IPCC "will abolish doubt in climate politics" says Danish climate minister
Climate and energy news
Report highlights ‘strong’ economic case fornational energy efficiencyoverhaul
A more ambitious national energy efficiency programme couldprovide a near £14 billion boost to the UK economy by 2030,according to a report from campaign group Energy Bill Revolutionand thinktank E3G. It calls for energy efficiency retrofits in sixmillion low income homes by 2025.
Climate change could create more Boko Haramextremists – study
Climate change could open the door for extremist groups likeBoko Haram to take control of parts of Africa and South Asia, riskanalyst firm Maplecroft has warned. In its latest Climate Changeand Environmental Risk Atlas it identifies 32 countries across thetwo continents where food shortages linked to drought and othernatural disasters could “amplify” civil unrest.
Desmond Tutu: Rejoice in opportunities for acleaner planet
The opportunities to tackle climate change are cause for”hope and rejoicing”, says Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He spoke to aserviceat Copenhagen Cathedral marking the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change’s synthesis report, due out on Sunday. Godhas provided new ways of generating electricity to replace dirtyfossil fuels, he says.
Poland “won” EU 2030 deal – does the climatelose?
RTCC’s Megan Darby breaks down the EU’s 2030 climate targetsfrom the perspective of Polish concessions. If funds earmarked forenergy sector modernisation in Poland are spent on new coal-firedpower stations it would seriously undermine the EU’s climatecredibility, she says. We looked at the details of the deal.
UN climate summit will fail unless US sets biggoal
The UN climate summit in 2015 will fail unless the US sets “aconcrete and ambitious” goal to reduce its greenhouse gasemissions, says outgoing EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard.In an interview with AFP she says China will come forward onlyafter the US commits to action.
Coalition secures $2.5bn Direct Action plan amidfears over emissions target
The Australian government is committing $2.5 billion overfour years in grants to companies or organisations that volunteerto cut emissions. The fund, a partial replacement for the scrappedemissions trading scheme, has been criticised by oppositionpoliticians because it lacks a clear means to prevent increasedemissions in other parts of the economy. The Labor Party said itleft Australia with “no meaningful way to reduce carbon pollution”.
Plunging oil prices hit Totalprofits
Profits are down at French oil giant Total, the FinancialTimes reports. Profits in the three months to September were downsix per cent on the previous year as a result of falling oilprices, down a quarter since June because of weakening demand andincreasing supplies of US shale oil. However The Timesreportsthat the falling oil priceis a threat to the US shale boom. BP, Italian oil firmENIand Norwegian firmStatoilhave also reported a dropin profits in recent days.
New homes ‘increase risk offlooding’
New homes are adding to the risk of UK floods becauseministers are not ensuring that developers include measures to soakup rainfall, according to the government’s Committee on ClimateChange. It says rules on sustainable drainage systems, firstproposed in the wake of major floods in 2007, are being watereddown by the government.
Climate and energy comment
Why you should bother to read the IPCC’s synthesisreport
The tone and timing of the forthcoming IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change synthesis report will make it importantenough to read even though the underlying evidence has beenpublished before, argues Richard Black. The ways it talks about theneed to phase out fossil fuel use will be particularly interesting,he argues. RTCC has some insightsinto the ongoinghorse-trading over the report’s language at a meeting in Copenhagenthis week.
8 foods you’re about to lose due to climatechange
We’re going to start seeing global warming when we open thefridge, according to a new “vital signs” section of the Guardian’swebsite. Its list of eight foods it says are at risk from thechanging climate includes corn, coffee, chocolate and wine grapes.Vital signs has another list of 12 ways communities will have to adapt to climatechange.
Australia divestment war shows investment is nowthe main climate changebattleground
The language of climate risk is now in dollars and returnsnot degrees centigrade, argues Julian Poulter. An Australianuniversity’s decision to divest form fossil fuels has attractedhuge debate even though it has a small investment fund, indicatingthat this is now the main climate battleground, he says.
Two Years On: Sandy Inspires Storm of ClimateResearch
Hurricane Sandy has spurred an unprecedented amount ofresearch, Climate Central reports, looking at the role climatechange might have played in producing or worsening the storm, howglobal warming might influence similar storms in the future, andwhy the storm caused so much damage.
New climate science
Centennial-scale changes in the global carboncycle during the lastdeglaciation
Abrupt changes in carbon dioxide coincided with abruptchanges in northern hemisphere climate 20,000 years ago, a studyfinds. Scientists analysed records of carbon dioxide and methanefrom a West Antarctic ice core to reveal how Earth’s climatechanged as the last ice age came to an end. Researchers found threesudden step-change increases in carbon dioxide and a clear link toabrupt changes in the climate in the northern hemisphere.