From The Vancouver Sun:

Large-scale green energy systems can affordably replace fossil fuel as the world’s primary source of electricity within 20 years, new research from the United States weather office suggests.

… a director with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Friday in Vancouver that wind and solar could supply 70 per cent of electricity demand in the lower 48 states, with fossil fuel and hydro/nuclear renewables each accounting for just 15 per cent by 2030.

Check out the rest of the article here. 

(Photo credit: Vancouver Sun)

Getting Animated: ‘Food Rules’ by writer Michael Pollan

From Vimeo:

Based on Michael Pollan’s talk “Food Rules” given at the RSA, this animation was created in the context of the RSA/Nominet Trust film competition. Using a mixture of stop-motion and compositing, our aim and challenge was to convey the topic in a visually interesting way using a variety of different food products. We made a little table top set up at home and worked on this a little over three weeks. 

(Photo credit: Michael Pollan)

Things to Build: The Green Economy 

. Here’s a short video of world leaders talking about the opportunities and importance of shifting to a green economy. The UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative defines a green economy as:

one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.

More here.

The International Energy Agency’s ‘World Energy Outlook 2011’ Report

From The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace:

Carnegie’s Energy and Climate Program hosted the U.S. launch of the World Energy Outlook 2011, the flagship annual report of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Maria van der Hoeven, IEA executive director, Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist who oversees the World Energy Outlook, and Daniel Poneman, U.S. deputy secretary of energy, discussed the key findings of the report and its projections. Carnegie Endowment’s President Jessica Mathews opened the conversation, and Carnegie’s Adnan Vatansever moderated.

Troubling Trends and Increasing Costs of Inaction

The World Energy Outlook 2011 provides insight into global energy markets and trends for today and the next 24 years. The report lays out the urgent need to combat climate change and the dire consequences of its refusal, said Mathews. Economic concerns have diverted attention from energy policy and limited the means of intervention, added both van der Hoeven and Birol.

Birol highlighted several worrying trends from the report:

• To ensure a low carbon future, there is still time to act, but the window of opportunity is closing.
• CO2 emissions rebounded to a record high in 2010.
• Energy efficiency of the global economy worsened for the second straight year.
• Spending on oil imports is near record highs.

Check out the rest of the post here. Below are two key graphs drawn from the report.

(Graphic credit: IEA via The Guardian)

From TriplePundit:

Resilient cities, those that are working to transition towards a low-carbon economy while also preparing to avert the worst of climate change, are gaining interest and attention from policy makers, city councils and others worldwide. In fact, today, leaders from the public and private sector, supported by ICLEI (see below) and the U.S. Green Building Council, are launching a National Leadership Speaker Series on Resiliency and Security in the 21^st Century.

“The battle to prevent catastrophic climate change will be won or lost in our cities…” (C40 Cities Initiative)

Cities account for up to 80% of GHG emissions globally and are home to more than 50% of the world’s population (headed to 60%, 5 billion people by 2030). As I mentioned in my previous post, if we refocus our efforts on the right solutions soon enough, we can mitigate the worst of climate change while actually improving our city economies and growing corporate profits.  Hunter Lovins and I recently published a book entitled Climate Capitalism to share stories of cities and companies around the world who are profiting from that transition to the low carbon economy. Furthermore, the longer we wait the more we will have to pay for adaptation.

…

The Top 10 Resilient Cities Are….

10.) Tokyo, Japan

9.) London, UK

8.) New York, USA 

7.) San Francisco, USA

6.) Paris, France

5.) Vancouver, Canada

4.) Stockholm, Sweden

3.) Barcelona, Spain

2.) Curitiba, Brazil

1.) Copenhagen, Denmark

You can check out the runners up and why each city ranked where it did here.

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

Despite the turbulence in the global economy, the world invested a record $251 billion in clean energy last year, with the US streaking ahead of China in green spending and boosting confidence among climate action advocates.

New figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance showed the US spent $54 billion on clean energy, retaking the No. 1 spot it lost to China in 2009 and defying assumptions that the world’s largest economy is flagging on greenhouse gas reductions.

…

”Despite financial crisis, and even though carbon pricing schemes haven’t developed quite the way they were expected to … investment keeps growing, which reflects the world view of many major economists that clean energy is going to be the major industrial driver of economic growth this century,” said Kobad Bhavnagri, Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s lead clean energy analyst in Australia.

…

The indications of a rise in global investment in clean energy follows the pact by major greenhouse-emitting countries in Durban last month on a road map that would lead to a global climate change deal by 2015.

Erwin Jackson, deputy CEO of the Climate Institute, said: ”There are all these myths of the world not acting on climate change. All you have to do is follow the money.”

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Photo credit: Bloomberg)

From The Montreal Gazette:

Environment Minister Pierre Arcand announced the official adoption of Quebec’s cap-and-trade system to fight climate change Thursday – three days after what Arcand called the federal government’s “utterly regrettable” announcement that Canada will withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.

Arcand said if industrialized countries abandon Kyoto – the lone legally binding international agreement on greenhouse gas reduction – it becomes all the more crucial for states and provinces to take legislative action to reduce emissions quickly.

Arcand said the cap-and-trade system will be good not just for the climate, but for the economy.

“With the adoption of this legislation, Quebec is positioning itself at the starting line, beside California,” he told a news conference Thursday at Montreal’s Biosphere.

“We are participating in the emergence of an economic tool that will transform one of the most significant environmental challenges of the 21st century into a real trampoline toward a green, prosperous and sustainable economy.”

States and provinces, through endeavours like the Western Climate Initiative, are acting independently to create a linked North American market for carbon credits, which aim to reduce emissions, encourage investment in clean energy technologies, create green jobs and improve public health.

California became the first state to adopt a cap-and-trade program in October, and like Quebec’s system, it comes into full effect in January 2013.

Check out the rest of the article here. 

(Photo credit: Globe & Mail)

From co.Exist:

What can those of us who recognize the overwhelming scientific evidence regarding the existence of climate change and humanity’s role in it do to help? Some, myself included, have started to feel incredibly betrayed by our governments and almost useless in helping our species right the ship before it’s too late.‬

‪But I believe there is still hope. Not anytime soon at the international levels, nor at the federal level in Western countries (like the U.S. and Canada) where the federal governments refuse to take action on climate change. What we need is a Plan B. If national and multi-national commitment to climate action is unobtainable, we need to focus on actors who are prepared to provide bold leadership into the low-carbon economy. We have no choice. ‬

‪So who are these actors? First and foremost, we need to reconsider the role of cities. Cities now house more than 50% of the world’s population and represent up to 80% of global emissions. Cities are not bound by federal or multi-lateral agreements (or in this case lack thereof) like federal governments. We can already see examples of cities taking leadership: in 2005, former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels launched what became the U.S. Mayors for Climate Protection Center. More than 1,000 U.S. mayors have now signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, committing to reducing their cities’ emissions below 1990 levels.‬

Of course, U.S. cities are far from alone in taking leadership on climate change. ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) represents some 1,200 cities around the world (U.S. included) who are also promoting climate action. The C40, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, has brought together some of the largest metropolitan cities around the globe to develop best practices for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The Covenant of Mayors in Europe has more than 3,000 participating cities committed to meeting and exceeding the EU’s regional reduction target of 20% by 2020.‬

…

Action at the municipal level requires investment in R&D and innovation. Increasingly, cities around the globe are turning to the private sector for solutions, rather than waiting for federal and multinational funds and legislative support. New York City, led by Mayor Bloomberg’s commitment to the low-carbon economy, has one of the largest EV fleets in North America. Cities like Portland, Oregon are creating their own eco-districts and purchasing localized energy systems. Barcelona’s mayor just announced the launch of a Smart City Campus to bring other cities, the private sector, and the NGO community together to pilot new smart grid and smart city technologies. ‬

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Photo credit: Sustainable Cities)

The Story of Agriculture and the Green Economy

From Farming First via YouTube:

The future of our world depends on addressing global challenges now. We need to create sustainable livelihoods, feed a growing population and safeguard the environment. We need to make the global economy green.

From Business Green:

The EU remains on track to exceed the international carbon emissions targets imposed through the Kyoto Protocol, despite a 2.4 per cent in emissions last year driven by the bloc’s gradual economic recovery.

According to figures released today as part of the European Commission’s annual report on its progress to meeting its Kyoto targets, EU greenhouse gas emissions for 2010 were 15.5 per cent below 1990 levels despite economic growth of 41 per cent over the same period.

Significantly, emissions across the EU fell for six consecutive years through to and including 2009, even when the bloc was enjoying economic growth.

EU climate change commissioner Connie Hedegaard hailed the report as evidence the EU has successfully decoupled emissions from economic growth through the wider use of low carbon technologies.

“The EU continued decoupling emissions from GDP during the recession,” she said in a statement. “Between 2008 and 2009, emissions fell by 7.1 per cent in the EU-27, much more than the around four per cent contraction in GDP.”

However, she added that the estimated 2.4 per cent increase in emissions last year “shows that we need to continue the decoupling process”.

“Pursuing our efforts to make Europe a low-carbon society is the way forward,” she said. “It will stimulate technological innovation, spur economic growth and create jobs while further reducing emissions so that we meet our 2020 climate and energy targets and long term goals.”

The report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) also confirms the EU-15 countries that face a legally binding requirement to cut emissions by eight per cent against 1990 levels by 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol are on track to meet the target and are “most likely to overachieve it”.

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Image credit: European Climate Foundation via Fast Company)