SnippETS for 24 October 2019

Welcome to this week’s edition of SnippETS.

This SnippETS has articles that discuss the desire of the NZ business community to have certainty of legislative continuity on climate change, while internationally corporations need to voluntarily start reporting on Taskforce on Climate related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) before it is imposed upon them.

We also have articles that lift the lid on embedded carbon emissions, shed some light on full life cycle EV carbon analysis as well as discussing how renewable energy is outcompeting fossil fuels more and more.

There are also articles that cover circular economics, what happens when cities plan for climate change but central government does not and transition towns that will help people to adapt to climate change.

Since the release of the IPCC’s alarming ‘Global Warming of 1.5C’ report a year ago, the public has become much more aware and vocal about the need for climate action. Groups like Extinction Rebellion are clear on what they want, but most businesses have yet to work out what they need to change. Luckily, these discussions are now being had, as last week business leaders met in Auckland to discuss what transformational change looks like and how it can be achieved. Read more.....

Part of the reason why business leaders are getting serious about climate action is because of the push they are getting from the financiers of the world. Investors, financiers and insurers are now demanding that businesses disclose their climate related risks in their annual reports. The governor of the Bank of England has warned businesses that they have two years to agree rules for reporting climate risks before global regulators devise their own and make them compulsory. Read more.....

However, it is not only businesses that are receiving criticism for their lack of transparency around climate-related disclosures. The methodologies of national GHG emissions inventories are being called in to question as Greta Thunberg accuses rich countries of “creative carbon accounting”. The disagreement is around the lack of disclosure for consumption-based emissions as opposed to production-based accounting which makes service-based economies (like ours) look better on paper than they really are. Read more.....

Have you ever wondered what it will really be like living with even just 1.5C increase in average temperature? One person’s vision paints us a picture of what may happen if cities prepare but nations don’t. Some cities are making great moves currently, as detailed in this article, but is it enough? Read more.....

If governments are not acting big or fast enough, it will be up to cities and even local communities to do what they can to prepare for and minimize climate change. Here are some ideas of what is being done or can be done to make local communities more user friendly and sustainable. Some of these ideas are more solid and realistic than others. Read more.....

The rapid revolution towards renewable energies and the lower costs of these means the worlds reliance on fossil fuels may end decades earlier than previously expected. Experts are adjusting their forecasts, and there is hope the groundswell of climate protest could spark fresh political will to accelerate the energy transition in time to keep global temperatures from rising to levels that could trigger a climate catastrophe. Read more.....

In previous SnippETS we have covered the circular economy and how it will play an important part in the world to reduce emissions and wastefulness. Here we focus on Ikea, who has announced plans for a trial in Australia for the return of furniture instead of it being sent to the landfill. It’s an important step for a company that globally uses 1% of all commercially produced wood and cotton. If successful it could divert and repurpose a lot of furniture. Read more....

We finish the week with a look at the carbon footprint of electric verses fossil fuel powered cars. In the case of NZ, EV’s have the advantage of being able to access 80 plus percent renewable energy. The question of Lithium mining is also briefly discussed as a potential downside. At the end of the day, in Australia EV’s come out about 18% better in terms of their carbon footprint, and in NZ the EV footprint is about 62% better than fossil fuelled cars.Read more.....