A new report, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), attempts to bring to the world’s attention the truly great economic value of ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as the benefits of taking these into account when making policies.

The value of the world’s natural ecosystems and biodiversity is something lacking in most economic analyses. Lack of value for what is truly priceless doesn’t just hurt the environment, however. It is also a sort of economic suicide. This new report, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme and supported by key EU, UK, German, Swedish, Dutch, and Norwegian bodies, attempts to bring all of this to our attention more and show some positive case studies of how taking the environment into consideration can actually save us money.

As the report says: “the failure of markets to adequately consider the value of ecosystem services is of concern not only to environment, development and climate change ministries but also to finance, economics and business ministries.”

Read more of this story »

Two seperate scientific studies have revealed that global warming is leading to significant reductions in the size of sheep and fish species, more evidence that climate change is forcing a huge range of species to adapt to a hotter world.

The first study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigated fish populations in French rivers and the Baltic Sea and discovered that fish are shrinking as their habitats heat up.

Results show that average fish size in many French rivers have declined over the last thirty years, while the geographical range of tiddlers in the Baltic expanded as species such as herring and sprat also shrunk.

Read more of this story »

According to a new study, Scotland could shut down all its coal and nuclear power plants in the next 20 years and fulfill all its energy needs using renewable sources.

The study commissioned by a consortium of environmental groups and conducted by an independent engineering consultant will soon be presented to the Scottish government. The study hold significant importance as the government has set ambitious goals for cutting carbon emissions and switching to renewable energy sources for power generation. The research studies and evaluates five different scenarios to predict the energy demand and generation trends over the next 20 years.

Read more of this story »

On average these wild sheep are weighing in at 5 percent smaller than 25 years ago, an indication that climate change can have a rapid effect on natural populations and a sign of possible more widespread changes in future, researchers said on Thursday.

Read more of this story »

As developed nations juggle with the numbers attempting to dodge the issue of agreement on ambitious carbon emissions cuts, the Scottish government has unveiled plans to cut the country’s carbon emissions by a staggering 42 percent, more than the 40 percent recommendation given by IPCC.

This is the most ambitious emissions reduction goal adopted by any country thus far, Germany has plans to 40 its emissions by 40 percent while Britain formally adopted a 34 percent reduction goal this April. Scotland, with its strong renewable energy infrastructure and bold plans to expand the same, has raised the bar even further.

In the recent weeks the developed countries have been in the line of fire of the green groups as they proposed disappointing emission reduction goals. Completely ignoring the IPCC recommendations of 25-40 percent reductions by 2020, Japan and Russia proposed cutting their respective emissions by merely 8 and 10-15 percent. These are only just better than the Kyoto Protocol goals which bind them to cut their emissions by 5-6 percent by 2012 from 1990 levels.

The driving engine behind this highly ambitious goal is the strong renewable energy infrastructure of Scotland. The Scottish government has unveiled numerous clean energy projects in the recent years which has helped the nation make the transition from fossil fuels to clean fuels.

Read more of this story »

“Effectively, seaweed harvested off a beach in the Outer Isles could be heating a crofter’s kettle for their cup of tea the next morning.” - Laila Sadler, spokesperson for BioMara

Read more of this story »

Five activists managed to shut down a coal mine before being arrested and charged with “breach of the peace” for standing on a piece of equipment with a sign reading “No New Coal.”

“We’re here to send a message to [mining company] ATH Resources that mining the dirtiest fossil fuel and fuelling climate change is not acceptable,” said one activist. “As mining companies such as ATH don’t appear to be listening, we’ve come to stop them mining, too.”

Read more of this story »

That is what I asked myself after reading this article from the BBC, about how a western region of Scotland known as “Harris Island” is voting on whether or not to attempt to make the area a national park (Harris is not actually an island).

The area’s population has decreased by 25% over the last twenty years, prompting residents to search for methods to develop Harris’ economy and halt its declining population trend. Other than that, the BBC has provided little additional information.

Read more of this story »

Read more of this story »

[Creative Commons photo by Seth M]

Each year on the Scottish isle of St Kilda, dozens of pufflings are stranded inland after the lights from the island disorient them. Rangers with the National Trust of Scotland rescue the babies by putting them into cotton drawstring bags to keep them safe before releasing them back into the sea.

Read more of this story »

Marine scientists in Scotland are set to initiate a £5 million study which could transform seaweeds and marine plant algae into major sources of low emission automobile fuel in Britain. The scientists are calling them the mari-fuels and they hope that fuels produced from the seaweeds and algae would in part replace the controversial biofuels produced from food crops.

The study, which will be funded in part by The European Union, would look to formalize the best possible way of exploiting the vast reserves of the seaweeds which are found in great abundance along the British coastline.



The study holds great importance for Britain as it could help it achieve the emissions targets set by the EU. British government would be keening waiting for the outcome of the study as it sees fuels from plants an instrument to reduce or at least neutralize its carbon emissions. Britain wants 2.5 percent of all petrol and diesel to be produced from renewable sources like plants.

Read more of this story »

Solving our energy crisis requires serious manpower— and serious incentives. That’s why Scotland has launched the $15 million (€10 million) Saltire Prize Challenge to create commercially viable wave or tidal power.

Read more of this story »

The projects, the first two with 20 turbines each, would be constructed for installation in Pentland Firth, the Sound of Islay and off the North Antrim Coast. The turbines are expected to be 30 meters (approximately 100 feet) in height, with 20-meter blades working at least 10 meters below the water surface.

Sidestepping a major concern common to wind turbines — harm to birds — ScottishPower says, based on tests conducted in Norway, the tidal turbines turn slowly enough to avoid harmful incidents with sea life.

Read more of this story »

The study by the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland showed that there were still 657 megawatts of fiscally safe, small scale hydroelectricity schemes available to them. This figure equates to about half the amount of installed hydro generation currently running in Scotland, and could power about 600,000 homes, a quarter of the nation’s homes.

Read more of this story »

A few months ago Scotland, building off of the Fair Trade Town movement, joined forces with Wales to establish a set of criteria for the two countries to declare themselves the first Fair Trade Nations. The Fair Trade Town idea has proven very effective in securing institutional support for the consumer-driven Fair Trade movement. Hundreds of towns and cities in Scotland and Wales have committed to purchasing Fair Trade products for official municipal use and to assist in educating its citizens about globalization, trade justice and the Fair Trade alternative.

The governments of Scotland and Wales came to support Fair Trade through its popularity with consumers and citizens concerned about growing class divisions in the global economy. First Minister Jack McConnell told the Sunday Herald that he is "determined Scotland will do whatever it can to help end the scandal of poverty in the developing world. Our commitment to fair trade is at the centre of our national effort to help make poverty history."

Wales is well on its way to acheiving the goals it set out for itself
and will become the first Fair Trade nation by the end of this year and Scotland, not far behind, recently appointed a new figurehead to drive the country toward Fair Trade status. Betsy Reid, a veteran campaigner on social and trade justice, took
up her post as Scotland’s first Fair Trade development officer last week. Reid said one of her first orders of business would be to push for required consideration of Fair Trade standards for government procurement contracts worth £8 billion annually in Scotland. This would go beyond the measurable crtieria set for the country to attain Fair Trade status and will face legal challenges from the European Union.

In the interest of background and context, the measurable criteria for Scotland and Wales to become Fair Trade nations are:

• 100 per cent of local authorities to have active Fair Trade groups working towards Fair Trade status
• 55 per cent of local authority areas to have Fair Trade status, with 10% annual increase in following years
• All of Scotland’s cities to have Fair Trade status
• Minimum of 55 per cent of Scottish towns to have active Fair Trade groups working towards Fair Trade status
• 60 per cent of Higher Education institutions to have active Fair Trade groups working towards Fair Trade status
• Increase by 5 per cent each year the proportion of the population who know about Fair Trade (currently 45 per cent)
• 75 per cent of people to buy a Fair Trade product every year
• 40 per cent of people who regularly buy Fair Trade products

The idea of socializing capitalism, an economic system that combines the idea of open market competition with consumer enforced social ends, has been responsible for the steady birth and growth of creative economic institutions that are realizing economic, social and environmental profits. One of the best examples of social-capitalism’s love-children are the social stock exchanges of Brazil, South Africa and one under development in Scotland.

Brazil’s Environmental and Social Investment Exchange (BOVESPA) was the first incarnation of this idea, and was then emulated by the South Africa Social Investment Exchange (SASIX). These organizations very simply list NGOs that are working toward bettering life for the poor and disadvantaged and the health of our environment. One can "invest" in a particular NGO, or give money to a fund that spreads money across NGO projects that are working toward one particular goal, say reducing air pollution. Although BOVESPA and SASIX are organized like a traditional stock market, they really amount to creative ways to raise money for non-profit projects. "Investors" will realize environmental and social profits on their money but no economic profit.

Scotland, however, is taking this idea a step further. The Cabinet Office of Scotland is working with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Credit Suisse, as well
as ethical bank Triodos, to research the feasibility of the first social stock
market, an exchange which would be restricted to for-profit companies with primarily social
and environmental objectives. The exchange would list companies like Fair Trade retailer Traidcraft and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant run by disadvantaged young people in the east end of London. These are profitable businesses that represent a viable economic investment opportunity with social and environmental returns as well.

The establishment of a seperate exchange hosting businesses that pursue a triple bottome line would make it easy for socially-minded investors to find responsible businesses, but it would also help protect the integrity of the business’ mission. "The main concern of social businesses about listing on a mainstream exchange is having their social mission hijacked," said Whitni Thomas, an investment manager at Triodos bank, quoted in The Scotsman.

The economy and businesses are evolving from the narrow focus of basic capitalism toward being more sustainable and just, yet still profitable. The framework of this new economy is being built slowly but surely and Scotland’s new social stock exchange, when launched, will provide another piece of the foundation to be modeled around the world.

Sources: ‘Fair Exchange’ plan for ethical firms

The small town of Brattleboro, Vermont recently announced that it has met the criteria to declare itself a Fair Trade Town. Brattleboro is the second Fair Trade Town in the United States and the third in North America after Woflville, Nova Scotia became the second in April and Media, Pensylvania led the way in January.

The creative Fair Trade Town campaign, which has helped to spread the word about the Fair Trade movement, began in Garstang, England in 1999. At its inception local representative George Foulkes set the bar high for the future of the campaign:

It is a great initiative by Garstang. Not just on behalf of myself, nor just on behalf of the department for International Development, but on behalf of the government I would really like to welcome what is a great initiative… I want to try to ensure that the initiative is followed in many other towns and cities throughout the whole of the United Kingdom and beyond, so that the beacon that has started in Garstang can spread like wildfire through the whole of the country.

His vision is slowly coming to fruition. Over 250 towns and cities are declared to be Fair Trade Towns in the UK and Europe. But what does it mean? Towns and cities that are Fair Trade Towns have met or pledged to meet five goals (PDF), summarized here:

• Sign a resolution pledging to serve only Fair Trade coffee, tea and chocolate at city meetings or in municipal offices.
• The town has a minimum number of retail outlets, based on population, offering at least two fair trade goods.
• As many of the town's major employers as possible have committed to using Fair Trade products.
• The town commits to promoting Fair Trade in cooperation with the local media.
• The town council forms a steering committee to direct promotion efforts and maintain commitment to the goals.

Most every Fair Trade Town resolution also cites a commitment to buying locally produced goods when available as well. The Fair Trade Towns movement is a shining example of grassroots organization and the power of communities to embrace and promote new ideas. In fact the Fair Trade Towns campaign has been so effective throughout the UK that Scotland and Wales have laid out mutual goals toward which to work for Fair Trade Nation status, which includes every town working toward Fair Trade Town status and over half having already achieved it.

Professor Stephen Salter at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, began the first modern experiments with wave energy in the 1970s. His invention, called Salter’s Duck is still considered to be the most efficient wave energy technology (able to stop 90 percent of wave motion and convert 90 percent of that to electricity). But the machine never got to sea, primarily because its complex hydraulic system isn’t well-suited to incremental implementation, and the costs and risks of a full-scale test are prohibitive.

Today’s technologies are competing to be the most cost-effective and efficient at capturing wave power. Here are two popular systems:

• Limpet (Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer): Power is generated as waves enter its open cavity and force air through a chamber on the top (or rear, on some designs) of the installation. The forced air turns a turbine that then turns a generator. The Isle of Islay off the coast of Scotland gets a third of its energy from one of these shoreline devices. Greenpeace has a video demonstrating the Limpet technology.
• Pelamis: This long, hinged tube (about 525 feet long) sits in around 165-200 feet of water and bobs up and down in the waves. The hinges bend and pump hydraulic fluid, which drives generators.

The north and south temperate zones of the world are the best spots for wave power. The prevailing westerlies blow the strongest here in the winter.

Wave power still faces some big challenges, including:

• Efficiently converting wave motion into electricity
• Constructing devices strong enough to withstand saltwater corrosion and the power of waves.
• Lowering both the costs of the equipment construction and the costs of the electricity
• Getting the power back to land

If these challenges are met, the benefits would be:

• When located properly, a more consistent power source than wind or solar
• Inexpensive maintenance
• A potentially highly efficient wave-to-electricity conversion ratio, requiring far fewer generators compared with wind turbines
• Low negative impact on ecosystems

The world’s first commercial wave power station went online in Scotland in 2000, and the nation continues to be at the forefront of this technology. In February, ScottishPower announced it was building the world’s biggest commercial wave power project. Four floating Pelamis generators will be stationed off the European Marine Test Centre (EMTC) in Orkney. It’s expected to provide enough power for about 2,000 homes by 2008.

BBC News
Celsias
Inside Greentech
Ocean Power Delivery
Wikipedia