Last weekend, Royal Bank of Scotland faced its biggest protests in a long history of protests. Environmental groups and hundreds of climate protesters camped on the lawn at RBS’s Gogarburn headquarters, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. At the centre of the protest was a growing anger at the bank’s role in funding the world’s dirty oil and gas industries, at huge environmental cost. A report revealed by the Sunday Herald shows that RBS has provided nearly £13 billion worth of funding to the oil and gas industries since it was bailed out by the taxpayer two years ago.

See http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/how-rbs-funds-dirty-oil-1.1049758.

Oil sands toxins growing rapidly

Canada’s oil sands mining operations produce vast and fast-growing quantities of deadly substances, including mercury, heavy metals and arsenic, new data released by Environment Canada shows. The information on pollutants sheds new light on the environmental toll exacted by Canada’s bid to extract oil from bitumen, showing in stark relief how many nasty substances are being laid on the northern Alberta landscape in the process – and how quickly those are growing. In the past four years, the volume of arsenic and lead produced and deposited in tailings ponds by the country’s bitumen mines – run by Syncrude Canada Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC – has increased by 26 per cent. Quantities of some other substances have increased at even faster rates. The companies also released huge amounts of pollutants into the air last year, including 70,658 tonnes of volatile organic compounds, which can damage the function of human organs and nervous systems, and 111,661 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, a key contributor to acid rain.

See http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/oil-sands-production-of-toxins-growing-rapidly/article1667306/?service=mobile

The recent UN climate talks in in Bonn have at least moved on from the fiasco at Copenhagen. However, the draft text that emerged at the end of the talks is still seriously flawed. Developing nations in the Group of 77 and China described it as ‘unbalanced’. The text calls for global emission reductions of 50-85% by 2050 (without expressing a base year), and emission reductions by developed countries of 25-40% by 2020 and 80-95% by 2050 from 1990 levels. The text is largely based on the Copenhagen Accord, with its focus on voluntary pledges. It does not refer to any requirement for developed countries to list their emissions pledges within a legally binding compliance mechanism like the Kyoto Protocol. So far, individual pledges from rich countries pledges to cut emissions have been nowhere near enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. It delays the peaking year for global emissions (i.e. from 2015 to 2020), while requiring developing countries to peak their emissions in 2020. This would force them to move rapidly away from fossil fuels in just a few years. References to equity and burden sharing have been removed from the section on the shared vision for future climate action. Meanwhile, the text is still too ambitious for the the US, which said some elements were ‘unacceptable’. The US has so far only pledged to cut its emissions 17% by 2020 on 2005 emission levels. A poll of delegates’ expectations, conducted by the WWF, found that most expected no agreement to be reached before December 2011 in South Africa at the earliest.

Read more at http://www.foe.co.uk/news/bonn_climate_24236.html and http://tcktcktck.org/stories/campaign-stories/bonn-climate-talks-according-media.

Science

A study finds that 98% of climate scientists that publish research on the subject support the view that human activities are warming the planet.

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10370955.stm.

A group of climate scientists and campaigners have written to the energy and climate change secretary calling on him to stand by Liberal Democrat manifesto pledges to push for an ambitious international climate treaty based on the contraction and convergence.

See http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2264654/campaigners-urge-huhne-stand.

A new report finds the world could produce 95 per cent of the electricity it needs from renewable sources by 2050.

See http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2264307/report-renewables-revolution.

Subsidies

The OECD has urged governments to end fossil fuels subsidies, arguing this could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent.

See http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6581DI20100609.

EU Mulls 12 Years More State Aid For Coal: Draft

The European Union is considering 12 more years of state aid for coal, a draft European Commission document showed, even as the Group of 20 prepared to discuss phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. The current EU subsidy regime expires this year, and European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia has said he intends to put forth a new plan in about two weeks. A draft seen by Reuters reveals a gradual phase-out of state aid for coal mining between the start of 2011 and the end of 2022 and cites concerns about employment.

See http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE65N14R.htm.

Fossil fuel subsidies are a sticky problem

The world’s addiction to oil and other fossil fuels is enabled by the subsidies many governments provide to make them so cheap. Some details have already started to leak out, and the scale of subsidization worldwide is massive. The IEA came out with its own announcement that public spending on consumption subsidies – payments made to make coal, oil and gas more affordable to consumers – was $556-billion (U.S.) in 2008, a $215-billion increase from 2007.  The IEA estimates that phasing out the subsidies in the next 10 years could cut global energy demand by 6 per cent, and reduce carbon emissions equal to 30 per cent of the reduction needed to keep global temperatures from rising by 2 degrees.

See http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/fossil-fuel-subsidies-are-a-sticky-problem/article1611006/.

Climate change poses economic threat

By Wangari Maathai  – The current upheaval caused by the economic recession pales in comparison to the potential impacts of climate change, which, if unabated, threatens to bring more disasters, famine, disease, resource scarcity, human displacement and migrations and economic instability than ever before. Too often such conflicts are labelled as inter-ethnic or religious, ignoring the fact that climate change, environmental degradation and the pursuit of fossil fuels is the root cause of so much conflict in the world today. Droughts in Kenya, wildfires in California and melting glaciers in our mountains are further indications that we are on the tipping point of a catastrophe scientists have long been predicting. No country or community is immune from climate change, but the greatest tragedy is that those who are most affected and who are least able to adapt and mitigate against climate change, are least responsible. While leaders of the world’s richest countries bear the greatest responsibility for rising global temperatures, it is those already living on the edge of poverty who will feel the impacts most acutely.

Read more at http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinin/article/827726–climate-change-poses-economic-threat.

We really can live without tar sands, but don’t tell the oil patch

The scariest thing for the oil industry right now is not the front page pictures of dying, oil-covered birds in the Gulf of Mexico, or pictures of dead, oil covered ducks in the Alberta tar sands. The most frightening spectre for them is a surging renewable energy industry united with environmentalists to destroy the myth of oil’s necessity. Yet that is precisely what happened last week, when Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council released their ‘Energy [R]evolution’ blueprint for cutting carbon emissions while achieving economic growth. The simple solution is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy and energy efficiency. The study was developed in conjunction with specialists from the German Aerospace Centre and more than 30 scientists and engineers from universities, institutes and the renewable energy industry around the world. It demonstrated that in a world taking serious action on climate change, there is no need for unconventional oil from the tar sands.

See http://hilltimes.com/page/printpage/oilpatch-06-21-2010.

The massive Gulf oil spill may hasten the development of shale gas and oil sands, North America’s two most important emerging energy sources. The risk of pursuing deepwater oil reserves dwarfs the environmental concerns facing both onshore sectors.

See http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65D56I20100614.

(For information on tarsands, and the destructive impacts of mining them, see articles listed at http://londonminingnetwork.org/?s=tarsands.)

UK parliamentary motion says BP disaster shows need for better pension fund ESG reporting

Early Day Motion calls on government to improve environmental risk assessment in investment.

See http://www.responsible-investor.com/home/article/uk_parliamentary_bp/.

You may wish to ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 209 – it has implications for pension fund investment in mining as well as in oil.

Early Day Motion EDM 209:  DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL AND UK PENSIONS FUNDS, 14.06.2010

That this House notes that the Deepwater Horizon disaster is now considered the largest offshore oil spill in US history, and will have devastating environmental and social consequences for years to come; notes that almost all British pension funds have significant investments in BP, and that uncertainty over BP’s share price and quarterly dividend will hit ordinary pension savers; believes that this incident clearly demonstrates that environmental risks are also financial risks; further believes that pension funds should do more to integrate environmental risk assessment into their investment practices; and therefore calls on the Government to ensure that pension funds report fully on their policy and practice regarding environmental, social and governance risks.

See http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=41132&SESSION=905.

FairPensions has launched an online action calling on Pensions Minister Steve Webb to toughen up standards for pension funds so that in future investors work with companies in their portfolios to tackle such risks.

See http://www.fairpensions.org.uk/oilspill?utm_content={LAST_UPDATED}&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Take%20Action%20Now%20%3E&utm_campaign=Urgent%20action%20request%3A%20Gulf%20Oil%20Spillcontent.

Shareholders have fired another warning shot across the bows of an oil major with just under 11% of shareholder votes at today’s annual general meeting of oil giant Shell refusing to back management over the controversial Canadian tar sands issue.

See http://www.responsible-investor.com/home/article/shell_investor_campaigners/.

RBS AGM – the aftermath and the follow up

On the 28th of April, RBS held its Annual General Meeting in Edinburgh. Amidst the various motions relating to executive bonuses and a report back on the rocky road to recovery, two people raised concerns over the impact that RBS’ investments were having on indigenous communities in very different parts of the world. Eriel Tchekwie Deranger is a Dene woman from Canada, a community member of Fort Chipewyan in Canada, and a tar sands campaigner for the Rainforest Action Network. She spoke about the impact of the bank’s investments in tar sands. Film maker Simon Chambers spoke about the impact that Vedanta, part-funded by RBS, is having on tribal peoples in Orissa, the poorest state in India.

See http://blog.platformlondon.org/content/rbs-agm-aftermath-and-follow.

See also:
In the lion’s den: meeting RBS at http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/meetingRBS.

See http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/gsolomon/the_other_oil_disaster_cancer.html.

Publicly-owned bank RBS was targeted last week for, among other things, its investments in coal, oil, tarsands and UK-registered mining company Vedanta. The company’s AGM was held in Edinburgh on Wednesday 28 April.

See http://www.sead.org.uk/today-rbs-public-shareholders-take-to-the-eicc, http://www.wdm.org.uk/cleaning-scotlands-banks and http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/node/702.

Blog post: Meeting with Philip Hampton, Chairman of RBS

by Deborah Doane, Director, WDM Scotland

I’ve been campaigning for stronger corporate accountability for a fairly long time. So it should come as no surprise to me that I don’t generally see eye to eye with corporate executives. But sometimes, just sometimes, you hope the facts speak for themselves – and that those corporate executives would have a sudden attack of conscience. So when a group of us met with RBS executives in Edinburgh after their AGM, we hoped the facts would speak for themselves.

See http://www.wdm.org.uk/blog/blog-post-meeting-philip-hampton-chairman-rbs.

Camp for Climate Action to target RBS in 2010

The Camp for Climate Action has announced that it will be targeting the bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland in 2010. The location  has yet to be revealed, and the group are promising that thousands will take action against the UK’s most controversial bank.

See http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/press/2010/04/22/camp-for-climate-action-to-target-rbs-in-2010.

See http://www.allbusiness.com/science-technology/earth-atmospheric-science/14221698-1.html.

“We are seeing a terrifyingly high rate of cancer in Fort Chipewyan where I live. We are convinced that these cancers are linked to the Tar Sands development on our doorstep. It is shortening our lives. That’s why we no longer call it ‘dirty oil’ but ‘bloody oil’. The blood of Fort Chipewyan people is on these companies’ hands.” -  George Poitras, former chief of Mikisew Cree First Nation.

The higher oil prices in recent years have meant that it’s become a more attractive prospect for oil companies to expand their operations in the costly process of obtaining and processing the thick bitumen into a usable form. It’s estimated that the industry is looking for a capital investment of $120-$220 billion over the next 20 years to build the new pipelines, mines, refineries and upgraders that are necessary to sustain the boom.

This report looks at the role that UK banks are playing in providing the necessary capital, and how RBS, which is 84% owned by the UK public, has been the bank the most heavily involved in underwriting loans to companies engaging in tar sands extraction.

See http://blog.platformlondon.org/rbstarsands.

A fund for climate chaos

RBS investment in tar sand exploitation is a highly irresponsible use of public bailout money.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/04/rbs-tar-sands-publi-investment.

Take action

Tar sands (also known as oil sands) are one of the biggest single factors threatening efforts to tackle climate change. Tar sands make up the world’s second largest oil reserves (173 billion barrels) and the damage they can cause to the climate is even worse than conventional oil. The greenhouse gas emissions of converting tar sands into fuel is three times higher than for conventional oil and roughly three barrels of natural gas are consumed to create one barrel of oil. Tar sands also have human rights costs. The pollution, deforestation and wildlife disturbance associated with tar sands developments also threaten the traditional livelihoods and wellbeing of indigenous communities. If you are a member of a pension scheme, your pension provider almost certainly has substantial shareholdings, held on your behalf, in the companies who are involved in (or considering becoming involved in) tar sands developments. This spring your pension provider will have the chance to vote on tar sands developments at shareholder meetings of BP and Shell, and will be making up its mind about how to vote anytime now.

See http://www.fairpensions.org.uk/tarsands/action.

See http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1410089511.

See also http://www.ienearth.org/cits
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2f469b2c-d242-11de-a0f0-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
and http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163393066511.

Taxpayer stakes in banks ‘will take seven years to sell’
Leading accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers urges governments to take more active role in management of banks and to focus on wider social goals. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/nov/12/taxpayer-bailout-banks.