Adam Ma’anit

Adam Ma’anit is co-editor of the New Internationalist. He is the committed author of numerous publications on economic, social and environmental policies in Europe and Great-Britain. He has worked for the Corporate Europe Observatory and the Transnational Institute, a reflexion group based in Amsterdam.
www.newint.org

Summary / Synopsis
Governments need to urgently identify how ambition can be raised on climate
[UNEP, 21/11/2012]
 
UNEP: Created in 1972, UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme, is the highest environmental authority in the United Nations system. The Programme is an “advocate, educator, catalyst and... Suite
Greening the European Investment Bank
[Manana Kochladze, 23/12/2011]
Greening the European Investment Bank Manana Kochladze is a campaigner at CEE Bankwatch Network, an NGO that monitors international financial institutions active in Central and Eastern Europe. She is the winner of the 2004 Goldman... Suite
Fossil fuel or modern slavery ?
[Jean François Mouhot, 06/12/2011]
Fossil fuel or modern slavery ? Jean François Mouhot is historian. He has a long-standing interest for environmental and energy issues, in particular for climate change. He published one book about Past Connections and Present... Suite
Action to Curb 'Soot' and 'Smog' Pollution Could Help Limit Global Temperature Rise
[UNEP, 14/06/2011]
 
UNEP: Created in 1972, UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme, is the highest environmental authority in the United Nations system. The Programme is an “advocate, educator, catalyst and... Suite
Climate change measures must be made corruption proof
[Transparency International, 30/04/2011]
Climate change measures must be made corruption proof Fondée en 1993 et présente dans 80 pays, Transparency International est une ONG qui lutte contre la corruption. Suite
Did Cancun Prove the UN Irrelevant in Tackling Climate?
[Fred Pearce, 16/12/2010]
Did Cancun Prove the UN Irrelevant in Tackling Climate? Fred Pearce is journalist specialized in the environment and development. He was born in the United Kingdom and studied geography in the University of Cambridge. His latest book is When the Rivers... Suite
Seeing REDD on Climate Change
[George Soros, 12/12/2010]
Seeing REDD on Climate Change George Soros is Chairman of Soros Fund Management and of the Open Society Institute. Photo : © AFP PHOTO / ERIC PIERMONT Suite
What to expect from the Cancun climate change conference
[Denis Loyer, 24/11/2010]
What to expect from the Cancun climate change conference Denis Loyer is a climate adviser at the Agence française de développement, AFD. AFD is France’s development bank. Suite
Europe needs to reduce emissions by 30%
[Jean-Louis Borloo, 15/07/2010]
Europe needs to reduce emissions by 30% Jean-Louis Borloo est le ministre français de l'Écologie, de l'Énergie, du Développement durable et de la Mer, en charge des Technologies Vertes et des Négociations sur le Climat depuis 2007. Il... Suite
World Cup: environmental red card?
[Nathalie Durand, 28/06/2010]
World Cup: environmental red card? A l’origine maître d’armes, Nathalie Durand enseigne l’escrime pour les valides et les handisports. Diplômée en management international du sport, elle mène depuis 1996 des études et des actions... Suite
A Hard Look at the Perils and Potential of Geoengineering
[Jeff Goodell, 01/04/2010]
A Hard Look at the Perils and Potential of Geoengineering Jeff Goodell is an author and contributing editor at Rolling Stone. His book on geoengineering, How to Cool the Planet: Geoengineering and the Audacious Quest to Fix Earth's Climate, will be released... Suite
Climate change’s secret weapon
[Khadija Sharife is a South African journalist. She is also an activist and a scholar at the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and a contributing author to the Tax Justice Network., 27/02/2010]
Climate change’s secret weapon Khadija Sharife is a South African journalist. She is also an activist and a scholar at the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and a contributing author... Suite
Why scientists must be the new climate sceptics
[New Scientist, 04/03/2010]
Why scientists must be the new climate sceptics New Scientist was founded in 1956, this internationally-focused weekly British magazine aims at giving readers exhaustive information on recent worldwide developments in science from a scientific,... Suite
The UN to the Rescue on Climate Change
[Michel Rocard, 20/12/2010]
The UN to the Rescue on Climate Change Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister of France and a former leader of the Socialist Party, is a member of the European Parliament. Suite
Copenhagen - Historic failure that will live in infamy
[Joss Garman, 20/12/2009]
Copenhagen - Historic failure that will live in infamy Joss Garman est un militant écologique britannique. il est chargé de campagne à Greenpeace et a aussi participé à la fondation du mouvement Plane Stupid qui s'oppose à l'extension du trafic aérien.... Suite
Copenhagen is not the end of a noble idea
[Olivier Milhomme, 21/12/2009]
Copenhagen is not the end of a noble idea a été conseiller éditorial de la fondation GoodPlanet. Suite
Copenhagen: Seattle Grows Up
[Naomi Klein, 13/11/2009]
Copenhagen: Seattle Grows Up Figure du militantisme altermondialiste et surtout anticapitaliste depuis la sortie de No Logo en 2000, Naomi Klein est une journaliste engagée. Elle concentre son travail sur les dérives du... Suite
Provocative New Study Warns of Crossing Planetary Boundaries
[Carl Zimmer, 23/09/2009]
Provocative New Study Warns of Crossing Planetary Boundaries Carl Zimmer travaille comme journaliste spécialiste des questions scientifiques et environnementales. Il a rédigé 6 livres et s’intéresse à des domaines aussi variés que la recherche dans les... Suite
Why Cutting Carbon Emissions is not Enough
[Achim Steiner, 01/09/2009]
Why Cutting Carbon Emissions is not Enough Achim Steiner est le directeur exécutif du Programme des Nations Unies pour l'Environnement (PNUE). Auparavant, il a exercé de hautes fonctions à la Commission mondiale des barrages puis à l'Union... Suite
Coral Reef Emergency and Copenhagen
[Pavan Sukhdev, 01/09/2009]
Coral Reef Emergency and Copenhagen Pavan Sukhdev est un économiste et banquier indien qui a notamment travaillé pour la banque centrale allemande en Inde. Il a été chargé par la commission européenne de diriger une étude mondiale sur... Suite
From Carbon Insolvency to Climate Dividends
[Claus Leggewie, 20/08/2009]
From Carbon Insolvency to Climate Dividends Claus Leggewie is director of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities in Essen (KWI) and a member of the Global Change Council of Germany (WBGU). Photo : Stefan/wikipedia under Creative... Suite
Methane controls before risky geoengineering, please
[New Scientist, 25/06/2009]
Methane controls before risky geoengineering, please New Scientist was founded in 1956, this internationally-focused weekly British magazine aims at giving readers exhaustive information on recent worldwide developments in science from a scientific,... Suite
The Failed State of US Climate Change Policy
[George Monbiot, The guardian, 26/06/2009]
The Failed State of US Climate Change Policy George Monbiot is a well-known investigation reporter and columnist for the British newspaper “The Guardian” as well as a member of the BBC Wildlife magazine’s advisory board. He is also the author... Suite
Focus on deforestation in the climate-energy negociations
[Olivier BOUYER, 31/12/2008]
Focus on deforestation in the climate-energy negociations Olivier BOUYER est Ingénieur du Génie Rural, des Eaux et Forêts. Il a participé à la conférence de Poznan (en 2008) avec la délégation française comme chargé de mission “effet de serre et forêt””... Suite
The Other Carbon Economy
[Vandana Shiva, Resurgence, 01/05/2008]
The Other Carbon Economy Vandana Shiva (India): Physicist, epistemologist, ecologist, and Indian feminist with a PhD in the philosophy of science. She founded “Navdanya,” an association which works to protect biodiversity... Suite
Carbon offsets deliver where it matters
[Martin Wright, BBC, 23/07/2007]
Carbon offsets deliver where it matters Martin Wright is the editor of Green Future Magazine, and occasional judge for the Ashden Awards for sustainable energy. Suite
Look, no carbon footprint!
[Fred Pearce, New Scientist, 09/03/2007]
Look, no carbon footprint! Fred Pearce is journalist specialized in the environment and development. He was born in the United Kingdom and studied geography in the University of Cambridge. His latest book is When the Rivers... Suite
If you go down to the woods today…
[Adam Ma’anit, 30/07/2006]
If you go down to the woods today… Adam Ma’anit is co-editor of the New Internationalist. He is the committed author of numerous publications on economic, social and environmental policies in Europe and Great-Britain. He has worked... Suite
GM crops may reduce greenhouse gases
[New Scientist, 29/01/2007]
GM crops may reduce greenhouse gases New Scientist was founded in 1956, this internationally-focused weekly British magazine aims at giving readers exhaustive information on recent worldwide developments in science from a scientific,... Suite

If you go down to the woods today…

11/09/2008 5:06 pm

Carbon conundrums
Offsets slot into the oil, coal and gas continuum – they do not challenge it. Some argue that offsets at least educate the public about their carbon emissions, but what exactly does it teach? That it is OK to fly and drive so long as you pay some third party a small fee to ease your conscience? That we can consume our way out of a problem caused by our consumption in the first place?

One company, Australian-based Climate Friendly, promises us that ‘in five minutes and for the cost of a cappuccino a week you can go climate neutral’ (1). Another, US-based Drive Neutral advertises that ‘for about the cost of a single tank of gas, you can neutralize your CO2 emissions for an entire year’ (2).

Many individuals and small organizations that buy offsets are probably eco-literate and do make other changes necessary to reduce their environmental impacts. But there are many that don’t. After all, if you truly believed that you were carbon neutral just for the cost of a cappuccino, what’s to stop you from flying for that weekend shopping trip to New York or Paris?

For those corporations fully dependent on and profiting from fossil fuels, offsets are a lifesaver. Oil giant BP has long been a carbon market enthusiast. A major investor in the World Bank’s carbon funds which sponsor dubious projects in the South, such as plantation projects in Brazil (see ‘Forest Fever’), BP now also offers Australian consumers its ‘Global Choice’ programme whereby the company offsets any of its petrol used to fill up your tank (3). At the same time, BP is well on the way towards completing its highly controversial pipeline spanning Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The Baku-Ceyhan-Tbilisi pipeline has been criticised by Amnesty International for threatening human rights in the three countries. Campaigners also warn that the $5 billion dollar pipeline project will cause ‘far more than the pollution from every car, truck, bus and train in the UK’ in terms of carbon emissions (4).

Ford motor company has just launched its own offset initiative in partnership with US offsetter TerraPass (5). The average fuel economy for a Ford car is 18.8 miles per gallon. That’s last in US Environmental Protection Agency list of top six automakers (6). According to environmental studies professor Michael Dorsey of Dartmouth College in the US, ‘Ford is playing games and peddling gimmicks in its new partnership with TerraPass. If Ford wants to reduce CO2 and get serious about climate change it will increase its fleet’s overall miles per gallon (MPG) and not peddle spurious offsets based on cooked MPG numbers.’

Ford is also a member of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a US corporate think-tank that has just released a series of television commercials in the US dismissing the notion that climate change is a problem. ‘Carbon dioxide: THEY call it “pollution”, WE call it “life”,’ proclaim the adverts.

This is the carbon con. Offsets do little to challenge our consumption of fossil fuels. And if we are to avert the worst excesses of climate change, we must end our reliance on those fuels quickly. Offsets do not fundamentally challenge the huge inequities in the world. In fact, they sometimes make them worse. Offsetting doesn’t pressure companies to switch from fossil fuels to renewables or encourage governments to regulate polluting companies. It doesn’t stop airport runways being built, planes being flown, cars being driven or even coal-fired power plants being brought online. In fact, it encourages them to continue and expand. It feeds on the good intentions of consumers and ethical business so that the fossil-fuel industry can thrive.

Wild enthusiasm for the carbon market has fuelled investments in other Dyson-esque schemes such as emerging markets in ‘wetlands banking’ and ‘endangered species credit-trading’ (7). It is but one part of a vigorous attempt to marketize environmentalism itself and force us to rely on those markets rather than democratic institutions for our ‘solutions’. And it does nothing to solve climate change.

Carbon positive

Climate change is an issue we shouldn’t be ‘neutral’ on. Carbon offsets are at best a distraction and at worst a grandiose carbon laundering scheme. We need to grab hold of our responsibility for climate change and take action now. There is absolutely nothing wrong with funding renewables and even some well-designed and appropriate tree-planting projects. Just don’t equate them with a ‘license to pollute’. A ‘carbon positive’ agenda sees through the offset industry’s gambit and relies on a more fundamental commitment to solving climate change.

There are no easy answers. Solving climate change requires difficult choices to be made. But if seen in the context of wider social change, the movement is vast and strong. After all, there are vibrant global movements seeking to bring lasting and meaningful debt cancellation, end fossil fuel subsidies, reform the world trade system, and reinvigorate democratic control over our economies. Seen in this light, progress on any of these fronts has real benefits for the climate. According to Patrick Bond of the South African Centre for Civil Society, ‘If the World Bank were not holding the reigns on most Southern states’ monetary policy, more local fiscal resources could be used for renewables.’

The solution to climate change is social change. Tall order? Yes. Pipe dream? Perhaps. But it is ultimately what’s needed – and at least, seen from this perspective, we have a lot of friends and allies. After all, if Freeman Dyson can strike lucky with his wacky ideas, why can’t we?

Footnotes :

1. http://www.climatefriendly.com

2. http://www.driveneutral.com

3. http://www.bp.com.au/globalchoice/

4. http://www.bakuceyhan.org.uk/more_info/climatechange.htm

5. http://www.terrapass.com/ford/
6. Global Exchange, ‘Ford Can’t “Escape” Lowest EPA Fuel-Efficiency Ranking’, 4 August 2004.
7. http://www.globalexchange.org/war_peace_democracy/oil/2392.html

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If you go down to the woods today…
Adam Ma’anit
The New Internationalist, Issue 391, July 2006.

Read the whole article

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