Updated 28 May 2008
It looks like I'm spreading thinner rather than thicker, but I've added here another reference section, on global warming policy papers.
France
The Factor 4 Objective: addressing Climate Challenge in France - report chaired by Christian de Boissieu, commissioned by the French Ministries of Economy, Finance and Industry, and Ecology and Sustainable Development. Released August 2006.
United Kingdom
Stern Review on the economics of climate change - report by Sir Nicholas Stern, commissioned by the Treasury of the United Kingdom. Released 30 October 2006.
United States
The effects of climate change on agriculture, land resources, water resources, and biodiversity in the United States - not so much a policy paper, but a layout of what the likely effects of climate change will be to the United States. Released May 2008. Published by the United States Department of Agriculture, it describes as facts such things as "Climate change has very likely increased the size and number of forest fires, insect outbreaks, and tree mortality in the interior West, the Southwest, and Alaska, and will continue to do so".
Market-Based Approaches to CO2 Emissions Reductions - report by Leigh Raymond and Gerald Shively, Choices Magazine. Released April 2008. This article briefly describes one U.S. legislative proposal, and provides a basic definition of, and comparisons of benefits and tradeoffs of cap and trade vs carbon tax. Other relevant articles on climate change economics can be found here.
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation through Agriculture - article by Uwe A. Schneider and Pushpam Kumar. Good brief explanation of the role of agriculture and forestry in GHG mitigation.
A Perspective on Carbon Sequestration as a Strategy for Mitigating Climate Change - Choices magazine article by G. Cornelis van Kooten. Discusses the many issues related to Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sequestration methods, and identifies questionable claims about some projects. It also discusses the issue of these projects likely having leakages, that is, the carbon sequestration is not permanent, and how these leakages are often ignored when making calculations of total carbon sequestration.
An Equitable Tax Reform to Address Global Climate Change - a policy paper from the Brookings Institution by
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Private sector players
Updated 16 April 2008
Here are some private sectors players in Australia's developing carbon and GGE schemes, along with their websites. Again note that this is incomplete and will be updated when I get the free time and gumption to do so.
Consulting
Carbon Planet - "a global carbon management company whose mission is to enable every individual and business on the planet to manage their contribution to the defining issue of our age, global warming. Established in 2000, Carbon Planet has been working with businesses around the world, helping them quantify the risks and explore the opportunities emerging in the carbon constrained economy".
Physical location: Adelaide
Level 4, 170 North Terrace Adelaide SA 5000
Also has physical presence in Sydney, Melbourne, and London.
e3 - "small and medium business operators plus environmental experts" with a goal of "reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from small-medium enterprises across Australia and around the globe".
Physical location: Sydney
Level 7, 25 Bligh Street Sydney NSW 2000
Synergy Management Consulting Group - general consulting organisation with some climate change work. "Synergy's consultants apply business expertise to meet challenges and drive improvement".
Physical location: Sydney
3 Spring St, Sydney NSW 2000
Also has physical location in Indonesia.
Energy
AGL Energy - largest Australian natural gas and electricity retailer. Their principal green energy brands, AGL Green Choice, was the first accredited in Australia.
Country Energy -
EnergyAustralia - large electric and natural gas supplier and retailer, based mostly in New South Wales. Owned by the NSW state government. They have a number of green energy brands, including PureEnergy Premium and PureEnergy 10.
NGOs
Carbon Disclosure Project - "The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an independent not-for-profit organisation aiming to create a lasting relationship between shareholders and corporations regarding the implications for shareholder value and commercial operations presented by climate change. Its goal is to facilitate a dialogue, supported by quality information, from which a rational response to climate change will emerge".
Investor Group on Climate Change Australia/New Zealand - (IGCC) "Membership of the IGCC is open to institutional investors operating in Australia and New Zealand, including superannuation funds, insurance companies, fund managers and other financial services providers. Current members of IGCC represent total funds under management of over $424 billion". IGCC is the local affiliate for CDP.
Publicity
greenteam - a communications company helping companies create green brand identities. Australian office of U.S. company, Green Team USA.
Physical location: Hobart
Level 5, 29 Elizabeth St Hobart, TAS 7000
Also has physical presence in New York.
Here are some private sectors players in Australia's developing carbon and GGE schemes, along with their websites. Again note that this is incomplete and will be updated when I get the free time and gumption to do so.
Consulting
Carbon Planet - "a global carbon management company whose mission is to enable every individual and business on the planet to manage their contribution to the defining issue of our age, global warming. Established in 2000, Carbon Planet has been working with businesses around the world, helping them quantify the risks and explore the opportunities emerging in the carbon constrained economy".
Physical location: Adelaide
Level 4, 170 North Terrace Adelaide SA 5000
Also has physical presence in Sydney, Melbourne, and London.
e3 - "small and medium business operators plus environmental experts" with a goal of "reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from small-medium enterprises across Australia and around the globe".
Physical location: Sydney
Level 7, 25 Bligh Street Sydney NSW 2000
Synergy Management Consulting Group - general consulting organisation with some climate change work. "Synergy's consultants apply business expertise to meet challenges and drive improvement".
Physical location: Sydney
3 Spring St, Sydney NSW 2000
Also has physical location in Indonesia.
Energy
AGL Energy - largest Australian natural gas and electricity retailer. Their principal green energy brands, AGL Green Choice, was the first accredited in Australia.
Country Energy -
EnergyAustralia - large electric and natural gas supplier and retailer, based mostly in New South Wales. Owned by the NSW state government. They have a number of green energy brands, including PureEnergy Premium and PureEnergy 10.
NGOs
Carbon Disclosure Project - "The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an independent not-for-profit organisation aiming to create a lasting relationship between shareholders and corporations regarding the implications for shareholder value and commercial operations presented by climate change. Its goal is to facilitate a dialogue, supported by quality information, from which a rational response to climate change will emerge".
Investor Group on Climate Change Australia/New Zealand - (IGCC) "Membership of the IGCC is open to institutional investors operating in Australia and New Zealand, including superannuation funds, insurance companies, fund managers and other financial services providers. Current members of IGCC represent total funds under management of over $424 billion". IGCC is the local affiliate for CDP.
Publicity
greenteam - a communications company helping companies create green brand identities. Australian office of U.S. company, Green Team USA.
Physical location: Hobart
Level 5, 29 Elizabeth St Hobart, TAS 7000
Also has physical presence in New York.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Useful terms and acronyms
As I do this in my spare time, I will add to this when I can. Last updated 23 April 2008.
cap and trade: a system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by placing an initial limit on total emissions and then reducing emissions over time, and allowing the marketplace to determine how this is done. Heavy users would need to buy credits from companies that can easily reduce emissions.
CCS: carbon capture and sequestration. A method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-based power plants.
CDM: clean development mechanism.
direct emissions: direct emissions are produced from within an organisation, a result of that organisation's activities. Examples include generation of electricity, manufacturing processes, transportation, on-site waste management, etc.
DNA: designated national authority. Under the Kyoto agreements, each country is to have a designated national authority, which is to be the sole governmental entity for regulating carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.
downstream: in a market-based approach such as cap and trade or a carbon tax, downstream refers to the ultimate users of the carbon emission.
ETS: emissions trading scheme. Also known as "cap and trade" - regulatory appproach to limiting the emission of pollutants, in this situation, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
GGE: greenhouse gas emissions. The release of anthropogenic gases into the atmosphere that absorb and or emit infrared radiation, causing the greenhouse effect.
GHG: greenhouse gases. Pollutants that contribute to global warming. These include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, methane, fluro- and halo-carbons and others.
Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act: law passed in 2007 that will require top Australian carbon emitters to report, starting in July 2008.
indirect emissions: emissions generated in the wider economy as a consequence of an organisation's activities. Some examples: consumption of electricity from a coal-fired plant, downstream emissions from transport of an organisation’s product to customers, and emissions from contracted/outsourced activities.
Kyoto Protocol: international treaty that sets legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiated in 1997, it entered into force on February 16, 2005. Australia has recently ratified the agreement.
LULUCF: Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry. Term for agriculture-based GHG sequestration methods such as tree planting and land disturbance reduction.
MRET: mandatory renewable energy target. The Australian government is considering have a 20% MRET for the year 2020.
NCAS: National Carbon Accounting System. Australia's accounting system for sources (emissions) and removals (sinks) for greenhouse gas emissions from land-based systems.
NGA: National Greenhouse Accounts. A guideline providing estimates of emissions of greenhouse gases for various activities, such as fuel combustion, mining activities, methane emission from waste, agriculture, etc.
OSCAR: Online System for Comprehensive Activity Reporting. An online system for reporting greenhouse gases.
UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is the international forum for dealing with climate change.
upstream: in a market-based approach such as cap and trade or a carbon tax, upstream refers to the primary producers of carbon, such as coal mines, oil wells, refineries, etc.
VCS: Voluntary Carbon Standard 2007. Specification for the project-level quantification, monitoring and reporting as well as validation and verification of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removals.
cap and trade: a system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by placing an initial limit on total emissions and then reducing emissions over time, and allowing the marketplace to determine how this is done. Heavy users would need to buy credits from companies that can easily reduce emissions.
CCS: carbon capture and sequestration. A method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-based power plants.
CDM: clean development mechanism.
direct emissions: direct emissions are produced from within an organisation, a result of that organisation's activities. Examples include generation of electricity, manufacturing processes, transportation, on-site waste management, etc.
DNA: designated national authority. Under the Kyoto agreements, each country is to have a designated national authority, which is to be the sole governmental entity for regulating carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.
downstream: in a market-based approach such as cap and trade or a carbon tax, downstream refers to the ultimate users of the carbon emission.
ETS: emissions trading scheme. Also known as "cap and trade" - regulatory appproach to limiting the emission of pollutants, in this situation, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
GGE: greenhouse gas emissions. The release of anthropogenic gases into the atmosphere that absorb and or emit infrared radiation, causing the greenhouse effect.
GHG: greenhouse gases. Pollutants that contribute to global warming. These include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, methane, fluro- and halo-carbons and others.
Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act: law passed in 2007 that will require top Australian carbon emitters to report, starting in July 2008.
indirect emissions: emissions generated in the wider economy as a consequence of an organisation's activities. Some examples: consumption of electricity from a coal-fired plant, downstream emissions from transport of an organisation’s product to customers, and emissions from contracted/outsourced activities.
Kyoto Protocol: international treaty that sets legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiated in 1997, it entered into force on February 16, 2005. Australia has recently ratified the agreement.
LULUCF: Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry. Term for agriculture-based GHG sequestration methods such as tree planting and land disturbance reduction.
MRET: mandatory renewable energy target. The Australian government is considering have a 20% MRET for the year 2020.
NCAS: National Carbon Accounting System. Australia's accounting system for sources (emissions) and removals (sinks) for greenhouse gas emissions from land-based systems.
NGA: National Greenhouse Accounts. A guideline providing estimates of emissions of greenhouse gases for various activities, such as fuel combustion, mining activities, methane emission from waste, agriculture, etc.
OSCAR: Online System for Comprehensive Activity Reporting. An online system for reporting greenhouse gases.
UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is the international forum for dealing with climate change.
upstream: in a market-based approach such as cap and trade or a carbon tax, upstream refers to the primary producers of carbon, such as coal mines, oil wells, refineries, etc.
VCS: Voluntary Carbon Standard 2007. Specification for the project-level quantification, monitoring and reporting as well as validation and verification of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removals.
Australian federal and state government websites
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