Common standards, carbon markets to thrive and earthquake energy
In this issue:
ISO and GHG Protocol to harmonise standards
The dilemma between choosing the ISO Standard or GHG Protocol for assessing emissions is to become a thing of the past in the next few years as the two organisations have announced they are to merge their standards, removing confusion from the market and simplifying reporting and verification. The cooperation will extend to the development of common product emission standards. The two organisations’ press releases did not, however, include a target date for the harmonised standards.
Carbon market set to explode
The supply of carbon credits is predicted to increase by between 20 and 50 times by 2050 according to BlombergNEF’s latest Long-term Carbon Credit Supply Outlook. Integrity and impact will be key determinants of the eventual size of the market. Average prices are predicted to be of the order of US$60 (NZ$102) per ton in 2030 and US$104/t (NZ$176/t) in 2050. Direct air capture will remain a high cost option with a predicted price of around $272/t (NZ$461/t) in 2050, even if the technology takes off.
Simple actions could save 725,000 lives a year
That’s the claim of a new analysis from Yale supported by health companies Reckitt and Bupa and a coalition of 29 major cities worldwide. The report estimates the combined impact of four, simple actions across 11,000 cities could be saving 15.6 megatonnes of carbon emissions, lowering healthcare costs by US$70bn (NZ$119bn) and saving 725,000 lives each year by 2030.
The four pillars of action are:
- Heat and air quality measures, such as urban greening, cool roofs and active transport, which could cut heat and pollution related deaths by 15%;
- Water, sanitation and hygiene improvements, which could prevent 166,000 deaths;
- Healthy lifestyle promotion through urban design and social prescribing, which could prevent 131,000 deaths; and
- Community resilience tools, including early warning systems and awareness campaigns, which could reduce mortality by up to 13% in some cities.
Less than 3% of large corporates have published transition plans
A new report from LSE on corporate transition pathways reveals less than 3% have published transition roadmaps to lower emissions. The analysis looked at public documents of 2,000 large, listed companies finding only 2% published investment strategies to support their carbon reduction goals and less than 1% outlined withdrawal strategies for carbon intensive activities.
Fossil fuels on slippery slope
That’s the conclusion of a new analysis from We Mean Business Coalition which predicts electrification will power on and continued growth could see renewables displace 75% of fossil fuel demand. EVs have already displaced 1.3 million barrels of oil per day and the report predicts this will increase to 5 million per day by 2030. Demand for coal is waning and growth in gas demand has already slowed. The report concludes fossil fuel producers may be overestimating future markets with high-cost producers at material risk of failures.
Did you know ……..
Only 10% of the energy released in an earthquake is accounted for by the physical shaking we experience? Scientists from MIT have replicated the process of earthquakes in a lab and discovered the vast majority – over 80% – of the energy released is converted into heat.