EU to fast-track Paris climate change agreement, India also ratifies, & more

03.10.16

News

EU to fast-track Paris climate change agreement

The EU has paved the way for the Paris climate agreement to come into force within weeks after ministers agreed to fast-track ratification of the deal. The decision came after EU environment ministers in Brussels on Friday agreed on a one-off plan to accelerate the bloc’s ratification without waiting for each member state to do so. The European Parliament is expected to rubber stamp the decision in Strasbourg tomorrow, says the Guardian, allowing the EU to sign off on it as soon as the following day. “I’m happy but mostly relieved,” EU climate commissioner, Miguel Arias Cañete, told the FT. “You know that unanimity in the EU is pretty difficult to achieve.” With Europe, 90 nations representing 59.9% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions will have ratified or otherwise joined into the Paris Agreement, crossing the thresholds necessary for it to take effect, says The HIll. If the threshold is met by October 7, the agreement will enter into force in time for the beginning of the next round of UN climate talks that begin in Marrakesh on November 7. The UK’s climate change and industry minister, Nick Hurd, welcomed the news, reports the Independent: “The Paris climate agreement is an ambitious and landmark deal. I welcome today’s agreement, pushing forward EU ratification of the Paris climate change agreement.” Reuters andBusinessGreen also carry the story.

India ratifies Paris climate change deal

Reuters

India, the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, ratified the Paris climate agreement yesterday, on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Under its contribution to the Agreement, India has committed to ensuring that at least 40% of its electricity will be generated from non-fossil sources by 2030, says the BBC. “Care & concern towards nature is integral to the Indian ethos,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, says the Washington Post: “India is committed to doing everything possible to mitigate climate change.” The announcement was welcomed by international leaders. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement: “Today the government of India has demonstrated global leadership and vision by joining the Paris agreement on climate change. This historic step will further India’s sustainable path to growth and development.” While President Obama tweeted saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country was carrying on the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and his belief “in a world worthy of our children.” The Associated Press also has the story.

Cuadrilla boss ‘confident’ of fracking go-ahead as crucial decision looms

Telegraph

Cuadrilla is “confident” that the Government will approve its plans to frack in Lancashire this week, says its chief executive Francis Egan. Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, is expected to announce on Thursday whether he will overrule local councillors and grant the company permission to frack at two sites between Blackpool and Preston. The decision was referred to the communities secretary in May following a rejection by Lancashire Council and an appeal by Cuadrilla. “I am confident because we put forward a very strong case to the inquiry, for both applications,” said Egan. Elsewhere, iNews speaks to some of the Lancashire residents awaiting the decision.

Hinkley Point C developers face £7.2bn cleanup bill at end of nuclear plant’s life

Guardian

EDF and China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) that will build the £18bn Hinkley Point C nuclear power station will have to pay up to £7.2bn to dismantle and clean it up, new documents show. “Waste transfer contracts signed today mean that, for the first time in the UK, the full costs of decommissioning and waste management associated with the new power station are set aside during generation and are included in the price of the electricity,” EDF said in a statement. Dismantling of the plant expected to begin in 2083 and is expected to continue well into the 22nd century. The cost estimate is likely to be on the low side, says Dr Paul Dorfman from the Energy Institute at University College London: “The reality in terms of decommissioning is that it always costs more than people say.”

Norway to research ways to capture carbon from industrial plants

Reuters

Norway will invest $45m in research for CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technology for three industrial plants, the Norwegian government has announced. The money will be allocated as part of Norway’s 2017 budget and will go towards capturing CO2 from a cement factory, an ammonia plant and a waste incinerator. The research will also build on plans to transport CO2 by ship and bury it beneath the seabed off west Norway, says Reuters. Final decisions on the investments will be taken in early 2019 and full-scale projects could be in place from 2022, says Oil and Energy Minister Tord Lien.

Comment

Cut-throat competition is slashing offshore wind costs to unthinkable levels

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph

“For years the complaint against offshore wind was prohibitive cost. The new worry is that it is suddenly becoming too beguilingly cheap,” writes the Telegraph’s international business editor, Evans-Pritchard. A string of tenders this year have slashed strike prices to once unthinkable levels, he says: “The Danish giant Dong Energy stunned the industry in July by clinching an offshore deal in the Netherlands at a strike price of €72.5 per megawatt hour (MWh), half the sorts of levels agreed less than five years ago.” These contracts are a “spectacular vindication of offshore wind technology,” he says, but with such tight margins, there are risks that financial problems could crop up later down the line.

James Lovelock: ‘Before the end of this century, robots will have taken over’

Decca Aitkenhead, Guardian

The Guardian carries an interview with James Lovelock, author of the seminal Gaia hypothesis. The position of Lovelock, now 97, on climate change has changed in recent years: “Anyone who tries to predict more than five to 10 years is a bit of an idiot, because so many things can change unexpectedly.” There are various possible explanations for his change of heart, says the Guardian: “[Lovelock] expects that before the consequences of global warming can impact on us significantly, something else will have made our world unrecognisable, and threaten the human race”. The wide-ranging interview also covers Lovelock’s support of fracking and nuclear power, and his thoughts on the “totally unscientific” green movement. Elsewhere, several prominent scientists write a response in the Sunday Times to an earlier interview with Lovelock: “Lovelock’s opinions on this subject sit uncomfortably with modern scientific understanding of the climate system,” says Sir Brian Hoskins and others.

Making the most of the shale dividend

Editorial, Financial Times

The US shale industry has proved more resilient than many expected, says a Financial Times editorial on the outlook for oil in the wake of OPEC moves to address low prices with controls on output. OPEC’s change of heart is a sign that the shale industry is here to stay, the paper says. However, if oil prices remain low for decades, “unfettered oil consumption risks catastrophic consequences for the climate”, the paper concludes.

Science

Impacts of marine instability across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet on Southern Ocean dynamics

The Cryosphere

Localised melting of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) could potentially destabilise the wider Antarctic Ice Sheet, a new study suggests. Researchers examined the likely impacts of increasing meltwater from the Wilkes Basin of the EAIS on the Southern Ocean. Their model simulations show that the influx of meltwater would cool the surface water but reduce mixing, meaning deeper waters could warm by more than 1C. One of the knock-on impacts would be accelerated warming in other regions, such as the Weddell Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the researchers say.

News