UK

Plastic un-fantastic

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So far in the UK, 2018 has been dominated by the topic of plastic.

In December 2017, China announced that it would cease importing most types of plastic waste for recycling, a move that has unnerved both the government and businesses in the UK. Previously, plastic was an “out of sight, out of mind” problem for the UK. But now with the Chinese ban in imports, the UK will have to address its plastic waste problem urgently as it currently does not have the means to recycle or deal with the amount of plastic waste it generates every year. According to Greenpeace, the UK has sent over 2.7 million tonnes of plastic waste to China and Hong Kong since 2012, amounting to 2/3 of the UK’s total export of plastic waste.

In response to the ban, Theresa May, the UK Prime Minister, yesterday unveiled a 25 year environmental plan which aims to tackle the UK’s plastic problem. The plan aims to eradicate all avoidable plastic waste in the UK by 2042. The key provisions are:

  • introduction of “plastic-free” aisles in supermarkets;
  • extension of 5p carrier bag charge to all retailers in England;
  • potential introduction of taxes on single-use, plastic takeaway containers;
  • establishment of government fund for plastics innovation; and
  • commitment to use UK aid to help developing nations tackle plastic waste and pollution.

Although the announcement was widely welcomed, environmental groups were not impressed that the promises are wooly and have no legal force. Many also baulked at the 25-year timeframe, criticising the lack of urgent action. There is the cynical view that the announcement was just a clever bit of electioneering to attract more young voters for whom the environment is an important issue. However, the plastic problem is a salient one and we can therefore only hope that each of these promises will be put into action sooner rather than later.

One positive piece of plastic-related news that has come out of the UK in the last few days is the coming into force of the plastic microbeads ban on 9 January. Initially the ban only covers manufacturing but as of July this year, it will also be extended to the sale of products with microbeads. Thousands of tonnes of plastic microbeads end up in the oceans each year, harming the flora and fauna and eventually ending up in the food that we eat. The UK is the first country to introduce a wholesale, robust ban and it is hoped that more will follow suit. Ireland is already looking to introduce its own ban in late 2018.

However, government “stick” is not the only way to achieve reductions in plastic waste. Companies should proactively review their plastic consumption and outputs and seek ways to improve efficiencies and reduce waste. For example, certain coffee shops in the UK already offer a 25p discount to people who bring in their own reusable coffee mugs or thermoses. However, this is poorly advertised. Starbucks is also planning to pilot a 5p surcharge on plastic cups in some London stores in February. These are positive steps forward. But are they enough?

Finally, on the back of the China ban, we may seem the emergence of a whole new local recycling industry. For example, Group Machiels, a waste management company, is planning to convert waste from landfill sites into energy and building materials using a technology called plasma. Eventually, the company aims to turn emptied landfill sites into local parks. Unfortunately, local support for such extensive landfill site excavations is currently low but this does sound like an innovative way to tackle one side of the problem.

One thing is for sure, plastic waste around the world is a catastrophic problem for our environment and ultimately for our health. The problem needs to be addressed both at source with a significant reduction in the generation of plastic products and through effective recycling of used plastics. The UK government’s 25 year plan is a positive step in the right direction, but it needs to be accelerated. Businesses and consumer attitudes also need to change. Plastic reduction must start today.

 

 

 

Sustain a Future’s 2017 Review

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design-2711676_19202017 was a year when sustainability, climate change and emissions reductions came to the fore on both private and public agendas. And so as we tumble towards 2018, I would like to do a run-down of the year’s developments that are helping to sustain a future.

Paris Agreement

One of the biggest developments early in 2017 was President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement (see blog). However, this only served to galvanise worldwide support for the agreement and as of today, 172 out of 197 countries have ratified it. The President’s actions also gave birth to the “We Are Still In” movement of over 2700 US companies, cities and states, together representing $6.2 trillion of the US economy, coming together to pledge allegiance to the Paris Agreement goals and ensure that America abides by its commitments, even when it withdraws from the agreement. The US withdrawal has also opened the door for Emmanuel Macron to become a leading voice in the fight against climate change, as evidenced at the One Planet Summit this December.

Electric vehicles

2017 also saw a reassessment of forecasts relating to electric vehicles. In a report published in July, Bloomberg New Energy Finance stated that it estimates that by 2040, 54% of new car sales and 33% of the global car fleet will be electric (see blog), a much more bullish forecast than it had issued just a year before. Added to this, a number of countries and car companies announced the ban or phase out of petrol-only vehicles. For example, Volvo announced that it would be going all-electric with every car in its range to have an electric train by 2019 and the UK and France announced a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040.

Renewable power generation

Records were set in renewable energy generation in 2017. In the UK, low-carbon energy sources made up 52% of the energy mix throughout the year, making 2017 the “greenest” year on record for the UK. The country also succeeded in having a full 24 hours of coal-free power generation in May 2017 (see blog). Furthermore, in October 2017, wind power provided nearly a quarter of all energy generation in Europe as a whole. These records have been assisted by the continued falling costs of solar and wind power technology and renewed investment in renewable energy infrastructure. For example, earlier this year the world’s first floating wind farm came into operation offshore Scotland, operated by Statoil.

Business initiatives 

On the business side, the RE100 group of companies committed to 100% renewable power (see blog) grew again this year to 116 members including Google, Apple, Unilever,  Walmart, ABInv Bev…to name but a few! These huge, multinational companies have each set the goal of obtaining 100% of their electricity from renewable sources within the next decade or so. Traditional oil and gas companies have also embarked on the energy transition journey. Shell now commits $1 billion annually to investments in clean energy. BP is committed to a lower-carbon future with a move towards greater investments in gas and carbon capture and storage technology. Both companies are also members of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (see blog), which includes the world’s biggest oil and gas companies. These companies have committed US$1 billion of funding to be invested over the next decade in innovative technologies and start-ups which propose solutions to substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Plastic pollution

2017 also witnessed the first UN Ocean Conference, which highlighted the plight of our oceans due to growing plastic pollution and climate change (see blog). The Ocean Conference raised $5.24 billion in commitments to protect the oceans and created a Call for Action which affirmed the signatories’ “strong commitment to conserve and sustainably use our oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”.  Greater awareness of the dangers of plastic pollution have also resulted in individual action to fight plastic pollution, including the Ocean Cleanup whose plastic waste collection system aims to remove half of plastic waste in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years; Adidas teaming up with Parley to develop trainers out of plastic and Plastic Odyssey which has developed a boat that can be powered by plastic.

A look to the future…

So what are the predictions for 2018? I think that the key themes will be:

  • a broader conversation about peak oil, but due to falling demand rather than supply;
  • the role of gas in the future energy mix;
  • the use of blockchain to facilitate peer to peer energy transactions;
  • the rise of electric vehicle alternatives, such as the hydrogen motor; and
  • more innovative uses of existing technologies – such as the solar panelled motorway in China that intends to charge cars as they drive using wireless technology.

It’s been an eventful year and so for now, I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!

COP23 Roundup

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downloadLast week, the latest UN Climate Change Conference was held in Bonn, Germany. It was the first such conference to take place since the US’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and with Syria becoming a signatory during the conference, the US is now the only country in the world not to be a party to the agreement.

The conference again brought the topic of climate change to the centre of the international political arena and amid the general calls for action and greater urgency, concrete commitments were made. I will discuss some of the key take-aways here.

1. Launch of Powering Past Coal Alliance 

The UK and Canada spearheaded the launch of a new initiative aimed at phasing out traditional coal power. Although there is no firm timeframe commitment, the alliance’s declaration states that traditional coal power needs to be phased out by no later than 2030 in the OECD and EU28, and no later than 2050 in the rest of the world.

The alliance was joined by more than 20 entities including Denmark, Finland, Italy, New Zealand, Ethiopia, Mexico, the Marshall Islands and the US states of Washington and Oregon. Michael Bloomberg also pledged $50m to expanding his anti-coal US campaign to Europe.

However, notable abstainees from the pledge included the US, China, India and Germany.

2. Launch of Ocean Pathway Initiative

With Fiji holding the rotating presidency at COP23, it was expected that there would be an initiative focussing on the oceans and climate change. As a Pacific Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Fiji is particularly vulnerable to the destructive effects of climate change on the oceans, through rising sea levels to overheating.

The Ocean Pathway initiative has reaffirmed the Call for Action issued at the UN Ocean Conference earlier this year and seeks funding for ocean health and maintenance of ecosystems from UN climate change funding initiatives. The initiative has also launched the Oceans Pathway Partnership to link existing ocean activities and promote cooperation.

3. Financing climate action

During the conference, a number of significant funding commitments were announced, including:

  • Adaptation Fund: This fund, established under the Kyoto Protocol, finances projects and programmes that help vulnerable communities in developing countries adapt to climate change. To date, it has committed US$462 million in 73 countries. This year, it was officially committed to serve under the Paris Agreement framework and country contributions have exceeds the 2017 target with contributions of EUR 50 million from Germany and EUR 7 million from Italy.
  • Norway and Unilever fund: US$400 million fund established for public and private investment in more resilient socioeconomic development. The fund will invest in business models that combine investments in high productivity agriculture, smallholder inclusion and forest protection.
  • Amazon rainforest fund: Germany and the UK have committed US$ 153 million to fight climate change and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
  • Initiative 20×20 investment: World Resources Institute announced a US$ 2.1 billion investment to restore degraded lands in Latin America and the Caribbean.

4. Launch of Below50 Initiative

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launched the below50 initiative, initially in North America, South America and Australia, to create greater demand and more markets for sustainable fuels, i.e. fuels that produce at least 50% less CO2 emissions than conventional fossil fuels. The initiative aims to bring together the entire value-chain for sustainable fuels and scale up their deployment.

Finally, despite US’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, Michael Bloomberg’s “We’re Still In” coalition of US cities, states and companies, was out in force at COP23, showing the world that large parts of America are still fully committed to the targets set out in the Paris Agreement.

And as the conference delegates begin to reflect on the week’s achievements, the biggest hope is that the commitments are kept and promises are delivered. With record levels of funding now being directed towards tackling climate change, there really is no excuse not to act.

 

 

 

Record-breaking Renewables

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italy-2098343_1920On 7 June 2017, the UK generated over 50% of its electricity from renewable energy for the first time ever. This follows on from the UK going a full 24 hours without any power generated from coal on 21 April 2017. These are landmark moments indeed! However, the UK still has a long way to go in renewables as it is lagging behind most international benchmarks. In 2015, only 8.2% of UK energy was generated from renewable sources. Furthermore, the UK now has plans to scrap its target of reaching 15% renewable energy generation by 2020 as part of Brexit.

The UK is not the only country that has recently been setting clean energy records. In early May 2017, Germany broke all records with renewable energy sources powering 85% of the country’s energy demands. On 13 May 2017, California generated just over 80% of its energy from renewable sources, with approximately 67% coming from solar power.

The EU is seeking to increase its power generation from renewables to 20% across all countries by 2020, as part of Europe 2020, the EU’s 10 year jobs and growth strategy. By 2015, it had reached 17% with several countries already meeting and exceeding the set thresholds. However, as the below diagram shows, there are still many countries that are falling behind.

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Source: Eurostat

In 2015, the countries with the highest share of renewable energy generation in the EU were Sweden, with 53.9%; Finland, with 39.3%; Latvia, with 37.6%, Austria, with 33% and Denmark with 30.8%. The countries with the lowest share were Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK.

However, with renewable energy costs steadily tumbling, we are likely to see an increasing share of energy generation coming from renewable sources as more renewable capacity is installed. Indeed, a recent report from the UN Environment Programme and Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows that 139 gigawatts of renewable capacity was built in 2016, an 8% increase on the year before, despite investment falling by 23%. The report also shows that the 2016 gigawatt figure was equivalent to 55% of all the generating capacity added globally in 2016, the highest proportion in any year to date. So for the moment, we are getting more renewable energy capacity for less money. Let’s hope this trend continues…but without investors losing appetite for renewables!