Image: www.enviromedia.com
DECEMBER 13
US, Canada winning most “Fossil of the Day” awards in Bali
Leave it to youth participants at the UN Climate Change Conference to have the most fun criticizing government. Hundreds of people line up at 6 p.m. daily for the awards presentation called, “Fossil of the Day.”
The fossils, represented by lumps of coal, are presented in an elaborate awards ceremony at the Bali Convention Center. The Avaaz group’s Web site says there is “a high degree of certainty” that Canada and the United States are doing the most to obstruct progress at the climate change negotiations in Bali.
During United Nations climate change negotiations (www.unfccc.int), members of the the worldwide Climate Action Network, vote for the country judged to have made the worst input to the negotiations. Usually, three Fossil-of-the-day awards are presented each conference day, sometimes only two or one - depending on the number of countries with outstanding efforts to block progress at the negotiations in the last days.
Presenter Ben Wilker, of the Climate Action Network said:“First prize for Dec. 13th goes to USA, CANADA, JAPAN, and RUSSIA.The USA, Canada, Japan, and Russia share top honours -- er, bottom dishonours -- for relentlessly blocking any reference to the 25-40 percent cuts by 2020 in the Bali road map. The science couldn’t be clearer that cuts in this range are necessary to avert the worst of the climate crisis. Russia initiated the removal of the targets several days ago, and the USA, Canada, and Japan have fought to ensure that they don’t come back in. It’s like they’re piloting the Titanic, refusing to change course; except instead of merely hitting icebergs, they’re melting them.”
Last Sunday, three youth groups united for a publicity stunt on the beach in Bali, using bodies to form a globe falling off into the water. See the photo here.
DECEMBER 12
There’s no question about it: Oil and coal industries are feeling picked on by those attending the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali. The World Coal Institute had a booth at the Bali International Convention Center, but I never once saw anyone staffing it.
Yvo De Boerr, UNFCCC General, told the crowd at Bali Global Business Day, “If you’re thinking about building a power plant right now, and you think the predictions for climate change by 2050 are science fiction, you are predicting your own company’s extinction.” He also added that coal and oil will make up 80 percent of world’s fuel for decades to come, so there’s plenty of money out there for fossil and renewable fuels. CONTINUE READING HERE.
DECEMBER 10
Is photosynthesis the solution?
As debates on carbon capture and storage continue at the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia, Weyerhaeuser Senior Vice President For Corporate Affairs Ernesta Ballard says photosynthesis is the natural solution.
“The core manufacturing process for our industry is photosynthesis,” Ballard told EnviroMedia Social Marketing president Kevin Tuerff at the Bali Global Business Day event hosted December 10 by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. “Photosynthesis is the most efficient process in the world. It’s available without patent, without trademark and without technology transfer.”
Throughout the day, representatives from energy interests such as Royal Dutch Shell, Rio Tinto (one of the world’s largest coal producers) and American Electric Power (AEP) discussed the research, technological and implementation challenges of carbon capture and storage — a process that diverts carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere with underground storage. AEP has plans to build projects in Oklahoma and West Virginia. FIND OUT MORE at the Bali or Bust Blog.
Business in Bali: Companies that don’t get green marketing right could be gone
We spent the day with 300 business interests at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Bali Global Business Day today. Rock stars of the day included United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change Secretary General Yvo de Boer, and U.N. Special Envoy on Climate Change Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, whose “Bruntland Commission” forged the way to the original 20-year-old climate change policy that’s now being reviewed by the U.N. general assembly in Bali. Kevin calls her the “Mother Earth of the 21st Century.”
My highlight of the day happened when I sat in on a press conference and WBCSD President Björn Stigson asked me if I had any questions. So, I had to ask him what he thought about nine out of 10 conference attendees agreeing that businesses globally may not be doing the best job with incorporating their environmental claims into advertising.
“If you look at the ads on CNN,” said Stigson, “it seems two-thirds of them are companies talking about what they’re doing for a greater, better world.”
He noted that corporate executives responsible for green messaging now report to the top because it’s become a key strategic issue for the board and top management.
“Over the next 30 to 40 years, there are going to be some winners and some losers,” said Stigson. “Some companies will be gone if they’re not doing it right.”
DECEMBER 9
Greenwashing is a Problem
According to a survey conducted by EnviroMedia Social Marketing, Inc., nine of 10 delegates and participants attending the U.N. Climate Change Conference believe companies are “greenwashing.”
In the survey, 46 of 54 randomly selected respondents agreed with the statement, “Some companies are advertising products and services with environmental claims that could be considered false, unsubstantiated and/or unethical.” CONTINUE READING at the Bali Enviro Blog.
DECEMBER 7
Many hotel vendors in Bali dumping trash in Mangrove Forest
The Four Seasons, Inter-Continental and Ritz-Carlton are among a handful of resorts that are doing it right when it comes to solid waste disposal and recycling in Bali, Indonesia. As 10,000 delegates and other participants have descended on the resort island for the U.N. Conference on Climate Change, Millie Salinas and Kevin Jung of EnviroMedia Social Marketing report that local experts estimate only 5 percent of all hotels in Bali recycle, compost and properly dispose of their waste. READ MORE here.
DECEMBER 3
Bike to Work, and To Bali
We’ve seen the yellow bike program in Austin, and it’s here in Bali too. Conference attendees had the opportunity to take one of these yellow bicycles instead of a cab or a sweaty (and I do mean sweaty!) 1 kilometer walk from the convention center to side events at the Hyatt. The high quality mountain bikes are sponsored by Waste Management Indonesia. Another way conference attendees are doing their part to lower the CO2 emissions? Not wearing a suit and tie. The humidity is crazy high here, so participants were invited to ditch the business threads so the facilities could use less AC. Not sure how much that’ll help but people will certainly be more comfortable.
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