Thinning climate deals & melting glaciers
Issue: 2023/11/12
Some California area ski resorts are opening this weekend. Alpine skiing World Cup faces questions from climate activists over racing on glaciers in October. France's Macron says melting glaciers are 'an unprecedented challenge for humanity'.
1. Act Now
“How Midwest Landowners Helped to Derail One of the Biggest CO2 Pipelines Ever Proposed”
Harvard professor Naomi Oreskes (wiki), a leading climate change expert, discusses the importance of science communication and the challenges of combating climate denialism in an interview with The Crimson.
Former BP chief scientist decries “current climate hysteria”
350.org’s #GlobalPowerUp (and globalpowerup.org): “We have the tools, money and technology to make the energy transition happen. What is flagrantly missing is the political will to put people and the planet above greed and hatred.”
Register for:
The State of Climate Action in 2023 by World Resource Institute
November 15, 2023 • 10 - 11:30am EST • Online
2. Build Political Will
EU set to rubber stamp European New Deal after successful edits to “pause button on environmental action and concentrate on economic competitiveness first over the next five years”
American politics:
Michael E. Mann: “The climate cannot survive another Trump term”
Salon on Biden and the climate emergency declaration he hasn’t made
“After Years of Tanking Climate Action and Anti-Poverty Measures, Manchin Announces Exit From Senate”
Louisiana's new governor, Jeff Landry, is a major fossil fuel booster who has criticized climate action and called it a "hoax"
Maine voters reject proposal to replace investor-owned utilities with non-profit, consumer-owned utilities, citing high costs and potential job losses
Large banks in US issued new regulatory guidance because they “are likely to be negatively impacted by two types of risks associated with climate change”
See special #COP28 section below.
3. Eliminate Fossil Fuels
Visual Capitalist’s “Visualizing All the World’s Carbon Emissions by Country”
Over 60 countries have signed a deal to triple renewable energy generation this decade, in a bid to accelerate the transition to clean energy and tackle climate change:
One of the officials told Reuters negotiations with China and India to join the pledge are "quite advanced," although neither has yet agreed to join.
4. Speed up renewable energy
Michigan is poised to become a national leader in clean energy, with ambitious bills advancing in the legislature that would require 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 and create a new clean energy office.
⚛️
The first small-scale nuclear power plant in the US, NuScale Power's Idaho project, has been cancelled due to rising costs and regulatory delays.
Read reactions on twitter.com
NuScale outlines ongoing developments in their Third Quarter Results
Yet: Uranium demand is at a decade high due to the growing interest in nuclear energy as a way to address climate change
5. Shift towards sustainable transportation
🦥 The European Parliament has backed a weaker version of the Euro 7 pollution standards, which will delay stricter emissions limits for passenger cars until 2030.
CleanTechnica: “Carmakers Are Hiking The Prices Of Small Cars Far Above Inflation, But Claim Euro 7 Is Unaffordable”
🔋 “Larger and heavier EVs require bigger batteries to power them. In fact, the battery of an SUV can be double the size of that in a smaller vehicle.”
✈️ Denmark plans to introduce a new green tax on plane tickets to reduce carbon emissions from the aviation industry. The Danish government estimates that the tax will raise around DKK 4 billion (USD 550 million) per year. The tax is also designed to raise revenue that can be used to invest in renewable energy and other green initiatives. “Green technologies such [as] power-to-X, hydrogen and bio fuels will be eligible for state support..”
6. Adopt planet-friendly agricultural practices
🌱 Denmark published a groundbreaking roadmap to become a global leader in plant-based food production and consumption. The roadmap includes a number of specific measures to achieve these goals, such as supporting farmers to transition to plant-based production, investing in research and development of plant-based foods, making plant-based foods more affordable and accessible to consumers, and promoting plant-based diets through education and awareness-raising campaigns.
7. Eat a more climate friendly diet
🐄 Animals are not property and deserve ethical consideration. Animal liberation is not just a Buddhist principle, but a universal one that transcends religion.
8. Create sustainable cities and buildings
🌵 Tempe’s Culdesac in Arizona — developing a car-free community.
Phoenix records 579 heat-related deaths in 2023, up 50%
Cities are responsible for a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions, with transport being a major contributor. A new study has found that 120 of the world’s major cities could cut their transport CO2 emissions by 22% by 2030 by implementing four key policy strategies: taxation of polluting vehicles, incentives for less polluting vehicles, investment in public transport, and urban planning policies.
🧰 The Cost of Doing Nothing Toolbox is a powerful tool that can help cities make the case for climate action. It provides cities with the evidence they need to show that climate action is not only good for the environment, but also good for the economy.
9. Protect and restore our environment
Greenpeace is concerned that the EU-Mercosur trade deal will undermine the Global Plastics Treaty, which is currently being negotiated. The goal of the Global Plastics Treaty is to reduce plastic production and use by at least 75% by 2040.
Recycled plastics “contain hundreds of toxic chemical compounds” and “are not fit for most purposes”
New research shows that a common chemical in car tires is polluting waterways and harming aquatic life. The EPA is proposing a new rule to reduce the use of this chemical.
10. Ensure global warming stays below dangerous limits
From Copernicus Climate Change Service,
October Climate Bulletins:
“October 2023 was the warmest October on record globally”
“The sense of urgency for ambitious climate action going into COP28 has never been higher”
Ciarán whipped up 100-120 mph winds across Western Europe (BBC photos)
Google News Full Coverage: Greenland, glaciers
#COP28
COP28, the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 to December 12, 2023.
U.S. signs on to new (voluntary) Loss and Damage Deal after “rejecting language specifying that developed countries should lead on contributing to the new fund”
Earth.Org Overview: What Can We Expect From COP28, And What Must Happen
Yet: “The UN summit is expected to score just 3.6 out of 10 on progress across 10 key areas crucial to realizing the goals of the Paris Agreement, based on BloombergNEF analysis.”
🌐
“Resources that never materialise to address the climate emergency seem to be easily available when it comes to supporting wars. As we approach the UN climate talks in Dubai, the impact of war and the military on the climate can no longer be ignored.”
🌐
“We, Ministers of the High Ambition Coalition, are committed to making the Global Stocktake a turning point in our response to the climate crisis. We recognise that we are not on track to meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement, despite some important progress. […] We committed to phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies two years ago, but too little has been done to deliver on this. All countries, starting with the G20, should identify their subsidies and put a plan in place to remove them, reduce them, or repurpose them, particularly by putting the money saved towards renewables.”
vs
Yale Environment 360:
But on oil and gas, despite declaring that “fossil fuels are at the root of this crisis,” they proposed only that fossil fuel producing companies should “publish trackable transition plans” for cutting their emissions.
Indeed: countries are still falling short on their COP 26 pledges to reduce methane, end deforestation, and shift finance away from fossil fuels.
Video of the week
“Can you correctly answer these quiz questions about planet Earth? There's 60 multiple choice questions, with answers, all about the planet that we call home.”
Link of the week
“Governments, in aggregate, still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C. The persistence of the global production gap puts a well-managed and equitable energy transition at risk.”
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