Sandbag's blog

So much will be written, has already been written, about this historic US election that it seems pointless to add to the cacophony, but there really is nothing else that warrants writing about right now. The EU carbon price may be elegantly swan-diving and the reasons are interesting, but if there is one thing that will positively affect the future of the global carbon market it’s tonight’s result.

If the US elects Obama and we witness the dawn a new era in international relations in the US then the chances of working out a new climate deal are substantially improved.  But, as with the last one, with regard to the nature of that deal what the US wants it will almost certainly get – such is the importance that everyone – Europe, China, India, Africa - places on getting them back in the game. Not only because they are such a huge source of emissions but also because the US has such a fantastic track record in incubating and commercialising new technologies.

We had an interesting meeting with steel manufacturers Corus today. They are one of the biggest UK companies participating in the EU trading scheme and appear to have a very comfortable surplus of permits (in the UK at least*) compared to recent emissions levels, even after taking into account the rule changes between 2007 and 2008.

With regard to how to tackle climate change internationally we were actually in agreement – the approach has to be global and, in sectors exposed to international competition , companies need to be treated equitably.

But when it comes to the current phase of trading and the cancelling of permits, to tighten the cap and reduce pollution, views diverged.

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This week involved a trip to Brussels to take part in a stake holder event focused on the question of what kind of international agreement should follow on from Kyoto.

Part of the day involved an update on the science which was, as ever, quite depressing. Everything is happening faster than the models predicted. As if to confirm this, my inbox this morning contained the headlines – “Arctic temperatures at record levels” - air temperatures this Autumn are 5 degrees C warmer than normal and the Greenland summer melt this year broke records in terms of its extent and duration. And “Sea's Acidity Rising 100 Times Faster Than in Past” - according to a UNESCO report issued yesterday the acidification of the world’s oceans, caused by the absorption of huge volumes of carbon dioxide, is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, threatening marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of tens of millions of people.

All cheery stuff.

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This week we had some good news – our very first fundraising application was successful. This means we now have the resources to take set up an office. Until now we have been a working from home and in places we like with free wi-fi  ( I’d recommend the Regent pub on Liverpool Road)  - an arrangement which has worked well but which really isn’t sustainable. So this week we were visiting potential offices and weighing up pros and cons. We could take up residence on ‘Silicon Roundabout’ with some exciting new web start ups, or take advantage of the serviced offices provided by the Ethical Property Company also in Old St. While we make our minds up it’s likely we’ll take up temporary residence at one of the ‘hubs’ in Angel and Kings Cross where there are lots of like-minded organisations. The Kings Cross venue has just opened and is a more social space complete with bar/coffee shop.

On the campaign front I was at a dinner hosted by PR firm Hills and Knowlton this week and was chatting to Dr Stuart Smith, their Head of Corporate Practice, who mentioned that he believed the firm 3M had at some stage adopted a corporate policy not to sell spare emissions permits.

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