computing power.
The PC Pro awards are the most prestigious awards for the IT industry, which has recently been criticised for producing as much carbon as the airline industry1. VeryPC’s approach to solving this issue is similar to energy saving lightbulbs, they provide computers that do the same job at the same speed but produce less heat and burn less electricity. VeryPC also seek to reduce the size of the computer equipment, thus using less raw material and reducing recycling costs.
The nominees were:
BT
Dell
Fujitsu Siemens
Kyocera Mita
Lenovo
Memset
Moixa
NEC
Philips
Very PC
VIA
BT came highly commended for its new green datacenters , but VeryPC scooped the award for its holistic approach to energy efficient computing, which has given it a strong lead in energy efficiency over the rest of the industry.
1. From the “Inefficient Truth” report by Global Action Plan
Furniture that helps trees grow
