Chapter Synopses
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Preliminary page
Containining cover page, table of content and foreword by Professor Sir David King.
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Introduction
In the introduction, John O’Brien discusses antidote to the two contrasting types of mainstream coverage of climate change: the no-hope horror stories inciting paralysing terror, and the ‘happy ever after thanks to science’ approach. He also discussed a little bit some opportunities that might lies behind the climate change problem.
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End
Containining acknowledgement, contributors list, bibliography and index.
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Section 1 - Setting the Scene
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Chapter 1: When words fail - Bill McKibben
The renowned environmental author discusses the urgency and risks associated with climate change and reasons that climate change activists have chosen to use a number rather than words. The chapter provides practical ideas for everyone in the community to be involved in choosing the world’s future.
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Chapter 2: What holds us back from the big shift? Time to stop the hand-wringing and start envisioning what we really want. - Dr Sam Wells
Dr Wells provides an insight into the way society thinks and why, so often, changes are only incremental and why we so often settle for compromise solutions. The chapter discusses that it is only by moving towards a better outcome and envisioning what we really want that paradigms can be changed for good.
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Chapter 3: Towards a Fossil Fuel Free Future - Professor Stephen Lincoln
Professor Lincoln provides an overview of global energy production and consumption, the history and future for fossil fuels, climate change science and global emissions data. The chapter then proceeds through alternative energy options (biofuels, nuclear, solar, wind, geothermal and hydrogen) and their strengths and potential.
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Chapter 4: Communicating Complexity in the Carbon Aware World - Garth Lamb
The science is understood and the technology solutions exist, but nothing will happen without the ability to communicate. Garth Lamb is an editor of environmental journals and explains the importance of communicating solutions to the world in a language that they can understand. The importance is especially important when the topic is as complex as climate change.
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Section 2 - Community Opportunities
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Chapter 5: Building Better Communities - Allan Tranter
To care about our environment perhaps suggests that we care about the communities of people that inhabit it. Allan Tranter argues that we must first think of how to build functional and happy communities and that then solving environmental issues, such as climate change, will just be welcome side effects.
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Chapter 6: The carbon economy - a new imperative for acting locally - Maggie Hine
As the level of government closest to the community, local government has the potential to make changes on a local level that have multiple benefits. Maggie Hine discusses how local government is an essential part of making the transition to low carbon effective and provides case studies of how this is already being done.
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Chapter 7: Assumption Traps and a Future Vision - Andrew Dickson
Andrew Dickson is an Al Gore ‘Climate Change Messenger’ and provides in this chapter a personal view of the assumptions society as a whole makes and why these are limiting the options being considered for a future low emissions world. He goes on to provide examples of the possibilities once the basis of these assumptions is broken, including using social media for asset sharing, establishing buying groups and adopting circular resource use.
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Chapter 8: Transport Opportunities: Towards a Resilient City - Professor Peter Newman
Professor Newman is one of the world’s leading thinkers on how different transport solutions can provide the foundations for more livable, peaceful and function cities. In this chapter he provides practical examples of how cities can be redesigned for the benefit of all their inhabitants. Transit Oriented Developments, electric vehicles and telepresence are just some of the ideas explored.
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Section 3 - Business Opportunities
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Chapter 9: The Business Case for going Beyond Carbon - Dan Atkins & Nick Palousis
How do businesses across all industry sectors best take advantage of the transition to a lower carbon economy? This chapter considers this question and the opportunities that exist for all business, no matter what they do. By considering multiple sustainability domains and taking a risk management approach, the authors build a business case for having sustainability as a key factor in all decisions.
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Chapter 10: The Cleantech Opportunity - John O’Brien
Cleantech is term that is becoming more widely used. This chapter not only provides a definition of the term but also explains the multiple reasons why the sector will be the success story of the next twenty years. It also considers how the cleantech sector can bridge the divide between global action and local benefits and how it can be a cure for ‘climate fatigue’.
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Chapter 11: Water industry cleantech solutions - Joe Flynn
The opportunities for innovative companies to make significant improvements to water resource allocation in rich countries and to provide clean drinking water in poorer countries are highlighted in this chapter. Technologies that enable stormwater recycling, aquifer storage and precision irrigation are explored along with a review of the issues connected with food production (‘eating water’) and industry deregulation. The chapter provides a framework for redesigning the water industry of the future.
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Chapter 12: Branding Beyond Carbon - Fraser Bell
Branding in a low carbon world offers both opportunities and risks. Fraser Bell reviews the opportunities for companies to position themselves as leaders, but also highlights some of the potential pitfalls along the way. He delves into the Australian wine industry and considers wider sustainability issues in branding rather than just ‘carbon’ alone.
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Chapter 13: Reasons to be Cheerful - Dave Sag
Whilst we pushed by the media to focus on ‘climate porn’, Dave Sag argues that mankind’s ingenuity will not only ensure survival through the worst of climate change but also provide an opportunity to thrive. He steps through a simple model of emissions trading and discusses other pressure points on companies to change, including public naming of the good and bad performers in emissions.
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Section 4 - Investor Opportunities
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Chapter 14: The Instrumentalisation of Carbon - Tenke Zoltani
Tenke Zoltani works for IDEACarbon in London, a consultancy co-founded by Lord Nicholas Stern. She provides a history to date of trading in environmental products including carbon and argues that, due to the financial instruments that have been developed, carbon is now a commodity that is irreversibly embedded into the financial system. Tenke also provides a review of these various instruments, including Joint Implementation and Clean Development Mechanism projects and provides a view of what the future might look like.
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Chapter 15: The Fund managers perspective - Lisa Wade
Lisa Wade runs one of Australia’s first fund managers that focus entirely on carbon and cleantech investing. She explains the drivers for investing in this sector and the reasons that she believes will drive superior returns. The chapter reviews the performance of the global renewable energy stocks and also carbon as an asset class.
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Chapter 16: Coming Into View: Environmental, Social and Governance Sustainability for Institutional Investors - Frances Magill & Nicholas Taylor
This chapter provides an overview of the structure of the institutional investor sector in Australia and argues that it is the superannuation funds that have the power to drive change. There has been much debate on whether superannuation trustees, in their role of looking after the ‘best interests’ of their members, have a legal obligation to merely focus on short term financial gains. This chapter provides a logical basis for dismissing this argument. The chapter also looks at emerging carbon related investment risk issues and reviews global progress on sustainable investing.
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Chapter 17: Riding out along the Clean Energy Efficient Frontier - Mark Schneider
Mark Schneider has a wealth of experience in investing in clean energy projects. He examines the opportunities that exist for investment in clean energy and concludes that there is a continuum of opportunities each with its own risk-return relationship that can appeal to investors with any level of risk appetite. More than that, he argues that investors in clean energy have the opportunity to achieve greater returns for the same level of risk.
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Chapter 18: Green Investing: Towards a Clean Energy Infrastructure - Chris Greenwood
Chris Greenwood provides a paper that was originally presented to the World Economic Forum. He reviews current and forecast global investment activity in clean energy and highlights the activity by investment type. The chapter also lists and reviews the eight emerging large-scale clean energy sectors, where the greatest investments are set to be made. In addition, Chris considers the most important enabling technologies, the role of carbon markets and the policy settings that will facilitate the change.
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Section 5 - National Opportunities
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Chapter 19: Building Australia as a Solar Nation - The Hon Greg Hunt, MP
The Hon Greg Hunt MP sets out his personal vision for creating Australia as a solar continent. He sets out the Coalition’s four pillars of climate change policy and provides insight into how he sees these initiatives shaping Australia in the future. He considers issues such as biosequestration, biochar and clean coal and then details a multi-pronged vision for embedding solar technologies throughout the Australian economy.
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Chapter 20: Building Blocks for a Clean Future - Dr Kristin Alford
Dr Alford considers how to improve life quality and reduce emissions at the same time. The analyses are applied to the ecological footprints and human development indices for Cuba and Dubai. She concludes that new technologies that decrease resource consumption, such as nanotechnologies, are required. The chapter details case studies and examples of the benefits nanotechnologies in delivering sustainable outcomes.
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Chapter 21: Things aren’t always what they seem: jumping hurdles to a post-carbon lifestyle. - Tony Cutcliffe
In his exploration of how to improve the world, Tony Cutcliffe considers the real motivations of both King Canute and the original Luddites. He considers the hurdles that we face, such as vested interests and political cycles, and bemoans the lack of action to date – ‘we have been like pigs in the afternoon sun: fat, dumb and happy’. However, the chapter sees this as an opportunity for Australia to step up and to persuade communities that ‘low carbon does not have to mean low amenity’.
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Chapter 22: The Best Crisis we ever had - Stewart Taggart
Stewart Taggart explores a grand vision for Australia as a Clean Energy Superpower that would make climate change ‘the best crisis we ever had’. By considering the combination of Australia’s renewable energy resources and economics of transmission infrastructure, Stewart presents a compelling argument for large scale adoption of low carbon energy. He expands this vision to consider the possibility of exporting power and creating regional stability through energy price stability.
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Chapter 23: Pursuing Clean Energy Business in India- Overcoming Barriers, Finding Solutions - Peter Castellas & Erin Kuo
This chapter explores the opportunities for Australian and Indian companies to work together to meet the demands of both countries. It considers the drivers and status of clean energy in India, and the business environment in terms of policy, technology, finance and information. It concludes with a summary of specific opportunities for collaboration.
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Section 6 - Global Opportunities
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Chapter 24: Protecting Today, Promising Tomorrow - Amanda McKenzie
Amanda McKenzie considers climate change through the lenses of self-preservation, ethics and international law and concludes that the reader has an obligation to future generations to provide them with a world that meets their needs. The Gathering Storm of climate change presents huge challenges, but Amanda shows how we have the opportunity to tackle the challenge successfully and to secure multiple benefits along the way.
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Chapter 25: Student Visions for the Opportunities Beyond Carbon - Joel Amos, Jack O’Brien, Luca Lovell
Three students provide their views of the future and why they see the need for change. In refreshingly clear views of the simplicity of a desired outcome, the writers avoid the pitfalls of the current world and argue for ‘a change in mentality’ and for building a world they will be proud to inherit.
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Chapter 26: The looming peak coal and peak phosphate crises: disaster, or opportunities for innovation? - Professor Barry Brook & Stewart Taggart
The chapter looming disasters that have not yet hit the popular press. On top of peak oil and climate change, we must now consider peak coal and peak phosphate. However, both of these issues may provide further impetus to improve global sustainability. That coal is finite is presented as an opportunity to focus research funding on renewable energy rather than carbon capture. That phosphate is finite impacts food production capabilities and will encourage innovative recycling technologies, such as biochar and human urine capture.
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Chapter 27: Globally - do Australia’s Emissions Count? - Dr Monica Oliphant
Dr Oliphant presents global emissions data and considers Australia’s position. Whilst the country only produces 1.2% of global emissions, it still emits more than ‘90 per cent of the world’s 205 countries’. The chapter also considers ‘carbon leakage’ from the view point of international trade and how this might be handles in regulatory regimes.
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Chapter 28: The way we were – looking back from 2100 - Dr John Wright
Dr Wright has used his experience of running the CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship to review the twenty-first century in hindsight. ‘An engineer coming back to Australia from an energy conference overseas, 100 years in the future, musing on discussions with others on how energy, science and technology have unfolded since 2000. It is pure fiction, and relatively conservative, but perhaps it could turn out this way …’
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