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]]>Climadapt
Climadapt is a Canadian-based private sector forum that was established in 2001. It operates from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Its focus is on the development of a comprehensive climate change toolkit for policy, mitigation, and adaptation.
Current membership includes Canadian and American consulting firms, Canadian and American state and provincial departments and ministries, and municipal governments. The areas of focus include:
These areas of study are largely devoid of adaptation expertise and thus represent unique opportunities for the companies and organizations involved to make a significant impact on the global community.
ClimaAdapt
An organization going by a similar name to the one above is also providing adaptation expertise within Indiato address climate change. Called ClimaAdapt, its ultimate goal is to provide food security for the Indian population through climate change adaptation strategies.
The primary focus at present is on two provinces, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, both most likely to be impacted first by climate change. Studies indicate that Andra Pradesh will experience more frequent extreme weather events, especially droughts. That means developing new drought-resistant crops, dry farming techniques and new methods of irrigation to combat freshwater loss. In Tamil Nadu the focus is on the Cauvery River basin, a rich agricultural region and one vulnerable to rising sea levels and flooding. Dependence on the annual monsoon and any change to its reliability would lead to acute freshwater scarcity. For these reasons this region of the country represents the frontline in testing new sustainable methods of agricultural production.
Bioforsk
This Scandinavian organization operates under the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Its first responsibility is to developing sustainable agricultural practices in Norway and in particular in the changing Arctic most vulnerable to climate change. But it also extends itself gfobally to work on challenges being faced by other countries. Expertise includes research on processes in terrestrial ecosystems and development of new technologies for monitoring, mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
Atkins Group
This United Kingdom-founded global engineering consultancy practice with an infrastructure focus have developed expertise in adaptation planning to combat climate change. Atkins addresses risks and vulnerabilities and helps define policy as well as implement solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change. This includes carbon management strategies covering carbon audits and low carbon design and engineering solutions. The company’s suite of tools are designed to implement low carbon footprint solutions for existing infrastructure and new project builds.
Cascadia Consulting Group
A Seattle-based company with a global climate change adaptation consulting practice, Cascadia does vulnerability assessments looking at current and future risks, and provides decision support tools to help its clients integrate climate risk, mitigation and adaptation into ongoing planning and operations. The company has helped municipalities and countries develop comprehensive climate change adaptation plans.
Some others in this burgeoning field include:
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]]>Davey points to analyst estimates indicating $28 trillion US could be wiped off the books of fossil fuel companies in the next two decades because of global commitment by nations to reduce their carbon footprints.
Davey joins Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, as well as the bishops of the Catholic church in pointing out that investors need to be told the straight goods about the future of their portfolios which for most banks and investment institutions are heavily vested in energy stocks.
The map below from Carbon Tracker provides a snapshot of just how the world’s stock exchanges are heavily invested in fossil fuel companies.
This week Catholic bishops called for an end to the fossil fuel era and a focus on a future of 100 percent renewables. In their announcement in conjunction with the current ongoing climate talks in Lima, Peru, the bishops released a statement with the following:
“In viewing objectively the destructive effects of a financial and economic order based on the primacy of the market and profit, which has failed to put the human being and the common good at the heart of the economy, one must recognise the systemic failures of this order and the need for a new financial and economic order.”
The bishops cited those front-line communities such as the island nations of the Pacific and Indian Ocean who are already suffering from the impact of a climate change. The bishops noted that the poorest and most remote people of the planet are the victims of nations that have exhibited little respect for environmental consequences stemming from consumptive behaviour.
Joining Davey, Carney, and the Catholic bishops are a number of large pension fund and asset managers who are joining together to urge fossil fuel companies to explain how they intend to address climate change. The California Public Employee’s Retirement System, U.S. public pension fund, and Aviva Investors released a statement this week in which they pointed out the following: “Investors are concerned that current business strategies being pursued by some oil and gas companies may not be sufficiently sustainable…..major trends are shaping a new direction in favor of low carbon energy systems and it is a critical time for the oil and gas sector.”
These asset managers urged fossil fuel companies to “embed stress testing for climate risk within key business processes.” And all of these urgent requests and statements are being made during a time when the price of oil is plummeting and throwing stock markets into a roller coaster of turmoil. What will happen to global investments when this next shock wave hits, when proven coal, oil and gas reserves on fossil fuel company books are declared stranded, unburnable, because the nations of the world in concert commit to a low carbon future?
Of course we may find technology solutions that let us continue to use carbon-based fuels without producing the climate-damaging CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. I recently wrote about one of these coming from the laboratories at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And I am sure our human inventiveness will come up with others. But whatever we do as we recognize the need to address carbon in the atmosphere our entire energy infrastructure will need to undergo a retrofit.
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