Emissions warning as climate marchers take to the streets
News
Three Decades Until Carbon Budget Is Eaten
Through
A new report shows global greenhouse gas emissions hit record
levels in 2013, and are set to do so again this year. The Global
Carbon Project’s annual report suggests that if the world continues
to emit at current rates, it will soon pass the point at which
global warming can be curbed to two degrees. “If the planet’s
carbon budget, which is the amount of fuel we can burn, concrete we
can pour and forest we can fell without blowing global warming
goals, was a giant cake, then we’d all be running out of dessert –
fast”,Climate Centralexplains. The research
shows “the world remains far off track in its efforts to control
global warming”, theTimesheadline declares, meaning
“children born today will see the world committed to dangerous and
irreversible levels of climate change by their young adulthood”,
theGuardiansays. TheFinancial Times,BBCandReutersall focus on China’s increasing
contribution to global emissions. China’s emissions per person
overtook the EU’s for the first time in 2013. We look at
theimplications, as doesThe Conversation.
Climate and energy news
‘King Coal’s reign crumbling as demand falters,
Carbon Tracker warns
£112 billion of coal assets are at risk unless demand for the
resource picks up, new research suggests. The findings from the
Carbon Tracker Initiative’s latest report echo its earlier studies,
which show many resources with the highest climatic impact are also
financially risky. Improvements in energy efficiency, increased
renewable energy capacity, and environmental legislation all reduce
coal demand, the report says.
Snail ‘wiped out by climate change’ is alive and
well
The “rediscovery” of a species of snail is prompting
questions about the role played by the Royal Society, Britain’s
most prestigious scientific institution, in raising false alarm
over an impact of climate change, The Times claims. The extinction
claim was originally made in a scientific paper in 2013. An Oxford
University professor rebutted the claim, but said the same journal
rejected his paper.
UK to face more extreme weather as climate change
pushes temperatures up in the Arctic
Climate change is having a major impact on the jetstream,
and that means more extreme weather for the UK, a US professor
claims. The Arctic is warming at twice the global average, causing
the jet stream to take an amplified and wavier path, which will
lead to more storms, she says.
The People’s Climate march: For 72 hours the world
takes to the streets and tells leaders: ‘Act now on climate
change’
From New York to New Delhi via London, thousands took to the
streets this week to urge world leaders to act on climate change.
The worldwide “people’s climate march” was timed to coincide with
the start of the UN secretary general’s climate summit in New York
on Tuesday. Organisers claimed 570,000 people protested in 161
countries, the Guardianreports. In New York, the
march was “a spectacle even for a city known for doing things big”,
the New York Timessays. The march
brought out plenty of scientists too, Scientific Americanobserves,
including many not normally involved in advocacy. The protests also
attracted many celebrities, including Emma Thompson, Leonardo DiCaprioand Sting. UN
secretary general Ban Ki-moon also took to the streets to “link
arms” with those “on the right side of this key issue for our
common future”, the BBC reports.
China debates how to impose carbon
caps
China’s emissions are expected to peak in 2050, according to
the Financial Times. Scientists suggest that would be too late to
curb warming and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. As
such, the country is trying to find a way to make its emissions
peak in 2030. But policymakers can’t decide whether they should
implement a national cap, regional cap, or any cap at
all.
Scientists reveal ‘fair system’ for countries to
tackle climate change
Under a “fair” climate regime, the UK would need to make
cuts of up to 75 per cent on 1990 emission levels by 2025 and would
also need to transfer $49 billion (£30 billion) to developing
countries, new research suggests. The study by the Stockhold
Environment Institute and Friends of the Earth is the first to link
precise emissions cuts needed to curb global warming by 1.5 degrees
by 2025. It shows most countries would receive more money than
they’d be expected to contribute, with developed nations giving the
most.
Oil industry welcomes Scottish No
vote
Shell and BP, which both campaigned against Scottish
independence, have unsurprisingly welcomed the outcome of last
week’s referendum. Scotland’s continued presence in the union
reduces market uncertainty, they say. Lobby group Oil and Gas UK
says the government must now come good on its promise of a more
friendly tax regime to help the industry deliver as extraction
rates dwindle.
Climate and energy comment
The global people’s climate march is a reason to
be a climate optimist
Guardian Southern Crossroads Blog
Several countries are stripping back their climate policies
and emissions continue to hit record levels. But despite this, it’s
time to be a climate optimist, an Australian campaigner argues.
That’s because events like this weekend’s climate march show the
public’s desire for climate action. “It is heartening that
increasingly environment groups are joining forces with other civil
society groups like unions, faith groups and development agencies”,
he argues. They are the “the start of a positive civil society
“tipping point”, guided by the optimistic hope that we can still
act to stop global warming”, he claims.
Climate Science Is Not
Settled
A former member of President Obama’s cabinet says climate
science is still a long way from being able to answer many of
policymakers’ questions. While the evidence for climate change and
humans’ influence on the planet is settled, he says science is
still unable to answer the more pertinent question of exactly how
the climate will change. While me may not know
everything, we know enoughto make cutting
emissions from burning fossil fuels, cars and buildings a good
idea, the Rabbet Run blog retorts.
One big march, lots of little
messages
This weekend’s ‘people’s climate march’ brought together a
broad church, Grist observes. Beneath the umbrella of calling for
climate action, normally disparate groups called on politicians to
make what they see as key decisions for themselves and future
generations. The automakers’ union called for green jobs, islanders
want to halt rising sea levels, Free Tibet campaigners wanted a
focus on the region’s extensive ice sheet. “The flip side of the
broad cacophony was a lack of focus”, Grist notes. But ultimately
it concludes that “the march was a successful expression of
organizers’ larger strategy: not to go to the wall for one
specific, immediate demand – like, say, the protesters tying
themselves to the White House fence to stop Keystone – but to build
a grassroots movement”.
New climate science
CO2 emissions set to reach new 40 billion ton
record high in 2014
At currentcarbon dioxide emissions
rates, we’re set to blow the budget to stay below two degrees of
warming within 30 years, says a new report. A
accompanying collection of papers in Nature Climate Change and
Nature Geoscience suggesta “bottom up” approach to
climate policy, whereby countries decide themselves what’s
achievable in terms of carbon cuts, may achieve the quick and
decisive action that’s eludedinternational negotiations
in the past two decades. Either way, the implication of no
immediate action is worryingly clear, the authors warn.