Carbon Commentary

Virtual Durban: Tuvalu, PNG, and Elizabeth May

2011-12-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

Today I urge you to watch the full thirteen minutes of Elizabeth May's news conference on leaving for Durban. It captures the banality of the fall of democracy in Canada, how small administrative details have enormous consequences for the nature of governance, how delicate a structure our democracy really is. I know I'm not selling it, but it really is a fascinating insight into the internal workings of government and the subtle way that democratic principles can be quietly smothered.

Click the link here to watch the video on CBC.

The video also captures some of the flavour of a COP with the different levels of badges granting access to different levels of meetings. The almighty 'pink' badge of the delegate trumps all.

And the punchline to the story is that May was finally given delegate status upon arrival in Durban. The nation of Papua New Guineau embraced her as part of their delegation and granted May one of the coveted pink badges. Sounds like my kind of country!

Photo courtesy of UNFCCC

Virtual Durban: An exercise in sadness

2011-12-06T05:41:00.000-08:00

Following the climate talks from afar is turning into a full-time job and an exercise in sadness. No matter how I examine it or what sources I use, the news is not good.

First, the problem is not going away. Even the venerable International Energy Agency says time is running out. The world's authority on all issues associated with energy declared a five year window for meeting any civilization-saving climate goals. The IEA is one of the most conservative sector organizations in the world. So when they warn about the urgency of climate change, I sit up and take notice. CBC's coverage here.

Second, my nation is one of the most obstructionist participants in this climate change conference. Canada pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol yesterday, on the same day that China offered to make concessions. Not a very cooperative stance. Not a good sign for hope of a future global treaty to save humankind. We used to be a world leader in collaborative politics and progressive ideas. By pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol, Canada took the global lead in selfishness. It is ironic that Canada's position seems protectionist. It will ultimately lead to economic stagnation, as we find ourselves outside of international markets when carbon trade barriers block Canadian goods and other nations take advantage of the clean tech economy. Read The Toronto Star's coverage of Canada's intransigence here.

Finally, there is the sadness of the realization of the devastation that climate change is wreaking even as I write this. On the eve of the first day of the Durban COP 17 conference, there was a flash flood that destroyed a village, killing ten people very near to the conference site. If the real devastation of a community by climate change on the eve of the conference does not inspire our leaders to make a change, there may be no hope for any of us. Sad to say, greed may be trumping hope. Even more sad that my country may be leading the greed parade. Huffington Post's Heather Libby's account of the flash flood here.

Photo is courtesy of the UNFCCC and depicts signs from the Day of Protest on Saturday.

The Virtual Durban: COP17 Online

2011-11-25T06:16:00.000-08:00

The annual United Nations Climate Change meetings begin in Durban, South Africa next week and for the first time in two years, I won't be attending in person. I will miss catching up on the latest science and policy surrounding the big topics that make up the climate change negotiations. However, I plan to track the proceedings as much as possible through the wonderful tools that the UNFCCC provides in the form of live webcams, up-to-the-minute documents with amendments, and online apps. As well, there are some hard-working activist groups that bring brilliant insight to the proceedings. Tcktcktck and our own Canadian Youth Delegation are just two of the best of these.

It won't have the flavour of the personal meetings and the networking that just can't be duplicated at home, but I intend to bring the virtual Durban to my blog. Starting next week, the meetings run from November 28 to December 9. Stay tuned to keep up on frequent summaries of the salient negotiating points, and interesting facts from the heart of the climate change negotiating centre.

Climate Change: Responsibility and Consequences

2011-11-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

Let me digress today from my usual reports about carbon accounting, carbon markets, and government policy into the big picture perspective of why we do what we do, why we need to track every last ton of GHG emissions, account for it, reduce it, and blinking-well pay for it.

The 17th Conference of Parties (COP) takes place later this month in Durban, South Africa. This is the annual conference hosted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that brings together the nations of the world to work on collective solutions to the collective problem that is climate change. There are many agreements under parallel development at these meetings, but one of the most significant thrusts will be the talk of 'responsibility' for climate change and how those who are most responsible for climate change should step up to the plate and look after those who are suffering the consequences of climate change.

For example, I learned today that Bangladesh will press home for migration opportunities for the climate victims. Their foreign minister will also demand operation of the international climate fund on co-operational basis and transfer of technology for mitigation and adaptation of climate change free of cost. “Those who are responsible for carbon emissions would have to bear the cost of technology”. Full story here.

Add to this, today's new report from the Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that "paints a wild future for a world already weary of weather catastrophes costing billions of dollars. The report says costs will rise and perhaps some locations will become 'increasingly marginal as places to live.'" Full story in The Guardian

Finally, there's a new map of climate vulnerability that shows in blunt strokes who causes climate change and who is suffering. When it comes to GHG emissions we are all linked into the fate of the global community and when one group of nations is clearly causing the lion's share of emissions, certainly there is no doubt where the moral and financial responsibility lies. So when you hear of the climate negotiations turning to development aid later this month, you will understand that it is simple math based on the cold hard facts of where the emissions come from and who is bearing the costs of the resulting climate change. Our high carbon lifestyle comes with a price. Is it really fair that someone else is paying it?

[photo courtesy of National Geographic]

The Tipping Point for Carbon Management?

2011-09-21T06:18:00.000-07:00

I have been feeling like a voice in the wilderness shouting about carbon accounting on the fringe of the business world, ever since my very first blog about the importance of full cost accounting. But now I can touch the edges of 'mainstream'. It's a funny feeling after years of tilting at windmills. It just goes to show you that if you stand still on a principle long enough, sometimes the world can shift your way.

What has caused this sudden realization of a global shift in perception? This year's Carbon Disclosure Project's annual report released yesterday included this earth-shattering little headline:

For first time in CDP’s ten year history, most US companies reporting climate change strategies

The press release goes on:

The 2011 S&P 500 report from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has found that while national and global policy remains uncertain, most large US companies recognize the opportunity to gain strategic advantage from acting to address climate change. For the first time since its inception, CDP has found that a majority of the S&P 500 disclosing companies now integrate climate change into core business strategy.

You have to remember that the CDP is largely a North American project focused mainly in the US. So that means that in the absence of coherent government policy or regulation, corporations are choosing to track and report their carbon liability. The article cites investor pressure, rising fossil fuel prices, extreme weather events, and a recognition of new revenue and product opportunities [emphasis added] as drivers for including carbon accounting as part of the new corporate reporting paradigm.

Business does nothing that is not in its self interest. When a majority of the reporting businesses in the US incorporate climate change accountability into their corporate strategies and reports, ya gotta think that carbon management has become a pillar of strong business planning. This may be carbon accounting's tipping point. It had to happen sometime.

Check out the Carbon Disclosure Project and the 2011 Report here.

24 Hours Starts Now - Climate Change Reality Today

2011-09-14T04:31:00.000-07:00

“24 Presenters. 24 Time Zones. 13 Languages. 1 Message. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event to broadcast the reality of the climate crisis," proclaims the web site for the 24 Hours of Reality event.

The people at The Climate Reality project are fed up with the deniers and the opinion polls that show that Americans’ awareness of climate change is declining.

They are fighting back with science. They declare that the deniers “have millions of dollars to spend, but we have a powerful advantage. We have reality.”

Their fight will consist of a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore that will be delivered once per hour for 24 hours for every time zone on the globe.

Science and ‘reality’ are often long shots when it comes to fighting hard-wired beliefs and the power of the almighty buck, but I think folks know in their gut that something is changing on this planet. We see the extreme weather events increasing, the changes in growing seasons and weather patterns. We live these things. I’m hoping that champions like The Climate Reality Project and spokespeople like Al Gore will give us the tools to understand what we know is already happening. And maybe by understanding the science of it all, we will be empowered to take control of the politics and be inspired to make positive changes for sustainability.

I know I’ll be tuning in today. Looking forward to learning something new about the planet and about positive change for people dealing with climate change. You can check it out at:

http://climaterealityproject.org/the-event/

GHG Election Tracker - Vote for Action on Climate Change

2011-04-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

The campaign is nearing its end as we approach the May 2nd election day. The coverage has been disappointing in terms of climate change as an issue or concern for candidates, electors, and the media. There are many reasons for this absence. The fear of the issue as a hot topic has kept candidates from raising it. But the Canadian electorate must take some of the blame for simply keeping it off the agenda as an item of concern.

Whether it made the front pages or not, climate change was clearly addressed in the platforms of all parties. I would encourage folks to vote on Monday to have an impact on our country's future. And if you're undecided or you weren't going to vote, perhaps you would consider voting for the long-term future of the health of our children and the safety of humans everywhere.

We've outlined the platforms of the big three parties and their stances on climate change policies. Here are a couple more helpful resources to help you decide who will best steward our country and planet for the future.

Read all the media releases and blogs from the Pembina Institute's climate change analysts, here.
The Climate Action Network provides analysis of party platforms and strategies, here.

GHG Election Tracker - New Democratic Party Platform

2011-04-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

Today the GHG Election Tracker takes on the NDP platform to see how it measures up on climate change policy and emission reduction potential.

The New Democrats have developed a platform that shows commitment to fighting climate change domestically with a further commitment to play nice on the international stage. Unlike the other 2 parties of the big 3, the NDP policies address all 5 of the 5 policy strategy areas on our GHG election tracker template. That said, the detail is very sketchy in places.

Targets

The NDP presents a target that is identical to the Liberals. They use 1990 as their baseline year and commit to reduce emission by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. As well, they propose to impose interim targets, but leave those undefined in their platform document.

Regulations and Incentives

The NDP promises to put a price on carbon through a cap-and-trade system. They will establish hard emissions limits for Canada’s biggest polluters. By restricting the regulations to the largest emitters, this may mean that their cap-and-trade system is more limited than the Liberal party’s strategy. A more ubiquitous system would enable more reductions and more opportunities for offsets. Without the full details of both plans, it is difficult to compare. However, commitment to hard caps and a price on carbon indicates real commitment to meeting emission reduction goals

The NDP has indicated as well that they would integrate the design of the system with the Obama administration in the hopes of building a North American-wide cap-and-trade system.

Energy Sources and Efficiency

The NDP appears to have made a cogent strategy to enable the transition to low carbon fuel sources. They will cut subsidies to non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels. The funds from emission reductions auctions will be redirected into renewable energy. They will reinstate incentives for renewable energy. As well they have outlined a transition plan to incent innovative “made in Canada” green technology solutions; strategies to manage transitional costs and re-engineering of energy dependent industries to help them adapt to a low carbon world; and a Green Jobs Fund to support workers though the transition to a clean energy economy. They also propose green bonds to help fund RE research and community energy to round out a very thorough energy program.

Finally, they offer a national public transit strategy to address one of Canada’s major carbon emission sources, the transportation sector.

Climate Change Research and Funding

This is the only platform of the big three that proposes to deal with adaptation to climate change, if only in a cursory mention in their promise to establish effective programs to help Canadian communities deal with the unfolding impacts of a warming planet.

International Policy

The NDP platform is thin on details about their plans for international participation in dealing with climate change. However, they commit to play a lead role in achieving a new international agreement to avert catastrophic global warming and ensure that Canada meets its climate change obligations.

The NDP platform with regard to climate change is aggressive in its targets and very thorough in its approaches to dealing with the transition to low carbon energy sources and alternatives. The platform is weak however in the details regarding their international approach, their adaptation strategy, and the cap-and-trade system. While their focus on North American integration of emission reduction strategy and cap-and-trade is an intelligent strategy, one hopes that we will not be entirely dependent on leadership south of the border. Savvy flexibility is good. Abandoning our leadership position, not so much. We can hope they intend the former.

GHG Election Tracker - Conservative Party Platform

2011-04-19T04:48:00.001-07:00

In our continuing efforts to deconstruct the party platforms and understand the impacts on Canada's GHG strategy, today we look at the Conservative party platform.

With the incredible resources that the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) could bring to bear and their experience in government for the past 5 years, I would have expected more than 4 bullet points on climate change. But indeed, that is all they give us in the 67 page platform document.

Let's parse out the Conservative offering in the context of my 5 key climate change policy areas for evaluating party platforms.

Targets

The Conservatives trumpet the alignment of Canadian climate-change targets with those of the Obama Administration. CPC goal is a 17-percent reduction in domestic greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020.

The trickery in this target is that in 2005 Canada’s emissions were one of the highest levels ever at 734 megatonnes. By contrast the Liberals have chosen a baseline year at 1990 when our emissions were at 592 megatonnes. So the 17% reduction of 734 megatonnes does not even lower the CPC’s target to meet the Liberals’ baseline of 592. Let me say that again, the Conservative’s emission reduction target is higher than the Liberals' emission reduction baseline.

Regulations and Incentives

There is no mention of a plan for a price on carbon. In fact Environment Minister, Peter Kent confirmed under direct questioning that the CPC does not support a price on carbon.

There is a brief mention of “targeted and common-sense regulation of industries by sector” in a recent news release about the retro-fit program, but there is no mention of that industry regulation in their platform document.

Energy Sources and Efficiency

Energy efficiency is supported through the extension by one year of the ecoEnergy Retrofit-Homes program.

The platform also offers "additional support for research and development in clean energy and energy efficiency". But there are no details to the program, dollars, or timelines.

Within the platform text there is an ambiguous declaration that they will support any clean energy programs that are in the national interest. They claim that their support for the Churchill Falls hydro project will be a foundation of their emission reduction strategy. Problem is, the Churchill Falls hydro project will flood thousands of hectares of land and result in massive amounts of methane emissions from the rotting, flooded vegetation. Methane has a global warming potential that is 23 times stronger that carbon dioxide and will cause the ghg emissions of the project to exceed any offsets they could achieve by displacing fossil fuels.

Climate Change Research and Funding

There is no mention of any research into climate change adaptation or climate change modeling or mapping.

International Policy

The Conservative platform’s international policy on climate change is tied entirely to harmonization with the US, with little explanation beyond that statement. Considering the excellent report recently released by the arms-length National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy and the foundation that could have provided for a well-rounded policy statement, the lack of detail is baffling.

There is no mention of intentions regarding our participation as a global citizen in the United Nations negotiations. The document does laud past participation in the Copenhagen Accord, the backroom deal that was struck during the international climate change meetings in Copenhagen 2 years ago. It has since been supplanted by the Cancun Agreements that were negotiated openly and enjoyed broad support from the international delegations at the meetings in Cancun.

It is baffling and somewhat worrying that the CPC would point to a 2 year old accord instead of the active and ongoing process to negotiate global agreement on combating dangerous climate change.

The entire document is written in brochure format with very little detail or vision. It appears entirely piecemeal and reads like an exercise in cut and paste with lots of bullets and boxes. There is no evidence of commitment to combating climate change, just a couple of off-hand references to dubious claims of past performance. References to climate change are vague and even misleading in some parts, as the analysis by the 5 policy areas above indicates.

GHG Election Tracker - Debate Disappoints

2011-04-13T05:54:00.000-07:00

If you tuned into the debates to follow-up on any of the party's policies regarding ghg emissions or climate change, you'd be forgiven for thinking these issues didn't matter to the leaders, to the debate hosts, or to Canadians. Questions or comments on those topics were sadly lacking last night.

The only appearance by climate change or carbon policy was the reference to Canada's sliding reputation on the international stage. The fact that Harper tried to defend his position by trumpeting involvement in the weak and defunct Copenhagen Accord would be laughable if I thought Canadians would see through the lie.

The irony of Harper's citation is beyond laughable, however. The Accord was a political back room agreement among a few advantaged nations, and was soundly rejected by many poorer countries who were shut out of the process. Typical of Harper's contempt for process and rules that he would laud this political and slanted Accord.

Even more ironic, however is the fact that Canada was shut out of the negotiation of that Accord. A fact that our negotiating team cried foul about at the time.

It is a sad fact that most Canadians will not know the back-story of Harper's reference and how cruelly ironic it was. He knew he could count on Canadians' ignorance and knew that he could get away with presenting a falsehood straight-faced in order to score a debate point.

I would have liked to have heard a debate about climate change targets and the cap-and-trade programs of the parties. I certainly did not find enlightenment on those topics. However, Mr. Harper's contempt for Canadians' knowledge of international politics and the democratic process of the United Nations was brought into sharp focus by my subject matter knowledge of the finer points of international climate change policy. Perhaps that was the strongest learning point of the evening.

NEXT UP: The Platforms are out. I will post my findings on the Conservative and NDP platforms in the next few days. Stay tuned!

GHG Election Tracker - NDP propose to end oil subsidies

2011-04-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

The details are thin, but the intent is laudable. Last week New Democrat Leader Jack Layton proposed to end the generous subsidies to oil producers that are currently doled out by the Harper Conservative government.

The New Democratic Party proposes to take the $2 billion dollars that presently go to the oil industry and redirect it into renewable energy and green jobs. Programs such as solar hot water installations, commercialization of clean tech, and training for renewable energy technicians, researchers, designers, and energy auditors would benefit Canadians directly and provide economic stimulus for healthy growth.

This is the kind of innovative thinking that can drive Canada into a place of economic leadership in the new millenium. Using fossil fuel subsidies and legacy sector grants to transition to the new technologies that will drive our economy is a significant strategy in meeting emission reduction goals while growing the Canadian economy.

We look forward to more details about these programs and others as the NDP reveals their platform in the days to come.

GHG Election Tracker - The Liberal Platform

2011-04-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

I dedicated my blog space to giving impartial review to the policies of the parties as they impact climate change and GHG emissions. So no favourtism to any party is intended. But right now the Liberals are out front on action on climate change and emissions reductions with the release of their party platform yesterday. We look forward to the detailed platform releases from the other parties.

Let's do a quick review on how the Liberals' platform stacks up against my 5-climate-change-action-strategies checklist:

1. Targets

The Liberals are proposing a target of 80% below 1990 GHG emission levels by 2050. In 1990, Canada's National GHG Inventory totaled 592 Megatonnes. Our annual emission totals have been rising steadily ever since. By choosing 1990 as the baseline year, the Liberals have shown that they are making a serious commitment to addressing dangerous climate change as an issue for our nation.

By comparison, the Conservatives took 2005 as their baseline year, the second highest year in the past 20 at 731 Megatonnes. By choosing a high-total baseline year, the Conservatives' percentage based targets are very weak. Their most recent announced target was 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. We shall see if their is a new one in their election platform.

2. Regulations and Incentives

The Liberals have committed to one of the strongest policy tools that can be employed to reduce emissions. Their cap-and-trade plan has been called "the most significant piece of economic legislation since NAFTA" by the Globe and Mail. The plan has teeth in that it addresses every region and every economic sector. Also, significantly, they propose to work with the provinces to incorporate their early actions on the Western Climate Initiative. I look forward to more details on the plan and a proposed timeline. I think a full blog post on the cap-and-trade plan is warranted. Stay tuned for more.

3. Energy Sources and Efficiency

Lots of meat on these bones in the platform. A return of the Renewable Power Production Incentive will be welcomed by the renewable energy industry and should stimulate growth of renewables. Efficiency tax credits for renovations. Action on Oil Sands development. Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. Lots to chew on here.

4. Climate Change Research and Funding

I can't say I've gone over the 98 document cover to cover with a fine-toothed comb. However, any commitment to climate change research seems to be part of their more general commitment to funding research and innovation in general. Nothing specific yet.

5. International Policy

This zone of climate change policy action is a strong suit for the party that brought Canada into Kyoto. The platform commits to the aggressive international goal of a 2 degree limit to global warming. The Liberals also commit to cooperating with other nations in the negotiations to produce a post-Kyoto climate agreement. I can see another full blog post devoted to "International Policy" upcoming. In light of my experience at Copenhagen and Cancun, I have lots to say on this topic.

These comments are just my initial read-through of a dense document. I expect to dig deeper in the coming days. However their action on these 5 tenets taken together show me the first real commitment by a political party in Canada to address climate change, meet international obligations, and grow a healthy green economy in the post-carbon 21st century.

I look forward to commenting on the platforms of the other parties.

GHG Election Tracker - Churchill Falls & The Liberal Platform

2011-04-03T14:51:00.001-07:00

Two quick snippets from the election trail.

Conservatives & Churchill Falls

Last week Prime Minister Harper threw his support behind the Newfoundland Churchill Falls Hydro Project. He also declared that this development was a key piece of a strategy to meet Canada's GHG emission reduction targets.

"This has the potential to be a very important part of our efforts to fight climate change in Canada," Harper told supporters. (The Globe and Mail, March 31, 2011)

Wrong. Whatever the merits or disadvantages of that project may be, reducing GHG emissions is not one of them. In fact, large hydro projects that flood thousands of hectares of land are net emitters of GHG emissions. The flooding of land results in destruction of forests and fields, which results in tonnes of rotting organics that bubble to the surface as methane. Methane has a global warming potential that is 23 times greater than CO2. The new dams at the Churchill Falls project will flood 41 sq. km and 85 sq.km.

Scientists estimate that the GHG emissions resulting from large hydro dams can be approximately double that of the equivalent size natural gas plant.

For more information about the environmental impacts of the new Churchill Falls development, you can check out the more thorough analysis by the Sierra Club.

The Liberal Platform

The Liberals released their platform today. The good news is there is lots in there on climate change and carbon emission strategy. The bad news is this will take longer to review and analyse than a quick snippet on today's blog. More about the Liberal Platform tomorrow.

GHG Election Tracker

2011-04-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

As of today, April 2nd (April Fools Day would have been a lousy launch date, don’t you think?) I am turning this blog into a GHG Election Tracker. With my background in climate change policy analysis and in the carbon markets, I intend to glean as much information as possible from the party platforms and pronouncements, cut through the rhetoric and offer an impartial assessment of impacts on ghg emissions and climate change for Canada.

Look to this space as your source for the latest news on ghg emissions and climate change in the Canadian electoral battlefield.

As much as the politicians and media may try, they can’t put climate change in a box. It spans most issues, which makes tracking it like nailing jello to the drywall. But climate change policy is absolutely key for Canada’s future safety and security. Climate change spans topics like economics, health, agriculture, forestry, energy, international policy, trade, and oh ya, the environment.

Before we take a look at the stances of parties and leaders, let’s take a minute today to outline some of the policies that affect Canadian ghg emissions most directly.

1. Emission Reduction Targets

A key first step to addressing dangerous climate change is actually setting meaningful targets that fit international and scientific standards and analysis. What have each of the parties proposed?

2. Regulations and Incentives for emission reductions or sequestration

Which regulations or incentives will the parties use to help meet emission reduction targets? Some of the programs proposed include:

Cap and Trade
Carbon Offsets
Carbon Tax
Direct Regulation of Large Emitters

3. Energy Sources and Efficiency

An important strategy to reducing ghg emissions is to address the nature and amount of energy we use. What programs or incentives will parties implement to reduce the ghg emissions that result from our use of energy in the electrical grid, space heating, and transportation in Canada?

4. Climate Change Science Research and Funding

Canadian commodity producers (like farmers and foresters), municipal planners, insurance companies, and architects are just a sampling of the folks who need to know where the climate is headed in order to plan for our future and survive in the new climate. What are the parties’ commitments to helping Canada understand the future of climate change, how to mitigate its impact and how to adapt to the new reality?

5. International Policy

Canada’s position on the international stage has varied dramatically depending on who holds the reins to power. Our position on the international stage and in relation to the USA has had significant impacts on our economy, on key industrial and service sectors, as well as trade relations. What are the international policy positions of the governments in waiting? On Kyoto and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change? On harmonization of climate policy with the US?

NEXT UP:

Stay tuned. We start mapping map out the parties’ positions to help Canadians make intelligent choices about choosing the next government with the GHG Election Tracker.

Canada's Round Table on Environment & Economy push a 'move first' approach to Cap-and-Trade

2011-01-28T10:55:00.001-08:00

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) dropped a 165 page bombshell into Canada’s climate policy debate on Tuesday. The arm’s-length policy advisory committee painted a complex picture of Canada’s climate policy future. They didn’t say we were between a rock and a hard place, but they might as well have.

They continued their historic support of harmonization with the US on climate policy, but pointed to a difficult paradox posed by that policy track.

Canada’s distinctive emissions profile and energy-economy structure mean that matching our GHG targets with those of the U.S leads to higher carbon prices here. Alternatively, while matching carbon prices with those in the U.S. would reduce competitiveness concerns, fewer emission reductions would actually occur due to projected higher emissions growth in Canada than in the U.S. As a result, Canada would not meet its stated 2020 target. Further, the lower level of reductions could expose Canada to carbon-protectionist trade measures imposed by the United States.

Download the Full Report Here

That is a pretty harsh description of an extremely sticky economic situation. However, their solution to the paradox is elegant and strategically precise. Move first.

They recommend a phased approach with an early first move by Canada to establish a modest price for carbon. They argue this would send a real carbon price signal to drive new investment into clean-energy technologies and “would allow Canada to develop institutions to manage a cap-and-trade system."

We would be ready to integrate with the American system when it was implemented (Phase Two). Emissions would be reduced. And “Canadian industry would be well positioned moving into an integrated market”.

Move now. Move quickly. Institute cap-and-trade. Put a price on carbon. Be ready to integrate with the US policy and do well for our economy.

Gosh, you’d almost think prosperity could be coupled with sustainability.

Climate Change Reality Does Not Match Perceptions

2011-01-21T06:50:00.000-08:00

Disconnect, disconnect, disconnect ...

I see disconnection everywhere in the climate change 'debate'. (Don't get me wrong. There is no debate about climate change. Just a debate about how to combat it.)

Some politicians claim that we cannot act on climate change without hurting our economy and yet economies around the world are being devastated by the extreme weather events caused by climate change.

Witness the flash floods in Australia. The incredible devastation in Brazil. These events destroy local economies and hurt the global economy. The global supply of wheat was dramatically impacted by the destruction of Australian farms. The insurance industry is already seeing soaring costs.

The cost of the effects of climate change far outweigh the costs of doing something about it. Disconnect.

Every day I hear people saying too bad the government of Canada does not reflect the opinion of the people of Canada. Our obstructionist government is the worst in the world about acting on climate change and shuts down international action at every turn. Apparently Canadians want to do something about climate change, while our government does not. Disconnect.

Canadians could pressure the government to act on climate change. The government would act pretty darned quickly if they thought they were going to face a loss in the next election. Canadians perhaps are not as active on climate change as they think they are. Our self image does not measure up to our action. Disconnect.

Canadian Youth Delegation, the heartbeat of COP16 coverage

2010-12-11T05:24:00.000-08:00

Best analysis of the Cancun talks has come from our very own Canadian Youth Delegation. I can't say it any better than this. So I'll just share it straight from the horse's mouth.

More from me later, meanwhile take time to read the most heartfelt analysis and cogent coverage of the negotiations.

http://canadianyouthdelegation.wordpress.com/2010/12/11/sleep-deprived-stocktaking/

Images of COP16

2010-12-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

Busy day without much internet access. Today I'll let the pictures tell the story.

At the Moon Palace (Negotiating Venue)

President Felipe Calderon on tour of the CleanTech Exhibits

Art installation by Tck Tck Tck

The Exhibit Area of the Side Event Venue (There are 100's of booths)

No caption necessary

The Emissions Gap

Cities Showing Leadership at a COP ... AGAIN

2010-12-05T06:13:00.000-08:00

At Copenhagen the association of world cities showed up their national counterparts by emphasizing the action they were taking to combat climate change in their own cities against the backdrop of all the talking and lack of action by nations. Here in Cancun, they are singing the same song again. (In fact, they did say their theme song was Elvis Presley’s, “A little less conversation, a little more action”, but that would be tacky to mention it.)

On Friday night they announced The Mexico Pact, signed just 2 weeks ago in Mexico City. This is a pact signed by 138 mayors of the major cities of the world, including Tokyo, Vancouver, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles and Paris, to name a few. The pact binds them to limits on carbon emissions and commitment to register and validate emissions in a central registry, according to a strict protocol.

With the benchmarks in place, the innovative strategies cities will take to meet them is inspiring. The Copenhagen mayor spoke of making a carbon neutral city. And the mayor of Tokyo has implemented the world’s first municipal cap and trade system. Yes, they can.

The presenters were a representative group of the world’s city leadership, from France to Japan to Australia. They made the point that populations are moving to cities. By the end of this century, 90% of people will live in cities. They feel that their jurisdictional reach and their commitment to reduce emissions will drag the national leaders in their wake. And isn’t that what leadership is all about.

Read all about the initiative here: http://www.wmsc2010.org/

Cancun is not Copenhagen - COP16 The Underdog

2010-12-04T06:28:00.000-08:00

It was my first day at the COP venue yesterday and I couldn’t help but continue my comparisons to Copenhagen.

buses idling in the street to take us to the venue instead of rail public transit
food onsite is much more expensive
same police presence, just that these ones ride in open jeeps with semi-automatic weapons on display
there is sunshine in the morning
very little self promotion of the event around town
the site is secluded and exclusive with the ‘side events’ a full 10 minute bus ride away from the negotiating venue
no front page Globe and Mail coverage, in fact no coverage at all

Those mostly sound like negative differences for Cancun and they are. But the intangibles are different too and they all tilt into Cancun’s favour. The tone is quiet and friendly. Copenhagen was the big show, with the superstar atmosphere and it disappointed. Cancun is the picking ourselves up and persevering underdog. And everybody loves an underdog, right?

So I’m over the whole Copenhagen thing now. Cancun is its own conference and it’s been an incredible collection of events and people in its own right.

For instance, I walked into the wrong room by mistake into the US Pavilion and got caught up in a presentation about using satellite data to make decisions on adaptation strategies. Sounds boring, eh. Not so. This was a huge rock star show, with multi-media presentation graphics, Google Earth on steroids, and the most impressive visuals I have ever seen regarding climate change. The impact of seeing hurricane data, extreme weather impacts, and the ‘before and after’ of some major disasters was both gutwrenching and enlightening at the same time.

As our presenter explained, there are ‘hazards’ and there are ‘disasters’. A 'hazard' is a hurricane in the middle of the ocean that never affects anyone. A 'disaster' occurs when a 'hazard' meets population. With population increases and with the increase in 'hazards' due to climate change, the exponential increase in ‘disasters’ is inevitable. Scary. But the new methods of tracking and understanding the hazards with the amazing GIS and satellite tools out there mean that we have a fighting chance of planning and averting some of the damage, but the disasters will come and they will increase in frequency and intensity. It is inevitable.

Let’s hope that we can wrestle down the *number* of hazards and associated disasters by stopping this climate change beast in its tracks. That’s why Cancun keeps fighting. It’s what underdogs do.

Cancun is not Copenhagen

2010-12-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

I landed in Cancun this afternoon for the COP16 meetings. And I couldn't help but spend the rest of the day comparing Cancun to Copenhagen. In Copenhagen we felt like rock stars. Every service person along the way from the airports to the restaurants were cheering us on. When people heard we were going to Copenhagen, they'd congratulated us and encouraged us in the fight against climate change.

The trip to Cancun was unremarkable. No-one really noticed us. On the way to Copenhagen, conference goers took over entire air planes. Boarding gate talk was of climate change and national policy. On the way to Cancun, we were overshadowed by wedding parties, and groups of partying university students.

Tomorrow morning I will head into the conference site to be registered, join in the events and observe the negotiations. My colleagues tell me I will be impressed by the organization and efficiency of the on-site logistics. I am looking forward to making more comparisons between the disparate host cities. And I am hoping against hope that the outcome of this COP will be entirely different from last year's, so that I can truly say, in a more meaningful way that Cancun is not Copenhagen.

COP16 Begins in Cancun

2010-11-30T07:09:00.000-08:00

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meetings aka COP16 opened yesterday in Cancun. I see in the news that Canada has picked up where we left off in Copenhagen. We were awarded the Opening Day “Fossil of the Day Award”. We won first, second *and* third place. Perhaps we will go for a clean sweep and the Canadian flag will populate that entire ignominious display board. It is not such an absurd thought. There are few other nations that are willing to swim so incredibly boldly against the current. One year after my trip to Copenhagen, and I still wonder if most Canadians understand how spectacularly obstructionist we are acting and how much the rest of the world actively detests us for our climate change posture.

I leave for Cancun on Thursday and I’m looking forward to participating in some excellent, informative side events and seminars. The United Nations and COP organizers have made a great effort to make the material and the discussions available online. So in the meantime, I am following the goings-on avidly online. With the webcasts you can follow every line. It’s almost like being there.

I’ll file my notes from Cancun starting on Thursday Dec 2. In the meantime, check out the UNFCCC live feed and YouTube channels for on the ground coverage.

UNFCCCC YouTube Channel

Webcasts

In the face of Obama’s cap and trade 'crash and burn', a bit of good news from the private sector

2010-08-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

We are correct to be suspicious of the motives of the private sector when they appear to do good. Profit is their prime motivation. No judgement here. That is how they are designed to operate. However, there have been a whole bunch of news stories this week about real leadership in the private sector toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

With the lack of leadership among our federal legislators in North America, it is heartening to see the private sector step up to the plate. After all, they are the big emitters anyway. We ultimately need government to set the framework and give us the infrastructure to reduce ghg’s to the degree that we need for survival. But having large corporations and savvy businesses show environmental leadership is driving the economic indicators the right way.

Could reducing greenhouse gas emissions be linked to higher profits and a more efficient business strategy?

Here is just a sample of stories that came across my desk in the past two days:

Walmart’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol Announced
Walmart launches a real, transparent accounting system for reducing their corporate supply chain’s carbon footprint.

Large Corporations Like Microsoft calling for *Mandatory* Carbon Footprint Reporting in UK
Emphasis is mine. When do you ever remember corporations calling for mandatory reporting?

World Resources Institute’s Ecosystem Service Review used by more than 200 Companies
The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review is a structured methodology that helps managers proactively develop strategies to manage business risks and opportunities arising from their company’s dependence and impact on ecosystems. Their list of users is growing ... because it works!

Michelin partners with Yellowstone to decrease carbon footprint
One of hundreds of corporations finding synergies with non-profits to work on win-win ghg reducing projects

Western Climate Initiative Launches Cap & Trade System

2010-07-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

Announcement creates new opportunities for carbon finance in Atlantic Canada

If a tree falls in the forest and no-one hears, does it make a sound? That old riddle from grade school used to really bother me. Of course it made a sound. It’s the listener’s loss if they’re not there to hear it. No?

Well, the Western Climate Initiative made a big ‘sound’ this week and from the media reaction, or lack thereof, I’m pretty sure no-one heard. While the world focused on the crash and burn of Obama’s cap and trade bill, with little fanfare and almost no media coverage the eleven subnational governments that make up the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) released the final design of a cap and trade system that is intended to reduce their ghg emissions 15% below 2005 levels by 2020.

Eleven major North American governments including big players like California, New Mexico, Ontario, and Quebec institute a fixed cap and trade system that begins in 2012, and from the sound the media made, I coulda heard a pin drop?

No matter, I am well and truly delighted that the biggest carbon policy play to hit North America since FOREVER has been officially launched and is set to begin counting and trading emissions in 2012. The regulations will cover most sectors and will include most of the region’s ghg emissions

For businesses in Atlantic Canada, the most significant part of the new system is the design of the offset program.

The inclusion of offsets means projects that reduce emissions will qualify for credits that can be bought and sold among the WCI participants to help them meet their compliance obligations. WCI system offsets will direct private investment into emission reduction projects by farmers, foresters, communities, and others who will benefit directly from receiving revenue for their emission reducing activities.

A second key part of the design of the WCI offset system is that it allows the participating governments to issue certificates to projects outside of their own jurisdiction. Once this system is up and running, that means projects in Atlantic Canada have the opportunity to register with WCI governments and sell offsets to participants in that program.

Before this WCI development, Atlantic Canada emission reduction projects were limited to speculating on registering their emission reductions in the hopes of making a few bucks on a voluntary exchange or a direct bilateral contract. But those provisional markets are very weak and the prices for voluntary offsets are low and volatile.

The development and maturity of the Western Climate Initiative means that Atlantic Canada offsets can find a market in a compliance based system. That means more value for our offsets and more certainty in project management and design. The WCI rules are transparent and rigorous, following the ISO 14064-2 principles that underlie most good carbon accounting protocols. The same protocols we use at Scotian Carbon.

A whole new world of opportunity for emission reduction financing was opened today for business in Atlantic Canada, whether or not the announcement made a sound in our mainstream media.

Read more about the Western Climate Initiative on their website: http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org/

Obama, the BP spill, and carbon prices

2010-06-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

The man who pushed through the biggest healthcare reform in American history may be on the verge of pushing through the biggest shift in environmental policy ever.

Word from American political pundits is that Obama’s address to the nation on Tuesday night was all about setting the stage for passing carbon cap and trade legislation. Hard to believe that a speech about an oil spill, a corporate criminal and protecting the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico could signal his intention to push through carbon legislation. I know I watched the Presidential oration live on the tube and naively thought it was about holding British Petroleum to account and throwing government resources at protection of coasts and habitat.

But the folks who sift through the presidential tea leaves of words and meaning have pronounced this the beginning of Obama’s cap and trade assault. After the address, I watched pundits on American network television debate the merits of an unusually weak address from this president. The common thinking seemed to be that he is softening the ground to plant his feet in on cap and trade, a price on carbon, and an aggressive stance on renewables. Following the pattern of health care reform strategy, they see this as his latest legacy crusade: a strong renewable energy policy grounded in an economic context that puts a price on carbon. That would be a legacy I can believe in.

For an excellent article on American carbon policy, check out Carbon Finance’s latest analysis.

Canadian Annual Climate Change Report escapes scrutiny

2010-06-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

The numbers are abysmal. The plan has been weakened. But if a tree falls in the forest does anyone notice. JJ7VET33QQQC

The Federal government sneaked one past us as they quietly posted their annual climate change plan (A Climate Change Plan for the Purposes of the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act, May 2010) onto the Environment Canada website last week. You’d be forgiven for missing it, because you’d have to be searching in a remote part of their publications section to find it.

When you consider how important climate change policy is to public safety and to the economy; and when you consider how important carbon accounting is in the global economy and in our international treaty obligations, you have to wonder how the government can get away with burying such a significant annual report.

The report is required by law and comprises part of Canada’s treaty obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. There is no question why the government would want to shuffle this document into the back of the filing cabinet. The report baldly projects that Canada’s emissions will continue to rise through to 2012. The number-crunchers have also scaled back any projected emission reductions from government policy over last year’s report by a factor of ten. (See Matthew Bramley’s excellent analysis of the report on his Pembina Institute blog.)

Beyond just the bad news statistics, the plan demonstrates a gaping lack of strategy, action, or policy for addressing dangerous climate change.

If this same Government were to perform so badly in its financial reporting, in meeting its financial targets, or was this incredibly incompetent at managing financial affairs, the mewling and crying from the media would be heard from St John’s to Whitehorse. When it comes to mismanaging an issue as crucial as climate change, there was barely a whimper. I am not surprised by the silence, but I am puzzled.

Unless Canadians hold their politicians accountable, the government has no incentive to improve its performance on climate change or change its pathetic policies. Action to address climate change is the foundation of global economic growth throughout most of the rest of the world. The very future of our species could hang in the balance, as well.

If the performance of our government on this issue barely warrants a back page comment in the Globe and Mail and if Canadians let them get away with ignoring climate change, this country deserves the ugly wake-up call we will receive from the global economy when they pass us by, or worse, the slap up-side the head from planet earth when the effects of dangerous climate change come home to roost.

Download the document at the Environment Canada Publications link. Be warned, they want your email address before you can access it.

GHG Accounting, Certifications, Standards, and Protocols: Who Cares?

2010-06-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

With most things humans build, the foundation matters. As we are fond of saying, the devil is in the details.

It is satisfying to debate grand themes of ideology, history, and philosophy. Hey, I am as guilty of that fascination as anybody. The big news stories of the day are about celebrity, high level conflict, and scandal. However much as we like to focus on top-down battles, or the surface of issues, what often matters most is the tinkering behind the scenes, the way things are constructed. Tweak a few words in a legislation and you make loopholes. Skip a regulation here or there and you construct unsafe buildings. Details, foundations, and regulations matter.

In today’s marketplace, ‘green’ is the prevailing buzzword. Retailers throw around words like sustainable, environmentally-friendly, eco-this and eco-that. But what are these terms based on? Who holds anyone to account for actually meeting a certain standard? What is even the criteria of an environmentally-friendly standard?

Enter the CSA (Canadian Standards Association) and ISO (International Standards Association). They have been developing criteria for safety and industrial performance standards for more than 100 years. It is reassuring to have them jump into the gaping chasm of carbon impact standards and begin a ghg measurement program.

We need standardized protocols and universal benchmarks in this new field of greenhouse gas tracking, so that consumers make informed choices about the claims they see on the packages of the products they buy. By engaging certified professionals and using recognized international standards and protocols, businesses give consumers assurance that their environmental claims are real.

GHG accounting certifications, standards, and protocols are the basis of any real carbon impact claims and the foundation of change. We all should care. Details can make all the difference in the world.

I must confess that this topic is near and dear to my heart. I was fortunate enough to be a part of CSA’s first graduating class of GHG Inventory Quantifiers, a designation that allows me to work with businesses and organizations to properly evaluate and report their carbon inventories and carbon footprint.

You can read the full news release at http://tiny.cc/1pxsm

Free iphone app for UNFCCC Policy Geeks

2010-06-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

Climate policy geeks can stay up to the minute on post-Kyoto negotiations with a free iphone application that tracks all UNFCCC meetings and conferences.

Download "Negotiator" to see latest youtube videos, read conference document such as agendas and briefing materials, get logistical information, and linkup via Facebook and Twitter. The application will be updated in advance of every UNFCCC meeting this year.

Climate Change Accountability Act facing down final hurdle

2010-06-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

Bill C311. The number is burned into my brain now. For over one year, I’ve watched its unlikely journey as an NDP private members bill to its passage in second reading in the House of Commons in early May. Environmentalists and interested Canadians cheered its passage through the lower House as a triumph in the fight against dangerous climate change. However, the Bill now faces its final and perhaps biggest hurdle in getting through the Senate process as it faces 2nd reading in the upper house today.

The Bill is the only piece of Canadian legislation that addresses dangerous climate change and purports to hold the government accountable through strict reporting mechanisms and aggressive reduction targets.

The highlights of Bill C-311’s outcomes include:
* Cuts greenhouse gas emissions – 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050
* Mandates the government to set regulations that ensure targets are met
* Punishes polluters who break regulations
* Ensures government accountability with publicized 5 year target plans
* Establishes independent reviews to ensure government measures reach targets

The Bill has just two weeks to make it through Senate or die on the order papers. You can follow its progress at http://tiny.cc/5sqmf or communicate with Senators at http://tiny.cc/umz0c.

Post-Kyoto climate talks get under way in Germany today

2010-05-31T06:16:00.000-07:00

Negotiators roll up their sleeves and dig into the monumental task of putting together a post-Kyoto deal today in Bonn, Germany. Climate bureaucrats are charged with picking up the pieces of various texts and threads of deals from Bali to Copenhagen. They’ll try to stitch them together into something that can form the basis of a deal among the global leaders at the annual climate conference in Cancun in November.

The terms of the Kyoto protocol run out in 2012. The parties are hard at work to replace that deal with a new agreement that will set the framework for continued international cooperation on fighting dangerous climate change.

The climate meetings in Copenhagen in December failed to reach a definitive outcome and ultimately resulted in the resignation of the United Nations chief of climate change, Yvo de Boer. A recently leaked letter from the bitter de Boer saw him peg the blame for that failure directly on the presence of high profile world leaders and their closed-door negotiations.

The negotiators in Bonn have a tough road ahead of them as they juggle competing interests and serious global divisions. Among the most serious of these conflicts will pit developing nations against developed countries. Developing nations have served notice of their strong dissatisfaction with the Copenhagen Accord. In that Accord developed nations shut out developing countries and then turned their back on previous financial commitments to take appropriate responsibility for damaging climate change. The implications of the attempt to turn billions of dollars in aid into loans have not been lost on the world’s poorer countries.

I will be following the talks closely by watching webcasts directly on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change web site from today (May 31) to June 11. You can join me by watching at http://tiny.cc/1dza7. Here’s hoping self-interest and cooperation can collide.

Scary Oil Spew Photo from NASA

2010-05-26T04:50:00.000-07:00

All energy production comes at a cost. Perhaps it is time for us to give our moral compass a shake and realize that the healthiest energy production is that which is closest to home, is least environmentally damaging, and is infinitely renewable. If that means wind turbines in our ocean views, solar panels cluttering up our roofs, or geothermal facilities in our backyard, perhaps we all have to suck it up and take some responsibility for the reality of energy production. The tragedy of fossil fuels is how unnecessary is our dependence on them. For that fact, we all share a little of shame in the BP damage, and a whole lot of the responsiblity for moving on from the dependence on this damaging fuel source.

Words cannot capture how much this single photo from NASA upset me this morning.

COP15 Outcomes and Opinions

2009-12-23T05:28:00.000-08:00

The dust is settling after the whirlwind of COP15 in Copenhagen. The outcome of twelve days of intense negotiations has come to an ambiguous result at best.

At the eleventh hour political leaders agreed to an Accord that was negotiated outside of the official United Nations proceedings. Most nations have agreed to this Accord, but they are not bound by it and there are no mechanisms to make it binding. Some claim it's the realpolitic of high level negotiations and was the only way to get the big players at the table. Others claim it was was unorthodox, undemocratic, non-transparent, and exclusionary.

The good

there was an agreement
both USA and China were involved
the target of 2 degrees is the first admission by the US of the aggressive level of action required and the agreement to review an attempt to lower the target to 1.5 degrees is even better
recognition that developed countries have a carbon debt that they owe to the developing countries

The bad

there is nothing to bind participants to any standards of measurement or action
there is nothing to bind parties to their financial commitment toward adaptation and mitigation in developing countries
the 30 billion startup fund and 100 billion to 2020 is woefully inadequate to address the level of input needed to assist developing nations in addressing climate change
there are no timelines or prescriptive actions
the 2 degree temperature limit is a death knell for small island states and many of the more vulnerable regions of the world

We shall see how it plays out over the next year, whether the accord stays relevant and forms the foundation for a binding agreement or if it turns out to be simply a publicity play that goes nowhere. The next few months will tell the real story of Copenhagen.

You can read the full text of the Copenhagen Accord here.

100 Places To Remember Before They Disappear

2009-12-17T16:40:00.000-08:00

I will bring home many memories of Copenhagen and the climate talks. Right now they are flooding my sleep-deprived, jet-lagged brain. It's hard to sort out the emotion from the business dealings, from the many people I met, and the frustrating politics of the whole thing.

But the image seared onto my brain right now is the beauty and tragedy of CARE Square and the stunning display of "100 Places to Remember Before They Disappear". In the heart of Copenhagen, in a scenic square the aid group CARE International has assembled an outdoor gallery of photographs from this stunning collection that features 100 photographs from one hundred different places around the world in risk of disappearing or seriously threatened by climate change.

The pictures are taken by some of the world´s best photographers and all the places are based on reports from UN´s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). I did not meet anyone at the COP15 who was not moved to tears when confronted by the picturesque documentation of the destruction of climate change.

Words fail me when I think about it. You can see these gorgeous photos at the web site, 100 Places to Remember Before They Disappear. You can even buy the book.

Cities on the frontline of climate change

2009-12-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Iniatives) President David Cadman was speaking today at the launch of a carbon accounting centre for cities. The Vancouver city councillor took the opportunity to criticize national negotiators, "I don't think that the national leaders here negotiating in Copenhagen know how much the cities and sub-national governments have already achieved with emission reduction strategies and policies. Therefore they are underestimating what nations can do and what they can commit to."

He went on to say that cities represent 50% of the population now and will be 75% by 2030. Cities can and will continue to lead in making cuts to ghg's. He challenges the national governments and corporations to get on board with action to make the cuts that are necessary to survival and to meet targets that cities have already proved is very doable.

ICLEI launched a carbon accounting tool for cities that will apply standardized benchmarking and hold a central database so that the incredible work being done by cities is tracked, validated across a global standard, and held up to global leaders to show them what is achievable.

It's called CARBONN and will be administered out of Bonn, Germany ... hence the wordplay. It has the potential to unify municipalities by giving them the carbon accounting standards they need to compare criteria across jurisdictions. I just wonder if they understand the pressures our local governments face for devoting resources to a new accounting process. It could be a breakthrough, but here's hoping it's designed to make life easier for our municipalities. I'll be sure to investigate and get back to you.

Rock Star Energy Minister - Stephen Chu Speaks at Bright Green

2009-12-13T14:51:00.000-08:00

I attended the "Bright Green" event today in Copenhagen. It is Denmark's showcase and trade show for green technology and innovation, a solutions-oriented compliment to the climate conference. Held in a large hockey rink-like venue, it was subdivided into large cube-like spaces for demonstrators to showcase their green-tech wares. The first projects to hit your eye as you entered were 2 impressive city projects. Scandinavian cities going 100% carbon neutral with rigorous targets and focused strategies. They were Copenhagen (setting the goal to be the first carbon neutral national capital in the world) and a smaller city in Sweden that will be 100% carbon neutral in 2 years.

These cities will get there with renewable energy, cogeneration, district heating, public transit, energy efficiency, and innovative planning: a whole lot of small solutions taken together to make a big difference.

Dropped in the midst of these practical working solutions and realistic targets, came the rock star Energy Minister, Stephen Chu. I was excited when I heard Obama's high profile, Nobel-Prize winning Energy Minister was speaking at Bright Green. I eagerly joined the several hundred other folks sitting in the stands in front of the 3 movie screens showing his power point presentation.

I was shocked at how out of touch his energy solutions were with the real world solutions going on all around him in Scandinavia. Sure he talked about renewable energy and improving efficiency, but then he went off on a wild goose chase about swimming pool sized batteries, large hydro dams, nuclear energy, and high tech research into energy from nothing. Huh?

Why does it have to be about a big bang, megaproject Mr. Chu? Check out the very city you're visiting today. Free bicycles for everybody. Incredible public transit. Wind turbines. District heating.

But then again, you don't win you the Nobel Prize by putting in bike lanes.

No rest in Copenhagen

2009-12-13T01:16:00.000-08:00

Working 6am to 11pm, meeting lots of great people and working on interesting opportunities.

If folks only knew the kind of generous and socially-conscious proponents that I work with to help them bring revenue to their communities through offsets and the Clean Development Mechanism, I don't think I'd hear so much criticism of the carbon offsets. It's easy to sit in Toronto or Halifax and analyse dispassionately about the inherent wrongs associated with the carbon market, but when you see thousands of projects that help people in developing countries to get their sustainability projects off the ground, it's hard to be the cynical observer.

I'll stop ranting now and share my favourite sign from the protests yesterday: "There is no planet B".

No time to blog about all the events and ideas that I'm dying to talk about. Back to work.

Scenes from the Bella Center - COP15

2009-12-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

Hopenhagen, Copehagen

They know about Canada

Lineup of cameras
Looking down at the Hall
Presenters from Bhutan

Hopenhagen

2009-12-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

I made it to the city of 'hope'. After a day and a half of airports and close connections, I'm here in Copenhagen. On 3 hours of sleep in the past 36, I'm up at 2am, too pumped to sleep.

The city is vibrating with hope. In fact, they're shouting from billboards, t-shirts, and every advertising space available, a new name for the city. They're calling in Hopenhagen.

Everything in this beautiful old town is transformed and dedicated to the climate summit. We were so tired and so inspired that a couple of the more sentimental among us were moved to tears to see the effort, creativity, and beauty of the art and demonstrations in the city centre.

Probably should go get some sleep so I can take it all in. Tomorrow I'll register and make it to the United Nations negotiation hub at the Bella Conference Center.

Premier's Photo Op

2009-12-08T17:48:00.000-08:00

Link to the NS Government News Release about our mission to Copenhagen.

Here we are, Nova Scotia's business delegation at the News Conference with the Premier. (I'm standing happily in the front row on the Premier's right.)

A Maritime Send Off

2009-12-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

Today I will attend an official reception hosted by our Premier, Darrell Dexter. An exclusive 'Meet and Greet' for the Copenhagen delegates is being held at Province House this afternoon, complete with photo op and media in attendance. Better wear the good suit!

Tomorrow, off to Stanfield International to start the overnight journey to Copenhagen.

Read our corporate press release.

It Begins! COP15 in Copenhagen

2009-12-07T07:17:00.000-08:00

It's official. The Conference of Parties 15 has begun. Those of us going with the Nova Scotia business mission are chomping at the bit to get there now that the meetings have launched. The air around here is electric.

I had the fortune to be named Head of Delegation for the observer group from Nova Scotia and it is becoming more than just an honourary positition, as the correspondence from the United Nations is coming fast and furious. It seems the conference centre in Copenhagen may be 'overbooked'. The United Nations grants accreditation to observer organizations to gain entrance to the conference centre, to host side events and in some cases, distribute information and post displays. The Environmental Services Association of Nova Scotia is one such organization and we've been attending as a provincial delegation since COP11, one of few, if not the only organization to attend as official representative of a Canadian province.

In the past few days, we've received a flurry of official-looking pdf documents (yes, much more formal than a simple email message) that describe new security procedures and restrictions on admittance to the site. It seems that 15,000 folks are registered and accredited to attend the COP in a conference centre that holds 14,000 bodies. And the UN has done the math. No panic button has been pushed, but there may be a quota system put in place and the numbers will be closely tracked.

All that means that we will be tracking our own delegation's attendance and sharing quota chits for attendance. Most of us arrive in Copenhagen on Thursday. We'll have our elbows out as we wedge our way into the Bella Center. Watch out world. Nova Scotia is on the way.

Defending Carbon Offsets

2009-12-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

Who knew that half of this carbon gig would be spent defending the very concept of carbon offsets. I suppose other professions are similarly saddled with an unpopular impression or distorted image. But I can’t think of many that are more misunderstood. As carbon credit consultants we often have to explain to people what it is we do and then defend it to the very same people who didn’t ‘get it’ 5 minutes ago. It comes with the territory of being on the cutting edge of a brand new field. I just wish I had a forum for shouting out to a whole whack of people at once. Oh ya, maybe this blog thing can serve the purpose.

Indulge me while I use that shopworn device of the question and answer format.

Will offsets save the environment and stop global warming? Uh, no. They are a tiny policy strategy in a whole toolbox of actions that need to be implemented to stop global warming. So stop blaming offsets for not being the be all and end all to save the planet. No one is claiming that they will.

Do offsets exploit the poor and help the rich? No they don’t. The same folks who get rich from any other resource will get rich on offsets. Offsets won’t hurt those in poverty and in some cases will actually bring money into the pockets of the disadvantaged.

Are there dishonest folks taking advantage of the concept of offsets? You betcha. Of course there are bad offsets, fabricated offsets, and some really shady characters selling snake oil.

Do those bad offsets invalidate the whole concept of offsets? No way. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is a new industry based on a whole new commodity. There will be growing pains and there will be bad people who will take advantage of the ignorance of the general public.

So if they won’t save the planet and they don’t significantly alleviate poverty, what’s so great about offsets? Carbon offsets take an environmental goal (that we need to reduce ghg emissions) and place a market value on it. That’s pretty darned revolutionary. Carbon offsets are an elegant little market incentive that causes financial capital to flow into sustainability projects. Carbon offsets accelerate sustainable development by helping project developers access financing they wouldn’t otherwise access. Carbon offsets cause money to flow into sustainable development projects that would not have seen the light of day otherwise.

No I’m not naive enough to believe that all offset projects are worthy and that every dollar spent on an offset reduces emissions, but in the aggregate a heck of a lot of projects are hitting the ground running and jumpstarting sustainable development in many unlikely places.

Okay, time to get off my soapbox and go pack for Copenhagen.

File 'The Story of Cap and Trade' in the Fiction Section

2009-12-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

Wow. I’m an old social justice campaigner from way back. And I like someone who challenges authority and conventional wisdom. But badly done propaganda is badly done propaganda. It’s a shame that the Story of Stuff’s Annie Leonard did not do her homework when she decided to take on cap and trade in her new video, The Story of Cap and Trade.

As I watched this clever little diatribe, I tried to take note of every error and misleading statement in preparation for this blog. But thankfully I was rescued from having to write a thousand word rebuttal after coming across two cogent articles from Grist: Cataloguing The Errors by Eric de Place and Annie Leonard Misses the Mark by David Roberts.

We need to debate the details of cap and trade policy. We need a population that is literate in the issue of carbon policies and strategies. If the polemical Ms. Leonard gets the ball rolling with this errant missile, then I will take my hat off to her. In the meantime, please take everything you hear with a grain of salt. In a video full of misrepresentation and half-truths, she did get one thing right ... ‘the devil *is* in the details’.

Deloitte Publishes Carbon Accounting Report

2009-12-01T03:00:00.000-08:00

Carbon accounting is becoming a foundation of business planning and risk management. I couldn't agree more. Deloite is a global leader in accounting and financial management services.

Once upon a time my career was 'out there'. It's trending mainstream when Deloitte is onto it.

http://www.prlog.org/10421607-deloitte-publishes-carbon-accounting-report.html

Getting Ready for Copenhagen

2009-11-30T09:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-27T05:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-26T03:00:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

(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

2009-11-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-23T06:23:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

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!