As a follow-up to the today's earlier post, an article in the Toronto Star is very interesting in that sheds light on a recently-released World Bank survey - which documents an 'astonishing' growth in carbon-trading activity.

According to the survey, buying and selling of emission credits in the first nine months of this year (worth $24.6 billion) were double what they were in all of last year....

The volume of trading has surprised even the head of the International Emissions Trading Association.

"The market," says president and chief executive Andrei Marcu, "is ... catalyzing green investments at a more rapid pace than we expected."

It signals that carbon trading has become a powerful force in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The best news of all is that 12.6 per cent of global reductions resulted from lowering emission levels of new projects in China.

To place these figures in perspective, Chinese reductions over nine months equal the total annual emissions from generating electricity in Canada (130 megatonnes), and almost equal to the annual emissions from transportation (145 megatonnes).

Taking a back-step from the World Bank report theme, it's interesting to note the closing paragraphs of the above Canadian article, where the reporter bemoans the fact that despite being a per-capita 'big boy' in regards to emissions, their inaction has leant no contribution to the positive figures above.

The World Bank report is particularly acerbic about Canada. It notes that "Canadian buyers are still conspicuous by their absence (from the trading system)."

As for the rest of the world, it says "public buyers (governments) are likely to become more prominent in the market in the coming year or two."

It should be embarrassing to Canadians to be singled out as missing in action.

This theme is increasingly common in news reports, like this Australian article, where the Sydney Morning Herald columnist compares his own nation's apathy to the determination of another (Norway).

If governments are letting the world down, however, it doesn't necessarily mean the citizenry are idly standing by! This encouraging report from InTheseTimes.com gives a fantastic demonstration of local ingenuity.

Rocky Anderson - Proactive Mayor of Salt Lake City

One aspect of the Green program, the Local Climate Action Plan, has decreased the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by more than 23,000 tons. The city [Salt Lake City] purchased 1.5 million kilowatts of wind power and upgraded its traffic signals to a new type of light, light-emitting diodes or LEDs, that will save the city more than $50,000 each year. The city has also decreased the amount of energy demanded from coal-fired power plants—and saved taxpayers more than $33,000 a year—by switching to compact fluorescent bulbs at the City and County Building. In 2005, Salt Lake City had already achieved the Kyoto goal of reducing its global warming pollution by 7 percent by 2012—seven years early.

“We’re at a major turning point,” Anderson says. “Now we need to move toward zero emissions. It’s absolutely possible. We have the ability. We need the will.”

“There have got to be major changes [so we can] catch up with the rest of the world economy,” Anderson continues. If more localities get “on-board with local communities and people see [what’s] accomplished, it will be very difficult for the federal government not to get on-board. We can solve the most urgent problem facing our world today.”

Anderson hasn’t been alone in this fight. More than 30 mayors across the country met in Sundance, Utah, from November 12-14 for the Sundance Summit, which aims to drive climate protection through local action. The summit is building on efforts begun in February 2005, when Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels drafted the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. The agreement includes provisions to reduce global warming pollution levels to 7 percent below 1990 levels before 2012 and calls on Congress to decrease greenhouse gas emissions using bipartisan legislation. By August 10, 279 mayors representing over 48.5 million Americans had endorsed the agreement, pledging to “strive to meet or exceed Kyoto Protocol targets for reducing global warming pollution by taking actions” locally.

One of those signatories, Patrick Henry Hays, mayor of North Little Rock, believes the issue of global warming crosses party lines. “Climate change is not about right or left, but what is important for this country,” Hays says. “Everybody loves their children.”

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