The environment in the news friday, 20 April 2007 unep and the Executive Director in the News
World Bank: Latin America at Risk from Social, Economic Inequalities: WEF
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World Bank: Latin America at Risk from Social, Economic Inequalities: WEF
“Latin America's economies are less vulnerable to sudden disruption than in previous decades but social and economic inequalities pose a growing concern, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said on Wednesday. …
Latin America is the ‘most unequal region in the world,’ where 25 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day despite average growth rates of more than 4 percent over the past three years. ‘Economic inequality and social marginalization are the greatest risks facing Latin America. These longstanding twin disappointments continue to hamper the region's progress - social cohesion and inclusive economic development are joined at the hip,’ the report [entitled Latin America@risk] said. It called for greater political will to tackle vested interests, adding that the region's business community has the capacity to become a key catalyst for change. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva] Dow Jones adds that the WEF report said “Much of Latin America's strength is arising from commodity exports, so global risks such as a hard landing of the Chinese economy or rising protectionism from the US also create new challenges for the region. ‘Fiscal discipline and counter-cyclical policies must be strengthened to build the region's 'margin of safety,'‘ it said. Although democracy and political stability remain at historically high levels across the region, ‘pockets of populist/anti-globalist storm clouds threaten to spread throughout the highly interdependent region,’ the report said. Globalization continues to drive both real and perceived inequalities, it said. …” [Dow Jones/Factiva]
The 16-page report, prepared for the WEF meeting that will take place in Santiago de Chile next week, also discusses the impacts of climate change on the region …” [Reuters/Factiva]
Business World Urged To Play Greater Role On Climate: UN Meeting
“More global corporations need to get involved in fighting climate change, experts told a major conference in Singapore Thursday, adding that many companies are already seeing the benefits of environmentally-friendly practices.
International businesses have a major role in helping protect the environment, experts said at the start of the UN-backed Business for the Environment Summit. Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), said climate change has gained increasing prominence, and companies that adopt environment-friendly policies and standards were likely to gain support from consumers. … Steiner also cited the booming market in energy-efficient light bulbs, and Toyota's success with ‘hybrid’ cars whose engines combine gasoline power with an electric motor. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva] AP reports that the head of the UN Global Compact, a 7-year-old initiative that works with businesses to enhance environmental and social ideals, “… Georg Kell, commended companies that have already embraced the goals of Global Compact but lamented that only 100 of the top 500 global companies were on board. … He noted that businesses in emerging economies such as China and India were proactive in embracing environment-friendly concepts in order to catch up or even surpass global competitors. ‘It is in a way a race to the top. In today's world, if you want to be a leader, you have to be a leader in the ESG side,’ said Kell, referring to Environmental, Social and Governance.
While speakers and forum participants encouraged government and policymakers to incorporate ‘green thinking,’ they stated that businesses should not wait to implement their own sustainability efforts. …” [The Associated Press/Factiva] Xinhua notes that “… About 600 business executives and experts attended the two-day event, which was organized by UNEP and the UN Global Compact, to discuss how the private sector, the public and governments can cooperate to address the challenge of climate change. The event is the first major international conference focusing on business and the environment in Asia, according to the organizers. …” [Xinhua (China)/Factiva]
Meanwhile, in an interview with Dow Jones on Thursday, Steiner said “International discussions on a post-Kyoto climate change treaty are ‘stuck,’ and the outcome of talks in Bali, Indonesia, in December will be critical if agreement is to be reached at a global summit in Denmark in 2009. … Environmental ministers from across the world are to meet in Bali in December to begin talks on what action to take on global climate change after 2012, when the current Kyoto Protocol is set to expire. A year later, Denmark will host an UN environmental summit, where the UN hopes to reach an agreement on a replacement of the Kyoto Protocol. If UN members fail to reach an agreement by 2009, ‘the world will be in trouble,’ Steiner said. … The US will play a key role in reaching an agreement on a post-Kyoto treaty, and the US government and companies seem to be becoming increasingly keen on addressing climate change, lifting hopes for its participation, Steiner said. …” [Dow Jones/Factiva] ====================================================================
LONDON - British Gas said on Thursday it was launching a new green energy unit, targeting a market it values in billions of pounds. British Gas New Energy will offer rooftop solar heating panels and give customers the chance to offset their CO2 emissions through schemes that buy credits from other firms or countries whose own emissions are well within targets. Parent company Centrica pledged to cut energy use in its own UK buildings by 10 percent this year and is working on developing a fuel cell domestic boiler that could halve household CO2 emissions. "We have reason to believe that in market turnover terms, this space will be worth several billion pounds a year in the next few years," the unit's new managing director, Gearoid Lane, previously Centrica's director of energy procurement, told Reuters. Centrica said it would take a while for the earnings to become material and its shares were down 0.7 percent to 386-1/2 pence by 0831 GMT. The average UK home emits five tonnes of CO2 a year, accounting for about a quarter of the household's total emissions, says British Gas. Another quarter comes from travel and the rest indirectly from leisure activities and the consumption of food, clothing and furniture. Installing a fuel cell boiler, which British Gas is developing with Ceres Power, could cut around 2.5 tonnes of CO2. "We don't have the absolute blueprint for taking these to manufacture, but we're in late stage development," said Lane. "You won't see something later in 2007, but you won't have to wait four or five years." British Gas said demand for microgeneration alone -- such as fuel cell boilers and solar panels -- might be worth approx 1 billion pounds annually in another five years. The group has formed a partnership with some local authorities, which will give council tax discounts of up to 500 pounds for households that install solar panels. The new business will also provide Energy Performance Certificates, which become mandatory for people selling their homes from June 1.
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