Could the 2014 World Cup, the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics and Brazil’s climate leadership add up to transformative moments that launch us on our pathway to a sustainable future?

Four powerful sustainability trends will start converging in and around Brazil as we head into this century’s second decade:

1. Brazil’s climate leadership. With the tone of diminished expectations already set for the climate negotiations next month in Copenhagen, one bright spot appears to be the aggressive— if not audacious — commitments by Brazil to stop Amazon deforestation and curb carbon emissions 35% by 2020, (See article in Nature.)

2. Major sports advertising. The companies who spend tens to hundreds of millions of dollars to be sponsors of the World Cup and the Olympic’s will be touting their sustainability leadership to consumers and investors. (See IBM’s Smarter Planet)
3. The closing of the “critical decade”. Starting in 2005, the world’s leading scientists warned that our civilization had about ten years to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions enough to stave of the most catastrophic impacts of global temperature rise.
4. The eyes of the world. Up to 70% of the world’s population may be tuning in on radio, TV, online or their smartphones. Not since Babel have we had a chance to engage in a global conversation about shared responsibilities and opportunities.

Short of an alien craft landing on the White House lawn, Brazil’s command of the world’s sports stage may be humankind’s best chance to get in sync on how to create a flourishing future for our species and the planet.

For that to happen, there is some business to de-usualize.

First and foremost, Brazil has to turn talk into measured action. In just a few weeks time, before Brazil’s delegation heads off to Copenhagen, governors or their representatives from 18 states, the mayor of Rio, Brazil’s energy minister and auto, petro and airline executives will begin to construct an integrated strategy for sustainable jobs, food, fuel and rainforests. Catalyzed by Sustainable BioBrazil (a Brazilian NGO with whom we work), the policy roundtable is the first of three planned meetings in Sao Luis, Maranhao between now and April, 2010. During this time, participants will wrestle with intertwined challenges of creating new economic opportunities to lure people away from Amazon-destroying livelihoods, finding the right formula and market for avoided deforestation credits, experimenting with intercropping of food and fuel together on Brazil’s extensive but underutilized agricultural lands, and trying to sharpen the thinking about indirect land-use and carbon life cycle calculations that will determine how open world markets will be to Brazilian biofuels and food exports — upon which the majority of jobs for displaced Amazon ranchers, loggers and charcoal makers will depend.

And if the Brazil Convergence is going to fire a global transformation, the media and cultural power of both the World Cup and Rio’s Olympiad are going to have to be more explicitly devoted to telling the stories of progress and possibility. Brazil’s own stories, of course, but also stories of challenges and solutions from the hundreds of nations represented at these events. Organizers have an opportunity to shift their thinking about what makes their event “green”. Merely reducing the environmental impact of the operations (aka event sustainability) is necessary but not sufficient. They should unleash their iconic power to inspire all the people they reach to take action. During the month-long World Cup and Olympic fortnight, advertisers and their brilliant agency storytellers can craft compelling meta-narratives about the technologies and decisions that are moving our civilization forward. This way, 2014 and 2016 can provide global audiences with mileposts of progress that surely must come.

Finally, there is the distinct possibility that by 2014, nearly every aspect of the process of getting to or watching the games will have a carbon number or sustainability index attached to it. Fuel at the pump will have a carbon-rating, and the backstory of how new technologies and efficiencies lowered that number. TVs will show how much energy they are using, from what sources, with what kind of impact. Labels on official beers will feature certifications for energy and water used in their making and boast about their recycling prowess. Airlines flying to Rio and World Cup host cities will use seatback videos to talk about the percentage of sustainable biofuel in their plane’s tanks and the millions of hectares of Amazon they, their industry partners and the flying public are protecting as carbon sinks and bioresources for the planet.

While we watch for progress on these fronts at the Vancouver, London, Sochi Olympics and next summer’s South African World Cup, indications are its going to be up to you, Brazil, Brazil.

Could the 2014 World Cup, the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics and Brazil’s climate leadership add up to transformative moments that launch us on our pathway to a sustainable future?

Four powerful sustainability trends will start converging in and around Brazil as we head into this century’s second decade:

1. Brazil’s climate leadership. With the tone of diminished expectations already set for the climate negotiations next month in Copenhagen, one bright spot appears to be the aggressive— if not audacious — commitments by Brazil to stop Amazon deforestation and curb carbon emissions 35% by 2020, (See article in Nature.)

2. Major sports advertising. The companies who spend tens to hundreds of millions of dollars to be sponsors of the World Cup and the Olympic’s will be touting their sustainability leadership to consumers and investors. (See IBM’s Smarter Planet)
3. The closing of the “critical decade”. Starting in 2005, the world’s leading scientists warned that our civilization had about ten years to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions enough to stave off the most catastrophic impacts of global temperature rise.
4. The eyes of the world. Up to 70% of the world’s population may be tuning in on radio, TV, online or their smartphones. Not since Babel have we had a chance to engage in a global conversation about shared responsibilities and opportunities.

Short of an alien craft landing on the White House lawn, Brazil’s command of the world’s sports stage may be humankind’s best chance to get in sync on how to create a flourishing future for our species and the planet.

For that to happen, there is some business to de-usualize.

First and foremost, Brazil has to turn talk into measured action. In just a few weeks time, before Brazil’s delegation heads off to Copenhagen, governors or their representatives from 18 states, the mayor of Rio, Brazil’s energy minister and auto, petro and airline executives will begin to construct an integrated strategy for sustainable jobs, food, fuel and rainforests. Catalyzed by Sustainable BioBrazil (a Brazilian NGO with whom we work), the policy roundtable is the first of three planned meetings in Sao Luis, Maranhao between now and April, 2010. During this time, participants will wrestle with intertwined challenges of creating new economic opportunities to lure people away from Amazon-destroying livelihoods, finding the right formula and market for avoided deforestation credits, experimenting with intercropping of food and fuel together on Brazil’s extensive but underutilized agricultural lands, and trying to sharpen the thinking about indirect land-use and carbon life cycle calculations that will determine how open world markets will be to Brazilian biofuels and food exports — upon which the majority of jobs for displaced Amazon ranchers, loggers and charcoal makers will depend.

And if the Brazil Convergence is going to fire a global transformation, the media and cultural power of both the World Cup and Rio’s Olympiad are going to have to be more explicitly devoted to telling the stories of progress and possibility. Brazil’s own stories, of course, but also stories of challenges and solutions from the hundreds of nations represented at these events. Organizers have an opportunity to shift their thinking about what makes their event “green”. Merely reducing the environmental impact of the operations (aka event sustainability) is necessary but not sufficient. They should unleash their iconic power to inspire all the people they reach to take action. During the month-long World Cup and Olympic fortnight, advertisers and their brilliant agency storytellers can craft compelling meta-narratives about the technologies and decisions that are moving our civilization forward. This way, 2014 and 2016 can provide global audiences with mileposts of progress that surely must come.

Finally, there is the distinct possibility that by 2014, nearly every aspect of the process of getting to or watching the games will have a carbon number or sustainability index attached to it. Fuel at the pump will have a carbon-rating, and the backstory of how new technologies and efficiencies lowered that number. TVs will show how much energy they are using, from what sources, with what kind of impact. Labels on official beers will feature certifications for energy and water used in their making and boast about their recycling prowess. Airlines flying to Rio and World Cup host cities will use seatback videos to talk about the percentage of sustainable biofuel in their plane’s tanks and the millions of hectares of Amazon they, their industry partners and the flying public are protecting as carbon sinks and bioresources for the planet.

While we watch for progress on these fronts at the Vancouver, London, Sochi Olympics and next summer’s South African World Cup, indications are its going to be up to you, Brazil, Brazil.

Major Firms Going Half-speed on CO2 Reduction: “The world’s largest companies’ carbon-cutting targets are too modest to avoid dangerous climate change, according to a report from the Carbon Disclosure Project.
The Global 100, or the 100 largest firms in the world, have combined goals that will reduce emissions 1.9 percent a year. That is less than half the 3.9 percent that is estimated [...]“

(Via Environmental Leader.)

First open, real-time grid-emissions monitoring system:

[Official Press Release: AMEE PR 20091717]

RealtimeCarbon.org enables individuals and businesses to see the real-time carbon intensity of UK grid electricity.

Powered by AMEE, RealtimeCarbon.org calculates the carbon intensity of the grid every five minutes according to the fuel mix on the grid at any one time: when lots of coal is being used to generate electricity, the figure will be higher than the average, and when there are more renewables being used it will be lower. In general the times of high demand - and high carbon - are in the mornings and evenings, when people get up or get back from work, and millions of kettles are simultaneously boiled.

THE PROJECT TEAM

Dynamic Demand is a not-for-profit organisation that has championed the idea of demand response in
the UK. It aims to reduce carbon emissions and help prepare the grid for the changing nature of generation towards renewables. It’s campaigns have resulted in cross-party political, Governmental and industry support The transition to a low-carbon economy requires action from everyone from business and governments to individuals. To enable this, AMEE is lowering the barriers-to-engagement for everyone.

AMEE’s aim is to map, measure and track all the energy and carbon data on Earth: the AMEE Platform helps track any activity or consumption data, including fuel, water, waste and other factors and convert them into carbon/GHG figures. Its web-services combines measurement, calculation, modelling, profiling and transactional services to power branded applications.Business, Consumer and Government applications are ‘Powered by AMEE’ to ensure compliance with authoritative international standards.

Demand Logic brings the benefits of demand response to UK companies. Demand response is the term given to orchestrating demand for electricity in response to signals. An example would be real time price signals from utility companies. It can also include signals regarding the balance between supply and demand on the grid. Now the signals include the CO2 resulting from generation of electricity. Demand Logic will enable commercial buildings to reduce demand not only to when there is too little supply available, but also to time consumption with periods of lower CO2 arising.

(Via AMEE - The world’s energy meter.)

World powers accept warming limit: “Developed and developing nations agree global temperatures should not rise more than 2C above 1900 levels, a G8 declaration says.”

(Via BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition.)

Environmental Toll of Plastics: “The amount of plastic that will be produced this decade will nearly equal the total produced in the 20th century, and the substance is increasingly taking a toll on human health and the environment, a new study says. Reporting in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, more than 60 scientists found the following: Chemicals added to plastics are increasingly absorbed by humans, altering hormones and affecting fetal development and other physiological processes; millions of tons of plastic debris are ingested by hundreds of animal and fish species, clogging their digestive systems and infusing their systems with chemicals; floating plastic debris can last thousands of years in oceans and transport invasive species; plastic in landfills leaches harmful chemicals into groundwater; and 8 percent of world oil production goes into manufacturing plastics. ‘One of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting recent changes to the surface of our planet is the accumulation and fragmentation of plastics,’ the paper said. The researchers did say that the ill-effects of plastic can be reduced in the future with the invention of biodegradable and less harmful forms of plastic and with improved systems of plastic recycling.“

(Via Yale Environment 360.)

WWF Ranks US 7th Among G8 on Climate Scorecard: “When it comes to the climate, the United States fares worse than only Canada on a new ranking of G8 nations’ efforts to battle climate change, according to a climate scorecard from the World Wildlife Fund and Allianz.
Germany tops the list. Click here for an interactive version of the chart above.
Here’s a video about [...]“

(Via Environmental Leader.)

Climate academic shuns trip over ‘plane emissions: “An academic turns down a flight to a US conference to discuss carbon emissions and others follow suit.”

(Via BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition.)

Scientists attack energy industry: “Britain must invest hugely to create a new low-carbon economy, say leading members of the Royal Society.”

(Via BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition.)

A Plea To President Obama:
End Mountaintop Coal Mining: “Tighter restrictions on mountaintop removal mining are simply not enough. Instead, a leading climate scientist argues, the Obama administration must prohibit this destructive practice, which is devastating vast stretches of Appalachia.
BY JAMES HANSEN“

(Via Yale Environment 360.)