Transcript Business and Economic Opportunities Emerging from Climate Change Menas Kafatos, Schmid College of Science, Chapman University, Orange, CA [email protected] [email protected].

Business and Economic
Opportunities Emerging from
Climate Change
Menas Kafatos, Schmid College of Science, Chapman
University, Orange, CA
[email protected]
[email protected]
Climate Forcings, IPCC and Uncertainty:
Implications for Decision Making?
Source: IPCC 2007
The Importance of Observations in Reducing Uncertainty in
Environmental-related Decisions: Global Mean Sea Level
The
Importance of
Observations
in Climate
Change
Decision
Making
(keeping
model runs
honest)
The
“smoking
gun” of
climate
change
4
SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS: Economic value will increasingly become greater
and greater
A –Train of NASA. Instruments include photometers, lidars, radar and hyperspectral,
following each other in short intervals
11/7/2015
Global Climate Change & Global
Economy: How are they related?
•Climate change is global but its effects are regional or local
•For COP 15, and future agreements, how the dual issues of global
climate and global economy are related to each other needs to be
addressed
•A lot of emphasis has been placed on carbon trading policies and
the associated economic issues
Fuel Emissions & Temperature
Fossil fuel
emissions and the
rate of increase of
CO2
concentration in
the atmosphere.
The monthly
atmospheric
increases have
been filtered to
remove the
seasonal cycle.
•
Vertical arrows
denote El Niño
events.
•
Atmospheric data
from Keeling and
Whorf (2000), fossil
fuel emissions data
from Marland et al.
(2000) and British
Petroleum (2000)
IPPC 2001
Cap and Trade
• Market-based tool to reduce carbon emissions by groups of sources
• Sets “cap” on a given source’s emissions
• If source emits more than cap allows, can purchase carbon credits from
a source that emits less
• Promotes more environmental protections at lower costs
• Incentives to lower emissions (can sell credits for profit), consequences if too
high (must purchase more credits)
• Can theoretically account for all emissions due to more accurate emissions
reporting
• Each source develops its own strategy for compliance, i.e.,
• trading carbon credits
• install pollution controls
• implement efficiency measures
• alter business strategies, etc.
Emission Trading Scheme (EU)
Costa Rica/Norway Reforestation and Forest Conservation Pilot Program
•The project aimed to sequester carbon through reforestation and
conservation efforts
• The total foreign investment was about $2 million (USD) to buy the
equivalent of about 200,000 metric tons of carbon
The EU developed international trading system for Carbon emissions.
- Aims for cost-effective emissions reductions throughout the EU
- Covers over 10,500 installations throughout the EU plus Iceland,
Liechtenstein and Norway.
- National Allocation Plans (NAPs) determine the total quantity of
CO2 emissions that Member States grant to their
companies
- Member States limit CO2 emissions from the energy and industrial
sectors through the allocation of allowances
From: EUROPA: Gateway to the European Union (http://europa.eu/index_en.htm)
11/7/2015
Economic Opportunities:
Examples of Some U.S. Companies
•Cap and Trade
CCX is a U.S. corporation, and today remains the only emissions reduction and
trading system for all six greenhouse gases and the only operational cap and
trade system in North America. CCX has nearly 300 Members from all sectors
and Offset Projects worldwide
•Companies studying future scenarios
• Rand Corp. is a non-profit think tank that aims to help improve policy and
decision-making through research and analysis, and pulled in $230 million in
revenue in FY08
Economic Opportunities in Mitigation
and Adaptation
Issues
• Investment in climate change mitigation or adaptation
•Tools for Decision Making
Business opportunities in climate change mitigation:
• clean energy technologies
• better energy efficiency
• biomass to energy technologies
Opportunities in climate change adaptation:
• ecosystem restoration
• forest management
• water and watershed quality improvements
• waste management
Companies Invest in Climate Change Mitigation
and Adaption
• Daikin Industries – manufacture energy-efficient air conditioning systems
• Achievement of 67% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that exceeds the 40%
reduction target compared to fiscal year 2005
•Obtainment of ISO14001 certificate by all production bases (excluding the OYL
Group)
•Achievement of 78% reduction for emission amount of toxic substances designated
by the PRTR Law: a reduction that exceeds the 70% reduction target compared to
fiscal year 2005
•United Technologies – building insulation, energy-efficient elevators, fuel-cells
and power systems
• $58.7Billion revenue for 2008
• Named a "Global 100" most sustainable corporation in the world by Corporate
Knights, Inc.
• Covanta Holding Corp. – largest energy-from-waste company
• operates over 30 energy-from waste facilities in North America, Europe and Asia
• Energy-from-Waste facilities process 14% of municipal solid waste in the United
States, serving the disposal needs of more than 37 million people and producing
enough electricity for 2.8 million homes.
• processes more than 15 million tons of waste annually in U.S.
• converted more than 250 million tons of waste into energy and offsetting 250 million
tons of greenhouse gases
11/7/2015
Green Growth and the Economy:
Examples
• Korea Government policy: “New Growth industries and the creation of jobs
are requisite to tide over the economic crisis, and green industries are the sole
alternative.” (Senior Presidential Secretary Jae-wan Park)
•Deutsche Bank (2009 white paper): “Each government will have to come up
with a stimulus package to shore up their slumping economy in order to preempt
a recession in the next 2 to 3 years, …this is a historic opportunity to invest in
the green infrastructure”.
•Report predicts that investments in the green growth sector will surge to $45
Trillion by 2050 globally. Areas such as clean energy generation, storage and
other infrastructure; management of sources like water, agriculture and sewage;
efficient use of energy and resources; and environmental services, will be major
investment areas.
According to the Climate Change Business Journal © 2008 Environmental
Business International, Inc. (EBI), San Diego, California:
There are 9 business segments in the definition of the Climate Change Industry, namely:
1. Low-Carbon & Renewable Power
•Renewable or Clean Energy Systems, Equipment & Power Sales
•Low Carbon Conventional Energy
2. Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS)
3. Energy Storage: Equipment & Systems
4. Energy Efficiency and Demand Response
•Energy Efficiency Services
•Energy Efficiency Equipment/Supply
•Demand Response & Smart Grid Systems and Services
5. Green Buildings
(the future will see new standards)
6. Transportation
•Transportation Vehicles
•Transportation Fuels
•Transportation Systems
7. Carbon Markets; Trading & Projects
8. Climate Change Adaptation
(this has huge potential for the future)
9. Consulting & Research
(industry, academia, government labs)
SOURCE: Climate Change Business Journal. © 2008 Environmental Business International, Inc.
(EBI). San Diego, California.
(comments in parentheses)
Hazards & Impacts
• The "clear and present danger" of global warming, natural and anthropogenic hazards,
may have a much bigger impact beyond national economies, increasingly impacting the
world economy, and in turn affecting economies of nations where a particular hazard is
not an issue.
•As such, decision making at local (city), regional (county or State) and national levels
requires planning and implementation of adaptive measures for both climate change and
hazards. Decision making also requires economic support from governments and
institutions at the national level and continental or even global levels. For example, wild
fires in southern Europe will eventually be impacting European economies beyond the
region, and will require a European response. Hazards such as fires and hurricanes
impacting selected U.S. States, will increasingly be affecting the entire U.S. economy,
and by extension the global economy.
•For developing nations—development banks, governmental development agencies,
international organizations, and philanthropic foundations, all are involved in issues such
as droughts and desertification and will increasungly need to include economic and
health impacts.
Landslides
Extreme
temperatures
Floods and
Flash floods
Volcanoes
Earthquakes
Snow
Avalanche
Epidemics
Wildland fires
Remote
Sensing
Ocean
Hurricanes
Dust storms
Thunderstorms
Tornadoes
Wind
Fog
Extreme
precipitation
Land
Atmosphere
Hazards
Tsunamis
Chlorophyll
bloom
(HABs)
El Nino and
La Nina
Snow and
ice
Oil Spills
Models and
Analysis
Prometheas – Embassy of Greece
Climate
8 February, 2008
Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Health and Decision Making
Climate Change
Economy
Relationships?
Feedbacks?
How will Policy
Making be
affected?
Infrastructure, etc.
Health
Energy
Hazards: The big
unknown
To understand the economic opportunities in climate change and
associated hazards, we have to understand the costs of damage
Global Change Signatures & Effects (partial list)
Carbon dioxide increase, temperature increase, methane increase, etc.
Global temperatures will rise further in the future than previous studies
have indicated, according to research from two scientific teams.
Deserts are expanding, dust storms are more frequent (?).
The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk for several years,
according to data released by US scientists.
With fires raging through southern Europe in the summers, and CA in the fall,
e.g. the 2007 fires, the Australia fires of 2009, etc., regions are experiencing their
worst drought for decades - and some parts of the continents submerged
by floods, it is tempting to ascribe such extreme weather phenomena
to the effects of global warming.
Tropical storms are intensifying (still controversial).
A new report from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) warns
that temperatures in Europe's major cities are rising, etc. etc.
Non-linear effects, feedback loops, climate  hazards  regional climate
11/7/2015


Climate Change and Land Cover
Changes
MC1 for California and U.S.A ecosystem: CC causes land cover change
Distribution of the vegetation classes simulated for the
historical (1961–1990) and PCM1-A2 future period
(2070–2099).
Source from Lenihan et al.(2008) and Bachelet et al.(2004)
Potential vegetation distribution simulated
for current conditions and for future conditions
(2070–99 for MAPSS and 2095 for MC1)
11/7/2015
Fires
Size of U.S. Wildfires, 1983 to 2008
National Interagency Fire Center249
Data on wildland fires in the United States show that the number of
acres burned per fire has increased since the 1980s.
From USGCRP – Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States,
2009
Economics of Forest Fires
• Cost of fire suppression increases with fire intensity
• Fire intensity increases with warmer/drier conditions
• Annual suppression costs ~$1.3 billion (USFS 2006)
• Over 7 million acres burned every year for last several years
• Full costs of wildfires usually underestimated
• only take into account suppression costs, structural damages and acres
burned
• don’t account for property/human life loss, public health, restoration efforts,
lost tourist revenue
Global Fire Emissions
Global total carbon (C) emissions from deforestation fires (1997-2006) = Net
release of carbon to the atmosphere:
On average 0.6 billion t C / year
11/7/2015
Source: Van der Werf et al., 2006, ACP
Impacts of the Parnitha Forest Fires on Athens
Basin Weather and Microclimate
Courtesy G. Kallos
1 C change in regional T between now and 2030: Economic
impacts? Risk for further fires?
11/7/2015
Geospatial Decision Support Systems (DSS)
For natural disasters and climate change impacts
Wildfire DSS
► Risk management
► Early detection
► Incident management
► Recovery management
This DSS is designed to
support decision making for
effectively managing wildfire
hazards and can be
customized for any
particular regions.
It is based on integrating
remote sensing, GIS, GPS,
modeling and risk analysis.
11/7/2015
Southern
California
Wildfire
Geospatial Decision Support Systems (DSS)
For Natural Disasters and Climate Change Impacts
Land cover
Wildfire DSS
► Risk management
► Early detection
► Incident management
► Recovery management
Fuel Rank
Precipitation
Temperature
Risk management is to
assess wildfire risk levels
by using biomass fuel rank
information and climate
condition information, and
eventually to analyze the
vulnerabilities of
communities to wildfire
Model
Fire Risk Level
11/7/2015
Geospatial Decision Support Systems (DSS)
For Natural Disasters and Climate Change Impacts
Fire Risk Level
Wildfire DSS
► Risk management
► Early detection
► Incident management
► Recovery management
Asset Information
from Aerial Image
Community vulnerability:
Exposure x Sensitivity - Coping
Capacity
Exposure - Total population and
assets in high-risk fire zones
Sensitivity - Relative impact
calculated by dividing the
amount of potential asset-loss
by the total amount of that
asset in the affected area.
Coping Capacity - How ready
the government and population
are to cope with a wildfire
incident (e.g. how many
firefighting stations and
firefighters available in the area
and if there is sufficient water
supply for firefighting)
11/7/2015
County A
Population
Exposure
Population
Density
Population in
High-Risk
Zones: 102,000
Asset Exposure
(million dollars)
57.5
Sensitivity
61%
(35.2/57.5)
Hurricane models project increasing hurricane
intensities and rainfall rates with climate warming …
Hurricane Intensity
Hurricane Rainfall Rates
Current
climate
Current climate
~Late 21st century
~Late 21st century
6-hr accumulated rainfall [cm] within ~100 km of storm center.
Sensitivity: ~4% increase in wind speed
per oC SST increase
Sensitivity: ~12% increase in near-storm
rainfall per oC SST increase
Sources: Knutson and Tuleya, J. Climate, 2004 (left); Knutson and Tuleya, 2007; accepted for publication, Cambridge Univ Press (right).
See also Bengtsson et al. (Tellus 2007) and Oouchi et (J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 2006).
11/7/2015
Economic Costs of Hurricanes
Year
Fatalities
Injuries
Property
Damage
(million $)
Crop
Damage
(million $)
Total
Damage
(million $)
*2000
0
1
8.10
0.10
8.20
**2001
24
7
5,187.80
2.70
5,190.50
***2002
51
346
1,104.4
278.0
1,382.4
†2003
14
233
1,879.5
40.8
1,920.3
††2004
34
840
18,901
667.3
19,569.1
†††2005
1016
130
93,064.4
2,075.2
95,139.6
‡2006
0
1
2.4
43.3
45.7
‡‡2007
1
13
38.80
0.01
38.80
Annual U.S. Hurricane & Tropical Storm Summary
*Source: NOAA, 2000, **Source: NOAA, 2001, ***Source: NOAA, 2002, †Source: NOAA, 2003,
††Source: NOAA, 2004, †††Source: NOAA, 2005, ‡Source: NOAA, 2006, ‡‡Source: NOAA, 2007
From: NOAA Economics, www.economics.noaa.gov.
Extreme Weather
• Hurricane Katrina 2005
•Estimated total costs – $125 Billion in economic losses (~1.2% US GDP)
• ~1300 people died, over 1 million displaced
• European Heatwave 2003
• ~35,000 deaths due to heat and poor air quality
• $15 billion in damages to farming, livestock and forestry due to drought,
heat stress and fire
From Stern Review: Economics of Climate Change
Impacts of Flooding
• With 1-m rise in sea level:
• about 640,000km2 land lost in North America
• Gulf Coast and Florida most affected
• about 140,000km2 land lost in Europe
• will affect 20 million people and put $300 billion worth of GDP at risk
From Stern Review: Economics of Climate Change
Impacts of Flooding
• Currently, more than 200 million people live in coastal floodplains around
the world, with 2 million Km2 of land and $1 trillion worth of assets less than
1-m elevation above current sea level.
•The Association of British Insurers claim that in London, at least $220
billion worth of assets lie in floodplain
• Bangladesh faces losing large coastal areas, thus affecting 35 million
people
From Stern Review: Economics of Climate Change
Hurricane Decision Support System (New Orleans Case)
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Historical Hurricane Tracks
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Hurricane Risk Index
11/7/2015
Air Quality
“Although air pollution levels in California have improved significantly in the past few
decades due to aggressive controls on vehicles and industry, many Californians still
breathe the worst air in the nation. California’s climate and geography are conducive to
the formation and accumulation of air pollution (especially in Los Angeles and the
Central Valley).” (Health Effects of Particulate Matter and Ozone Air Pollution,
November 2007, CA EPA Air Resources Board)
“Californians currently experience the worst air quality in the nation. More than 90
percent of the population lives in areas that violate state air quality standards for
ground-level ozone or small particles. These pollutants cause an estimated 8,800
deaths and over a billion dollars in health care costs every year in California.292 Higher
temperatures are projected to increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of
conditions conducive to air pollution formation, potentially increasing the number of
days conducive to air pollution by 75 to 85 percent in Los Angeles and the San Joaquin
Valley, toward the end of this century, under a higher emissions scenario, and by 25 to
35 percent under a lower emissions scenario.293 Air quality could be further
compromised by wildfires, which are already increasing as a result of warming.”252,294
From Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, Thomas R. Karl, Jerry M. Melillo, and
Thomas C. Peterson, (eds.). Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Industries (TPPs), Population and NO2
distribution
A. Prasad et al., Chapman Univ.
Aerosol impacts over India
June 9, 2003
Dust storms dominate
during pre-monsoon and
summer periods
Indo-Gangetic
basin
December 28, 2004
Emissions from urban cities,
bio-fuel cooking and
thermal power plants form
thick layers of haze
11/7/2015
H. El-Askary et al.; R. Singh, A.
Prasad, M. Kafatos
Winter Pollution (Anthropogenic)
Courtesy A. Prasad
11/7/2015
Aerosols
Global distribution of AOD (AT 0.55µm)
GCM – MODIS – MISR – POLDER – AVHRR - AERONET
July
The numbers on the top right corners represent global area weighted means.
Dust Storm
Liu et al., 2005
Dust Storms
•
MODIS
(Terra and
Aqua)
•
TOMS
•
OMI
•
AIRS
•
METEOSAT
Transport of Mongolian dust to N. America in April 2001. This image was made by
compositing several days of TOMS data.
(NASA) 11/7/2015
Thermal Power Plants
0.4%
1.7%
0.0%
1990
0.8%
0.0%
1.2%
17.2%
29.4%
48.4%
2.9%
1990
Petroleum
2%
00%
%
17%
Coal
Natural gas
Biomass
49%
Hydroelectric 29%
Geothermal,
solar, wind and wave
3%
Nuclear
2000
21.4%
33.6%
38.5%
4.4%
•Decline in Biomass share by ~10%
•Increase in Coal and Petroleum share
by ~5% each
• Anthropogenic pollution is rising due to
increasing dependency on heavily polluting
fossil fuel (Coal) A.K. Prasad, R.P. Singh and
M. Kafatos, GRL (2006)
Agriculture
US Agriculture produces over $200 billion a year in food commodities
• climate change will increase productivity in some regions, but
decrease productivity in others
• crops and livestock will increasingly be affected by drought, floods,
higher sustained temperatures
• some crops will migrate north and may even thrive in the short-term,
but will eventually decline in productivity
• higher temperatures and longer growing season will bring more
disease and pests
(From USGCRP – Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, 2009)
•The cost of climate change in India and South East Asia could be as high
as a 9-13% loss in GDP by 2100 compared with what could have been
achieved in a world without climate change. Up to an additional 145-220
million people could be living on less than $2 a day and there could be an
additional 165,000 to 250,000 child deaths per year in South Asia and subSaharan Africa by 2100 (due to income losses alone). (from Stern Review)
Droughts
Drought in India: With the monsoon season delayed, India is suffering from severe
drought.
• Some regions have been suffering from severe drought for over a year
•About 600 million people live off the land, depend on monsoon rains for
agriculture
• Agriculture accounts for about 17% GDP of India
• India’s GDP for 2008 was $1.237 trillion (GDP official exchange rate)
(from http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/26/india.drought/index.html)
Health
Diseases: Higher temperatures are encouraging the migration of
malaria and other vector-borne diseases into new areas where, in
some cases, health authorities are ill-equipped to cope, e.g. a new type
of dengue fever in Java.
According to one study, a 2°C rise in temperature may lead to 40 –
60 million more people exposed to malaria in Africa (9 – 14% increase
on present-day), increasing to 70 – 80 million (16 – 19%) at higher
temperatures, assuming no change to malaria control efforts.
(from Stern Review, Calculations from Warren et al. (2006) based on research from Tanser
et al. (2003))
Conclusions
In decision making, multi-disciplinary skills and quantitative information on the
costs/benefits and planning of responses such as regional adaptation, are currently
limited. The need to organize and deploy multi-disciplinary expertise at the regional to
national levels, to develop adaptation solutions for the regions which are particularly at
risk , will likely become an international imperative. Expertise includes a variety of
practicing economists, sociologists, agricultural specialists, public health professionals,
climate and hazards scientists, hydrologists, engineers, and of course policy experts with
regional knowledge. Existing wealth of scientific knowledge has a great potential for
addressing a multitude challenges, including how to plan in an environment of increasing
uncertainty, how to develop “policy under deep uncertainty” (e.g. Rob Lempert).
We face huge challenges of both mitigation and adaptation as the science itself of
coupling global climate to regional impacts involves socio-economic impacts, energy
policy, along with understanding Earth system processes themselves. We don't have yet
the science to address the total system, Earth/climate/society/economy, this would
require a new interdisciplinary science combining different fields.
There are great opportunities not to participate in this emerging field. Equally important
are the business opportunities that will be generated for investment and technology
approaches. Governments and businesses that will generate the right solutions, will
provide economic opportunities beyond their own nations. However, the challenges
remain great.
Back up Slides
11/7/2015
Science Issues
• Climate variability and temperature increase are over several decades while hazards
occur over short timescales. Not easy to establish cause and effect.
• However, as the IPCC indicates, one signature of global warming is extremes of
weather, rise of sea level, etc.
• There is no doubt there are feedback mechanisms between hazards and global
climate, between regional and global properties; regional models coupled to global
models, and observations by satellites and global networks need to continue.
• Impacts of anthropogenic hazards can have long-term regional effects, e.g. fires of
Greece, California, etc. They may even change the local climate.
•Science still needs development (e.g. clouds, aerosols, ecosystem, effects, etc.)
•International collaborations are essential.
• More studies are needed by the scientists, particularly linking computer models to
observations from space, as well as awareness of the public.
11/7/2015
The Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI) is a non-profit
organization of leading companies dedicated to fostering environmental, health and safety
excellence worldwide through the sharing of tools and information in order for business to
help business achieve environmental excellence.
Climos is exploring techniques for naturally removing large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. One such
technique, Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF), is based on a natural process that is one of the Earth's primary
natural mechanisms to remove carbon dioxide. It has very high mitigation potential compared to other
available methods, and also has relatively low cost.
(March 5, 2008) -- Climos, a startup company focused on large scale techniques to mitigate climate change,
today announced the close of a $3.5M Series A round of financing led by Braemar Energy Ventures.
http://www.climos.com
In 2003, 3M joined the EPA’s Climate
Leaders initiative and pledged to reduce its
2002 absolute greenhouse gas emissions
(GHG) by 30% in 2007. 3M exceeded its
pledge and reduced GHG emissions by 60%
from 2002-2007. On October 8, 2008, the
EPA commended 3M and six other
companies for meeting or exceeding their
voluntary emissions reduction targets at
an event in Chicago.
With $24 billion in sales, 3M employs
79,000 people worldwide and has
operations in more than 60 countries.
• 3M reduced worldwide, absolute GHG emissions, in 2007, by 62% from a
1990 base year.
• 3M reduced U.S., absolute GHG emissions, in 2007, by 60% from a 2002
base year.
• In 2005, 3M exceeded its goal to reduce energy use indexed to net sales
by 20% off a 2000 base year, reducing energy use by 29%.
• 3M reduced worldwide energy use (indexed to net sales) at its operations
by 37 percent from 1998 - 2007.
• 3M reduced U.S. energy use (indexed to net sales) at its operations by 78
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/global/sustainability/management/climate-change-energy/
percent from 1973 - 2007.
http://www.anheuser-busch.com/
Anheuser-Busch is the world’s largest user of BERS, an anaerobic
method for processing brewing-related wastewater and capturing
the resulting biogas (methane). The breweries with BERS burn this
renewable energy source for fuel, supplying up to 15 percent of those
breweries' on-site energy needs. In 2006, almost 1,888 billion BTUs (2
million gigajoules) were generated through the use of BERS, enough
to provide heat to more than 25,000 homes.* Anheuser-Busch
breweries avoided more than 258 million pounds of greenhouse gas
emissions from fossil fuels by using this renewable fuel.
- Made a 10-year, $20 billion commitment in lending, investments, products
and services focused on addressing climate change.
- Providing critical financing to encourage the development of environmentally sustainable products and
technology
- Set an aggressive voluntary goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the company 9 percent by
2009 through the reduction of energy consumption.
http://environment.bankofamerica.com
In May 2007 Pfizer flipped the switch for a new solar power system at its La Jolla, CA facility
that will not only help reduce GHG emissions but also contribute to Pfizer痴 goal to meet 35
percent of our electricity needs by 2010 through the use of "cleaner" energy technologies,
such as co-generation.
September 2008 — for the second consecutive year, Pfizer is named one of the top 34 companies in the carbonintensive sector and has been recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Our approach to climate change
is again included in CDP's Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI).
http://pfizer.com/responsibility/ehs/climate_change_and_energy.jsp
THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY AND JOHNSON CONTROLS JOIN
PEW CENTER’S BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
Industry Leaders Show Strong Commitments to Advance Climate Change Solutions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Pew Center on Global Climate Change announced today that
The Dow Chemical Company and Johnson Controls, Inc. have joined the Pew Center’s
Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC) and its efforts to address global
climate change.
Solar Power Company Ausra Launches First Solar Thermal Plant in California in Nearly 20 Years --- Governor
Schwarzenegger on Hand as Next Generation Solar Technology Provides Power and Industrial Steam on CostCompetitive Basis
Bakersfield, CA—October 23, 2008—Ausra, Inc. and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today launched the
company's Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Bakersfield, CA, showcasing the company's "next generation"
concentrating solar thermal technology. Governor Schwarzenegger joined Ausra President, CEO and Chairman Bob Fishman,
U.S. Reps. Jim Costa (CA-20) and Kevin McCarthy (CA-22), California Assembly member Jean Fuller and Pacific Gas and
Electric (PG&E) CEO Peter Darbee in launching a new era of solar thermal power with the turning of Ausra's large solar thermal
• Reduced our facility carbon dioxide emissions by 12.7 percent on an absolute basis when
compared to a 1990 baseline.
• Opened two more solar power installations,bringing to 10 the number of such installations in our U.S. Family of
Companies.
• Reduced our hazardous waste by four percent and our non-hazardous waste by six percent in the past two years.
• Increased by 18 percent in 18 months,the amount of product shipped by rail instead of truck in the U.S.and Canada.
• Decreased our water consumption six percent in the past two years. ASPECTS
(From Johnson & Johnson 2007 Sustainability Summary)
http://www.jnj.com/connect/caring/environment-protection/?flash=true
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany’s corporate goal is to make certain that at
least 90% of the paper used in our packaging
materials and catalogues is certified to the
standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
The FSC promotes environmentally and socially
responsible management of the world’s forests. We
also are proud to have partnered in the development
of a new grade of FSC-certified paper that contains
30% post-consumer waste content.
In 2006 we installed two very large solar power
systems in our distribution facilities in New Jersey
to replace carbon fuel-generated power. The
installations generate approximately 1.4 megawatts
annually, which represents 35% of the electricity
needs of the facilities.
http://www.tiffany.com/Sustainability/
A significant environmental milestone achieved in 2006 was the
final elimination of sulfur hexafluoride, or SF6 a gas with an
extremely high global warming impact from all of Nike’s running
shoes. The elimination of SF6 alone represents a reduction of
more than 80 percent of GHGs since 1997.
Achieved 18 percent reduction from 1998 to 2005 on emissions
for Nike facilities and employee business travel.
Nike also aims to:
> Continue to identify opportunities to reduce energy
consumption through increasing energy efficiency projects
> Increase direct renewable energy purchase, and renewable
energy credit or “green tag” purchases.
Work with major contract footwear manufacturers in China to
audit and assess energy reduction opportunities as 35% of
Nike’s manufacturing takes place in China
Reach the goal to blend a minimum of 5 percent organic cotton
into all of our cotton-containing apparel materials by 2010, while
steadily expanding our offering of 100 percent certified organic
cotton products.
http://www.nikebiz.com/responsibility/
Environmental Stewardship in Lending…Wachovia
• Does not finance logging in primary tropical moist forests,areas in which high conservation values are
endangered or World Heritage sites.
• Does not provide financial services to clients that purchase timber from illegal logging operations.
• Encourages clients to adopt a credible forest certification program and show third-party verification of sustainable
forestry practices.
• Applies the Equator Principles to global project financing.
Energy Efficiency…Wachovia
• Will measure and report annually on the energy consumption and related carbon dioxide emissions from its own
operations,beginning in 2007.
• Will reduce absolute carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent (from 2005 levels) by 2010.
• Designed and is building a new 1.2 million square foot office tower in accordance with Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) certification standards.
• Built and opened its first LEED-certified financial center in Austin,Texas.
• Will in 2007 develop a LEED-certified financial center design and uniform green building standards for use in our
facilities.
•Incorporates high-efficiency lighting and HVAC systems to replace older,inefficient systems in targeted financial
centers.
Recycling and Green Procurement…Wachovia
• Recycled more than 20,000 tons of paper in 2006.
• Introduced a recycling program for used toner cartridges.
• Used recycled-content paper for 86 percent of 2006 print materials,including customer correspondence,marketing
materials and the corporation’s Annual Report to shareholders.
• Negotiated agreements with major copy center suppliers to use recycled-content paper.
• Delivers employee pay statements online,reducing paper consumption and energy consumption.
Wachovia is a recent signatory to the Equator Principles, a voluntary initiative developed by the World Bank
Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC). By adopting the Equator Principles, financial institutions commit to
apply the principles to global project financing to mitigate social and environmental risk factors.
http://www.wachovia.com/inside/page/0,,132_10475_10476,00.html
Over the next five years, The °Climate Group’s goal is to help government and business set the world economy on
the path to a low-carbon, prosperous future.
To reach this goal, we’ve created a coalition of governments and the world’s most influential businesses – all
committed to tackling climate change.
http://www.theclimategroup.org/
Electric Car Networks Heading For the
West Coast
Calif. Businesses Join Chorus of
Support for Climate Laws
By GreenBiz Staff, GreenBiz
Published November 24, 2008
By ClimateBiz Staff
Published November 21, 2008
The electric transportation company Better Place will
enter the U.S. market and the San Francisco Bay Area
in a partnership with the mayors of San Francisco, San
Jose and Oakland. The company will invest about $1
billion on an electric car infrastructure meant to make
the Bay Area the "Electric Vehicle Capital of the U.S.”
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/11/24/electric-carnetworks-heading-for-west-coast
OAKLAND, Calif. -- A group of California businesses
and trade associations on Thursday threw their
support behind the state's climate change regulations,
arguing the efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions amount to an enormous economic
opportunity.
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/11/21/califbusinesses-join-chorus-support-climate-laws
California to Create Climate Change
Adaption Plan
California Unveils Latest Plan to Curb
Emissions
By ClimateBiz Staff
Published November 17, 2008
By ClimateBiz Staff
Published October 17, 2008
SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- The California Air Resources
Board (CARB) released a climate change plan
Wednesday that will touch nearly every sector of the
state's economy -- from the cars we buy to the places we
live and the energy used power them.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- A day after a University of
California, Berkeley report predicted that trillions of
dollars in state real estate assets are at risk from
climate change, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered
state agencies to draw up an adaption strategy to plan
for rising sea levels and other impacts.
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/11/17/californiacreate-climate-change-adaption-plan
The proposed scoping plan, which must be approved in
December, aims to meet an overarching goal embodied
in the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: reducing
greenhouse gas emissions in the country's most
populous state to 1990 levels by 2020.
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/10/17/californiaunveils-latest-plan-curb-emissions
California Governor Signs Law to Curb
Sprawl, GHGs
By Tilde Herrera
Published October 2, 2008
OAKLAND, Calif. -- California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger signed a bill late Tuesday that will
open a new front in the state's battle to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions: land use.
Senate Bill 375 will bring together city and county
planners, home builders and public transit agencies to
drastically change the way communities grow. The law
is the first in the U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by curtailing urban sprawl and traffic
congestion through high-density development near
transit corridors.
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/10/02/californialaw-curb-sprawl-ghgs
Climate Change Could Cost Calif. Billions
Annually: Report
By ClimateBiz Staff
Published November 14, 2008
OAKLAND, Calif. -- More than half of California's real estate
assets are at risk from rising sea levels and wildfires caused
by climate change, and the state could end up spending
billions of dollars each year coping with its effects, a research
report released Thursday found.
There is, however, a chance the price tag could shrink if the
state takes steps now toward mitigation and adaptation in its
policy and infrastructure decisions, according to "California
Climate Risk and Response" from the University of California,
Berkeley and nonprofit Next 10.
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/11/14/climate-changecould-cost-calif-billions-annually-report
Greening Distribution with Industrial Infills
By Leslie Guevarra
Published September 2, 2008
Steven E. Campbell is a senior vice president and
director of environmental and development services for
the AMB Property Corporation, based in San Francisco.
Earlier this summer, AMB completed a project that helped
a California city move a step closer to its goal of greening
its community. The project involved an industrial infill.
Urban areas that have a desire to grow, but no space to
do it, are increasingly turning to former traditional
industrial properties to create a place for smarter, more
environmentally conscious enterprises that are near
population centers and transportation hubs. Steve
Campbell tells us how this strategy is being applied to
distribution centers.
http://www.greenbiz.com/podcast/2008/09/02/greeningdistribution-with-industrial-infills
Climate Change: Past and
Present Observations
• World Temperature
A Cost Curve for Greenhouse Gas Reductions
From: A Cost Curve for greenhouse gas reduction: A global study of the size and cost of
measures to reduce greenhouse gas emission yields important insights for business and
policy makers, Per-Anders Enkvist, Thomas Naucler, and Jerker Rosander, McKinsey
Quarterly
11/7/2015
Dust Storms in Greece
Athens, 24 February 2006
2006/055 - 02/24
Satellite & Sensor: Aqua- MODIS
(http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov)
11/7/2015
Aerosols affect Vegetation
EOFs of NDVI and EOF1 of Aerosol optical
depth. (a) EOF1 of NDVI , (b) EOF4 of NDVI
and (c) EOF1 of aerosol index (AI).
Sarkar and Kafatos (2004)
11/7/2015
Seasonal Variability of Global Vegetation Fires (2005)
11/7/2015
Fire smoke reached 5 km in the greater southern Greece (CALIPSO) and transported to
N. Africa (METEOSAT optical depth, lower left panel)
Courtesy V. Amiridis
11/7/2015
Science, Energy and Economics:
Interdisciplinary Opportunities
Global politics, development of new economic powers and associated industrial
productivity, sustaining and expanding a modern way of life, and other factors, enter
the picture and complicate any possible solutions:
The Kyoto Protocol needs to be renewed but it is still not clear how, who will sign it and
what it will mean; Copenhagen meeting in December will prove crucial; the emergence
of India and particularly China as world economic powers, with their associated
increasing need of energy production and thirst to find new energy sources; the lack of
massive usage of alternative sources of energy production, which to compete with
fossil fuels will require years of development and economic viability; and the dream of
billions of people in the world to enjoy the same modern way of life that we in
developed nations take for granted, all play an effect here.
Promising signs of governments coming together
11/7/2015
Droughts, Health, etc.
They may live on separate continents, in different countries with differing cultures, but the same message is being echoed by the
world's poor, according to a new report by aid agency Oxfam. The report, "Suffering the Science," tells the stories of people who
are discovering to their detriment that long-held truths about seasons and rainfall no longer apply.
"I travel a lot and people are always saying to me, 'the seasons have changed,'Oxfam chief executive Barbara Stocking told CNN.
"I think there's a real sense of uncertainty. People have lost confidence. They have a very close relationship with the Earth, nature
and climate and suddenly they're finding that it doesn't work anymore.“ People such as Florence Madamu from western Uganda.
"The sun is prolonged until the end of September," she told Oxfam. "And whenever it rains it rains so heavily it destroys all our
crops in the fields. You can plant a whole acre or two and come out with nothing.“ July is a particularly harsh month in large
swathes of Africa. It's the peak hunger season and this year people are expected to be more vulnerable than usual following record
high food prices in 2008.
Laborers are planting precious seeds in fields of dirt with no guarantee they'll produce a harvest, while the conditions they're
working under are becoming more extreme.
"For me the big worry is that many of them don't know why it's happening so they can't actually help themselves prepare for the
changes," Stocking told CNN.
And for unfamiliar diseases. Higher temperatures are encouraging the migration of malaria and other vector-borne diseases into
new areas where, in some cases, health authorities are ill-equipped to cope. Twelve-year-old Laila was the second of her children
to contract dengue fever at their home on the island of Java. "They said that this is a new type of dengue fever," Iha told Oxfam.
"She has already had 30 bags of infusion water. After nine days her condition is still not stable."
Talks in Copenhagen in December are being billed as an unmissable opportunity for developed and developing nations to agree a
global plan to combat climate change.
Stocking commended a proposal by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to establish a $100 billion annual fund to help developing
nations contend with climate change, but said closer to $150 billion was needed. Oxfam points out that's about the same amount
the U.S. government spent on bailing out insurance company AIG.
While scientists warn that a cut of 40 percent in carbon emissions by 2020 is vital to avoid severe repercussions, developed
nations have yet to commit to anything close.