Snippets for 5 November 2020

In this edition of Snippets we cover an exciting new treaty to stop fossil fuel use, the new targets for the World Business Council, and how reforestation and afforestation could generate $800 billion.

Additionally, we look at conservation policies in California as well as drone tree planting. We also discuss how the Australian government is out of sync with their business leaders on how to invest in energy infrastructure. Their natural gas push is out of touch with reality as gas is no longer cheaper than renewables.

Then we bring it back to New Zealand as we cover how our central bank is taking climate risk seriously and finish with Ikea’s new plans to open a new fully sustainable store.

In 1968, 190 countries signed and ratified the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, aimed at reducing, if not eliminating, an existential threat: annihilation by nuclear war. The treaty is widely seen as a landmark of international diplomacy, so could the same thing happen for oil, gas and coal? That’s the premise of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, introduced last month by a global coalition of activists and academics, with the Canadian city of Vancouver the first in the world to sign on to it. Read more.....

New conditions for membership to the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, has set ambitious new targets for its members, including having in place science-based plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, reversing biodiversity loss and fighting inequality. Members include oil company Chevon, tobacco firm Philip Morris International, furniture retailer IKEA, automaker Toyota, agribusiness company Cargill, chemicals firm Dupont, tech giant Google, plastics firm Sabic and consumer goods company Procter & Gamble. Companies have two years to comply. Read more.....

New analysis commissioned by the UN-supported Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI), predicts that technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere could create trillion dollar upside opportunities for investors as more and more countries, cities and corporates make ambitious plans to become net zero. Nature-based solutions (NBS) to the climate crisis, focused on reforestation and afforestation, could generate $800 billion in annual revenues by 2050 with assets valued well over US$1.2 trillion, surpassing with a certain irony, the current market capitalisation of the oil & gas majors. Read more.....

Forestry and climate change are on the mind of the California Governor. He has made an “audacious but achievable” goal ordering state agencies to conserve 30% of state land and coastal water by no later than 2030, in a bid to store carbon in the state's natural and working lands and remove it from the atmosphere. State agencies must pursue strategies and partnerships that focus on healthy soil management, wetlands restoration, active forest management and boosting green infrastructure. Read more.....

We need to massively reforest the planet in a very short period of time if we have any chance of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C. A Canadian start-up, Flash Forest, plans to use drones to plant 40,000 trees in an area north of Toronto this month. By the end of the year it aims to expand to other regions and plant hundreds of thousands of trees (at 10x faster than humans can do the job). By 2028 the start-up plans to have planted a billion trees, with costs down at about 50c per tree. Read more.....

We take a look at some developments in Australia where the federal government is hell bent on pushing the ‘need’ for natural gas. But they may have a fight on their hands as Australian company directors call for more radical policy reset to recover from the Covid-19 recession including bigger investments in infrastructure, reforms of industrial relations and a Green New Deal. Read more.....

And it’s not just company directors wanting a change, ANZ is changing the way it does business. More of an emphasis will be placed on green investments. Some politicians aren’t happy, and this just highlights how out of touch the federal government is. ‘The policy showed “just how out of touch ANZ is…’ Hmm, maybe not? Read more.....

And to highlight how gas is losing its investment edge, renewables are becoming the preferred choice for new electricity generation. When renewables compete head to head with thermal generation, they win hands down 95% of the time. How can anyone argue with that, come on Australia! Read more.....

Here in New Zealand, when the Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr says ‘there was a need for transformational change and a collective and urgent response to climate risks’, you know there is quite a different train of thought around climate change than our neighbours in government across the ditch. “New Zealand being a small island nation with an agricultural-based economy means we will be impacted differently than others. And thus, we must keep our preparations in tune with our environment and resources for our economy to prosper.” Read more.....

Ikea is making a bold, new commitment to sustainability, by opening a retail outlet that sells only used or rejected items that have been refurbished. The location of the first store is in a mall that specializes in selling sustainable products such as used, repurposed and upcycled items. Ikea is currently testing the market to see how the business model works, as it hopes to reduce its overall climate impact by 70% by 2030; and giving products a second or extended life is a very important part of the process. Read more.....