TalkClimateChange

Late last year, the European Union sensibly decided to impose strict targets on its car manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency standards. Fuel efficiency, which has barely improved in previous years, is seen as a key opportunity to bridge the growing energy gap in the near term future.
Under the scheme, manufacturers were, sensibly, given a […]

This post was orginally published at EcoWorldly
In an excellent post, Andrew Revkin of the New York Times dot Earth blog poses the question - “Where would carbon dioxide emissions be if everyone on Earth was using fossil fuels at the same pace, per capita, as the United States is now?”
Using some simple math, Revkin presents […]

Is tackling climate change the responsibility of world governments, or is it the responsibility of the individual? Are we guilty of protesting too loudly, and demanding government action and policy change, whilst doing little to address the problems through our own behaviour? And what role should businesses play in reducing emissions as the largest […]

This post hopes to demonstrate that environmentalism and common sense are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
People want cheap air travel, yet they don’t want additional runways. People want cars, but they don’t want traffic jams. They also want mobile phones without antenna masts, fast food without calories and a whole host of other benefits […]

La Marguerite, an environmental psychology blog, writes a great post today which identifies the real challenges that we face from climate change. I’ve borrowed from it extensively in this post because it provides such a neat summary of the issues that TalkClimateChange ‘talks’ about.
Marguerite refers to a recent article by John Tierney of the […]

I woke up this morning to find a blockbuster headline on the BBC news website - “US to set ‘binding’ climate goals”. Full of excitement I eagerly scanned through the article looking for more details on what promised to be a ground breaking event in climate negotiations - it’s not every day that an easy […]

There is an old expression “the customer always knows what he wants, but he rarely knows what he needs”.
Marketing is the science of identifying those needs and then developing and delivering products to meet them. Firms who play only to our ‘wants’ usually loose out to firms who fully understand our ‘needs’ - firms who […]

The United Arab Emirates’ plan to build a completely carbon free city. Thirty kilometres from capital Abu Dhabi, Masdar (Arabic for ‘source’) will be home to approximately 40,000 people and accommodate a further 60’000 commuters within its 1,500 planned business premises.
Covering six square kilometres and making extensive use of public transport, solar energy and low […]

Today I had lunch with an investment banker. At some point the discussion turned to climate change, and I hinted at some of the potential business implications, as well as the not insignificant economic effects that we are already seeing.
"But how can one really make any money out of this stuff?" was his earnest […]

Delegates from the latest US sponsored climate talks in Hawaii have given mixed reports on its success, indicating that the initial stand-off between the US, India and China is still very much an issue.
An unnamed EU delegate gave a very positive statement leading to a number of encouraging headlines in conservative newspapers: “I came expecting […]

We’ve been preparing ourselves for a big non-story this week as the world’s biggest emitters of green-house gasses meet in Hawaii for more pre-talks about the successor to the Kyoto treaty.
However, it looks as if we are going to have to continue thinking up opinions of our own to fill the pages of TalkClimateChange after […]

Recent research my British retailer Marks & Spencer on consumer attitudes to green shopping describe a particularly apathetic public with little interest in buying green.

Only a small percentage (11%) of consumers actively make green purchases, with 27% of consumers inclined towards green shopping habits – but only if it’s easy. A surprisingly high 24% claim […]

 
Billionaire, entrepreneur, serial adventurer and airline owner Richard Branson is the man behind an innovation which may take the sting out of one of climate change’s biggest sins.
Next month a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 will make the world’s first biofuel powered flight between London and Amsterdam. Testing a blend of 80% conventional aviation fuel and […]

Sir David King, once advisor to Tony Blair, and the man credited with putting climate change firmly on to the British political agenda has claimed that the behaviour of green activists is harming the fight against climate change and delaying the implementation of workable solutions. King is a strong supporter technical solutions, including nuclear power, […]

If you live in the UK you will not have escaped the big furore over nuclear power this week following the release of the British Government’s energy policy which has decidedly committed the country to the nuclear path, signalling the first live shot in the climate change battle.
People want energy, people don’t want energy production. […]