Latest Climate Positive News
Voluntary carbon offsetting and the Australian Governments Clean Energy Future
The political debate over climate change has confused many consumers with respect to voluntary carbon offsetting and how it ‘fits’ with the Australian Government’s scheme.
The Australian Government’s Clean Energy Future legislative package has now passed and a carbon price for Australia’s (roughly) 500 largest polluters will take effect from July 2012.
There are two stages to implementation:
Climate Positive reaches a significant milestone
Climate Positive is proud to have reached a significant milestone of offsetting more than 160,000 tonnes of carbon and re-planting more than 46 hectares of cleared land on our partners’ behalf since launching in 2006.
We thank our partners, households and individuals who have offset and then gone ‘climate positive’ with us through the past five years.
Giving the best gift of all -a carbon positive future!
Are you (like many of us at this time of the year) struggling with the idea of how to be part of the generous spirit of Christmas without buying into the whole mass-consumer herd?
We have the solution! …. By giving a carbon offset gift certificate you can help to fund accredited renewable energy projects, restore forests, promote innovative science solutions as well as helping to provide a sustainable planet for your loved ones…. The perfect gift!
The Move is on at Climate Positive
Positive changes are underway at the Climate Positive office with a move to our new premises in Port Melbourne. Co-located with Red Star Coffee’s HQ, feel free to drop in for an organic, Fair Trade, carbon neutral coffee at our new address: Unit 1/5 Rocklea Drive Port Melbourne.
Danielle Johnston, well known to many of our partners, has had a healthy baby girl and is on maternity leave. Climate Positive welcomes Maria Simonelli as our interim General Manager. Maria has many years’ experience in managing sustainability programs in both government and non-government bodies. She was most recently in an executive role in a non-profit organisation that provided the opportunity to deliver empowering programs to help individuals, organisations and sectors work collaboratively through transformational culture change principles.
Qantas, ABC, NAB share Green Team success stories at first Climate Positive Green Team event to be held in Sydney
Catchy video campaigns, office gardens, and an environment-expert lunchtime lecture series were just some of the Green Team gems to be shared at the Climate Positive Green Team event in Sydney in May this year, hosted by NAB.
Presenters from NAB, ABC and Qantas inspired the audience, comprised of 50 green team members from a diverse range of industries, with their accounts of engaging staff in activities to make their organisations more sustainable. To view their presentations, visit:nab-pres-for-climate-positive-green-team-convention-sydney-may-20.pdfqantas-pres-for-climate-positive-green-team-event-sydney-may-2011.pdfabc-pres-for-climate-positive-green-team-event-sydney-may-2011.pdf
Flight-free weeks, 'treasure hunts' and other bright ideas for energy efficiency illuminate discussions at second Green Team Convention in Melbourne
How would your senior management react to the wing-clipping news of a flight-free week?How about working through the night to explore ways to cut the energy costs for your company?Would you don more clothing at work so your heating could be turned down a notch?Employees at Parsons Brinckerhoff, Qantas and Sustainability Victoria, respectively, were shown to be eagerly stepping up to the climate change challenge during presentations at last week's Green Team Convention held by Climate Positive.Staff at Fujitsu, ISPT and ISIS were also seen to be focusing squarely on the issue of energy efficiency in their workplaces. The event, held on Friday 22 July, attracted more than 50 green team members.The second of its kind in Melbourne, the Convention was sponsored by Cityswitch, and hosted by ISIS in their Queens Road offices overlooking Albert Park Lake.Joining Parsons Brinckerhoff, GE (speaking about its work with Qantas), and Sustainability Victoria were Fujitsu, ISPT and ISIS.Their presentations can be viewed by visiting:isis-climate-positive-green-team-convention-22-july-2011.pdf fujitsu-climate-positive-green-team-convention-22-july-2011.pdf ge-climate-positive-green-team-convention-22-july-2011.pdf ispt-climate-positive-green-team-convention-22-july-2011.pdfsustainability-victoria-climate-positive-green-team-convention-22-july-2011.pdfparsons-brinckerhoff-climate-positive-green-team-convention-22-july-2011.pdf Climate Positive wishes to thank Cityswitch for generously sponsoring the event and ISIS for hosting it, and the following presenters for donating their time to present, and for their ongoing, optimistic and passionate interest in addressing global warming: Geoff Gourley, Commercial Manager - Bid and Strategy, ISIS; Alison Rowe, Global Executive Director Sustainability, Fujitsu; Ben Waters, leader of GE's ecomagination initiative for Australia and New Zealand; James Clements, Energy Efficiency lead at GE; Andrew Cook, SHE & Business System Manager, VIC, Parsons Brinckerhoff; Chris Chuah, Portfolio Facilities Manager, ISPT; and Kelly Wickham, Project Manager from the Renewable Energy Team at Sustainability Victoria. Climate Positive, whose remit includes the measurement, reduction and offset of carbon emissions - as well as education about climate science and solutions, runs the Green Team events to bolster the capacity of Green Teams to tackle global warming and assist offset partners to reduce their footprints and costs. We want to make it easier for Green Teams, of all shapes and sizes, to access proven strategies for improving environmental performance to cost-effectively and quickly reduce an organisation's carbon footprint.For more information about the Green Team Conventions, please contact Danielle Johnston at Climate Positive on 03 9698 5700 or danielle@climatepositive.orgFor more information about Cityswitch, please contact Brett Munckton, CitySwitch Project Officer, at brett.munckton@melbourne.vic.gov.au or on 03 9658 8557
Survey of Climate Positive Green Team Convention attendees gives green light to future events
Responses to a Climate Positive Green Team Convention post-event survey show there is interest in attending future events, especially those focusing on case studies of initiatives undertaken by green teams.The survey, completed by 42 per cent of attendees, indicated that there is a need for a forum in which green team members can share knowledge about the barriers and enablers to their success.Highlights of the survey included:-More than 85% of people would like to hear about case studies of actions directed toward paper and energy consumption, recycling, transport, etc.-When asked if they would recommend the convention to their peers, colleagues and clients, 97.1% of respondents said they would.-Most respondents (51.4%) would like events to be held quarterly and 65.7% of those surveyed preferred the events to be held on Fridays and followed by networking drinks. Climate Positive is currently planning the next event for May and has created a platform for discussions on LinkedIn. The survey also asked attendees about how they travelled to and from the event as Climate Positive is offsetting the emissions from the Convention.For more information about the Green Team Network and future events, please contact Danielle Johnston on 03 9698 5700 or danielle@climatepositive.org
Climate Positive's first Green Team Convention a great success
nab-pres-for-green-team-convention-sydney-may-20.pdfAn event designed for Green Teams to access proven strategies for improving their organisation's environmental performance sold out in Melbourne last month and will be followed up with another event in May.Danielle Johnston, General Manager of Climate Positive and organiser of the event, said the Green Team Convention held on Friday 25 February and hosted by Climate Positive offset partner VicSuper, was a huge success."The purpose of the event was to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Green Teams from all sectors through knowledge-sharing, benchmarking and networking," Danielle said."The event attracted almost 100 representatives from 56 organisations of all shapes and sizes. I am excited about the potential for the Green Team Network to enhance the work of these volunteers who are passionate enough about the environment to give their own time to improving the sustainability of their company deserve more recognition, support and ultimately funding."The Green Team event attracted 86 guests from 56 organisations including 12 Green Team Leaders from the not-for-profit/NGO sector and 22 Green Team Leaders from the private & public sectors.The presenters during the 3.30-6pm event were:- Joanna Karatza of VicSuper- Phillip Kong of Hewlett-Packard- Sherri Lehmann of Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, and- Nathan Baldwinson of Department of Justice Victoria.A post-event survey found 96.9% of attendees would recommend this conference to their peers, colleagues and clients.Photographs of the event may be viewed here and a summary of the 36 responses to the post-event survey may be viewed here. More events and activities are planned for Melbourne, and Sydney.For more information, contact Danielle Johnston 03 9698 5700 or danielle@climatepositive.org
Australia admits CO2 emissions will balloon
Australia's climate change policies will lead greenhouse gas emissions to balloon out of control in the next few years, the federal government says in an annual report to the United Nations.http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-admits-co2-emissions-will-balloon-20110208-1alqn.htmlBen Cubby, SMH, February 9, 2011
Climate education & action migrates to online platform
Do you Tweet? Are you on Facebook? Join 339 Twitter followers and over 60 Facebook friends and join Climate Positive's online community.Giveaways this year of Red Star organic, Fairtrade and carbon offset coffee and also KikkiK bags have broadened our supporter base.The mainstay of the online conversations are competitions, emission-reduction tips, and links to interesting events, stories and news.Our Twitter tag is @clim8positive and on Facebook, we are "Climate Positive".Visit http://twitter.com/ and www.facebook.com today