Do more to help poor nations cope with climate change, IMF tells rich countries
News
Do more to help poor nations cope with climate change, IMF tells rich countries
A failure to help poor nations cope with climate change will lead to weaker global growth and higher migration flows, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has told rich countries, according to the Guardian. The warning is contained in a chapter released ahead of publication of next month’s World Economic Outlook. The chapter says: “Rising temperatures would have vastly unequal effects across the world, with the brunt of adverse consequences borne by those who can least afford it…With advanced and emerging market economies contributing the lion’s share to the warming that has occurred so far and is projected to continue, helping low-income countries cope with its consequences is a humanitarian imperative and sound global economic policy.” The IMF says poor countries’ income per head in 2100 would be 9% lower with climate change than without it. The report also warns that “substantial migration flows…could arise if climate change leads to a significant rise in sea levels”.
Corbyn takes aim at Trump as he trumpets low-carbon growth opportunity
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has closed his party conference with a speech that criticised US president Donald Trump for withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, reports Business Green. Corbyn also stressed the opportunities of low-carbon investment, saying: “There is no contradiction between meeting our climate change commitments and investing to build a strong economy based on high skills industries. In fact, the opposite is the case. Action on climate change is a powerful spur to investment in the green industries and jobs of the future, so long as it is managed as part of a sustainable transition.” The speech also stepped up talk of nationalising Britain’s energy companies, reports Bloomberg. In his speech, Corbyn said he wanted to “to take utilities back into public ownership”. Carbon Brief looked at Labour’s energy policies in the run-up to the June general election.
Weather extremes, fossil fuel pollution cost US $240 billion: study
Natural disaster, along with air pollution due to fossil fuels, have cost the US $240bn a year over the past decade, Reuters reports, covering the findings of a group led by Robert Watson, the former head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The costs, equivalent to 1.2% of US GDP, arise mainly due to the human health impacts of air pollution, which amounts to $188bn a year. Weather extremes such as droughts, heatwaves and floods averaged another $52bn each year, the findings suggest. Watson tells Reuters: “We are not saying that all (weather extremes) are due to human activity, but these are the sort of events that seem to be increasing in intensity.” The costs will reach almost $1bn a day within a decade, Bloomberg reports, reaching $360bn a year by 2027 – equivalent to more than half of expected growth in the US. The findings come from the Universal Ecological Fund. Separately, Bloomberg reports that Hurricane Maria “may be a preview of climate-fuelled migration in America”. The governor of Puerto Rico, which was devastated by the hurricane, is warning that “thousands, if not millions” will leave the island for the mainland US unless there is a major relief effort in the state.
70% renewable electricity target set by ministers
Wales is aiming to generate 70% of its electricity from renewables by 2030, the Welsh government says, report the BBC and others. The figure would more than double the current renewable share in Wales, which stands at 32%. To help it meet this aim, the Welsh government is calling on Westminster to “stop the ideological exclusion of onshore wind and solar”, reports Business Green. Energy Live News also has the story.
European countries spend billions a year on fossil fuel subsidies, survey shows
Governments of 11 European countries are supporting fossil fuels to the tune of more than £80bn per year, according to the Overseas Development Institute, the Guardian reports. Fuel-poor households are the target of much of the support, it notes. Diesel fuel alone received €21bn in tax breaks from EU institutions and 11 member states between 2014 and 2016, reports Climate Home. It explains that some of the support is in the form of lower tax rates for diesel compared to other fuels. In June, Carbon Brief published a detailed explainer on the challenge of defining fossil fuel subsidies and support.
Brexit Trade Secretary Liam Fox Met with Climate Denial Think Tanks in Post-Election Trip to US
UK international trade secretary Liam Fox met with two neoconservative thinktanks during his first trip the US after the June election, DeSmog UK reports, based on documents obtained via freedom of information rules. The heavily-redacted documents show Fox’s meeting attendees included the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation. DeSmog UK adds: “Both are avid opponents of environmental regulations and have repeatedly denied the science on climate change.”
Comment
In Energy and Transportation, Stick it to the Orthodoxy!
Michael Liebreich, Bloomberg New Energy Finance
“Why are most energy analysts so bad at [forecasting]”?, asks Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) founder Michael Liebreich. He says he has long “raised a reliable laugh by comparing [the] past clean energy forecasts [of the International Energy Agency and others] with historical out-turns…if they don’t want to be mocked for their forecasts, they either need to improve them or stop publishing them.” He adds that BNEF’s own forecasts have “not…always been spot on”. He attributes part of the problem to the “orthodoxy window…maintained by a whole ecosystem of supposed thought-leaders, all trying their hardest to avoid having to think uncomfortable thoughts”. He adds that the concept of a carbon price appears to be heading towards this window in the US Republican Party.
Global carbon emissions stood still in 2016, offering climate hope
Damian Carrington, The Guardian
Global CO2 emissions remained static in 2016, writes environment editor Damian Carrington in the Guardian, covering data published by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency today. Carrington notes that four of the world’s top five emitters cut CO2 output last year, with China’s emissions falling by 0.3%. Only India saw its CO2 emissions rise, by 4.7%. The data is “a welcome sign that the world is making at least some progress in the battle against global warming by halting the long-term rising trend,” Carrington says. Last November, Carbon Brief reported on earlier findings suggesting emissions had stalled in 2016. The new report confirms this early estimate.
Science
Recent Extreme Runoff Observations From Coastal Arctic Watersheds in Alaska
The recent melting of the Arctic ice caps has led to extreme run off from the Alaska Arctic Coastal Plain (AACP) to the sea, research finds. In the last 32 years, the three highest watershed runoff years have occurred in 2003, 2014, and 2015, the report suggests. “A strong relationship between climate, surface storage, and runoff inherent to AACP watersheds makes these systems highly responsive to sea ice retreat and hydrological intensification,” the researchers say.
Other stories
- France raises carbon taxes, to repay EDF renewables debt (Reuters )
- Public charging network ‘threatens to be weak link’ in electric car uptake (Press Association )
- Comment: States Can Lead the Way on Climate Change (Scientific American )
- China to Start New Energy Vehicle Production Quota From 2019 (Bloomberg )
- China may soon set date for ban on new petrol, diesel cars: expert (Reuters )
- Drax says big power stations will remain important (Financial Times )
- Environmentalists: UK’s Antarctic islands need protection (BBC News )
- Comment: If mainstream news wants to win back trust, it cannot silence dissident voices (The Guardian )