12.12.2011

Something that's actually good

John Broder hits the nail on the head in his assessment of why the UNFCCC process is largely failing to deliver real results, year after year (via NY Times)

"Effectively addressing climate change will require over the coming decades a fundamental remaking of energy production, transportation and agriculture around the world — the sinews of modern life. It is simply too big a job for those who have gathered for these talks under the 1992 United Nations treaty that began this grinding process."

Broder even does that summary one better, with this line I never thought I'd see in a major newspaper:

"...the question of 'climate equity' — the obligations of rich nations to help poor countries cope with a problem they had no part in creating — is more than an “environmental” issue."

12.09.2011

Bonus gem

Here's a description of local impacts of the natural gas boom that really brings new urgency to the old message 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' (via the NY Times).

"The drilling boom started in communities like Atoka in Mr. Boren’s district. Mayor Charles A. McCall III was startled when local farmers began showing up at his family-owned bank with giant checks from gas companies. Signing bonuses that were once $200 per acre soared to $2,000 and eventually to $20,000 an acre, in addition to any eventual royalties. 'It was like a lot of people had won the lottery,' Mr. McCall said."

Real estate bubble anyone?

Gem of the day

With its core offering of cheap products sold in stores so big you need to drive around inside them, Walmart is a brand that knows value for money.

So how does the world's biggest retailer get value for money out of its political donations? Grist holds the gems:

"Over the last decade, Walmart has emerged as one of the country's largest funders of political campaigns. Its dollars skew heavily in favor of candidates who routinely vote against the environment...Walmart's largest donations have gone to some of the nation's most powerful climate-change deniers."

And I'll leave it to Grist to deliver the punchline too:

"Walmart talks big about sustainability, but doesn't put its campaign money anywhere near where its mouth is."

12.06.2011

Bonus gem

Paul Hohnen, formerly director of Greenpeace and now big thinker at-large, delivers a scathing (and accurate) critique of how some corporates have approached sustainability (via GSB):

"Sustainable development was viewed as a real issue by members of this group, but mainly in terms of how it could adversely affect core business. Sensitive to their potential media and market exposure, companies in this category went for high visibility attire, drawing attention to their "low hanging fruit" strategy. They made much of taking smart business decisions (increasing energy efficiency, ending gas flaring), without really explaining why this wasn't done years earlier. These achievements were then appropriately highlighted in advertisements and CSR reports. Despite broad commitments to sustainability, however, they continued to grow their core business in the knowledge that this was unsustainable in terms of planetary boundaries."

Zing!

Gem of the day

Here's a case study in the dysfunctional behaviour of the sustainability industry: blood diamonds. It's an issue where, unlike many grey areas in the sustainable development debate, there are clear rights and wrongs. And now this: Global Witness is withdrawing from the Kimberley Process, the weak mechanism responsible for international policing of the diamond trade to prevent the sale of blood diamonds.

Why?

"Global Witness had expressed concerns about how the Kimberley Process was operating for some time; it said the final straw was the decision last month to allow Zimbabwe to export diamonds from the Marange fields, where there have been reports of widespread human rights abuses by government security forces."

Right, because the process was simply that - a process, and one that wasn't close to effecting change.

But it wouldn't be a case study if Global Witness didn't get taken to task over its lack of willingness to be a team player, would it? For that quote we go to another dysfunctional intergovernmental body:

"Michael Mann, a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote in an e-mail on Monday that the Kimberley Process 'may not be a perfect instrument, but it is the best we have, and therefore all parties, including civil society, should work to make it effective.'"

12.05.2011

Gem of the day

And now for something that's just plain cringe inducing. Coexist, the more progressive arm of Fast Company, shines a spotlight on a new website and mobile app called 'Slavery Footprint', which assesses our everyday consumer goods to deliver stats on forced labour in the supply chain.

Here's the Coexist reporter on his experience with the new awkward tool:

"It’s not easy to be a socially responsible consumer. Even if you buy mostly local products and diligently keep track of corporate environmental footprints, you may still be leaving a trail of slaves in your wake...After going through the process, I discovered that there are 101 slaves toiling away for me. That is actually a fairly low number."

Dear god.

Another non-environmental wonder

The Economist reports that in the senseless debate over legalising marijuana in Colorado,

'...some neighbourhood groups worry that Denver will turn into Amsterdam.'

Right - I really don't think there is any danger of a city like Denver achieving the same quality of life as one of Europe's oldest cities.

12.01.2011

Another non-environmental wonder

Michael Tomasky delivers a great gem about nominee Herman Cain and his book (via the Daily Beast):

"That book, it’s clear from page one, is not the product of a man who wasn’t serious about his candidacy. He thought that the presidency was his destiny. Actually, I wouldn’t be shocked if he still thinks it. I know—this makes no sense. But trust me. He believes he was called."