Can Criminals Affect Climate Change Using the Carbon Market?
May 30, 2009 by Tommy Linsley
Filed under Climate Change
INTERPOL fears that forest-CO2 scheme will draw organized crime
Can we call these guys “Carbon Criminals”?
Reuters, 29 May 2009 - Organized crime syndicates are eyeing the nascent forest carbon credit industry as a potentially lucrative new opportunity for fraud, an Interpol environmental crime official said on Friday.
Peter Younger is an environmental crimes specialist for Interpol, the world’s largest international police agency. His organized crime fears are related to a U.N.-backed scheme called reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).
The purpose of REDD is aimed at unlocking potentially billions of dollars for developing countries that conserve and restore their forests. In return for their conservation efforts, these countries would earn carbon credits that can be sold for profit to developed nations that need to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
“If you are going to trade any commodity on the open market, you are creating a profit and loss situation. There will be fraudulent trading of carbon credits,” Younger told Reuters in an interview at a forestry conference in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian island of Bali. Younger goes further to say, “In future, if you are running a factory and you desperately need credits to offset your emissions, there will be someone who can make that happen for you. Absolutely, organized crime will be involved.”
Younger calls on governments, multi-lateral bodies and NGOs (legally constituted, non-governmental organization created by natural or legal persons with no participation or representation of any government) to realize the need for more involvement by law enforcement agencies in the development of REDD policies and in the fight against illegal logging and deforestation, which are responsible for about 20 percent of mankind’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Can You Win With Carbon Credits?
Realizing that he was the only law enforcement official at the conference, Younger also said, “Consider resourcing law enforcement efforts and not just relying on NGOs and other nice people to do it for you.”
Is the Problem Growing?
It is no secret that forests soak up and displace large amounts of carbon dioxide and REDD aims to reward governments and local communities for every ton of CO2 locked up by a forest over decades, equaling to a very large global cash flow concerning forest credits.
Rightfully, local communities should earn a share of REDD credit sales to pay for better health, education and alternative livelihoods that entice them to protect rather than cut down surrounding forests.
However, revenue-sharing policies have not been finalized and will differ for each country. Some NGOs fear central and provincial governments might demand control of that money and severely limit the amount going to local communities.
“It starts with bribery or intimidation of officials that can impede your business. Then if there is indigenous people involved, there’s threats and violence against those people. There’s forged documents”, he added. Younger also states, “In illegal logging for instance, there are companies that may have a lawful side of the business and this is the dirty laundry on the side”.
~ Sourced from the Thomson Reuters Carbon Markets Community - a free, gated online network for carbon market and climate policy professionals.
Background: UN-REDD Program
United Nations Secretary-General and Prime Minister of Norway Launch UN-REDD Program
(courtesy of United Nations Development Program)–>
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (third from left) poses for a group photo with Jens Stoltenberg (third from right), Prime Minister of Norway, and the other participants, following a joint press conference to launch a new initiative to reduce emissions resulting from deforestation and forest degradation.
The United Nations Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD Program) is a collaboration between FAO, UNDP and UNEP. A multi-donor trust fund was established in July 2008 that allows donors to pool resources and provides funding to activities towards this program.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that the cutting down of forests is now contributing close to 20 per cent of the overall greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere. Forest degradation also makes a significant contribution to emissions from forest ecosystems. Therefore there is an immediate need to make significant progress in reducing deforestation, forest degradation, and associated emission of greenhouse gases.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agenda item on “Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries and approaches to stimulate action” was first introduced at the Conference of the Parties (COP11) in December 2005 by the governments of Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, supported by eight other Parties.
Then skip forward, in response to a COP13 decision, requests from countries, and encouragement from donors, FAO, UNDP and UNEP have developed a collaborative REDD program. The UN-REDD Program is aimed at tipping the economic balance in favour of sustainable management of forests so that their formidable economic, environmental and social goods and services benefit countries, communities and forest users while also contributing to important reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
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Can Renewable Energy Sources Charge Your Cell Phone?
March 14, 2009 by Tommy Linsley
Filed under Renewable Energy, Solar
Do you know that you can charge your cell phone with solar energy?
Yes, there is a way to charge virtually any hand-held electronic device using renewable energy sources. It’s called a hybrid solar charger. What makes it hybrid? This means that even when the sun isn’t shining you can still use the charger. Because, it also accepts power from a wall socket or even from your computer’s USB port.
So what else is so great about this solar charger?
- It has a high-capacity internal rechargeable battery that stores power for up to one year- charge your devices anytime, day or night when you need it most. It has solar cells to charge its internal battery.
- You can add another cool word to your vocabulary: eco-mobility
- You can be part of a carbon neutral process. The company that made my charger has an arrangement so that for every 6 units manufactured, trees are planted to offset carbons emitted during manufacturing.
- Say you’re stuck in an airport or somewhere else without access to a wall socket. Pull out your fully charged solar charger from your pocket or purse and charge that iPhone or Blackberry that’s out of juice.
- Don’t worry it’s nice looking too in it’s recyclable shell. It even comes in recyclable packaging.
Okay, so you’re probably wondering why do I seem kinda passionate about this hand-held solar charger gadget. Read more
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Can Current Economic Climate Help With Sustainable Development?
March 1, 2009 by Tommy Linsley
Filed under Sustainable Development
Are you concerned about the negative impact that the oil industry has on the sustainable development initiatives for our Earth? The world’s out-of-control dependence on fossil fuels causes the oil industry to rape the environment every day. It’s nothing new that these fossil fuels add to the carbon releases to our atmosphere. Thus, we are increasing the problem of global warming and climate change.
Now, let’s put a favorable twist on our current economic climate. Yes, people have lost jobs and businesses have failed due to our current global crisis. Sad as it is, there are a few good things that can and will come as a result. Let’s list a few less obvious ways that our current crisis can have a positive impact on sustainable development:
- Fewer sources of pollution due to industry slow-down of production operations
- That means fewer employees burning fuel on the way to work
- The industry plants themselves will use less energy because their operation is reduced
- These industries will be forced to find more efficient means of production and operation
I attended a meeting with a ranking official of one of the world’s top oilfield services companies yesterday. In particular, he has charge of the United States and Mexico. (A little insight: just one small office of this global corporation has been averaging between 4-6 million dollars in revenue each month of the year. He recently laid-off 41 employees at this small office.) Below are a few explanations he had for a slow down in his industry. Bad news for his employees; good news for the environment.
- Drilling rigs accross the U.S. have gone from 2,000+ down to around 1,200.
- Predictions are that the number of drilling rigs will drop to around 700 in a few months.
- The bulk of oilfield production is natural gas, not oil. And, gas production is slowing.
- As industry operations slow, they use less natural gas.
- Natural gas storage capacity is at about 95%. So, no one wants to buy more natural gas.
What does all this mean? As mentioned, storage capacity is almost maxed out. Industry, the main consumer of natural gas, has slowed down. Demand for natural gas is low. So, those storage facilities have no where to send their supplies. And, it doesn’t make much sense to produce the gas if there is nowhere to store it.
How is this good news for the environment, you ask? Short answer: the affected industries will be forced to find ways to cut down on energy use. Example, one of the many things the above-mentioned oilfield services executive suggested was that employees stop the engine of their trucks when just idling. That act alone will save millions in his large corporation. And, the oil industry will naturally turn to exploring alternative sources of energy, because they will want to keep their respective companies profitable.
Sounds over-simplified? Maybe. I have faith a lesson will be learned here.
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How Does Climate Change Affect Agriculture and Consumers?
February 22, 2009 by Tommy Linsley
Filed under Climate Change
The effects of climate change on agricultural production:
What does it mean to consumers?
The effects of climate change on agricultural production go much deeper
than the impact of unusual weather. However, that is the basis for many
of the problems that farmers are facing. Some of the stressing facing
farmers: the pesky weather not only causes floods and droughts that can
affect an entire year of production, but predicting when these might occur
has become even more of a guessing game than in the past.
A warmer climate also means that pathogens -bacteria,
fungus, molds- and harmful insects that have been more
easily controlled in the past become more and more
problematic. Out-of-season rains in the vegetable
growing areas of the world can cause massive outbreaks
of fungus problems. By the same token, late
freezes can wipe out entire fruit crops and that stress can be seen in these
trees for years to come.
Unusually warm winters can cause rodent and insect populations to spike out
of control. And, though an increase in the levels of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere can facilitate faster growth and more biomass production,
actually getting a crop to market is wildly complicated by these new
factors that emerge with each growing season.
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How Will the Economic Stimulus Plan Affect Environment and Energy?
February 15, 2009 by Tommy Linsley
Filed under Sustainable Development
Reading through this story in Yahoo News (see quotes below) you can see a rough explanation of where stimulus money is planned to be directed. An effort is being made; a good sign. But, reading through the story you can’t help but wonder if throwing money at our economic problems will help or hurt. Part of the reason things got to this point is due to unwise spending, loaning, and profit-mongering.
Yes, putting money in the right places will go a long way to helping with our present dire situation. However, a shift in attitude and ideas must come along with it. If we are to repair what has been broken, we need to look beyond simply throwing money at the problem. Hopefully, our legislators will realize this also.
Before we get into Environment and Energy, let’s take a look at just how the stimulus plan can get our nation even further into debt:
National debt:
One thing about the president’s $790 billion stimulus package is certain: It will jack up the federal debt.
Whether or not it succeeds in producing jobs and taming the recession, tomorrow’s taxpayers will end up footing the bill.
Forecasters expect the 2009 deficit — for the budget year that began last Oct 1 — to hit $1.6 trillion including new stimulus and bank-bailout spending. That’s about three times last year’s shortfall.
The torrents of red ink are being fed by rising federal spending and falling tax revenues from hard-hit businesses and individuals.
The national debt — the sum of all annual budget deficits — stands at $10.7 trillion. Or about $36,000 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.
Interest payments alone on the national debt will near $500 billion this year. It’s already the fourth-largest federal expenditure, after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense.This will affect us all directly for years, as well as our children and possibly grandchildren, in higher taxes and probably reduced government services. It will also force continued government borrowing, increasingly from China, Japan, Britain, Saudi Arabia and other foreign creditors.
Now, let’s look at how the stimulus plan will affect the environment and energy; hopefully on a positive note: Read more
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Could Twitter Get Any Bigger With $35 million in new VC funding?
February 15, 2009 by Tommy Linsley
Filed under Education
You know that Twitter isn’t exactly a direct influence on Green Issues. But, there are lots of users on Twitter that are involved in the Sustainable Development movement to varying degrees.
But, do you think a turbo-fast growing social haven with fresh infusions of venture capital can be a forum for Earth-conscious users? The answer is a big, yes.I use Twitter for letting people know about recent posts to this site. My followers see the post, they let their followers know about the post, those people tell others, the cycle can go on and on. So, yes, you can also use your Twitter account to educate others about topics such as: climate change, alternative energy, green power, etc.
Their service is a very useful, warm, inviting environment. It’s more personal than a lot of the other social sites. It’s almost like texting on your cell phone to all of your friends and colleagues at once. Twitter keeps things quick, simple and friendly. If you aren’t a user already, get started by looking at http://Twitter.com/tommylinsley and see for yourself the warm nature involved. Next step: start using the service today.
Twitter keeps getting bigger. I don’t think I know anyone that’s not on Twitter. If you’re not a user, you should really consider getting in. Actually, not only can you find others that share your views, but it’s also a great place to develop a relationship with potential customers for your business.
Basically, it is a great place to develop relationships. This is the key point to remember about Twitter.
* See the link below to find out more about Twitter’s latest growth opportunity. *
Tweet this: Twitter rakes in $35 million in new VC funding - San Jose Mercury News.
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