Governor, CFO Announce Green Policies, Committments

Governor Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink both made announcements today, February 14, 2008, on matters regarding Florida’s environmental and energy policies.

Both press releases are reprinted below for your review.

Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact this office.

 

Governor Crist Announces Baseline Measurement for State Government Greenhouse Gas Emissions

State government to target greenhouse gas reductions

TALLAHASSEE – Governor Charlie Crist today released Florida’s first comprehensive assessment of greenhouse gas emissions produced by state government.  The study, Florida State Government Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scorecard, identifies the amount of greenhouse gases produced by state agencies during the 2006-07 fiscal year.  The data serves as the baseline to track greenhouse gas emissions so state government can make state buildings and vehicles more energy efficient, as outlined in Governor Crist’s Executive Order 07-126. 

“Reducing state government’s greenhouse gas emissions will reduce energy costs and wisely use taxpayer dollars,” said Governor Crist.  “Today, we are leading by example and marking our starting point for reduced energy use and increased accountability as good stewards of our natural resources.”

Findings report that state agencies produced almost 899,107 metric tons of carbon dioxide in the 2006-07 fiscal year, the equivalent of emissions from 194,612 passenger cars or 115,418 homes. The study reports emissions data for each individual state agency buildings as well as vehicle emissions.

In his executive order, Governor Crist set the greenhouse gas reduction targets of 10 percent from current levels by 2012, 25 percent from current levels by 2017, and 40 percent from current levels by 2025.  With this baseline data, state agencies and water management districts will identify areas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and track these reductions. 

“As the state’s landlord we have a huge opportunity to take this data and see what incremental improvements we should make to improve the efficiency of our real estate,” said Department of Management Services Secretary Linda H. South.  “Governor Crist’s leadership in this important endeavor will make us better stewards of the state’s precious resources.”

Executive order 07-126 is one of three executive orders signed by Governor Crist at the Serve to Preserve Summit on Global Climate Change in July 2007.  The order charges state government to “lead by example” through specific actions, including developing a climate-friendly preferred products list for cleaning supplies and strengthening existing public-private partnerships such as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Lodging Program. Another Executive Order establishes the 21-member Governor’s Action Team on Energy and Climate Change, a diverse group of stakeholders that is developing a plan for achieving targets for statewide greenhouse gas reductions, including policy recommendations and changes to existing law.

“Meeting Florida’s growing needs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and maintaining our quality of life is one of the most important and challenging issues we face today,” said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael W. Sole. “I am confident that the actions we are taking now to identify and reduce emissions, coupled with the recommendations from the Governor’s Action Team, will help diversify our energy portfolio and lessen the potential for environmental and economic impacts.”

The Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Management Services produced the study by determining the level of greenhouse gas emissions using the GHG Protocol Initiative methodology for corporate greenhouse gas accounting. Developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, this methodology is the most widely used framework globally for measuring greenhouse gas emissions.

Last summer, Governor Charlie Crist signed a set of executive orders to reduce Florida’s greenhouse gases emissions, increase energy efficiency, and remove market barriers for renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind energy. In the months since the executive orders were signed, Florida has stepped onto the world stage as a major marketplace for advanced energy technologies. Just two weeks ago, the Governor announced a $200 million energy and economic development budget recommendation that builds on the policy framework of the Governor’s executive orders, focusing on increasing energy efficiency, stimulating development of renewable sources of energy, and using markets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information about Governor Crist’s actions to address global climate change, or to download a copy of the report, visit www.MyFloridaClimate.com. 

 

CFO Sink Joins U.S. And European Investors Confronting Climate Change Risks And Opportunities

Investors Make Bold Commitments to Energy Efficiency and Other Clean Technologies, Require Closer Scrutiny of Carbon-Intensive Investments

NEW YORK, NY— Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink today joined nearly 50 leading U.S. and European institutional investors managing over $1.75 trillion in assets in releasing a climate change action plan at the United Nations that will boost investments in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies and require tougher scrutiny of carbon-intensive investments that may pose long-term financial risks.

The action plan was announced at the Investor Summit on Climate Risk, hosted by Ceres and the United Nations Foundation and attended by more than 450 investor, financial and corporate leaders from around the world. Signatories to the action plan include state treasurers, controllers, pension fund leaders, asset managers and foundations from London, California, Florida, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and a dozen other states.

“With today’s action plan, investors are advancing the need for closer scrutiny of investments to include the financial risks of climate change, while also harnessing emerging opportunities,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. “Florida is on board as the first State Treasury in the nation to require fund managers to disclose how they incorporate climate risk into prudent investment management.”

Noting that climate change presents both material risks and significant opportunities, the investors pledged to collectively invest $10 billion in clean technology opportunities over the next two years and to incorporate green building standards —such as LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design) and Energy Star — into their investment decisions.  Calling energy efficiency “one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to significantly reduce emissions and improve the bottom line,” the investor group pledged to reduce energy use in core real estate holdings by 20 percent over the next three years.

A new McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report, also announced at the investor summit, concludes that major investments over the next decade in energy productivity — the level of output achieved from the energy consumed — could earn double-digit rates of return for investors. Such investments would cut global energy demand growth by at least half and achieve up to half of the reductions of greenhouse gas emissions that experts say is required to prevent the world’s mean temperature from increasing by more than 2 degrees centigrade.

The action plan calls for a series of specific steps by investors to address the growing risks and opportunities from climate change. The nine goals include policy actions aimed at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Congress, engagement with companies to improve their disclosure and responses to climate change, minimizing climate investment risks and maximizing climate-related investment opportunities. Among the investor commitments:

• Support clean technology, with a goal of deploying $10 billion collectively over the next two years.
• Aim for a 20 percent reduction in energy used in core real estate investment holdings over a three-year period, and consider green building standards in making investment decisions.
• Require and validate that investment managers, investment consultants and advisors report on how they are assessing climate risks in their portfolios, whether from new carbon-reducing regulations, physical impacts or competitive risks.
• Encourage Wall Street analysts, rating agencies and investment banks to analyze and report on the potential impacts of foreseeable long-term carbon costs, in the range of $20 to $40 per metric ton of CO2, particularly on carbon-intensive investments such as new coal-fired power plants, oil shale, tar sands and coal-to-liquid projects.
• Push the SEC to issue guidance leading to full corporate disclosure of climate risks and opportunities.
• Push Congress for a mandatory national policy to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the 60-90 percent reductions below 1990 levels by 2050 that scientists suggest is urgently needed to avoid the worst and most costly impacts from climate change.

“This action plan reflects the many investment opportunities that exist today to put a dent in global warming pollution, build profits and benefit the global economy,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of the Ceres investor coalition and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk. “Leveraging the vast energy efficiency opportunities at home and abroad holds especially great promise for investors.”

The summit comes as worldwide investor attention on climate change dramatically increases. In the last two years, investor and asset manager participation in the Investor Network on Climate Risk has more than doubled, to more than 60 institutional investors and with collective assets totaling $4.5 trillion. At today’s summit, Deutsche Asset Management, which manages over $800 billion in assets, announced it was joining INCR, increasing INCR’s total member assets to over $5 trillion.

Today’s climate risk meeting was hosted and organized by the United Nations Foundation, the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships and Ceres, which directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk.  Ceres is a U.S. coalition of investor and environmental leaders that has spearheaded national and international investor activity on climate risk issues. A webcast of the summit and press conference can be found at www.un.org/webcast.