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Australian Platform News | |||
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Website and Member's Forum Launched
SAI Platform Australia's website officially went live in February at www.saiplatformaust.org. It provides useful information on the Australian chapter and its activities. Visit the site to find more out about membership information, events, working groups and sustainability news. As an extension of the website, a separate section called 'the members forum' has been set up exclusively for members as a central online information exchange. Members can post articles, presentations, videos, website links, correspond on a message board and find out about sustainability and SAI events. Online working groups are the next project enhancement for this section. |
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Membership base expands
SAI Platform Australia has welcomed a number of new members in recent months with the Australian chapter now comprising twelve members. We would like to welcome National Foods, Fosters Group, Rural Industries, Australian Pork Limited, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, One Harvest and Kellogg. The additional pool of knowledge and experience will provide a strong foundation for shared thinking on ways of improving agricultural sustainability practices and outcomes in Australia. Future issues of this newsletter will include profiles of our members. |
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Members in the news
Nestle has recently held a World Environment Day, on the 5 June distributing posters around their sites aiming to focus attention on the environment. To celebate at their Mulgrave site (Victoria), they asked Fieldforce to present half hour sessions throughout the day on saving energy and water at home and in the workplace. Field Force works with many government departments and other organizations to help educate our community on our impact on the environment. The presentation was for all staff, both in the factory and front office, across both shifts. They focused on practical, cost effective solutions to heating, hot water systems, cooling, use of electrical light, fridges etc. Each participant was given a show bag with a shower timer, thermometer, the new Nestle environmental policy And literature on simple steps to save energy and water. At their Gympie site (Queensland), every employee took home a gift of an Australian Native plant, plus an energy saving compact fluorescent light globe In New Caledonia, staff and volunteers got involved in planting trees at the local Nestle site to help combat climate change. In Fiji voluneers joined together in cleaning up a local hospital. All these initiatives supported the 2008 World Environment Day slogan - Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy! |
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Melbourne Business School - SAI Australia addresses management educational needs
Members of the SAI Australian Platform have identified the need for increased management education resources for agricultural sustainability. SAI has approached the Melbourne Business School (MBS) as a leading provider of executive education in Australia to discuss the possibility of addressing this issue. It is evident that a new generation of highly motivated managers is emerging who are keen to enhance sustainability operations in their organisations. The development of a practical programme addressing management education needs to improve their decision-making is being explored. |
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How will the national water plan work?
A paper prepared for SAI Platform Australia members summarises how the national water plan will work. It lists the background leading up to the current plan and its implications. Such information forms part of the 'clearing house' for global sustainability information that is available to members of the Platform. |
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Global SAI News | |||
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Global Platform News.
The Annual report of the Global SAI Platform has now been released and is available online. Click here to view . • The Global Platform recently established a new water working group which meet for the first time in Uganda, coinciding with a coffee workshop. • Seminar 'New Technologies for Water Management' was held June 17, 2008, Ramada Hotel*, Geneva, Switzerland • A second regional chapter was recently launched in the Philippines. There are now two regional chapters including Australia. • SAI Global Platform member companies sustainability projects (mapouts) are now available online. The searchable database over 50 programmes and projects related to sustainable agriculture is available on the SAI Platform website. The search engine was developed in partnership with SAI Global Platform's Northern American partner the Sustainable Food Laboratory (SFL) – and also includes programmes run by their members. You can search through all these projects by region, country, crop, issue or company. To access the database (or alternatively the pdf summarizing Member programmes and projects , click here . |
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Australian Sustainability News | |||
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Climate Change Report Delayed
The Rudd government has had to delay for several months the release of its much awaited report on Climate Change being prepared by Professor Garnaut of the Australian National University. The report originally due in June has been delayed until August because of difficulties encountered by the Federal Treasury in the complex economic modelling on which the Garnaut Report and the government's climate change policy, and emissions trading scheme, will be based. This delay may reduce the time allowed for public discussion and business comment on the proposed new regime before the government proceeds to the next stage of releasing draft legislation by the end of the year. It is now envisaged that there will be draft report by 30 June providing some preliminary assessments by Professor Garnaut followed by the Treasury modelling report in August, and then a final report by Professor Garnaut in September. Until the official economic modelling of the costs and benefits of the preferred emissions 'cap and trade' regime is released the likely impacts on the economy, and on specific industries including agriculture and food, cannot be properly evaluated. Crucial issues surround the choice of a carbon price, exemptions for specific industries, and the trading scheme apparatus itself. The Prime Minister in a speech on 19 May to the National Business Leaders Forum (www.pm.gov.au/media) said '...We can't hide from the fact that there is a cost associated with acting on climate change...We know that energy costs will rise...While acting on climate change will increase some prices, the costs of acting responsibly now are far less than the costs of continued neglect.' |
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Consumer demand drives development of life cycle assessment methodology
Industries will be called to account for their emissions in the future as consumers demand details of energy and water resource use in supply chains as the make their purchase decisions. Already consumers in Europe are seeking information on the life cycle of primary products and the 'food miles' imported goods have traveled. Energy and water consumed per standard unit of product are becoming important issues. Energy and water use and emissions accounting is not simple and, even though there is an International Standard for life cycle assessment (ISO 14040), which is accepted as the basis for undertaking a life cycle assessment (LCA), debate continues about the type of methodologies to be applied, their cost and what they 'tell an industry' when completed. To address this, a partnership managed by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation has implemented a project to develop an agreed methodology to undertake life cycle assessments, from a process improvement, as well as a product, perspective. This methodology to be considered by the RIRDC Board in July, addresses both energy and water use. |
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How do emissions trading schemes work?
A paper prepared for SAI Platform Australia members summarises how emissions trading schemes internationally work. It lists schemes developed or underdevelopment in the EU, New Zealand and other countries. Such information forms part of the 'clearing house' for global sustainability information that is available to members of the Platform. |
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Internet News | |||
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Member's sustainability news
Many of our members now have sections of their websites dedicated to environment and/or sustainability news. Here are some links to these sections. Goodman Fielder - click here. Kraft Foods - click here. Nestle - click here. Meat and Livestock Australia - click here. Fosters Group - click here. At Fosters you can logon to receive sustainability updates click here. Australian Pork Ltd - click here. |
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Tackling Food Security Online
Food security is at the forefront of sustainability agenda's around the world. Here are some websites canvassing the issue. www.une.edu.au/aglaw/Landcare%2011%20Position%20Paper.pdf - A National Framework for Sustainable Agriculture, Landcare February 2008 www.foreignminister.gov.au/speeches/2008/080604_fao.html - Food and Agriculture Organisation High Level Conference on Food Security, Rome April 2008 Stephen Smith MP, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs. www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20081103-17026.html - Integrating science to support sustainable agriculture, Science Alert Australia and NewZealand www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/07/scienceofclimatechange.food - Food crisis will take hold before climate change, warns chief scientist www.csiro.au/news/ps1jk.html - CSIRO, Flexible management the key to sustainable agriculture www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7419 - The final report of the United Nations' International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), which Australia refused to support. www.unccd.int/publicinfo/june17/2008/menu.php - United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) On the Occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought - 17 June 2008 www.iiasa.ac.at/docs/HOTP/May08/FoodSec-web.pdf - Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture - The Challenges of Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa |
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