Trade Me listing a first for NZ local authority

By KATIE CHAPMAN & NZPA - Manawatu Standard | Saturday, 17 November 2007

Three sets of carbon credits being sold by the Palmerston North City Council on TradeMe have already reached a combinedtotal of $2920.

The sale is thought to be a New Zealand first for a local authority.

The credits come from the Awapuni landfill gas project and are being offered on auctionsite Trade Me on behalf of the council by Carbon Market Solutions Ltd, a New Zealand carbon trading company.

The credits are being offered in two parcels of 20 tonnes and one of 200 tonnes.

This week, the 20 tonne parcels were up to $420 and $500 respectively.

Both had reached the reserve price. The 200-tonne parcel was up to $2000, but had not reached the reserve.

City council water and waste service manager Chris Pepper said the surplus credits "representa high profile and valuablecommodity".

Twenty tonnes represents the average emissions of a typical New Zealand household and 200 tonnes represents the averageemissions for a typical small business with five to 10 employees.

Proceeds from the impending sale will go back into the Awapuniproject , Mr Pepper said.

The two 20-tonne auctions close at 10pm on Monday, and the 200-tonne one closes at 9pm on Tuesday.

Africa: Paying Farmers to Protect the Environment?

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Rome)

PRESS RELEASE
15 November 2007
Posted to the web 15 November 2007

Carefully targeted payments to farmers could serve as an approach to protect the environment and to address growing concerns about climate change, biodiversity loss and water supply, FAO said today in its annual publication The State of Food and Agriculture.

Agriculture employs more people and uses more land and water than any other human activity," said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf in his foreword to the report. "It has the potential to degrade the Earth's land, water, atmosphere and biological resources - or to enhance them - depending on the decisions made by the more than two billion people whose livelihoods depend directly on crops, livestock, fisheries or forests. Ensuring appropriate incentives for these people is essential."

Population growth, rapid economic development, increasing demand for biofuels and climate change are putting environmental resources under pressure throughout the world. For instance, agriculture is expected to feed a world population that will increase from six to nine billion by 2050.

One of the important reasons for environmental degradation is the perception that many of nature's services are free - no one owns them or is rewarded for them and farmers have little incentive to protect them. In addition, subsidies that encourage the production of marketed goods at the expense of other ecosystem services can aggravate their degradation.

Incentives

Current incentives tend to favour the production of food, fibre, and increasingly, biofuels, but they typically under-value other beneficial services that farmers can provide, such as carbon storage, flood control, clean water provision or biodiversity conservation.

Farmers can provide better environmental outcomes, but they need incentives to do so. Payments for environmental services represent one way of increasing incentives to adopt improved agricultural practices--and even to offset pollution generated in other sectors.

However, "payments may also have adverse impacts on poverty and food security in some cases, should they result in a reduction in demand for agricultural employment or increases in food prices," noted Dr Diouf.

Carbon sink

Farmers will need to play an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change, the FAO report said.

Agriculture plays an important role as a carbon "sink" through sequestering and storing greenhouse gases, especially as carbon in soils, plants and trees. Less deforestation, planting of trees, tillage reduction, soil cover increase and improved grassland management could, for example, lead to the storage of more than two billion tonnes of carbon in around 50 countries between 2003 and 2012.

"Well-designed payments for environmental services are one way to help farmers to change land-use practices and make farming more environmentally friendly," said Leslie Lipper, Senior Environmental Economist. "These are payments for real services farmers can provide, much like farmers are paid for the rice or coffee they produce."

Full Story

The report however cautions that payments for environmental services are not the best solution in all situations, and that significant implementation challenges remain.

Commodity bourses eye carbon trading
16 Nov 2007, 0000 hrs IST,Nitin Sethi,TNN

NEW DELHI: The carbon market is heating up and there is a race even among the commodity exchanges to grab a bit of the good thing going around. In what is turning out to be a battle of sorts, the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) and the Multi Commodities Exchange (MCX) have begun to lobby to snatch the early bird advantage of running the first official carbon credit market on the lines of other commodity markets.

Though MCX was the first mover, approaching Forwards Market Commission to allow trading, this week, NCDEX put in a proposal with the nodal environment ministry for setting up a separate exchange to trade carbon credits. But the government is still unsure about how to treat carbon credits - as a fiscal tool or a commodity.

"It is not a physical good, so we still have to sort out how to deal with it, the proposal is at a preliminary stage of evaluation," said a senior environment ministry official. Ditto for FMC which is also debating how to deal with an intangible like carbon trading.

Till date, the Income Tax Act also does not address the issue of receipts of money against carbon credits. But in coming years, with the carbon trade bound to grow, sources say the issue would come up before the government.
The NCDEX is supported by the Chicago Climate Exchange, a US-based market operator which has been keen to make an entry into the Indian market for almost a year now.

Till date, about 29 million credits have been generated in India but due to lack of an organized market are sold by brokers and multinational firms discreetly. "Price disclosure is an issue with the carbon market, one doesn’t know if the company or entity generating these credits by investing in carbon credits is getting a competitive price or being fleeced."

The two biggest markets for Indian credits today are EU and Japan but in coming years if US and Australia also join the international regime that regulates greenhouse gas emissions and allows trading in emission reduction certificates and emission allowances, then experts believe the market size could flourish in the coming years. But, that is long way off, not expected to come through before 2012 when the existing internationally negotiated agreement - the Kyoto Protocol - lapses.

A major chunk of traders in the carbon certificates are reluctant at the moment to see a formal market and claim the volumes are too low at present to allow such an exchange to work well. Where such exchanges are set up, like in EU, carbon allowances are sold like any other commodity in spot and forward markets.

US, which is not party to international trading regime, also has the Chicago Climate Exchange which does business on voluntary emission reduction certificates. The Indian exchange, experts predict could be handling both types of market - certificates under the Kyoto Protocol as well the certificates generated outside the protocol.

South Africa: Country Set to Score From Trade in Carbon Credits

Business Day (Johannesburg)

12 October 2007
Posted to the web 12 October 2007

Thabang Mokopanele
Johannesburg

THE Central Energy Fund (CEF) has launched an international carbon trading business, CEF Carbon, which it expects will earn billions in revenue from carbon trading opportunities as the worldwide movement to combat climate change takes off.

CE Mputumi Damane said CEF's international carbon markets business -- which is aimed at developing clean development mechanism (CDM) projects across the continent -- would be headed by Deven Pillay.

International trade in carbon credits is estimated to have exceeded R200bn last year and CEF estimates that carbon credits projects already in the pipeline could earn SA annual revenue of about R900m.

"The continent has been slow in taking advantage of all the opportunities that have opened up in the arena of carbon trading. In SA only about 20 CDM projects are in the pipeline, while Latin America and China have more than 500 and India more than 600," Damane said.

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CCX Auctions CERs from India

For the first time the Chicago Climate Exchange auctioned Clean Development Mechanism Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs). The CERs were issued to a wind energy farm in Satara and Supa in Western India that is managed by Tata Motors. The auction was oversubscribed, with total bid quantities equal to 13.3 times the offered quantity. The auction clearing price was $22.11 per CER. "We are extremely pleased with the CCFE CER auction results. The auction exceeded our expectations relative to the number of bidders, bids and prices." said Dr. Richard L. Sandor, Chairman and CEO, CCX. "We will continue to welcome sellers of Certified Emissions Reductions from India, China, and South America to participate in future auctions."

Full Story

Cadbury Coming Clean on More than Calories

Nine companies including, Cadbury Schweppes and Coca-Cola have become the second wave of firms to sign up to use a carbon foot printing standard designed by UK's Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and BSI British Standards. The companies will use the standard to calculate the embodied carbon emissions of selected products. Boots, Walkers and fruit drinks company Innocent were the first companies to trial the draft standard and already display their carbon footprint on a number of their products' packaging.

Source

October 09, 2007 09:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time

New Shopping Site Helps Consumers Fight Global Warming

ClimateCooler.com from Cooler Lets Consumers Eliminate the Global Warming Impact of Their Online Purchases at No Additional Cost

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cooler, a leading provider of commerce solutions that address global warming, today announced the launch of ClimateCooler.com, a Web site that helps consumers eliminate the global warming impact of their online purchases at more than 400 of the Internet’s most popular stores. When a consumer starts their online shopping at ClimateCooler.com and completes the purchase at a participating store, the global warming impact of each purchase is calculated and a portion of the purchase price is returned by stores to Cooler to offset that impact.

Consumers who shop through ClimateCooler.com pay the same prices they would going directly to the retailer. The company uses a product-level carbon calculator that is the first global warming solution to address the impact of almost any consumer good or service sold in the U.S. Fees paid back to Cooler by the stores on its site are invested in renewable energy and pollution prevention projects approved by some of the world’s best known environmental organizations.

“Shopping accounts for almost 40 percent of our global warming impact and, until today, there was no simple, free way to make a difference,” says Michel Gelobter, the founder and executive vice president of Cooler, who has over 25 years of environmental experience. “At ClimateCooler.com consumers can reduce the impact of millions of goods and services at no additional cost. Global warming is on the rise, and it is more important than ever for consumers not to buy more, but to buy smarter by starting at ClimateCooler.com.”

To ensure that the calculations are accurate and that the spending reduces global warming, ClimateCooler.com and the company's portfolio of high-quality offsets have been approved by leading environmental groups, including Environmental Defense, the National Wildlife Federation, The Gold Standard, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

"The NRDC is one of the leading environmental organizations putting forward solutions to global warming,” says Frances Beinecke, president of the NRDC. “We’re excited about working with Cooler to give consumers a new way to make a real difference in the fight against global warming in their everyday lives.”

ClimateCooler.com features more than 8 million products from more than 400 of the Internet's most popular stores, including iPods and iPhones at Apple.com, organic lifestyle products from Gaiam.com, and the latest bestsellers at BarnesandNoble.com.

The difference ClimateCooler.com can make is illustrated in the purchase of a cell phone. The primary global warming pollutant is carbon dioxide, or CO2, and the total global warming impact (or carbon footprint) of purchasing a cell phone at a traditional brick-and-mortar store is almost 390 pounds of CO2. The footprint of that same device purchased online is approximately 370 pounds of CO2 or 20 pounds less because online purchases are often more efficient than driving to a store. Shopping through ClimateCooler.com, the cell phone’s carbon footprint is zero because more than 390 pounds of global warming pollution are removed from the environment through Cooler’s offset programs.

"I’m not a big shopper, but when I do it online, I now start at ClimateCooler.com. I can go to all the same stores I have in the past, pay the same price and get the store to set aside a portion of the price to offset the greenhouse gases that go into producing and transporting the product. It's the right thing to do," says Bay Area resident Tom Kelly, who recently got a sneak peek at ClimateCooler.com.

In addition to launching ClimateCooler.com, Cooler also announced today the launch of its business solution for manufacturers and retailers that want to directly serve climate-conscious consumers.

About Cooler: Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., Cooler offers a trusted, simple and scaleable solution to retailers and consumer goods manufacturers that want to address the problem of global warming. Companies can use Cooler’s business solution, Cooler Complete, to know, reduce, and eliminate the global warming impact of their sales. At www.ClimateCooler.com, consumers can, at no additional cost, eliminate the global warming impact of their everyday purchases from more than 400 leading retailers, including Apple, Dell, eBay, Netflix, and Staples.

Cooler’s calculations and offset projects are approved by some of the world’s leading environmental organizations, including Environmental Defense, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

For more information, visit www.ClimateCooler.com.

Contacts

Cooler, Inc.
Skip Rudolf, 415-279-8756
skip@climatecooler.com
or
104 West Partners
Elaine Schoch, 720-407-6064
elaine.schoch@104west.com

Global survey finds support for CDM-type projects

(from ASB Listserv)

On September 25, the BBC World Service released a global poll on attitudes towards climate change. GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes in Maryland surveyed 22,000 people in 21 developed and developing countries. Most interestingly, the poll showed majority support across the globe for agreements where developing countries would reduce emissions in exchange for financial assistance and technology from developed countries. This indicates broad support for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or Reduced Emissions from forest Degradation and Deforestation (REDD) projects. ASB is currently engaged in REDD projects and intends to present results at the next UNFCCC COP in Bali this December.

The BBC article is available online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7010522.stm and the full report is available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/25_09_07climatepoll.pdf.

Summary of main points:

· An average of eight in ten (79%) say that “human activity, including industry and transportation, is a significant cause of climate change.”

· The poll shows majority support (73% on average) in all but two countries polled for an agreement in which developing countries would limit their emissions in return for financial assistance and technology from developed countries.

o All of the developed countries polled endorse this idea by large margins including the United States (70%), Canada (84%), Great Britain (81%), France (78%), Germany (75%), and Australia (84%).

· There is a widespread consensus that developing countries should take action on climate along with developed countries. Just three countries opt instead for the position that less-wealthy countries should not be expected to limit emissions: Egypt, Nigeria and Italy.

o Those favouring limits on the emissions of less wealthy countries include some of the key ones, most notably a 68 percent majority in China and a plurality of Indians (33% to 24%), though many Indians (43%) do not have an opinion. This is also the dominant view in Brazil (63%), Indonesia (54%), Kenya (64%), Mexico (75%), the Philippines (49%), and Turkey (41%).

· Asked how much they have heard about climate change or global warming, in only a few countries do large numbers say that they have heard little or nothing, including Indonesia (65%), Kenya (53%), Nigeria (48%), and Russia (64%).

Carbon trade: India bound by Kyoto pact
3 Oct 2007, 0001 hrs IST,Nitin Sethi,TNN
NEW DELHI: Forget industrial towns like Bilaspur and Indore catching up with metropoles on the carbon credit buzz, young tech-entrepreneurs who have gone as far out as Brazil to grab a pie of the global business.

Almost 100 fairly well-known consultants and companies have emerged in just a couple of years. This is besides the international companies in the market keen to set up shop here, that is, if they aren't already in town.

The carbon business, on paper at least, looks simple. Developed countries are bound by the Kyoto Protocol to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. They instead fund projects in the less efficient developing world economies to get a bit greener and claim the credit for the emissions reduced in meeting their own targets. It's called clean development mechanism. China and India are attracting the biggest projects under CDM.

Consultants help the industries prepare project reports and get the process approved from the CDM board after the project is validated against laid down criteria. Their clientele varies — from textile industry to cement manufacturers, mass kitchens in temples to oil companies, all have a chance to get a bit cleaner. Most of the smaller clients are unaware of the possibilities or the limitations of the business.

Lalit Singhania of Industechnical and Financial Consultants Limited, based in Bilaspur, explains, "We are in a sense lucky that the government itself has been so energy inefficient. We are involved in several states, including Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya, in just getting the government offices to improve their buildings and put efficient air-conditioning systems. At the same time, we have completed a energy recovery project from waste out of a power plant."

Before this, Singhania's company was more known for helping set up controversial and not-so-clean sponge iron plants in the state. Today, it's feeding the figures that show India has the highest number of CDM projects in the world.

Indian techies see gold in carbon trade
3 Oct 2007, 0001 hrs IST,Nitin Sethi,TNN
NEW DELHI: The rest of India might be fearing the impacts of climate change but Indian techies are fast realising the business opportunity it has brought to their doorstep.

Cashing on the carbon credit trade, many of them have begun business ventures to write up projects and take consultancies to help Indian and international businesses turn green.

It's a gold rush at the moment — India has the highest number of carbon credit projects in the world. Not surprisingly, the business is also attracting its fair share of not-so-clean operators.
With investments pouring in (more than Rs 40,000 crore is already locked into the Indian industry going green under the global carbon credit scheme), industrial towns like Bilaspur and Indore, along with the four metros, are witnessing a mushrooming of experts and consultants.

"Till three years ago, I was a regular MBA techie helping companies set up supply chains. Then I took the risk of entering this new area," says Ashutosh Pandey of Emergent Ventures Ltd, one of the foremost carbon trading firms in India today.

Having done more than 100 projects in the country, it's now venturing into South Asia and Southeast Asian markets.