I always thought the one problem with carbon markets or pollution credits is that they allow companies to carry on polluting. They don’t actually fix the problem. Now the UK policy group, the Cornerhouse has published a briefing attacking carbon trading. It was also published by the think think, Foreign Policy in Focus. According to … Read More
Climate Change
Climate Chaos and Water Wars
On the day that Tony Blair hosts a crisis Downing Street summit to address what he calls “the major long-term threat facing our planet”, there is more bad news for the climate. The Guardian reports how “the Earth’s temperature could rise under the impact of global warming to levels far higher than previously predicted, according … Read More
World Glaciers in Crisis
More grim news from the American Advancement of Science annual meeting. According to scientists, the world’s glaciers are in crisis, from Greeenland, Patagonia, Tibet to Africa and Antarctica. They are all melting rapidly. The amount of ice the Greenland ice sheet is loosing has doubled over the last five years. “Fifteen years ago, we thought … Read More
A “1000 Year” Lethal Legacy
New shocking research on climate change has been published. The alarming research is not from a pressure group but published by Britain’s Environment Agency, and written by scientists from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change. The study, the first of its kind to examine climate change impacts beyond the end of this century, concluded that … Read More
Kyoto Response Been “A Failure”
More on Kyoto: The environment group, Friends of the Earth has said that Governments who signed up to the Protocol are failing to take the necessary action to ensure that emission targets are met. According to FoE, emissions data from countries who signed up to Kyoto reveal that many are still failing to bring carbon … Read More
Happy Birthday Kyoto?
Tomorrow is the first Anniversary of the UN Kyoto Protocol taking effect. A year on the Protocol is fundamentally weakened by the Bush Administration’s refusal to sign up to it. However some parts of the agreement are booming – especially carbon trading. Carbon dioxide is now one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, worth as much … Read More
Chelsea Tractors Take Over London
To their admirers, they are the latest must-haves in status, style and chic. To their critics, they are dangerous, polluting and gas guzzling brutes. Known as Chelsea tractors they are urban 4X4s or SUVs. But the news that Londoners are the most likely people in the whole of the UK to buy 4X4s will come … Read More
That Sinking Feeling
The British Environment Agency has calculated that over two million homes are at risk of being flooded, a situation that will get worse because of climate change. “The risk of flooding is ever present, and increasing”, says the Environment Agency (EA). Despite everyone knowing that climate change will make matters worse, developers are still trying … Read More
Evangelical Chistians Now Urge Bush to Act on Climate
The fight against climate change received an unexpected boost yesterday when 86 evangelical Christian leaders in American backed a major initiative to fight climate change. A statement they released said: “millions of people could die in this century because of climate change, most of them our poorest global neighbors.” The statement continued: “For most of … Read More
A good old pension – pity about the climate
Yesterday saw BP join Shell and Exxon in reporting record profits of $19.3bn (£11bn). What the three company results highlight is the fundamental flaw of how they are valued by city investors. As both Shell and BP posted record profits their share price actually went down as the profits were not as large as some … Read More