Carbon Alert - March 2011

A monthly resource round-up of recently released reports and upcoming events and training opportunities.

Climate Change Policy and Legislation

Australia’s Emissions Projections. This report, released by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, provides a full update of Australia’s emissions projections. This includes a projection of baseline emissions for the Kyoto Protocol first commitment period and to 2020, as well as an indicative projection of Australia’s emissions out to 2030. As these projections are made on the basis of current policies and measures they do not include the impact of a carbon price. Technical papers for each sectoral projection have also been released (February 2011)

Garnaut Climate Change Review – Update 2011. Professor Ross Garnaut has released the third and fourth of eight Climate Change Review update papers which include new developments and consider whether the conclusions drawn in the 2008 Review are still relevant (February 2011)

Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements 2010-11: Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Portfolio. This publication, released by the Australian Government, outlines the proposed allocation of resources to Government outcomes by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator. The statements summarise changes in resourcing since the May Budget, but do not take into account cuts proposed by the Government to help fund flood recovery efforts (February 2011)

Multi-Party Climate Change Committee: Carbon Price Mechanism. This document, released by the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, contains a proposed carbon price mechanism that has been agreed by the Government and Greens members of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee (February 2011)

Complimentary or Contradictory? An Analysis of the Design of Climate Policies in Australia. This policy brief, released by the Australia Institute, outlines the circumstances in which policies designed to compliment the operation of a carbon price are required. The brief assesses whether the recent decision to modify and abolish a wide range of these complimentary policies was justified (February 2011)

 

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Carbon Management and Accounting

National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting – Greenhouse and Energy Information 2009 – 2010. This publication, released by the Australian Government, contains a summary of the total information reported by corporations to the Greenhouse and Energy Data Officer under the NGER Act (February 2011)

2011 Insider Knowledge Report: Lessons Learned from Corporate Environmental, Sustainability and Energy Decision Makers. This report, issued by U.S based news service Environmental Leader and sponsored by the Pew Center, sets out advice and anecdotes obtained from more than 150 sustainability managers. Contributors include HP, Ford, Investor Property Group, Dell and Lumenor Energy Services (February 2011)

LULUCF Offsets and Australia’s 2020 Abatement Task. This study released by Australian National University and sponsored by Greenpeace, analyses the role that land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) could play in Australia’s post-2012 climate regime. It evaluates the LULUCF opportunities that were not addressed in a key report by the Department of Treasury, which are divided into two groups: those that are available under the existing accounting rules; and those that are likely to arise with the proposed amendments to the accounting framework (February 2011)

The Economics of Australian Agriculture’s Participation in Carbon Offset Markets. This paper, released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, explores some of the economic issues around Australian agriculture’s participation in carbon offset markets. The paper also discusses the possible role for market innovations such as ‘carbon pooling’ by aggregators, and policy innovations that may increase the confidence of participants in these carbon offset markets (March 2011)

Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: September Quarter 2010. This report provides estimates of and shows trends in Australia’s National Greenhouse Inventory up to the September quarter of 2010 (March 2010)

Disclosing Climate Risks & Opportunities in SEC Filing: A Guide for Corporate Executives, Attorneys & Directors. This report, released by Ceres, aims to help companies review and improve their disclosure. It provides guidance to firms on how to assess and disclose climate risks and opportunities, as well as including examples of what investors view as quality disclosure. (February 2011)

 

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International Climate Change News

Climate Change Scenarios – Implications for Strategic Asset Allocation. This landmark report by consultancy Mercer, 14 global institutional investors, the IFC and the Carbon Trust, examines what climate change might mean for the underlying drivers of the major asset classes and regions around the world. It looks at climate risks and investment opportunities out to 2030 under four global scenarios (February 2011)

HSBC Climate Partnership Review 2010. This publication, released by HSBC, looks at the achievements of the HSBC Climate Partnership, a five year collaboration between HSBC, The Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, Smithonian Tropical Research Institute and WWF. It illustrates how and where the partnership has delivered real and tangible outcomes within scientific research, pilot projects, clean technology and government policy (February 2011) 

Degrees of Risk: Defining a Risk Management Framework for Climate Security. This report, released by non-profit organisation E3G, is the result of a series of closed-door meetings with international security, intelligence, and defence officials. It recommends using a risk management approach to break logjams and tackle climate change (February 2011)

A New Growth Path for Europe: Generating Prosperity and Jobs in the Low Carbon Economy. This report, commissioned by the German Government, has found that increasing the EU’s 2020 greenhouse gas reduction target from 20% to 30% could help boost European investments from 18% to 22% of GDP, leading to a GDP increase of up to €620bn and the creation of up to 6 million additional jobs (February 2011)

 

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Energy, Technology and Renewables

Clean Energy Jobs in Regional Australia: Victoria. This briefing paper, released by the Climate Institute, assesses Victoria’s potential to benefit from the clean energy boom, with a particular focus on the employment opportunities this will create. Both state-wide and regional employment opportunities have been assessed. Follow this link for assessments of other states (February 2011)

Greenhouse Indicator, Annual Report: 2010. This annual report, released by the Climate Group, looks at emissions from energy use in Australia’s four eastern states and compares them with previous years (February 2011)

Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Business Realities and Opportunities. This report, released by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, presents a significantly more detailed view of the current state of energy demand in the building sector than has previously been compiled. Importantly, it concludes that all 14 companies that participated in the study can immediately drive down world energy demand and reduce carbon emissions using technologies and knowledge available today (February 2011)

What’s Ahead for Power Plants and Industry? Using the Clean Air Act to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Building on Existing Regional Programs. This working paper, released by the World Resources Institute, explores how U.S. states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and industrial facilities using the standards of performance under section 111 of the Clean Air Act.

 

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Climate Change Science and Adaptation

Annual Climate Summary 2010. This report is the Bureau of Meteorology’s official summary of the Australian climate in 2010. It contains descriptions of Australia’s rainfall and temperature patterns during the year, and documents significant weather and climate events (February 2011)

Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events. This fact sheet, released by the Climate Institute, looks at the impacts of a changing climate in Australia and around the world (February 2011)

 

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