Over 50 mayors from 30 countries have demonstrated their commitment to increase action on, by signing the Nantes Declaration of Mayors and Subnational Leaders on Climate Change. The declaration follows the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent Fifth Assessment Report and urges engagement globally on climate change and increasing access to finance for climate change mitigation projects. The leaders also showed strong commitment to the Sustainable Cities initiative, proposed by the Global Environment Facility. The mayor of South Delhi, Farhad Suri, invoked Gandhi saying “Our future is shaped by what we do today.” The Mayor of Boulder, Colorado stated: “It's clear, cities are on the frontlines – we are suffering the impacts of climate change. Because of that we have to be leaders and mitigate and adapt in the face of climate change.” (edie)
Fuel from landfill methane goes on sale in the US
Clean Energy Fuels, a North-American natural gas for transportation provider, will sell natural gas made from methane from landfill sites, as well as other waste sources, at more than 40 filling stations in California. This is the first step in its plan to build a US-wide network of natural gas pumps and introduce the fuel elsewhere. The company expects to sell 15 million gallons of the fuel in California this year: over twice the Environmental Protection Agency’s projections for nationwide consumption. The new fuel is cheaper and burns 90% cleaner than traditional diesel. The development comes sooner than expected: “I don’t think people were expecting there to be a significant public supply or access this soon — maybe not even this decade,” remarked Tim Carmichael of the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, a trade body. Customers for the fuel include AT&T, Verizon and large fleet operators SuperShuttle and Hertz. (New York Times)
UK Government’s Green Deal scheme slow on uptake
Carillion, a British construction services company, has blamed the slow uptake of the UK Government’s Green Deal energy efficiency policies as it announced a £40 million restructuring of its energy services business. Only 700 Green Deal packages have been used by homeowners since its January launch: the target for 2013 was 10,000. Carillion also cited the uncertainties around the government’s Energy Company Obligation scheme, which requires large utility companies to install energy saving measure for vulnerable customers. The restructure, although not yet finalised, will lead to redundancies and a scaling back of investments. Luciana Berger MP, Shadow Minister for Climate Change reacted to the news saying, “These latest job losses are a hammer blow to our insulation industry and are yet more evidence that David Cameron's Green Deal is failing." (businessGreen)
Policy
Payday loan companies face tougher regulation in the UK
The Financial Conduct Authority, the incoming UK regulator of financial firms providing services to consumers, has recommended new rules to protect borrowers, particularly from payday loan firms. The lenders will have to conduct more stringent affordability checks that would ensure that only those who can afford to pay back a loan will be granted them: this measure will also stop loans being granted within minutes of an application being lodged. The recommendations would also prevent lenders from rolling loans over more than twice, stopping the notorious escalation of charges associated with payday loans. The firms will also have to put risk warnings on adverts and give information on free debt advice to anyone who wishes to roll over a loan. However the measure would not cap the interest rate that these firms can charge. (The Guardian)
Waste
New store to sell out of date food
Doug Rauch, the former president of US grocery store Trader Joe’s, is to open a new store that sells recently expired food items. The news comes in the midst of increasing coverage of food waste issues, with reports saying that 30-50% of global food production is wasted and blaming confusing systems of food labelling for high levels of food waste. Rauch’s new store, the Daily Table, aims to do its part to reduce this wastage whilst increasing awareness of the issues at stake. The store will mainly sell fruit, vegetables and freshly prepared products. Talking about the initiative, Rauch commented, “if you have a product that says ‘sell by Sept. 1’ or ‘Oct. 1’ and, you know, it’s Oct. 2, most customers don’t realize you can eat that.” (Triple Pundit)
COMMENTS