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TODAY'S CLIMATE AND ENERGY HEADLINES

Briefing date 26.11.2019
Greenhouse gas concentrations again break records

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News.

Greenhouse gas concentrations again break records
BBC News Read Article

Concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide, reached record levels in the atmosphere last year, according to a widely covered World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report. BBC News led its news bulletins last night with the study, pointing out that since 1990 there has been a 43% increase in the warming effect on the climate of long-lived greenhouse gases. Its coverage clarifies that the annual WMO report is based on concentrations in the atmosphere rather than just emissions from burning fossil fuels or deforestation. The Independent reports that levels of CO2, the main gas driving global warming, had increased to 407.8 parts per million (ppm) in 2018, up from 405.5ppm the previous year. It notes that this concentration is nearly 50% higher than levels before the Industrial Revolution. MailOnline says this makes it the highest atmospheric concentration seen in three million years. The Guardian notes that the surges in greenhouse gases were “all above the average for the last decade”, quoting the organisation saying the gap between international climate targets and reality was “glaring and growing”. The Daily Telegraph has a comment from WMO head Petteri Taalas, who says: “There is no sign of a slowdown, let alone a decline, in greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere despite all the commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change”. In its coverage, Reuters notes that “irrespective of future policy, CO2 stays in the atmosphere for centuries, locking in warming trends”. The report has received international coverage, with news outlets including the Sydney Morning HeraldNBC News and Deutsche Welle all reporting its findings.

Global use of coal-fired electricity set for biggest fall this year
The Guardian Read Article

There is continuing coverage of analysis originally published in Carbon Brief yesterday showing that the world’s use of coal-powered electricity is set for its biggest annual drop on record this year, following over four decades of growth. The Guardian’s coverage notes that the 3% fall is due to a decline in India’s reliance on coal power and a slowdown in demand in China. AxiosCity AM and BusinessGreen also report the story. Carbon Brief’s Dr Simon Evans makes an appearance on a Channel 4 News segment discussing the findings and their significance in the context of the latest greenhouse gas figures from the WMO. Gizmodo also reports Carbon Brief’s analysis alongside the WMO report, describing the “rollercoaster of emotions” that comes with realising atmospheric greenhouse gases have hit a new peak at the same time as hearing about a decline in coal use.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports on Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysis in which it surveyed 104 emerging markets and found that new clean energy investment slid by more than a fifth in developing countries last year due to a slowdown in China. Commenting on the results, Ethan Zindler, head of Americas at BNEF, tells the news outlet: “The transition from coal toward cleaner sources in developing nations is underway…But like trying to turn a massive oil tanker, it takes time”. Meanwhile, a Reuters column acknowledges the Carbon Brief analysis, but notes that: “While these statistics look positive from a climate change perspective, there are other equally credible numbers that point to growing industrial demand for the fuel and illustrate the scale of the challenge.”

BusinessGreen reports that French banking giant BNP Paribas has pledged to end all financing related to the European thermal coal sector by 2030 and then halt coal investment entirely around the world by 2040. A piece in the Conversation argues that forcing companies to divest from fossil fuels will not lower demand, and, in fact, “may even cause emissions to rise”.

EU lawmakers set to declare 'climate emergency' ahead of UN conference
Reuters Read Article

The majority of EU lawmakers hope to declare a “climate emergency” at the upcoming climate conference in Madrid, according to Reuters. Left-leaning, centrist and green members of the European Parliament say such a statement would increase pressure on the incoming EU executive, according to the news wire service. The Reuters piece reports they plan to pass the symbolic declaration during a debate on the UN’s COP25 climate summit, which opens next week in Spain. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that an agreement to make the EU “the first climate-neutral region” by 2050 will likely be the biggest challenge the bloc’s leaders face at their summit next month. Another Reuters piece says that “dogged by lack of consensus, US scepticism and disruptive protests demanding more action”, world leaders are under significant pressure at the upcoming COP25 to make progress.

In the UK, where commentators have emphasised the importance of climate change in the upcoming general election, New Scientist has produced a piece looking at which parties are strongest on the issue. (For an in-depth exploration of the manifestos, Carbon Brief is maintaining an interactive grid of climate and energy policies as they are released by the major parties.) With a climate leaders’ debate scheduled to take place on Channel 4 this coming Thursday, the channel has said it will “empty chair” prime minister Boris Johnson if he does not turn up, according to the Press Association.

Comment.

Barry Myers won't lead NOAA. Maybe Trump will pick a scientist now
Editorial, The Washington Post Read Article

After Barry Myers withdrew his name from consideration to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) due to health reasons last week, an editorial in the Washington Post considers the future of the federal agency. Myers, whose nomination remained unconfirmed by the Senate for over two years, was former chief executive of AccuWeather, a private forecasting company that relies on data from NOAA, a point that Democrats said could be a conflict of interest. The Post’s editorial says “maybe now, President Trump will consider tapping a scientist to run a scientific agency, as his predecessors typically did”. It notes that “only in the Trump administration” could an agency such as NOAA, which is a leading authority on climate change, be at such high risk. “A strictly reality-based organisation, it is responsible for monitoring the planet, issuing warnings about storms and predicting the weather without fear or favour. Perhaps it was bound to run afoul of the fact-allergic Mr Trump,” the editorial states. “With Mr Myers now out of the picture, the agency needs someone without conflicts of interest, with expertise and with the mettle to resist when the White House calls demanding facts be replaced with spin. Those may not be the qualities the Trump administration is seeking — but they are the qualities senators should demand.”

Tories are naturals at environmentalism – this green and pleasant land runs in true blue veins
Olivia Utley, The Sun Read Article

Following the release of the Conservative manifesto over the weekend, a piece by the Sun’s deputy leader writer Olivia Utley concludes that “Tories are naturals at environmentalism”. She says opponents of Boris Johnson’s Conservatives (“hippy protesters”) are too quick to make the comparison with US president Donald Trump and his anti-environmental agenda. “Boris Johnson’s compassionate, One Nation, quintessentially British form of Conservatism bears little if any resemblance to Trump’s brash, American regime. And on the environment, there’s a Grand Canyon-sized gap between the two,” she writes. While green principles have been “hijacked by the Left in recent decades”, she says they are in fact more at home in “the party which announces in its name a desire to conserve”. According to Utley, Johnson “has produced one of the greenest manifestos in Conservative Party history”. “It’s time for the protesters who waltzed around London to admit that Jeremy Corbyn has nothing for them and join the real green revolution. The Shire Tories will welcome them with open arms,” she concludes.

Science.

A qualitative comparative analysis of women’s agency and adaptive capacity in climate change hotspots in Asia and Africa
Nature Climate Change Read Article

Environmental stress has a negative impact on “women’s agency” – the ability to make meaningful choices and strategic decisions – in Asia and Africa, a new study says. Drawing on data from 25 qualitative case studies across three climate change hotspots in Africa and Asia, the researchers find that “environmental stress is a key depressor of women’s agency even when household structures and social norms are supportive or legal entitlements are available”. The findings “have implications for the effective implementation of multilateral agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals”, the authors say.

Forcings, feedbacks and climate sensitivity in HadGEM3‐GC3.1 and UKESM1
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems Read Article

A new study evaluates climate forcing, sensitivity and feedback metrics in the latest version of the Met Office’s HadGEM3 general circulation model, which underpins its Earth system model “UKESM1”. The effective climate sensitivity to a doubling of CO2 is 5.4C in the UKESM1, and 5.5C for a low resolution version of HAdGEM3, the authors say. They add: “Compared to the previous UK climate model, HadGEM3‐GC2.0, the effective climate sensitivity has increased from 3.2C to 5.5C due to an increase in CO2 forcing, surface albedo feedback and mid‐latitude cloud feedback. All changes are well understood and due to physical improvements in the model” None of the new model’s “forcing or feedback processes are found to be atypical of models”, the authors say, “though the cloud feedback is at the high end”.

Increasing impacts of extreme droughts on vegetation productivity under climate change
Nature Climate Change Read Article

The impact of extreme droughts on plant growth could triple by the last quarter of this century (2075–2099) relative to 1850–1999 under both high and intermediate emission scenarios, a new study suggests. Analysing outputs of 13 Earth system models, the researchers show increasingly stronger impact on gross primary production (GPP) – vegetation growth – by extreme droughts than by mild and moderate droughts over the twenty-first century. The authors conclude: “Our analysis indicates a high risk of extreme droughts to the global carbon cycle with atmospheric warming; however, this risk can be potentially mitigated by positive anomalies of GPP associated with favourable environmental conditions.”

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