UK in top five for environmental certification

The UK is in the top five countries globally for achieving environmental certificates under the standard ISO14001.

Figures published recently show that more than 267,000 organisations in 158 countries are now certified against the standard's requirements.

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?src=nl&id=23726

20% of Earth's natural resource use goes to waste

One-fifth of the world's natural resources that are extracted for use end up as waste according to new research which examines the hidden environmental costs of raw materials use.
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=23607&title=20%25+of+Earth's+natural+resource+use+goes+to+waste

Trials set to test environmentally 'perfect' air travel

The potential to save 30,000kg of fuel across 60 transatlantic flights is to be tested through a trial to see if environmentally 'perfect' flights are possible on a large scale.

The trial, called Topflight, will feature 60 British Airway departures out of Heathrow to various North American airports over a period of four months. Led by NATS, the UK-based air traffic services company, it will examine the environmental impact of everything from aircraft pushback from the stand and taxiing to the use of an optimised flight profile and continuous descent approach.

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?src=nl&id=23223

High-speed rail could offer carbon savings of over 70%

High-speed rail networks have the potential to deliver massive carbon benefits but only if backed by bold Government policy initiatives and the right development choices, concludes a report commissioned by three UK environmental bodies.

Carbon emissions from making a trip by high-speed rail 2 (HS2), if it was already built, would be 73% lower than making the equivalent journey by car and 76% lower than flying. Those are the headline figures in a report on HS2 carried out for the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), RSPB and the Campaign for Better Transport.

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?src=nl&id=23234

The Sustainability Exchange

The Sustainability Exchange is the central point and community for colleges, universities and sector service providers, sharing best practice, knowledge and resources on sustainability – all online.
www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk

Laszlo

“Many world problems involve outer limits, but the generally misunderstood issue confronting the human (species) is that its truly decisive limits are inner, not outer. They are not physical, but psychological, cultural and political limits inner to people and societies.

There are hardly any world problems that cannot be traced to human agency and could not be overcome by appropriate changes in human behaviour. The root causes even of physical and ecological problems are the inner constraints on our vision and values. We suffer from a serious case of 'culture lag'.”
 
Ervin Laszlo (1989) The Inner Limits of Mankind: Heretical Reflections on Today's Values, Culture and Politics.

Ex-sceptic says climate change is down to humans

A formerly sceptical climate scientist says human activity is causing the Earth to warm, as a new study confirms earlier results on rising temperatures.
In a US newspaper opinion piece, Prof Richard Muller says: "Call me a converted sceptic.

Muller leads the Berkeley Earth Project, which is using new methods and some new data to investigate the claims made by other climate researchers.

Their latest study confirms the warming trend seen by other groups.

The project received funds from sources that back organisations lobbying against action on climate change.
Their latest study, released early on Monday (GMT), concludes that the average temperature of the Earth's land has risen by 1.5C (2.7F) over the past 250 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19047501

UNEP Report

Environment management systems play a vital role in encouraging sustainable, consumption, according to the UN Environment Programme
http://www.unep.org/pdf/Global_Outlook_on_SCP_Policies_ExecutiveSummary.pdf

More is More

Recent talk of technological fixes as a means to addressing the climate change problem might be bold and exciting, but can climate change be reversed by technology alone, or do we have to change our habits and ways of life as well. It is a divisive subject, but a recent paper by University of Oregon sociologist Richard York says that technology alone will not save us from it.

http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/analysis/do_we_need_to_change_to_stop_climate_change/

10 ways to get your time back

http://www.askten.co.uk/tools/articles/10-ways-get-your-time-back

What does a low carbon glass wine bottle look like?

See Best Foot Forward's site for some interesting work on wine bottle fooprints: http://www.bestfootforward.com/