Isramart news:
With the UN Climate Change Conference still underway in Copenhagen, university students in China are supporting the summit's mission from home by holding environmental protection rallies and campus energy conservation programs on campuses.
Through events such as the "Reduce Carbon for Copenhagen" held in Hefei, Anhui Province, university students are letting the world know that China's upcoming generation are on the forefront of change.
In fact, many college student organizations in China have been fully aware of the importance of keeping a low carbon living and making great effort to promote this lifestyle for years. The difference is, the world is finally listening.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Isramart : Exxon chief praises natural gas in face of carbon tax
Isramart news:
Exxon Mobil Corp's chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson has outlined some of the benefits associated with the growing role of gas, in the wake of yesterday's announcement that it will buy XTO Energy Inc in an all-stock deal valued at about $US30 billion ($A32.8 billion).
The largest publicly-traded energy company is focused on a growing role for gas, which will make up 45 per cent of Exxon's production if the deal goes ahead, The Australian reported.
Mr Tillerson said that natural gas looked set to have an advantage over other fuels at such time as a price is fixed on carbon emissions.
He signalled an aim for the company to open a new business to develop less conventional gas resources once the takeover is completed.
Exxon's views on the benefits of gas in an energy market whose future will be constrained by carbon caps reflect similar moves by Santos Ltd and Origin Energy Ltd to boost gas production and exports, according to the paper.
With the acquisition of XTO, Exxon will become the top US natural gas producer as it bets on natural gas expanding its share in the world's largest energy market.
The deal is valued at $US41 billion, including about $US10 billion in XTO debt, and is based on the December 11 closing share prices of the two companies.
Exxon Mobil Corp's chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson has outlined some of the benefits associated with the growing role of gas, in the wake of yesterday's announcement that it will buy XTO Energy Inc in an all-stock deal valued at about $US30 billion ($A32.8 billion).
The largest publicly-traded energy company is focused on a growing role for gas, which will make up 45 per cent of Exxon's production if the deal goes ahead, The Australian reported.
Mr Tillerson said that natural gas looked set to have an advantage over other fuels at such time as a price is fixed on carbon emissions.
He signalled an aim for the company to open a new business to develop less conventional gas resources once the takeover is completed.
Exxon's views on the benefits of gas in an energy market whose future will be constrained by carbon caps reflect similar moves by Santos Ltd and Origin Energy Ltd to boost gas production and exports, according to the paper.
With the acquisition of XTO, Exxon will become the top US natural gas producer as it bets on natural gas expanding its share in the world's largest energy market.
The deal is valued at $US41 billion, including about $US10 billion in XTO debt, and is based on the December 11 closing share prices of the two companies.
Isramart : ESRI Supports Guyana's Low-Carbon Development Strategy
Isramart news:
In an effort to mitigate the effects of climate change, the South American nation of Guyana is developing the world's first national Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) using enterprise geographic information system (GIS) technology and expertise from ESRI. The environmental technology company will provide Guyana with software for use in national carbon accounting and sustainable management of forests.
In a national announcement, Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo, described the goal of LCDS: "Our low-carbon strategy combats deforestation, a factor contributing to climate change, without slowing down national development or compromising our people's sovereignty over the forest. The emerging carbon market provides us with a unique opportunity to use the global economy to save the world's rain forests by putting a value on them."
ESRI President Jack Dangermond met with President Jagdeo at the Office of Guyana's Permanent Mission to the United Nations and committed ESRI to support the country's LCDS initiative.
"ESRI's commitment brings vital technology for studying the effects of the forest on the planet," said President Jagdeo. "The combination of GIS software, training, and other capacity-building efforts will provide Guyana with the tools it needs to scientifically measure and analyze our natural resources effectively. With GIS, we can support responsible resource management decisions that benefit generations to follow."
"ESRI's support stems from a longtime goal to advance sustainable environments and economies," noted Dangermond. "GIS has become an integral component in the development of new carbon accounting methodologies. It adds the rigor of science to a decision support system that validates a credible carbon exchange mechanism."
The government of Norway, the World Bank, the Clinton Climate Initiative, and McKinsey and Company are working with Guyana to implement the LCDS. Norway is one of the key countries backing Guyana's move to use its forests for carbon financing and payment for forest conservation now. This arrangement allows future innovations, including an eventual forest carbon credit system as such a market evolves. This strategy aligns with the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD), a climate change mitigation scheme created to pay developing countries for conserving their tropical forests.
GIS is the core technology of Guyana's monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) system. Building on work done in country, the MRV will integrate field observations with satellite imagery and other geographic data using methodologies consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for measuring, reporting, and verification. Guyana's MRV will be a system for data sharing and the cross-sector analysis that is essential for effective climate change research, mitigation, and adaptation planning. This enterprise approach enables the transparent disclosure of land-use dynamics and the status of natural resources for Guyana's citizens, indigenous communities, investors, partners, and the international carbon science community.
ESRI continues to work with countries around the world, such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States of America, to design solution models that offer a credible scientific approach to measuring, reporting, and verifying carbon emissions and sequestration. These systems incorporate ESRI's robust imagery management, integrated workflows, spatial modeling, and analysis capabilities to help countries use reliable data and consider scientific evidence in their decision-making processes.
President Jagdeo intends to present Guyana's LCDS at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December. Representatives of participating nations will discuss establishing emissions targets for industrialized countries and a method for financing mitigation and adaptation actions by developing countries
In an effort to mitigate the effects of climate change, the South American nation of Guyana is developing the world's first national Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) using enterprise geographic information system (GIS) technology and expertise from ESRI. The environmental technology company will provide Guyana with software for use in national carbon accounting and sustainable management of forests.
In a national announcement, Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo, described the goal of LCDS: "Our low-carbon strategy combats deforestation, a factor contributing to climate change, without slowing down national development or compromising our people's sovereignty over the forest. The emerging carbon market provides us with a unique opportunity to use the global economy to save the world's rain forests by putting a value on them."
ESRI President Jack Dangermond met with President Jagdeo at the Office of Guyana's Permanent Mission to the United Nations and committed ESRI to support the country's LCDS initiative.
"ESRI's commitment brings vital technology for studying the effects of the forest on the planet," said President Jagdeo. "The combination of GIS software, training, and other capacity-building efforts will provide Guyana with the tools it needs to scientifically measure and analyze our natural resources effectively. With GIS, we can support responsible resource management decisions that benefit generations to follow."
"ESRI's support stems from a longtime goal to advance sustainable environments and economies," noted Dangermond. "GIS has become an integral component in the development of new carbon accounting methodologies. It adds the rigor of science to a decision support system that validates a credible carbon exchange mechanism."
The government of Norway, the World Bank, the Clinton Climate Initiative, and McKinsey and Company are working with Guyana to implement the LCDS. Norway is one of the key countries backing Guyana's move to use its forests for carbon financing and payment for forest conservation now. This arrangement allows future innovations, including an eventual forest carbon credit system as such a market evolves. This strategy aligns with the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD), a climate change mitigation scheme created to pay developing countries for conserving their tropical forests.
GIS is the core technology of Guyana's monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) system. Building on work done in country, the MRV will integrate field observations with satellite imagery and other geographic data using methodologies consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for measuring, reporting, and verification. Guyana's MRV will be a system for data sharing and the cross-sector analysis that is essential for effective climate change research, mitigation, and adaptation planning. This enterprise approach enables the transparent disclosure of land-use dynamics and the status of natural resources for Guyana's citizens, indigenous communities, investors, partners, and the international carbon science community.
ESRI continues to work with countries around the world, such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States of America, to design solution models that offer a credible scientific approach to measuring, reporting, and verifying carbon emissions and sequestration. These systems incorporate ESRI's robust imagery management, integrated workflows, spatial modeling, and analysis capabilities to help countries use reliable data and consider scientific evidence in their decision-making processes.
President Jagdeo intends to present Guyana's LCDS at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December. Representatives of participating nations will discuss establishing emissions targets for industrialized countries and a method for financing mitigation and adaptation actions by developing countries
Isramart :European Power Companies Responding to Carbon Pricing - SurveyThe European Emissions Trading Scheme is starting to change the way Eurpoean p
The European Emissions Trading Scheme is starting to change the way Eurpoean power companies make investment decisions, shifting resources towards cleaner generating technologies, according to a recent survey by New Energy Finance,
Based on responses from 13 power companies that account for over 50% of European power sector CO2 emissions, the research identifies four key findings:
* Five years after the start of the EU ETS, carbon prices are being fully integrated into investment decisions in the European power sector. All power generators contacted in the survey factor a carbon price into their investment decisions, with most running several future price scenarios.
* 85% of European power companies only consider a future with a positive carbon price. For these companies, a “zero carbon price” scenario simply does not feature in their investment decisions. The 15% of firms that said they did run a zero carbon price scenario were based in Eastern Europe, and their responses more reflected a lack of familiarity with EU institutions and policy making than the EU ETS itself.
* Although the carbon price (current and projected) is not sufficient in isolation to justify an immediate wholesale shift to lower CO2 emitting technologies--fuel prices, power prices and direct government support for renewable are also important--the carbon price is making power companies alter their investment focus to include more lower carbon technologies, such as combined-cycle gas turbines and high efficiency coal, in their future plant mix.
* Specifically however the EU ETS is having a clear impact on: The build-rate of biomass co-firing capacity; the closure of older, dirtier, oil, coal and lignite plants covered by the large combustion plant directive; investments in carbon capture and storage (CCS)--although direct government support also plays a role in CCS decisions, the EU ETS is the most important consideration.
“We have known for some time that the EU ETS is having a real effect on operational decisions in European power companies, but this is the first time we have been able to show how it is affecting capital investment decisions," Guy Turner, director of carbon market research at New Energy Finance, said. "The answer is clearly that European power generators see that the EU ETS is here to stay and that it is starting to affect how they make multi-billion euro investments in new generation capacity. By 2020 the European generating fleet will be materially cleaner than it is today.”
Based on responses from 13 power companies that account for over 50% of European power sector CO2 emissions, the research identifies four key findings:
* Five years after the start of the EU ETS, carbon prices are being fully integrated into investment decisions in the European power sector. All power generators contacted in the survey factor a carbon price into their investment decisions, with most running several future price scenarios.
* 85% of European power companies only consider a future with a positive carbon price. For these companies, a “zero carbon price” scenario simply does not feature in their investment decisions. The 15% of firms that said they did run a zero carbon price scenario were based in Eastern Europe, and their responses more reflected a lack of familiarity with EU institutions and policy making than the EU ETS itself.
* Although the carbon price (current and projected) is not sufficient in isolation to justify an immediate wholesale shift to lower CO2 emitting technologies--fuel prices, power prices and direct government support for renewable are also important--the carbon price is making power companies alter their investment focus to include more lower carbon technologies, such as combined-cycle gas turbines and high efficiency coal, in their future plant mix.
* Specifically however the EU ETS is having a clear impact on: The build-rate of biomass co-firing capacity; the closure of older, dirtier, oil, coal and lignite plants covered by the large combustion plant directive; investments in carbon capture and storage (CCS)--although direct government support also plays a role in CCS decisions, the EU ETS is the most important consideration.
“We have known for some time that the EU ETS is having a real effect on operational decisions in European power companies, but this is the first time we have been able to show how it is affecting capital investment decisions," Guy Turner, director of carbon market research at New Energy Finance, said. "The answer is clearly that European power generators see that the EU ETS is here to stay and that it is starting to affect how they make multi-billion euro investments in new generation capacity. By 2020 the European generating fleet will be materially cleaner than it is today.”
Isramart : ICT key to cut carbon emissions, says IDC
Isramart news:
ICT-based offerings can cut 5.8 billion tons of CO2 emissions by 2020, according to IDC's G20 ICT Sustainability Index.
Six countries from the Asia/Pacific region were included in the study, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Korea, which are estimated to contribute in the reduction of 2.4 billion tons (or 41.4%) within this target.
Japan was ranked as the top-tier country of the G20 nations, with most potential of reducing greenhouse gases. Australia, China and Korea were ranked in the fourth-tier of the Index, while India and Indonesia were ranked in the fifth-tier.
Philip Carter, associate research director for Asia/Pacific practice and green IT and sustainability research at IDC, said: "It is clear that Asia/Pacific as a region has a prominent role to play in dealing with climate change as a global issue.
“We are hopeful that governments in the region start to identify technology areas highlighted in the study and provide incentives for companies and consumers to start using them more specifically with this objective in mind. We also anticipate that more progressive policy makers will go a step further and begin to mandate the usage of some of these technologies and associated solutions in certain industries."
In developing the research, the firm identified seventeen core technologies in four major economic sectors, energy generation and distribution, transport, buildings and industry.
In the Asia/Pacific region, the priority of specific sectors and technologies varies by country. Transport-related sources constitute the largest share of CO2e reduction potential in Japan (30%) and supply chain and logistics optimisation is the specific technology area expected to have the greatest impact in meeting the target for this sector.
In China, most opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions lies in the energy generation and distribution sector and renewable energy management systems utilising the smart grid is expected to drive most of the savings within the sector.
In a separate study conducted by IDC, which included 450 organisations in Asia/Pacific, showed that the cost of energy is still the key driver for organisations, with over 60% in the region indicated this to be the case. Growth in IT Infrastructure was also indicated as a factor that is rising fast on the agenda, particularly in China.
According to the study, further local differences become clearer between countries within the Asia/Pacific, particularly when comparing emerging countries such as China against the more developed ones like Australia and Japan. In Australia and Japan, senior executives are taking the leading role in these initiatives. By comparison in the China, this responsibility is being pushed to IT Management.
In addition, the survey also identified three green IT and sustainability areas that respondents hope to initiate within the next 12 months, namely 63% of Australian, 62% of Chinese and 45% of Japanese respondents intend to change customer behaviour from print to online. 47% of Japanese respondents plan to initiate techniques for better managing systems or data such as server management duplication while 45% of Chinese respondents aim to implement a thin client or client device strategy.
ICT-based offerings can cut 5.8 billion tons of CO2 emissions by 2020, according to IDC's G20 ICT Sustainability Index.
Six countries from the Asia/Pacific region were included in the study, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Korea, which are estimated to contribute in the reduction of 2.4 billion tons (or 41.4%) within this target.
Japan was ranked as the top-tier country of the G20 nations, with most potential of reducing greenhouse gases. Australia, China and Korea were ranked in the fourth-tier of the Index, while India and Indonesia were ranked in the fifth-tier.
Philip Carter, associate research director for Asia/Pacific practice and green IT and sustainability research at IDC, said: "It is clear that Asia/Pacific as a region has a prominent role to play in dealing with climate change as a global issue.
“We are hopeful that governments in the region start to identify technology areas highlighted in the study and provide incentives for companies and consumers to start using them more specifically with this objective in mind. We also anticipate that more progressive policy makers will go a step further and begin to mandate the usage of some of these technologies and associated solutions in certain industries."
In developing the research, the firm identified seventeen core technologies in four major economic sectors, energy generation and distribution, transport, buildings and industry.
In the Asia/Pacific region, the priority of specific sectors and technologies varies by country. Transport-related sources constitute the largest share of CO2e reduction potential in Japan (30%) and supply chain and logistics optimisation is the specific technology area expected to have the greatest impact in meeting the target for this sector.
In China, most opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions lies in the energy generation and distribution sector and renewable energy management systems utilising the smart grid is expected to drive most of the savings within the sector.
In a separate study conducted by IDC, which included 450 organisations in Asia/Pacific, showed that the cost of energy is still the key driver for organisations, with over 60% in the region indicated this to be the case. Growth in IT Infrastructure was also indicated as a factor that is rising fast on the agenda, particularly in China.
According to the study, further local differences become clearer between countries within the Asia/Pacific, particularly when comparing emerging countries such as China against the more developed ones like Australia and Japan. In Australia and Japan, senior executives are taking the leading role in these initiatives. By comparison in the China, this responsibility is being pushed to IT Management.
In addition, the survey also identified three green IT and sustainability areas that respondents hope to initiate within the next 12 months, namely 63% of Australian, 62% of Chinese and 45% of Japanese respondents intend to change customer behaviour from print to online. 47% of Japanese respondents plan to initiate techniques for better managing systems or data such as server management duplication while 45% of Chinese respondents aim to implement a thin client or client device strategy.
Isramart :Taiwan drops in global ranking on carbon dioxide reduction performance
Isramart news:
Taiwan ranked the 47th among 57 countries with the world's largest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the latest climate change performance index, dropping from its previous ranking of 32nd place, according to the index for 2010 released on Monday.
The German non-governmental organization, Germanwatch, presented the "Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2010" together with the Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-Europe) - a union of over 100 European organizations advocating environmental protection - in Germany and at the United Nations climate conference taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The CCPI, published annually by Germanwatch and CAN-Europe, compares the climate protection performance of 57 industrialized countries and emerging economies.
The 57 countries and economies together account for more than 90 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions. The CCPI contains three partial ratings, including the evaluation of emissions trends, that of a country's current emissions level, and that of a country's national and international climate policies.
Taiwan was not evaluated as part of the system until 2008, when it was ranked 32nd place among 57 countries in the CCPI for 2009 with 51.5 points, a performance better than its Asian neighbors of Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China. But in the CCPI for 2010, Taiwan only got 47.5 points, which pushed it down to the "poor" category. According to the 2010 index, Taiwan's performance in carbon reduction was seen to be better than only Malaysia and China in Asia, while lagging behind India, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
In separate ratings, Taiwan fell in ranking to behind the 40th place in all the evaluation of carbon emissions of power departments, the CO2 emission volume of every unit of preliminary energy sources like coal and crude oil, and the per-capita consumption of the preliminary energy sources.
Taiwan only received a good score with its climate policies, and was seen as having improved in the CO2 emissions of road transportation, as well as those of the manufacturing and construction sectors.
Germanwatch's Jan Burck, one of the CCPI report authors, told the CNA that industrial and developing countries around the world should equally share the obligation to cut carbon emissions. The per-capita carbon emission volume should be the same among the countries by 2050, Burck said.
Speaking of Taiwan's ranking, the expert who has helped develop the CCPI methodology, said Taiwan fell behind in the climate change performance because it has experienced significant growth in carbon emission volume per capita since 1990. In the latest CCPI index, Brazil, Sweden, Britain and Germany all recorded the best performance, while China and the U.S. placed in the "very poor" category along with Australia and Canada.
Taiwan ranked the 47th among 57 countries with the world's largest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the latest climate change performance index, dropping from its previous ranking of 32nd place, according to the index for 2010 released on Monday.
The German non-governmental organization, Germanwatch, presented the "Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2010" together with the Climate Action Network Europe (CAN-Europe) - a union of over 100 European organizations advocating environmental protection - in Germany and at the United Nations climate conference taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The CCPI, published annually by Germanwatch and CAN-Europe, compares the climate protection performance of 57 industrialized countries and emerging economies.
The 57 countries and economies together account for more than 90 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions. The CCPI contains three partial ratings, including the evaluation of emissions trends, that of a country's current emissions level, and that of a country's national and international climate policies.
Taiwan was not evaluated as part of the system until 2008, when it was ranked 32nd place among 57 countries in the CCPI for 2009 with 51.5 points, a performance better than its Asian neighbors of Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China. But in the CCPI for 2010, Taiwan only got 47.5 points, which pushed it down to the "poor" category. According to the 2010 index, Taiwan's performance in carbon reduction was seen to be better than only Malaysia and China in Asia, while lagging behind India, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
In separate ratings, Taiwan fell in ranking to behind the 40th place in all the evaluation of carbon emissions of power departments, the CO2 emission volume of every unit of preliminary energy sources like coal and crude oil, and the per-capita consumption of the preliminary energy sources.
Taiwan only received a good score with its climate policies, and was seen as having improved in the CO2 emissions of road transportation, as well as those of the manufacturing and construction sectors.
Germanwatch's Jan Burck, one of the CCPI report authors, told the CNA that industrial and developing countries around the world should equally share the obligation to cut carbon emissions. The per-capita carbon emission volume should be the same among the countries by 2050, Burck said.
Speaking of Taiwan's ranking, the expert who has helped develop the CCPI methodology, said Taiwan fell behind in the climate change performance because it has experienced significant growth in carbon emission volume per capita since 1990. In the latest CCPI index, Brazil, Sweden, Britain and Germany all recorded the best performance, while China and the U.S. placed in the "very poor" category along with Australia and Canada.
Isramart : Boris Johnson tells climate summit to take off its carbon neutral hairshirt and cheer up
Isramart news:
The London Mayor Boris Johnson said today that people should stop "overdosing on gloom" as they try to reduce their carbon footprint.
Mr Johnson was speaking at "summit" of Mayors which opened today in Copenhagen city hall to run alongside the UN climate summit. There delegates from 192 nations hope to set limits on global carbon dioxide emissions over coming decades for signature by 120 world leaders this Friday.
Some 80 mayors are participating in the meeting including Michael Bloomberg of New York and Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, who is trying to transfor his city from America's most polluted to its greenest.
None could match Mr Johnson on the humour front, however, as he disagreed with a suggestion that the mayors could learn from each other and suggested that they they inject a note of competition. "You have to harness the appalling ego of politicians," he said.
In a question-and-answer session, the mayors were asked to showcase their city's green credentials. London could not compete with cities such as Toronto, where authorities have already cut their carbon emissions by 40 per cent, or Copenhagen, which is on track to become the world's first carbon-neutral capital by 2025.
Mr Johnson said that London intended to cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent on 1990 levels by 2025 — far beyond the targets being discussed at the UN summit. He said that the secret, apart from a new generation of green Routemaster buses, was to appeal to people's "naked self-interest" in offering incentives for schemes such as home insulation. He also called on City banks to help securitise debt taken on by London in its battle to reduce emissions.
He added: "We need to stop overdosing on gloom and start conveying a message of optimism to people they can improve their lives and cut their CO2. There's too much mortification of the flesh and hairshirt-ism, too much gloom, too much negativity."
Mr Johnson warned that the public was turned off by the gloom, but said measures to improve energy efficiency in homes could save people money and cut their heating bills in homes while an electric vehicle network would mean they do not have to "buy a lagoon of petrol or diesel over the lifetime of their car".
"We're never going to beat consumerism, we need to harness it, we need a new green consumerism," he said.
As part of the meeting of mayors, Mr Johnson announced that every Londoner would be no more than one mile from an electric charge point by 2015 as part of a comprehensive network of charge points in the capital.
He hopes that electric cars will become a feature of life in the capital and wants to team up with other cities to ensure their joint purchasing power to ensure a supply of vehicles at the best possible price.
Under the charging point scheme, there will be 22,500 charge points at workplaces, with 500 on street and 2,000 in public car parks by 2015, and faster charge points installed at key locations on the roads and at motorway service stations. Altogether Mr Johnson wants to put 100,000 electric vehicles on the streets of London.
Mr Johnson added: 'A golden era of clean, green electric motoring is upon us and London is well ahead of cities around the globe in preparing the right conditions for this."
Also participating in the mayor's meeting is Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California who unilaterally took that state down the carbon-reduction route. In a speech delivered at the main summit today, Mr Schwarzenegger said that governments alone could not make the progress needed on climate change: "They need the cities, the states, the provinces, the regions. They need the corporations, the activists, the scientists, the universities."
The London Mayor Boris Johnson said today that people should stop "overdosing on gloom" as they try to reduce their carbon footprint.
Mr Johnson was speaking at "summit" of Mayors which opened today in Copenhagen city hall to run alongside the UN climate summit. There delegates from 192 nations hope to set limits on global carbon dioxide emissions over coming decades for signature by 120 world leaders this Friday.
Some 80 mayors are participating in the meeting including Michael Bloomberg of New York and Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, who is trying to transfor his city from America's most polluted to its greenest.
None could match Mr Johnson on the humour front, however, as he disagreed with a suggestion that the mayors could learn from each other and suggested that they they inject a note of competition. "You have to harness the appalling ego of politicians," he said.
In a question-and-answer session, the mayors were asked to showcase their city's green credentials. London could not compete with cities such as Toronto, where authorities have already cut their carbon emissions by 40 per cent, or Copenhagen, which is on track to become the world's first carbon-neutral capital by 2025.
Mr Johnson said that London intended to cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent on 1990 levels by 2025 — far beyond the targets being discussed at the UN summit. He said that the secret, apart from a new generation of green Routemaster buses, was to appeal to people's "naked self-interest" in offering incentives for schemes such as home insulation. He also called on City banks to help securitise debt taken on by London in its battle to reduce emissions.
He added: "We need to stop overdosing on gloom and start conveying a message of optimism to people they can improve their lives and cut their CO2. There's too much mortification of the flesh and hairshirt-ism, too much gloom, too much negativity."
Mr Johnson warned that the public was turned off by the gloom, but said measures to improve energy efficiency in homes could save people money and cut their heating bills in homes while an electric vehicle network would mean they do not have to "buy a lagoon of petrol or diesel over the lifetime of their car".
"We're never going to beat consumerism, we need to harness it, we need a new green consumerism," he said.
As part of the meeting of mayors, Mr Johnson announced that every Londoner would be no more than one mile from an electric charge point by 2015 as part of a comprehensive network of charge points in the capital.
He hopes that electric cars will become a feature of life in the capital and wants to team up with other cities to ensure their joint purchasing power to ensure a supply of vehicles at the best possible price.
Under the charging point scheme, there will be 22,500 charge points at workplaces, with 500 on street and 2,000 in public car parks by 2015, and faster charge points installed at key locations on the roads and at motorway service stations. Altogether Mr Johnson wants to put 100,000 electric vehicles on the streets of London.
Mr Johnson added: 'A golden era of clean, green electric motoring is upon us and London is well ahead of cities around the globe in preparing the right conditions for this."
Also participating in the mayor's meeting is Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California who unilaterally took that state down the carbon-reduction route. In a speech delivered at the main summit today, Mr Schwarzenegger said that governments alone could not make the progress needed on climate change: "They need the cities, the states, the provinces, the regions. They need the corporations, the activists, the scientists, the universities."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
