What Are Other Countries Doing About Reducing Greenhouse Emissions?

Becauseof their huge polulation which has to result in higher emissions and the fact that it has not signed the Kyoto Protocal; China is seen by many as an obstacle to global carbon management when in fact they arew doing more than Australia and the uSA

But now some people are worried that China is moving too fast so that clean-energy companies in the West will be left in the dust.

While financially struggling governments in Europe and the United States are reducing support for clean-energy development, emerging countries, led by China, have been investing heavily and it is hard to compete. Connie Hedegaard, the European Union's commissioner for climate action said "We can never subsidize clean energy as much as they will do in China."

The European Commission has also raised concerns with China about access to rare earth minerals and other elements used in clean-energy industries, including the manufacturing of electric cars.

Significant business opportunities should be delivered by the surge of investment in climate related industries and recent extreme weather around the globe should add to this pressure.

The western world should be adopting tougher rules for new and retrofitted buildings now, rather than setting pie in the sky goals that are decades away for cutting emissions and adopting renewable power. I read a quote that I copied but lost the reference to, which said "China talks about programs and policies rather than focusing on targets, we focus on targets too much."

Governments in the developed world are using carbon trading, or cap and trade to cut emissions and drive investment into climate-related industries. The European gosl when their established their carbon trading system was to cut their emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020.

Carbon trading is having problems in Europe, including by computer attacks, tax fraud, recycling of used credits, suspicions of profiteering and extreme volatility.

Australia's Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet is talking about an emission trading system that does not affect the coal industry?!? I find that concept difficult to fathom

What is your business doing to prepare for some form of carbon limitation and escalating power prices? Both of these are coming and it simply does not make sense to go on ignoring the problem

We do not want too many repeats of intense La Ninas. One problem we have with climate change is that as the atmosphere warms, it holds more water vapour and the other very potent greenhouse gas that escalates the problem is actually water vapour. This is nowhere near as easily managed as carbon dioxide and methane.

No one is immune to the increasingly variable climate and if we wait for our government to do something sensible about it, we are letting things drift for too long. Both business and individual action is needed. So what are you doing about it?

One very sensible approach is to implement an environmental management system and use this to help you address your carbon footprint.

My own business has had ISO 14001 for three years now as part of its integrated ISO system and in February I am going further by installing solar panels as an additional means to reduce my emissions. I want better airconditioning to cope with the very high 42C temeperatures and when my solar panels are in place I can have this without increasing my emissions.


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Jean Cannon has spent the last 11 years actively helping small to medium businesses worldwide save costs, increase efficiency and employee loyalty and become a truly sustainable business. For more information go to http://www.enviroaction.com.au/RCF-book.html