COP26 Pontignano 2020: Italy and UK new bilateral relations on climate change

London (Rosita Dagh) Italy and UK established a new bilateral relationship on climate change during the Pontignano Conference.

The event took place in London on February 25th.

The Italian and English governments came together to find new solutions to the issues that affect our planet.

Climate change remains one core subjects of global debate to which everyone is called to do something on the matter. In fact, world leaders will join COP26 (Conference of the Parties) in Glasgow next November 2020.

Now the goal of the United Kingdom and Italy is to apply the “Pontignano” method to bring new ideas and projects at the COP26 wich are aimed at reducing CO2 emissions.

Today The Pontignano Co-President, Carlo Calenda and Lord Willetts, hosted 100 people from the local journalists, politicians and experts at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London,  to discuss how to overcome current obstacles related to the climate change.

Zac Goldsmiths, Minister for the Enviroment; Lord David Willetts

The event was also attended by the Minister for the Enviroment, Food and Rural Affairs, Zac Goldsmith, who insisted on the fact that in UK, since 2014, we have assisted to very high temperatures never seen before but, at the same time, he highlighted how the British citizens have always been activeto propose new solutions to the government.

The population has immediately shown interest and willingness to stop this problem” – he said.

Therefore, the Minister concluded that the success of COP26 is not about convinceing people to do something on climate change, but convinceing them of leaders’ capability to take serious measures to protect our planet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEthbvbPAUE

MARTA SIMONETTI – Everything we need to know about climate change

(by Stefania Del Monte)

Marta Simonetti is an experienced green finance director based in London. She worked in the City of London, initially in marketing and then in development and transition banking for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In 2017 she set up her consultancy, Globalfields Ltd, which specializes in green finance and sustainable leadership.

From August 2017 to date she has carried out several assignments at senior level for the Green Climate Fund, WWF-US, GIZ, IPC GmbH, Absolute Energy Capital, as well as for private equity companies and governments. She is now focusing on the green transformation of financial markets, working with governments, financial institutions and the consultancy sector in Europe, Africa, Central Asia and south-east Asia.

In her work thus far she has been leading bilateral and multilateral structuring and negotiations in climate and conservation finance, including with the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility, the NAMA Facility, the German bilateral cooperation agency (GIZ) and multilateral banks, as well as for private companies. Her main skills are in fund management (legal and institutional structuring), blended finance structuring (mixed participation equity and loans; revolving funds; guarantee funds), resource mobilization, programme structuring in climate and environmental finance. She also offers pro-bono work for the delivery of presentations and leadership training programmes specific in the areas of green finance, climate change and environmental degradation, in particular for schools and in careers events at universities in London.

We have met her to try and get a better understanding of this very complex matter.

Marta, your academic and professional experience in the climate and environment field is impressive but we would like to start with a very basic question. We often hear the expressions global warming and climate change. What exactly are they and what’s causing them to happen?

Many thanks for this question, which is not that simple at all! Climate science is an important aspect of our work in green finance as it gives us the evidence of the anthropogenic factors (i.e. the man-made role) in temperature warming vis-à-vis normal patterns of change. It reinforces the fact that we can make a concrete impact in our work with clients.

Specifically, global warming refers to the long-term rising of the average temperatures of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (i.e. the period between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, rapid urbanization and loss of ecosystems. With time, those have increased heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in the Earth’s atmosphere.

When we look at historical temperature changes, we see a succession of warm patterns followed by ice ages over the earth’s geological history. Thanks to the analysis of Antarctic ice-cores carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration alongside the study of temperature changes, we know that warm periods, with some exceptions, are periods of high atmospheric CO2, and cold periods, geologically, have been periods of low atmospheric CO2.

After the industrial revolution we see a 40 per cent rise in CO2 atmospheric concentrations during the 20th and 21st centuries. When we look at temperatures between 1880 and now, the ten warmest years ever recorded are within the last 17 years. The hottest temperatures ever recorded were in 2016, 2019, and 2015. There is a lot of convergence on these data among major research organization, including NASA, the Hadley Centre for Climate Science, British Antarctic Survey and the Oceanic National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(data from ossfoundation.org)

Because of this pattern change in temperatures and CO2 concentrations, we are also experiencing new weather patterns that have remained in place for an extended period of time and cannot any longer be considered as isolated occurrences. This change in the Earth’s climate system is climate change. For example, we are now experiencing an increasing number of extreme weather events, such as violent storms, heavy or irregular precipitation patterns, unprecedented floodings, more frequent and longer-lasting heatwaves, droughts.

In 2020, and with all the research available on the subject, we are still faced with a large number of deniers. How is that possible? Do we have to believe Greta Thunberg or Donald Trump?

I find Greta’s message very powerful because it is really seeking to achieve what we (the older generation) haven’t done fast enough: i.e. bringing about systemic change across all sectors. A crisis such as that we are witnessing now is indeed unprecedented. Think about the bush fires in Australia, the snow-free Christmas day in Moscow, or the current above-average temperatures in England followed by three weekends of storms and torrential rains. Those occurrences used to be abnormal, rare events. Now it is the new normal. Greta would say: Your house is on fire. And rightly so, because we cannot any longer think that those are remote problems that will not affect us. Yet…every crisis brings fundamental questioning, and the way we answer those questions, the motivations we bring behind our answers are the real catalysts for change. I think we are now at the right juncture to substantially speed up climate and environmental action. Our awareness and knowledge of the issue have increased, because the problem is so in our face that we cannot turn away from it.

Climate deniers thrive on instilling doubt and misinformation. We need to remain very aware that the most prominent deniers out there receive significant financial backing from (predominantly) the oil and coal industries, and then also from farming and heavy industries. What I find dangerous in this rhetoric is their effort to disenfranchise and disengage people from the actual conversation. If we are not responsible for climate change, then it follows that we shouldn’t worry so much about what we do because nothing we do actually matters. This is an abdication of responsibility! This is an abdication of our true human nature and our ability to bring change and meaning, in our own lives, as well as for the environments and communities we live in.

The real conversation has another focus. We have the technology to move away from fossil fuels. This is happening faster in some countries and not so fast in others. In a way we can say that it is important to remain mindful of the complex socio-economic transitions that are needed to decrease reliance on coal, oil and gas, as those have a price, expressed in the affordability of clean energy. Yet this transition needs to happen, globally. At the moment, while technology costs are coming down, we still have entry barriers, for example in mismatches between policies on the one hand, and regulation on the other; or political uncertainties which then translate in higher insurance costs or may act as deterrent to investment.

We have two major paradoxes here. Short-termism is now pervasive, in politics and in business. For many politicians it is impossible to think past the next election. This jeopardizes the ability to accept short-term costs for longer-term gains. In business, we want to see quick returns on investments and short pay-back times. When we work in climate action or in sustainability, the work is fundamentally long-term. We seek long-lasting impacts.

The second paradox is that while we seek to reduce emissions through clean energy generation and resource efficiency practices, we have rapidly become a more electrified, digitalized society. Think about how many tasks we now do digitally that were previously done without electricity: paying bills, writing letters, studying, billboards. Who goes now to the post office to pay, say, the water bills? Or when was the last time we sent a friend an actual letter written by hand, using pen and paper? While we may still have books, online content is now so efficient that it can really save us time and energy. And what about money? Here in London, where I live, there are shops that do not accept cash any longer. Now we have smart houses, big data, machine learning, predictive technologies. This is all very useful. It all needs electricity. So, as the population grows, any efficiency gain in carbon mitigation, water efficiency, or resource efficiency that we may achieve through new technology is eroded by the growing rate of consumption of that resource. This is the Jevons paradox, very much used in environmental economics. Before we start thinking though that any efficiency improvements in climate action is futile, let’s add another perspective here: i.e. the growing role of environmental conservation and stewardship of the planet. This is why now more than ever we need to find and implement applicable solutions.

So, when I look at Greta I really see progressive politics fighting against regressive government. In Greta I see the spark for systemic change rather than clinging to the status quo. For our future, the future of our children and humankind, for the health and preservation of the earth systems, we need to choose climate action!

It is too late to prevent climate change?

Climate change is already happening. What we can do now is to make sure that we decrease emissions, and fast. GHG emissions in fact increased in 2017 and 2018, and stabilized in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency. An important concept here is the planetary boundaries of the earth systems. In some instances, we have made useful progress, for example in the reduction of chlorofluorocarbons to slow down stratospheric ozone depletion thanks to the Montreal protocol and more recently the Kigali Amendment.

But in other areas – namely climate change and biosphere integrity – we may have already gone beyond the boundary. What does this mean? That we are fast approaching a tipping point, beyond which certain changes may become irreversible, such as loss of ice cover in polar regions, with subsequent sea level rises; or loss of ecosystems. Some people may find the extinction of some species irrelevant, or may be unmoved by an emergency thousands of miles away from home. Those events, though, are neither unrelated nor irrelevant, because ecosystems are interconnected, planetary boundaries are interconnected and ultimately, we are also connected (to ourselves, to others, to the contexts we live in). Do you remember John Donne’s poem ‘No man is an island entire of itself…’? The balance is in humankind’s approach to become aware that we are all part of a whole system, and that this interconnection is not a new concept or new-age mumbo-jumbo. It is real.

What do you think are the most important priorities, in order to tackle the climate crisis?

There are four key areas of priority where I believe we can bring substantial changes and impacts.

  • Financial support. For many countries, there is still a need to bridge the gap between the technical and impact potential of a project, and its commercial viability. This is where I see still a steady role for public interventions given as blended finance in the form of concessional lending, guarantee instruments and subordinated positions in financial instruments (e.g. first loss and tiered funds). We definitely need a little bit more risk-taking in order to bring new technologies on the market, which can be achieved through concessional equity in incubators and accelerators funds, as well as for venture capital. Supporting the supply of viable projects can strengthen the arguments for the business case of investing in green and SDG-linked products, which is paramount to speed up divestment away from fossil fuels.
  • Technology solutions. There are two ways to look at this: a solution as a new product, design or process (e.g. gravitational technologies for energy storage); and as a system change, i.e. green connectivity, circular economy and cradle-to-grave solutions, ‘green-digital’ urban designs and urban adaptation practices. To name a few…
  • Nature-based solutions. This would include conservation efforts, resource preservation and management, re-building of ecosystem. In this area we have solutions at hand, for example in carbon sequestration through reforestation and afforestation practices. Those solutions need to be implemented at a faster pace that the on-going destructions of those same ecosystem, which is very challenging.
  • Applicable awareness. I hear too often people feeling disempowered: how can one person make a difference? Well, let’s bring awareness to this issue and see what we can do, as individual, as part of a community, and in the bigger political arena, then we are not anymore acting as one but as humankind. As we prepare for next Conference of the Parties (COP26), co-organized by the UK and Italy and taking place in Glasgow in November 2020, we can take the opportunity to learn more about what’s happening and empower ourselves to bring change.

For example, what are some key changes we can bring into our lives?

I would like to give some suggestions… Switch energy supplier to full renewable energy; reduce meat consumption; join a vegan / vegetarian group for inspiration and recipes; reduce food waste; seek bulk or unpacked shops where you can use and reuse your own containers; increase energy efficiency by, for instance, switching all lights off, as well as through efficient lighting, windows and walls; join a clothes swapping group or sales apps; use sharing services rather than owning a product (e.g. car sharing); vote with your wallet by deliberately choosing which product and company you want to support and which you don’t; participate in tree-planting exercises and other sustainability activities organized by your council; use public transport to move around; vote for those candidates who have a clear pro-climate and sustainability agenda.

How can your expertise make a difference?

At Globalfields we look at climate change and sustainability practices in businesses from a variety of angles. We are interested in the interconnectedness of the issues and therefore we are able to offer holistic approaches. As I was mentioning earlier on, clean energy generation and efficiency gains cannot be taken in isolation from conservation efforts and stewardship of the planet. We need to think about energy and resource efficiency solutions alongside their wider impacts. We need to align corporate efforts with the sustainable development goals and with international agreements such as the Paris Agreement.

Globalfields was incorporated almost two years ago, and in this relatively brief time we have worked very closely with a number of governments, public and private-sector institutions to create processes or policies to implement green finance practices.

In particular, our work includes supporting organizations in drafting green finance strategies and roadmaps for their implementation; in designing framework for a company’s alignment with the SDGs; supporting the work around frameworks for green loans and SDG loan certifications; advising on financial instruments in green finance, with specific use of concessional and blended products for developing countries; fund-raising and structuring of funds.

More recently we have also worked on green finance training and made our first investment in small-scale hydropower. Two additional investments are under consideration as we speak.

Most of our work is targeted at corporate level, but we have also designed frameworks for coaching for transformational ‘green’ leadership, delivered individually or in small groups. This is where we aim to empower people to not only understanding the subject matter but also to design the most appropriate pathways for them to become transformational leaders in their organization. Working at corporate and individual levels is in my opinion a necessary undertaking in order to bridge the gap between science, policy and action.

Cover image: Marta Simonetti

 

A VERY DEBATED EVOLUTION

 These times are very stranges for humane, infact one can note him to make progress both as individual and as society, contrary to the primordial instinct which emerges sometimes in our life.
According to some psychological theories every person would have a sort of “cave” within itself, but there is also a “cage” around us, formed by traditions, education and predominating ideals in own country, which induces, maybe, every person to think humans are different compared to other creatures living in the world.

One of most important studies in this field belongs to the famous scientist Charles Robert Darwin.
He became really interested in natural science after his travel around the world by ship.

Thanks to his great research about first creatures, he discovered many anatomic information about humans, that before were unknown.
Beginning with embryologic studies, he compared the development of human’s fetus to bat and gibbon’s one and resulted that their conformation was different, but growth not.

Then he also noted a great connection between human and monkey, especially regarding the intellectual field.
Nowadays the Darwin theory is still object of debate by religious believers, because Darwin’s opinion is in contrast with what is written in the Bible. For this reason all religious believers are not disposed to accept the scientific realities; however, those who aren’t really convinced about one of these are inclined to search alternative theories, such us stories that connect Darwin to secret societies.

These followers are even bishops and priests, trying to preserve the most important dogma of Christianity .For example, according to Christian religion the world was created by an intelligent and superior being, God. Otherwise, scientific research found that world was generated by the Big Bang and the process is considered continuous during the time. So one can understand that scientific opinions are in contrast with the existence of God, as the Jew- Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza declared.

 

Considering what said above, it would be easy to understand why that Catholic Church would suffer a great ideological defeat in believing to Darwin’s theories, even if these ones are now accepted by official science. At the same time, some scientists don’t succeed to alienate themselves from Catholics dogma, because of popular traditions and superstition, as well as Charles Darwin during his youth.


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Everything we do, has an impact on our planet

 London – (TAKE LESS, GIVE MORE)-The relationship between nature and people is important, isn’t it? Have you ever thought about how much the environment has influenced our life? It is possible to find out several information in a lot of museums, especially in the “Natural History Museum” situated in Cromwell Road, in London.

This is one of the most fascinating museum in Europe, and it is totally free! It is the most ancient and biggest one and there you can find different zones and the Red Zone is perfect to discover more about environment.

You don’t need a tour guide and you can explore on your own: there are displays showing informative video and photos all along the way that help you in your unearth of the whole planet.

However, if you have a problem don’t worry: you can ask all that you want to the polite museum staff.british terra

In the Red Zone you can find how our planet has changed from the beginning because of the increasement of the carbon footprint and others natural phenomena… Moreover, there are some scientists who show visitors some experiments to let them understand how to approach the nature and they leave them breathless; in fact there are many sectors where you can see how to recycle or reuse important materials like plastic, paper or glass.

What are you waiting for?

 

 

 

 

britishm 3

 

 

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY – NEW SATELLITE WILL PROVIDE UNPRECEDENTED IMAGES OF EARTH

LAUNCH OF SENTINEL-2A / Sentinel-2A is part of Europe’s Copernicus programme, the most ambitious Earth observation programme to date
Monday 22nd June 2015, Europe’s Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana

Sentinel-2A, the first optical imaging satellite in Europe’s Copernicus environmental surveillance programme, is set for launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 01:51 GMT on 23rd of June (03:51 CEST 23rd of June; 22:51 local time 22nd of June) aboard a Vega rocket.

Sentinel-2A is part of Europe’s Copernicus programme, the most ambitious Earth observation programme to date.
An initiative headed by the European Commission (EC) in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA). Copernicus will provide accurate, timely and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security.
The new fleet of Sentinel satellites will deliver a wealth of data and images that are central to the ambitious Copernicus programme.

The mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B, launched separately. Once launched, both satellites will cover all land surfaces, large islands, inland and coastal waters every 5 days, optimising global coverage and data delivery for numerous applications.
The mission carries an innovative high-resolution multispectral camera with 13 spectral bands for a new perspective of our land and vegetation. The combination of high resolution, novel spectral capabilities, a field of vision covering 290 km and frequent revisit times will provide unprecedented views of Earth.

Amongst its applications, the mission will provide information for agricultural practices, helping in the management of food security. It will also be used to map changes in land cover and to monitor the world’s forests.
It will also provide information on pollution in lakes and coastal waters. Images of floods, volcanic eruptions and landslides will contribute to disaster mapping and help humanitarian relief efforts.

Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 are also equipped to benefit from another ESA programme, the European Data Relay System (EDRS). EDRS is creating a network for the continuous relay of low-orbit satellite data, and will enable the Sentinel’s Earth observation data to be transmitted faster than ever, using laser links.

By supplying ‘colour vision’ for Copernicus, Sentinel-2A is a perfect complement to the all-weather, day-and-night radar imagery provided by the first in the Sentinel fleet, Sentinel-1A, launched on 3 April 2014.

In the year Sentinel-1A has been in service, more than 6000 users have registered to access some 83 000 different online data products, and over half a million downloads – the equivalent of some 680 terabytes of data – have been recorded.

Sentinel-2A is the result of close collaboration between ESA, the European Commission, industry, service providers and data users. It is designed and built by a consortium of 42 companies led by Airbus Defence and Space.

Sentinel-2B is scheduled for launch in mid-2016.

Protect and Preserve with biodegradable gloves on World Environment Day

Protect and Preserve with biodegradable gloves on World Environment Day Globus, a world leader in protecting hands, is helping companies to protect and preserve the environment for World Environment Day on 5 June 2015. Qualifying businesses in the UK and Ireland can register to receive a free trial pair of biodegradable nitrile grip gloves up until Friday 12th June 2015 by going to the Globus website at http://www.globus.co.uk/worldenvironmentday.

The United Nations’ ‘World Environment Day’ is promoted worldwide to raise awareness of environmental issues and to encourage political action.

The theme behind the 2015 event is ‘Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care’. Companies which demonstrate their commitment to the environment may experience enhanced environmental credibility which can help win contracts. Having launched the world’s first biodegradable nitrile disposable glove, the Showa 6105PF GREEN-DEX™ last year in the UK and Ireland, Globus is now launching the world’s first biodegradable, nitrile grip glove, the Showa 4552. Both gloves biodegrade fully in biologically-active landfills thus providing effective hand protection solutions whilst bolstering environmental credentials and green purchasing policies. The unique ‘biodegradable’ characteristic is made possible using innovative, Eco Best Technology™ (EBT). The EBT organic additive is designed to make the 6105PF and 4552 gloves attractive to microbial activity in a landfill.

Upon consumption of the EBT formulation, micro-organisms excrete enzymes that depolymerise the nitrile resulting in organic matter. Normal nitrile gloves take decades, if not hundreds of years, to biodegrade and break down in landfill whereas the biodegradation rate of these ‘green’ gloves is far more rapid, typically within 24 months. Independent research laboratories place the time between one and five years, depending on the conditions of the landfill site.

The Eco-Best Technology™ does not compromise any of the quality or shelf-life of these gloves. The Showa 4552 glove can also be washed and re-used to last for longer. Steve Shale, Marketing Manager of Globus commented, “Nowadays companies need to act responsibly as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

For companies aiming to bolster their environmental credentials, gloves featuring Showa EBT will be extremely valuable. Globus hand protection solutions are helping a range of organisations in many ways to increase their CSR credentials and of course we will help to implement a bespoke hand protection solution.”

Ecobuild 2015 London Unlocking Innovation

London – Ecobuild 2015 ends today at the ExCeL, in London. It has been three days of inspiring talks, seminars and workshops, all held by distinguished figures in the eco-sustainability field, and it has given international companies, investors, and visitors the chance to dialogue about eco-sustainable innovation.

The major issue discussed is eco-sustainable construction, hence the name Ecobuild, and how technological innovations in building systems, and revolutionary building models could bridge the gap between theory and practice. Equally, as the exponential technological growth is currently diverging from the current infrastructural and social models, Ecobuild discussed the social impact these innovations have, and the importance of promoting a ‘good use’ of technology.

Innovation and new materials: Could they revolutionise sustainable construction?
The headline targets of the government’s 2025 Industrial Strategy for Construction include:

– 33% reduction in the initial cost of construction
– 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
– 50% reduction of the trade gap between total exports and total imports of production products and materials.

This conference addressed the question of how these targets could be met, and the practical side of making building innovation real.

Mark Miodownik, Professor of Material and Society at UCL, explained how man-made materials are intrinsically different from materials we can find in nature, as they cannot be recycled so far (either for lack of technology or for the costs the recycling process would entail).

Therefore, the world we live in, being based on man-made materials, is unsustainable. One solution could be, as Michael Pawlyn, Director of Exploration Architecture, illustrated, the creation of materials and structures which mimic the biological.

As a matter of fact, in the biological world there is a perfect optimisation in terms of resource efficiency, and copying bio-structures – e.g. creating self-repairing or hierarchical structures – could be a very productive and eco-sustainable way to improve building systems.

Another important issue is construction waste: currently only a very small amount of it is recycled. Dan Epstein, Director of Sustainability, Useful Simple Projects, proposes to transform the construction cycle in order to make it part of a circular, eco-sustainable economy: construction waste has to be re-introduced into the construction cycle, making space for creative and innovative reuse. Last but not least, Sarah Cary, Sustainable Developments Executive, British Land, pointed out how, in order to reach the above-mentioned goals, the business model has to undergo significant changes too: more cooperation is needed among the actors of the building scene (contractors, utilities, investors, scientists, clients, insurances, etc.). Only creating a new dialogue platform in the construction business will innovation be unlocked and efficiently and creatively realised.

 

Are Smart Cities a positive sustainability benefit or an unwelcome invasion of privacy?
The innovations brought about by technological development, such as the discovery of new materials, do not only bear economic consequences, as they deeply influence all aspects of everyday life. As a matter of fact, the artificial ecosystem biomimicry scientists are creating is part of the wider artificial eco-system of the interconnected world we live in, which is changing the way people live and think.

The Smart City – a city that meets the needs of its citizens through the use of technology and the real-time interconnection and access to information, in order to find eco-sustainable solutions to environmental issues – is thus itself an actor in the Internet of Things, and becomes the new ground for an old debate: benefit or invasion?

 
While the benefits of high quality information in real time are quite understandable, it is not very clear what the implications of a constant data collection – by governments, corporations, hackers, etc. – are, and how they will respect (or breach) privacy regulations.

As Andrew Collinge, Assistant Director of Intelligence and Analysis, Greater London Authority, explained, one of the most important issues is the gap between traditional legislative, social and urban infrastructure and the speed of technology.

As a matter of fact, regulations and rules are still designed for an off-line world, and we need to rethink the balance between data sharing and privacy regulations from a digital economy perspective, as the engine of future smart cities.

Therefore, the interconnection of the social world and the technological infrastructure has to be taken into consideration, and technology has to be used in order to pursue the social good.

As a matter of fact, as Dr Rick Robinson, IT Director for Smart Data, and Technology, Amey, explained, a Smart City is not just a more efficient city, but a city where the wellbeing and health of its citizens are significantly improved through technological innovations and new economic and social models. It is a city where people want to be.

To conclude, being aware of the importance and interconnection of environmental and social capital, Ecobuild 2015 presented eco-sustainable innovations which will improve the conditions of our planet, and equally stated the importance the creation of new financial, economic and social models have with regard to the shaping of a better future.

Card Retailers could be contributing to forest destruction.

Two High Street retailers have recently sold greetings cards that could be contributing to forest destruction. The testing, organised by WWF-UK and carried out by a laboratory in Germany, tested 20 cards and envelopes. Three products, bought from Paperchase, the Card Factory and Clinton’s contained various amounts of Mixed Tropical Hardwood (MTH), meaning that the fibres had most likely come from natural growth tropical forests.

Of the three retailers, one, Paperchase, seems able to provide evidence that their product was from a sustainable source. This highlights the need for firms to carefully scrutinise their supply chains to reassure themselves and their customers that their products are not contributing to forest destruction.

More cards are bought per person in the UK than in any other country, with an average of 31 per person bought every year, and last year the UK market for greeting cards was valued at £1.29 billion. Due to legislative loopholes, it is possible to legally sell imported cards that have been made from illegally-logged or cleared forests. WWF wants the loopholes closed and firms to take proper responsibility for their supply chains. WWF believes consumers should be confident that the cards they buy are not contributing to the illegal logging or unsustainable harvest of forests in places like South East Asia.

Beatrix Richards, Head of Corporate Stewardship Timber and Seafood, WWF, said;

“These results suggest that the true cost of our Valentine’s card could be far greater than the price on the wrapping. They may be contributing to the further loss of some of the most valuable forests in the world.
“Companies that rely on forests for their raw materials should scrutinise their supply chains, and reassure consumers that they are buying cards made from recycled or sustainable materials.”

Over thirty UK businesses have already signed up to WWF’s Forest Campaign that will help enable a market in 100% sustainable timber and wood products by 2020, including Carillion Kingfisher, Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Travis Perkins.

Deforestation is an issue affecting some of our most important natural forests around the world, and with global demand for wood set to triple by 2050, businesses and countries need to get their act together in order to ensure a sustainable supply for the future.

The European Timber Regulation (EUTR), which came in to force in March 2013, was set up across Europe to remove illegally sourced timber from the EU markets.
Due to loopholes in the EUTR it is currently legal to import certain goods made from illegally sourced wood, such as greetings cards, musical instruments or books. These exemptions mean that some firms may be unwittingly or deliberately purchasing materials from dubious sources.

CAMPAIGN AIMS TO CHAMPION ENERGY EFFICIENCY

 

Improving the energy efficiency of homes across the country is at the heart of a new national campaign aimed at raising awareness about how households can take action to reduce energy bills.

The campaign, called the Big Energy Vision, has been a launched by a wide range of businesses and organisations, including contractor Willmott Dixon, the UK Green Building Council, retailers Kingfisher and B&Q, and the government-backed quality mark for tradesmen Trustmark.

It is being coordinated by not-for-profit organisations Forum for the Future and Behaviour Change and aims to empower UK households to take control of rising energy bills.

The campaign follows research, undertaken by pollster YouGov, that found energy bills are the top financial concern for households and that two thirds of people feel that there’s very little or nothing they can do about them.

The survey found 32% of respondents put energy bills as their number one concern when it came to household spending, followed by mortgage/rent (15%).

The survey also found that 66% of respondents thought they could do “not very much” or “nothing at all” about the cost of their energy bills.

In response, the campaign aims to inform the public about ways to reduce their energy bills, focusing on measures that can be taken to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, either through retrofit work on installing more efficient appliances as well as guidance on switching to cheaper tariffs.

Sir Ian Cheshire, Kingfisher group chief executive, said: “Now is the time to take control of rising home energy costs. We need to move from a place where people are frustrated about their bills and feel there’s nothing they can do, to one where they feel that help is available to stop wasting energy and control their bills.

“We’re committing to a bold vision, working collaboratively to make it easier for everyone to use less, waste less and pay less for their energy.”

 

photo www.feedintariffuk.co.uk

Ongreening, a revolutionary online platform

Ongreening, a revolutionary online platform focused on sustainable building, green rating systems and products has been launched during Ecobuild, the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment, which takes place annually at Excel exhibition center, in London.  Ongreening’s mission is to spread knowledge and innovation, disseminate green best practices across the globe while providing free access to current information on a wide range of green building-related guidance, news and technologies. The remarkable innovation of this online platform is that it permits to search for products and verify their compliance with the most widespread green building standards such as Breeam, Leed, Estidama, Green Star and other schemes in just 2 clicks. Alfonso Senatore, founder and sustainability advocate with an over 15-year worldwide experience, ranging from cutting-edge sustainable building designs to carbon neutral urban developments and green rating consultancy explained: “This online platform was set up due to my long work experience in the green building sector. What I have noticed is that designers and companies have always wasted a lot of time in order to search on Google the products which could be fit with the green building standards, because even the big companies don’t have an in depth knowledge of the registers. So, we put an algorithm in our platform that allow to get a correlation between the characteristics of the products and the requirements of green building standards for every country”. He added: “ From one hand, the designer get immediately a lists of products that are in compliance with the country he was looking for; from the other hand, the companies using the search engine can chart the products and discover in which part of the world they are compliant”.

Furthermore, Ongreening isn’t only a simply search engine. In fact, the aim of the platform is to showcase the best practices and promote the expertise worldwide, getting access to industry insights, news, green rating updates, video interviews, tools and much more: “ We want to create a worldwide green leaders community, where designers can collaborate and share information”, said Senatore. “Our platform is an open source where designers can publish projects they have made​​, can create their own profile and get exposure for free. At the moment our aim doesn’t consist in making money, probably we will ask some donations to the company in the future, using the membership systems. The green building represents the future and this platform is already a little revolution”.