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Climate plans must go further says UN & Environmental groups demand enquiry after Exxon 'misled public'

02.11.15

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UN: Climate plans must go further to prevent dangerous warming

BBC News

The UN has released its assessment of national plans to limit climate change, and say the submissions in their current form won’t keep global temperatures from rising by more than the 2C danger threshold. The national climate plans, called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), now cover around 86% of global emissions and together would cause global temperatures to rise by 2.7C above the pre-industrial level. However the UN report says the plans are a major step forward and the 2C goal is still “within reach”. UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said: “Fully implemented, these plans together begin to make a significant dent in the growth of greenhouse gas emissions: as a floor they provide a foundation upon which ever higher ambition can be built,” reports Telegraph. The Guardian, Financial Times, the Hill, and BusinessGreen also cover the assessment, while Climate Home have picked out 10 “takeaways” from the report.

Environmental groups demand inquiry after Exxon ‘misled public’ on climate

The Guardian

Pressure is mounting for the US to conduct a federal investigation into allegations that the oil giant ExxonMobil illegally covered up the truth about climate change. Both Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have both called for an investigation, and now leaders of 49 campaign groups signed a letter to the same effect. The letter cites “revelations that the company knew about climate change as early as the 1970s, but chose to mislead the public about the crisis in order to maximise their profits from fossil fuels.” The New York Times also has the story.

Climate change: Women more vulnerable to dangers of global warming than men, say leading academics

The Independent

Climate change will inflict far more suffering on women than men because they are more vulnerable to the floods, droughts and diseases, leading academics have warned. The gender disparity will be far more pronounced in developing countries where sexual inequality is typically much greater and where the effects of global warming will be more extreme, the research finds. Women in poorer countries are more likely to be at home, putting them a risk of collapsing buildings, are much less likely to be able to swim or have a mobile phone to be able to call for help.

Ségolène Royal calls on UN summit to raise fossil fuel cost

The Financial Times

The cost of a tonne of carbon dioxide pollution should rise to €100 by the end of this century, argues French cabinet minister, Ségolène Royal – more than 10 times its current price. “We have to aim for €100 a tonne. It’s a good price,” she said, explaining higher carbon prices will be needed to shift investment away from fossil fuels towards cleaner, renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar power.

UK spends more on fossil fuel aid projects than renewables

The Financial Times

The UK spent £2.2bn in poor countries to help build coal power plants and other fossil fuel energy projects – more than double the £1bn spent helping them develop renewables, a new report says. The research, by the Overseas Development Institute thinktank for the aid agency, Cafod, estimates that between 2009 and 2013, 43% of the £5.2bn the UK provided for energy in developing countries went towards production or consumption of fossil fuels. “Continuing to back the development of fossil fuels just doesn’t make sense in light of the UK’s goals on climate change and poverty,” said Neil Thorns, Cafod’s director of advocacy.

Comment

In the fight against global warming, the real eco-warriors wear suits and ties

The Telegraph

“City types” are becoming the most powerful advocates of the low-carbon economy, argues Lean, and literally so, “because they actually have the power to bring it about.” Far from wanting to obstruct capitalism, “they are out to boost it, and, above all, to make lots of money for their institutions, shareholders, and themselves.” It is not traditional campaigning that will bring about the low carbon future, but hard-headed calculation, Lean says.

Internal combustion engine faces quick death

The Sunday Telegraph

Agreement of ambitious global emissions targets at the Paris climate summit next month would leave the car industry facing “massive challenges,” says Warner. But while the internal combustion engine will one day “seem as obsolete as photographic film, the vinyl record, and the manual typewriter,” its death wouldn’t happen fast enough to meet climate targets, he argues. This means either the industry will see an investment boom in cleaner fuel options, or the targets will be missed, he says. Meanwhile, also in the Telegraph, Alan Tovey ponders whether it will be hydrogen or electric cars that finally push their petrol equivalents off the road.

Coal left unloved as natural gas and fossil-free drives bite

The Financial Times

“The bad news for the coal industry has seemed relentless throughout 2015,” says Wilson, with global calls for divestment, falling prices and companies going into bankruptcy. But there are other areas of the world where coal use is expected to grow quickly, he says. In southeast Asia, for example, International Energy Agency says coal demand would expand at the fastest rate among all energy sources over the next 25 years. With coal still set to be the energy choice for many countries for years to come, “this implies a greater need for technology that enables the fuel to be used with less environmental cost — from more efficient power stations to carbon capture and storage techniques,” he says.

Science

A tale of two California droughts: Lessons amidst record warmth and dryness in a region of complex physical and human geography

Geophysical Research Letters

A look at how different parts of California are faring under the current drought, and why predicting how the state will respond to a warming world is far from straightforward. The effects of the drought are remarkably mild in the densely-populated coastal cities, escalating to very severe in more rural and wildfire-prone regions, the paper notes. This year’s powerful El Niño may offer some relief in terms of rain, but holds a flooding risk for other areas this winter.