Getting Ready for Copenhagen

Besides the mundane activities of getting prepared to travel overseas (packing, passport, paperwork), there is the exercise of wrestling with massive amounts of information flowing from every possible source of information I know. Parceling out my time to what is important is becoming more difficult every day.

In spite of the swirl of politics surrounding national leaders as they jockey for position at the negotiating table, the focus for me as a carbon consultant is to cut through the spin and connect with other professionals and clients who will be attending the mega-climate event. Over the past few years, the COP meetings (Conference of Parties) have grown beyond the climate negotiations among national governments. These meetings have become a hub for policymakers at every government level (subnational, provincial, cities), for scientists, for non-governmental organizations, development agencies, financial institutions, utilities, green tech firms, and carbon industry professionals like me. We go to connect with our clients who are producing sustainability projects, to connect with potential funders, to learn about the latest industry developments, and to network with like-minded folk.

One of the most colourful components of the COP meetings is the Side Events. At Side Events, observer organizations and governments host promo pieces, forums, and roundtables on topics ranging from the cerebral to the practical to the controversial, and everything in between. The Side Events have become an integral part of the climate meetings, a place to meet, to discuss and to learn.

Click here for a taste of the menu I can't wait to sample when I land in fair Copenhagen next month and learn more about the Side Events at COP-15.

Carbon Hunters Documentary was a Fair Primer on Carbon Credits

I watched with trepidation and more than a little anxiety about how my chosen vocation would be portrayed in a documentary aimed at the general public. There is a tendency among critics and journalists take potshots at carbon ‘traders’. In fact, there is a lot that is wrong with the industry. It’s an easy target. There are cowboys out there who will mislead and rip people off. This is a new industry that is rife with corruption and con artists trying to part honest folk from their dollars. Of course, those are the fringe players, but they exist nonetheless and they manage to tar the rest of us with their bad behavior.

But the Carbon Hunters was fair. I think it explained the mechanism of carbon trading fairly well. It covered a fairly complex topic and captured the difference between micro-credits, small offset projects, and larger certified units. It also drew a nice chronological narrative from the mechanisms beginnings with footage from Maurice Strong, one of the architects of the Clean Development Mechanism.

If you missed it the first time, the documentary will be replayed tonight on CBC Newsworld at 10pm Eastern. If you’re interested in learning about carbon credits and carbon trading it’s worth checking out.

Significant Move by President Obama and the USA Climate Team

Copenhagen negotiations will be difficult and the outcome is in doubt, but this is significant news.

Canadian Parliament Votes in favor of More Ambitious Action at UN Climate Summit

(Ottawa) Canadian parliament has sent an unambiguous message that they do not agree with the current minority federal government's climate change strategy. In a vote today on a Bloc Quebecois motion to take a more ambitious position going into the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen in less than two weeks, the three opposition parties voted in favor of the motion, with a count of 137 to 124.

This result comes less than a week after the release of polling that shows that over 75% of Canadians are embarrassed by the current government’s lack of leadership on climate change.

The Bloc motion recommends that Canada go to Copenhagen with a position that encompasses three points as follows:

1. A 25% reduction domestically in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 based on 1990 levels

2. The need to limit the rise in average global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels

3. Support for developing countries in their efforts to adapt to climate change and to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions

These three points, if adopted as the mandate for the current government’s negotiating position, would significantly change the global perception of Canada as a spoiler and a laggard going into these critical talks.

The motion is not binding however.

All eyes will be on Copenhagen from the 7th - 18th of December as over 60 heads of state gather in Copenhagen to push for a deal.

As of today Prime Minister Harper has stated that he will not be attending the negotiations.

Carbon Accounting: Protocols and Registries

As with any new uncharted landscape, the rush to establish territory and rules in the carbon business is occurring at a dizzying pace. Since I started in this business more than 5 years ago, I have learned the rules of registry after registry, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the granddaddy of registries, if you will, the Kyoto Protocol), to the defunct Canadian Offset Registry, to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, to the Western Climate Initiative. Just like learning new software packages, after a time, you start to see commonalities among them. The best registries and protocols demand the most rigorous accountability. With rigorous accounting practice, carbon credits can be traded across jurisdictions and carbon inventories can meet international regulatory standards.

That is why the Canadian government must ensure that our new Canadian Offset system is stringent in its accounting standards and rigorous in its criteria. Our credits will be more valuable if they meet international standards.

As well, that is why I favour using international standards for inventory accounting (‘carbon footprinting’), such as ISO 14064 or the World Resources Institute GHG Protocol. Taking stock of your carbon footprint or carbon inventory is a resource intensive process. It will be much more rewarding in terms of opening up new markets and meeting international regulations if you follow established, authoritative criteria. Beware the easy offsets and fly-by-night carbon footprint tools. There are a lot of pretenders out there trying to capitalize on the ‘carbon neutral’ trend. The best advice I can give you is to make sure you comparison shop before settling on a carbon inventory process, protocol, or project registry.

Surfing the Waves of North American Carbon Policy

Yesterday, by way of introduction, I told you about the gap I saw in carbon information for Atlantic Canada. Today, I’d like to tell you a little about me and my personal experience in the carbon business.

I have been working in this ‘carbon’ field for more than 5 years now and in that time it’s been a roller coaster ride of change, excitement, disappointment, and potential. In the immediate days following the ratification of the Kyoto protocol, I worked with international partners in South East Asia and in both South and Central America. In those days we had the support of the Canadian government in our efforts to help developing nations take advantage of the incentives in the Kyoto protocol. We were riding a wave of good will to make sustainability work around the world with partnerships between North and South. Partnerships that would have seen advanced economies sharing their technologies to help developing nations jumpstart sustainable development.

Enter Stephen Harper. When the Conservatives took the reins in Ottawa everything changed. Canada shifted gears. Sustainability and climate change fell off the agenda and many of our partnerships crumbled as a result. So I shifted my focus to the ground-breaking policies emerging in North America. California and the Atlantic NorthEastern States were making a splash in climate strategies in a big way, with new and ambitious carbon policies that will change the way we do business on this continent. The California Action Registry and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative were pioneering, radical ideas 4 years ago. Now they are the foundation of the Obama administration’s cap and trade program design.

Today, I’m working with an innovative firm called Scotian Carbon Services. We’re based in Dartmouth Nova Scotia and we’re devoted to helping clients take advantage of the carbon economy with strategies and services that help them manage emission reductions, mitigate risk, and find new revenue streams.

Sixteen days from now, I will head to the climate meetings in Copenhagen to meet with other folks engaged on the frontlines of climate policy and the carbon business. You can be assured that we are all anxiously waiting to see how Canada will play its hand at the climate negotiating table. The plot thickens. Stay tuned.

Welcome to Carbon Commentary for Atlantic Canada

I decided to launch this blog because I believe there is a serious lack of information about carbon policy, economics, and news for and about Atlantic Canada. The new carbon economy is numbered in the trillions of dollars. The new carbon regulatory framework for North America is about to be launched from Washington. Those twin halves of the carbon shift make it the biggest thing to hit society since the invention of money. I intend to fill the information void, demystify the carbon shift, and keep you up-to-date on the carbon news you need to know to make informed decisions about your business, your organization, or your career.

So welcome to Carbon Commentary.

I look forward to sharing an insider’s view of carbon management, carbon credit trading, and carbon policy with you on this blog, as well as the latest news and expert analysis as it comes across my desk.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about me, my credentials, and the roller coaster ride that is the life of a carbon consultant for the past 5 years. In the meantime, I recommend checking out the trailer for the documentary called "Carbon Hunters". It will be aired on CBC TV on Thursday November 26 on the program called the Doc Zone at 8pm local. Looks interesting!