Climate Action 2009-2010

BUSINESS & FINANCE
Eco Streets at a glance
} Job creation
} Green workforce development
} Behavioural change
} Carbon reduction
} Cost savings for households
} Knowledge transfer
} Sustainable legacy
} Community involvement
OFFSETTING & REDUCTION 56
Stopping deforestation is crucial.
the tropical rainforest belt regulates the world’s weather
systems – so stopping deforestation is crucial.
Cool Earth currently has projects in Peru, Brazil and
Ecuador – with new sites in development. The project
areas have been specifically chosen because they are of
high strategic value for a number of reasons:
1. They are located at the frontier of destruction, where
rainforest is immediately threatened by human
activities like logging and cattle ranching.
2. Either their location or their conservation acts as a
protective blockade for tens of thousands of acres
of forest behind them, ensuring our sponsors are
protecting far more than their own acres.
3. They are mature rainforests with uniquely high
levels of biodiversity reflecting thousands of years of
undisturbed growth, wildlife and species.
Alternatives to carbon offsetting like the Community
Carbon Fund and Cool Earth are becoming increasingly
popular as catalysts for change. They also address areas
that offsetting does not currently affect on a large scale
– behavioural change and energy efficiency in local
communities, and the protection of the rainforest.
Planet Positive hopes that a fair global deal based on
climate change science is agreed at Copenhagen. But
politicians and governments can only create the correct
frameworks to harness and inspire the people’s creativity
and increase their knowledge – the rest is up to us in our
own communities. Projects that aim to make a change
by engaging people directly in climate change mitigation,
whether it be through a donation for the protection of
rainforest, or through volunteering to support your
neighbours’ carbon footprint reduction, have a major
part to play in inspiring and empowering people around
the world to build a better future.
FUNDING
Eco Streets is drawing together funding from government
agencies, corporations and charitable organisations,
as well as from users of the Planet Positive mark, who
can donate funds to the development of their local
Eco Streets. If you would like to start Eco Streets in your
area, or know an organisation that would be interested
partnering to develop a local scheme, please get in
touch.
2020 Vision
Planet Positive’s 2020 Vision
campaign works hand-in hand
with Eco Streets initiative to
provide an inspiring view of
a more sustainable world in
2020. Planet Positive is collecting positive visions of a
low-carbon world from well-known environmentalists,
politicians, corporate leaders and celebrities on the
Planet Positive website. Anyone around the world
can upload their own vision in words, images, or film.
Please go to www.planet-positive.org to contribute
yours!
Author
Christina Wood has an MSc in environmental policy
and regulation from the London School of Economics
and experience in developing protocols in carbon
management. She liaises with the network of Planet
Positive accredited consultancies, is developing
a national network of carbon auditors and works
with a Technical Committee to maintain the Planet
Positive Protocol at best practice.
Organisation
The Planet Positive Foundation is a not-for-profit
organisation focused on inspiring action on climate
change and supporting people to reduce their
environmental impact. The Planet Positive mark
symbolizes a commitment to ongoing reduction in
carbon emissions, and can be applied to a business,
event, person or product. Backed up by a best
practice protocol in carbon management, the mark
has been tried and tested by over 50 companies in the
UK. Planet Positive is also a movement for a better
way of living. Through a series of campaigns and
programmes such as the Eco Streets and the 2020
Vision Campaign, Planet Positive will be reaching
out to the individuals to support them in living
more sustainably and adopting an optimistic, active
approach to climate change.
Enquiries
Christina Wood
Policy Development
Planet Positive
70 Cowcross Street
London EC1M 6EL
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 20 7250 1551
Fax: +44 20 7250 1552
Email: christina@planet-positive.org
Website: www.planet-positive.org
VISIT: WWW.CLIMATEACTIONPROGRAMME.ORG