coolmelbourne.org

You know the green movement has hit the big time when flashy investors start getting involved. One of the latest - Carbon War Room - is a so-called "philanthropic initiative" started by SunEdison founder Jigar Shah and financially backed by Richard Branson.

The Carbon War Room aims to harnesses the power of entrepreneurs to implement market-driven solutions to climate change, rather than waiting for governments to legislate.

The first target of The War Room is shipping: while major financiers beyond Mr. Branson have not yet been named, the group is already pushing to mandate a “ship efficiency rating system” that will label commercial vessels according to how much pollution they emit. The expectation, of course, is that this type of information will be a step toward making the industry more efficient.

Shipping accounts for 3% of global emissions and is highly inefficient in terms of its use of fuel, according to Peter Boyd, the director of operations for the Carbon War Room, who added that there was a need for entrepreneurs to retrofit existing ships and build new, more efficient ones.

Overall, The War Room has identified seven streams that it hopes to tackle in the future. These include: electricity, transport, built environment, industry, land use, emerging economies, and carbon management.


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