UN lists key strategies for reducing global carbon emissions
According to a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, improving agricultural production practices, increasing energy efficiency, greater use of renewable energy and the reform of fossil fuel subsidies are the key strategies for reducing global carbon emissions. The Emissions Gap Report 2013, warns that on the current trajectory, greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 will exceed the emissions level suggested by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by between 8 billion and 12 billion gigatonnes. The report, which involved 70 scientists across 17 countries, showed that emissions could be reduced by 14-20 million gigatonnes per year if pledges are more ambitious and expanded across all countries and more industries. The report comes ahead of the UN Warsaw Climate Change conference in Poland next week that aims to advance countries’ emissions cuts under a new climate pact, which will be signed by 2015 but will only come into force in 2020. (Reuters; BBC)
Employees
Investors: paying living wage helps achieve “longevity and productivity”
Following the report released by KPMG which stated that one in five UK workers is being paid less than the living wage, thirteen investors have called on UK publicly listed companies to pay all employees the living wage. The wage is an informal benchmark deemed as the wage by which workers can meet the cost of living, and was increased this week to £8.80 per hour in London and £7.65 across the rest of the UK. In a letter published in the Financial Times, investors from local authorities, and charities, including the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, said that “we wish to be invested in companies that focus on the longevity and productivity of their business operations. There is considerable evidence that paying the living wage helps to achieve these objectives.” The investors claim that more than 80 percent of UK businesses believe that their decision to pay the living wage has increased the quality of their workforce and reduced the number of absences from work. (Blue & Green Tomorrow; Financial Times*)
Environment
China launches anti-pollution drive
The Government of Beijing has announced that it will cut the city’s car sales quotas by almost 40 percent next year in a move to address hazardous levels of air pollution. Over the next four years, Beijing will issue 150,000 new license plates annually, a decrease of 90,000, with a higher proportion allotted to consumers who buy eco or electric cars, to encourage investment and development in cleaner energy vehicles. This follows Beijing’s launch of a new pollution alert system which places limits on driving and prohibits manufacturing and construction in the event that three consecutive days of hazardous levels of pollution are forecast for the capital. The change in policy comes after a call from the World Bank for a global effort to cut climate pollutants and the announcement that an eight year old girl from the Chinese province of Jiangsu has been diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of the hazardous pollution levels. (Reuters; Blue & Green Tomorrow)
Offshore renewables programme launched to encourage UK wind industry investment
The UK Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator, a joint research, development and demonstration industry project, has been commissioned by offshore wind developers in the UK, The Crown Estate, Marine Scotland and the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change to form the Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme. The programme aims to provide greater certainty on the potential environmental impacts of offshore wind developments in order to reduce the risks for developers and to encourage more investment in the industry. The programme, which will receive £3 million of public and private sector funding over the next three years, will initially focus on bird collision risk and avoidance rate monitoring, and investigating the use of deterrent devices and injury avoidance mitigation for marine mammals during wind farm construction. (The Carbon Trust)
Responsible Investment
European investments in sustainable funds increases by 200% in 10 years
According to the latest report from the European environmental, social and governance ratings agency Vigeo, the number of socially responsible investment (SRI) retail funds has increased by nearly 200 percent since 2003, from 313 to 922 in June 2013. The analysis, Green, Social and Ethical Funds in Europe, shows that the European SRI retail funds market has continued to grow with assets standing at €108 billion (£91 billion), an average annual increase of 14 percent. France remains the largest market for SRI funds despite a 7 percent decline in the last year, accounting for 35 percent of the European market. The UK came second with Switzerland and the Netherlands ranked joint third, both with 10 percent of European SRI funds. (Blue & Green Tomorrow)
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