Andrew Winston, founder of Winston Eco-Strategies, kicked of day two of the Sustainable Brands 2010 conference with an informative talk on how the difficult environmental, economic and supply challenges that business and industry face, have changed that game and how those challenges are presenting opportunities.
Amid a growing call for reducing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 to 350 parts per million, a group of economists maintains that striving to meet that target is a smart investment — and the best insurance policy humanity could buy.
A new study by the Marine Biological Lab (MBL) of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has reported that biofuels that displace food crops may have a much bigger carbon footprint than previously thought. MBL senior scientist Jerry Melillo and his colleagues at the MBL have reported that carbon emissions from land-use change caused by the displacement of food crops and pastures by a global biofuels program may be twice as much as the emissions from lands directly devoted to biofuels production.
Senior members of the US Chamber of Commerce are strdently opposing the Chamber’s position of opposition to climate policy. These organizations are eager “to boost their green credentials,” for fear of alienating their customers and senators. This is an indications that Social movements shape political power and concerned citizens, can move even the most entrenched corporate and political interests. NRDC research finds that “only 23 members of the U.S. Chamber’s board have a publicly stated position on climate change and more than 80 percent [19 members] are not on board” with the Chamber’s official position.
In a presentation before national policymakers and analysts recently, leading clean energy venture capitalists, academics and CEOs unveiled the “Gigaton Throwdown,” an assessment of the nation’s clean energy potential that identifies seven industries capable of creating 5 million clean energy jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by 5-7 gigatons by 2020. The report, a collaborative effort between leading researchers at UC Berkeley, MIT, University of Michigan, Stanford, and Drexel University, and clean tech leaders, challenges Washington policymakers to remove obstacles that keep billions of capital investment dollars sitting on the sidelines.
The newly published, inaugural Carbon Salary Survey, is one the first studies to provide detailed information about professionals working in the climate change and emissions trading markets globally. The Carbon Salary Survey, which culled responses from 1,157 participants, is a collaborative project between Acre Resources, a green recruiting consulting firm; Acona, a CSR consulting firm; and Thomson Reuters Carbon Market Community. Throughout April 2009, they surveyed people working in the following areas: renewable energy; clean technology and energy efficiency; carbon finance/brokering; carbon/climate change law, policy or regulation; the project-based emissions market under the Kyoto Protocol(CDM & JI); and the voluntary offset market and climate change science. Based on the results, it appears that green professionals overall are well-paid, feel that they have job security and are happy.
