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Investor group unveils climate blacklist
Francesco Guerrera and Alex Barker, Financial Times
A coalition of US institutional investors has stepped up pressure on corporate America to do more on environmental issues by accusing 10 companies of failing to address climate change and global warming.
The move by Ceres, a group of state pension funds, environmental and religious groups with more than $200bn in assets, highlights a rise in investor and political demands on business to do more to deal with environmental problems.
The publication of the blacklist – which names the oil group ExxonMobil, financial services group Wells Fargo and utility TXU – coincided with the filing of shareholder motions at more than 35 companies demanding action on climate change. The list also includes the oil group ConocoPhillips, retailer Bed Bath & Beyond and insurer ACE.
The issue will be a key battleground in the upcoming season of shareholder meetings after investors filed a record 42 motions urging actions ranging from reduction in greenhouse gases to better disclosure of energy efficiency plans.
(13 Feb 2007)
EU energy ministers can’t agree on climate change target
James Kanter, International Herald Tribune
PARIS: In a sign that even the fight against global warming may not be enough to unify fragmented European energy policies, EU energy ministers backed away Thursday from agreeing on a binding target for using renewable energy.
Ministers had shown “a worrying lack of resolve to combat climate change,” said Frauke Thies of Greenpeace in Brussels. The divisions between governments were “the worst possible signal” for investors considering financing for clean energy technologies, she said.
The lack of an agreement on a European Commission proposal that 20 percent of all energy must come from renewable sources — like wind and solar power — by 2020 could also foreshadow a showdown in March when political leaders are to meet in Brussels for a summit meeting focused on forging a common EU energy policy.
“A key worry is that once there’s a target, everyone will have to deliver,” said Christian Egenhofer of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels. “Some of the industrial lobbies also are afraid.” ..
(15 Feb 2007)
Politicians sign new climate pact
BBC
Leading international politicians have reached a new agreement on tackling climate change, at a Washington summit.
Delegates agreed that developing countries would also have to meet targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, as well as rich countries.
The informal meeting also agreed that a global market should be formed to cap and trade carbon dioxide emissions.
The non-binding declaration is seen as vital in influencing a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, correspondents say.
…The BBC’s environment analyst Roger Harrabin was at the meeting and says that although the declaration carries no formal weight, it indicates a real change in mood.
(15 Feb 2007)
Hat tip to LD
Green agenda profitable, Premier declares
Carbon offsets could pay for tree-planting
Scott Sutherland, Canadian Press
VICTORIA — Premier Gordon Campbell says his government’s ambitious green agenda could actually be an economic booster as environmentally conscious people around the world learn they can offset the greenhouse gases they emit by paying for tree-planting in British Columbia.
“One of the things that happen when people try to buy carbon offsets is that they are often buying tree planting in some part of the world,” he said yesterday.
That could soon include British Columbia.
“This can be a big economic engine for the province,” the Premier said.
(16 Feb 2007)
B.C.’s green plan endorsed by top climate scientist
CBC
The B.C. government’s throne speech announcement that it plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one-third by 2020 is being applauded by an influential climatologist at the University of Victoria.
Andrew Weaver, one of the lead authors of the UN report on climate change, calls it the “most progressive plan” he’s seen in North America, and one of the best in the world.
Weaver also told the Victoria Times-Colonist the plan represents “great leadership,” and that none of the goals is out of reach.
Weaver’s endorsement comes on the heels of favourable reaction from renowned environmentalist David Suzuki, who said he was “very encouraged” by the shift in thinking by Premier Gordon Campbell.
Oil and gas industry will co-operate
Meanwhile, the president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said his group is ready to work with the government to achieve its goals
