Susan George: Building a fairer global economy.

Because Susan George is always interesting to listen to...

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Climate Rush RBS (Video)

(via The Herald)

A protest outside the Royal Bank of Scotland offices in London yesterday was "a shot across the bows", its organisers said.

A spokeswoman for Climate Rush, the group that led the demonstration in Bishopsgate in London, said it was to protest against government bailouts of the banking industry.

She said: "We demand that our money is spent on renewable energy and invested in business that promotes a more sustainable way of life."


She added that in the last two years RBS had been involved in loaning £16bn to the coal industry.

Video:

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Climate Camp Article in Guardian (Carbon Trading)

When it comes to reducing emissions via carbon trading I guess the question we want people to ask is:

Do we want to place our faith in the same set of principles that lead to the financial crisis?

The economy is important but our natural environment is foundational to life. Lets not gamble on this one. Stopping the construction of new coal plants is a lot more concrete than trading in abstract units of 'avoided emissions' and the more abstract you get the more profiteering and confusion is possible.

The organisers of Climate Camp, a protest group that has previously demonstrated at coal power stations and Heathrow airport, have chosen London's financial centre as the target of their main summer protest this year.

The decision to target the City is aimed at throwing a spotlight on the carbon trading system, one of the central planks of the EU's attempts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from businesses. Carbon trading in the US is also being pushed by the Obama administration, but the activists say they want to highlight the failure of the mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The precise form of the protest and where it will take place are yet to be decided, although a spontaneous snowball fight that broke out between environmental activists and bankers after the heavy snowfall on 2 February may have inspired the group to target the City. The action may also strike a chord with public anger at huge public bail-outs of the banks.

(article in the Guardian)

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Transforming the Global Economy: Solutions for a Sustainable World

Over the past couple of months there has been a large amount of thinking and commentary on the connections between the environmental crisis and the crisis in capitalism. This isn't a discussion that i have involved myself in, but for those of us interested in dipping a toe into the discussion, a talk by Susan George would seem to be theperfect place to start.



Video thanks to Blip.tv

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New Report: Cashing in on Coal

Important new report (source)

From concerns over air pollution and acid rain, to the recent rising awareness of carbon emissions and climate change, coal has been recognised as the dirtiest and most inefficient fossil fuel option.

Despite this, coal is experiencing a global boom, with corporations opening new mines and commissioning new power stations. High street banks are making millions by providing the financial fuel that drives this expansion of coal extraction and combustion. This report examines the role in the last two years of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), HSBC and Barclays in providing and arranging the financial means to the coal industry to extract and burn vast quantities of coal.

Published by BankTrack, Friends of the Earth - Scotland, People & Planet, Scottish Education and Action for Development, Stop Climate Chaos and PLATFORM.

Download the report from here.

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The World Bank: Part of the climate change solution?

In its latest report "Correcting the World’s Greatest Market Failure: Climate Change and the Multilateral Development Banks" the World Resources Insitute is skeptical about involving the world bank in the fight against climate change (PDF)--for various reasons i`m downright doubtfull.

“The World Bank needs to demonstrate leadership to steer investment towards
low carbon, environmentally sustainable development choices,” said Jonathan
Lash, president of the World Resources Institute, which produced the analysis.
“This will be difficult to achieve while simultaneously investing in many
‘business as usual’ projects, such as coal-fired power.”

WRI are writing about an important issue here, the dual roles of funding polluting projects and selling emissions permits. However, the IPS has already covored this ground in a report entitled simply World Bank: Climate Profiteer.

Related:

• World Bank Posts
• Finance

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New Podcast: 'Cleantech Podcast'

Interested in investing in 'cleantech'? Want to make some money rather than joining a bubble...well, i just found a facinating podcast that is well worth a listen.

Just as a taster...did you know that virtually no one in the US is placing solar to face west or southwest? Ahh...why would they, simple, solar facing south gains most energy in total but facing it west or southwest maximises the peak when there is peak electricity demand.

In this latest show Tom Konrad, has lots of actual insight rather than repeats of the same renewable energy gloss you have heard to many times before. Very interesting.

The Cleantech Show #010 (MP3 - 13MB - 34min)

In a recent announcement, the International Energy Agency (IEA), issued a new report yesterday predicting a supply pinch in the next 3 to 5 years. Tom Konrad, Editor from Alt Energy Stocks comments on the resulting impact this has had on renewable energy stocks in one of his recent blog postings, and it’s my pleasure to have Tom on the show this week.

AltEnergyStocks.com is one of the Internet’s premier websites for investing in the sectors of alternative energy, renewable energy and clean technology.

In this weeks show Tom and I discuss the blossoming Alternative Energy Investment market and explore in detail Tom’s candid advice on developing a portfolio of alternative energy investments. Dependent on whether your a conservative or more aggressive investor there are opportunities in the market and Tom provides some valuable insight into the market drivers and the more interesting areas of investment.

Tom is an independent investment advisor and financial analyst specializing in renewable energy and energy efficiency companies. He has a Ph.D. in mathematics from Purdue University, and is a level II candidate for the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He serves as Treasurer for both the Colorado Renewable Energy Society and Ratepayers United Colorado.

Look forward to you listening in.

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Oil in Nigeria

Nigeria has huge reserves of oil: these reserves are strategically important for the US they are also a curse upon the Nigerian people.

A recent radio show on Nigerian oil can be found on the WBUR website.

"Nigeria is rich with oil, producing more than Iraq and Kuwait combined. The country is the fifth-largest supplier of oil to the United States. And it's "light sweet crude," ...a dreamy kind of oil that needs little refinement. But, the communities closest to the drills and platforms -- the people of the Niger Delta -- live in poverty. Without clean drinking water. Without schools. Without jobs. Frustrated by their situation, local men are taking matters into their own hands. They're forming militias, taking hostages, and disrupting oil flow. Journalist Sebastian Junger went deep into the mangroves and creeks of the Niger Delta. He emerged with a chilling story of violence and despair..."

You might think that this situation is awful but beyond your control. This is untrue, apart from contributing to campaigns that aim to pressure oil companies to abide by Nigerian law and act in line with there CSR policies there are important consumer choices to be made.

Do you have a Royal Bank of Scotland bank account? A recent Report from London Platform exposes the activites of the self described oil and gas bank. Many of these investment are found made within the Niger delta region of Nigeria. Perhaps you should change your bank account to a company with an ethical investment policy such as the cooperative bank.

Do you buy oil from Shell? Can you avoid it, perhaps you should.

Previous articles on nigeria and it's oil can be found here.

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