CSIRO Staff Association tackles carbon offsets

After directions from the Staff Association council, the Association has begun to offset all of the carbon emissions caused by travel using the company climate positive. 

CSIRO Staff Association - Going Positive commitment

Climate Positive replant permanently protected, biodiverse forests on cleared land to deal with historical carbon debt, and to build ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change. For every tonne of carbon offset with Climate Positive, they will purchase and surrender a tonne of accredited abatement, and plant 4m2 of forest of cleared land on Trust for Nature covenanted properties.

Trust for Nature covenants are legally and permanently protecting forests for future generations. This will preserve the biodiversity and carbon benefits of Going Positive planting projects.

Climate Positive has developed a number of planting policies to guide land selection, planting processes and species selection.

In order to learn more about climate positive please click the following icon

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Global Warming Campaign Engaging Members

The Staff Association is continuing to develop aspects of its Global Warming action plan. The plan aims to identify and support practical measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, either within the Staff Association’s operations (internal focus) or within CSIRO and government (external focus). Working groups of members have been established to coordinate both the internal and external campaigns. Please contact any of the members of the working groups to get more information and provide your input on global warming ideas:

Some members have already provided the Association with a range of useful ideas in areas such as building design and operations at CSIRO, greener car fleets, modulated air travel as well as other transport suggestions. A number of members are seeking to make a difference within CSIRO and are engaging with their colleagues in the workplace.

Janet Bishop (CMAR, QLD), Paul Hobson (IM&T, VIC) and Peter Osman (BD, NSW) are just three members who are having a go:

Janet Bishop’s idea about car sharing

Background

• Reduction in car ownership reduces adverse environmental impacts of cars, including carbon dioxide emissions, air pollution, and traffic congestion.
• "Car share" in Europe or "car clubs" in UK have been trialed for quite a few years, with some successful commercial ventures. At the same time increasing health and wealth of members.
• The idea is that many people would choose not to own a car at all if they knew they had access to one occasionally. Or those families would reduce from two cars to one car.
• The way it can work: every member is a part owner, noted on the registration and insurance. Car is parked in an accessible location. Members book their use (by phone or online). Every member has a car key, which includes an electronic ID tag – car wont start without this. The key therefore monitors who is driving, time period, monitors speed, mileage. Therefore petrol usage, and any traffic violations or accidents are unarguably connected to the driver who is responsible. Membership fees involve a joining fee, an annual subscription, and monthly billing to pay for petrol used and any extra use. People get a base allocation of monthly usage, which they can trade if there are months that they don’t want to use the vehicle. There is a “car nanny” who organizes services, cleaning, etc.
• In the US and Australia car share clubs are often thought to be unviable because so many people have a strong emotional attachment to their car and because our urban areas are so spread out that it is difficult to live without a car. Nevertheless, even in the USA there are some successful car share organizations. In Australia the idea still has relatively little profile even though there are car shares in Newtown, Sydney, and proposals for Brisbane and Melbourne.

From research into car share and car clubs, it is possible to identify exceptional situations in Australia where car share may work. I believe CSIRO workplaces may be one of these circumstances. Things to consider, however, are:

• It's not for everyone, particularly people who identify strongly with their personal vehicle. However, definitely of interest to two-car families who want to cut down to one car.
• Requires easy walking distance from members to where the car is usually parked.
• Car per members ratio (usually clubs aim to be large, so several cars are available for peak period use, and also to cope with one or two cars away on extended trips). Larger clubs can offer a variety of vehicles, including sedan, station wagon, ute, van etc.
• Best when the community has high levels of trust and an ethic of community responsibility.
• Difficult to maintain membership. This is because after a few years people gradually rearrange their lives so they don’t need a car so much. (experience from Europe where there is higher density living and good public transport). This is why sponsored clubs are likely to be the best way to go, rather than to aim for full commercial viability. Sponsors could include building developers, employers or other workplace-based arrangements.
• People are most likely to join at a time when they are having a crisis with their current car, or otherwise need to replace it, i.e. they think about joining for some time but there is a particular trigger that prompts action.
• Would have to start small and aim for long term. Those who are interested may not be ready to join for a few years until their current car gets old, or their family expands etc.
• Some clubs try to have all new/large/expensive cars. Others try to have low cost vehicles because their members are generally environmentally conscious. Therefore, membership needs to be canvassed on the type of vehicles.

Also from research into rural car share in the UK, which equates approximately to the suburban situation in Australia:

• There needs to be flexibility in pick-up and drop-off options, for example relating to public transport options, getting to and from airports, option to “garage at home” occasionally, possibility to transport bikes.
• Possibly combine with delivery options, as part of a whole strategy to reduce the number of car trips that are needed.

Paul Hobson has his say

Paul Hobson (IM&T, VIC) has been inspired by the movie Inconvenient Truth to take action locally:

"After seeing an Inconvenient Truth (as many of you have no doubt seen in the last 6 months) I was inspired to eliminate my carbon debt to the planet, not only at home, but also at work. I contacted my team in IT and suggested that we could chip-in to offset our annual rate of usage on a per person basis.

As the Enterprise Service desk team is split into two cells (CMIS, Clayton and Forestry House, Yarralumla), gaining a practical estimate of our usage in our offices and per person has been extremely difficult. I have endeavoured to contact site services but was really only met with percentages and fairly lack-lustre figures.

In recent months, after speaking to a few more staff within the organisation dealing with CSIRO's 'compliance' to environmental standards, there seems to be a trend of implementing more environmentally friendly devices/infrastructure within CSIRO - water saving toilets and urinals, LED lighting etc. However the actual usage of green power isn't likely to be raised above 5% organisation wide, even though such options exist and are available to CSIRO.

In light of these facts, I would be happy to contribute a part of my pay to offset my impact on the environment while working here at CSIRO, but I find it a tad disappointing that CSIRO is more into compliance than setting the scene for organisations and government departments Australia wide."

Peter Osman is involving delegates

Peter Osman (BD, NSW) involved other members when he recently gave a global warming presentation to North Ryde delegates, which is available at http://www.energyclimate.com. The presentation gives a comprehensive overview of the causes, impacts and potential responses to global warming. It is a useful reference for members who want to present and discuss similar information with colleagues in the workplace. Visit the website and contact Peter if you would like further information.

Get involved

Please support members like Janet, Paul and Peter who are inspired to make a difference on this critically important issue and continue to provide feedback to the Staff Association. Importantly, the Staff Association’s campaign is also part of a wider union initiative, both within the CPSU and the ACTU, to lobby for urgent action in Australia to address global warming. Further updates of the overall campaigns will be provided to members in due course. Stay informed, get involved, and get others to join the union!