GCX’s new Carbon Footprint Analyst Level 2 course will be launched in November this year. Have you already completed the Level 1 certification or conducted a business carbon footprint? CFA 2 is your next step to conduct more specialised carbon footprints and be able to analyse a large multi-national organisations carbon footprint.

With big business fast recognising the benefits of addressing and enhancing their triple bottom line performance, many small businesses struggle to understand the business case for going down the sustainability road. This is based on the misguided belief by small business owners that their carbon footprint is insignificant and therefore any action taken to mitigate this impact would be seemingly meaningless in the greater scheme of things. What can a small business do to unlock their Eco-advantage?

GCX MD, Ed Gluckman, was featured in this Business Day article discussing the importance of a carbon emissions reduction plan for companies. The goals set out in a carbon emissions reduction plan lead to actions that have a real impact in reducing a company’s carbon emissions. These goals fall under the categories of; employee education, fuel usage reduction, business travel review, water, waste and paper consumption reduction as well as reduction in electricity use.

GCX’s new Residential Eco-Auditor course will be launched in September this year and is the first of its kind in the country. The course will give learners the skills to convert any home into an efficient, sustainable, low impact, cost effective, green household. If you would like to WIN one of these courses, enter by sending us the name, surname and email address of a friend who you believe would be interested in receiving our newsletter. One name = one entry, the more entries you send in, the more chances you have to win. Click here to enter

10 Aug:  Cape Town - GCX Carbon Literacy Course
14 Sept:  Johannesburg - GCX Carbon Literacy Course
15 – 17 Sept: Johannesburg - GCX Carbon Footprint Analyst Course
21 - 23 Sept:  Cape Town - Residential Eco Auditor
05 Oct:  Cape Town - GCX Carbon Literacy Course
06 - 08 Oct:  Durban - GCX Carbon Footprint Analyst Course - NEW!

How are we going to achieve our 34% reduction target from business as usual scenario by 2020? Is it realistic and what price will we have to pay? This very interesting article highlights all the options available to us and their impacts on business and the economy as a whole.

The much talked about carbon tax to be introduced in South Africa will have wide-reaching consequences for business and for the economy. Webber Wenzel advises that “business players educate themselves on the important issues arising from a carbon tax, what the international best practices around these are, and how it should fit in with an overall mitigation policy." GCX’s Carbon Literacy course aims to provide the understanding that business people will need to operate in this low carbon economy.

South Africa's new environmental impact assessment (EIA) regulations came into effect on Monday, which the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) said started the official implementation process of a new regime aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of EIAs, in order to ensure that the impacts on the environment of development activities are evaluated carefully.

Premier Helen ZIlle has set her sights on some ambitious targets for the Western Cape over the next 4 years in order to achieve climate change mitigation targets. Generating electricity from renewable sources, reducing energy use in schools and hospitals and reducing the provincial product-to-carbon emission ratio are a few examples of the strategic plans in place. The six priority areas of the plan are: climate change, water management, pollution and waste management, biodiversity management, agricultural land use management and the built environment.

In a first for South Africa and maybe even the world, a multi-billion rand, green housing project that will be self- sustaining and completely powered by renewable energy is being planned for Saldanha Bay. With major industrial projects being planned for the area, the demand for housing will rise to accommodate the people working on these projects and what better way than through low cost, sustainable housing.

The World Cup has come and gone, leaving most of us feeling warm and fuzzy inside and slightly depressed that it was over so quickly. Despite the event being over, the legacy will live on. The total carbon emissions from the event have been estimated at a whopping 2,753,251 tons of CO2 with transportation making up the biggest percentage of the carbon footprint. The good news is, a large percentage of these emissions will be offset by planting trees around South Africa, as well as through various other offset projects such as the Do-inc/Lemnis Lighting/GCX LED retrofit programme.

The green tax to be placed on light vehicles (including pick-ups/bakkies) from September 1 is expected to earn the national fiscus an estimated R450-million in the 2010/11 financial year, says National Treasury spokesperson Jabulani Sikhakhane. The revenues collected will be used to fund general government priorities, including various environmental objectives.

Seafood restaurants are understandably concerned about the sustainability of their supply chain with over-fishing threatening the survival of many fish species. In South Africa, evidence of this can be seen in the number of species already on SASSI’s red list. With the demand for seafood rising globally, the 35 million or so people employed in the fishing industry and many around the world who rely on fish for food, it is clear that sustainable fishing practices must be found in order to ensure the longevity of the fishing industry.

Companies are attempting to motivate employees to do the “right,” or sustainable, thing when at work by increasing environmental and sustainability education and awareness and it is paying off with increased profits. Sustainability initiatives within large companies can increase profits by 38 percent so if you would like to create an environmental education and awareness programme for your employees, please do contact us to find out how.

Who’s the Greenest of them all? Wal-Mart was mentioned in an unaided question asked of 2500 ordinary American’s and a larger group of business executives in The Green Confidence Index. Seems as if the 2 groups think the same, but digging a little deeper reveals significant differences between who consumers see as green and who is admired by business executives. Consumers look close to home in naming green companies, the firms green executives admire most might be characterized as environmental activists. Food for thought when embarking on your green marketing strategy.

The $500 million global fund will help small- and medium-sized enterprises and private households in developing and threshold countries invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and enhance their energy resources. The fund will focus on countries that have a significant industrial basis and a large population, one of these being South Africa.

Australia has launched a national carbon neutral programme that will be part of a new National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) Under the CO2-neutral programme, businesses measure the carbon footprint of their organisation or product, monitor and work out ways to reduce emissions and buy and retire sufficient eligible carbon credits to offset the remaining emissions. One standard and label means no confusion for consumers who are baffled by the differences of the various means of carbon labelling out there.

Annie Leonard – The Story of Bottled Water

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