Green Economy: A Pathway to Sustainable Development

Thursday, 2 June 2011.

United Nation Headquarters

The Thematic Debate on Green Economy aimed to strengthen the understanding of green economy and of what the international community, each Member State and local communities can do to transition to green economy. 

A green economy seeks to correct the systemic market and institutional shortcomings of the prevailing development model and thereby make economies a more effective tool for achieving sustainable development. A green economy consists of a range of public policy approaches (e.g., expenditures, taxes, regulations, institutional frameworks) and private sector actions that fix markets and institutional failures. Which approaches and actions are most suitable will vary between nations, depending on their current stage of economic development, natural resource base, human and social capital and other conditions.

Where sustainable development is the destination, green economy offers a pathway.

“A green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication” is one of two major themes of the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) in June 2012.

Panel One: Opportunities and Challenges of Green Economy

Examples of the implementation of the green economy exist throughout the world, demonstrating positive contributions to sustainable development. At the same time, concerns have been raised that green economy could trigger trade protectionism and conditionalities on development aid. This panel discussed the characteristics of green economy, its potential for achieving sustainable development and the remaining questions regarding green economy. 

The key points discussed during Panel One were:

o   Diversified approach needed

o   Tax revenues must be used efficiently

o   Need for sharper definition of green economy (although everyone agrees it signifies a pathway to sustainable development)

o   Subsidies on food and energy

o   Local imperatives: local leaders must champion green economies

o   Technology transfers for eco-innovation

Panel Two: Transitioning toward Green Economy

This panel discussed these approaches, including proven policies and actions that institutions at the local, national and international levels can take.

The key points discussed on Panel 2 are:

·      Package of goals

o   Universal access to energy by 2030

o   Promotion of energy efficiency by 2030

o   Renewable resources accessible by 2030

·      Green economy cannot be protectionism

o   Green growth – maximizing environmental benefits and new opportunities

o   Create green jobs

o   “Greening” national accounts

For more information: http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/65/initiatives/ge.shtml

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Events

Members of UN NGO Sustainability attended the Sustainability Practice Network (SPN) Panel Discussion in New York City,NY on January 19, 2011. Baruch College/Robert Zicklin Center for Corporate Integrity and the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute co-sponsored the event. The program focused on cities' ability to accelerate sustainable development, the factors which make cities and urban livelihoods sustainable and both the short and long-term challenges necessary to overcome in order to maintain sustainable practices and policies. 

Additionally, Roma Stibravy (President) attended the GEA Geothermal Energy Finance Forum 2011 on February 9, 2011 hosted by the Geothermal Energy Association. 

Articles of Interest

G.E. Plans to Build Largest Solar Panel Plant in U.S. 

General Electric announced that it plans to build the nation's largest photovoltaic panel factory. The new plant estimates to employ 400 workers and create 600 related jobs. The factory will also
start to manufacture thin-film photovoltaic panels which, although less efficient than conventional solar
panels, can produce at a lower costs, proving them attractive to developers and utilities building
large-scale power plants.

In general, G.E. has been aggressively expanding its energy portfolio, particularly through such acquisitions.

Source

Poking Holes in the Clean-and-Green Image of Natural Gas: Drillers' Methane Leaks Hurt Environment More than Coal, Studies Say

Natural gas--a key player in the effort to reduce "dirtier" fossil fuels and global warming--
may not be as clean over-all as its proponents claim. Studies deem the development of
unconventional sources of natural gas as impractical and likely to increase our planet's temperature more than
mining and burning coal. Director of climate programs with the Natural Resources Defense Council, David Hawkins stated: ''This is a huge and growing industry, and we just don't have the information
we need to make sure that this resource is being developed as cleanly as it can be”

Source

Articles of Interest

EU seeks F1 buzz for electric Grand Prix

The European Commission asked Formula One’s governing body to establish a racing championship
series for electric cars in hopes to increasing public awareness and excitement about new-technology
vehicles. Car and policy makers say they will need big consumer subsidies and public investments
in recharging infrastructure to gain mass-market acceptance when it comes to electric vehicles. F1’s “media muscle” would help gain this much needed enthusiasm.

Source

To Cut Smog, Navistar Blazes Risky Path of Its Own

The truck maker Navistar decided to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to refine an engine that already initially produces minimal NOx. The company also attacked the competing systems, suing federal air quality regulators claiming that the add-on technology was so flawed that it failed to meet the clean-air requirements. The author predicts Navistar's engine will prevail, because “the customer is looking for simplicity, not technology.”

Source 

EU Emissions Trading System: failing at the third attempt 

The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) failed to reduce emissions. Companies consistently receive generous allocations of permits to pollute, meaning they have no obligation to cut their carbon dioxide emissions.  The third phase of the ETS will continue the same basic pattern of subsidizing polluters and helping them to avoid meaningful action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

Source 

Articles of Interest

Can We Do Without the Mideast?

Over the past 30 years, US presidents have been urging oil independence whenever the Middle East
experiences turmoil; however, such independence--or at least an end to this dependence--could prove to be difficult, expensive and politically explosive. This author suggests four initial steps to achieve independence: 1) prop up gasoline prices to reduce consumption; 2) boost government subsidies and
taxes to build more high-speed rail lines; 3) encourage truck and bus fleets to switch to natural gas; And 4)
push the development of wind, solar and geothermal energy.

Source

Hopeful Message About the World’s Poorest

Over the last 30 years, Liberia saw great improvements in life expectancy and literacy rates and
a significant decline in mortality rates. Nevertheless, Liberia and other African countries continue to experience stagnant or negative economic growth, due to corrupt governments and inadequate foreign aid. Its economy continues to make Liberia a “story of failure" in the world's eyes.

Contrarily, Charles Kenny writes in his book Getting Better that even though many African economies show stagnant or negative growth, issues crucial to human survival-- such as health and education --are becoming more available and affordable. Kenny believes these issues provide hope in overall improvement for the world's poorest nations.

Source

Tucking Carbon into the Ground 

The U.S.'s dependence on fossil fuels seems permanent, at least in the immediate future. Thus, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is essential to a national energy policy. The process pushes carbon dioxide into different kinds of rocks with the objective of letting carbon dioxide displace the usually salt water there. Since salt water posses no economic value, this process would not displace drinkable water. Some progress and various parts of the legal framework for carbon sequestration have already taken place.

Source

Trading Pumps for Plugs: We Aren’t There Yet

With gas prices rising, many are considering purchasing electric cars. Luckily, the right combination of technology and policy is now in place to ensure that plug-in cars are almost certainly here to stay. The price of oil, however, is still not considered high enough to persuade a majority of Americans to switch to electric. A reason may be that even though electric cars save long-term costs, most people tend to buy based on immediate upfront costs, rather than long-term operating ones.

Source

Climate Finance Panel with French Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development and 'Bloomberg New Energy Finance' Summit 2011

Roma Stibravy attended the Climate Finance Panel with French Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development on Monday, 11 April 2011. The New York University School of Law hosted the panel which occurred from 12:00 to 2:00 P.M. at the Pollack Colloquium Room, 245 Sullivan Street, New York 10012.

The panel consisted of the following people:

• Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, French Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing
•  Profesor Richard Stewart, University Professor and Faculty Director, Guarini Center for Environmental and Land Use Law
• Nigel Purvis, President, Climate Advisers and Scholar, Brooking Institute  
• Robert Orr, assistant UN Secretary General for Policy Planning 
• Robert Bell

Roma Stibravy also attended the 'Bloomberg New Energy Finance' Summit 2011, which occurred on April 4-7, 2011 in New York.
 

Most notable discussions occurred on April 7th (4thday), the Roundtable Day Energy Access & Climate Change
Topics included:   

• World Economic Forum Introduction: Investments in Developing Countries
• Cancun, The AGF and the UNFCC 
• 2012, International Year of Sustainable Energy For All 
• View From The Ministries With Link to Clean Energy Ministerial 
• Panel Discussion: The Asset Owner Perspective

World Water Day

Roma Stibravy (President) attended a panel discussion in honor of World Water Day, "Water for Energy, Energy for Water" co-organized by the Permanent Missions of the "Green Group" countries, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Iceland, Singapore, Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates at the United Nations Headquarters, NY.

The Climate Challenge; India Prospective: 2011; Jefferies Conference

 Roma Stibravy, President attended "The Climate Challenge; Revitalizing the Debate" at Columbia University's Earth Institute on October 11, 2010 in New York City,NY. 

Key-notes present included Katherine Richardson, Chair of the Danish Commission on Climate Change, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, an American economist, writer and the Director of the Earth Institute. The discussion panel addressed necessary policy changes that would encourage the private and public sector to increase their efforts to combat negative climate change.


Additionally, Ms. Stibravy, the Board Members and interns were guests at Jefferies' annual Clean Technology Conference on February 23, 24, 2011 in New York City,NY. The conference featured over 100 public and private companies from the clean energy and technology sector. Presenters discussed global green-trend initiatives and identified both short and long-term investment opportunities.

For more information about Jefferies, Inc. and its Clean Technology Conference, please click here.

On March 1, 2011 Mrs. Stibravy attended the third annual India Prospective: 2011 in New York City,NY hosted by The Asia Society. KPMG and U.S. India Business Council co-sponsored the event.

At the end of February, Indian government will publish it's Economic Survey and submit its Budget to the Indian Parliament. The experts below discussed the survey and budget, providing an overview of the publications and their personal opinions on India's economic prospects.

The following people spoke during the event: 

• Dr. Ajay Gondane, Deputy Consul General of India, New York 
• Arun Kumar, Partner in charge, U.S. India Practice, KPMG LLP, and USIBC Board Member (moderator) 
• Arvind Panagariya, Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy, Columbia University 
• Wilbur Ross Jr., Chairman & CEO, WL Ross & Co; Chairman, Invesco Private Limited 
• Amb. Frank G. Wisner, Former U.S. Ambassador to India; Foreign Affairs Advisor; Patton Boggs; and USIBC Board Member 

For more information on the event, please click here.

3 Articles of Interest from the New York Times

"Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers"
Drilling companies recently developed technologies to reach enormous reserves of natural gas. 

Environmentalists claim that natural gas burns cleaner than oil and therefore has less impact on climate change. However, the new drilling method (high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking) also carries great environmental risks. This process produces over a million gallons of waste water that, often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens, and radium.

Documents from the Environmental Protection Agency show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.

Source: Click Here

"How to Make Your Business Greener (And Save Money)"

Companies are discovering that "going green" not only benefits the environment, but also saves them money. Reductions in both greenhouse gas emissions and business costs can be as simple as replacing pickup trucks with hybrids, particularly for employees who do not need a truck. Also, recycling companies tend to haul away materials that can be reused for free so long as one separates his/her trash prior. Because simple procedures can produce large savings, managers are realizing that going green is less daunting.

Source: Click Here.

"Alternative Fuels Don't Benefit the Military, a RAND Report Says" 

The RAND Corp. recently released a report saying: “most alternative-fuel technologies were unproven, too expensive or too far from commercial scale to meet the military’s need over the next decade”. They claimed that the most economical and ready solution meeting both environmental reductions and present military needs is a liquid fuel consisting of combination of coal and biomass. This fuel is a high-energy intensive process that extracts oil from coal. According to the opponents of the report this view is short sighted for it does not put any emphasis on research. While liquid fuel reduces the military’s need for foreign oil, it switches that demand over to coal, which may not be considered a clean enough energy source.

Source: Click Here.

Article of Interest: "Energy Department to Invest up to $7 million to Support Early-Stage Solar Technologies"

"Energy Department to Invest up to $7 million to Support Early-Stage Solar Technologies"

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to a $7 million investment through National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) into developing and commercializing new solar energy technologies. This news means private companies may benefit from close partnership with the national laboratories. Companies receive funding based on which tier they fit, Tier1 or Tier2. This funding shows  government support for renewable energy research and its inclusion of renewable energy into policy making.

Source: Click Here

Articles of Interest (Energy & Women's Issues)

Below please find several summaries for articles of interest and their corresponding links. 

“Financial News We Would Love to See"

While the recent financial crisis already provoked many policy reforms, undesirable economic situations remain, which still require change. One reform many hope to see passed by Congress is a bipartisan energy bill, which would eliminate inefficient subsidies for ethanol production, remove import taxes on Caribbean cane ethanol, add a one dollar per gallon gas tax, mandate that all federal agencies use vehicles that run on natural gas and impose a carbon tax to encourage cleaner energy usage; however, this bill is unlikely to pass.

Source

“Delicate Planet”

This article concluded that people are not united in their efforts to save the planet. The book, The View From Lazy Point by Carl Safina shows this interconnectedness of people and nature. The book calls on people to live a more environmentally considerable life in order to prevent human-caused environmental catastrophe.

Source

“Siemens Invests in Expanding Wind Power”

Siemens’ hopes to become one of the top suppliers of the wind power equipment in the world. In order to succeed, the company needs to enter Chinese markets, the current largest wind power market in the world. Entering Chinese market poses a challenge to Simens, due to local government policies favoring Chinese companies.

Source

"Muslim Women Gain Higher Profile in U.S."

Muslim-American women are redefining what it means to be Muslim, Middle-Eastern and American by breaking gender and racial stereotypes. Because American society makes it much easier for women to obtain leadership roles--at work, academically and socially--these women are achieving high levels of success, unmatched elsewhere. This article portrays several women’s achievements at maintaining both their Islamic culture within America and serving as exceptional examples of female leadership.

Source

“China’s Push Into Wind Worries U.S. Industry”

Chinese-owned wind companies plan a “big push” into the American wind power industry in a few months. Already able to generate more wind power (43 gigawatts, enough to power over 10 million homes) than any U.S. company, China is rapidly becoming  a world leader in the renewable energy sector. American sustainable energy proponents are debating on the impact this push will have on the American renewable energy sector. Some believe that because only 2 percent of America’s demand for electricity comes from wind power, Chinese businesses will not find success in the U.S.A. Others, alternatively, fear that the renewable/ sustainable energy sector will continue to fall into foreign hands, since Denmark, Germany, Japan and India already own the biggest clean energy companies in America. Some believe that new renewable energy companies, whether foreign or domestic, will create new jobs, which America’s economy desperately needs. Regardless of the differing opinions, it seems that Chinese investment into the U.S.’s sustainable energy sector will generate heated debates and perhaps significantly change.

Source

“California Approves Stringent Pollution Curbs”

On Thursday, December 16, 2010, California regulators passed rules to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. The program will eventually cover 360 Californian businesses and lower emissions by 2 percent each year. Californians improved and expanded an “allowance and credit” system currently used by New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and several New England states (REGGI). Each business receives an allowance that their emissions must remain below. Alternatively, companies may buy allowance credits from other polluters to cover their excess emissions. Investor-owned utilities must auction their free allowances. Their auction proceeds either subsidize energy-efficient programs or are given to costumers in the form of rebates to balance any price increases they may experience due to the new rules.

Source

"Green tech a priority for many state companies"

General Electric and other Connecticut corporations are taking faster track of changing their policies to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.  For example, ESPN follows and reports its emissions as to how much the company uses water and carbon dioxide.  ESPN attempts to reduce their emission figures. In light of this, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants companies that are emitting more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gasses a year to report their emissions.  

Source

“Weather Monitoring Company Turns to Greenhouse Gases”

AWS Convergence Technologies of Maryland, one of the largest of weather monitoring companies, announced its proposal for “Earth Networks,” a plan which over the next five years will put a network of 100 greenhouse gas sensors around the globe.  The main goal of the plan is to measure the density and level of greenhouse gas data in real-time measurements at the national and regional level, using a technique that combines actual atmospheric data with the real-time weather information.Source

“Save Energy, Save Our Troops”

In the past nine years, around 1,000 Americans have been killed on fuel-related missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Thus, new energy efficient policies developed by the Defense Department would reduce the death toll, save billions of dollars, and allow the United States to be less dependent on foreign oil.  

Source

Board Meeting, December 8, 2010

On December 8, 2010 NGO Sustainability, Inc. held their monthly Board Meeting at Jefferies, Inc., New York, NY.

Board Members Roma Stibravy (President), Harriet Schmidt (Vice President, via Conference Call), Elisabeth Kovac (Secretary), Marita Rosado (Treasurer), Jesse Pichel, Frank Pinto, Karin Shampoo, and William Stibravy attended the meeting.

Interns Gonzalo Aragon, Natalia Faryna and Magdalena Garczynski also were present.

Board Member, Jesse Pichel of Jefferies, Inc. invited his three colleagues--Connie Wang, Elaine Kwei and Min Xu--to offer insight into the investment sector of renewable energy.

Two topics worth noting discussed at the Meeting were the Conference on Climate Change Negotiations, Cancun, Mexico and private sector initiatives regarding renewable energy.

Frank Pinto, former UN employee, reported on the Cancun Climate Change negotiations. Ban Ki Moon opened the session with a plea to move the negotiation process forward. The Mexican President tried to put a low profile on Cancun, unlike Copenhagen where expectations were raised too high. The Mexican President has thus said that they are not targeting specific emissions levels, pointed to the following three agreements: the Green Fund, how developing countries can get the needed technology, and protecting the forest.

Jesse Pichel reported on the private renewable energy sector. Present renewable energy stocks are not doing well because the capital markets are not working efficiently. The industry’s concern are the negative changes in government support. Costs of solar energy in other countries, such as China, are decreasing much more rapidly than expected. Therefore, China is becoming a real competitor in the renewable energy market.

Min Xu is currently working in the LED (light emitting diodes) sector. LED lights save costs and reduce pollution. Non- LED lights compose 20 percent of everyday energy consumption. LEDs may save billions of kilowatt-hours. LEDs are pretty low cost without government subsidies, but these companies hope that government will still back them. Our NGO is hoping to use LED lights, instead of solar lanterns, in our Liberia Project. This change would make the project cutting edge and current.    

UN NGO Sustainability, Inc. hopes this new technology could be used in our developing world projects.

The Board and Interns (from left):
Karin Shampoo, Elisabeth Kovac (Secretary) , Jesse Pichel,
Roma Stibravy (President), Maggie Garczynski (Intern),
Bill Stibravy, Marita Rosado (Treasurer) 

The Board and Interns (from left):
Frank Pinto, Karin Shampoo, Elisabeth Kovac (Secretary),
Jesse Pichel,  Roma Stibravy (President) 

Roma Stibravy, President