To see photos of the day, go here.

The planting, of 9,000 plants over four hectares, was the first to be carried out on Parks Victoria land, and the first to be carried out in an urban area - this time in Axford Road in the City of Knox, 30 kilometres east of Melbourne.

The dedicated efforts of the volunteers who came from the financial services, communications and automotive industries, among others, made the first steps toward restoring resilient and diverse ecosystems on land which had been cleared for farming.

Brendan Condon, founder of Climate Positive, was thrilled with the overwhelming interest among offset partners in this year’s annual planting day.

“We love involving our offset partners in our annual planting days, which replant permanently protected, biodiverse forests, because it helps us to deal with historical carbon debt,” Mr Condon said.

“This is also a day of firsts for us and we are very pleased to be partnering with Parks Victoria for the first time,” he said.

Climate Positive has restored a total of 40 hectares of biodiverse forest.

Previous ‘Going Positive’ planting days have been held on private land in the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland, Victoria, where some of the world’s tallest forests once stood.

In 2008 in the Strezlecki Ranges, offset partners planted nearly 12,000 trees - a wide range of understorey species - over the course of two and a half days.

Climate Positive is a not-for-profit organisation which partners with business and families to take a positive step to reduce global warming through plantings, offsetting and climate education.

For every tonne of carbon offset with Climate Positive, the company will purchase and surrender a tonne of accredited abatement, and plant 4m2 of forest on cleared land which is protected from future development.

She said the Good Business Register^TM will “promote and link through to [Climate Positive’s] carbon calculator for small business within the environmental principle five - specifically within the ‘measure and monitor’ focus area.”

St James Ethics Centre’s National Responsible Business Practice Project, funded by the Federal Government through Treasury, enables the Centre to engage Australian businesses in identifying and adopting more responsible business practices.

The Good Business Register^TM forms a part of this project and is a simple, free and secure online tool that has been designed specifically for small to medium sized business.

The tool has been created to help increase awareness of responsible business practices and produce sustainability reports that can be used in the tender and procurement process to communicate the unique aspects of a business to procurers, clients, staff and community.

Climate Positive welcomes the use of our online carbon calculator by St James Ethics Centre as a tool to engage Australian businesses - particularly small and medium sized companies, whose resources are often more limited.

Visit http://thehub.ethics.org.au/ Visit the Good
Business Register^TM http://goodbusinessregister.com.au/
To measure your business’s carbon footprint, visit http://www.climatepositive.org/measure/

If you have more than 20 employees, please contact us and we will put you in touch with a reputable carbon accountant to perform a tailored audit of your emissions.

“Eighty per cent of our staff took part in the competition in some way,”
Matt said. “And while the competition encouraged employees to reduce their carbon footprint, its primary objective was to engage them on VicSuper’s approach to managing its carbon impact.”

Matt attributes the success of ‘Biggest Carbon Loser’ to encouraging team work and healthy competition, while enabling staff to further identify ways to reduce their carbon footprint in their everyday lives.

While the ‘Biggest Carbon Loser’ competition succeeded in helping employees reduce their carbon footprint, it also assisted in engaging staff in the company’s approach to managing its carbon impact.

Similar events are planned to further encourage employee engagement and behaviour change.

VicSuper is a Climate Positive offset partner and has committed to measure, reduce and offset its emissions each year and to continue to report its progress in its annual sustainability report.

The Biggest Carbon Loser falls under VicSuper’s broader Carbon Management Strategy which includes the not-for-profit organisation’s commitment to make its operations carbon neutral from the 2007/08 financial year onwards.

According to Matt, VicSuper managed to reduce its annual emissions by 6.8%
(97.6 tonnes) between 2007/08 and 2008/09 via a number of key initiatives including energy efficiency improvements, the replacement of a number of IT servers in the Melbourne office and a significant reduction of paper use.

More detail is available in VicSuper’s Sustainability Report (on page 99) at www.sustainabilityreport.vicsuper.com.au

VicSuper Fund is one of Australia’s fastest growing superannuation funds with over 251,000 members and $7.3 billion in net assets as at 31 March 2010.

Danielle Johnston, general manager, bought an indoor compost bin which accepts all food waste (including cooked food, meat, fish and cheese) and produces nutrient-rich compost, minus the usual foul, compost smells http://www.bokashi.com.au/How-Bokashi-works.htm

Founder Brendan Condon continues to save emissions driving a fuel-efficient and carbon-offset Smart Car on loan from offset-partner Mercedes-Benz. http://www.mercedes-benz.com.au/carbonzero/

Reading…

- David Spratt’s excellent climate change media summary, a weekly service of CarbonEquity and the Climate Action Centre Melbourne. Sign up at www.carbonequity.info

- James Hansen’s “Storms of my Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity”. www.stormsofmygrandchildren.com

- Liz Minchin’s book “Screw Light Bulbs” showing how “everyone - from individuals to businesses and governments, in small towns and big cities - can make a difference”. http://www.isbs.com/partnumber.asp?cid=29272&pnid=317744

To win a copy of Liz’s book, be the first person to send an email to info@climatepositive.org with ‘screw light bulbs’ in the subject line

Becoming fans of…

-Cape Paterson Ecovillage - Australia’s first zero-carbon housing development in Victoria’s South Gippsland, co-created by Climate Positive’s founder, Brendan Condon. And we’re hoping for a reversal of the recent VCAT decision which sent a message that Victoria is not serious about tackling a major source of emissions and creating a low-carbon future. http://www.capepatersonecovillage.com.au/about-us/

- Marieka Jacobs, our former Partnerships Manager, now writing about surfing and sustainability and building a more sustainable community on an island in Indonesia - well done Marieka! http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/409/458/5652/2/104/0/

- The Plastiki expedition making its way from San Francisco to Sydney, on 12,5000 recycled water bottles, to help us recognise that “waste is fundamentally a design flaw”. www.theplastiki.com

- Green Elves, the carbon offset, chemical-free cleaning company now keeping our offices ship-shape, and CitySwitch, to which we are now a signatory http://www.cityswitch.net.au/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=X9yn%2fLFXTEs%3d&tabid=1131&language=en-AU

With the Balook site planting completed and Bush Family Reserve in Stratford nearing completion, Climate Positive is recruiting green thumbs for the annual planting day on Wednesday, 26 May, only 30kms east of Melbourne.

Volunteers are invited to come along for either of the two planting sessions.

The morning planting session will commence at 9.30am and finish, after lunch, at 1.30pm. The afternoon session will start at 12 with lunch and conclude by 3.30pm.

Planting volunteers will be treated to a botanist’s talk on the planting area’s indigenous species, as well as how these trees, grasses and shrubs will contribute to bringing down our ‘historical carbon debt’.

Come along and stand side by side other committed Climate Positive partners as they make a positive difference.

Just 20 places are available at the planting day so bookings are essential.

Lunch and morning or afternoon tea will be provided.

We invite each volunteer to make a $50 donation to enable Climate Positive to fulfill its promise to protect and conserve the natural environment by raising awareness and educating individuals and businesses about reducing their carbon dioxide emissions and taking active steps to offset carbon emissions.

To reserve your place, please contact danielle@climatepositive.org or phone 03 9698 5700.

Details about the exact location of the planting and what to bring and wear on the day will be provided.

To make a donation, please visit http://www.climatepositive.org/gift-certificates/

To learn more about Climate Positive’s ‘Going Positive’ program, visit http://www.climatepositive.org/planting-sites/

We look forward to hearing from you.

The NGO is currently researching the societal transformations and solutions needed to achieve a safe climate at emergency speed.

Launched by Al Gore in Melbourne in July 2009, Safe Climate Australia is assembling Australia’s best climate-science talent who share an understanding of the scientific and moral imperatives for emergency action.

Safe Climate Australia foresees a decade of structural change to restore a safe climate via rapidly decarbonising economic activity and deploying effective methods to draw down large volumes of existing, damaging atmospheric carbon pollution.

In November 2009, just before Copenhagen, the profile of Safe Climate Australia was lifted by an event called the Run for a Safe Climate, a 6000km super marathon by 25 emergency service workers from Cooktown to Melbourne via Adelaide.

Climate Positive offset partner Mercedes-Benz generously took on the role of official automotive partner of Safe Climate Australia and Advertising Manager Olivia McLean joined the run from Cooktown to Gladstone, Qld..

The Run succeeded in raising awareness about risks we face from global warming, and potential solutions readily available all over Australia.

To view videos taken at the launch of Safe Climate Australia or during the Run for a Safe Climate, please visit www.safeclimateaustralia.org or www.runforasafeclimate.org

To read about the moral and business case for supporting Safe Climate Australia and to support this vitally important research, visit www.safeclimateaustralia.org

The partners of the initiative “H2 Mobility” are Daimler, EnBW, Linde, OMV, Shell, Total, Vattenfall and the NOWGmbH National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology. Thereby the co-operation is also open for further partners interested in the project.
In recent years significant progress has been made in Germany with the development of hydrogen based technologies in the mobility sector, identifying the country as a potential start-market in the context of a broader European perspective.

This has been made possible by the continuous commitment of a significant number of industrial stakeholders and comprehensive support by the German government with the common aim of preparing for the commercialization of electric vehicles with fuel cell and embedding hydrogen- and fuel cell technologies in the future powertrain portfolio.
Current demonstration projects like the Clean Energy Partnership involving fuel retail companies, utility providers and engineering companies have shown that the production, storage, transportation and deployment of efficient equipment for compressed gaseous hydrogen are technically feasible.
Moreover, leading automobile manufacturers recently announced a joint statement on the development and market introduction of electric vehicles with fuel cell. From 2015 onwards they anticipate several hundred thousand units over life cycle on a worldwide basis.

The MoU goes back to a joint initiative by Daimler and Linde aimed at providing sufficient hydrogen fuelling station infrastructure, which is the key to establishing electric vehicles with fuel cell on the market.

The MoU comprises two phases.

Phase One includes the evaluation of options for an area-wide roll-out of hydrogen fuelling stations in Germany and the definition of a joint business plan agreement including an analysis of possible public support measures.
In Phase One partners intend to leverage plans to install new hydrogen fuelling stations by 2011. This will take place within the framework of the German economic stimulus package (Konjunkturpaket II) and other national and state programs to jointly address standardization and cost reduction issues.

Subject to the positive and satisfactory outcome of such a business case agreement the partners will implement the corresponding action plan in Phase Two. The nation-wide roll-out of hydrogen fuelling stations will be continued; supporting the introduction of series produced hydrogen powered vehicles in Germany around 2015.

Exemplifying the excellent efficiency and environmental compatibility of the current Mercedes-Benz product line up is the new E-Class Estate, which celebrated its world premiere at the world’s largest auto show and is among the event’s most anticipated new models.

Refined driving pleasure is delivered by the E 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY with as little as 5.7 litres per 100 kilometres and 150 grams CO2 per kilometre. The new E-Class Estate enters the market with a choice of five powerful and fuel-efficient power units - three diesels and two petrol engines, including the V6 petrol direct injection unit in the E 350 BlueEFFICIENCY. Further engines, including four-cylinder petrol units, will follow.

“Our new E-Class Estate offers the perfect combination of elegance and space and is equally impressive when it comes to efficient and environmentally compatible drivelines,” says Dr. Klaus Maier, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing for Mercedes-Benz Cars.

“Since 1977, our station wagon has been the most elegant way to drive an estate car. This has been experienced by more than one million Mercedes customers so far, and it goes without saying that the fifth generation also comes with the same comprehensive safety equipment as the saloon version.”

With the E-Class Estate, Mercedes-Benz is driving forward its “green” product offensive launched at the IAA 2007. Mercedes customers can now choose from a broad range of 58 exceptionally fuel-efficient BlueEFFICIENCY models - from A-Class through S-Class.

Dr. Zetsche again, “Overall, we have already sold more than 190,000 BlueEFFICIENCY vehicles. And every single one of them keeps the promise made by our BlueEFFICIENCY badge - the very highest levels of efficiency and cleanliness. Next year, our BlueEFFICIENCY fleet will grow to a total of 76 vehicles - which is almost half of the entire Mercedes-Benz line up.”

Vision S 500 Plug-in HYBRID - a three-litre car in the luxury class: With the unveiling in Frankfurt of the Vision S 500 Plug-in HYBRID, Mercedes-Benz demonstrates that large, safe and refined automobiles do indeed have a future.

The close-to-production prototype of the innovative plug-in hybrid driveline enables a fuel consumption of only 3.2 litres of petrol per 100 kilometres and an electric-only range of 30 kilometres.

Dr. Zetsche, “The roughly 370 hp S 500 Plug-in HYBRID offers a clear glimpse of the future for luxury automobiles ‘Made in Germany’. Green technologies in fascinating vehicles for the most demanding customers - that is our approach, and we are sticking steadfastly to it.”

AAP

More firefighters will be killed as they face increasingly unpredictable bushfires caused by climate change, a union says.

In the wake of a new report linking catastrophic bushfires and climate change, the NSW Fire Brigade Employees Union said government inaction was putting firefighters’ lives at risk.

Union secretary Jim Casey said existing fire techniques were struggling to cope with the catastrophic fire dangers.

“To be quite blunt, we don’t know really know how to fight them,” he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

“Firefighters don’t know what to do when faced with a fire danger we have never faced before.

“Climate change is making it much harder and more difficult, and more firefighters will be hurt and possibly killed.”

The Future Risk report, co-authored by the union and environmental group Greenpeace, claims the frequency of severe danger days rated severe or higher will triple in Australia if no action is taken on climate change.

It states that temperatures across the country will still rise two degrees celsius even if the federal government’s pledge to cut Australia’s carbon emissions by five to 25 per cent by 2020 becomes the new global treaty.

That would still mean the approximate number of severe fire days would double in southeastern Australia, it says.

Mr Casey said the government needed to ban the construction of any new coal-fired power stations and begin investing in clean, renewable energy.

“We are calling on (Prime Minister) Kevin Rudd to cut emissions or else men and women are being put on heightened risk, and that’s unacceptable,” he said.

“We are happy to do our job but we are not happy to is become more difficult than it already is.”

A COMPANY wants to build a multimillion-dollar tidal power project in the Top End.

Territory-based Tenax says it could potentially generate enough electricity to supply 194,000 homes - more than exist in the NT.

It has applied for an environmental assessment of the scheme at Clarence Strait at Glyde Point, 50km northeast of Darwin.

More than 450 generators would be installed across 1690ha of the seabed and connected to the NT’s electricity grid by 2km-long underground cables.

Each generator would sit on a 14m x 21m x 3m-high concrete and steel base.

Clarence Strait was selected for two reasons:

IT HAS the greatest tidal velocity near Darwin, with tidal movements of up to 5m; and

IT HAS the minimum 20m depth needed for tidal power.

An assessment of the project by consultant URS says: “Tidal energy is a clean, renewable energy source that has the advantage over others forms of renewable energy, such as wind, solar and wave energy generation, of being highly predictable and reliable.

“The times at which the generators can operate - around 70 per cent of the time in Clarence Strait - can be forecast with exceptional accuracy, years in advance.

“Investing in this type of power generating technology has the security of a pre-defined electricity output.

“This highly reliable form of renewable energy generates power without producing greenhouse gases and has a nominal environmental impact.”

Tidal power projects are under way in America, Britain, New Zealand, Canada and Korea.

The concept was developed by a British university but Tenax would use a Canadian system.