The government’s decision to extend to 400,000 the number of £2,000 grants for people who trade in an old car and buy a new one is environmentally short sighted, according to the Environmental Transport Association (ETA).

The new vehicles bought under the initiative emit 25 per cent less carbon than those that are scrapped, but the ETA has calculated that the scheme will cost the government £370 per tonne of CO2 emissions avoided – the environmental cost of CO2 is widely accepted as being
nearer £80 per tonne.

Director at the ETA, Andrew Davis, said: “This is little more than a panicked way of propping up the industry as, given time, those cashing in the grants would most likely have bought the new car anyway.”

“Car scrapping initiatives are often mistakenly labelled as green because they subsidise the purchase of cars that are usually, more fuel-efficient than those they replace, but the schemes are by their nature wasteful and routinely fail to take into consideration the amount of energy required to build a vehicle in the first place.”

Car makers are being forced to make significant cuts in their
vehicles’ CO2 emissions, but some countries appear reluctant to
buy the greenest models – British motorists languish at sixteenth
place in a league table of who buys the most polluting models in
Europe, according to a study carried out on behalf of the
Environmental Transport Association (ETA).

Portuguese drivers are the greenest in Europe when it comes to
buying cars with an average CO2 rate of 138g/km
(eg. VW Polo) – the least green motorists are from Latvia
with a figure of 177g/km (eg. Suburu Imprezza). The average British
driver comes sixteenth in the list with 158g/km (eg. VW Passat).

EU regulation is striving to cut the CO2 emitted by cars to an
average figure of 130 g/km by 2015.

Director at the ETA, Andrew Davis, said: “Car makers can build green
cars, but they need us to buy them. The report found that strict new
emissions laws are having a strong effect on the availability of
cleaner cars, but wealth, motoring taxes, fuel prices and consumer
attitudes, which vary wildly from country to country across Europe,
have much more of an effect on how clean a car is chosen.”

 ”There was a fuss in Britain when road tax increased for the
most-polluting cars, but we are lax by European standards – we need
a more sophisticated carrot and stick approach to encouraging people
to drive lighter cars if we want to do better in next year’s league
table.”

League table results:

Ranking 2008. Country/Average CO2 2008(g/km)/AverageCO2 2007/Rank 2007

1.      Portugal / 138 / 144 / 1
2.      France / 140 / 149 / 4
3.      Italy / 145 / 147 / 2
4.      Denmark / 146 / 160 / 12
5.      Malta / 147 / 148 / 3
6.      Belgium / 148 / 153 / 5
7.      Spain / 148 / 153 / 6
8.      Poland / 153 / 154 / 7
9.      Hungary / 153 / 155 / 10
10.     Czech Republic / 154 / 154 / 8
11.     Slovenia / 156 / 156 / 11
12.     Romania / 156 / 155 / 9
13.     Ireland / 157 / 162 / 13
14.     Netherlands / 158 / 165 / 15
15.     Austria / 158 / 163 / 16
16.     Great Britain / 158 / 165 / 16
17.     Luxembourg / 160 / 166 / 18
18.     Greece / 161 / 165 / 17
19.     Finland / 163 / 165 / 22
20.     Germany / 165 / 169 / 19
21.     Cyprus / 166 / 170 / 20
22.     Lithuania / 170 / 177 / 21
23.     Sweden / 174 / 181 / 23
24.     Estonia / 177 / 182 / 24
25.     Latvia / 181 / 183

Car makers – Ranking by average CO2 in 2008

Ranking in 2008. Manufacturer/ranking 2007/ Average CO2 in 2008(g/km)

1.      Fiat/ 2 / 138
2.      Peugeot-Citroen / 1 / 139
3.      Renault / 3 / 143
4.      Toyota / 4 / 147
5.      Hyundai / 7 / 149
6.      Ford / 8 / 152
7.      GM / 5 / 153
8.      Honda / 6 / 154
9.      BMW / 12 / 154
10.     Suzuki / 9 / 156
11.     Mazda / 13 / 158
12.     VW / 10 / 159
13.     Nissan / 11 / 161
14.     Daimler / 14 / 175

The EcoVillage are to join The Construction Expo on 30th September this year with an area dedicated to sustainable construction.  The EcoVillage events bring sustainable business to mainstream audiences – this year alone we will help introduce over 130 exhibitors to an audience of over 120,000, many of whom may not have considered these products and services before. This year we have exhibited at The Kent 2020, The Kent County Show 2009 and now The Construction Expo 2009.

At The EcoVillage, there will be almost 30 exhibitor spaces available and a demonstration area, together with a conference room where there will be seminars and discussions on the latest developments in sustainable construction. 

Demonstration area sponsored by SMART
The SMART group have joined as sponsor of The EcoVillage Demonstration Area.  SMART is a founding member of the South East Sustainable Construction Operations Group which is composed of publicly funded bodies working in sustainable construction across the South East of England.  Members are working together to raise the profile of sustainable construction and to support the construction industry in a move toward a more environmentally aware way of building.

With over seven million houses are being retrofitted, and the code for sustainable homes being implemented, it is essential for construction professionals to understand sustainable materials and technologies. SMART can offer free of charge advice to any company in the construction sector based in the South East of England with fewer than 250 employees

EcoVillage Workshop Area sponsored by ERDF ZeroWise Project
The ERDF Zerowise project are supporting The EcoVillage with sponsorship of the Conference Area. The Zerowise project works in partnership with Remade South East to help construction companies reduce the amount of construction waste going to landfill. Zerowise will be running 2 workshops giving information and advice on Site Waste Management Plans, together with breakfast or lunch and networking session.To book your place on one of these sessions click here

Speakers Confirmed for EcoVillage Workshop Area
Jae Mather, Carbon Free Group
Richard Hawkes, Richard Hawkes Architecture
Andy Mitchell, Bespoke Builder Services
Patrick Kennedy Sannigar & Wayne Murray, Space Shuffle
Kevin Bush, Remade South East
Read more on our speakers sessions or book online here

Exhibitors
We still have spaces remaining in The EcoVillage – contact Amanda by email or call us on 01227 271261.  Read more

Eurostar, electric cars and Fairtrade are today identified as
among the best ethical products of the past 20 years according to a
survey of leading politicians and environmental campaigners by Ethical
Consumer Magazine.

In the survey, 20 leading politicians and environmental campaigners
were asked what was the best ethical product of the past 20 years.

In response Ben Stewart, Head of Communications at Greenpeace chose
Eurostar, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London chose electric cars whilst
Hilary Benn MP, secretary of state for the environment, chose Fairtrade.

In response Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly
chose short-haul flights, Hilary Benn MP, secretary of state for the
environment chose Bluefin tuna, Climate Camp activists chose carbon
offset companies and Caroline Higginson from the fashion industry
campaign group Labour Behind the Label chose throwaway fashion.

WhizzGo, the pay-by-the-hour car club, is offering members of Ethical Junction a great offer this summer. With WhizzGo, you can hire a car when you need one for as little as an hour or as long as you need and with a fleet of low emission Citroens, you can be sure that by using WhizzGo you are reducing the number of cars on the road and cutting emissions and pollution in your area, as well as saving money.

Ethical Junction members and readers can now get £20 FREE drive time when they join WhizzGo. Just enter the promo code ETHICALJUNCTION09 when signing up at www.whizzgo.co.uk or give the WhizzGo team a call on 08444 77 99 66. Valid until September 2009.

And for any businesses who want to replace their current business transport with a greener option, they can take advantage of a three-month no obligation trial with WhizzGo. For more information, contact Peter Pratt on 08444 77 99 66 or email peter.pratt@whizzgo.co.uk 

Win Red Robot and Camping gear in time for the summer worth £200. The competition ends 12th July.

Offers

Save £10.00 on any Red Robot Men’s Sweatshirtuse offer code MENSUMSW (terms apply)
Save 25% on any Red Robot Women’s Sweatshirtuse offer code WMSUMSW (terms apply)
Save £5.00 on any Red Robot Men’s T-shirtuse offer code MENSUMTS (terms apply)
Save £5.00 on any Red Robot Women’s T-shirtuse offer code WMSUMTS (terms apply)

http://www.redrobot.co.uk

The Honda Insight, a new family-sized hybrid that is already providing stiff competition for the ubiquitous Toyota Prius, has been named Green Car of the Year 2009 by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA).

The least green car was found to be the 8-litre Dodge SRT-10 sports car. A year’s driving in the Dodge emits the same amount of CO2 as is absorbed by 322 mature trees – the equivalent of an acre of oak forest. *

The ETA examined over 1300 models of car currently on sale in Britain and compared their power, emissions, fuel efficiency and even the amount of noise they produce to create a definitive guide to buying the greenest vehicle.

A fully searchable database of the results and full details on each car will be published at www.greencarawards.co.uk on Wednesday 17th June 2009.

Green Transport Week is (13th – 21st June 2009)

Best and worst by category (C02 g/km)

Greenest car overall: HONDA Insight 1.3 IMA ES (101g/km)
Worst(least green) car overall: Dodge SRT-10 (488g/km)
Large Family – best: BMW 3 Series 320d with particulate filter (144g/km)
Large Family – worst : BMW M3 (309g/km)
Supermini        - best: TOYOTA Yaris 1.4 D-4-D 6-speed (109g/km)
Supermini        - worst: RENAULT Clio Renault Sport 200 (195g/km)
Small Family – best: Honda Insight 1.3 IMA ES   (101g/km)
Small Family – worst: VOLKSWAGEN Golf R32 4MOTION (255g/km)
City – best:  TOYOTA iQ 1.0 VVT-i (99g/km)
City – worst:  FORD Ka, Post 2006 1.6 Duratec Sportka (182g/km)
Sports – best: VAUXHALL Tigra 1.3CDTi 16v (124g/km)
Sports – worst: Dodge SRT-10 (488g/km)
MPV – best: S-Max 1.8 Duratorq TDCi (164g/km)
MPV – worst: MERCEDES R-Class R63 AMG (387g/km)
Small MPV        - best: RENAULT Modus 1.5 dCi 86 Quickshift 5 (119g/km)
Small MPV        - worst: MERCEDES Viano 3.5 (284g/km)
Executive – best:       BMW 5 Series 520d saloon with particulate filter (136g/km)Executive – worst:    CADILLAC CTS-V (350g/km)
Off road        - best: SUBARU Outback AWD (153g/km)
Off road        - worst: CADILLAC Escalade 6.2 V8 (383g/km)
Luxury – best: JAGUAR XJ 2.7L Diesel Saloon (209g/km)
Luxury – worst: Bentley Brooklands Coupé (465g/km)

Andrew Davis, director at the Environmental Transport Association,
said: “The discrepancy between the greenest and the least green cars
in Britain today is striking, but the market is changing and a combination
of consumer pressure alongside government leadership will result in
an increasing choice of environmentally-sound cars.”

“The big problem is not the Dodge SRT-10s and Lamborghinis because
there are not many of them on the road,” explains Andrew Davis, director
of the ETA.  ”The concern is that people are continuing to buy cars
that are much too big for their real needs. “

The popularity of large 4×4s like the Porsche Cayenne, which is many
times more damaging to the environment than for example a BMW 320d,
winner in the Large Family Car category, is already on the decrease;
a new system of emissions-based road tax means owners of gas guzzlers
pay over £400 per year.

“With the increasing costs of motoring and the threat to the environment
there has never been a more important time to choose greener cars.”

Why do diesels do well in this survey?
Half an hour of sniffing diesel fumes in a busy city street is enough
to induce a “stress response” in the brain, according to scientists
who measured volunteers. The response continued to increase even after
they had stopped breathing the fumes. There is speculation that the
changes in the brain may trigger other body responses to diesel fumes,
such as oxygen deprivation in the heart. Previous studies in rats
have shown that minuscule soot particles can make their way directly
to the brain via nerves in the nose.

There is a popular belief that because of their lower average CO2
emissions, diesels are better for the planet. Unfortunately it appears
that it is people, particularly those in built-up areas that might
be paying the price.

However, the advent of diesel particulate filters (DPF) such as fitted
to some of the category winners heralds a dramatic improvement in
the environmental rating of diesels. DPFs remove all trace of soot
form the exhaust gases.

How many of these cars are eligible for the scrappage scheme?
Many of the most-polluting cars on British roads, and most of the
worst-performing vehicles in this guide, are  signed up for the
government’s scrappage scheme, an initiative described as ‘green’
because it aims
to replace older vehicles with new, fuel-efficient models. In theory
it means someone who scraps a 1999 Volkswagen Lupo TDi 3L, (81g CO2/km)
and buys a 2009 Bentley Arnage (465g CO2/km) would receive a £1,000
taxpayer-funded payment. The Bentley produces over 5 times as much
CO2 as the smaller car.

As part of Article 13’s United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) commitments (http://www.article13.com/csr/ungc_iip_values.asp) for 2009 to ‘work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery’, we have written the first of a series of  five best practice cases studies on Transparency and Anti-Corruption (T & AC).  The aim of the case studies are to disseminate T & AC best practice and to advocate take up, to our network of partners, clients, associates and the Article 13 visitors through the use of a well recognised organisation/ brand.

This case study focuses on the Ford Motor Company’s (Ford)  T & AC
policies. To conduct this case study, there was an interview with David
Berdish, Manager of Sustainable Business Development for Ford Motor
Company who also manages Ford’s Human Rights Code of Basic Working
Conditions.

Ford is the fourth largest manufacturer and
distributor of automobiles based on worldwide vehicle sales and remains
one of the world’s ten largest corporations by revenue (www.ford.com).
The case study identifies in great depth, the following:

1.The company
2.The key drivers for change integrating T & AC
a.US legal framework
b.Globalisation
3.Transparency and Anti-corruption
a.Policies and initiatives
b.Reporting
4.Challenges to Transparency and Anti-corruption
a.Globalisation
5.Conclusion

For full case study see:
URL: http://www.article13.com/UNGC/Ford%20anti-corruption%20case%20study.pdf

Rich countries
risk wrecking vitally important international talks on a climate agreement,
Christian Aid warns today at the close of the latest UN negotiations in Bonn.

They
have failed to commit to dramatic curbs in their greenhouse emissions, or
recognise the scale of funding poor countries urgently need to cope with the
impacts of global warming.

There
are now just six months to go until the critical UN summit in Copenhagen, at which a new climate deal must
be agreed to come into force when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends.

During
the Bonn talks,
it was clear that rich countries plan to continue polluting at levels that will
make dangerous climate change inevitable.

This was
highlighted by Japan’s
announcement of a target to cut its emissions from 1990 levels by only 8 per
cent by 2020. That is a mere 2 per cent more than Japan’s
existing target under the Kyoto
protocol and is entirely inadequate.

‘Developed
countries have been unable to agree on any overall target for their cuts, let
alone one which will hold the global temperature rise below 2^oC
- the point at which scientists predict climate catastrophe,’ says
Nelson Muffuh, Christian Aid’s senior climate
advocate. ‘They are
wrecking the negotiations that are supposed to secure a deal by December.’

Mithika
Mwenda from Kenya,
Coordinator of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, says rich
countries’ proposed emissions cuts are even weaker than those required by
the existing Kyoto Protocol.

‘I’d
rather see my country refuse an agreement with such low ambition,’ says
Mr Mwenda,  ‘Rich countries’ political will to make up for
their historic responsibility and to safeguard poor people’s lives,
dignity and development is just not there. Things have to change dramatically.’

The lack
of trust has worsened as rich countries drag their feet and demand more action
from the developing world.

Developing
countries are rightly worried about efforts to change the terms of the
negotiations and shift the burden of dealing with climate change onto them.
Their concerns are deepened by rich countries’ failure to deliver on
previous emissions and finance commitments.

Developing
countries are demanding that rich nations admit their responsibility for
causing climate change, through a century and a half of industrialisation.

Pollution
from rich countries is already having devastating effects in developing
countries, through droughts, floods and tropical storms. But during the
negotiations, rich countries including the European Union have refused to
accept their responsibility for such damage.

Mr
Muffuh adds: ‘Without real progress on commitments by the rich world, the
negotiations will collapse. Developed countries should prevent further delays
by immediately committing to urgent, deep emissions cuts.

‘They
must come back to the next round of talks willing to act and to agree to
ambitious, quantified financial support for adaptation and mitigation in
developing countries, as well as technology transfer.

‘Such
action is neither an act of charity nor a punishment against rich countries.
Rather, it is compensation for the damage they have done.’

The EcoVillage Team are pleased to offer a 5% discount to any Ethical Junction member who books up for The EcoVillage at the Kent County Show this year.  With 85 exhibitors over a massive 5000sqm of space,  
this years EcoVillage is promises to be a great event for sustainable businesses. Our stand prices start from only £222 for a 3 day event, with both indoor and outdoor space available.  Space is running out so  
contact Amanda if you are interested and she will give you more information, email info@theecovillage.co.uk or see www.theecovillage.co.uk for more information.

The EcoVillage at the Kent County Show is on the 17th to 19th July and is sponsored by Protect Kent and The Countrystyle Group.  Media partners are The Ecologist, Kent on Sunday and Kent Profile Magazine.