Although I'm a cider drinker...
17/06/2008
30/04/2008
22/04/2008
Alastair Fuad-Luke / slowLab
A well placed and great lecture for all involved in design!
Sustainable design facilitator, lecturer & writer Alastair Fuad-Luke will talk about his evolving conversation around ‘slow design’ and his work with Carolyn Strauss of NYC’s slowLab, an organisation taking a curatorial role to reveal diverse creativity around the concept of ‘positive slowness by design'.
Alastair Fuad-Luke is a sustainable design consultant, facilitator, lecturer and writer. He is a contributor to the international debate about design and sustainability, and author of The Eco-Design Handbook. He works with diverse clients in Denmark, France and the UK. Currently he is Project Manager for DEEDS (Design Education & Sustainability, www.deedsproject.org) supported by the EU Leonardo da Vinci programme. He is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Plymouth, University College for the Creative Arts, University College Falmouth, and Royal College of Arts in the UK, and has also lectured in the Europe, USA, New Zealand and Australia.
SlowLab is an emerging organization based in New York City and with activities worldwide. The mission of the organization is to promote 'slowness' or 'slow design' as a positive catalyst of individual, socio-cultural and environmental well-being. Engaging the innate creative capacities of individuals and leveraging the collaborative potential of communities to spur networks of cooperation that incite new thinking and approaches.
As a design ‘activist’, Alastair is the founder of SLow, a web site exploring ‘slow design’ (www.slowdesign.org); Vice President of New York based SlowLab (www.slowlab.org); and a former member of the Advisory Board for the 10th & 11th Towards Sustainable Product Development conference, the Centre for Sustainable Design (www.cfsd.org.uk), UK. He is passionate about society-wide engagement with design as a means to live a more fulfilling, sustainable life, while respecting our bio-diverse planet.
The lecture will take place as usual at the Main Lecture Theatre on our Woodlane Campus at 6pm. For more information go to http://rane.falmouth.ac.uk/lecture_series_frm.html
Sustainable design facilitator, lecturer & writer Alastair Fuad-Luke will talk about his evolving conversation around ‘slow design’ and his work with Carolyn Strauss of NYC’s slowLab, an organisation taking a curatorial role to reveal diverse creativity around the concept of ‘positive slowness by design'.
Alastair Fuad-Luke is a sustainable design consultant, facilitator, lecturer and writer. He is a contributor to the international debate about design and sustainability, and author of The Eco-Design Handbook. He works with diverse clients in Denmark, France and the UK. Currently he is Project Manager for DEEDS (Design Education & Sustainability, www.deedsproject.org) supported by the EU Leonardo da Vinci programme. He is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Plymouth, University College for the Creative Arts, University College Falmouth, and Royal College of Arts in the UK, and has also lectured in the Europe, USA, New Zealand and Australia.
SlowLab is an emerging organization based in New York City and with activities worldwide. The mission of the organization is to promote 'slowness' or 'slow design' as a positive catalyst of individual, socio-cultural and environmental well-being. Engaging the innate creative capacities of individuals and leveraging the collaborative potential of communities to spur networks of cooperation that incite new thinking and approaches.
As a design ‘activist’, Alastair is the founder of SLow, a web site exploring ‘slow design’ (www.slowdesign.org); Vice President of New York based SlowLab (www.slowlab.org); and a former member of the Advisory Board for the 10th & 11th Towards Sustainable Product Development conference, the Centre for Sustainable Design (www.cfsd.org.uk), UK. He is passionate about society-wide engagement with design as a means to live a more fulfilling, sustainable life, while respecting our bio-diverse planet.
The lecture will take place as usual at the Main Lecture Theatre on our Woodlane Campus at 6pm. For more information go to http://rane.falmouth.ac.uk/lecture_series_frm.html
Artful Ecologies 2
Art, Nature & Environment Conference 2008
9 - 12 July, University College Falmouth, Cornwall, UK
The second Art, Nature & Environment conference organised and hosted by the RANE research cluster at University College Falmouth, will take place over four days in July of this year. The conference aims to bring together some of the leading members of the artistic community and the growing community of artists and researchers already engaging with RANE, to consider and discuss how artists might best address current ecological concerns.
Since the successful inaugural Artful Ecologies conference in 2006, any doubts that our planet's ecology is now in real danger have been left far behind. Many now argue that we are on the verge of a crisis that could very soon turn to catastrophe. The number of different scenarios we now face, largely of our own making, all present harsh realities and paint bleak pictures of our future. These problems include the creation of a climate that will make large regions of the earth uninhabitable and force an unprecedented loss of species to rival the planet’s previous mass extinctions. Within a generation, toxic levels of pollution and the predicted population explosion will begin to place huge demands on limited resources, with potential shortages of food and water making survival for many an impossibility. The magnitude of the task ahead is almost impossible to imagine, harder still to tackle.
Over the course of four days we will be asking whether there is a role for art to play in facing this impending ecological crisis. If, among other things, art is to be seen as a method for making sense of the world; as a means of interpretation and communication; as a way of exploring and proposing alternatives, then is there more for art to do than simply foreground the problems? What can artists do to provide solutions and address practical concerns? With our environment in crisis, what role for art?
For details of booking rates, including student concessions and artist's bursaries, plus how to register for the conference please visit www.rane-research.org/ae2
Please note keynote speakers and the final schedule are still to be confirmed, so please re-visit the website for regular updates to the conference programme.
9 - 12 July, University College Falmouth, Cornwall, UK
The second Art, Nature & Environment conference organised and hosted by the RANE research cluster at University College Falmouth, will take place over four days in July of this year. The conference aims to bring together some of the leading members of the artistic community and the growing community of artists and researchers already engaging with RANE, to consider and discuss how artists might best address current ecological concerns.
Since the successful inaugural Artful Ecologies conference in 2006, any doubts that our planet's ecology is now in real danger have been left far behind. Many now argue that we are on the verge of a crisis that could very soon turn to catastrophe. The number of different scenarios we now face, largely of our own making, all present harsh realities and paint bleak pictures of our future. These problems include the creation of a climate that will make large regions of the earth uninhabitable and force an unprecedented loss of species to rival the planet’s previous mass extinctions. Within a generation, toxic levels of pollution and the predicted population explosion will begin to place huge demands on limited resources, with potential shortages of food and water making survival for many an impossibility. The magnitude of the task ahead is almost impossible to imagine, harder still to tackle.
Over the course of four days we will be asking whether there is a role for art to play in facing this impending ecological crisis. If, among other things, art is to be seen as a method for making sense of the world; as a means of interpretation and communication; as a way of exploring and proposing alternatives, then is there more for art to do than simply foreground the problems? What can artists do to provide solutions and address practical concerns? With our environment in crisis, what role for art?
For details of booking rates, including student concessions and artist's bursaries, plus how to register for the conference please visit www.rane-research.org/ae2
Please note keynote speakers and the final schedule are still to be confirmed, so please re-visit the website for regular updates to the conference programme.
11/04/2008
Clean Cornwall Week
A brief note to remind you that Clean Cornwall Week starts tomorrow.
There has been a huge amount of interest and we already have over 150 events registered on the web site www.cleancornwall.org
If you are not able to participate in any of the events you could still contribute by picking up just one single piece of litter during the week.
If everyone in Cornwall did this it really would make a big difference.
Many thanks, and don't be shy to pass this message on to others !!
There has been a huge amount of interest and we already have over 150 events registered on the web site www.cleancornwall.org
If you are not able to participate in any of the events you could still contribute by picking up just one single piece of litter during the week.
If everyone in Cornwall did this it really would make a big difference.
Many thanks, and don't be shy to pass this message on to others !!
01/04/2008
Leap Media and South West C+ Carbon Positive Awards
Woo hoo, thanks to Jonny from our team who entered us into the South West Carbon Positive awards, we got a call today to say that Leap is a finalist and to turn up at the Met Office for the finals in May.
Details of all finalists will be live on
www.bitc.org.uk/carbonpositiveawards
Drawing straws time for the team then to see which two will represent on low carbon wine drinking;)
Carbon capture has arrived, just don’t let yourself go…
Quench your thirst and save the planet!
ho ho ho
matt
the page is linked to the site, just click on Carbon Capture... title to take you to the site!
http://ev-eon.com/
................
Quench your thirst and save the planet!
E.on is delighted to announce the discovery of a new form of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
Burning coal to generate electricity produces Carbon Dioxide (CO2), a green house gas that contributes to climate change. However by capturing the CO2 before it is released into the atmosphere and piping it through natural spring water we at E.on are able to create carbonated drinking water that is bottled and sold in Italian restaurants under the brand name evE.on
Although a simple solution, the implications are huge. With over a hundred years worth of coal deposits left and with massive growth in energy demand CCS will allow E.on to continue to burn coal for decades to come. evE.on's Chief Executive Taton Rebfluw says, "climate change had turned coal into a dirty word, but carbonated drinking water could be the silver bullet we have been looking for" a quick sip of evE.on bottled water and he continues "the water tastes great and drinkers have the added bonus of helping combat climate change – the more water they drink, the more CO2 they store, and the more coal can be used to generate electricity, this really is symbiosis at its very best".
evE.on is available now in restaurants and cafes. Please drink responsibly and refrain from burping or breathing the CO2 back into the atmosphere otherwise you may be responsible for causing climate change.
Find out more or to order online visit, www.ev-eon.com
Happy Fossil Fools Day ....
28/03/2008
you know you want to
Dear Friend,
Last week I asked you to get your friends involved in our campaign to stop global warming and you responded: more than 70,000 people have joined in the last week alone. That's simply amazing and shows that there is immense support behind our call for solutions to the climate crisis. Today we are just 76,000 short of reaching our goal of 1,000,000 members by April.
You can help put us over the top. Right now I need you to forward the email below to everyone you know and ask them to get involved.
More than 924,000 people have already joined us, but if we are going to succeed we need to reach 1,000,000 by April.
With your help, we'll reach this goal and send a powerful message to the world. Please ask your friends to get involved today: http://wecansolveit.org/invitealliance
Thank you,
Al Gore
P.S. You can donate to our efforts here: http://www.climateprotect.org/donate You can unsubscribe from future emails here.
--------------------
Dear Friend,
The world's scientists are calling for immediate and urgent action on global warming. The good news is that we have the science, technologies and policies necessary to stop it. What's needed is action by concerned people like you and me.
That's why I've joined with Al Gore and others across the country and around the world who want to halt global warming.
We're on the verge of being over one million strong and I'm asking you to join us. Please click here today to become part of the solutions to global warming: http://wecansolveit.org/alliance
We need to come together and demand our leaders take the steps necessary to ensure our children and their children have a positive future. That's why I'm asking you to get involved today:
http://wecansolveit.org/alliance
Together, we can stop global warming.
Last week I asked you to get your friends involved in our campaign to stop global warming and you responded: more than 70,000 people have joined in the last week alone. That's simply amazing and shows that there is immense support behind our call for solutions to the climate crisis. Today we are just 76,000 short of reaching our goal of 1,000,000 members by April.
You can help put us over the top. Right now I need you to forward the email below to everyone you know and ask them to get involved.
More than 924,000 people have already joined us, but if we are going to succeed we need to reach 1,000,000 by April.
With your help, we'll reach this goal and send a powerful message to the world. Please ask your friends to get involved today: http://wecansolveit.org/invitealliance
Thank you,
Al Gore
P.S. You can donate to our efforts here: http://www.climateprotect.org/donate You can unsubscribe from future emails here.
--------------------
Dear Friend,
The world's scientists are calling for immediate and urgent action on global warming. The good news is that we have the science, technologies and policies necessary to stop it. What's needed is action by concerned people like you and me.
That's why I've joined with Al Gore and others across the country and around the world who want to halt global warming.
We're on the verge of being over one million strong and I'm asking you to join us. Please click here today to become part of the solutions to global warming: http://wecansolveit.org/alliance
We need to come together and demand our leaders take the steps necessary to ensure our children and their children have a positive future. That's why I'm asking you to get involved today:
http://wecansolveit.org/alliance
Together, we can stop global warming.
16/03/2008
My first award
This is a slide from an amazing day organised by CoaST www.coastproject.co.uk that happened on 13/03/08. Leap was asked to run a taster workshop on communicating the green and ethical message - tools and tone of voice, this was co-hosted by Jez Prins of www.hardworkingwords.co.uk a good session, way larger group than expected. And the discussion kind of got off tangent, with views on how the ICT sector is already surpassing the aviation industry on a co2 level to do we really need brochures! But we said what was needed to be said and it is mainly about make sure you say what you do and say it as you...not Innocent unless you are Innocent!
I hope so because I love paper.
The slide was for a 5 minute to show talk on winning awards and accreditations - marks of distinction, authenticity and benchmarking yourself. The Blue Peter badge was won when I was 7 or so and has always appeared on my cv. Mainly because cv's are humorless...:)
12/03/2008
we are still here
It's true... been very quiet on the blog.. not so in the studio. Lots of change, 3-4 weeks for the new website, Gary and I have been talking jute and meeting jute in Kolkata, India. We're doing lots of talks and have won or been gifted with some really nice new clients recently. As well as lots of returning clients. We've got some new team members, in for some awards and doing some more talks. Clare is running the studio mostly now too so I can do more creative malarkey. Which is ace because I'm pap at paper work unless I'm designing on it.
Latest project just delivered this afternoon, identity and stationery for Hab Housing which is run by Kevin McCloud of TVs Grand Designs fame amongst other accolades.
more to come, promise soon. trying to keep these short .. er...
11/02/2008
27/01/2008
Japanese paper firms admit recycling lies
We only use European papers but just goes to show everything can prove other than it actually is. We trust our suppliers to keep us up to date with all the information we require. But every so often we do get our papers tested by specialists to make sure they are what we have requested (and we have had one printer use a stock that wasn't a recycled stock at all).
The Guardian, Saturday January 19 2008
The reputation of Japan's paper industry lay in tatters yesterday after the market leader, Oji Paper, admitted it had lied for more than a decade about the amount of recycled paper it used.
The revelation comes days after the country's second-biggest paper company, Nippon Paper Group, admitted it had made similarly false claims.
Oji Paper said the amount of recycled paper in its copy and printing paper was as high as 50% when the real figure was between 5% and 10%. The firm's envelopes contained, at most, 30% of recycled paper, although consumers had been led to believe it was as high as 70%. Some products contained no recycled material at all.
"We had let the ratio of recycled paper fall amid rising shipments while the amount of recycled paper did not grow," Oji Paper's president, Kazuhisa Shinoda, told reporters in Tokyo.
Shinoda said he would not resign over the scandal but apologised for misleading consumers. The fabrication, he said, had "betrayed public trust and we apologise to our clients and customers".
Nippon Paper's president, Masatomo Nakamura, said he would take responsibility for the scandal and resign.
Oji Paper and Nippon Paper are among five firms accused of misleading customers about the recycled-paper content of product lines, including millions of new year's greetings cards.
The scandal dragged down shares in paper companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nippon Paper's shares plummeted 10% to 267,000 yen (£1,269) after Fuji Xerox and other firms said they would stop selling its products. Shares in Oji Paper dived 4.7% to close at ¥476.
Japan's fair trade commission is expected to decide soon whether the companies can be prosecuted under mislabelling laws.
The Guardian, Saturday January 19 2008
The reputation of Japan's paper industry lay in tatters yesterday after the market leader, Oji Paper, admitted it had lied for more than a decade about the amount of recycled paper it used.
The revelation comes days after the country's second-biggest paper company, Nippon Paper Group, admitted it had made similarly false claims.
Oji Paper said the amount of recycled paper in its copy and printing paper was as high as 50% when the real figure was between 5% and 10%. The firm's envelopes contained, at most, 30% of recycled paper, although consumers had been led to believe it was as high as 70%. Some products contained no recycled material at all.
"We had let the ratio of recycled paper fall amid rising shipments while the amount of recycled paper did not grow," Oji Paper's president, Kazuhisa Shinoda, told reporters in Tokyo.
Shinoda said he would not resign over the scandal but apologised for misleading consumers. The fabrication, he said, had "betrayed public trust and we apologise to our clients and customers".
Nippon Paper's president, Masatomo Nakamura, said he would take responsibility for the scandal and resign.
Oji Paper and Nippon Paper are among five firms accused of misleading customers about the recycled-paper content of product lines, including millions of new year's greetings cards.
The scandal dragged down shares in paper companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nippon Paper's shares plummeted 10% to 267,000 yen (£1,269) after Fuji Xerox and other firms said they would stop selling its products. Shares in Oji Paper dived 4.7% to close at ¥476.
Japan's fair trade commission is expected to decide soon whether the companies can be prosecuted under mislabelling laws.
28/12/2007
We've been saying this for a while!
It seemed quite obvious to us at Leap that the ICT sector is a massive carbon abuser. Businesses say about giving up paper as it saves the environment but the increased demands on bandwith and server use is several times more detrimental to the environment. Alright it saves businesses money on marketing by specifically using the web and it also gives the feel it's not harming the environment, simply because that information to date hasn't been available. But now from one of our clients it is.
An instant counter balance would be to change business electricity use to a 100% renewable electricity tariff and the only true one of those and the only one we'd ever use to date is Good Energy's supply.
matt
The ‘Inefficient Truth’
An Inefficient Truth is the first research report produced by Global Action Plan on behalf of the Environmental IT Leadership Team. The Leadership Team is a unique gathering of major ICT users from a range of different sectors (NHS, John Lewis, Sony etc) who are committed to taking practical action to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
The report contains four sections.
The first section assesses the environmental impact of the ICT sector which is virtually the equivalent of the aviation industry.
Section two analyses survey results from major ICT users and discovers how quickly and effectively the sector is responding to the environmental agenda.
The third section takes a snapshot look at some case studies illustrating how companies are implementing practical solutions that are reducing carbon emissions and saving them money.
Finally, there is a Call to Action from Global Action Plan setting out some of the challenges facing Government, vendors and users in order to move the sector towards a lower carbon future.
An Inefficient Truth is the first part of a longer journey which will see Global Action Plan using its position as an independent practical environmental charity to help cut carbon emissions from the ICT sector. Please contact me for more details on how we are working with the IT industry further.
http://www.globalactionplan.org.uk/event_detail.aspx?eid=ef0cecc6-2621-4a3c-962c-e4758b8952f8 – to download the full report
http://itn.co.uk/news/3bc1df24a662a3db3f3d911a7a83ef32.html - ITN Video coverage
Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/03/carbonfootprints.carbonemissions?gusrc=rss&feed=technology
The information and communication technology (ICT) sector in the UK has a carbon footprint as big as the aviation industry, according to a report released today.
ICT equipment accounts for 3-4% of the world's carbon emissions, says the report by Global Action Plan, which warns that growth in carbon emissions from the sector is exacerbated by government policies requiring higher levels of data to be stored.
The report found that 61% of data centres only have the capacity for two years of growth and 37% of companies are storing data indefinitely due to government policy.
It also revealed that 86% of ICT departments surveyed did not know the carbon footprint of their activities, 80% of respondents did not believe their company's data policies to be environmentally sustainable, and less than 20% have even seen their energy bills.
The report, An Inefficient Truth, is understood to be the UK's first survey to measure awareness between the use of ICT in business and its contribution to the UK's carbon footprint.
More than 60% of the chief executives, IT director and senior decision makers from 120 UK enterprises which took part in the survey said time pressures and cost were the biggest barriers to adopting sustainable ICT policies. They believed that recognised standards and tax allowances would help the sector to reduce emissions.
Global Action Plan is calling on the government to provide incentives to help companies reduce their ICT carbon footprint and to review its policies on long-term data storage to take into account the carbon implications.
It wants ICT vendors to improve the quality of their environmental information, for ICT departments to be accountable for the energy costs of ICT equipment and for companies to ensure their ICT infrastructure meets stricter efficiency targets.
Trewin Restorick, the director of Global Action Plan and chairman of the environmental IT leadership team, said: "The average server has roughly the same annual carbon footprint as a [sport utility vehicle] doing 15 miles per gallon.
"With carbon footprint now equal to the aviation industry, ICT, and how businesses utlitise ICT, will increasingly come under the spotlight as government seeks to achieve carbon cutting commitments."
He added that ICT departments have been "slow off the mark to address their carbon footprint", but awareness was now growing.
"To turn this into action, ICT departments need help. They need vendors to give them better information rather than selling green froth, [and] they need government policies to become more supportive and less contradictory," said Restorick.
Tom Kelly, the managing director of Logicalis UK - sponsors of the report – said under-utilisation was a prime example of "energy abuse". The report found that almost 40% of servers are underutilised by more than half of their capacity.
He called on business to evaluate the efficiency of existing ICT infrastructure and improve efficiency in order to avoid legislation.
"A flabby business that guzzles budget and energy is likely to be a prime target for impending legislation," said Kelly. "In short, efficient IT equals green IT."
18/12/2007
US pull sucker punch at Bali?
this is from George Monbiot, always worth listening to.
Published on Monday, December 17, 2007 by The Guardian/UK
We’ve Been Suckered Again by the US. So Far the Bali Deal Is Worse than Kyoto
America will keep on wrecking climate talks as long as those with vested interests in oil and gas fund its political system
by George Monbiot
“After 11 days of negotiations, governments have come up with a compromise deal that could even lead to emission increases. The highly compromised political deal is largely attributable to the position of the United States, which was heavily influenced by fossil fuel and automobile industry interests. The failure to reach agreement led to the talks spilling over into an all-night session.”
These are extracts from a press release by Friends of the Earth. So what? Well it was published on December 11 - I mean to say, December 11 1997. The US had just put a wrecking ball through the Kyoto protocol. George Bush was innocent; he was busy executing prisoners in Texas. Its climate negotiators were led by Albert Arnold Gore.
The European Union had asked for greenhouse gas cuts of 15% by 2010. Gore’s team drove them down to 5.2% by 2012. Then the Americans did something worse: they destroyed the whole agreement.
Most of the other governments insisted that the cuts be made at home. But Gore demanded a series of loopholes big enough to drive a Hummer through. The rich nations, he said, should be allowed to buy their cuts from other countries. When he won, the protocol created an exuberant global market in fake emissions cuts. The western nations could buy “hot air” from the former Soviet Union. Because the cuts were made against emissions in 1990, and because industry in that bloc had subsequently collapsed, the former Soviet Union countries would pass well below the bar. Gore’s scam allowed them to sell the gases they weren’t producing to other nations. He also insisted that rich nations could buy nominal cuts from poor ones. Entrepreneurs in India and China have made billions by building factories whose primary purpose is to produce greenhouse gases, so that carbon traders in the rich world will pay to clean them up.
The result of this sabotage is that the market for low-carbon technologies has remained moribund. Without an assured high value for carbon cuts, without any certainty that government policies will be sustained, companies have continued to invest in the safe commercial prospects offered by fossil fuels rather than gamble on a market without an obvious floor.
By ensuring that the rich nations would not make real cuts, Gore also guaranteed that the poor ones scoffed when we asked them to do as we don’t. When George Bush announced, in 2001, that he would not ratify the Kyoto protocol, the world cursed and stamped its foot. But his intransigence affected only the US. Gore’s team ruined it for everyone.
The destructive power of the American delegation is not the only thing that hasn’t changed. After the Kyoto protocol was agreed, the then British environment secretary, John Prescott, announced: “This is a truly historic deal which will help curb the problems of climate change. For the first time it commits developed countries to make legally binding cuts in their emissions.” Ten years later, the current environment secretary, Hilary Benn, told us that “this is an historic breakthrough and a huge step forward. For the first time ever, all the world’s nations have agreed to negotiate on a deal to tackle dangerous climate change.” Do these people have a chip inserted?
In both cases, the US demanded terms that appeared impossible for the other nations to accept. Before Kyoto, the other negotiators flatly rejected Gore’s proposals for emissions trading. So his team threatened to sink the talks. The other nations capitulated, but the US still held out on technicalities until the very last moment, when it suddenly appeared to concede. In 1997 and in 2007 it got the best of both worlds: it wrecked the treaty and was praised for saving it.
Hilary Benn is an idiot. Our diplomats are suckers. American negotiators have pulled the same trick twice, and for the second time our governments have fallen for it.
There are still two years to go, but so far the new agreement is even worse than the Kyoto protocol. It contains no targets and no dates. A new set of guidelines also agreed at Bali extend and strengthen the worst of Gore’s trading scams, the clean development mechanism. Benn and the other dupes are cheering and waving their hats as the train leaves the station at last, having failed to notice that it is travelling in the wrong direction.
Although Gore does a better job of governing now he is out of office, he was no George Bush. He wanted a strong, binding and meaningful protocol, but American politics had made it impossible. In July 1997, the Senate had voted 95-0 to sink any treaty which failed to treat developing countries in the same way as it treated the rich ones. Though they knew this was impossible for developing countries to accept, all the Democrats lined up with all the Republicans. The Clinton administration had proposed a compromise: instead of binding commitments for the developing nations, Gore would demand emissions trading. But even when he succeeded, he announced that “we will not submit this agreement for ratification [in the Senate] until key developing nations participate”. Clinton could thus avoid an unwinnable war.
So why, regardless of the character of its leaders, does the US act this way? Because, like several other modern democracies, it is subject to two great corrupting forces. I have written before about the role of the corporate media - particularly in the US - in downplaying the threat of climate change and demonising anyone who tries to address it. I won’t bore you with it again, except to remark that at 3pm eastern standard time on Saturday, there were 20 news items on the front page of the Fox News website. The climate deal came 20th, after “Bikini-wearing stewardesses sell calendar for charity” and “Florida store sells ‘Santa Hates You’ T-shirt”.
Let us consider instead the other great source of corruption: campaign finance. The Senate rejects effective action on climate change because its members are bought and bound by the companies that stand to lose. When you study the tables showing who gives what to whom, you are struck by two things.
One is the quantity. Since 1990, the energy and natural resources sector - mostly coal, oil, gas, logging and agribusiness - has given $418m to federal politicians in the US. Transport companies have given $355m. The other is the width: the undiscriminating nature of this munificence. The big polluters favour the Republicans, but most of them also fund Democrats. During the 2000 presidential campaign, oil and gas companies lavished money on Bush, but they also gave Gore $142,000, while transport companies gave him $347,000. The whole US political system is in hock to people who put their profits ahead of the biosphere.
So don’t believe all this nonsense about waiting for the next president to sort it out. This is a much bigger problem than George Bush. Yes, he is viscerally opposed to tackling climate change. But viscera don’t have much to do with it. Until the American people confront their political funding system, their politicians will keep speaking from the pocket, not the gut.
George Monbiot is the author of the best selling books The Age of Consent: a manifesto for a new world order and Captive State: the corporate takeover of Britain.
Published on Monday, December 17, 2007 by The Guardian/UK
We’ve Been Suckered Again by the US. So Far the Bali Deal Is Worse than Kyoto
America will keep on wrecking climate talks as long as those with vested interests in oil and gas fund its political system
by George Monbiot
“After 11 days of negotiations, governments have come up with a compromise deal that could even lead to emission increases. The highly compromised political deal is largely attributable to the position of the United States, which was heavily influenced by fossil fuel and automobile industry interests. The failure to reach agreement led to the talks spilling over into an all-night session.”
These are extracts from a press release by Friends of the Earth. So what? Well it was published on December 11 - I mean to say, December 11 1997. The US had just put a wrecking ball through the Kyoto protocol. George Bush was innocent; he was busy executing prisoners in Texas. Its climate negotiators were led by Albert Arnold Gore.
The European Union had asked for greenhouse gas cuts of 15% by 2010. Gore’s team drove them down to 5.2% by 2012. Then the Americans did something worse: they destroyed the whole agreement.
Most of the other governments insisted that the cuts be made at home. But Gore demanded a series of loopholes big enough to drive a Hummer through. The rich nations, he said, should be allowed to buy their cuts from other countries. When he won, the protocol created an exuberant global market in fake emissions cuts. The western nations could buy “hot air” from the former Soviet Union. Because the cuts were made against emissions in 1990, and because industry in that bloc had subsequently collapsed, the former Soviet Union countries would pass well below the bar. Gore’s scam allowed them to sell the gases they weren’t producing to other nations. He also insisted that rich nations could buy nominal cuts from poor ones. Entrepreneurs in India and China have made billions by building factories whose primary purpose is to produce greenhouse gases, so that carbon traders in the rich world will pay to clean them up.
The result of this sabotage is that the market for low-carbon technologies has remained moribund. Without an assured high value for carbon cuts, without any certainty that government policies will be sustained, companies have continued to invest in the safe commercial prospects offered by fossil fuels rather than gamble on a market without an obvious floor.
By ensuring that the rich nations would not make real cuts, Gore also guaranteed that the poor ones scoffed when we asked them to do as we don’t. When George Bush announced, in 2001, that he would not ratify the Kyoto protocol, the world cursed and stamped its foot. But his intransigence affected only the US. Gore’s team ruined it for everyone.
The destructive power of the American delegation is not the only thing that hasn’t changed. After the Kyoto protocol was agreed, the then British environment secretary, John Prescott, announced: “This is a truly historic deal which will help curb the problems of climate change. For the first time it commits developed countries to make legally binding cuts in their emissions.” Ten years later, the current environment secretary, Hilary Benn, told us that “this is an historic breakthrough and a huge step forward. For the first time ever, all the world’s nations have agreed to negotiate on a deal to tackle dangerous climate change.” Do these people have a chip inserted?
In both cases, the US demanded terms that appeared impossible for the other nations to accept. Before Kyoto, the other negotiators flatly rejected Gore’s proposals for emissions trading. So his team threatened to sink the talks. The other nations capitulated, but the US still held out on technicalities until the very last moment, when it suddenly appeared to concede. In 1997 and in 2007 it got the best of both worlds: it wrecked the treaty and was praised for saving it.
Hilary Benn is an idiot. Our diplomats are suckers. American negotiators have pulled the same trick twice, and for the second time our governments have fallen for it.
There are still two years to go, but so far the new agreement is even worse than the Kyoto protocol. It contains no targets and no dates. A new set of guidelines also agreed at Bali extend and strengthen the worst of Gore’s trading scams, the clean development mechanism. Benn and the other dupes are cheering and waving their hats as the train leaves the station at last, having failed to notice that it is travelling in the wrong direction.
Although Gore does a better job of governing now he is out of office, he was no George Bush. He wanted a strong, binding and meaningful protocol, but American politics had made it impossible. In July 1997, the Senate had voted 95-0 to sink any treaty which failed to treat developing countries in the same way as it treated the rich ones. Though they knew this was impossible for developing countries to accept, all the Democrats lined up with all the Republicans. The Clinton administration had proposed a compromise: instead of binding commitments for the developing nations, Gore would demand emissions trading. But even when he succeeded, he announced that “we will not submit this agreement for ratification [in the Senate] until key developing nations participate”. Clinton could thus avoid an unwinnable war.
So why, regardless of the character of its leaders, does the US act this way? Because, like several other modern democracies, it is subject to two great corrupting forces. I have written before about the role of the corporate media - particularly in the US - in downplaying the threat of climate change and demonising anyone who tries to address it. I won’t bore you with it again, except to remark that at 3pm eastern standard time on Saturday, there were 20 news items on the front page of the Fox News website. The climate deal came 20th, after “Bikini-wearing stewardesses sell calendar for charity” and “Florida store sells ‘Santa Hates You’ T-shirt”.
Let us consider instead the other great source of corruption: campaign finance. The Senate rejects effective action on climate change because its members are bought and bound by the companies that stand to lose. When you study the tables showing who gives what to whom, you are struck by two things.
One is the quantity. Since 1990, the energy and natural resources sector - mostly coal, oil, gas, logging and agribusiness - has given $418m to federal politicians in the US. Transport companies have given $355m. The other is the width: the undiscriminating nature of this munificence. The big polluters favour the Republicans, but most of them also fund Democrats. During the 2000 presidential campaign, oil and gas companies lavished money on Bush, but they also gave Gore $142,000, while transport companies gave him $347,000. The whole US political system is in hock to people who put their profits ahead of the biosphere.
So don’t believe all this nonsense about waiting for the next president to sort it out. This is a much bigger problem than George Bush. Yes, he is viscerally opposed to tackling climate change. But viscera don’t have much to do with it. Until the American people confront their political funding system, their politicians will keep speaking from the pocket, not the gut.
George Monbiot is the author of the best selling books The Age of Consent: a manifesto for a new world order and Captive State: the corporate takeover of Britain.
16/12/2007
Marbel Eden Project photoshoot
Ok, so I'm very bias here and perks of our clients made a great opportunity to get my fantastic daughters involved in one of our newest clients projects. The client was Marbel - Beautiful, safe, environmentally friendly and naturally made wooden toys to help your child learn through play. They have a wonderful range of toys and Leap was called in to work on their 2008 showcase catalogue, which will be out in January 2008. With a 3 week turnaround...
As with all our work we are producing the brochure for the first time on 80% recycled stock and we managed to beat the price of the previous brochures virgin stock! And nice vegetable based inks.
Leap also arranged the photo shoot and we pulled in a favour with our old workplace Eden, an ideal setting for a bunch of kids (and some kid like adults) to to a days photo shoot in the Warm Tropic Biome. With the excellent snapping of one of Cornwalls finest photographers Bob Berry. (shot attached is one of Bobs http://www.bbphoto.net/ )
About 30 seconds after this very excitable shot of Bo was taken she came a cropper and tore the skin off her knees. Alas it was then time to whisk her and her sister Gracie away to nursery so Daddy could continue the shoot.
www.marbel.co.uk
more habbits
This ones for my lovely business partner (and girlfriend) Clare. Still don't understand how she beat me - I personally think she's slightly damaging to the environment... well more than I.
matt
15/12/2007
12/12/2007
Team Habbits
this could become a really useful tool and I've asked my whole team to create their habbits. Although I'm disappointed that there isn't too much between us on eco levels and there was me thinking I was super green...just shows. Admittedly they could be telling pork pies to get on my happy side:)
Great idea though and interesting to play with, every part of the body, eyes, feet, hands, butt etc represents and environemental aspect, ie food, travel, technology.
Attached are me, Darren our senior creative and Graham who does all the nice (and way over my head) coding.
10/12/2007
Cornwall Sustainability Awards
Wowie,
we won two awards at this years CSA07 held at the wonderful Trebah Gardens. We won the SME and Overall winner categories in which we were up against some mighty fine 'doing the right thing' sustainably active Cornish businesses. And keynote speaker for the awards Charlie Brown, environmental manager for Ikea has asked us to come and see them to talk further, based on hearing our presentation. Which was about how it is so important for design to take it's creative lead with sustainability to help solve climate change and how we do it with Leap.
A big thanks to Claire Wilcox who heads up our operations for taking the time to put a well written entry in.
08/12/2007
Just one choice
Just one choice
In eight days Al Gore is going to address the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. At his urging, I've signed an important petition showing I support his important call for a visionary treaty to address the climate crisis. I hope you will too.
http://climateprotect.org/standwithal
The world's elected leaders must take the steps necessary to solve global warming. It's not too late. We have the opportunity now to improve the Earth's future for our children, and their children. If we don't act, we will only have ourselves to blame.
Please sign the petition today. Click here
In eight days Al Gore is going to address the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. At his urging, I've signed an important petition showing I support his important call for a visionary treaty to address the climate crisis. I hope you will too.
http://climateprotect.org/standwithal
The world's elected leaders must take the steps necessary to solve global warming. It's not too late. We have the opportunity now to improve the Earth's future for our children, and their children. If we don't act, we will only have ourselves to blame.
Please sign the petition today. Click here
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