Boonah Organisation for a Sustainable Shire, is again celebrating World Environment Day at the Outlook. This year's event is on Saturday June 4 2011 from 9am to 3pm.
Environmental Management Seminar 16 June 2011
Safety Management Seminar
CSG Technical Session 28 June 2011
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Climate Commission
The Climate Commission is an independent body set up to provide information on climate change & to help inform the debate.
Last week the Federal Government announced the release of the Climate Commission's report The Critical Decade Report. Climate science, risks and responses.
The premise of the report is that the longer Australians wait to act on climate change, the more it will cost. This is why the Climate Commission believes that this decade is critical for getting the global economy on a less carbon intensive pathway.
Some of the key impacts already being observed are highlighted in the report: There is no doubt the climate is changing. The evidence is overwhelming and clear. Australian Businesses are all ready seeing the social, economic and environmental impacts of a changing climate.
The commission asserts that human activities - the burning of fossil fuels & deforestation - are triggering the changes we are witnessing in the global climate.
The Climate Commission emphasises the need to start taking action now to promote new sources of renewable and cleaner energy. Delays now, will mean Australians will pay a much higher cost in the future. The report concludes that the decisions that Australians and the global community make from now to 2020 will determine the severity of climate change that the subsequent generations will experience.
$26/tonne
The Garnaut Review 2011: Australia in the Global Response to Climate Change, is the final report of the update delivered by Professor Ross Garnaut to the Federal Government.
This report follows seven months of research, analysis, studies & consultation, which have examined:
· major developments in the past three years in the climate science,
· global greenhouse gas emissions,
· international progress on climate change mitigation,
· Australia’s land and electricity sectors,
· innovation and technology,
· carbon pricing &
· Delivery of compensation to households through income tax cuts.
Eight detailed update papers were released between February & March 2011.
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has gained a lot of publicity for its Submission to the Government on Carbon Pricing Policy. One may remember, the BCA leaked its submission to selected newspapers on the eve of last weekend’s climate committee negotiations, calling for a $10 carbon price and the exemption of any industry that could be considered to be trade exposed.
The BCA didn't explain how the bipartisan target of a 5 per cent cut in emissions could be reached in the absence of any price incentive, or where the reduction effort was supposed to take place.
The Australian Industry Group (AiG) has also been vocal in comments to the Government on its proposed carbon pricing model. The AiG argues that, if the Federal Government's proposed scheme goes ahead, it should:
· start with a moderate carbon price;
· move quickly to be fully internationally linked;
· contain strong & effective measures for trade exposed businesses;
· ensure the continuity of electricity supply;
· be accompanied by clear processes under which the plethora of existing emissions-related regulation will be reviewed and removed; &
· be supported by investments in research, development & deployment of low-emissions technologies.
ASBG has adopted a position similar to the Australian Industry Group calling for a low starting price. ASBG has expressed concerns over the massive pool of money which will be distributed by the Federal Government via the Department of Climate Change & Energy Efficiency (DCCEE).
However, to put things in context, Professor Ross Garnaut’s $11.5b annual starting position is around 3% on top of the $383.1b that the Federal Government expects to receive in revenue in the 2012-3 Financial year. The deficit will be $20.3b.
The Investor Group on Climate Change, the organisation that represents most of Australia's funds managers. They have a considerable vested interest of their own because of the scale of their investments.
CEO Nathan Fabian said: "If you have a zero carbon price for trade-exposed industries, then the cost is pushed to other sectors. If you start with really low price in early years, and it doesn't drive emission reductions, then you are leaving the work to the end of decade when the price will have to jump higher."
ASBG June Seminars
Don’t forget ASBG QLD’s Environmental Management Seminar on Thursday 16 June 08:00-12:30 see attached flyer and programme.
The Association for Sustainability in Business Inc., 2011 Conference*
* Not an ASBG Event
Taking Care of Business: Sustainable Transformation 15-16 September 2011 Radisson Resort, Gold Coast, Australia
The conference organiser values your opinion & would like to ensure that this year’s conference covers topics & subjects that YOU are interested in. If there are any topics or subjects you feel would be of interest to you OR would like covered at the conference, please let Angela Stuart know.
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