1.Introduction
Carbon neutrality is not more a dream, a nice marketing phrasing or either a reason to rebel. It is strategy. Many companies now realize that they can rather make profit by being reasonable about global warming than trying to tackle new regulations. This is the result to changes that first became an important issue after the Kyoto Protocol was agreed on, back in 1997. This protocol was the written code for the new era of climate change control, with new resolutions and indexes aimed at the reduction in emission of green house effect gases all around the world, by the countries who agreed upon the protocol, which entered vigor from the beginning of 2005.
Only a handful of nations did not sign the Kyoto Protocol. One of them,
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The word that goes now is to become Carbon Neutral, and to add trading of carbon to the portfolio as soon as possible.
This text is an attempt to make a rough analysis of the state of Barclays Bank PLC strategy in the area. Four sources were used for this article, being a highly reliable report from Ceres (formerly the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies) from January 2008, an article from the Director Magazine from May 2007 and two sources from Barclays itself; one being a press release from march 2007 and the other being Barclays actual website. These sources and this text were backed up by two articles from the Harvard Business Review issue of October 2007.
2.Carbon
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For example, how does wind turbines influence the weather, waves and fishing? These could be the important issues for tomorrow. Investing in research to prevent these threats can make give Barclays another edge.
5.Bibliography
2006, Barclay launches ‘carbon neutral’ card – AllPay News, The Bankwatch. Available from: http://thebankwatch.com/2006/11/05/barclays-launches-carbon-neutral-card-allpaynews-3/ [13-February-2008]
2008, Barclays goes carbon neutral in the UK, Barclays Bank PLC. Available from: http://www.newsroom.barclays.co.uk/content/detail.asp?ReleaseID=972&NewsAreaID=2 [13-February-2008]
CERES, 2008, Corporate Governance and Climate Change: The Bank Sector. Boston: Ceres.
Hoffman, Andrew J., (2007), If You’re not at the Table, You’re on the Menu. Harvard Business Review, 85(10), p. 34 – 35
Porter, Michael E. and Reinhardt, Forest L., (2007), A Strategic Approach to Climate. Harvard Business Review, 85(10), p. 22 – 26 Stevenson, T., 2007, Green and prosperous land? , Director, May 2007, pg54-57.
UCBerkeleyNews, 2007, Glossary of alternative-fuel terms. Available from: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/02/01_nrg-glossary.shtml
...ot the solution. In order address this issue, everyone needs to be on board and there needs to be a clear, definite plan as to how we will work together to make lower carbon emissions a reality, because it’s possible.
According to the protocol, overall global reduction must be at least five per cent in 1990 levels of greenhouse gases by 2008-2012. However, the Kyoto Protocol is not a simple document because both of the commitments and the mechanisms on how the developed country Parties can achieve the target are extremely complex. Although all countries recognized the need to cut global emissions of greenhouse gases, but since many developed countries are depend on the fossil fuel industry for their economy, they refused to agree with the limitation of their domestic greenhouse gas emission. This resulting the failure of the Protocol in protecting the earth from climate change, which is supposed to be the reason of its
“At present, the global system for carbon emissions trading is embodied in the Kyoto Treaty,” said Al Gore, which points out that Global Warming is not a national problem, but global problem. The Kyoto Treaty states that parties involved will reduce greenhouse emissions in their nation (United Nations). These facts introduce the idea of transforming this perilous world into an innocuous one. It supports his claim for having a preferable future for all, where there will be no droughts, devastations, deaths, or poverties due to global warming. His repetition of the word “reduce” engages the audience of having a solution to climate change. Mr. Gore continues with his ideas to reduce Global Warming by saying, “...Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CSS)...will play a significant...role as one of the major blocks of a solution to climate crisis.” This fact is an example of a paradox as before this statement he mentioned that CSS, a method to capture the CO2 burned from the burning coal, is an expensive method which most companies resist from using. His use of paradoxes throughout his speech makes the audience rethink their opinions. These statistics are part of many other logically statements that Mr. Gore used to support his claim. Some of these logical procedures include; electronic cars, reduction of renewable
Potential impacts of technology on a global scale are relatively long-term, the NCCTI is guided over this by the climate change goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 (Kyoto Protocol), ratified by the United States and more than 170 other countries (5) (3). The UNFCCC calls for the "... stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in Earth's atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system."(5) In order to achieve this long-term goal, net emissions of greenhouse gases on a global scale must ultimately approach levels that are lower than they are today. (1)
Carbon dioxide or CO2 is known to be one of a number of gases that are astonishingly transparent to the visible light that falls on the Earth from the Sun, but it absorb the infra-red radiation that emitted by the warm surface of our Earth, to prevents its loss into space. Moreover, CO2 has varied considerably and this affected the Earth’s temperature. Most common source of this CO2 is known as the fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are primarily coal, hydrocarbons, natural gas, or fuel oil that formed from the remains of the dead plants and also animals. The burning fossil fuel that has been created by humans is the largest source of emissions of the carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide is a gas which is part of the carbon cycle. The combustion of fossil fuels...
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society is facing today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been slowest” (geocraft). There are no known solutions yet to reverse these effects in the environment, however there are many things people can do to prevent it from increasing. By implementing a carbon tax the government can tax corporations on how much carbon they emit into the atmosphere. With the extra money from the tax, scientist can invest in alternative ways to reduce how much carbon is emitted. Reducing climate change is going to take years and so nothing is going to get fixed anytime soon, but meanwhile we can use that extra money to begin cleaning up the atmosphere. There are many ways to explain climate change, some say its due to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, others say it is the burning of the fossils fuels, some even say it’s the greenhouse gases. All of these sayings mean the exact same thing, no matter how one says it. I believe there are more convenient ways to solve climate change; and if the government would to implement a carbon tax on companies they will then be forced to re-evaluate all the carbon they emit to the environment and red...
Berlin, Germany IPCC present reports it wants to only bring about limitation of temperature increase to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. The need of International Corporation is needed. The IPCC drew a red line in the sand which tied that 2 degree Celsius to the amount of the fossil fuels we can burn. Which was a trillion tons of carbon. Scientist stated (Disruption, 2014), “We are more than halfway there, and we are already approaching 600,000,000,000 million tons already. With that rate, we will completely use the carbon budget within 30 years.” What the Policy making community did was make a dangerous humane interference. In 2009, they agreed on a target of 2 degree Celsius of max warning. That would require emissions worldwide stopping within a matter of decades. As one scientist stated (Disruption, 2014) “That 2 degrees is not a safe level. It still would have substation climate impact.” With having 1 degrees melting the Arctic and Antarctic it would be crazy to find out what 2 degrees would do. The same leaders that did not want the temperatures to go up 2 degrees, put together a series of proposals, when you add them up the temp will raise 6 degree. Most scientist think if it goes past that civilization will not be possible. Some scientist feel we need to leave 80% of fossil fuel in the ground. The fossil fuel industry wants to burn all the reserves and if that happens that is where we got the 6 degrees. Scientist are screaming if we go over the 2 degree mark that climate change could spin out of control we could trigger our tipping
The mission was to commit countries to reducing emissions by 5% of their 1990 levels between 2005 and 2012. The outcome of this agreement was a failure, as CO2 emissions have been steadily rising throughout this period. Unforeseen events such as the US excluding themselves from the agreement, along with Canada dropping its commitments helped pay its toll in the collapse. Loose binding terms resulted in many countries not reaching their committed targets, while the exclusion of large-emitter developing nations such as China and India made for an overall increase in emissions. Despite the outcome of the protocol, Kyoto helped to establish global recognition of climate change and outcomes our world will face if we do not do something to mitigate these effects. The Kyoto Protocol can be seen as the “first step” to reducing global emissions and an open door to future international
Climate change is an issue that has become increasingly ubiquitous in all areas of life in recent decades. As population increases, there is a parallel increase in pollution, exacerbating climate change, which not only affects the environment, but also has an impact on human life and business. Climate change is generally thought of as a negative force due to its effects on the environment and its projected repercussions. However, there have been some upshots of climate change that have had positive impacts on business. Climate change presents businesses the opportunity to promote themselves by appealing to the public’s preoccupation with environmental concerns. It also presents opportunities for businesses to capitalize on climate change through entrepreneurship and innovation addressing environmental issues. Furthermore, by adopting ecofriendly practices that are conceived as responses to climate change, businesses can reduce costs of production and operation. As a result of climate change, companies are prompted to adopt sustainable business practices, “taking the goal of sustainability, and translating that into the changes required of an individual organization—changes which maintain the organizations capacity for producing human benefits, including the profitability needed for survival, while optimizing the environmental balance of its operations.” Through this pursuit of sustainable business, companies can benefit from the climate change that plagues the planet, through promoting a “green” image, “green” innovation, and ecofriendly practices. While there are some positive effects of climate change on businesses, these optimistic outcomes do not outweigh the extreme con...
For decades now, environmental, social, and economical issues have arisen in society and businesses. Only recently has the issues established extensive attention within society, sustainable development is acknowledged by the majority to mean ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (Commission 1987). This essay will look into the practices of ANZ as a sustainable business and examine their ecological, economic and social environments.
...rk together. Efforts such as the Montreal Protocol were largely successful in reducing the use of ozone-destroying chemicals, but many countries chose to not even participate in the Kyoto Protocol or other efforts. It appears that corporations do control many governments today.
In order to avoid such horrible outcomes, gas emissions had to be improved; an agreement was made. In December 1997, one hundred and forty one countries met in Kyoto, Japan to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol. In this collaboration, it was discussed to reduce Carbon Dioxide and five other greenhouse gases or turn to engage trading. Engage trading is an economic system to reduce air pollution. If a country was to go over the emission’s quota, they had to buy how much of the gases were going to be over emission. The system of Emissions Trading could be somewhat compared to a cell phone bill; you get a certain amount of minutes, if you go over, you pay the amount. The Kyoto Protocol took affect in February 16th, 2005. Countries that did not participate were Australia, and not surprisingly, our beautiful United States.
...together as one through the phenomena of globalization. China has taken advantage of this situation and has become the economic power of the world by being attractive for foreign production and investment. Though, Chinas economic boost has gone hand in hand with environmental concerns, and GHG emissions being the main one. A third of the world’s coal consumption is consumed by China, and these fossil fuels consequently have an impact on environment of China, but also surrounding countries. It has thus become obvious that Chinas issues are the world’s issues. Even though China does not want to become part of the Kyoto Protocol, it has set ambitious goals to reduce GHG’s. It already is the largest global investor in new renewable energies, and has set goals to battle climate change. However, officials have said that these are meant for reaching out to other countries.
From a different angle, J.E. Newall took a similar but more solid approach to the problems of environmental responsibility and sustainability. The contributions of this particular author zoomed in on the forgotten effects but also highlighted who is mainly in charge of decreasing the unlikely event. Mixing statistics with the probability of inefficient environmental flow provides the summary of the article. The report titled “Managing environmental responsibility” not only gives an overview of the issue but it also taps into the data that would be deemed relevant to researchers and evaluators across the world.