Introduction
Welcome to the third edition of EnviroSci News, the electronic publication from the Institution of Environmental Sciences. In the past month some brave souls at the office have been wading into the large volume of records from the days before the office started filing electronically. They are undertaking this task in an attempt to create an archive and to write a comprehensive history of the Institution. A serialisation of this history will appear in future EnviroSci editions. Some interesting documents have already been uncovered, such as the 'inconvenient truth' that Al Gore, whilst he was vice president, declined an invitation to speak at one of our Burntwood Lectures.
In This Issue
- News from the IES
- Environmental News and Resources
- Forthcoming Events
- Feature Article
- Further Articles
- Career Profile
News from the IES
Entering the New Year
Once again the (increasingly late) autumn heralds the end of another year. The Institution is already looking towards 2007, seeking out opportunities for expansion, membership services and promoting the voices of its membership. The end of this year has seen the introduction of the Stern report, the initiation of a new climate change bill and more environmental legislation aimed at business. The Institution believes that its members have an important contribution to make to these and imminent issues surrounding the environment, and encourages them to contribute articles and to take advantage of new consultation and CPD schemes run by the IES. As the leading environmental science institution we carry the voice of those employed in the profession, and we seek support in the strength of its membership.
New Volunteer Required
The Institution is looking for another volunteer to join our expanding team. Are you, or do you know someone, who wants to get some experience of working in the environmental sector and can make it to our London offices one day a week? Candidates will need to commit to a minimum of three months. The successful applicant will gain knowledge and experience of working for a charitable organisation, as well as an understanding of how professional bodies operate.
The volunteer will be given responsibility for implementing various projects, as well as day-to-day administrative and operational tasks, supporting the Project Officer and working with other volunteers to deliver ongoing projects. Applicants will have proven administrative experience, ability to manage various projects of differing scales and excellent communication skills. Experience of archiving or report writing will be a distinct advantage. If this sounds interesting, please send CVs with a short covering letter to enquiries@ies-uk.org.uk.
Post you job adverts with the IES
If you are hunting for high quality candidates to fill a position, or are interested in finding some bright new graduates, then EnviroSci News will advertise your employment vacancies in the next edition. Please send the position title, organisation / company name, office location and the URL to your website or advert to enquiries@ies-uk.org.uk. There is currently no charge for this service.
Website Update
The IES website has been completely overhauled, and now benefits from a much improved interface, modern graphical design and a growing archive of previously published Environmental Scientist journals. It can be accessed at www.ies-uk.org.uk. Please email the Webmaster if you have any comments or suggestions.
Environmental News and Resources
University of Hertfordshire - Researching Greener Fuel
Researchers at the Sustainable Energy Centre within the University of Hertfordshire have recently begun a new project aiming to develop vehicles which run only on hydrogen gas. If successful, emissions from these vehicles will emit no more carbon dioxide than is already present in the atmosphere, and may reduce emissions of other toxic pollutants such as carbon monoxide. It is hoped that this technology will advance the production of domestic and industrial hydrogen from wind turbines and solar panels, for use at a later date. Full details of this project can be accessed from here.
The Stern Report
The recent publication of Nicholas Stern’s report on “The Economics of Climate Change” presents a bleak outlook for the future should action on this issue not be taken now. The main findings of the report were that: the benefits of early, decisive action on climate change far outweigh the costs of not acting; the most vulnerable and underdeveloped countries will suffer the effects most; there are a number of options available to cut emissions, and the creation of new markets in low-carbon technologies will also create substantial business opportunities; and finally that more ‘ambitious’ action is needed in the future to expand and improve existing international frameworks. Read the full article here.
New Soil Resources Website
A free new Internet resource concerning soils - particularly aimed at Key Stages 1 to 4 - has been developed by the National Soil Resources Institute of Cranfield University to try to develop a better understanding of soils in the classroom and beyond. This excellent website can be found at http://www.soil-net.com.
Hertfordshire seeks student placement vacancies
The University of Hertfordshire is seeking to place undergraduate students with 2 years experience in environmental subjects for their gap year employment. Students are equipped with a number of skills, including knowledge of conducting social surveys, GIS, demographic analysis, GPS and other basic surveying skills, environmental management, EIA, environmental education, conservation, ecology and habitat management amongst others. If you are at all interested in the possibility of employing a placement student from the School, please contact the Placement Tutor, Darren Crook d.crook@herts.ac.uk or Maria Duncan, Placements Administrator, m.n.duncan@herts.ac.uk, tel. 0170728456
We have implemented a Resources page, where we are constantly adding new, important and useful resources for environmental professionals. If you know of a relevant site that would be of use to your fellow Members, please submit it to enquiries@ies-uk.org.uk.
Forthcoming Events
IES & IAQM 'Workshop on Indoor Air Quality' - 24th January, 2006
The IES and its sister organisation, the Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM), are holding a workshop examining indoor air quality issues. Specifically, the workshop will examine the ultimate responsibility for legislation, with a focus on those pollutants which are regulated in terms of their ambient outdoor levels. The workshop is free, and seating is available for 40 persons. To book a place or to enquire further, please contact enquiries@ies-uk.org.uk.
NSCA Annual Conference – 25th January 2007
The South West Division of the NSCA (National Society for Clean Air) in collaboration with UWE have a standing one day annual conference covering various topics. This year the conference is on 'Climate Change - is technology the answer?' on Thursday, the 25th of January, 2007. They have a range of speakers already confirmed including presentations from Defra - Dr Martin Williams (Air Quality and Climate Change policy issues); The Met Office - Dr Bill Collins (The importance of linking Climate Change and Air Quality); The South West Regional Development Agency, Nick Harrington Project Manager of Wave Hub (Development of Wave Energy in the South West);Friends of the Earth - Mike Birkin (Climate change is politics the answer); UWE - Dr Stuart Shales (Biofuels - a South West perspective); UWE - Helen Featherstone (Communication of Climate Change: interactions between stakeholders, the media and the public);University of Bristol - Iain White (The use if chemical tracers in the atmosphere); Phil Mulligan (Acting Chief Exe Officer) of the NSCA will also address the delegates on the Future of the NSCA. Please contact Dr Enda Hayes at enda.hayes@uwe.ac.uk for more details.
Across The Food Chain' - 3rd May 2007
IAgrE's LANDWARDS 2007 'Achieving Traceability Across The Food Chain' conference will acquaint delegates with informed thinking on the requirements of those involved along the food chain, from agricultural supplier to food supplier. It will present the latest developments in the integration of identification technology with agricultural production systems. The conference will be held at the East of England Showground in Peterborough, further details can be found at www.iagre.org.
'Environmental Chemistry in the Polar Regions' Conference - 6th May 200
The RSC Environmental Chemistry Group is holding a conference entitled 'Environmental Chemistry in the Polar Regions' on 6th March 2007 at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. For more details please visit www.rsc.org/ConferencesAndEvents/cfconf/alldetails.cfm?ID=18140.
Feature Article
Unravelling The Companies Bill
| The Companies Bill, the largest shake up in UK company law in over a century, passed through the House of Commons on October 19th. It has the potential to have a great impact on the workload of environmental practitioners. The bill runs to almost 1,300 clauses and is thought to be the longest legislation ever to come before Parliament. Adam Donnan cuts through the clauses to how it might affect our members.
The Company Law Reform Bill was originally conceived as an effort to reduce the burden of red tape on business, modifying and restating in plain English almost all of the Companies Acts 1985 and 1989, which it will replace. However, of more interest to environmental practitioners is the new environmental impact auditing clauses and the surprise amendment that was added on the third reading, which requires companies to publish details of their dealings with suppliers. Backbenchers forced the Department of Trade and Industry to introduce the amendment after a sustained campaign by the Corporate Responsibility Coalition (CORE) and the Trade Justice Movement, which represents over 130 charities and campaigning organisations and 9 million individual members. The coalition, which includes in its members Friends of the Earth, Amnesty International, WWF and Christian Aid, coordinated thousand of campaigners, church groups and trade unions to influence their MPs to promote inclusion of this amendment.
Under the bill, stock market-listed companies will have to publish a business review which details their approach to the environment, employees, social and community issues in the same way that they are required to disclose financial information. It imposes on directors a duty, not only to maximise profits, but to run the company for the benefit of the staff, environment, customers and local community in addition to the investors. Directors failing to pursue these provisions could become embroiled in shareholder actions. For the first time shareholders can pursue a "derivative action" on behalf of the company if they believe the board has failed in its duty. Directors must also avoid conflicts of interest and refuse inducements or "benefits" offered by third parties, usually to win contracts. Company reports will have to be more detailed and cover factors likely to affect the company, potentially creating a legal requirement to undertake in-depth sustainability reporting.
Initially the reporting is to be voluntary, but the Government has commitment to review, within two years, whether or not voluntary reporting standards had resulted in meaningful reports and to consult with NGOs as well as business in this assessment. If not, the Government has undertaken to use the powers it will have within the Bill to introduce mandatory reporting standards. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) currently expects this Bill to become law by the autumn 2006, with most of its provisions coming into force in October 2007, subject to transitional arrangements.
The Bill still has to pass through the Lords where protests by the CBI could see the suppliers amendment taken off. Business had originally supported the review, but the addition of a requirement to disclose relationships with suppliers, has made them very nervous. They worry that keeping a check on not only their own businesses' social responsibilities but also their suppliers would become too legalistic and expensive. It could mean, for instance, that supermarkets might have to promise that its suppliers abided by animal welfare rules and that palm oil is sourced from sustainable areas. The Association of British Insurers, which represents major City investors, said it was "dismayed" by the amendments inclusion.
Professor Tim Lang, Dr David Barling and Rosalind Sharpe of the Centre for food policy, City University disagrees with this assumption, at least within this area. The sector feels that there is “a major imbalance between the amount of information available within the food industry and the amount communicated to consumers” and that “This bill is one way of redressing the balance and ultimately helping to restore consumers' faith in what they are sold”. They conclude that “Responsible companies should find the new reporting requirements enhance, rather than impede, their most important relationship with the public.” The DTI also insist that Margaret Hodge, the industry minister, had listened to the arguments about the supply chain amendment. Ms Hodge "firmly believes that this requirement fits naturally with the information on environmental matters, employees, social and community issues and that it is right that it should be included".
The other large issue of contention is that the bill only applies to publicly listed companies in the
UK
, which amounts to only 1,500 companies. The bill also does not affect companies that operate within the
UK
but are subsidiaries of companies based elsewhere. Therefore Tescos would have to file an annual report, but Asda, a subsidiary of Wal Mart, would not.
If it stays in its present state the Companies Bill will require some companies to report on their environmental and social impacts and on employee and supplier issues. This promises to greatly increase the work available for environmental practitioners in aiding and formulating these reports. This unique piece of legislation potentially elevates the importance of the environmental field to the same level held by accountancy, as impact reporting is elevated to the same legal level as financial reporting. It seems likely that this will increase the demand for Chartered Environmentalist as companies search for people with the necessary qualifications to tackle their environmental impact and sustainability reporting.
In a debate attended at the House of Commons on Thursday October 12th, Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth pointed out that “only 3% of the worlds transnationals report (on social and environmental issues)…Its needs to be 100%”. The government should be congratulated for making Britain the first country in the world to legally require its companies to do environmental and social impact reporting on its operations in other countries. Most importantly, as Hannah Ellis, Coordinator of the Corporate Responsibility Coalition outlines, the “legislation outlined in the Companies Bill… is one step forward in ensuring British business does not legally operate at the expense of people and the environment.
_____
All quotations taken from the Guardian or the Core Group website. |
| |
Further Articles
Greenhouse gas emissions from soil ecosystems
Ute Skiba and Peter Levy, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), Edinburgh
| The interplay between soil and the atmosphere has an important role in maintaining the concentrations of greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. In this article the authors discuss how human activities have resulted in the disturbance of fragile ecosystems and caused a significant increase in these greenhouse gas emissions.
N.B. Article originally appeared in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Environmental Chemistry Group Bulletin, July 2006. |
[ Article in Word Format ]
Call for Submission of Articles
We are always looking for our members to contribute relevant articles for publication in the Environmental Scientist journal and / or the EnviroSci News e-newsletter. To register your interest, contact enquiries@ies-uk.org.uk, providing an overview of your field of expertise and a possible topic for the article.
Career Profile
| 
|
Name: Lyndsay Glanfield
Nationality: British
Qualifications: BSc Environmental Hazards (Brunel University) and currently undertaking an MSc in Environmental Sciences: Pollution & Monitoring (Brunel University)
Current employer: Institution of Environmental Sciences (Volunteer)
Most Recent Position: Postgraduate
|
Career Summary
After graduating from Brunel University earlier this year with a BSc in Environmental Hazards, Lyndsay decided
to return to the university to undertake an MSc in Environmental Science: Pollution and Monitoring. Lyndsay is
particularly interested in all aspects of pollution and completed her third-year dissertation on a study of air pollution
in Hillingdon, Middlesex. She hopes after university to pursue a career within an environmental consultancy, and is currently seeking part-time employment within the environmental sector. |
If you would like to submit a Career Profile, please provide information about yourself (such as full name, nationality, IES membership grade and year of acceptance, qualifications, current employer, role, etc), as well as a paragraph written in third person outlining a short employment history and an explanation of your current role. Send your Profile to enquiries@ies-uk.org.uk.
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