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Ramblers Way Creates Sustainable Luxury Casual Wear for Fall 2011
Ramblers Way wool button down. Photo: Ramblers Way
Organic wool comfort wear company Ramblers Way founded by Tom and Kate Chappell, of Tom's of Maine fame has come a long way since their first collection, comprised of natural blonde wool jersey knits in undergarment basics such as long johns and camisoles.
For fall 2011, the Kennebunk, Maine-based fashion label incorporates color from natural plant dyes in neutral tones like heather and charcoal and go beyond undergarments with casual wear. Notable is a 100% wool French terry hoodie. And while sleepwear as outerwear is a trend, I'm happy to see more wearable separates.
100% wool French terry. Photo: Ramblers Way
Ramblers Way introduces French terry to their collection with, what they call, unlike anything else on the market: a 100% wool hoodie using two-ply wool and four times the amount of yarn than their traditional four-ounce jersey knit. The impressive sweatshirt boasts a high-quality, Swiss-made Riri zipper, which is more costly than one sourced from China, as well as silk thread. The hood is lined with their wool jersey knit and it retails for $398. Also worth mentioning are the wearable button down and women's rib tank and for men, the short sleeve polo shirt.
Putting the price tag aside, I'm reminded of something Tom Chappell said in our sit-down interview December of 2010: "The market does not tend toward quality, markets tend toward mediocrity." Ramblers Way is creating quality garments that will last a lifetime and further defining sustainable luxury.
Women's wool rib tank top. Photo: Ramblers Way
The goal for next season is to have a more affordable option and one that drapes better. Even so, I can't wait to get my hands on this fabric. Unique to their brand is their accomplishment in creating wool garments that don't create an itchy feeling. "Fibers are parallel to each other when turned into a yarn, as compared to a normal wool yarn that is criss-crossed and has edges poking out that makes the surface scratchy," Chappell says.
The line continues to be entirely made in America. And another great initiative on the carbon footprint side of the business is that they have pledged to be carbon neutral by 2013.
Like this post? Follow Emma Grady, an award-winning fashion writer and the founder and editor of Past Fashion Future, on Facebook and Twitter.
More Ramblers Way
Tom's (of Maine) New Company: Ramblers Way, Organic Wool Undergarments
Tom's of Maine Founder Shows us How to Produce Ethical Wool Undergarments (Slideshow)
Interview with Tom Chappell, Founder of Tom's of Maine and Rambler's Way


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Doug Leggate of Bank of America asks about 1Q16 operating cash and free cash flow in Egypt and North Sea operations. $APA CFO Stephen Riney replied that the company doesn't give this type of information down to the asset level. He stated that both of those asset areas this year will be cash flow generators for the company.
Ahead of its quarterly earnings announcement, scheduled for February 22, 2017, oil exploration company $APA said it expects adj. international production to be in the range of 138,000 to 140,000 BOE per day in 4Q17. In the US, production is currently estimated to be at the high end of the company's guidance range of 218,000 to 224,000 BOE per day.
$APA expects portfolio flexibility will help it overcome the impact of potential price pressures in future. In next year's activities, priority will be given to identifying areas where the capital program yields returns. Overall spending is seen declining next year, when the allocation of portfolio will be similar to that in 2017.
$APA said it is benefiting from the strategic developmental initiatives implemented in the Midland and Delaware basins over the past years. The company expects the capital efficiency gains to continue in the coming quarters, especially in Alpine High. Another positive factor is the ongoing cost cutting initiatives.
$APA reported overall production volumes of 448,235 BOE per day in 3Q17, down 14% compared to last year. Oil production dropped 12% annually, and natural gas production decreased by 15%. Adjusted for special items, total production dipped 7%. During the quarter, total average oil prices rose to $49.34 per barrel from $44.35 per barrel in 3Q16.
$APA continued its recovery from the long spell of losses, but at a slower pace. The oil explorer posted earnings of $0.16 per share in 3Q17, compared to a $1.6 per share loss last year. The improvement was supported by a 10% growth in revenues to $1.6Bil, though operations were affected by hurricane. Among peers, $DVN reported EPS of $0.43 in 3Q.
Energy exploration company $APA has completed the divestiture of its subsidiary Apache Canada to Paramount Resources. The deal consists of properties located principally in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The company also finalized the sale of its Provost assets in Alberta to an undisclosed entity, marking a total exit from Canada.
$APA, an oil exploration company, completed sale of its subsidiary Apache Canada Ltd. to Paramount Resources Ltd., which includes properties in Alberta and British Columbia provinces. It also sold its Provost assets in Alberta to an undisclosed firm. Together with June 30 sale of assets at Midale and House Mountain, it has exited from Canada.
$APA's total production bottomed out in 2Q17 and the company has now shifted to a growth trajectory. It expects continued production volume increases at Alpine High and in the Midland Basin, as well as from international regions during the second half of 2017.
For 2Q17, $APA delivered production of 460 MBOE per day, down 14% from last year. The company updated its 2017 production guidance to reflect its exit from Canada and now expects production of 457-471 MBOE/D, compared to the previous forecast of 485-503 MBOE/D. The company said its $3.1Bil 2017 budget is not impacted by the Canada exit.
$APA expects to complete its previously announced exit from Canada in August. In addition to the total $713MM sales price, the Canadian exit will result in several important financial benefits, including a reduction of approx. $800MM in asset retirement obligations from the balance sheet, said the company.
$APA swung back to profit in 2Q17 as flat revenue was more than offset by lower expenses. Net earnings for 2Q17 were $572MM, or $1.50 per share, compared to net loss of $244MM, or $0.65 per share, a year ago. Excluding items, adjusted loss was $0.21 per share vs. $0.26 per share in the year-ago period. Operating expenses were down 17%.
$APA said it would complete an exit from Canada upon the closing of three recent transactions. Upon completion of its exit, $APA will realize a significant reduction in asset retirement obligations and annual overhead costs. Total company revenues per BOE, cash margins per BOE, and EPS will also improve with the completion of these transactions.
$APA said it would complete an exit from Canada upon the closing of three recent transactions. Aggregate proceeds from the three transactions are approx. US$713MM (C$ 927MM). $APA plans to use these proceeds to fund a portion of its 2017-2018 capital program, to reduce debt, or to improve overall liquidity.
February 20th 2019, 3:00pm
February 20th 2019, 2:00pm
February 20th 2019, 1:30pm
February 20th 2019, 1:30pm

subset: commoncrawl


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LAS VEGAS, April 28 /PRNewswire/ — Chelsio Communications, Inc., the global leader in 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) adapters and ASIC solutions, is showing off its industry-best performance capabilities with technology booth demonstrations in multiple locations here at Interop Las Vegas '08. Demonstrations of the industry's first commercially-available 10GbE adapter supporting Microsoft TCP Chimney architecture; the highest performance 10GbE networking for VMware ESX 3.5 and Citrix XenServer 4.1 server virtualization; and the power of Chelsio's 10GbE unified wire architecture will all be on display this week.
Server Virtualization Demos
Chelsio's adapters are powered by its T3 ASIC technology, designed for virtualization at the silicon level and deliver line rate performance for transmit and receive for virtual machines (VMs) running on VMware ESX 3.5 and XenServer 4.1 server virtualization platforms.
As a VMware Technology Alliance Program (TAP) member, Chelsio has qualified its T3 Adapters for VMware Infrastructure environments. Participation in VMware programs complements Chelsio's goal to enable unified wire networking for the agile data center and provide simple, standards-based solutions to its customers.
Chelsio is also an official Citrix Ready partner and new software drivers supporting the full line of Chelsio adapters are fully integrated within the newly released Citrix XenServer 4.1. These demos validate Chelsio's position as the only 10GbE adapter vendor delivering line-rate 10 Gigabit performance for receive and transmit for single or multiple Windows and Linux virtual machines on XenServer 4.1. Chelsio is delivering on its promise of the unified wire by showing industry-leading virtual machine network performance using the "in-box" Chelsio driver in XenServer 4.1, as well as pre-release Chelsio iSCSI and TOE capabilities for XenServer.
Chelsio will be showing its server virtualization capabilities for VMware ESX 3.5 as part of the VMware Pavilion exhibit (booth #826, Pod #2) and its fully integrated Citrix XenServer 4.1 solution in booth #2273.
"Virtualization is a key attribute of the Chelsio technology, and we are pleased to be able to show our industry leading line-rate capabilities of the T3 architecture with virtualization demonstrations in multiple locations within the Interop conference here in Las Vegas," said Kianoosh Naghshineh, president and CEO of Chelsio. "Virtualization is an enabling technology, and an important feature of the unified wire solution Chelsio is bringing to the industry."
Chelsio will also be showing the power of the unified wire with a demonstration showing latency, throughput and CPU utilization for multiple applications concurrently running TCP Offload, iWARP RDMA and iSCSI traffic over the same Ethernet wire.
Microsoft TCP Chimney
Microsoft TCP Chimney allows Windows(R) operating systems to offload network TCP processing from the CPU to the network controller. TCP/IP processing consumes a high amount of server CPU cycles and at 10Gbps rates, it places a tremendous load on the memory subsystem and the need to offload this burden from the server becomes critical. TCP Chimney-enabled Chelsio adapters not only free the host CPU from network processing, but also, by eliminating data copy, free up memory bandwidth for processing of applications, thus improving overall application performance and server efficiency.
Interop demonstrations will show that Chelsio's 10GbE TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE), running with Microsoft's TCP Chimney stack, doubles network throughput and improves CPU utilization by up to eight times as compared to the same server running without a Chelsio 10GbE TOE. Further, Chelsio's hardware TCP/IP offload engine also accelerates TCP/IP processing times, yielding better response times and no latency variations for networked applications — critical to the performance of interactive Web 2.0 applications.
About Chelsio Communications Inc.
Chelsio Communications is leading the convergence of networking, storage and clustering interconnects with its robust, high-performance and proven unified wire technology. Featuring a highly scalable and programmable architecture, Chelsio is shipping 10-Gigabit Ethernet and multi-port Gigabit Ethernet adapter cards, delivering the low latency and superior throughput required for high-performance computing applications. For more information, visit the company online at http://www.chelsio.com.
SOURCE Chelsio Communications, Inc.
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Sometimes in our quest for the golden rings or the MVP award we lose sight of the important things. We abandon fair play and respect believing it matters more about winning at any cost.
Respect in hockey between players, parents, coaches, officials and facilities is essential. Sportsmanship should be of paramount value to everyone involved in hockey. Each individual should be respectful of everyone's position and to be a positive role model in our great game.
Players need to play hard but play fair. Remember it's only a game. Player's should be conscious of opponent's safety as well as their own on the ice. Play safe and avoid injuring other players… remember the Golden Rule!
Parents should be able to go to the arena and support their children but not to the detriment of everyone else. They should not interfere with the coaches decisions. Parents should refrain from insulting officials and coaches, who are trying to do their very best within the game.
Coaches should instill sportsmanship and fair play within their teams. They need to understand the importance of their role in the game. Players look up to their coaches. Coaches should have a positive demeanor towards their players, officials and other parties associated with the game. It's importance to avoid degrading or insulting with verbal remarks during the heat of battle. Players often feed off the negative actions of their coaches.
Hockey is about playing to your best abilities but there will always be rules. The officials on the ice deserve the respect of everyone in the arena including the players, coaches and parents. Remember the game cannot be played and supervised without these dedicated individuals. Referees, linesmen and the volunteer time / score keepers are such a valuable part of the hockey community. They must be treated with respect and consideration.
Even the arena managers and rink attendants deserve shared respect. They are responsible for keeping the arena facilities in good repair and maintaining good quality ice. Parents must instill in their children respect for the rink facilities including the stands and dressing room areas. If a player had a bad game, this is not a reason to break equipment or trash the dressing room. Players and coaches must respect that the rink attendants have schedules too. When one group is finished on the ice, it is respectful to make sure that practice teams are off the ice so that the ice can be cleaned on time for the next group.
Shared respect within the game of hockey requires good cooperation between all the major stakeholders – players, parents, coaches, officials and facilities. Shared respect will ensure that hockey will continue to be the greatest game on earth.


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Valkyrie groaned, and sat up. "I told you it was a trap," she said.
"No, you said it looked like it was a trap," Skulduggery corrected. "That's completely different."
He helped her up as a door opened behind them and Sadistica Tortura walked through, an unsettling smile on her lips.
"No, you said it looked like it was a trap," Skulduggery corrected. "That's completely different."
He helped her up as a door opened behind them and Sadistica Tortura walked through, an unsettling smile on her lips.
Skulduggery stiffened and cocked his head sideways, fixing his hat. He casually reached for his revolver, subtly slipping his left hand into his jacket. Sadistica saw him and shook her head. "Please, don't. Let's not make this harder than it has to be," She spoke, well pronounced. Sadistica Tortura was wearing the attire of a tight pinstripe dress that came down to her knees, which surprisingly, didn't make it hard for her to walk. Her black hair and icy blue eyes made her look as if she were scolding someone. "It is nice to see you again, detective."
Skulduggery sighed, one of his more dramatic ones. "I would say the same but, really it isn't. Trouble follows at your heels. What do you want?"
Valkyrie subdued a giggle and looked at Skulduggery. "Who is this?"
Skulduggery looked at the walls, which were now covered in what looked like metal bars, in fact, they were metal bars. "It was a cunning trick Sadistica. Not your usual style, simplicity made it hard to be obvious, yet, still cunning. Making the room into a cell that restricts magic. I give you due." Skulduggery turned to Val, "She's Sadistica Tortura. She was on Melevolants side in the war. She is a dangerous foe, cunning, smart and a brilliant actress. I spent years chasing her, yet somehow she always got away. And now, she has us trapped." Skulduggery stood up tall and smiled, hands behind his back.
Sadistica laughed, "Oh, you make me feel so… What's the word?"
"Powerful?" Skulduggery smirked.
The woman smiled and continued, "That's it, powerful. But you obviously do not know why I have trapped you. Do you?"
Skulduggery shifted uncomfortably. "Would it have anything to do with… a dog by any chance?"
Sadistica ignored him and continued her rant, "I know your secrets. I have proof, that what happened on O'Connell Street the other day were entirely both your faults and I want you to do something." She smiled and repeated, "I know your secret."
Valkyrie gasped and couldn't speak. Skulduggery just stared unmoving down to the ground.
"How'd you find out?" Val muttered calmly.
"Who cares?" Skulduggery said. "Sadistica Tortura, I'm afraid you are finally under arrest."
Sadistica laughed, "You are in no position to make an arrest, remember, I'm in control."
It was Skulduggery's turn to laugh. "Let me give you your first lesson in detecting: never leave a man with his hands behind his back, as it will always turn out worse for you." He revealed his phone and laughed. "Cleavers," he called. A group of five Cleavers entered the room and grabbed Sadistica and they dragged her out uneasily, as she kept kicking and screaming.


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Take Nothing But Pictures and Leave Nothing But Footprints-
Ever since we started organizing Chadar Trek we have tried our level best to keep the Chadar clean as our standards have always been high when it comes to keep the mountains clean.
We have seen people littering waste here and there which makes that particular location unsuitable or should I say unattractive to some eyes and as you all know, one bad word on the internet spreads like fire.
We request everyone going for trekking to keep the mountains clean by carrying a small bag where you put your waste during the trek and later on dispose the waste at an appropriate place.


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Learn about the way you drive and how to get the most out of your vehicle with a personalised Service Plus Driving Report.
For Driving Report Eligible Vehicles, Participating Isuzu UTE Dealers can connect advanced diagnostic software with your vehicle and analyse your stored driving data. A personalised Driving Report will be generated from the data, letting you know more about your vehicle usage, as well as useful tips on how to improve the fuel efficiency of your Isuzu D‑MAX or MU‑X.
Driving Reports are only available for Driving Report Eligible Vehicles (see below for details) at Participating Isuzu UTE Dealers#.
Each Driving Report will provide an overall grade and evaluation as well as your results across a variety of key test areas. For each test area you will receive a grade from the below scale, ranging from one star to five stars.
A one star grade means you could improve in that area, whereas five stars means you're doing an excellent job. Your overall result will be compared against a database of Customer vehicle usage data collected by Isuzu UTE.
There are five key test areas covered in this Driving Report. Learnings from these five areas will help you get the best fuel efficiency out of your vehicle.
There are four key test areas covered in this Driving Report. Learnings from these four areas will help you get the best fuel efficiency out of your vehicle.
This area will provide a breakdown of how often you travel at specific speed ranges.
Too much idling consumes extra fuel unnecessarily. This area will provide you with a breakdown of how much time your engine spends idling. The lower your average idling time the better your grade.
Accelerating gently keeps your revs lower and burns less fuel than 'stomping the pedal to the metal'. This area breaks down the way you accelerate and how often you accelerate rapidly. The lower your rate of acceleration, the better your grade.
Over-revving your engine burns through fuel quickly. This area will breakdown the engine Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) ranges you most commonly use and the frequency with which you use them. The more time you spend in the optimum RPM ranges, the better your grade.
Braking often or braking sharply means you'll need to burn more fuel to get back up to speed. This area breaks down the number of times you apply the brake and/or brake rapidly. The smoother and less frequently you brake, the better your grade.
Driving Report Eligible Vehicles means Isuzu UTE vehicles that are D-MAX 12MY and onward models or MU-X models sold by an Isuzu UTE Dealer that are equipped with a Data Recording Module.
Driving reports can be purchased from Participating Isuzu UTE Dealers for a Recommended Retail Price of $13.20.
Contact your local Participating Isuzu UTE Dealer to book in your next service and request your Service Plus Driving Report


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Saying Sorry @ RomanceClass -
i have made a stupid mistake
i have made a stupid mistake, i was with my boyfriend but i got to nervous to be around him so i finished him and then bk with him on and off. now im regretting it and i shud of jst kept stronge. IM REALLY SORRY FOR WHAT IVE DONE NEED HIM TO NO THAT IM SORRI AND I LOVE HIM :)
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Material Things Women Want
Nothing has changed the way many women—and men, for that matter—acquire the material things that women want the way QVC has. They made an extremely prosperous business by creating hosts who seemed to come right into your living room, chat with you about things that you find interesting, and then sell you those things. To hear the stories, a lot of people almost became addicted to the QVC shopping experience because they found the entire process so comforting and fulfilling. Until the credit card bill came of course.
But that's an anomaly. We all want something and most of us have limits on what we can spend and afford. (Sometimes those two numbers are different, and that might not be a good thing.) We all love to go shopping, and let's face it—some of love to go shopping simply because we love to go shopping. When we go out we don't really need anything but we go anyway. Simply because it's fun.
What's interesting is what you look for when you go on those indulgent excursions. We all have varied tastes and interests, likes and dislikes. That's what the material things women want is all about.
Share your favorite shopping haunts—online or real-world—and tell us what you like about it. You might have a secret little boutique jewelry store in New York City like Lori McLean. Or maybe it's a cool little online shop selling awesome handmade stuff on Etsy. Share your secret finds and tell us why you like them. (By the way, your favorite merchants will love you for doing this.)
Here's another thing—the material things that you can't live without. Maybe it's your cell phone (hopefully it isn't). Technology products like music players, tablet computers, digital cameras, even laptops all have a special place in a lot of our hearts. But maybe it's an amazing piece of jewelry, or clothing or your car—whatever.
That's why this is so much fun. There are so many material things women want to choose from. There are so many places to shop. There are so many things to share with us. That's what this section is for.


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Friday, 02 February 2018 09:04
This year I took on the role of Secretary for the Port Hedland Netball Association. New to the role of secretary, I'm learning the ropes and thoroughly enjoy working with the Executive team to get the ball rolling for the 2018.
Another positive indication of teamwork is the social enterprise PARK Social Soccer Co..
"a socially conscious soccer brand focused on helping disadvantaged kids through a sport they love. Partnering with local charities, PARK gets soccer balls onto the feet of kids that need them most through its Pass-A-Ball Project. The One for One model means that for every PARK Soccer Ball purchased, an identical ball is passed on to a kid in need."
Wonder if I can do the same for netball.. hmmmm?


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Accounting Manager, Accounting
Mr. Simms joined Hudson Housing Capital in 2016. He is involved in the day-to- day accounting functions for LIHTC funds, including financial statements and tax credit reporting to investors.
Prior to Hudson, Mr. Simms was an Audit Supervisor at PKF O'Connor Davies LLP Public Accounting Firm in Harrison, New York. There, Mr. Simms focused on clients in industries including affordable housing, not-for-profit, and government.
Mr. Simms holds a BS in Accounting from Binghamton University, Vestal NY.


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Originally built in 1843 as a stopover for the wagon trains going to California along the Old Spanish Trail, Bonnie Springs Ranch lies in the heart Nevada's iconic Red Rock Canyon. Only a half hour from the Las Vegas Strip, Bonnie Springs serves the desert community as a reprieve from the bustle of the city and recalls the West's quieter, scenic past.
In 1846, General Fremont (en route to California) stopped at what is now Bonnie Springs Ranch to gear up for his trip through Death Valley and helped establish the site as a rest stop. It was not until 1952, under the provision of Bonnie McGaugh and Al Levinson, that the ranch saw substantial renovation and resuscitation before opening to the public as a tourist attraction in 1958. Stables, a petting zoo, and a restaurant soon followed, and construction on Old Town, a reproduction of an 1880s mining community and the prime attraction at Bonnie Springs, opened in 1974 with the complement of a functioning saloon, shops, a wax museum, a wedding chapel, a replica schoolhouse, and daily performances honoring the Old West. The ranch subsequently added a full-sized event arena, now the first site visitors see upon entering the property, that has hosted numerous rodeos and equestrian events. Today the grounds represent a delight for locals and tourists alike (as well as a few filmmakers).
Often called "an oasis in the desert" where you can stop for a cool drink of spring water, Bonnie Springs services the Las Vegas area and remains the only opportunity for travelers seeking lodging, dining, and gambling in Red Rock Canyon. Our fine dinner house and quaint cocktail lounge make sure our guests stay comfortable, while our motel offers standard suites, larger rooms with full fireplaces, and themed rooms with Jacuzzi tubs.
We are also home to a wide variety of animals, both native and non-native, in our non-profit zoo, including our beautiful wolves and even Australian emus and wallabies. Access is included with admission to Old Town.
We also maintain on the grounds a large stable of horses for daily rides and offer pony rides for the kids. Visitors can embark upon guided trail rides, group rides, and even horseback weddings for the adventurous.
As Red Rock Canyon's "best kept secret", Bonnie Springs Ranch remains an establishment and recreation area committed to giving visitors from all over the world (or just a car ride away) the ultimate scenic experience. Additionally, Old Town has given us a platform to start our western museum project to preserve the memory and aesthetics of a bygone era.
Phone: 702-875-4191 | facebook.com/bonniesprings LIKE US! | Text "bonniesprings" to 90210


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DC Approved 4,000 New Housing Units This Year, But Is It Enough? (Forbes) DC's population is 600,000, so making room for 8,000 new people each year is allowing for housing stock growth of roughly 1.3% annually.
Velodrome Coming to D.C. in 2012 (DCist) A 1.5-acre portion of Buzzard Point, SW, to go to bikers not D.C. United-ers, or is there room for both?
Financing deal means Bethesda construction starts in January (Washington Post) StonebridgeCarras and PN Hoffman have brought in Northwestern Mutual Real Estate Investments as a co-owner and construction financier for 250 new residential units and 40,000-s.f. of retail in downtown Bethesda.
Washington D.C. real estate development news
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Morning Real Estate Review
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Sunday, June 28, 2009
Barking up the right tree
In this context, on June 8th, shortly after I wrote about irregular carbon credits in Papua New Guinea, I was approached by an academic called Colin Filer at The Australian National University. He offered a copy of a soon-to-be published scientific paper on the PNG "carbon cargo cult", written by Dr Filer and some colleagues. It should, he wrote, explain part of what was going on. When it arrived, (titled "Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Papua New Guinea"), the manuscript argued that official deforestation rates in Papua are too high, and that countries have an incentive overestimate deforestation. This was interesting but when I asked how this was relevant to the story I was mysteriously told it was "just background" and that Dr Filer was hanging onto some "juicy stuff" on this until he could get more verification.
But Dr Filer had also told me that he knew something about Kamula Doso. So I asked him what he knew. At the same time I asked, "please forgive me for asking but given your long professional experience in this region, may I check whether you have any personal or financial ties with this story please?" He wrote back: "Of course I'm connected to some of the players, but
like any good journalist, I don't reveal my sources."
Lets just stop for a moment and recap. Dr Filer has contacted me as an academic who knows about a huge story of international significance and it turns out that he has some other non-academic connection that he is now refusing to disclose. Astonishing. So I wrote to tell him why this was wrong.
Essentially, I pointed out that academic employees are generally expected to either be independent or openly disclose any financial ties they may have that may be relevant to their work. I ended, "If there is any uncertainty about the request I am making, or you wish to decline this second opportunity to disclose your involvements, the only route open to me is to contact the vice-chancellor's office, explain the situation and make a formal request that these questions are answered immediately through the press office." He replied, "I don't respond to threats."
Well as it turns out, his boss the VC took a different view, and after a little email abuse from Dr Filer, "you're out to lunch with the wrong end of the stick", I finally got my declaration—albeit prefaced with "let's get this straight". So who does Dr Filer work for? He has worked for Carbon Planet, one of the companies that is integral to the story. Dr Filer's job was to write reports about the institutions that might be used to distribute landowner benefits from REDD projects.
Being contacted this way, seemed sufficiently unusual to ask the university for a statement. I suppose I had been expecting something a bit more robust than "the University encourages its academic staff to take part in constructive public debates in areas of their expertise. Dr Filer is a long-standing academic expert on PNG's forestry sector, and as such has a right to comment. The University does require staff to disclose sources of funding for research, and Dr Filer has now done that, albeit somewhat belatedly."
Of course the existence of a consultancy isn't evidence of any wrongdoing. But not being open about one's consultancies is unusual, particularly in such a sensitive case such as this, and when asked directly about them.
Having received my disclosure, I returned to the university and Dr Filer and asked for more information about Kamula Doso, but sadly Dr Filer didn't want to talk to me any more. When I questioned this, the university replied that while it "encouraged academic staff to engage in constructive public debate, we don't require that they do so.... "
I'm not sure that telling journalists that they are "out to lunch" when they request a disclosure of commercial interests, and then going off into a sulk, really qualifies as constructive public debate, but there you have it. In the meantime, I've also heard that a friend of Dr Filer has been telling another journalist that I'm "barking up the wrong tree".
I'm not so sure. The tree for me is merely that there are certain standards of transparent behaviour that are expected from academics, and they need to stick to them because they are employed by the public.
The broader issue here is about the disclosure of commercial consultancies in forestry. Forestry workers may be beavering away on dry academic information about biomass, growth rates, satellite imagery, regrowth rates or even tenure in traditional communities. But increasingly these studies are becoming fundamental to arguments about huge amounts of real money in the forest carbon market. Academic studies are what underpin estimates of value. On the basis of a report from a consultant, a forest can be deemed to sequestering a particular amount of carbon, and then this can be sold as a valuable offset worth millions of dollars.
While much money and attention is rightly being put into governance issues in poor countries that must handle REDD projects, it is worth noting that transparency is necessary everywhere if this market is ever going to work. It doesn't matter whether everyone is honest, it needs to be transparent to work because the market will not work well with lots of asymmetric information.
For example, it really does matter when someone comes to buy $20m of carbon credits who has verified that they exist. In medicine, disclosure of consultancies is the norm. I think forestry consultants everywhere are going to have to start paying more attention to disclosure and transparency, particularly in relation to work done for carbon brokers and traders.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Letters from the field
On my last trip to Colombia I was contacted by various "brokers" or "in-betweens" that offered me "500'000 ha of virgin Amazonas forest" or similar areas to "buy oxygen". Prior to these meetings, they had "secured" the "oxygen sales rights" from native people's forests. I tried hard to explain them how things work but the carbon bonanza there seems strong. Other carbon companies in Latin America seem to face the same problems. I understand there was even an MP of the Colombian parliament that referred to oxygen credits (instead of CO2 credits) when proposing draft legislation on climate change."
It is a depressing vision. While politicians at national and local levels wrestle each other for control of the carbon markets in their countries, and argue about how these schemes will work, on the ground, fraudsters are muscling in and buying up sketchy rights to forest which at best could tie up forest carbon deals in legal red tape for years. At the same time, many of the countries that would sell the industrialised world carbon from their forests are struggling to contain illegal forestry, despite the fact that the international community has poured money into this goal for years. If we have not been able to incentivise the prevention of illegal forestry--which costs developing countries tens of millions a year in lost revenue--what hope is there for avoiding deforestation through carbon credits? The World Bank et al. seem to think the answer is better governance. Good luck with that.
Does the international community's checklist for selling REDD credits go like this?:
1. Sort out corruption
2. Establish rule of law
3. Free and fair elections
4. Trade forest carbon
I met earlier today with a forestry analyst, based in the UK. She said something interesting and slightly depressing. The only reason the industrialised world is interested in reducing emissions through deforestation (REDD), she said, was as a cheap way of generating cuts in emissions. But this assumes that REDD can be made to work cheaply, which may not be the case. It may be so costly, with so many rules, that it is almost impossible to implement.
This may leave REDD as a fringe mechanism, only used by a small number of countries and schemes that are able to qualify. Equally, if the rules for REDD are set too weakly, in order to attract more participation, then there is a very real risk that the credits sold through these schemes are valueless.
What happens if REDD falls through? What happens to all these forests that have done deals for the carbon rights? Discussions about REDD have incentivised a green gold rush, with carbon traders investing large amounts of money in financing projects that they expect to make money come a deal on forest carbon trading in Copenhagen this December. If REDD fails, do they try and recoup some of their lost finance by logging? Wouldn't it be hugely and depressingly ironic if discussing a way of avoiding deforestation actually ended up kicking off a global wave of deforestation? The stakes seem very high.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The unusual 'A' series of Papua carbon credits
The Office of Climate Change in Papua New Guinea recently added to the story by issuing a statement about a company called Climate Assist saying:
"This company sought to negotiate Carbon Credits in the market places that were not issued by this Office. This Office has had no dealings with this company in respect of credits issued. We were aware of this some months ago. We have our lawyers pursuing this matter with foreign law enforcement agencies as a matter of fraud. As such we cannot comment further on it." Climate Assist, too, is keeping silent at this stage.
So what is this certificate shown here? Luckily, I managed to ask Gregory Corby of Climate Assist about the A series of credits a few weeks ago. I asked him about the certificate reproduced here and another (which specifies a monetary value of $20m). He said, the credits had changed dramatically over the years, and these early credits were used to start his business. "We couldn't get them into trade or anything like that. And I had to go back to Papua New Guinea, it was 2007 and get others issued, and then I went back in 2008 and we got the last original ones issued."
The credit shown is signed by a government minister on behalf of the government. On the bottom of the certificate it says it represents "ownership in carbon sinks". Mr Corby went on, "the Papua New Guinea government gave us the credits and made us the brokers to monetize the credits." In addition, Mr Corby said he had a long-standing relationship with the Prime Minister. However the PM's press secretary denied this when I asked her a few weeks ago.
Another document appears to back up Mr Corby's statement that he was empowered to "make and sell" carbon credits on behalf of the government. I've also been given a letter dated 24th October 2005, sent to Climate Assist and signed by the same government minister, says:
"the Prime Minister has accepted that Papua New Guinea (PNG) has carbon credits and they are tradable commodity.
The Prime Minister and I have accepted that Climate Assist (PNG) Ltd acts as Brokers on behalf of the Independent State of PNG to buy and sell carbon credits.
The carbon credits have been assigned to Climate Assist (PNG) Ltd through our certificate and monetization that will finance designated projects within PNG.
Therefore, this letter sets to acknowledge the role of Climate Assist (PNG) Ltd and advise that the Government of the Independent State of PNG unconditionally guarantee all actions undertaken for the monetization of these credits".
Are all these documents what they purport to be? I think at this stage the arguments are best left to lawyers, and I'd like to edge carefully out of this blog, trying not to knock over any words as I leave.
Updated: 18.8.09 Spelling adjusted.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Media round up
Reproduced in full is the latest from AAP, published in Australian paper The Age. Ilya Gridneff seems to have had a run in with the silver-tounged Jim Johnson of Carbon Planet.
Eco firm pays out for PNG carbon trading
Ilya Gridneff
June 18, 2009 - 4:09PM
An Australian-based environmental company has paid $1.2 million to develop carbon trading projects in Papua New Guinea where no policy or legislation exists to facilitate such deals.
South Australian-based Carbon Planet, with offices across Australia and in London, promotes itself as a leading force in the global 'carbon economy'.
An Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) document obtained by AAP shows Carbon Planet's financial statement to the end of June 2008 reporting a $A1.2 million payment for development of carbon trading in PNG.
Carbon Planet chairman Jim Johnson refused to comment when asked by AAP about the funding in PNG.
"I've got nothing to talk about," he said.
"I am really sick of you people casting aspersions on my company.
"No payment has been made to PNG, your information is incorrect."
AAP read out ASIC's Carbon Planet statement which says: "Payments include $1.2 million of advanced funding on origination projects in PNG which the company expects to recoup in the 2009 financial year."
Johnson responded: "I am not explaining at all. I am not having this conversation," before hanging up.
PNG has the world's third-largest rainforest and the government has great interest in turning the asset into carbon trading revenue, but at present no such policy or legislation exists in PNG, nor under UN guidelines.
Earlier this week, PNG's Office of Climate Change (OCC) director Dr Theo Yasause denied that his office accepted money from foreign companies or made any deals despite, leaked documents suggesting otherwise.
AAP understands Carbon Planet is working on one scheme with Nupan PNG, run by Australian Kirk Roberts, who has developed potential projects in PNG's Kamula Doso regions, in Western Province.
In November 2008, the OCC issued a contract for one million tonnes of voluntary carbon credits to Nupan for the Kamula Dosa project.
Dr Yasause said the OCC document issued to Nupan was a "sample" and was now null and void.
Also, an ongoing court battle with Kamula Dosa landowners restricts any business dealings in the 80,000ha of pristine forest.
Carbon Planet's literature predicts the global voluntary carbon market will be worth around $US9.9 billion-$US17.1 billion ($A12.5 billion-$A21.5 billion) per year by 2012.
They expect the global compliance market to be worth $US2 trillion ($A2.5 trillion) by 2020.
But while carbon trading has the potential to be a lucrative business, Carbon Planet has other financial issues.
KPMG partner Gary Savage in a Carbon Planet audit flagged the company's $4.6 million after tax loss by the year ended June 30 2008, and by October net losses had reached $6 million.
"These circumstances indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern..." Savage wrote.
ASIC would not comment.
And other stories...
PNG carbon racket dupes landowners Radio New Zealand International
PNG in hot seat: claims of false carbon credits The Canberra Times
PNG Climate Change Office says carbon credit report based on stolen documents Australia Network News
Carbon credit fraud inquiry
So before I write more about the irregular carbon credits from the government of Papua New Guinea, it might be useful for me to state my opinion about carbon markets, reducing carbon emissions through avoided deforestation (known as REDD) and Papua New Guinea.
I have been a long advocate for payments for ecosystem services and wrote a long piece about this very subject for the Economist many years back, which was the basis of a memorable cover we ran (shown above). It still graphically sums up what everyone is talking about right now. (The original piece is now behind our subscriber wall, so I've linked to a copy posted on the web.) And I've written many times in support of property rights in the solution of environmental problems.
Given the current threat of climate change, the idea of reducing deforestation as a way of reducing carbon emissions is a good one. I'm uncomfortable with the idea that the main aim of reducing this deforestation seems to largely be as a way for developed countries to avoid making meaningful cuts in emissions. We should be making those cuts in emissions and paying to reduce deforestation.
That said, everyone knows that we need to find a way of stopping people cutting down so many trees, and that some kind of incentive is necessary. Further, that this incentive is going to involve money. The devil, though, is in the details. Whether it will be possible to set up a system that is not open to massive abuse, is the big question. As for Papua New Guinea, I've no agenda towards anyone or any institution other than to discover the truth. Such an agenda will not suit everyone, which is just tough.
But I digress. The main point of my post is to pick up on a press statement published by the Office of Climate Change in a number of newspapers on Tuesday. I have a copy of one of these which was published on page 7, of The National. There must be about 1,500 words in this vast statement, which contains some bizarre and and a few ill-advised statements.
The press statement is signed by Leo Tale, acting executive director, of the Office of Climate Change on June 15th, but must have been submitted to the newspaper at least the day before on the 15th. This is very curious because on that day, Theo Yasause was also giving a press conference as the director of the Office of Climate Change. Who is running Papua's Office of Climate Change right now? I'll let you know when I have an answer on that.
Until then, if you happen to be part of the international community of donors (Norwegians, Australians, UN, World Bank) currently rushing to thrust money on Papua New Guinea in order to improve "governance" so that REDD will work... you might just want to make sure you know who is running the Office of Climate Change before you write the cheque. Indeed, if you can get a good answer to that question I'd be delighted to know. Until then, you have been warned.
Finally, I'll turn to the most interesting part of this recent press statement. It reads:
"2. Climate Assist PNG Pty Ltd: -
This company sought to negotiate Carbon Credits in the market places that were not issued by this Office. This Office has had no dealings with this company in respect of credits issued. We were aware of this some months ago. We have our laywers pursuing this matter with foreign law enforcement agencies as a matter of fraud. As such we cannot comment further on it."
I'm no lawyer but I would imagine that such a statement would be pretty damaging to Mr Corby's business interests and he might be somewhat miffed to be accused of fraud by someone who may, or may not, be the head of the office of climate change. Indeed, I just spoke with Gregory Corby, of Climate Assist, a few hours ago and he says he has made a complaint to the Attorney General in Papua New Guinea, and his lawyers have told him not to say anything.
There is a lot more to say, but it is late in the UK, and it will have to wait another day. Suffice to say that what everyone is referring to is an "A series" of carbon credits that were mentioned in passing in my piece for The Economist. (As opposed to a "B" series which were discussed more extensively.)
The A series date back to 2005, prior to the creation of the Office of Climate Change. So it could well be technically accurate to say that the office of climate change had "no dealings with this company in respect of credits issued". But if these carbon credits do exist, as the statement acknowledges, who, exactly, in government authorised their production?
It is hardly credible that Mr Corby would simply decide to print off a whole bunch of carbon credits from Papua New Guinea and try to sell them without any government knowledge.
So who in government knew about, and who approved, the "A" series of Papua carbon credits?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
In search of stolen carbon credits
Yasause announced yesterday that a criminal investigation would be conducted to find who stole the "sample" documents. Yet Jim Johnson, of Carbon Planet, went on the record recently to tell me that the documents were, "issued by OCC."
If the Papua New Guinea government really does intend to start a criminal investigation over the credits held by Nupan and Carbon Planet, one would think that a quick call to Carbon Planet would be the first port of call. That would clear up any questions about how these credits got out of the Office of Climate Change.
Carbon Planet will no doubt be more than delighted to remind the government firstly that these "symbolic" credits that are in existence were indeed issued by the government and not leaked or stolen. And secondly, one might easily imagine that Carbon Planet might also point out that any indication by the government that the possession of these sample credits is improper in any way is defamatory, and potentially actionable.
Update: Ilya Gridneff's report of Monday's press conferece:
"Sample" documents blamed for PNG carbon deals
By Ilya Gridneff, Papua New Guinea Correspondent PORT MORESBY, June 15 AAP - Papua New Guinea's Office of Climate Change (OCC) director has emphatically denied any wrongdoing amid reports he issued up to 39 false multi-million-dollar carbon trading deals.
Dr Theo Yasause told reporters in Port Moresby on Monday stolen documents leaked to the media were "samples" not designed for official use.
Documents obtained by The Economist magazine and available on the web show a series of what appears to be multi-million-dollar carbon trading deals with foreign companies in various regions of PNG. "I've not sold or made any money out of this process," Yasause said. "I've done no deals, or sold any credits."
Yasause said even though the leaked documents appear to carry his signature, the OCC's official seal and another colleague's signature, they did not represent real deals. "It's not a false document but a sample," he said. Asked why he would make sample documents, he said: "We want to see what it looked like." "It's speculation by certain individuals who have no regard for the process," Yasause said. "They should have asked before they released this kind of statements," he said. "It was a sample stolen from my drawer, we were looking at several types of project," he said.
Yasause said a criminal investigation would be conducted to find who stole the "sample" documents, along with a review of the OCC. "We never received any funding from foreign entities," he said. "We have not issued any credits to anyone," he said. PNG has the world's third-largest rainforest and great interest in turning the asset into carbon trading revenue, but at present no such policy or legislation exists in PNG, nor under UN guidelines.
On Friday an industry insider told AAP conmen were scamming PNG villagers by selling fake carbon trading schemes that relied on the community's confusion and belief in "sky money". AAP ig/jl/de
Monday, June 15, 2009
Carbon con, reloaded
Ilya Gridneff, journalist for the Associated Press in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, published this very nice piece on June 13th, in the Sidney Morning Herald.
Carbon conmen selling the sky
Ilya Gridneff in Port MoresbyJune 13, 2009
PAPUA NEW GUINEAN landowners are being ripped off by conmen travelling village to village offering fake carbon trading deals and promising big returns from "sky money".
The crude carbon trading racket has duped at least 500 villagers since late last year around Popondetta, Oro province, on the north-west coast, an industry insider said.
The unknown con artist hired agents to offer "brokerage" in the province's coming carbon trading windfall.
Locals pay 1110 kina ($510) for "registration as a shareholder" in a carbon trading company with promises of big dividends from the millions expected from PNG's carbon trading.
A receipt is given, and that is the last time villagers see the agent and their money.
This scam is a thumbnail of the broader concerns plaguing PNG's efforts to best utilise their lucrative rainforests, the third largest in the world.
Dave Melick, of the PNG arm of the conservation group WWF, said confusion in the provinces was one concern, while credibility, corruption and carbon trading complexities were other hurdles PNG faced. "People in the bush are calling it 'money bilong sky' [sky money] or 'selling the air' or 'selling the gas above'.
"Some have asked WWF, 'Who pays for the transport costs?' when they cut their tree, burn the logs and bring the carbon to Port Moresby," Mr Melick said. "A lot of people think you sell the gas over the forest canopy and they're not quite sure how to capture it. There is real confusion.'
Problems associated with PNG's infamous logging industry translated into moves towards a carbon market, he said. "We're telling people not to sign anything as there is no policy or legislation."
This month Reuters news agency and the magazine The Economist reported a series of anomalies with PNG's Office of Climate Change. It appears the office has been offering millions of dollars worth of carbon credits while no legislation or policy exists in PNG or under UN guidelines.
Betha Somare, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister, Michael Somare, said a review was being conducted into the "apparent irregularities".
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The carbon rip-off
No, its nothing to with the government. This time its ordinary conmen travelling from village to village. An Australian forestry worker who has worked in Papua New Guinea for years, and who asked to remain anonymous, says he has uncovered a carbon trading scam being perpetrated in villages around Ponpondetta, which lies in the Oro Province, a coastal area of Papua New Guinea quite close to the capital Port Moresby. Somewhere over 40,000 people live in the Province.
The scam works like a carbon "broker" hires agents to travel from village to village who offers to register them in the province's forthcoming carbon bonanza, which will be worth hundreds of millions of US dollars. Locals are asked to pay 1,110 Kina (£250) for "registration as a shareholder" in a carbon trading company. Of course none of this exists, its all nonsense. But, says one cynical journalist, "this is a country where a conman was able to convince locals to pay 10 kina to look at his magic rock in a bucket".
I've posted a copy of the kind of receipt that is given. I've obscured the surname of the person who fell victim to this scam to avoid any kind of possible unpleasantness. Around 500 people are believed to have signed up to one scheme.
It is perhaps no surprise that the snake oil salesmen who sell cures for every ailment including AIDS, would recognise how easy it to sell hot air. Indeed, it is quite a popular idea in the country right now, the idea that one can simply decide to issue "symbolic" carbon certificates. But it begs the question of if this is what is happening in just one province what could be happening in a population of six million or more broadly around the world.
What is striking about the invention of an avoided forest carbon market is the extent to which it is quickly spawing a variety of imaginative ways of fleecing landowners and indigenous people in the rush for green gold. Whether it is unscrupulous locals, entrepreneurs from the cities or abroad, or even entire regional or national governments, everyone has realised that the avoided forest carbon market is the opportunity of a lifetime.
So how does this inform the international negotiations in Bonn ? Its another warning about being careful. If there is any doubt about my meaning, let me spell it out in the words of one British based forestry analyist: "REDD is an idea dreamt up by economists who have no idea how fucked the developing world is".
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
An odd REDD project in Aitape Lumi
The latest comes with regards to a REDD pilot project for Aitape Lumi, which is in West Sepik Province, the north-westernmost province of Papua New Guinea. (Number 19 on the map to the left, and with thanks to Wikipedia.)
This latest letter is from Theo Yasause, executive director of the Office of Climate Change, and is addressed to the managing director of Carbon (PNG) Dev. Corporation on March 24th of this year and says that the Office of Climate Change has no objections to the company developing a pilot REDD project in the area.
The letter, reproduced below, continues "your request to be allocated 50 million voluntary credits (CERs) can be granted subject to the development of the PDD [project documentation] by a third party.."
This is somewhat unexpected as, according to a Reuters report, the Office of Climate Change "suspended in January all plans to sell rights to the carbon stored in its rainforests after deals sparked land ownership disputes". Mr Yasause went on, "All projects are suspended while we get some experience".
I guess Mr Yasause forgot about this one. He also seems to have forgotten something else. The letter continues, "If you agree, I will request South Pole Ltd Carbon Trading Company based in Zurick Switzerland to assist you develop the project to have the credits ready for sale".
Lets make one thing clear, senior industry figures tell me that South Pole is a very reputable Swiss based firm. So I showed this latest letter to Christian Dannecker, at South Pole, and he said they had never seen this letter, had never heard of Carbon (PNG) Dev. Corporation, and knew nothing about these projects.
Mr Dannecker has some observations and questions of his own. Why does does the letter refer to CER credits? This is a good question, voluntary credits go under the term Verified Emissions Reduction or VER. Where does the value of 50m voluntary credits come from? Another good question, the value of the carbon in any forest is not down to the government to decide. Finally, Mr Dannecker observes that merely a letter of support or approval is satisfactory in such circumstances.
South Pole Carbon is already formulating a complaint to the Office of Climate Change about the use of his company's name in this context. He adds, "we appreciate that he thinks of us but would like to be informed beforehand".
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
April Salome
Kevin Conrad, PNG's climate ambassador, says that a Dutch project in the area was abandoned quite suddenly, leaving the locals high and dry. Schools had no teachers, and clinics had no nurses. And so now the area is a pilot project for REDD. This means that it hopes to meet the eventual qualifications for a project that avoids carbon emissions, and can thus generate credits that can be traded on the anticipated global mandatory market.
In short, the rich world will pay April Salome to keep its forest intact in order to reduce carbon emissions and the landowners will be a little less poor than they are. (For more background on the REDD project read The Economist's green.view column this week)
There are plenty of questions about whether April Salome will qualify for REDD. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, that isn't a question anyone can really answer right now because everyone is still arguing how REDD will work. What is clear is that there is an active voluntary market for carbon credits, and South Pole Carbon, based in Zurich, are working to qualify the forest against the Voluntary Carbon Standard (or VCS). Borrowing words from the VCS standard website, it is intended to provide a... robust, new global standard for voluntary offset projects. It ensures that carbon offsets that businesses and consumers buy can be trusted and have real environmental benefits. So April Salome has two possible ways to sell credits, through the voluntary market which already exists and through the mandatory REDD market if this materialises.
If I as a customer, wanted to buy an option right now on the delivery of future certified credits from April Salome forest right now would that make me criminal or clever? It might be unwisely hasty but it would be legitimate. It might also be a good deal because the options I buy now could be worth a great deal more down the line. The only point at which it becomes a problem is if I pretend my stake is something that it isn't, i.e. I say I own REDD credits. Another possible issue is if I buy into a project like this, and also at the same time am financially involved in the qualification of the credits. The problem here is that there is a conflict of interests. My only incentive would be to qualify the credits and thus increase the value of my options. (N.B. I am not suggesting that either of these things are happening)
The other thing to know about April Salome is the locals want their forest developed this way. This isn't being imposed. South Pole Carbon say that four public stakeholder consultations took place between 4 and 15 May 2009 in Sepik Center of Hope, Wewak, and three villages within the April Salome Area with valuable assistance from the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Sepik River Programme. The entities inviting for this event were The National Office for Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability, the landowner group and Earthsky Ltd.
A Charitable Foundation has been established known as the April Salome Sustainable Forest Management Project Foundation, (ASSFMPF) managed with DNA involvement to distribute the benefits from utilising the UNFCCC (REDD) programme with April Salome Forestry Assets. For more information check out the new website.
That website explains: "South Pole, in cooperation with the PNG DNA [Designated National Authority] office, the landowner groups and the above NGOs, is currently working to address any question or issue raised during that consultation. The stakeholder consultation report, to be published in June, will be available to anyone interested. The project has been endorsed in writing by 163 landowner groups living in the April Salome Forest Management Area. A Benefit Sharing Agreement has been signed where the landowner groups will directly receive the largest share of the net proceeds from this project, while 2% of the proceeds will be donated to the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund and aditional funding will be made available from the project owners to the PNG government in form of project funding (with no cash being disbursed to the government). South Pole is not involved in this revenue sharing agreement and is not responsible for its distribution.
South Pole is contributing to the development of April Salome Sustainable Forest Management project in hope that this and other projects will contribute to further development of the REDD carbon market in order to significantly and reliably contribute to climate change mitigation while generating sustainable development benefits in some of the poorest countries on earth."
Hostage to fortune
Jun 8th 2009
Trading carbon credits based on avoided deforestation
Saturday, June 06, 2009
The Kamula Doso credit
This is a piece of paper that I refer to as the Kamula Doso REDD credit, which is part of a "B" series of credits issued from the Office of Climate Change in Papua New Guinea.
To everyday folk, it looks like it might represent that a certain amount of carbon had been verified as having been stored and verified by the government. Of course, it is well known that all sorts of odd carbon credits are traded on the voluntary market these days, what is peculiar about this certificate is that it claims to have been produced for what is intended to be the mandatory market. It says "pursuant to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change under Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) Initiative".
One problem with this piece of paper is that there is no legal framework for an actual REDD credit to exist. Anyone who knows anything about carbon trading says that this credit cannot possibly exist, because nobody has agreed a framework for this particular type of trade. But then there are many things about this document which are irregular.
I emailed Theo Yasause, executive director of the Office of Climate Change and one of those whose signature appears on the credit (and whose email address in the header). He wrote back:
"Kirks Roberst of NUPAN PNG have been working with the landowners of Kumula Doso and made representation to my Office.
We issued an Interim copy of the Certificate dated 3 Nov 08 on the basis that they will undertake wide stakeholder consultation covering all landowners, provincial and local government before such project can be entertained. The Original Certificate was kept in my Office but someone took that out and leaked it out on circulation. No documentation were submitted with proof that consultation were undertaken and the people are happy with possible carbon trade.
We have since ceased dealing with NUPAN as all landowners are not involved nor does the provincial and local governments in that area. We have stop any direct links with NUPAN since 3rd February. Forestry and ourselves were stoped by Court no to log or undertake carbon trade.
The credits in question were not sold or given to anyone as yet. This is because no Project Documentation were submitted to my satisfaction which would than be submitted to VCS for verifying.
Furthermore, there is a Court Injunction, in place and any dealing will be in contempt of court. Therefore, we have ceased dealing at this stage. from my side no credits were sold nor bought by anyone. Nor have the Office benefited in anyway. "
Mr Yasause mentions another reason why the Kamula Doso credit caused such outrage. The forest is the subject of a court injunction. Until a long-running ownership dispute is settled, nobody can buy or sell anything to do with the forest.
I have not been able to speak with Kirk Roberts, as he is travelling in Indonesia. But for a brief period, Kirk Roberts permitted the Australian carbon management company Carbon Planet to respond to questions about Carbon Planet's role with the Kamula Doso project, and a number of other similar projects.
Jim Johnson, of Carbon Planet, said, "there are in existence a group of certificates issued by OCC to Nupan for Kamula Doso. They are not real certificates. They are symbolic to the fact that Nupan is recognised by OCC as rightful developer to the landowners of Kamula Doso".
Carbon Planet's job is to help develop the Kamula Doso forest into a REDD carbon trade project for Nupan. Over $1.2m (AUS) in project finance was provided for this, and a number of other similar projects, around Papua New Guinea.
This is not unusual. All over the tropical forests of the world, entrepreneurs are doing deals with landowners over the rights to the carbon in their trees. They are speculating that a REDD deal will be done in Copenhagen, and that the value of the carbon will increase when it can become part of the global mandatory market.
Indeed, it is even possible to buy and sell promises to deliver REDD credits in the future. Again, this is perfectly standard. Fourteen percent of the forest carbon traded on voluntary markets right now are based on promises to deliver REDD credits. But an actual credit cannot exist. Its a small and technical detail. But an important one. A promise of something in the future is very different from saying that one already has it.
Has this Kamula Doso REDD credit been sold? No. Mr Johnson said, "there has been no purchasing of carbon credits under any agreement, they have not been put forward for sale or traded". He concluded, "Carbon Planet is putting forward carbon credits for sale from its contracted portfolio, but only subject to certification by one or more of the recognised standards bodies".
So there it is. The Kamula Doso credit was an "interim" or "symbolic" credit. Which raises the question, why were there at least 40 of these symbolic certificates issued? And how many projects these 40 credits represent around the country. Based on Carbon Planet's investment of $1.2m (AUS) into forest projects in Papua New Guinea, with $100,000 for each programme, there could be up to 12. And where are they? It would be great to find out more. And also to find out how it came to pass that the Kamula Doso project got to such an advanced stage with so many unhappy landowners.
Unfortunately, Carbon Planet tells me that it is no longer authorised to speak to me by Nupan, and is bound by a confidentiality agreement. I've asked if I might communicate with Mr Roberts by email or telephone but have not received any reply.
Mr Roberts, you know how to find me if you want to tell me more about these REDD credits.
* updated June 15th: Kamula Duso changed to Kamula Doso throughout.
The carbon credits that should not exist
Today we publish a story about carbon credits that should not exist. Nonetheless they were produced by someone in the government of Papua New Guinea. Reading it now, what strikes me most is of what we could not write rather than what we could.
This is an important story for a number of reasons. A carbon credit puports to represent something real, in other words that carbon has been removed from the atmosphere by some activity. In this case, the activity in question was avoided deforestation. The problem is that it is very easy to print a piece of paper saying something has happened. It is much harder, and takes far longer, to actually do it. And these carbon credits that have materialised in Papua New Guinea very much seem to be claiming they are something they are not, and could not be.
But the fact that they do exist underscores something very crucial, as the world negotiates a deal to formalise the process of avoided deforestation, something called REDD. We need to be careful that we do not spend trillions of dollars on a technology that does not work to lower greenhouse gases. Trees are a carbon removal technology.
And the main problem with them is that those who are eager to sell rights to carbon, whether this is indigenous groups or governments, may not actually have full control of whether or not the trees are cut down. If you cannot defend property, then a property right is meaningless.
There is much more to tell. It is not easy but I will try. If you want to tell me more about this story, please get in touch via The Economist's media directory.
Papua New Guinea and carbon trading
Money grows on trees
Jun 6th 2009
From Economist.com
Irregular carbon credits cause upheaval in the government of Papua New Guinea


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Ken Willers on Twitter: "A4 here's a component map that could help Ts. What and how to use resources already available #CatholicEdChat http://t.co/qdi5Ir1Cux"
Ken Willers on Twitter: "A1. Blended learning puts the child at the center and uses the home, the classroom, the S/T and tech #CatholicEdChat http://t.co/hUPgSV0HuG"
Ken Willers on Twitter: "A4. Look where tech is positioned with authentic blended learning. Is the tool not cause for learning #CatholicEdChat http://t.co/B23QDC1E7u"
Posted from Diigo. The rest of CatholicEdChat group favorite links are here.


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In London this year I wrote the third book of my China trilogy. The Road to Sleeping Dragon: Learning China From the Ground Up will be published worldwide by Bloomsbury in 2017.
In London this year I wrote the third book of my China trilogy. The Road to Sleeping Dragon: Learning China From the Ground Up will be published worldwide by Bloomsbury in 2017.
I took the cover photo with frozen hands at a 3:45pm December sundown. The Mainland edition, from Shanghai Translation Press, comes out later this year.
I'll speak at the University of Oxford's China Centre on Thursday, February 11 from 5-6:30pm, followed by a talk at the University of London's SOAS China Institute on Monday, February 15 from 5-7pm.
The new issue of The Iowa Review includes my true tale of being attacked on a bus in Sichuan shortly after first arriving in China. This story will lead a work-in-progress collection I've tentatively titled China 2, or China — The Sequel!
In Manchuria won a 2015 Lowell Thomas Award for Best Travel Book. Judging was done by the University of Missouri's School of Journalism, and announced at the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation's annual meeting in Las Vegas. From the judge's citation:
"Michael Meyer immersed himself in an important geographic area rarely studied in depth by Western journalists or anybody else with Western values. Rural China is enormously important within the Chinese empire, and also for the rest of the world as that empire expands its influence. Meyer's avoidance of the much-documented urban China in favor of understanding the rural populace is refreshing."
Here's an excerpt from Foreign Policy about how Puyi would still recognize a great deal of Changchun, the erstwhile capital of Manchukuo.
And, in a major announcement that received little coverage, farmers in two pilot programs, including in dongbei, will be allowed to use their land as collateral.
Writing a book is like building a boat, right down to the "launch" that takes both away from you. Every now and then, the boat passes by, and someone says, "Hey, nice boat!" or cracks that it's a piece of junk — to which the builder thinks, "Well, it still floats!" Regardless, it's always surprising to see where the thing turns up. Recently, it's India, where In Manchuria was a "Hot Pick" in the Hindustan Times, and is reviewed in the Times of India, the Financial Express, and the Business Standard. The latter concludes: "In Manchuria becomes a study in transience, solitude and also of a family. Read it for an inroad into one of the many grey regions of history."


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Written by Boas & Ulrich
Business Games deliver you a learning experience that you will not get in lectures.
Business Games provide a platform to kickstart your professional network and career.
Business Games include fun and great parties.
To make the most out of your next Business Game participation follow our 4 easy steps to be your best at the games.
1. Set the Stage
If you want to break the next business game, you will most importantly need a partner in crime. To find the best partner ever, look for someone who complements rather than mirrors you. If you are the numbers guy, find a people's guy. If you are the chaotic creative, find a structured perfectionist. If you are the geeky introvert, find the charismatic extrovert. With a broad range of skills in your tandem, you will gain a competitive edge in any challenge. To really stand out as a team, you have to create a history of working together. Last but not least, if you have never attended a business game before: Ask people who have. Preparation is everything. Firstly look up the partners and sponsors of the challenges. Secondly, understand the current issues in the companies industries. Finally, bring a professional PowerPoint template which you can easily adapt to the respective companies.
2. Lead the team
In business games you will most likely be assigned to groups of three tandems. Do not get us wrong here – you are not supposed to overrule your teammates in the challenges. It is rather about moderating the discussions, structuring the ideas and mediating between sometimes opposing perspectives. Be sure to divide responsibilities among you and your partner. One should focus on the people and eliciting their creativity and knowledge – the other one should structure the challenge and drive results. Make sure to follow through on the first team-approved idea. Do not get distracted by new ideas. It is better to have one focused, solid and well-presented solution than to be the jack of all trades.
3. To Box or not to Box
Frameworks are great and easy to use and can perfectly make sense in most cases. However, every business game participant knows the frameworks by heart. Additionally, companies will already have applied the frameworks to their problems internally. Therefore you have to be sensible whether the jury wants you to deliver a solution that heavily relies on theoretic boxes or an innovative solution that is outside of any existing box. Know your customer! In the end it is all about selling the idea to the jury.
4. Bring your family
Attending a business game means stepping out of your comfort zone and entering unfamiliar territory. To make the transition easier, bring your crew. This gives you a stronger presence and therefore makes you feel less uncomfortable. Sponsorships to more than one Frankfurt School tandem empowers the Frankfurt School Spirit and makes you stand out as one big team. The cross-program team helps you to grow closer with fellow students through mutual support during the challenges no matter if you are directly competing or on the same team. Finally you can always rely on the accompanying Frankfurt School staff member's cheers and support.
We followed all these steps at the HEC Business Game 2016 in Paris. Attendance and engagement in the challenges already brought us an amazing learning experience, new and exciting contacts with international students from other leading business schools and a lot of fun and party. On top of that we were able to stand out in the challenges. We were given the 1st prize in the Online Challenge by Gameloft and an overall 3rd place in the business game. Additionally one fellow teammate from Frankfurt School won the 1st prize in the Digitalization Challenge by Baker & McKenzie. Standing out in the challenges not only is awarded with prices, but also opens doors to great job opportunities, business networks and senior level contacts.
Thanks to the support of Frankfurt School and our amazing delegation!
Boas & Ulrich
P.S.: Feel free to get in touch if you have any question about your next business game.
email@example.com email@example.com


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VolunteersFirst, THANK YOU!We know that the success of our students depends on a strong relationship between home and school and recognize that we could not be the school that we are without the help and support of our parents and surrounding community. Volunteers play a huge role in enhancing our school programs, and we encourage you to consider volunteering this school year. At STMS, we rely on volunteers to assist with special activities such as:Eighth Grade Dance - chaperones and/or the dance committeeEighth Grade PicnicBook FairSpring Fling
Career Day
Field Trips (especially for band and chorus)
NorthBay for Sixth Graders
PBIS Events
Partnering for Youth
All volunteers in Queen Anne's County Public Schools will be required to complete a Volunteer Application every school year. The volunteer applications will be reviewed by the volunteer coordinator, Mrs. Jane Steimer, and the principal, Ms. Tara Downes People selected will be required to agree to a Maryland criminal history and National Sex Offender Registry background check conducted by the Board of Education. In addition to the background check, if the volunteers are involved in an overnight activity (like NorthBay) or student athletics, they must agree to an additional fingerprint background check by the Board of Education.
QACPS also requires all school volunteers to participate in a volunteer training orientation/session every school year to review the policies and procedures in the Volunteer Handbook. Should you wish to volunteer at multiple schools, please advise the volunteer coordinator so your forms can be faxed to the different schools.
If you are interested in volunteering this year, which includes chaperoning field trips, please complete and return a Volunteer Application. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Sharon Sweeney at firstname.lastname@example.com or 410-643-3194.


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Friday, March 8, 2013
43 comments:
Congratulations on 200 followers and 2 years. Please include me in your generous give-away, thanks for another chance to win another of your lovely minis.ReplyDelete
A Big Mini Hug
I would love to be a part of your giveaway, congrats!ReplyDelete
Congratulations and good luck for your swap.ReplyDelete
Thanks for the chance!
Congratulations on your 200+ follwers!ReplyDelete
Please, count me in your giveaway. I put the link on my blog.
Bye Faby
Поздравляю с 200 последователями!Если можно, то включите меня в розыгрыш.ReplyDelete
Congratuations on 2oo followers. That is so great. I would love to be included in the drawing.ReplyDelete
I adore your blog, it was the first miniature blog I found and introduced me to the wonderful world of blogging. I would so love to win your giveaway item xxReplyDelete
Please include me in your giveaway. I would love to take part. I put the link on my blog.ReplyDelete
Hugs Maria
Hi and Congrats :) !ReplyDelete
Love to take part into your Giveaway!
I`ll put the link into my blog.
Talk you later about the swap...
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
Congratulations on 200 followers and 2 years (^^)ReplyDelete
I'd love to enter your fab draw - so I hope you'll count me in.
MiniHugs, Irina
Congrats on your blog!!!! MelissaReplyDelete
Congratulations for both your 200 followers and blog second anniversary. Please count me in for the draw. I'll put your link on my blog. Hugs, DroraReplyDelete
Congrats on all the followers. I'd love to win something custom made by you. Please count me in. IndyPoppyReplyDelete
Woohoo! Please count me in!ReplyDelete
You actually have more followers because I follow you but I don't "follow" you. :) I would adore a mini mod original! Congrats on feeling the love in the blogosphere.ReplyDelete
Felicitaciones por el segundo aniversario de tu blog y tus 200 seguidores. Por favor cuenta conmigo para tu sorteo, me encantaría participar. Gracias, besos Ana (mucuy)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 8, 2013 at 6:52 PM
What fun! Thanks and 'grats!ReplyDelete
You are 2 fabulous! Hope my number comes up ; )ReplyDelete
I'm in for the giveaway. Thanks for lots of enjoyable readingReplyDelete
Congratulations! Please count me in!ReplyDelete
Me anotas por favor en la lista de participantes?
Lo anuncio en mi blog.
Un abrazo
Wow congratzz.. 2 years and 200 followers! it means you have inspired a lot of people count me in!ReplyDelete
Congratulations on your two successful years of blogging! Thank you for holding a giveaway-please count me in. I am so excited to join the spring swap as well..I'll send an emailood luck to y'all! Mini hugs and love!! xoReplyDelete
Ciao sono Manu e mi farebbe piacere partecipare al tuo giveaway,complimenti per i tuoi 200 followers e ho scoperto un blog con un arredamento moderno che mi piace! Metto il link sul mio blog!ReplyDelete
Super congrats! Great idea on hosting the swap. :DReplyDelete
me gustaría participar...subo el enlace a mi blog que también cumple dos años y está en sorteo, si te ionteresa....ReplyDelete
Congratulations on 2 years and 200 followers! Now you have one more! I'd love to participate in your giveaway, and also your swap. I'll send you an email shortly! Right now, I'm adding a link to your blog on mine. Thank you!ReplyDelete
Congratulations on 200 followers and 2 years of blogging! Please count me in for the giveaway.ReplyDelete
Congrats! Just added a link on my blog, would love to enter the giveaway =) HannahReplyDelete
Me gustaria participar! te anuncio en mi blog!!ReplyDelete
Besos de las Malu´s.
De nuevo felicitaciones, dos años es ya mucho tiempo y tienes 204 seguidores que seguro que en poco tiempo duplicas.ReplyDelete
Me apunto a tu sorteo encantada, pero no al intercambio por falta de tiempo, ya tengo alguno en marcha y no podría con todos, a la próxima.
Un beso
Thanks for this opportunity and Congratulations on your two years of blog and your followers!!ReplyDelete
I put your link on my blog.
kisses from Italy
Please count me in! Congratulations! I love following your blog.ReplyDelete
me encanta tu blog,felicidades,apuntame por favorReplyDelete
Me encantaria tener la oportunidad de participar en tu sorteo.ReplyDelete
Subo el aviso a mi blog.
besitos ascension
Congratulations on your 200+ followers!ReplyDelete
Please, count me in for your giveaway. I put a link on my blog.
Congrats on the 2 and 200!ReplyDelete
I'm not up for doing swaps just yet, but please count me in for the giveaway.
I'm adding a link to my blog right...now. :)
Thank you for this opportunity and congrats.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 14, 2013 at 2:30 AM
Felicidades por los 200 seguidores y esos 2 años de blog!! ya tienes una seguidora nueva. Me encantaría participar en tu sorteo. Te anuncio en mi blog. Un abrazo, ArantzaReplyDelete
Please count me in for the giveaway! :)ReplyDelete
Congratulations on your two years of blogging and your followers! I would love to be included for the giveaway and the swap.ReplyDelete


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Sassy local farm girls from North Devon, England have put their collective assets on display, posing in the 2010 Cancer Research Calendar for charity.
It's one thing to see amateur babes taking it all off, but doing it all for charity is an acceptable form of adult-themed currency that's approved worldwide.
Great job, ladies! The world's boners salute you.


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Best of 2013 Giveaway Hop!
I am so happy to be taking part in the Best of 2013 Giveaway Hop! It's such a great way to share books I loved reading this year! I have included all of my favourite books of 2013, regardless of publication date. If I read it this year, and loved it, it's in the giveaway!
There will be one giveaway winner who will get to choose one of the books below. If you want to the winner may choose a previous book in the series.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The winner will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours another winner will be chosen. If you have any additional questions - feel free to send me an email!
Prize will be a paperback of chosen book sent from the Book Depository (only open to countries Book Depository ships to).
Should the winner choose a book that has not yet been released in paperback, a pre-order of the paperback will be the prize.
Make sure to visit all the other blogs on the hop for some amazing giveaways!
Make sure to check out all of the other great giveaways in the hop!
Labels: Giveaway, Giveaway Hop
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Natural Toothpaste
by Lori
January 2010
I have an herbal toothpaste recipe that has done tremendous things for me. It uses equal parts of:
white oak bark powder, shave grass powder, clove powder, comfrey root powder, lobelia leaf powder and peppermint leaf powder. Just brush with it twice a day. It is amazing!
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From our Mailbox
Received my order today-everything was accurate & I was surprised at how quickly it arrived... Many thanks & good job!~Mary Ann
Did You Know?
The daily consumption of Spirulina can improve and restore your energy levels like few other food sources can. This is partly due to its high content of riboflavin. Riboflavin helps release energy from carbohydrates, proteins and fats. So, the more riboflavin you consume, the more energy you'll get out of the foods you eat. Spirulina has more riboflavin than any other food source, making it perfect for those desiring an energy boost without any side effects.