Dole Food Company, Inc., which claims to be the world’s largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, announced last week that it has introduced bananas grown on Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms in Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala.

Rainforest Alliance Certified farms have met the standards of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), a coalition of leading conservation groups that links responsible farmers with conscientious consumers. Rainforest Alliance certification promotes sustainable farm management and incorporates a range of environmental, social and economic standards, including water and soil conservation, wildlife protection, decent wages, housing and healthcare for farm workers, and access to education for farm children.

Unfortunately the Rainforest Alliance certified bananas are so far available only in the US and the UK, though if enough people ask their grocer perhaps they will also be introduced to Canada.

More details at http://www.dolecsr.com/PressSection/PressReleases/April272011/tabid/5963/Default.aspx

and at http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/

Transparency International, the highly respected global ngo working against corruption, recently released a very detailed report entitled Global Corruption Report: Climate Change.

The report notes that the changes needed to resolve the climate change issue will involve huge amounts of money, perhaps as much as $700 billion by 2020, and thousands of agencies at the local, national, and international level. The report notes that where huge amounts of money flow there is almost always the opportunity for corruption. To address this risk TI recommends:
– Generating and making publicly available accurate information.
– Tracking, benchmarking and comparing the capacity and performance of emitters, regulators, funders and governments.
–  Matching capacity at all levels to the scale of the challenge.
–  Anchoring climate governance firmly in existing frameworks for integrity and accountability.

Much important detail is contained in the body of this important report. For example, about the Clean Development Mechanism, one of the key and most important elements of the current Kyoto Protocol process and one in which Canada played a key role, TI states:

“At the board level of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Adaptation Fund, there is no room for any independent oversight of decision-making. In terms of funding, developed states are accused of failing to account for the source of ‘new and additional’ pledges, leading to accusations that they are diverted from official development assistance (ODA) commitments and double-counted as both development and climate funding.”

“Conflict of interest is a pervasive corruption risk in climate governance at the international and national level.”

“At the international level, CDM Executive Board members are not excluded from occupying conflicting positions, such as membership of national approval boards,  for example. Validators of CDM or REDD projects may have a potential conflict of interest as they are required to be paid by project developers, rather than out of a common pool, thus raising the risk of actually increasing emissions. In the CDM, designated national authorities (DNAs) can, for instance, serve in ministries for industry or finance.”

About carbon markets, TI states:

“Policy capture and undue influence are fundamental risks. The scale of the transition has created powerful national lobby groups, which can adversely affect progress through undue political influence, media manipulation and the funding of front organizations.  .  .  .  .  Where carbon markets have been established, market players are seen seen to be involved in setting the rules to their benefit. As a result of lobbying activities, the power sector, for example, has a surplus of permits far above its actual emissions in Europe.”

The Report can be downloaded from http://www.transparency.org/publications/gcr/gcr_climate_change2#Full

Speaking today at  “The Future of Food” conference at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, H.R.H. Prince Charles said that a long hard look is needed in the way public subsidies are geared in the food system. He said that his concern is that we seek to provide the healthiest food possible from the healthiest environments possible. He pointed out that sustainable management of fisheries, such as the North Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, can provide much greater economic returns than unsustainable fishery practices.

Prince Charles asked whether it is responsible in the long term to have much of our food supply coming from highly centralized production systems.

Arguing in favour of smallholder production he urged strengthening economic and environmental diversity to protect from potential food system shocks. There are alternative ways to growing our food that could strengthen the resilience of our agriculture, marine and energy systems. He urged including in the bottom line the true costs of food production and the full costs of environmental services: Accounting for Sustainability. His presentation drew on several UN studies on the capacity of organic production systems to meet the world’s need for food and on the ways to avoid market failures in food production systems. He said that we have to do more today to avoid the catastrophes of tomorrow and this means putting nature at the heart of our food production system.

The Prince’s speech can be seen and heard at http://washingtonpostlive.com/conferences/food/live

Last Fall Greenpeace USA filed suit in federal court in the District of Columbia alleging that Dow Chemical Company, Sasol North America, and their public relations companies Ketchum Inc. and Dezenhall Resources, Ltd., as well as various individuals, had engaged in corporate espionage activities against the environmental group. The suit is currently working its way through the court.

Greenpeace alleges that “between 1998 and 2000, defendants conspired to and did surveil, infiltrate and steal confidential information from Greenpeace with the intention of preempting, blunting or thwarting its environmental campaigns. These unlawful activities included trespassing on the property of Greenpeace, infiltrating its offices, meetings and electronic communications under false pretenses and/or by force, and by these means, stealing confidential documents, data and trade secrets from Greenpeace.”

The suit is brought under the The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Greenpeace USA is seeking an injunction to prevent such activity by the defendants in the future as well as an amount of damages to be established.

Greenpeace suggests that the infiltration and theft of documents may have taken place so that the companies could gather information about, and attempt to influence, its environmental campaigns against vinyl chloride and genetically modified organisms.

Greenpeace USA also alleges that other groups and individuals, including Center for Food Safety, Friends ofthe Earth, GE Food Alert, and the National Environmental Trust were targeted in a similar way. The suit does not mention any Canadian groups and does not present any evidence that Canadian groups, activists or scientists were similarly targeted.

Gallon Environment Letter will be following the court case and will report on the outcomes.

There is additional background information pertinent to this case in Mother Jones magazine at http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/11/greenpeace-sues-dow-sasol-dezenhall-ketchum-spying

and at http://motherjones.com/environment/2008/04/exclusive-cops-and-former-secret-service-agents-ran-black-ops-green-groups

The Greenpeace USA complaint can be found at http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/Global/usa/planet3/PDFs/SpyGate/GP%20Complaint,%20final%20revised%2010%2029%2010.pdf

While some pesticide fanatics are urging the return of DDT to fight bedbugs, an insane solution from an environmental perpective, CNN has published a useful article identifying some non-chemical or low-risk solutions for dealing with infestations of bedbugs. Entitled Bedbugs: Bring ’em on!, the article provides information about seven small businesses in the US that have developed a range of bedbug solutions. Some of the companies provide a service in a region of the USA while others provide products. Even if the products or services are not provided where you are located, the article may provide some ideas to help you deal with a bedbug infestation in a more environmentally sound way whenever and wherever you have a problem.

The article is located at  http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/smallbusiness/1104/gallery.bedbugs_business/

Please not that Gallon Environment Letter (GL) does not endorse the products and services mentioned in this article. GL’s parent company does provide an environmental review of products and services on payment of appropriate fees. See http://www.cialgroup.com  for more information.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India has issued a directive that all large corporations and public sector projects must have an environmental policy in place.

Companies will be required to:
(i) Adopt well laid down Corporate Environment Policy;
(ii) Ensure, as a part of this Policy, adherence with the environmental
clearances and forestry clearances wherever applicable, granted to the Company;
(iii) Ensure that inter-alia the Company functions in conformity with
the Policy;
(iv) Ensure that deviations, if any, from this Policy and cases of
violations of environmental and forestry clearances conditions that have
been found by this Ministry or other public authorities should be
duly reported to its Board of Directors and desirably reflected thereafter
on its website and its Annual Report;
(v) Identify and designate responsible person(s) at all levels of their
hierarchy for ensuring adherence to this Policy and compliance with
Environmental Laws and Regulations.

The policy will apply to companies and projects in the following sectors:
(i) All Central Public Service Undertakings
(ii) All Major Projects
• Coal Based Thermal Power Plants with capa city of 500 MW and above
• Integrated Steel Plants with capacity of 1 MTPA and above and
• Cement Plant with capacity of 3 MTPA and above
• Petroleum Refining Industries
and may be applied to projects in other sectors on a case by case basis.

The policy appears to apply equally to foreign companies operating in India as to domestic companies.

Wikipedia provides what it claims to be a current List of public sector undertakings in India at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Public_Sector_Undertakings_in_India

The policy directive itself may be found at http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/corporate-env-res.pdf

The US administration announced this week that it is moving to tighten regulation of water quality. The new rules are likely to have greatest impact on those discharging directly or indirectly to the oceans or to major rivers and lakes. In the US jurisdiction over water quality is a major political issue.

The new US Environmental Protection Agency initiative is only one among many water quality initiatives that can be expected over the next five years. In Canada, within the next five years Gallon Letter expects provincial environment ministries to require additional pre-treatment of water before it is discharged to surface waters. Municipalities are toughening allowable discharges to sewers, in part to reduce treatment costs, in part to protect crumbling wastewater collection infrastructure, and in part to improve the quality of sludge and make it easier to dispose of it. Unfortunately, a willingness to accept environmentally undesirable industrial discharges may, in the short term, become a competitive factor among municipalities eager for industrial development.

Bearing in mind the priority now being given to water quality, we suggest it would be wise for companies expanding plants or building new facilities to incorporate as much movement towards zero discharge of contaminated wastewater as is economically viable within a ten year time frame.

for detail of the new US commitment visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/2AB54D0018C3478A8525787F005B91FD

An article in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives reinforces the need for owners of diesel vehicle fleets to address black carbon emissions. Black carbon particles from diesel engines, cookstoves used in developing countries, and open burning have been identified as a significant contributor to global warming, falling into a category of agents known as Short-Lived Climate Forcings. New research suggests that SLCFs may be as important as agents of climate change than carbon dioxide.

About 77% of the estimated 8,000 kilotons of black carbon emitted globally every year come from the developing world but developed country emissions are also important regional contributors. For example, North American diesel emissions are contributing to the melting of the Greenland ice pack.

One initiative that can help reduce black carbon emissions is the installation of particle filters on older diesel trucks, as has been mandated in California. However, the costs of doing this are high, averaging almost $6,000 per truck, and this is only one approach to reducing black carbon emissions. Another may be accelerated scrappage of older trucks. President Obama has recently cut  funding for truck retrofits and early retirement.

Gallon Environment Letter will  be following up with a more detailed article about SCLFs and climate change in a future monthly issue.

The EHP article is available at http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.119-a172

The April issue of Gallon Environment Letter will be in emailboxes later today, if you are a paying subscriber, or tomorrow, if you are an Honoured Reader. The Honoured Reader edition  is our no-charge version with somewhat reduced content.

In this edition:
– analysis of party positions on the environment in this federal election campaign
– a summary of past Harper Government promises on climate change
– a review of the ‘open government’ issue
– the Canadian Index of Wellbeing
– Canadian Cancer Society joins the crusade against asbestos
– two letters to the editor, one on fuels and one correcting our mistake on toxic runoff in the Spring
– a review of the Ontario Environment Industry’s Still Ready to Grow report
– an overview of the Statistics Canada Households and the Environment Survey 2009
– cheap “environmentally-friendly” stone for drive and laneways creates a problem for users
– a funny story about a baby bullet!

As always, we welcome Letters to the Editor in response to any article or anything that should be an article.

The new issue of the Gallon Environment Letter will be posted at http://www.gallonletter.ca by the end of the month. If you would like to be on the Honoured Reader (free) subscription list beginning with the next issue send an email request to subscriptions@gallonletter.ca
Our online subscription order system is at http://www.gallonletter.ca/ and click on subscribe. 

Last week the United States Postal Service issued a set of first class postage stamps featuring simple ideas for people to reduce their environmental impact. The idea of using a frequently viewed label to increase social awareness of environmental issues and opportunities to reduce environmental footprints is one that Gallon Letter frequently recommends to brandowners and retailers.

The new US green stamps cover a range of issues:
– plant trees
– adjust the thermostat
– use public transportation
– buy local produce and reuse bags
– fix water leaks
– share rides
– turn off lights when not in use
– choose to walk
– compost
– dry washing on a line
– recycle more
– ride a bike
– plant trees
– insulate the home
– use efficient light bulbs
– adjust the thermostat
– maintain tire pressure
The overall theme. also on a stamp, is GO GREEN: reduce our environmental footprint USA .

USPS is something of a leader in corporate greening and is certanly setting an example for other companies. For more information visit http://www.usps.com/green/