Women In Carbon: Apart from beaches and tequila is it worth going to Cancun?

Introduction

On Thursday 11th November 2010 I attended a Women In Carbon event held at Linklaters in Moorgate, addressing the expectations for the COP16 talks in Cancun, comprising 3 speakers followed by an audience-participative discussion.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty that was produced at the UN Conference on Environmental Development (UNCED) in Rio De Janeiro 1992 and became effective in 1994. It was signed by 194 parties and provides a general framework for intergovernmental efforts aimed at tackling the climate change issue. The basic aim is to stabilise the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The talks in Cancun represent the 16th COP (Conference of the Parties) to call for further commitment and compromise and are currently ongoing (29th November- 10th December 2010). Business Green and The Guardian Environment provide good updates online.

In general there are low levels of expectancy for the outcome of the talks in Cancun, but a feeling that it does represent an important step in moving towards a global deal and this event was set up to discuss the generalist hopes and fears. The first speaker was Harriet Thompson, the Head of Negotiation at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the second was Rhian Kelly, Director of Climate Change for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the third was Anna Lehmann, Market and Bioenergy Analyst at Toepfer. Anna was hired to set up the carbon trading desk at Toepfer, which is mainly involved in trading agricultural commodities like fertilizers, so where there is huge scope to minimise environmental impact.

Review of Copenhagen

The last COP was in Copenhagen in 2009 and Anna briefly reviewed it- expectations were raised very high as we needed an agreement what with the Kyoto agreement coming to an end. Many heads of state showed up, which raised the profile. They fell hard due to the lack of numerical commitments to emissions reductions as well as procedural and logistical mismanagement (5000 were allowed in the building, but 15,000 turned up so some people who needed to be in there were not able to enter). Since Copenhagen 2009 there have been feelings of hurt and a lack of trust surrounding carbon emissions targets internationally as we were left feeling that the real negotiations never really started. Rhian stated that we did achieve some things at Copenhagen and created momentum, but the media were responsible for the depression. Particularly after a few claims that the climate change science was dubious, there has been a need to reinstate the case for climate change.

Expectations for Cancun

Despite this, from the government’s perspective, Harriet stated that of course it is worth going to Cancun. The UK Government wants to be the greenest government and limit the increase in global temperature to 2 degrees. We need to represent the UK well, marketing ourselves and the steps we have taken towards targets to our counterparts.

This time there is no expectation of a global deal, but building on the progress of the last COP (in Copenhagen 2009) is the aim. Cancun will be an important stage post before Cape Town COP 2011 and there is hope for some tangible answers, for example a clear future for offset mechanisms.

At Cancun there is scope to make climate change mitigation legally, not just politically, binding, or at least take steps towards that. There have been pledges, especially from developing countries- the Mexicans have made excellent efforts in regaining trust, Brazil has committed to cutting emissions from deforestation. Some countries are recognising that it is important to take action and not wait for a global deal, to try and find a common ground and build up levels of trust again. There are a set of sub-decisions on the plate though, including those associated with adaption, technology transfer, capacity building, launch of readiness phase for REDD, the establishment of further financial architecture (general mechanisms and the Green Fund).

A member of the audience stated that in China, there is a difficulty as a lot of progress is made through personal relationships and trust (‘which province are you from?), however, China has the potential to embarrass America as have signed up to many emissions reduction schemes. China wants to protect its sovereignty and do things itself; their highest level of commitment is a 5 year plan. There has however been good news from California recently demonstrating that state-level action may be what is needed in the US.

What Rhian would like to see is:
-clear, transparent, carbon emissions reduction targets from major economies.
- An agreement over who pays and how.
-Plans for how to include all sectors (for example aviation and shipping too).
-Plans for how to inspire innovation.

Private sector fora

Rhian opened with the statement that ‘it is difficult to shake the Copenhagen hangover and blues’ but business has a vested interest in making this work as predictions dictate that low carbon markets will be worth £15 trillion by 2015. The CBI has a climate change board of 16 CEOs from around the world (they have international offices) to provide a coherent business voice and help support business reach their targets.

As well as the UN process, it is important to remember that there are other fora, like G20 (commitment to reduce fossil fuel subsidies), unilateral and bilateral action (i.e. India and Renewable Energy Certificates) and the Major Economies Forum (also has a commitment to the 2 degree target). For some businesses, for example those in the carbon markets, Copenhagen and Cancun are particularly important and for other businesses, the COPs have been less important as international business sustainability strategies are more important.

The private sector wish list for Copenhagen still stands for Cancun but is slightly shorter now- 75% of the funding for mitigation is expected to be from the private sector so there is an urgent need to integrate the private sector into this negotiation process. Other items on the wish list are actions and timelines (predictability) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) reform to define growth opportunities.

Conclusion

Fantastic presentations by 3 women representing both the public and private sectors, to a room full of women (and one man) working in the sustainability sector were followed by a lively debate and in turn followed by nachos, tequila and mojitos.

Whilst the UN process is arguably the most prominent and has the most scope for impact on climate change mitigation deals internationally, it is important to recognise that there are other sub-international level deals being made that are equally, if not more important. The private sector needs to be integrated into these global deals. There are lower expectations for Cancun over Copenhagen and certainly no expectations for a global deal, but it is recognised as an important and necessary stepping stone to allow further progress at Cape Town 2011.

The Executive Chairman of UNFCCC, Christiana Figueres , recently said that governments had revealed a growing convergence and that a balanced set of decisions could be an achievable outcome- chief among these is how to take mitigation actions forward.

CEN on Cancun with Gregory Barker MP

Certainly environmentalists and sustainability consultants, and hopefully increasing numbers of the general public, will be waiting with baited breath for the outcome of the COP 16 International Climate Change talks being held currently in Cancun, Mexico.

On Monday 29th November 2010, I was lucky enough to attend a discussion with Gregory Barker MP, Minister of Energy and Climate Change, just before he left for Cancun. The event was fairly small and intimate, organised by the Conservative Environmental Network and held at RICS. RICS itself was an apt location as with 100,000 members worldwide, it has the potential to make a large impact in reducing energy use in the built environment.

The discussion with Gregory, facilitated by Peter Ainsworth MP (former shadow Secretary of State for DEFRA), was fairly general and not entirely about Cancun; the audience were encouraged to participate as well.

The first question was regarding how well he and Chris Huhne MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, work together, to which Greg replied ‘it works extraordinarily well’, before following up with ‘well, of course I would be expected to say that wouldn’t I?’ He explained that despite the previous public worry that the lack of a clear parliament would mean instability, incoherent policy terms and uncertainty, their work so far has proved that when it comes to energy and climate change, there is a genuine coalition of interest. One of the things they have achieved so far has been the scrapping of the third runway. Greg mentioned that Chris stands back a bit as he wasn’t intimately involved in the policy writing (for example the Green Investment Bank was a Conservative idea), but there is a definite commonality of interests on the agenda and in general there is not much between the party views in this sector.

The second question was regarding the current public mood on climate change. In a recent survey, it was found that most liked the idea of the Green Deal as it is nice to improve one’s home, whereas only 6% supported the idea as it is beneficial for the environment to improve energy efficiency. Gregory agreed that the global issue of climate change has taken a back seat for the past 12 months in part due to the economic crisis and consequent employment issues. In addition, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which is the main provider of climate change evidence for policy, had their reputation damaged with the discovery that scientific evidence associated with the Himalayas was faulty. The science is getting more compelling by the day, but we need a new way of communicating it.

Greg compared the concern-action gap issue with medicine. If a Doctor tells you that there is a 60-90% chance that you will die if you continue with this lifestyle, it does not matter that the science is inexact; you will listen because the consequences of inaction are disastrous. Similarly, we should not wait for more and more scientific certainty- it has already been shown that it is extremely likely that we are causing this rise in carbon emissions above the natural level and that if we continue in this way the consequences are catastrophic.

Moving onto Cancun, when asked ‘are you going?’ Gregory replied ‘yes and if you read The Daily Mail you will know where I am staying!’ It is true that there has been a lot of media speculation that there will be more tequilas, flip flops and jacuzzis than concrete policy agreements in Cancun, yet Greg feels that the UK has huge scope to make a difference and in general there is great respect for HMG. There is a great need to reinject some credibility and momentum into multilateral approaches and a formal UN process should be established. What is important is an agreement on the principles of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) to allow comparability between countries- India has actually come up with some international proposals for that (see also UK India Business Leaders Climate Group). The establishment of the Green Fund is an important step; private sector finance alone cannot do it, particularly in developing countries, thus public sector support is also needed. Greg joked that the aim this year is to get people to do what they said they were going to do last year at Copenhagen.

Agreements could all fall down for several reasons. There is a danger of a ‘climate change culture’ with the ‘usual suspect syndrome’ inducing a loss of perspective, as all attendees know each other from the previous COPs. Less economically developed countries believe in climate change but not that it is there problem, whilst others agree that it is their problem but are concerned about the short term impact of tackling it on the economy. Then there is the issue of sovereignty and economic prosperity, particularly with China who are also wary of any external committee that binds them. One school of thought with China is that they will sign a global agreement once they have secured the export markets. In relation to America, Gregory stated that ‘Obama is a disappointment’ (he did not embrace the green republican view, the republicans who were willing to stick their neck out, until it was too late) and without America on board we simply will not win.

One place where we may make progress is in forestry, with the establishment of the Forest Fund. Luckily there is a strong preference for sovereignty combination to tackle issues that require a global response, such as this.

An audience member asked whether we are taking inspiration from Germany, where there is a ground swell of public support for economic incentives that trigger the development of renewable technology. They started Feed In Tariff schemes over 10 years ago, but Greg stated that the Tories are committed to the UK FIT, which began in April 2010, on a large scale. He said it was disgraceful that we opened up the world’s largest wind farm recently, but over 80% of it was manufactured overseas and created ‘British jobs for German workers’.

Next, a member of the audience posed a fairly broad yet important question: ‘is the transition to a low carbon economy compatible with increasing quality of life and lifestyles?’ The answer from Greg was that we do not yet know as no one has done it yet, but we hope so and we are going to try.

In general, there is a lower expectation for Cancun than for Copenhagen, so the level of disappointment is likely to be lower. However, it is clear that Gregory and the other UK representatives are going to do there darndest to at least make progress towards a global deal for energy and climate change, even if they are able to enjoy a martini in their Jacuzzi afterwards.

Buy Nothing Day this Saturday

On Saturday 27th November 2010 it is Buy Nothing Day! A fantastic chance to enjoy life without consumerism and have a little think about saving the earth’s resources with the minimalist lifestyle, even just for one day…

It has got me thinking back to when I was in Borneo earlier this year (yes, on my gap yah) and what little I lived off for an entire 3 months. My toiletries consisted of a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, 2 in 1 (shampoo + conditioner), a razor and factor 30 suncream. I had a pair of shorts, a pair of trousers, a skirt and 3 t-shirts, a pair of flip flops, tivas and walking boots. There wasn’t much more than that. Not only did I survive without the latest fashions in my wardrobe and hoards of make-up (and cleanser, toner, moisturizer, day cream, night cream, anything else cream), but I also had a whale of a time!

We didn’t have a TV or internet either so evenings in our jungle camp were spent playing cards, making up quizzes, chatting, getting to know each other, playing games together (and screaming and giggling at the giant insects attracted to our head torches).

…so, have a great day on Saturday and spend time together, not money!

InterfaceFLOR

At the Leadership for Sustainability event, the next speech was by Ramon Arratia, Sustainability Director for InterfaceFLOR, a carpet tiling company with an excellent reputation amongst sustainability experts. Their whole concept is a sustainable way of carpeting- having it in tiles means that when an area of the flooring becomes warn down or has a spillage on it, only a few tiles need be replaced rather than the whole floor. This is particularly important as some of their main clients are cafes and large airports.

Perhaps surprisingly for some, they are making green waves with their Sustainability Policy ‘Mission Zero’: “Our promise to eliminate any negative impact our company may have on the environment by the year 2020”- another big claim similar to M and S, but without implying comparability to other manufacturers. A worldwide leader in flooring and with a turnover of $1bn, they have the potential to make a big impact in the sustainability of their operations. To do this, they have challenged everything they know, redesigning their products and the way factories operate. Most make judgements based on what is visible today, but InterfaceFLOR spends a lot of time looking at the future and to this end they defined early on what they set out to do.


There is only one institution on earth large enough, powerful enough, pervasive enough,
influential enough to really lead humankind in a different direction. And that is the institution of business and industry.”
—PAUL HAWKEN


One of Ramon’s opening quotes (above) led him to plug the book of Ray C Anderson- Founder of InterfaceFLOR- ‘Confessions of a Radical Industrialist’. Moving on from that, Ramon described that what InterfaceFLOR have deployed since the start of their business has made a real difference:

Our results so far (Dec 2009)
–80% reduction in waste sent to landfill since 1996 per unit of production
– Water intake in manufacturing is down 80% since 1996 per unit of production
– Total energy use down by 43% since 1996 per unit of production
– Non-renewable energy is down by 60% since 1996 per unit of production
– Actual reduction of Interface GHG emissions by 44% from baseline 1996
–30% of global energy is from renewable sources
–36% of total raw materials are recycled or bio-based materials
– Cumulative avoided waste costs totalling $433 million since 1994
– All factories in Europe operate on 100% renewable electricity
–99.7% of the products sold in Europe were manufactured in Europe

Let me just emphasise one of those points- $433 million waste costs have been avoided globally since 1994. Ramon was an upbeat presenter and joked that when people ask him ‘does efficiency pay?’ He replies with ‘now that’s the $433 million question’.

So how do they do it?

A lot of the technology that we need to make big changes in sustainability is already there. Taking inspiration from the aeronautical industry, they produced an ultrasonic cutting machine, and now reduce the waste produced from cutting the carpet tiles. They also ‘close the loop’ to ensure ‘cradle to cradle’ and ‘like for like’ recycling- carpet waste for example can be made into carpet backing.

They deploy resource efficient transportation, with 99.7% of the products sold in Europe being manufactured in Europe and with grouped delivery in theNetherlands, delivery trucks are now 85-90% full on average.

With their yarn, they reduce the impact on the environment as much as possible-
Step 1- reduce the yarn (less is more principle).
Step 2- recycle the yarn (close the loop).
Step 3- invent a new yarn (low-impact alternative).
With their most expensive yarn being nylon, which depends on oil, this makes total sense. Their Environmental Product Declarations (Life Cycle Assessment + Product Category Rules= EPDs) make what they are doing measurable.

One thing that Ramon said stuck with me: ‘CSR is dead’.

He went on to say that Corporate Social Responsibility is dead ‘because what is the point of reducing the impact of a company when most of the impact happens outside of the company’. The value of sustainability is in the product, because that is what consumers buy, they do not buy companies. If they do not encourage their customers to buy the lower carbon products or the government to reduce landfill allowances, InterfaceFLOR will not reach their aims, which is why stakeholder and shareholder engagement is so important here.

The people of InterfaceFLOR apparently know all about what is going on- bonuses are paid based on sustainability and efficiency in the factories and with the average length of service in Europe at 13.5 years, 68% of the 3500 employees think ‘my company’s mission makes me feel my job is important’.

Plan A: Driving Innovation and Significant Change in Property

At the aforementioned Sustainability Leadership event, Munish Datta delivered an informative presentation about what ‘Plan A’, the Corporate Sustainability strategy for Marks & Spencer, is doing for the environment and society. Munish opened with an impact statement: ‘Five years.

Five commitments. One world. And 100 things we want to change’.

A summary of these five commitments:
- Climate change: maximize use of renewable energy, help customers and suppliers to cut carbon emissions, use offsetting as a last resort, become carbon neutral in five years (and carbon positive by 2015-30).

- Waste: reduce amount of carrier bags, packaging and ensure none of their clothing needs end up as landfill.

- Sustainable raw materials: Sustainable sourcing from fish to forests.

- Fair partner: Help improve lives of thousands in their supply chain and communities.

- Health: Expand healthy eating ranges, have clear labeling.

That all sounds brilliant, but so far none of these admirable statements have been coupled with a clear quantitative target, although I am told that Ernst and Young independently audit M & S’ claims. M & S’ ambition to become ‘The World’s Most Sustainable Retailer by 2015’ has been thwarted by critics due to immeasurability and incomparability- no other retailer is making that claim and measurability is important for progression in sustainable development. According to Munish, Plan A has demonstrated that we can make a real difference in business if every one gets behind it (he also predicts that businesses with non-sustainable operations will decrease in value over time) and next, Munish provided the figures I had been waiting for.

This year alone, Plan A has helped M & S to:
- Cut carbon emissions by 8% (20% per sq.ft.)

- they have very recently signed a contract with a solar panel company based in Muswell Hill

- Offer free insulation to 70,000 UK staff

- Reduce clothing packaging by 36%

- Reduce carrier bag usage by over 80%

- Increase the % of electricity bought from green sources to 40%

- Use the equivalent of 27m 2 ltr plastic bottles to make recycled polyester

- Help over 700 disadvantaged people a year via Marks & Start programme

- Generate / leverage £25m for charities

- Increase the % of wood from sustainable sources to 72%

- Launch a Wellbeing website for our staff

Every effort here is helping to develop a strong business case for sustainability, as this year alone M & S have made £50 million savings. Their partnership with Oxfam (wherein one receives a £5 M & S voucher for taking an unwanted, used item from M & S to Oxfam charity shop) has increased footfall and less packaging is costing the consumer less.

Munish made the classic statement of ‘we don’t have just one or two employees working on Corporate Sustainability, but every single one of our employees is aware and has sustainability embedded into their day to day working life’. Despite what critics are saying, M & S are always stretching themselves and striving to do better.

The success of Plan A has been put down to good LEADERSHIP, speaking in a LANGUAGE that people understand, effective COLLABORATIONS, the recognition that the LEARNING process is important, an emphasis on VALUES and setting a PACE that is both achievable and aspirational. Munish reiterated that we do not need to look for the ‘holy grail’ sustainable solution, but innovation (‘that sexy thing that you go to workshops for’) will see that multi-faceted approaches are fruitful. In fact, we already have most of the technology and skills available to make a significant positive difference.

Sustainable Leadership: more than an aspiration

During the afternoon of Wednesday 22nd September 2010, I attended a Leadership in Sustainability seminar, ran by the Construction Industry Environmental Forum (CIEF) (part of CIRIA), Sponge and Forum For The Future.

Martin Hunt, Head of the Built Environment at Forum and formally part of CIRIA, gave the opening speech. He stated that it is useful to consider the pressures we face today: increasing pressure on natural resources, demand for/cost of energy, a growing population, a widening gap between rich and poor, biodiversity loss and climate change.

He highlighted an article in the FT (‘Call for urgent infrastructure overhaul amid climate change’) in emphasizing that although there is a lot of debate over the carbon dioxide levels at which we can stabilize the climate (350ppm currently), there is no debate over the fact that we have to take action now. According to Paul McNamara, Head of Property Research at PRUPIM, property is the key sector to look to for carbon dioxide emissions reduction. The Low Carbon Review, however is currently being undertaken and looks to be a mandate for change in the construction arena and it involves ‘whole life costing’. Climate change mitigation and adaptation is a challenge for industry sectors, government, individuals and large corporations.
To meet these challenges, we need leaders who adopt this ‘whole life costing’ approach, who understand the risks and opportunities from both the public and business perspectives, who drive the adoption of innovative fiscal solutions, who encourage the development of skills and enhance our capacity to be resilient and who can communicate the value of acting responsibly now.

To follow was a presentation by a gentleman from Marks and Spencers Plan A and one by a gentleman from InterfaceFLOR to show how their businesses are taking sustainability into consideration not only at the level of their property, but throughout the whole business and supply chain.

The Nemesis

This Thursday evening I attended an event hosted by Ecotricity at Somerset House, for the launch of their new wind-powered electrical car and to promote their four-year Eco Bonds.
Ecotricity is an electricity supplier that invests all its profits into building more wind turbines.

Champagne, canapés and celebrities made it a rather glamorous affair, which was only added to by the very sexy ‘Nemesis’ (which must be said in a very deep, powerful voice). The Nemesis is an electrical car, which, when the electricity is sourced from Ecotricity (produced by wind power), has no carbon emissions. The car was designed and created by a team of motorsports engineers who have previously worked with McLaren, Williams and Lotus. Damon Hill was there along with Dale Vince, OBE, the CEO of Ecotricity, with his long hair and friendly smile. An array of good looking women were also there, draping themselves over the car. I enjoy the way that that The Nemesis makes wind power sexy, which arguably needs to be done.

Signing up to Ecotricity, which Amida will be doing when we move into our new office later this month, gives you the opportunity to be part of the green revolution in subscribing to a renewable power source.

All in all it was an inspiring evening showcasing an exciting time for vehicles, wind energy and Ecotricity.