Carbon Expert News | Doctors warn climate change is a threat to public health

Medical experts have urged policy makers to take concrete steps to tackle climate change, warning that failure to do so poses an immediate, grave and escalating threat to the health and security of billions of people around the globe.

More than 100 medical and military professionals, including Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of council at the British Medical Association and Lord Michael Jay, chairman of medical relief charity Merlin, yesterday backed a statement declaring climate change the greatest current threat to public health.

The statement outlines how rising temperatures and weather instability will lead to more frequent and extreme weather events, loss of habitat and habitation, water and food shortages, the spread of diseases, ecosystem collapse, and threats to livelihood, potentially triggering mass migration and conflict within and between countries.

It also warns that humanitarian crises will impact on military resources and that the human and economic cost of climate impacts "will be enormous".

It urges the EU to urgently adopt a 30 per cent CO2 greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 and for the United Nations to commit to restricting the global temperature rise to 2°C as agreed at the Copenhagen and Cancun Summits.

Opening the meeting, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne urged national governments to limit the impact of climate change to deliver "a cleaner, healthier, safer future".

Professor Hugh Montgomery, director of the UCL Institute for Human Health and Performance urged politicians to tackle the tangible risks posed by global warming.

"It is not enough for politicians to deal with climate change as some abstract academic concept," he said.

"The price of complacency will be paid in human lives and suffering, and all will be affected. Tackling climate change can avoid this, while related lifestyle changes independently produce significant health benefits. It is time we saw true leadership from those who would profess to take such a role."

Other signatories included Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, former president of the Royal College of Physicians, David Kidney, the former MP who is now head of policy at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, and the leaders of Norway and Sweden's Medical Associations.

The statement was released as startling new research predicted sea levels are likely to rise by 75 centimetres by 2100 as a result of climate change.

Aslak Grinsted, researcher at the Centre for Ice and Climate, the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, yesterday published a set of projected changes in sea level for the next 500 years.

The two most realistic scenarios, calculated based on greenhouse gas emissions and pollution levels stabilising in the coming decades, predicts sea levels will still rise by about 75cm by 2100 and two metres by the year 2500.

The most pessimistic scenario, where emissions continue to increase, predicts sea levels could rise 1.1 metres by 2100 and 5.5 metres by 2500.

Even in the most optimistic scenario, requiring extremely dramatic climate change goals, major technological advances and strong international cooperation to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the sea would continue to rise by around 60cm by 2100 and 1.8 metres by 2500.

Grinsted said the changes would occur because ice caps and sea levels react slowly to changes in emissions.

"Even if we stabilise the concentrations... and stop emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, we can see that the rise in sea level will continue to accelerate for several centuries because of the sea and ice caps long reaction time," he said.

"So it would be 2-400 years before we returned to the 20th century level of a 2 mm rise per year."

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Source: www.businessgreen.com

How Are Carbon Emissions Being Reduced?

 

Increasing carbon emissions have been a large talking point in the world and many world leaders have gathered together to try and reduce this. The threat that many people face is one of global warming and one that can have bad consequences if it’s not dealt with adequately. There are many ways individuals and businesses are cutting down on carbon emissions. In many ways being eco friendly grants businesses a certain status that is admired by many people. However besides this, governments have opted in for the use of carbon credits which can be used as incentives to reduce overall carbon output.

Carbon credits are part of an overall scheme but within this scheme there are two defining markets. The first one is the voluntary market; this is where businesses and individuals can purchase credits during individual or business activities. The credits in this market go straight to fund environmental projects such as the plantation of forests or research into new renewable energy sources.

The second type of market is the mandatory market which means companies are required by law to purchase carbon credits to offset their emissions. The standard procedure which takes place is called ‘cap and trade’ this is where companies have a certain amount of time and a limit of carbon emissions. If they’re under this limit they can sell off the carbon credits to polluting companies. However if they’re over they will have to purchase credits from greener companies to offset the fact they’re over polluting.

This has been shown to encourage businesses to be more competitive with their carbon emissions as there is a financial incentive. This financial incentive means that the greener your company is the more it will earn via the sale of carbon credits. This can lead to more growth and thus even greener technologies being developed.

Some ways businesses can reduce their carbon output are by using more energy efficient things or using the ones they have less. This can include using energy efficient bulbs, using recyclable paper, having solar panels on the building, turning the heating down and make improvements to the buildings insulation.

Due to the regulations in place and the desire for businesses to become more environmentally friendly, it has caused the carbon market to grow pretty rapidly. Since it’s grown so fast it’s provided many opportunities for investors to make a lot of money and increase their portfolio.

Companies like Carbon-Expert are a leading carbon broker in the market with many years worth of experience from their experts. Using a company like this will allow you to quickly get access to the rapidly growing carbon trading market and provide you with opportunities you wouldn’t normally have received.

How Are Carbon Emissions Being Reduced?

Increasing carbon emissions have been a large talking point in the world and many world leaders have gathered together to try and reduce this. The threat that many people face is one of global warming and one that can have bad consequences if it’s not dealt with adequately. There are many ways individuals and businesses are cutting down on carbon emissions. In many ways being eco friendly grants businesses a certain status that is admired by many people. However besides this, governments have opted in for the use of carbon credits which can be used as incentives to reduce overall carbon output.

Billionaires to get free carbon allowances to offset green tax on private jets

Corporate jets used by billionaires the Duke of Westminster and Lord Ashcroft are among the aircraft to be allocated free "carbon allowances" to offset the cost of a new green tax.

 

Almost 200 corporate jet owners, from oil company ExxonMobil to Starbucks and Iceland Foods, will be awarded free permits to compensate them for the new expense of Europe's carbon trading scheme for aircraft.

UN official predicts carbon market will continue to grow

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Bloomberg have reported an increase in value and volume of carbon trading in the EU for the third quarter of 2011.

Carbon Expert - What Are Carbon Credits?

Dealing with the consequences of climate change has had a global impact. In 1990, 37 countries signed the Koyoto agreement. It was agreed that greenhouse gas emissions must be lowered by 5.2% of the amount produced in 1990. The target date set for this was 2012. Carbon credits have become a major part of the solution to the problem.

Britain’s future will be built on low carbon, says Miliband

Ed Miliband told the Labour Party Conference last week that Britain’s future would be built on "low carbon and high tech" and proposed a "new bargain" in which climate change and the environment played an essential part.

Is your business at risk of being charged with ecocide?

Campaign for new international law gains momentum as lawyers prepare to stage mock ecocide trial

A lawyer campaigning for the mass destruction of ecosystems to be officially recognised as an international crime has revealed that her campaign could be successfully completed within 18 months.

Bacardi Awarded Carbon Trust Standard in the UK

Bacardi Limited, the largest privately held spirits company in the world, announced recently that its United Kingdom operations have been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard after taking action to measure, manage and reduce its carbon footprint by nearly 13 percent over three years. The collective amount of savings totals more than 4,400 tons of CO2, equivalent to the emissions from taking 1,128 UK cars off the road per year. The global operations of Bacardi reduced carbon emissions by nearly 18 percent during the same time period.