China should take on more of the effort required to get the
world on track to avoid dangerous climate change, according to a
special report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). In
an interviewwith Carbon Brief, chief
IEA economist, Dr Fatih Birol, says the combined impact of current
climate pledges are far from what’s needed to limit warming to
below 2C.

Thursday is encyclical day. Rarely has a papal writing
attracted so much attention as today’s encyclical on the
environment, says Reuters. Calling for more investment in renewable
energy and access to drinking water as an essential human right,
today’s “highly personal and eloquently written” 192-page document
is a resounding appeal to world leaders and ordinary people to
tackle climate change as a moral imperative. The Financial Timescalls today’s
encyclical the Pope’s “most aggressive step yet into public policy”
while an editorial says it looks set to be “one of the defining
statements of his pontificate.” Coming a few months ahead of
international climate talks in Paris, the timing of the encyclical
should not be underestimated, writes Camilla Toulmin, director of
the International Institute for Environment and Development
for RTCC. Many are hoping the Pope’s words
will sway public opinion in the US, where the issue of climate
change is highly politicised. A survey ahead of the encyclical by
the Pew Research Centre found 71% of US Catholics believe the Earth
is warming but fewer than half think it’s caused by human activity,
reports The Hill. Meanwhile, US presidential
contender Jeb Bush joined a conservative backlash against the
Pontiff, saying he would not be guided by the church on climate
change and urging Pope Francis to steer clear of global affairs,
says The Guardian. In a separate article, The
Guardian answers all your key questionson papal encyclicals,
including when hey came into fashion and whether the Pope actually
writes them.

Local communities will today be handed new powers to veto
wind farms, as the Conservatives press ahead with plans to halt the
spread of turbines across the countryside, the Telegraph reports on
its frontpage. The energy industry is also braced for plans –
outlined in this DECC press release- of the
Conservative manifesto pledge to axe subsidies for new onshore wind
farms. “Up to 5.2GW of onshore wind capacity could be eligible for
grace periods which the Government is minded to offer to projects
that already have planning consent,” stresses DECC.
The Daily Mailalso has the story,
which carries a quote from Renewable UK saying it believes the new
rules will “tilt the playing field” towards fracking.

Extraction of groundwater for human consumption is depleting
the world’s natural aquifers, according to data from NASA’s twin
Grace satellites. New maps show a third of the 37 major groundwater
resources are highly stressed, a problem that is set to worsen with
climate change and population growth, says The Daily Mail. The two studies – the
first to examine groundwater losses from outer space – show the
most stressed aquifers are in extreme dry areas, such as the Middle
East, northwestern India and Pakistan. Water scarcity has risky
consequences for farmers and consumers, and is likely to intensify
social problems, says Reuters. Lead author Prof Famiglietti
tells The Financial Times, “We need to explore
the world’s aquifers as if they had the same value as oil
reserves.”Gristand Scientific Americanhave more on the
story.

Around 9,000 constituents took part in an event to meet 250
MPs outside Westminster in what is thought to be biggest ever UK
lobby on climate change. On the eve of the Papal encyclical,
organisers said they hope the rally would build political momentum
in the final months before a landmark Paris conference on climate
change in December. RTCChas more on the story.

A new reportfrom the Renewable Energy
Policy Network for the 21st Century finds record year of renewable
energy installation and a worldwide rise in GDP coincides with
stalled carbon output. BusinessGreen has a rundownof the key figures from the
comprehensive Renewables 2015 Global Status Report.

Biofuels could meet up to a third of the world’s
transportation fuel needs by the middle of the century, according
to a new multinational report led by researchers from the Sao Paulo
Research Foundation in Brazil. Questions have been raised about
food security and the greenhouse gas savings bioenergy could
deliver, notes the BBC. But yesterday’s report – unveiled in
Brussels as part of EU Sustainable Energy Week – argues modern
bioenergy could “help improve food security by optimising land
productivity and agricultural management”.

A new US study suggests nearly half of people overestimate
their grasp of the evidence of shrinking polar ice, reports RTCC. A
series of surveys in New Hampshire from 2010-15 show 61% of Tea
Party supporters said they had “moderate” or “great” understanding
of climate change but scored low on a factual test.

China installing more new wind and solar capacity last year
than any country in history has led some to talk of the country
being a “renewables powerhouse”. But out of context this fact can
be much less impressive than it really is, says Robert Wilson. The
most recent data from BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy shows
that there is no renewables revolution in China, he argues.

Climate change is by no means the only environmental issue
today’s Papal encyclical is expected to address – nor is it
necessarily the most important, says Harvey in the Washington Post.
The Pontiff will also be pressing environmental concerns such as
tackling pollution, water quality and biodiversity loss, many of
which are likely to be exacerbated in a major way by climate change
itself.

A new paper reviews the state of knowledge around western
boundary currents in the Pacific Ocean. The currents have an
important role in processes such as El Niño and the Pacific Decadal
Oscillation, the researchers say, but the amount of heat they
transfer and how they will be affected by climate change are yet to
be quantified robustly. Only a concerted international effort will
close the observational, theoretical and technical gaps, the
researchers say.

Over 270 million people visit national parks in the US every
year, but a new study says temperature increases will affect
visitor numbers in almost all of them. Researchers analysed
temperature and visitor data for 1979-2013 in 340 parks and made
mid-century projections using two climate change scenarios. The
results suggest parks at high latitudes or elevations will see an
increase in visitors as temperatures rise, while parks in warm
areas will see a fall in visitors during the hottest months of the
year.