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| In this bulletin |
| Spotlight on forestry and land use |
| The WBCSD on the Sustainable Forest Products Industry |
| WWF Stop the madness of wasteful paper consumption – make a ‘SHRINK’ pledge |
| UN climate talks split over deforestation funds |
| Sustainable UN (SUN) on the move towards climate neutrality |
| How to make your workplace greener: ten top tips |
| News Roundup |
| About Climate Action |
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| Spotlight on forestry and land use |
| Responsible for one-fifth of total global emissions in 2000 and using large amounts of gas, oil and electricity in the production process the forestry and wood products industry plays a significant role as a leading global greenhouse gas emitter. Yet at the same time the world’s forests also provide a vital carbon sink and help to offset the detrimental effects of global warming. Preventing further deforestation through sustainable forestry methods and reducing emissions throughout the supply chain are likely to continue to be the focus for those in the industry wishing to make a positive impact on climate change. |
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| The WBCSD on the Sustainable Forest Products Industry |
 With forests covering 30% of the world’s land area and providing an array of essential goods and services, forests are quintessential symbols of nature and biodiversity.
In order to meet the needs of six billion people (nine billion by 2050) for the essential goods and services forests provide, ways in which to sustain the environment after heavy demand must be examined. The driving force behind the Sustainable Forest Products Industry (SFPI) project is to find ways to sustainably manage forests meet the needs for wood and paper products, renewable and greenhouse neutral energy, ecosystem services and healthy livelihoods.
Deforestation and permanent loss of forest cover are significant global and personal concerns. Yet forest governance processes and policies are fragmented and not focused on the underlying causes: conversion to agriculture, population growth, poverty and urbanization.
Read more… |
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| WWF Stop the madness of wasteful paper consumption – make a ‘SHRINK’ pledge |
 A network of more than 50 European environmental non-governmental organisations launched "Shrink" this June. "Shrink" is a joint project addressing the madness of over-consumption of paper. Individuals as well as corporate and institutional paper users are invited to pledge to cut their paper consumption, on the new website www.shrinkpaper.org.
"Almost everyone in industrialised countries uses paper every day, but we have become careless. For example, 65% of print-outs and photocopies, many of which could be read on screen, land in the bin before the end of the day, and junk mail and catalogues are clogging our mailboxes," said Mandy Haggith of the European Environmental Paper Network (EEPN). "Paper production and use is directly linked to grave negative impacts on forests, biodiversity, on water resources, on the global climate and on human rights, through irresponsible producers. All of us can help to change this, starting today by making a pledge on shrinkpaper.org."
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| UN climate talks split over deforestation funds |
Poorer countries, blamed for producing up to 20 percent of the greenhouse gases caused by human activities, a stalemate occurred as the 160-nation U.N. climate conference in Ghana split on Friday over ways to pay poor countries to slow deforestation.
Suggestions were made for raising billions of dollars in incentives that would allow trading in the carbon dioxide locked up in trees, increased aid from rich nations and levies on airline tickets or on international shipping.
"It's important that we get to grips with this," Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters during the Aug. 21-27 meeting of 1,500 delegates.
"For many developing countries, avoiding deforestation is pretty much the only way they can engage in the climate change regime and reap some benefits," he said of schemes meant to slow logging and burning of forests to clear land for farming.
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| Sustainable UN (SUN) on the move towards climate neutrality |
The Sustainable UN facility, together with the UN Environmental Management Group, has in the past two weeks conducted two seminars in Geneva and New York on the topic of how to implement the UN Climate Neutral Strategy. This strategy, adopted by the UN Chief Executive Board in October 2007, commits all UN organisations, funds and programmes to move towards climate neutrality by calculating their carbon footprint, by reducing emissions, and by preparing for a decision on purchasing offsets to compensate for remaining emissions. The seminars in Geneva and New York were attended by about 100 UN staff from 40 different organisations.
It was encouraging to see the level of engagement from participants, which resulted in lively discussions on almost all topics, ranging from how to calculate emissions, to cultural change, to how to budget for offsets, to the role of the procurement system as a barrier or vehicle for emission reduction. Several UN organizations are in fact well underway to establish their Greenhouse gas inventories, in some cases also to reduce emissions, and in a few cases even to go beyond that by preparing to adopt environmental management systems. These are trends that were unheard of only a few years back and now, many UN organizations are gearing up to get first to the goal of demonstrating significant progress towards climate neutrality and sustainability. This is very encouraging, even though most of us still are only at the beginning of our efforts.
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| How to make your workplace greener: ten top tips |
With the accelerating rate of climate change Every Action Counts urges everyone to make their office more environmentally friendly
TOP 10 TIPS FOR STARTING YOUR GREENER WORKPLACE CAMPAIGN 1. Heating is most offices’ main energy cost. Check thermostats
(19 to 21 degrees Centigrade for the office and 60 degrees Centigrade for the hot water supply) are adequate. Check timers on the heaters and cut wasted heat by ensuring the office is well-insulated.
2. Use natural light where possible and install low energy bulbs.
3. Do a waste audit. About 70 per cent of office waste is paper. Use scrap paper for notes, encourage double-sided printing and photocopying, use email whenever possible and reduce the habit of printing everything off.
4. Find out about local recycling services and set up a recycling collection.
5. Review your current purchasing to determine scope for green options.
Start with a few products – paper is a good one – and where possible buy locally to cut down on unnecessary transport.
6. Choose ecological cleaning products, rechargeable batteries and reused toner cartridges.
7. Consider alternatives ways for your staff to travel to work: public transport, car sharing and walking or cycling.
8. Have an office bike if there are lots of short journeys to be made. Keep office vehicles well maintained.
9. Save water: turn off taps, mend dripping taps and cisterns, don’t fill kettles more than necessary and use toilet cistern volume reducers (hippos or save-a-flush bags).
10. Provide tap or filtered water at meetings in preference to costly bottled water.
Organisations large and small can join in the Every Action Counts initiative.
To sign up, register now on http://www.everyactioncounts.org.uk/en/members/register.asp.
To order a single copy of ‘Changing the way we work’ email info@everyactioncounts.org.uk.
For more information go to website www.everyactioncounts.org.uk |
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| News roundup |
| Untouched forests store 3 times more carbon -study |
| UN climate talks advance on forests, industry |
| Threat to Lebanon’s symbol of survival |
| Venture eyes diesel from woody biomass |
| Roll back time to safeguard planet |
| EU carbon drops on energy, Lehmans shuts CO2 desk |
| About Climate Action |
 Climate Action is an international communications platform, produced by Sustainable Development International in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) it is specifically designed to assist the private and public sectors towards carbon neutrality, as well as providing practical actions to reduce our global carbon footprint. Climate Action was launched in December 2007 at the UN climate change conference in Bali and the next publication will be published for the Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland in December 2008. |
