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Robyn Bain, the CEO of the Cement Industry Federation, believes that the involvement of industry federations like the CIF in climate change dialogue, as well as strong international leadership, are key factors in ensuring climate change concerns are addressed and acted upon by the world’s most polluting industries.
“Climate change is very real and has been happening for some time,” says Ms Bain.
“And the cement industry has had a predominant role within the World Business Council looking at ways to minimize our impact on the climate and also some adaptation strategies.”
Warren Brooks, the chairman of the Greenhouse Panel for Australia’s Aluminium Council agrees.
“Climate change is fundamental to the future sustainability of the aluminium industry,” says Mr Brooks. “The aluminium industry recognizes that, and wants to participate in the ongoing development of policies aimed at improving emissions, reducing emissions and responding to climate change.”
However David Carter, the Group Environment Director for beer and wine producers Lion Nathan, admits that it is only very recently that many industries have seriously begun to address climate change concerns.
“The impact of climate change on our business is something that we’ve been aware of for many years,” says Mr Carter, “but it really only came up in our company’s thinking as a risk to mitigate in the last year or two. Climate change now is something dynamic, it’s quite new and it’s a force to be reckoned with.”
On a more positive note however, while the previous Federal Government may have been slow to respond to climate change, many industry bodies have been trying to keep ahead of the politics by engaging with their national and international counterparts on environmental issues.
“Business can move a lot more quickly than certainly governments around the world can,” CIF’s Robyn Bain says. “So by the industry working with its industry colleagues in other countries, then we can get a broad agreement and then move forward.”
Warren Brooks too says that it has often been industry co-operation, rather than government legislation that has led to companies becoming involved in more climate-friendly practices.
“I guess from quite early times the Aluminium Council facilitated the industry’s involvement in the Greenhouse Challenge Programme and then subsequently Greenhouse Challenge Plus, which was a voluntary greenhouse emissions reduction programme,” says Mr Brooks
However while many sectors are now making an effort to address climate change, there are no solutions for resolving emission problems overnight. Often it can be a complex procedure, both assessing and addressing the environmental impact of an entire industry sector.
“One part is to minimize our energy consumption. The other side is the process emissions, and that is the more difficult area for the cement sector,” Robyn Bain says.
The majority of industries acknowledge however there is a fine line between embracing new and potentially expensive low-emission production techniques, and an industry rendering its produce uncompetitive on an international market.
“We have to maintain our competitiveness and we have to put pressure on other countries to follow the same rules or guidelines that we’re trying to follow,” says Lion Nathan’s David Carter. “It’s a constant challenge.”
However, celebrated environmentalist Professor Tim Flannery believes that, while industry as a whole is moving in the right direction, significantly more needs to be done, in order to try to avert potentially devastating climate change.
“I don’t think industry is doing enough at the moment; there’s a lot happening, but not as much as should happen,” says Prof. Flannery.
“We know that Earth’s climate system can shift rapidly from one state to the next, and a certain burden of pollution is sufficient to make that shift occur. Probably.
“So once we get to the point of having what’s called 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere, we stand a fair change of triggering dangerous climate change. And that’s where we are at the moment.
“We’re at 460 parts per million. So we will have to scramble now to reduce that burden below the dangerous threshold by about the middle of this century.”
“Climate change is very real and has been happening for some time,” says Ms Bain.
“And the cement industry has had a predominant role within the World Business Council looking at ways to minimize our impact on the climate and also some adaptation strategies.”
Warren Brooks, the chairman of the Greenhouse Panel for Australia’s Aluminium Council agrees.
“Climate change is fundamental to the future sustainability of the aluminium industry,” says Mr Brooks. “The aluminium industry recognizes that, and wants to participate in the ongoing development of policies aimed at improving emissions, reducing emissions and responding to climate change.”
However David Carter, the Group Environment Director for beer and wine producers Lion Nathan, admits that it is only very recently that many industries have seriously begun to address climate change concerns.
“The impact of climate change on our business is something that we’ve been aware of for many years,” says Mr Carter, “but it really only came up in our company’s thinking as a risk to mitigate in the last year or two. Climate change now is something dynamic, it’s quite new and it’s a force to be reckoned with.”
On a more positive note however, while the previous Federal Government may have been slow to respond to climate change, many industry bodies have been trying to keep ahead of the politics by engaging with their national and international counterparts on environmental issues.
“Business can move a lot more quickly than certainly governments around the world can,” CIF’s Robyn Bain says. “So by the industry working with its industry colleagues in other countries, then we can get a broad agreement and then move forward.”
Warren Brooks too says that it has often been industry co-operation, rather than government legislation that has led to companies becoming involved in more climate-friendly practices.
“I guess from quite early times the Aluminium Council facilitated the industry’s involvement in the Greenhouse Challenge Programme and then subsequently Greenhouse Challenge Plus, which was a voluntary greenhouse emissions reduction programme,” says Mr Brooks
However while many sectors are now making an effort to address climate change, there are no solutions for resolving emission problems overnight. Often it can be a complex procedure, both assessing and addressing the environmental impact of an entire industry sector.
“One part is to minimize our energy consumption. The other side is the process emissions, and that is the more difficult area for the cement sector,” Robyn Bain says.
The majority of industries acknowledge however there is a fine line between embracing new and potentially expensive low-emission production techniques, and an industry rendering its produce uncompetitive on an international market.
“We have to maintain our competitiveness and we have to put pressure on other countries to follow the same rules or guidelines that we’re trying to follow,” says Lion Nathan’s David Carter. “It’s a constant challenge.”
However, celebrated environmentalist Professor Tim Flannery believes that, while industry as a whole is moving in the right direction, significantly more needs to be done, in order to try to avert potentially devastating climate change.
“I don’t think industry is doing enough at the moment; there’s a lot happening, but not as much as should happen,” says Prof. Flannery.
“We know that Earth’s climate system can shift rapidly from one state to the next, and a certain burden of pollution is sufficient to make that shift occur. Probably.
“So once we get to the point of having what’s called 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere, we stand a fair change of triggering dangerous climate change. And that’s where we are at the moment.
“We’re at 460 parts per million. So we will have to scramble now to reduce that burden below the dangerous threshold by about the middle of this century.”
