General Reports and Other Publications

Newswire – WWF: Bold targets are needed to stop forest loss or more than 230m hectares of forest could disappear by 2050, according to a new WWF report. The first chapter of WWF’s Living Forests report has been released. It examines the drivers of deforestation and identifies the opportunities to shift from business as usual to a new model of sustainability, which can benefit government, business and communities.

Based on a new global analysis showing rates of forest loss by 2050 using four scenarios, the report proposes that policymakers & businesses unite around a goal of zero net deforestation and forest degradation (ZNDD) by 2020 as a global benchmark to avoid dangerous climate change and curb biodiversity loss.
Press release & links
 
SocitmLocal authorities face many risks in outsourcing ICT, and those that follow this route without a full appreciation of them may pay a heavy price, both financially and in terms of loss of ability to respond to change.
 
This view, recently expressed in Socitm’s evidence to the House of Commons’ Public Administration Select Committee, is developed in Costs of outsourcing – uncovering the real risks, the latest monthly briefing from Socitm Insight, research arm of the local public services IT and information professionals’ association.

The briefing agrees that there are good reasons for outsourcing, however outsourcing a major component of the ICT service, or even the whole service, is a major commitment and fraught with risk.  It also points out that when comparing the costs for any service, most elements will be more expensive if outsourced. The briefing also counsels public services to avoid the mistake of outsourcing their information assets alongside their technology.
Press release & links ~ Socitm’s evidence to the House of Commons’ Public Administration Select Committee
 
KPMG: Confidence among UK consumer businesses is lower than the global trend, according to a new survey (CFO Insights: A Global Survey of Consumer Markets Executives) from KPMG International, but those that have weathered the downturn are now emerging fitter, leaner and ready to grow.
Press release ~ CFO Insights: A Global Survey of Consumer Markets Executives
 
PX: A new report from think tank Policy Exchange says Britain should renegotiate its commitment to the European Union’s 2020 renewable energy target.  The study says the renewable target is unnecessarily expensive and damages the prospects for reducing carbon emissions over the coming decades by wasting money that could be better used to fund research and demonstration of a wide range of new, low carbon technologies.

The report – 2020 Hindsight: Does The Renewable Energy Target Help The UK Decarbonise?examines 16 different plans for achieving the UK target of an 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050.  None of the models showed that the UK’s commitment to producing 35% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 was needed to reach its carbon target.
Press release & links
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