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Daily Briefing |

TODAY'S CLIMATE AND ENERGY HEADLINES

Briefing date 23.03.2018
Macron: EU ‘mad’ to do trade deal with US after Paris climate withdrawal

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News.

Macron: EU ‘mad’ to do trade deal with US after Paris climate withdrawal
Climate Home Read Article

French president Emmanuel Macron has said that the EU would be “mad” to sign a trade deal with countries that refused to honour the Paris Agreement. Speaking at a conference in Brussels, he said: “Why should we sign a trade agreement with powers that say they don’t want to implement the Paris Agreement? We would be mad [to do so].” Macron also called for Europe to set a minimum price on carbon, Reuters reports. “We need a European price floor for carbon. I know it won’t be easy, there will be resistance from all around,” Macron told the conference.

EU leaders take Brussels to task over 2050 low-carbon roadmap
Euroactiv Read Article

EU leaders have asked the European Commission to launch a climate strategy for 2050 by 2019, Euractiv reports. “The European Council invites the Commission to present by the first quarter of 2019 a proposal for a Strategy for long-term EU greenhouse gas emissions reduction in accordance with the Paris Agreement,” reads the EU summit conclusions. The Paris Agreement requires countries to have a long-term decarbonisation strategy by the second half of this century.

Guyanese campaigners mount legal challenge against three oil giants
The Guardian Read Article

Citizens of Guyana, South America, have launched a legal challenge against three major oil companies that are preparing to drill off the country’s shores. The challenge against Exxon Mobil, Hess Corportation and Nexen, a subsidiary of Chinese national oil, will be brought to court this week and is being funded through the crowdfunding site CrowdJustice. The challengers argue that Guyanese ministers acted illegally by issuing drilling licences to the companies because not all of them have environmental permits.

Liam Fox’s Trade Department is Taking Advice from ‘Experts’ with Links to Climate Science Denial Networks
DeSmogUK Read Article

Hardline Brexiteers with links to climate sceptic organisations have seats on a committee responsible for advising international trade secretary Liam Fox, according to DeSmogUK. It reports that the five-member committee includes Peter Lilley, one of the board members of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a climate sceptic campaign group.

Comment.

Claire Perry: “Taking action on climate is a massive win-win”
Emilio Casalicchio, The House Read Article

In an interview with The House magazine, the minister of state for energy and clean growth Claire Perry has called for more recognition of how adopting stronger environmental measures could be good for business. She said: “For too long we have thought if we want to take action on the environment somehow that’s bad for growth, it’s bad for our businesses. [But] it’s a massive win-win.” The interview also touches on Perry’s plans for Brexit, the Clean Growth Strategy and onshore wind.

As the President of Brazil, I know only too well that we must tackle climate change to ensure water sustainability
Michel Temer, The Independent Read Article

“Guaranteeing access to water is one of the main challenges of our time,” Michel Temer, the President of Brazil, writes in the Independent. As the the 8th World Water Forum takes place in Brasilia this week, he says: “We were among the first countries to ratify the Paris Agreement, which deals with one of the main threats to the right of access to water: climate change.”

Science.

Carbon–climate feedbacks accelerate ocean acidification
Biogeosciences Read Article

Carbon–climate feedbacks will influence the future of ocean acidification. This study uses CO2 emissions scenarios with an Earth system model to project future ocean acidification with the inclusion of carbon–climate feedbacks. They show that carbon–climate feedbacks can significantly impact the onset of undersaturated aragonite conditions in the Southern and Arctic oceans, the suitable habitat for tropical coral and the deepwater saturation states. Under high-emissions scenarios (RCP8.5 and RCP6), the carbon–climate feedbacks advance the onset of the decline in suitable coral reef habitat by a decade or more. Even for a low-emissions RCP2.6 scenario, by 2100 the carbon–climate feedbacks reduce the area suitable for coral reefs by 40%.

Are Polar Continental Shelves Economic to ‘Farm’ for Increased Carbon Capture and Storage?
Environmental Analysis & Ecology Studies Read Article

Carbon-capture and storage (CCS) is expensive, but as commercialization is proving problematic and economic estimates of climate change costs escalate non-mainstream alternatives should be discussed. This paper presents a thought experiment based on potential for increased carbon capture on polar continental shelves. West Antarctic, and probably Arctic, continental shelves are sites of significant benthos carbon accumulation. At South Georgia, moraines on the margins of the continental shelf show much more biological richness and activity than the typical mud covering ~88% of the shelf. They estimate that most carbon accumulation, and ultimately sequestration, occurs at these moraines (12% of shelf). Seabed CCS by benthos could increase 400% if it was all rubble. While this could be achieved with minimal environmental impacts, at current CCS values it would take 1000 years or more to recoup transport costs.

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