Carbon Alert - January 2011
A monthly resource round-up of recently released reports and upcoming events and training opportunities.
- Climate Change Policy and Legislation
- Carbon Management and Accounting
- International Climate Change News
- Energy, Technology and Renewables
- Climate Change Science and Adaptation
- Carbon Events
- Workshops and Training Courses
Climate Change Policy and Legislation
Low-Carbon Energy: Evaluation of New Energy Technology Choices for Electric Power in Generation in Australia. The findings of this study by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, indicate that Australia needs to price carbon emissions if low-carbon generation technologies are to become financially viable (November 2010)
Australia’s Fast-Start Finance – Progress Report. This report, by the Federal Government, provides an update on Australia’s fast-start financing commitments. Fast-start finance is a commitment by developed countries to provide funding to less developed countries to enhance mitigation actions. Least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) have been given the highest priority in the allocation of Australia’s fast-start package (December 2010)
Liable Entities Guide: Obligations and Reporting Under the LRET and SRES. This guide, from the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator, provides an overview of the Renewable Energy Target split and outlines the obligations and reporting process for liable entities (December 2010)
Carbon Farming Initiative. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry have released draft legislation and methodology guidelines for the Carbon Farming Initiative, a carbon offsets scheme that will provide new economic opportunities for farmers, forest growers and landholders and help the environment by reducing carbon pollution (January 2011)
Carbon Management and Accounting
The State of the CDM 2010: Focusing on Efficiency. Released in Cancun at COP16, this report by the International Emissions Trading Association identifies the challenges that most affect the efficiency of the Clean Development Mechanism (December 2010)
The Business of Energy Efficiency. This paper by the Carbon Trust, reveals large UK businesses are paying out more than £1.6 billion too much on their energy bills every year because many are yet to seize the full opportunity to cut bills by around 15% through energy efficiency measures (December 2010)
Green Your Business Transport. This publication by Carbon Down, provides tips and information on green transport for business (October 2010)
International Climate Change News
Cancun Agreements. The following documents are the two key agreements of the Cancun talks. Go here to see all the agreements (December 2010)
- Outcome of the Work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action under the Convention
- Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol at its fifteenth session
The Cancun Agreement: A Preliminary Assessment. This Policy Brief by The Climate Institute provides a preliminary assessment of the potential progress which can be achieved through the International Agreement made in Cancun, and its implications for Australia (Decemebr 2010)
The Challenge to Change: COP16 Survey on Climate and Communications – Fact Sheet.This fact sheet released by the government of Mexico and the Pew Centre on Global Climate Change, summarises the findings of a survey that gathered insights from COP16 participants from around the world on their attitudes towards climate change (December 2010)
China Clean Revolution Report III: Low Carbon Development in Cities. This summary report by the Climate Group, focuses on the role cities will need to play in ensuring China’s ambitious targets on the low carbon economy are met during a period of rapid urbanisation and industry restructuring (December 2010)
Power, Responsibility, and Accountability: Re-Thinking the Legitimacy of Institutions for Climate Finance. This report by the World Resources Institute, seeks to ground the debate on climate finance in an objective analysis of ongoing efforts to finance mitigation and adaptation in developing countries (December 2010)
Energy, Technology and Renewables
National Low Emissions Coal Strategy. The Australian Government has simultaneously released two reports by the National Low Emissions Coal Council. The Energy Minister received a carbon capture and storage strategy from the Council in 2009 but released it only this month along with an update to the strategy. The reports provide advice to the Minister on the development and implementation of a low emissions coal strategy for Australia (December 2010)
- National Low Emissions Coal Strategy : Accelerating Carbon Capture and Storage in Australia
- National Low Emissions Coal Strategy : Accelerating Carbon Capture and Storage in Australia – Update
National Energy Scenarios Modelling - Fact Sheet. This fact sheet summarises the high-level results of the National Energy Scenarios Modelling work commissioned by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, in conjunction with the Australian Energy Market Operator. The work examines the sensitivity of electricity generation technologies to long term changes in key factors such as economic growth, population growth, global fuel prices, and climate change policy (December 2010)
A Cleaner Future for Power Stations – Interdepartmental Discussion Paper. This discussion paper is intended to facilitate initial consultation with stakeholders on the Federal Government’s Cleaner Future for Power Stations measures. It outlines the Government's commitment, discusses the context of these measures, and proposes a way forward to defining and implementing measures. It also raises a series of important questions, on which stakeholder feedback is sought (November 2010)
Clean Energy Australia 2010. This report by Clean Energy Australia, provides a snapshot of the clean energy industry for 2010. It also includes new future modelling that predicts the creation of more than 55,000 clean energy jobs over the next decade (December 2010)
Innovating for Green Growth: Drivers of Private Sector RD&D. In this publication by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), WBCSD members share their understanding of the environmental challenges at stake and the role of the private sector in low-carbon technology research, development and demonstration (RD&D). The report presents drivers of private sector RD&D and explains how governments can leverage these by introducing policies that redirect private sector investment. The report also contains case studies from WBCSD members showcasing collaborations between companies, academia and the public sector on RD&D (December 2010)
Climate Change Science and Adaptation
Maps of Potential Sea Level Rise. The Australian Government has released maps which highlight low lying areas potentially vulnerable to flooding from rising sea levels in Sydney; the Hunter and Central Coast; Melbourne; South East Queensland; and Perth to south of Mandurah (December 2010)
People Versus Planners: Social Preferences for Adaptation and Climate Change. This paper released by the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, reviews broadly the approaches adopted by a number of different professional interest groups to the issue of adaptation and outlines an economic perspective (December 2010)
Annual Australian Climate Statement 2010. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has released its Annual Australian Climate Statement for 2010 (January 2011)
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