Cashing in on global warming

By BRIAN FALLOW

Business opportunities and cost savings arising out of moves to combat global warming could be worth more than $350 million a year to New Zealand, says the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.

In a report released yesterday, the council highlighted:

* Energy savings in commercial buildings which, even with an investment hurdle of a 20 per cent internal rate of return, could save $109 million a year.

* Improved efficiency in feed conversion efficiency by sheep and cattle. A 1 per cent improvement in productivity should be worth $127 million a year in extra milk, meat and wool, while sparing the atmosphere the greenhouse gas equivalent of the emissions from 1 million car exhausts.

* Wood waste in the forestry industry, if used for processing heat, could represent cost savings of about $75 million a year.

* If exports to the European Union, whose members ratified the Kyoto Protocol last week, increased 1 per cent as a result of an enhanced "clean, green" image, that would be worth about $50 million.

The council's report includes case studies from six of its members: BP, Hubbard Foods, Milburn Cement, Meridian Energy, Landcare Research (a crown research institute) and Urgent Couriers.

It identifies opportunities in the provision of services and knowledge, as businesses get to grips with the arcane new world of emission reductions.

Intellectual property may arise from research such as the discovery that fodder rich in tannins may reduce methane emissions from livestock.

Consultancy work should arise under Kyoto's "clean development mechanisms" whereby credits can be earned for climate-friendly projects in developing countries that would not otherwise have occurred.

New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development

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