Publications: Corporate community investment impact measurement in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore by CSR Asia Research (Jun 2013)

Corporate community investment impact measurement in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore

This report provides an insight to the Corporate Community Investment (CCI) activities of eighty of the largest listed companies in Hong Kong, Indonesia Malaysia and Singapore. The focus of the research was to analyse whether the sample group of companies were reporting on CCI impact. This report was presented at the CSR Asia Corporate Community Investment – Measuring Impact Forum, Singapore June 2013.

Link to download the full document: http://www.csr-asia.com/report/CCI-report.pdf
For more information: http://www.csr-asia.com/publications.php

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Training workshop: Sustainability Reporting and Communications organized by CSR Asia on 4 Dec 2013

Sustainability Reporting and Communications

Date: Wednesday, 4 December 2013 Location: Malaysia Course Overview: The one-day training workshop is designed to help you learn about international reporting standards and how to deliver your sustainability message effectively to support business objectives. Topics include but are not limited to: Transparency and accountability; Developing priorities through stakeholder engagement; Developing effective communications plans and more.  Topics include: Identifying the key issues on which to report Transparency and accountability Developing priorities through stakeholder engagement Issues-based reporting Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Tools and strategies to deliver an effective sustainability message Tailoring reporting solutions to meet a company’s unique needs Case studies of successful reporting strategies Course Leaders: • Rikke Netterstrom biography • Gabriel Chong biography Fee: USD 375 Registration: For CSR Asia Strategic Partners (to enjoy special discount) For Ordinary CSR Asia Strategic Partners are entitled to a 20% discount on all courses organised by CSR Asia. To register using your free training pass, please contact your relationship manager directly.

For more information: http://www.csr-asia.com/course-detail.php?id=99

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Events: World Forum on Natural Capital organized by the Scottish Wildlife Trustin association with the United Nations Environment Programme and others started from 21 to 22 Nov 2013

World Forum on Natural Capital

Date: Thursday, 21 November 2013   -  Friday, 22 November 2013

Location: UK

About the Forum

A revolution is taking place in how businesses and governments account for natural capital.

The inaugural World Forum on Natural Capital will be the first major global conference devoted exclusively to turning the debate on natural capital accounting into action. It will build on the enormous private sector interest shown at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio in June 2012 and the many developments that have taken place since.

Against a backdrop of growing global awareness that our ecosystems and biodiversity underpin both wealth creation and human security, the Rio Earth Summit saw the launch of the Natural Capital Declaration, a global finance-led initiative convened by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative and the Global Canopy Programme.

By signing the Declaration, CEOs at the helm of 39 banks, investment funds and insurance companies announced their commitment to understanding their impacts and dependencies on natural capital, and to incorporating natural capital considerations into their products and accounting. The United Nations Environment Programme is one of the key partners in the World Forum on Natural Capital, which will mark an important step in moving the debate further towards action.

WHY ATTEND?

There are many reasons to be in Edinburgh this November:

• Understand the implications of the fast evolving debate about natural capital and how the opportunities and risks could affect your bottom line
• Network with senior decision makers and sustainability leaders from around the world
• Gain access to the latest developments and practical tools
• See how natural capital relates to current developments in Integrated Reporting and new approaches to Corporate Social Responsibility
• Help shape the debate for the benefit of business and the planet

WHAT IS NATURAL CAPITAL ACCOUNTING?

Fresh water, clean air, fertile soil, fish stocks and forests are all examples of the natural capital on which human wellbeing and economic prosperity depend. Yet these natural assets do not appear on traditional balance sheets and can therefore be invisible in decision-making. As a result, we are losing natural capital faster than ever before. A recent report by the TEEB for Business Coalition estimates the cost of environmental externalities at a staggering US$7.3 trillion annually. But we can't manage what we don't measure.

Natural capital accounting is a rapidly evolving new way of thinking about how we value the economic benefits we derive from our natural environment. (For an explanation of natural capital and ecosystem services click here.)

The World Forum on Natural Capital will bring together world-class speakers, cutting edge case studies and senior decision makers from different sectors, in order to turn the debate into practical action.

Lively plenaries and interactive breakout sessions in four conference streams will explore the risks and opportunities for business, allow access to the very latest developments and provide an opportunity to help shape the debate through dialogue between policymakers, business leaders and prominent experts in the field.

PARTNERS

The World Forum on Natural Capital is organised by the Scottish Wildlife Trustin association with the United Nations Environment Programme; International Union for Conservation of Nature; World Business Council for Sustainable Development; TEEB for Business Coalition and The Wildlife Trusts.

Information about the partner organisations can be found here. The project team is listed here.

For more information: http://www.naturalcapitalforum.com/

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Chinese Updates: UK, China harness offshore wind energy (28 Sep 2013)

UK, China harness offshore wind energy

China.org.cn, September 28, 2013

The UK's Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey and Wu XinXiong, Head of the National Energy Administration, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on offshore wind power on Thursday, the first of its kind that China has signed with another country.

Edward Davey said, ‘I am delighted that the UK and China have cemented their "Strategic Partnership on Offshore Wind" through the signing of an MOU. The UK has more offshore wind installed than the rest of the world combined and we have ambitious plans for the future. Together with China, who plans to develop 30GW of offshore wind by 2020, we want to make Offshore Wind a competitive low carbon energy choice. Our strengthened cooperation will bring significant commercial and environmental benefits for both countries.'

The enhanced cooperation is built upon the bilateral Energy Dialogue that was initiated in 2010 wherein both countries identified offshore wind as a priority area for UK-China collaboration. The second UK-China Energy Dialogue will take place on 27th September.

Existing bilateral cooperation on climate change and energy includes extensive joint work supporting the development of carbon markets in China; working in support of China's low carbon pilot cities on policy development, standards and capacity building; joint energy research in cutting edge renewable energy technologies; and UK supported work to help China and other developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The MoU is expected to remove the technological and market barriers for both countries to accelerate wind power development and unleash significant investment potential for industries. Both countries have agreed to cooperate more closely in their policy development, technology transfer, personnel training, and to increase access to the markets in the UK, China, and other countries.

China currently is the world's third largest offshore wind power installer after the UK and Denmark, but its target to increase offshore wind capacity to 30GW by 2020 will make it the largest global offshore wind market. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, it will need to leverage international expertise in the fields of policy, technology and supply chain.

Offshore wind is now a real and growing part of UK's energy supply - the country currently has more than 1000 turbines with a combined capacity of about 3.6 GW, and the largest development pipeline in the world. The signing of the MoU will help facilitate Chinese investors' access to UK's offshore wind projects that will need £7 billion by 2020.

Beijing is the last stop of the Minister's week-long visit to China starting from 23rd September. In his visits to Chongqing and Shanghai, the Secretary of State focused on bilateral cooperation in green buildings, carbon trading as well as on the science of climate change. His visit comes as the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is due to release its landmark fifth assessment report on Friday. The report is expected to provide the world with more scientific consensus than ever before that urgent action must be taken to tackle the real and immediate threat of climate change.

Source: http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2013-09/28/content_30160347.htm

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CALL FOR CITIES: SOLUTIONS (Sharing Opportunities for Low carbon Urban transporTatION) (Deadline: 30 Sep 2013)

CALL FOR CITIES: SOLUTIONS (Sharing Opportunities for Low carbon Urban transporTatION)

The European SOLUTIONS (Sharing Opportunities for Low carbon Urban transporTatION) project on innovative and green urban transport solutions, is calling for cities from Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean, to become involved in the project's innovation activities as leading, take-up or training city.

Clean Air Asia, as part of the consortium partners that will be implementing the SOLUTIONS project, is encouraging cities, particularly in Asia, to take part in this unique opportunity to share experiences and knowledge with other cities from the globe.

CALLS available at: www.urban-mobility-solutions.eu.

Cities can apply to become involved in SOLUTIONS for one of the following categories:

Leading cities

Leading cities from Europe, Asia and Latin America are willing through SOLUTIONS to share their expertise in the development and implementation of sustainable urban mobility solutions. They will also benefit from the mutual learning process and the knowledge sharing with other cities in the world within the context of SOLUTIONS.

More details!
Application form for Leading cities

Take-up cities

Asia and Latin America: Two cities from Asia (one from China and one from India) and two from Latin America (one from Mexico and one from Brasil) will be selected as take-up cities. These cities should show a real sense of commitment to assess opportunities for the transfer of innovative solutions to their context.
Mediterranean countries: For participating cities from Mediterranean countries (primarily Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria), bilateral and multilateral exchanges and technical visits will be organised and opportunities for future research cooperation will be elaborated.
More details!
Application form for Take-up cities

Training cities

Interested cities will be able to participate in several knowledge-sharing and capacity-building workshops in Latin America, Asia and the Mediterranean, focusing on successful examples of innovative sustainable mobility solutions from Europe, China, Singapore and Latin America.
More details!
Application form for Training cities

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2013!
____________________________________________________________________________

ABOUT SOLUTIONS

The main focus of the SOLUTIONS project will be on the exchange between cities from Europe, Latin America and the Mediterranean. SOLUTIONS brings together some of the leading experts and city networks from these regions, aiming to foster knowledge exchange and boost the uptake of innovative sustainable urban mobility solutions through the further exploitation of existing knowledge.

The project will particularly look at solutions in the following thematic areas:

• public transport
• transport infrastructure
• city logistics
• integrated planning / sustainable urban mobility plans
• network and mobility management
• integrated planning / sustainable urban mobility plans
• clean vehicles
  Please feel free to disseminate this announcement to your networks as well. Thank you very much!

For more information: http://cleanairinitiative.org/portal/node/12011

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Publications: OECD Examines Competitiveness and Carbon Leakage Impacts in a Multiple Carbon Market Setting (19 Sep 2013)

News

OECD Examines Competitiveness and Carbon Leakage Impacts in a Multiple Carbon Market Setting

19 September 2013: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released an Environment Working Paper titled 'Addressing Competitiveness and Carbon Leakage Impacts Arising from Multiple Carbon Markets - A Modelling Assessment,' which examines the macroeconomic and sectoral competitiveness and carbon leakage impacts associated with a range of mitigation policy scenarios.

The scenarios depict a variety of hypothetical carbon markets with differing levels of linkages, coverage (i.e. number of countries participating, types of gases and sectors) and stringency of the carbon pricing policy across countries. The paper also investigates some policies to address competitiveness and carbon leakage issues, considering border carbon adjustments (BCAs) as well as direct and indirect (offset-based) linking of carbon markets.

The results show that in the presence of multiple carbon markets, competitiveness can decrease in countries that undertake climate policies, which also leads to carbon leakage. The negative sectoral competitiveness and leakage effects can be reduced when more countries act, more emission sources are covered, and climate mitigation policy is harmonized across countries.

The results also show that response policies, such as BCAs and linking of carbon markets, can address some of the competitiveness and carbon leakage issues. While BCAs are more effective than linking instruments in addressing domestic competitiveness concerns, linking instruments better preserve the welfare of countries that do not undertake climate policy. 

[Publication: Addressing Competitiveness and Carbon Leakage Impacts Arising from Multiple Carbon Markets - A Modelling Assessment]

For more information: 
http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/oecd-examines-competitiveness-and-carbon-leakage-impacts-in-a-multiple-carbon-market-setting/215755/

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