Patricia Espinosa, the executive secretary of the UNFCCC, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during Guterres' speech at COP25 on Dec. 11, 2019 in Madrid, Spain. Jesus Hellin / Europa Press via Getty Images
The longest UN climate meeting in history extended two extra days for a marathon bargaining session, but ended early Sunday morning with little accomplished. Policy makers mostly decided to punt strengthening their commitments to lower emissions and to a market for carbon emissions, until COP26 in Glasgow next December, the AP reported.
<p>Protestors denounced polluting nations for sacrificing the health of future generations. Policy makers shirked the calls from demonstrators, youths and scientists who said the only way to skirt a global catastrophe is a drastic and coordinated reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/15/world/cop25-climate-change-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The UN secretary general tweeted his frustration early yesterday morning. "I am disappointed with the results of #COP25," wrote António Guterres. "The international community lost an important opportunity to show increased ambition on mitigation, adaptation & finance to tackle the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a>. But we must not give up, and I will not give up."</p>
<div id="86111" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="TCV2XQ1576662497"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1206199048660611073" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I am disappointed with the results of #COP25.
The international community lost an important opportunity to show in… https://t.co/m05SyOhOHd</div> — António Guterres (@António Guterres)<a href="https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/statuses/1206199048660611073">1576415237.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>His disappointment was echoed by other conference leaders, including Chilean environment minister and conference president, Carolina Schmidt, who said, "The consensus is still not there to increase ambition to the levels that we need. Before finishing I want to make a clear and strong call to the world to strengthen political will and accelerate climate action to the speed that the world needs. The new generations expect more from us," as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50801493" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported.</p><p>And Alden Meyer, a policy expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said, "Never have I seen such a disconnect between what the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a> requires and what the climate negotiations are delivering in terms of meaningful action. Most of the world's biggest emitting countries are missing in action and resisting calls to raise their ambition," as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50801493" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported.</p>
<p>Here are a few takeaways from the conference:</p><h2>Carbon Emitters and Fossil Fuels Prevailed</h2><p>The U.S. and several other prominent polluters blocked a voluntary measure that would have set more ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions next year, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/climate/cop25-un-climate-talks-madrid.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. Rather than seek consensus and show generosity on the world stage, the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration pushed back against an agreement that would compensate the world's poorest and most vulnerable countries for climate-crisis induced <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">extreme weather</a>, including storms, droughts, floods and rising seas, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/climate/cop25-un-climate-talks-madrid.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>The U.S. was not alone in obstructing progress. Brazil and Australia were also identified as main culprits in blocking action, along with Saudi Arabia and Russia. China and India also resisted improving their carbon emissions goals.</p><p>"Most of the large emitters were missing in action or obstructive," said Helen Mountford, a vice president at World Resources Institute, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/climate/cop25-un-climate-talks-madrid.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. "This reflects how disconnected many national leaders are from the urgency of the science and the demands of their citizens."</p>
<h2>Activists Are Angry Over Inaction</h2><p>Toward the beginning of COP25, nearly 500,000 protestors took to the streets of Madrid to demand action on the conference's first Friday. The protest coincided with a <a href="https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/" target="_blank">Fridays for Future</a> protest and was led by the face of the movement, Greta Thunberg, who reminded the crowd, "The change we need is not going to come from people in power," said Thunberg to the the crowds, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50694361" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported. "The change is going to come from the people, the masses, demanding change."</p><p>Protestors continued to march on the streets throughout the conference and Extinction Rebellion blocked roads and camped out by the conference hall, demanding protections for indigenous people in Brazil's rainforest, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/11/21010673/cop25-greta-thunberg-climate-change-un-meeting-madrid" target="_blank">Vox</a> reported. That same day protestors from Latin and North America held an impromptu protest, blocking the gates of the main hall, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/63f879d896e741ea8e516fc852604685" target="_blank">AP</a> reported.</p><p>Youth protestors took over the stage on Wednesday, as the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program <a href="https://twitter.com/andersen_inger/status/1204708436866424832" target="_blank">tweeted</a>. Then protestors took over the hall in the waning moments of the conference</p><p>When Thunberg and other youth activists from around the globe addressed the conference the following, they had grown impatient with the inaction the nearly two-week conference had netted.</p><p>"Finding holistic solutions is what the COP should be all about, but instead it seems to have turned into some kind of opportunity for countries to negotiate loopholes and to avoid raising their ambition," Thunberg told conference members, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/11/21010673/cop25-greta-thunberg-climate-change-un-meeting-madrid" target="_blank">Vox</a> reported. Several activists, including Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, joined Thunberg on the dais. Nakabuye accused the representatives of failing her generation as they have negotiated in vain for the last 25 years.</p><p>"So I've been taking part in these COPs for 25 years, and I've never seen the divide between what's happening on the inside of these walls and what's happening on the outside so large," said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace, according to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/11/21010673/cop25-greta-thunberg-climate-change-un-meeting-madrid" target="_blank">Vox</a>.</p>
<h2>Brazil Is the Big Loser</h2><p>The winner of the ignominious Colossal Fossil award was Brazil. The satirical award for the worst climate offender is given out by the activist group <a href="http://www.climatenetwork.org/" target="_blank">Climate Action Network</a>, which cited Brazil for "destroying the climate concretely on the ground and in the negotiations, attacking and killing the very people who are protecting unique ecosystems: <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous-peoples">indigenous people</a>," <a href="http://www.climatenetwork.org/fossil-of-the-day" target="_blank">Climate Action Network</a> wrote.</p><p>The U.S. took home several Fossil of the Day awards for its refusal to help vulnerable populations and its refusal to accept the science around the climate crisis. Russia, Australia and Japan also won a few for their addiction to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a>, especially coal, which they all refused to speak against.</p>
<h2>Bad Timing</h2><p>The conference fell at an awkward time for many countries. The U.S. is in the midst of impeachment hearings. China, Chile and France are all facing domestic unrest that threatens to undermine their climate priorities. Parts of Australia are crippled by brushfires and water shortages. And the UK went through a general election during the COP25 conference.</p>
<h2>A European Bright Spot</h2><p>At the opening of the conference, Spain's prime minister derided <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-denier">climate deniers</a> and called for Europe to lead the way in fighting the climate crisis.</p><p>"If Europe led the industrial revolution, Europe must lead the decarbonization [effort]. At a moment marked by the silence of some, Europe has a lot to say," said Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, at the start of the conference, as <a href="https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/12/02/inenglish/1575275387_095475.html" target="_blank">El Pais</a> reported. "The battle against climate change requires moving from words into action."</p><p>Back in Brussels, the EU commission laid the groundwork for the world's largest economic bloc, the European Union, to be carbon-neutral by 2050 with a massive overhaul of infrastructure and the economy, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/europe-green-deal-climate-crisis-2641580861.html">EcoWatch</a> reported. </p>
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Young activists shout slogans on stage after Greta Thunberg (not in the picture) took part in the plenary session during the COP25 Climate Conference on Dec. 11 in Madrid, Spain. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez / Getty Images
By Andrea Germanos
Young activists took over and occupied the main stage at the COP25 climate conference in Madrid, Spain Wednesday and demanded world leaders commit to far more ambitious action to address the ecological emergency.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Happening now: Youth activists from all around the world storm the stage at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COP25?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COP25</a> to demand real climate action! Dear leaders, your empty words will not solve this crisis. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YourVoteOurFuture?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YourVoteOurFuture</a> <a href="https://t.co/4S6ZX8Tt4H">pic.twitter.com/4S6ZX8Tt4H</a></p>— Fridays For Future Germany (@FridayForFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/FridayForFuture/status/1204693889392754690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>"Nobody has ever done an action like this before," <a href="https://twitter.com/_DylanHamilton_/status/1204696841692028929" target="_blank">said</a> youth climate striker Dylan Hamilton of Scotland. "The times are changing."</p><p>Video posted by Brussels-based climate activist Damien Thomson shows protesters with Fridays for Future walking onto the stage and siting down. The group's chants included, "What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now!"</p><p>They also shouted, "We are unstoppable, another world is possible!"</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fridays for future take over the COP! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COP25?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COP25</a> <a href="https://t.co/wkyG18ld3G">pic.twitter.com/wkyG18ld3G</a></p>— Damien🔻🌿 (@dmacthomais) <a href="https://twitter.com/dmacthomais/status/1204692222593122304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>"World leaders have left us no choice," said 14-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor of New York about the sit-in.</p><p>U.N. security <a href="https://twitter.com/theocmouze/status/1204705772174749697" target="_blank">threatened</a> to "de-badge" the activists unless they left the stage.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Security is trying to clear the stage at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COP25?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COP25</a> but youth from over a dozen countries just started a sit in! <a href="https://t.co/yUvpd7OEd2">pic.twitter.com/yUvpd7OEd2</a></p>— Jamie Henn (@Agent350) <a href="https://twitter.com/Agent350/status/1204692528634777601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The action took place after a plenary that included speeches from teen activist and newly-minted Time Person of the Year <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greta-thunberg">Greta Thunberg</a> of Sweden and youth climate activist Hilda Flavia Nakabuye of Uganda.</p><p>"I am the voice of dying children, misplaced women and people suffering at the hands of the climate crisis created by rich countries," Nakabuye <a href="https://twitter.com/FridayForFuture/status/1204688060832788482" target="_blank">told</a> the audience.</p><p>Reacting to the sit-in, author and climate act Bill McKibben <a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/1204746588402462721" target="_blank">said</a> on Twitter, "Time for negotiators to face the people whose lives they are negotiating away."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/11/we-are-unstoppable-another-world-possible-young-climate-activists-storm-cop-25-stage" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
- Greta Asks Media to Focus on Other Young Climate Activists | Voice ... ›
- COP25: Greta Thunberg tells negotiators at UN climate meeting to ... ›
- COP25, Climate Change, and the Newfound Power of Young ... ›
- Young climate activists speak at COP25 in Madrid | AFP - YouTube ›
- COP25: youth 'leadership' contrasts with government inaction, says ... ›
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Larger fish like tuna are especially threatened by lowering ocean oxygen levels. TheAnimalDay.org / CC BY 2.0
Human activity is smothering the ocean, the largest study of its kind has found, and it poses a major threat to marine life.
<p>The <a href="https://www.iucn.org/" target="_blank">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN) <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2019-048-En.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> combined the work of 67 scientists from 17 countries to <a href="https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/ocean-deoxygenation" target="_blank">conclude</a> that oxygen levels in the ocean had declined around two percent since the mid-20th century, and the volume of waters entirely deprived of oxygen had increased four-fold since the 1960s. The report was released Saturday at the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cop25-madrid-climate-action-2641491851.html" target="_self">COP25 UN Climate Change Conference</a> in Madrid, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/worlds-oceans-are-losing-oxygen-at-a-dangerous-unprecedented-rate-as-temperatures-rise/" target="_blank">CBS News reported</a>, in hopes of persuading world leaders to protect the oceans from future oxygen loss.</p><p>"Urgent global action to overcome and reverse the effects of ocean deoxygenation is needed," IUCN Global Marine and Polar Programme director Minna Epps said, as CBS News reported. "Decisions taken at the ongoing climate conference will determine whether our ocean continues to sustain a rich variety of life, or whether habitable, oxygen-rich marine areas are increasingly, progressively and irrevocably lost."</p>
<p>Ocean deoxygenation comes from two major causes: nutrient pollution and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>Nutrient pollution has long been understood as a threat to ocean oxygen levels. Run-off from sewage and agriculture, as well as nitrogen from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> emissions, encourages the excessive growth of algae, which depletes oxygen. This process is relatively fast and easy to fix.</p><p>But in recent years scientists have come to understand how rising ocean temperatures are also lowering oxygen levels. Warmer water can't hold as much oxygen, and it is also more buoyant, which means it mixes less with deeper, less-oxygenated water, reducing oxygen circulation overall. Rising temperatures are likely responsible for around 50 percent of the oxygen loss in the top 1,000 meters (approximately 3,281 feet) of the ocean, which are also the most abundant in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a>. Climate-change-related oxygen loss is difficult or impossible to reverse.</p><p>"This is one of the newer classes of impacts to rise into the public awareness," Kim Cobb, a Georgia Tech climate scientist who was not involved with the study, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/07/climate/ocean-acidification-climate-change.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>While a two percent decrease in overall oxygen levels might not sound like a lot, there are environments where a small change in oxygen can make a huge difference, report editor Dan Laffoley explained to The New York Times.</p><p>"[I]f we were to try and go up Mount Everest without oxygen, there would come a point where a 2 percent loss of oxygen in our surroundings would become very significant," he said.</p><p>He also said the oxygen loss was not evenly distributed. Some waters in the tropics had seen a 40 to 50 percent decrease in oxygen. The number of oxygen-deprived areas has also increased, from 45 before the 1960s to 700 in 2011, according to the report.</p><p>This oxygen loss is especially threatening to larger <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fish" target="_self">fish</a> species like marlin, tuna and sharks, who require more energy, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50690995" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. These species are already moving closer to the surface for oxygen, which puts them at greater risk from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/overfishing" target="_self">overfishing</a>. Cobb also pointed to the mass die-offs of fish along the coast of California as another symptom of falling oxygen levels.</p>
<div id="6bdd1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ZLW5YR1576662527"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1203939931061706753" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Climate change and nutrient pollution are driving oxygen out of the ocean and coastal waters, threatening marine li… https://t.co/k4yms0MFQB</div> — IUCN (@IUCN)<a href="https://twitter.com/IUCN/statuses/1203939931061706753">1575876622.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Loss of oxygen could also impact Earth systems that extend beyond the ocean, such as the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles.</p><p>"If we run out of oxygen it will mean habitat loss and biodiversity loss and a slippery slope down to slime and more jellyfish," Epps said, according to CBS and BBC News. "It will also change the energy and the biochemical cycling in the oceans and we don't know what these biological and chemical shifts in the oceans can actually do."</p><p>The report warned that if nations continue to emit greenhouse gases at business-as-usual levels, the ocean will lose three to four percent of its oxygen by century's end.</p><p>"To stop the worrying expansion of oxygen-poor areas, we need to decisively curb greenhouse gas emissions as well as nutrient pollution from agriculture and other sources," Laffoley said, according to BBC News.</p>
Read More
Show Less
A fracking operation; new global carbon dioxide data shows natural gas remains a growing source of emissions. Joshua Doubek / CC BY-SA 3.0
Carbon dioxide emissions reached a new record high in 2019, according to the latest figures from the Global Carbon Project, raising concerns about the ability of large emitters to effectively address the climate crisis.
<p>The new data was unveiled during a <a href="https://twitter.com/Peters_Glen/status/1201785343210598400" target="_blank">press conference</a> at the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cop25-madrid-climate-action-2641491851.html" target="_self">COP25 UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid</a> Wednesday. It shows that carbon dioxide emissions rose more slowly between 2018 and 2019 than they did between the previous two years, but humans are still expected to release 40.57 billion tons (36.8 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere this year, the <a href="https://apnews.com/940cbc72674bd10eb0ce9410106c17e2" target="_blank">Associated Press reported</a>. That's the equivalent of 2.57 million pounds of carbon dioxide, or two Airbus A380s, every second.</p>
<div id="a4948" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3BY2GA1576661044"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1202038790178521088" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Yet another year, global CO2 emissions to increase in 2019.
https://t.co/lC89Di23XP
Our Global Carbon Budget 2019… https://t.co/OgL4W8b0fr</div> — Pep Canadell (@Pep Canadell)<a href="https://twitter.com/pepcanadell/statuses/1202038790178521088">1575423355.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"Every year that emissions go up, even if it's just a small amount, makes the task of bringing them back down that much harder," Glen Peters, research director at the <a href="https://cicero.oslo.no/en" target="_blank">Cicero Center for International Climate Research</a> in Norway and study contributor, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/climate/carbon-dioxide-emissions.html?te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_MBE_p_20191204&section=topNews?campaign_id=51&instance_id=14258&segment_id=19267&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19&regi_id=88631294tion=topNews" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>Emissions are expected to rise 0.6 percent in 2019, according to the data published in <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab57b3" target="_blank">Environmental Research Letters</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0659-6" target="_blank">Nature Climate Change</a> and<a href="https://www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/11/1783/2019/" target="_blank"> Earth System Science Data</a>. That is significantly less than the 1.5 percent increase in 2017 and the 2.1 percent increase in 2018. However, a UN study <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greenhouse-gases-climate-change-un-2641459291.html" target="_self">released last month </a>found that emissions need to decline 7.6 percent every year for the next decade in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.</p><p>While the 2019 figures are an estimate based on six to ten months of data, Peters told the Associated Press that past estimates have proved more or less accurate.</p><p>The 2019 projections show <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" target="_self">coal</a> emissions dropping by almost one percent, but <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil" target="_self">oil</a> emissions rising 0.9 percent and emissions from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/natural-gas" target="_self">natural gas</a>, which has driven more than 50 percent of emissions growth since 2012, rising by 2.6 percent. The rise in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/fracking/" target="_self">fracking</a> has made gas the No. 1 electricity source in the U.S., according to The New York Times.</p><p>"Compared to coal, natural gas is a cleaner <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a>, but unabated natural gas use merely cooks the planet more slowly than coal," Peters <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50648495" target="_blank">told BBC News</a>.</p>
<div id="37d73" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3QG1WL1576661044"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1202112036538335232" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We project global coal, oil, & gas emissions for 2019
* Natural gas up 2.6% [+1.3% to +3.9%], driving >50% of growt… https://t.co/cnreKjnup8</div> — Glen Peters (@Glen Peters)<a href="https://twitter.com/Peters_Glen/statuses/1202112036538335232">1575440818.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Of the top four carbon dioxide emitters, the EU and the U.S. saw emissions fall by 1.7 percent, while emissions rose by 1.8 percent in India and 2.6 percent in China. Emissions in the latter two countries rose more slowly than expected due to slow economic growth. India especially was a surprise, since emissions there rose by eight percent in 2018, according to The New York Times. The economic slowdown in India and China helped account for the overall decline in coal use.</p><p>"Through most of 2019 it was looking as if coal use would grow globally, but weaker than expected economic performance in China and India, and a record hydropower year in India - caused by a strong monsoon - quickly changed the prospects for growth in coal use," Robbie Andrew, another Cicero researcher who was involved in the study, told BBC News.</p>
<div id="aebdd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="E26UVY1576661044"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1202112064782839810" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The top six emitters in 2018 covered 67% of global emissions
* China 28%
* United States 15%
* EU28 9%
* India 7%
*… https://t.co/YTWTl0Ns3h</div> — Glen Peters (@Glen Peters)<a href="https://twitter.com/Peters_Glen/statuses/1202112064782839810">1575440825.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The decline in U.S. emissions comes despite the pro-fossil fuel policies of President Donald Trump, but does not cancel out the country's 2018 emissions increase of 2.8 percent, The New York Times pointed out.</p><p>Overall, U.S. emissions have declined 9.7 percent between 2000 and 2018, the Associated Press reported, but 11 countries have achieved steeper declines this century. For example, the UK cut emissions by one third during the same time period.</p><p>"The numbers show that the U.S. is not leading in terms of overall emissions reductions and this proves that we could be doing better," University of Michigan environment dean Jonathan Overpeck told the Associated Press. "This highlights that more, not less, U.S. international leadership is urgently needed. I'm still hopeful we can turn this all around... If we don't, the planet is cooked."</p><p>However, the U.S. isn't the only country that needs to improve. The overall data shows that climate policies matter, and no country's policies so far are ambitious enough.</p><p>"I do think global and national policies are making a difference, particularly by driving the rapid growth in renewables, and we'd be worse off without them," Rob Jackson, an earth system science professor at Stanford University who was involved with the research, told The New York Times. "But at the same time, it's clear those policies haven't been enough to stop the growth in fossil fuels."</p>
<div id="47bc8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3IM8501576661045"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1202022576165228544" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The Global Carbon Budget 2019 just out. Another extraordinary effort of the global carbon cycle research community.… https://t.co/K2hTEk6dR6</div> — GlobalCarbonProject (@GlobalCarbonProject)<a href="https://twitter.com/gcarbonproject/statuses/1202022576165228544">1575419489.0</a></blockquote></div>
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi observes the opening of the UNFCCC COP25 climate conference (COP25) in Madrid on Dec. 2. Juan Carlos Lucas / NurPhoto / Getty Images
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday led a 15-member delegation from the U.S. Congress to climate negotiations in Madrid where they affirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement.
<p>"By coming here, we want to say to everyone: We are still in. The United States is still in," Pelosi said during a press conference, going on to say that "Congress's commitment to take action on the climate crisis is ironclad." Her statement came as the UN secretary-general said the world's biggest emitters were falling behind, and representatives of nations vulnerable to climate change accused President Trump of "ecocide." The Trump administration last month officially began the process of pulling out of the Paris agreement.</p><h4>For a deeper dive:</h4><p><a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=a87d6498d4&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">Guardian</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=943deaf12f&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">WaPo Power Up</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=fef1fc5848&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">WaPo Energy 202</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=47094a7717&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=95e6db7462&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">Politico</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=25ca39fb56&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">HuffPost</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=d329a1955d&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">National Review</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=229e021f2a&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">BBC</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=b570414f82&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">E&E News</a><br></p>
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
This Is Almost Certainly the Hottest Decade on Record, UN Weather Agency Says
03 December 2019
Climate
This map shows the temperature of the land on June 26 in Europe and North Africa. Human induced climate change is causing heatwaves to increase in frequency. Modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2019) / ESA / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
We are almost certainly living through the hottest decade on record, according to a provisional report from the UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
<p>The WMO's Provisional Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019 was released Tuesday on the second day of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cop25-madrid-climate-action-2641491851.html" target="_self">COP25 UN climate change conference in Madrid</a>. The report found that the mean temperatures for January through October 2019 were around 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and that 2019 would likely be the second or third warmest year on record, meaning the past five years "are now almost certain" to be the five warmest years on the books.</p>
<div id="316eb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ZW9RDG1576661051"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1201780610810949632" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">2019 concludes a decade of exceptional global heat, retreating ice and record sea levels. Average temps for 10-year… https://t.co/Mb3TPYI6vw</div> — WMO | OMM (@WMO | OMM)<a href="https://twitter.com/WMO/statuses/1201780610810949632">1575361800.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"It's shocking how much <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate change</a> in 2019 has already led to lives lost, poor health, food insecurity and displaced populations," Dr. Joanna House of the University of Bristol told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50608845" target="_blank">BBC News</a>, in response to the report's release. "Even as a climate scientist who knows the evidence and the projections, I find this deeply upsetting. What is more shocking is how long very little has been done about this. We have the information, the solutions, what we need now is urgent action."</p><p>Since the 1980s, every decade has been warmer than the one before, but just reciting average temperature increases doesn't give a true sense of the impact of global warming, University of Manchester atmospheric physics professor Grant Allen told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/03/decade-of-exceptional-heat-likely-to-be-hottest-on-record-experts-say" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>"This [temperature rise] does not simply mean slightly warmer summers, it means an increased frequency of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> globally – droughts, heatwaves, flooding and changing patterns in the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones," Allen said. "These impacts are real and happening now and place huge pressures on communities and countries – put simply, these impacts make for a more unstable world, and are already having profound impacts on our ecosystems and biodiversity."</p>
<p>The report did not limit itself to temperature measurements either. Here are some other notable signs of the climate crisis in 2019:</p><ol><li>The amount of heat absorbed by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">oceans</a> reached record levels.</li><li>Mean <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">seal level rise</a> reached its highest level since high-precision record keeping began in 1993.</li><li><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic" target="_self">Arctic</a> daily sea ice extent was at its second lowest minimum in September, and sea ice extent in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica" target="_self">Antarctica</a> was the lowest on record for some months</li><li><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cyclone-idai-mozambique-malawi-zimbabwe-2631993550.html" target="_self">Cyclone Idai</a> was one of the strongest cyclones on record to make landfall in East Africa, displacing 50,905 people in Zimbabwe, 53,237 in southern Malawi and 77,019 in Mozambique.</li><li>Seven of the more than 10 million internal displacements recorded between January and October 2019 were due to extreme precipitation or flooding.</li></ol>
<p>The report also listed some impacts from 2018. That year, a record 220 million people over 65 were exposed to heat waves, which are especially dangerous for the elderly. More than 820 million people also suffered from hunger that year. Global hunger had been in decline, but is rising again partly because of extreme weather events and fluctuating temperatures.</p><p>Attendees at the COP25 climate conference hoped the release of the report would reinforce the urgency of taking action.</p>"Now we know that global temperatures are rising to record levels and without action we can expect more climate suffering. It's vital we phase out <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> as fast as possible," Dr. Kat Kramer from <a href="https://www.christianaid.org.uk/" target="_blank">Christian Aid</a> told BBC News. "The good news is this is a timely wake-up call at the start of the COP25 climate summit in Madrid. Delegates have no excuse to block progress or drag their feet when the science is showing how urgently action is needed."
From Your Site Articles
- Has Climate Consciousness Reached a Tipping Point? - EcoWatch ›
- 10 Worst-Case Climate Predictions if We Don't Keep Global ... ›
- Climate Crisis Is Accelerating. Past 5 Years Will Be Hottest on ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
‘Our War Against Nature Must Stop’: UN Secretary General Launches COP25 With Urgent Call for Climate Action
02 December 2019
Climate
Leaders pose during the first day of COP25 on Dec. 2 in Madrid, Spain. Jesús Hellín / Europa Press via Getty Images
COP25, the UN Climate Change Conference, begins today in Madrid, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres wants everyone to know the stakes are high.
<p>"[C]limate change is no longer a long-term problem. We are confronted now with a global <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>," Guterres <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/press-encounter/2019-12-01/un-secretary-generals-remarks-pre-cop25-press-conference-delivered" target="_blank">said before the conference on Sunday</a>. "The point of no-return is no longer over the horizon. It is in sight and hurtling towards us."</p>
<div id="b5d61" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0P0LI31576661059"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1201254388381171713" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The human species has been at war with the planet.
Now the planet is fighting back.
Climate change has escalated… https://t.co/Rn2W12utOO</div> — António Guterres (@António Guterres)<a href="https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/statuses/1201254388381171713">1575236339.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The conference, which will run from Dec. 2 to 13, follows on the heels of two dire climate reports released last week. The World Meteorological Association <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/carbon-emissions-levels-rise-2641457193.html" target="_self">announced</a> that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in 2018 had reached their highest point in three to five million years. And a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greenhouse-gases-climate-change-un-2641459291.html" target="_self">UN study found</a> that countries must lower greenhouse gas emissions by 7.6 percent per year for the next decade in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.</p><p>Climate leaders hope that countries will up the ambitions of their Paris agreement pledges in Madrid, ahead of the 2020 deadline to do so, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50588128" target="_blank">BBC News explained</a>.</p><p>"Some 70 countries have pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050, this must be carried on at Madrid COP," Sonam Wangdi, the Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group in UN climate change negotiations, told BBC News. "There must be an agreement among us all to do our fair share. If it doesn't happen in Madrid it could be too late for 2020 pledges."</p><p>When the Paris agreement was reached in 2015, the <a href="https://apnews.com/fdf84ef6af534ec1a8bd8e2d2a8af8ce" target="_blank">Associated Press explained</a>, world leaders said they would limit warming to below two degrees celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, with an ideal goal of limiting it to 1.5 degrees. But the emissions reductions pledges currently on the books would still lead to a temperature rise of more than three degrees Celsius, Guterres pointed out Sunday, and many countries are not even meeting these inadequate commitments.</p><p>"Our war against nature must stop," Guterres said.</p><p>Conference chair and Chilean environment minister Carolina Schmidt echoed Guterres' sense of urgency in her opening remarks Monday, calling on attendees to acknowledge the severity of the climate crisis.</p><p>"Those who don't want to see it will be on the wrong side of history," she said, as the Associated Press reported.</p>
<div id="b88d4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ESKYCB1576661059"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1201407891791593472" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Newly elected President of the @UN #ClimateChange Conference #COP25 in Madrid, @CarolaSchmidtZ, says that people ne… https://t.co/UHBRNbebew</div> — UN Climate Change (@UN Climate Change)<a href="https://twitter.com/UNFCCC/statuses/1201407891791593472">1575272937.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In addition to emissions reductions, there are two other major issues that need to be ironed out at the conference, BBC News explained.</p><p>The first is whether there will be a fund established to pay for climate-related losses and damages that cannot be prevented or mitigated, like a certain amount of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a>. Developing countries say they need help paying for a crisis they did little to solve, but wealthy countries are worried about being on the books for centuries of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> and coastal flooding to come.</p><p>"The climate crisis has been causing death, despair and displacement in the global south," Harjeet Singh from <a href="https://www.actionaid.org.uk/" target="_blank">Action Aid</a> told BBC News. "This bullying of the countries hardest hit by climate change, by those that got rich from extracting and consuming fossil fuels, must end now."</p><p>The second issue is how to establish new rules for carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris agreement. The issue was supposed to be resolved at <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/cop24" target="_self">COP24</a> in Katowice, Poland last year, but parties could not come to an agreement.</p><p>"I don't even want to entertain the possibility that we do not agree on Article 6," Guterres said, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-accord-guterres-idUSKBN1Y514H?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0ZFc6XhAeU2wGM3ADP0HDMNfL5tEc49mlgyXQenhvhv7brAtwfUjzoad4" target="_blank">Reuters</a>. "We are here to approve guidelines to implement Article 6, not to find excuses not to do it."</p><p>COP25 was originally supposed to take place in Chile, but President Sebastián Piñera <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/chile-will-not-host-cop25-2641171207.html" target="_self">stepped back</a> from hosting following weeks of protests. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/madrid-host-cop25-chile-2641211571.html" target="_self">Spain then offered</a> to host the talks in Madrid instead.</p><p>Around 29,000 scientists, negotiators, activists and leaders, including around 50 heads of state, are expected to attend, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/7d85d6d7b05c4436b6f4d162f6c06566" target="_blank">the Associated Press</a>.</p><p>Of the world's top emitters, only the EU is sending senior leadership. The U.S., China and India are all sending lower level officials or ministers.</p><p>President Donald Trump has begun the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris agreement, but Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will lead a delegation to the talks.</p><p>"While it's great Speaker Pelosi is coming to Madrid in place of Trump, symbolic gestures are no substitute for bold action," Jean Su from the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50614518" target="_blank">BBC News</a>. "America remains the number one historic contributor to the climate emergency, and even Democratic politicians have never committed to taking responsibility for our fair share."</p>
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Another round of global climate strikes began on Friday ahead of the 12-day UN climate conference. Representatives from 200 countries are meeting in Madrid to finalize the "rulebook" for the 2015 Paris agreement.
Diving in With the Rest
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjExMzIzNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5OTA3MzAzNn0.egZ2ODHqJNUeXJgoer0GjKa4rKi01NwzD9B3nL8baD8/img.jpg?width=980" id="f9789" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="72dd5cd8b568215a2b1f2053b20ac132" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Young activists in Berlin took a dip in the city's Spree River to demonstrate their desire for more action on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate change</a>. Their protest took place as Germany's upper house of parliament passed a raft of measures aimed at cutting emissions. However, critics of the package said it did not go far enough.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Greta Thunberg Sets Sail Back to Europe - EcoWatch ›
- 'Climate Strike' Wins 'Word of the Year' by Collins Dictionary ... ›
- Sydney Is Running out of Water as Bushfires Rage - EcoWatch ›
- Sydney Faces 'Catastrophic Fire Danger' for First Time as 130 ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
There are many ways to reduce emissions, including moving towards renewable energies. acilo / E+ / Getty Images
A new report from the United Nations found that the world is headed toward climate catastrophe if countries around the world do not reduce their greenhouse emissions drastically and quickly. It came out one week before the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, opens in Madrid.
<p>The <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2019" target="_blank">Emissions Gap Report</a> released by the UN Environment Program found that four years after countries signed the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> and vowed to curtail emissions to stop the worst effects of global warming, countries have ignored the warnings of scientists and continued to expand their carbon footprint, including the world's two biggest polluters — China and the U.S., as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/climate/greenhouse-gas-emissions-carbon.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>"The summary findings are bleak," the <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30797/EGR2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank">report</a> said. "Countries collectively failed to stop the growth in global [greenhouse gas] emissions, meaning that deeper and faster cuts are now required."</p><p>The researchers found that to keep the planet within the 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature rise that is the ceiling for avoiding disaster, global greenhouse gas emissions must fall 7.6 percent every year for the next decade, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/26/united-nations-global-effort-cut-emissions-stop-climate-chaos-2030" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>John Christensen of the Technical University of Denmark, a co-author of the report, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/26/united-nations-global-effort-cut-emissions-stop-climate-chaos-2030" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> the requisite emissions cuts were "unprecedented."</p><p>"What we are looking at is really that emissions need to go down by 55 percent by 2030," said Christensen, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/820dbedb5a7745a6a0c390c40246c27b?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow" target="_blank">AP</a> reported. "If you look at the global emissions, they are still going up. (Carbon dioxide) has started to increase again, and it doesn't look too good."</p><p>However, the report found some hope in political momentum and the growth of technology supporting <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a>.</p><p>"A number of encouraging developments have taken place and the political focus on the climate crisis is growing in several countries, with voters and protestors, particularly youth, making it clear that it is their number one issue," the <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30797/EGR2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank">report</a> says. "In addition, the technologies for rapid and cost-effective emission reductions have improved significantly."</p><p>While the technology is there, the global effort required to avoid catastrophe is daunting. As <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/26/united-nations-global-effort-cut-emissions-stop-climate-chaos-2030" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> noted, the only time in recent history that any country made a significant cut in emissions happened during the collapse of the Soviet Union and briefly during the global financial crisis when emissions in the U.S. and Japan fell by 6 percent, but quickly went back up.</p><p>"We need quick wins to reduce emissions as much as possible in 2020," said Inger Andersen, who heads the UN Environment Program, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/820dbedb5a7745a6a0c390c40246c27b?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow" target="_blank">UN</a> reported. "We need to catch up on the years in which we procrastinated."</p><p>The timing of the report just before the COP25 conference could put pressure on governments around the world to reverse course quickly.</p><p>"This is urgent, but we can do it," said Elliot Diringer of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, a climate policy think tank in Washington, DC, to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/26/782586224/greenhouse-gas-emissions-are-still-rising-u-n-report-says?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews" target="_blank">NPR</a>. He added that the annual <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30797/EGR2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank">Emissions Gap Report</a> "heightens even further the public and political pressure on governments to do their utmost."</p><p>The researchers found that global greenhouse emissions have risen 1.5 percent every year for the last decade. That continued rise in emissions has the world on course for climate catastrophes, including more intense <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">droughts</a>, stronger storms and widespread food insecurity by midcentury, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/climate/greenhouse-gas-emissions-carbon.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>UN officials are pleading with governments that have committed to targets for reducing their emissions to see if they can do more. The UN officials insist insisted that industries like power, transport, building and shipping can find opportunities to lower their emissions too, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/820dbedb5a7745a6a0c390c40246c27b?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow" target="_blank">AP</a> reported.</p><p>The <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30797/EGR2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank">Emissions Gap Report</a> noted that if every country in the Paris agreement met their targets — even though the U.S., Brazil, Australia and many others are not on track to do so — that global temperatures will rise 3.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, which is above the limit scientists consider safe, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/climate/greenhouse-gas-emissions-carbon.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>Yet, there is a way to change this trajectory. As <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/climate/greenhouse-gas-emissions-carbon.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> noted, there are many ways to reduce emissions, including quitting the combustion of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a>, especially <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal">coal</a>, stopping deforestation, moving towards renewable energies and reducing the number of gas and diesel cars on the road.</p><p>"This is a new and stark reminder," said Teresa Ribera, Spain's minister for ecological transition, in an email to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/climate/greenhouse-gas-emissions-carbon.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "We urgently need to align with the Paris Agreement objectives and elevate climate ambition."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- 'The Window of Opportunity for Action Is Almost Closed': UN Report ... ›
- UN Climate Panel: Emissions Must Fall Rapidly by 2030 to Prevent ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Greta Thunberg stands aboard the catamaran La Vagabonde as she sets sail to Europe in Hampton, Virginia, on Nov. 13. NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP via Getty Images
Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate activist whose weekly school strikes have spurred global demonstrations, has cut short her tour of the Americas and set sail for Europe to attend COP25 in Madrid next month, as The New York Times reported.
<p>Thunberg's original itinerary for the Americas was bookended by the UN Climate Conference in New York in September and the UN-sponsored COP25 in Santiago, Chile in December.</p><p>She has traveled around the U.S. and Canada, mainly by boat and by an electric car borrowed from Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/13/greta-thunberg-to-hitch-a-ride-to-europe-with-australian-youtube-influencers" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. She was supposed to start making her way towards Chile by boat and by bus, wandering her way through South America, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/climate/greta-thunberg-return-europe.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> .</p><p>However, after large-scale protests broke out over income inequality and paralyzed Chile's capital for two weeks, the president canceled COP25, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/chile-will-not-host-cop25-2641171207.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">Ecowatch</a> reported. Madrid stepped in as the new host of the conference, leaving Thunberg stranded. The Nobel Peace Prize finalist turned to social media for help.</p><p>"It turns out I've traveled half around the world, the wrong way," Thunberg wrote on <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1190290034131267591" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. "Now I need to find a way to cross the Atlantic in November ... If anyone could help me find transport I would be so grateful."</p><p>Another social media star stepped up to rescue her, forcing a hasty departure. Thunberg left the U.S. from Hampton, Virginia Wednesday morning with an Australian family, whose YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZdQjaSoLjIzFnWsDQOv4ww" target="_blank">Sailing La Vagabonde</a> chronicles their life aboard a 48-foot catamaran, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/greta-thunberg-vagabonde-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>"So happy to say that I'll hopefully make it to COP25 in Madrid," Thunberg wrote on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4yIDKAJxFl/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>. "I've been offered a ride from Virginia on the 48ft catamaran La Vagabonde."</p><p>Thunberg refuses to fly because of the tremendous carbon footprint associated with air travel. One round-trip flight from New York to California emits 20 percent of the greenhouse gases a typical car emits in a year, according to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle-0" target="_blank">numbers from the EPA</a>, as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/greta-thunberg-last-minute-boat-ride-atlantic-ocean-europe-cop25-2019-11" target="_blank">Business Insider</a> reported. In Europe, Thunberg usually travels by train.</p><p>"I decided to sail to highlight the fact that you can't live sustainably in today's society," Ms. Thunberg said yesterday afternoon, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/climate/greta-thunberg-return-europe.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. "You have to go to the extreme."</p><p>The Australian couple taking Thunberg back to Europe, Elayna Carausu and Riley Whitelum, will also welcome Nikki Henderson, a professional yachter from the UK, and Thunberg's father, Svante, who accompanied her on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greta-thunberg-set-sail-climate-summit-2639818763.html" target="_self">her first journey across the Atlantic</a>, as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/greta-thunberg-last-minute-boat-ride-atlantic-ocean-europe-cop25-2019-11" target="_blank">Business Insider</a> reported.</p><p>Henderson is no stranger to the seas. Last year, when she was 25, she became the youngest captain ever to compete at the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. She led her team to a second place finish, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/13/greta-thunberg-to-hitch-a-ride-to-europe-with-australian-youtube-influencers" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>Carausu and Whitelum also have an 11-month-old son, which means that unlike her first trans-Atlantic trip, Thunberg will not be the youngest person on board. "Finally," she said, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/climate/greta-thunberg-return-europe.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>The couple had no intention of taking the 3,200 nautical mile trip to Europe in the off-season, especially since they have a baby aboard, but they made a whimsical decision when they saw Thunberg's tweet asking for help, the couple told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/greta-thunberg-vagabonde-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>"We just said yes straight away because we just did a big 10-day sail and we loved it so much and we're pretty keen for another adventure like this," Carausu told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/greta-thunberg-vagabonde-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "So yeah, we reached out and from there it took a day and it was like almost a done deal."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- It's Official: Madrid Will Host COP25 - EcoWatch ›
- Chile Pulls Out of Hosting COP25 Following Weeks of Protests ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Hundreds of Spanish students in Madrid join the global movement "Friday for Future" in March to demand measures against climate change and protection of the environment. Lizana / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images
One day after Chile bowed out of hosting the COP25 UN Climate Change Conference, Spain has stepped up to the plate.
<p>Chilean President Sebastián Piñera of Chile said in a press conference in Santiago Thursday that acting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had offered to host the summit in Madrid, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/climate/spain-chile-cop25-climate-meeting.html?te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_MBE_p_20191101§ion=whatElse?campaign_id=51&instance_id=13529&segment_id=18420&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19®i_id=88631294ion=whatElse" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. </p>
<p>"Spain believe that multilateral climate action is a priority for both the UN and the EU, and one which demands the highest commitment from all of us," Spain's statement said, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/31/spain-offers-host-un-climate-conference-after-chile-cancellation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to The Guardian</a>. </p>
<div id="af8a5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4WXTBS1576661214"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1189948324826222592" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">He trasladado al presidente de Chile, @sebastianpinera, la disposición de #España para acoger la Cumbre del Clima e… https://t.co/PK7zhnh3OF</div> — Pedro Sánchez (@Pedro Sánchez)<a href="https://twitter.com/sanchezcastejon/statuses/1189948324826222592">1572540763.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The conference was supposed to be held in Chile from Dec. 2 to 13, but Piñera stepped away from hosting after his country was rocked by weeks of demonstrations against income inequality and police repression.</p><p>Carolina Schmidt, the Chilean environment minister and president-designate of COP25, communicated Spain's offer to the UN, which will consider it next week, according to The Guardian. Spain has offered to host the talks, but Chile would retain presidency over them, The New York Times explained.</p><p>The conference, which is expected to draw around 20,000 delegates, would discuss the implementation of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> to keep global warming to well below two degrees above pre-industrial levels, in an attempt to stave off the worst impacts of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>"It is encouraging to see countries working together in the spirit of multilateralism to address climate change, the biggest challenge facing this and future generations," Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change Patricia Espinosa said in a <a href="https://unfccc.int/news/chile-receives-offer-from-spain-to-hold-cop25-in-madrid-from-2-to-13-december-2019" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p>
<div id="a5e23" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="RMIE7X1576661214"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1189949087505883136" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The Government of #Chile, as incoming #COP25 Presidency, has informed me that they received a generous offer of sup… https://t.co/o3J871X7GM</div> — Patricia Espinosa C. (@Patricia Espinosa C.)<a href="https://twitter.com/PEspinosaC/statuses/1189949087505883136">1572540945.0</a></blockquote></div><p>However, some are concerned with what it could mean for the talks to move them away from Chile.</p><p>"It's a shame that COP25 won't be held in Latin America to highlight some of the grave climate impacts that affect the region," Dr Kat Kramer, <a href="https://www.christianaid.org.uk/" target="_blank">Christian Aid</a>'s global climate lead, told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50255460" target="_blank">BBC News</a>. "But hopefully a Madrid summit will be able to keep those in mind. Credit should be given to the Spanish government for offering to help at such short notice considering these often take more than a year to organise."</p><p><a href="https://www.e3g.org/" target="_blank">E3G</a> policy adviser Jennifer Tollman, meanwhile, worried about those who had booked non-refundable tickets or made other hard-to-cancel plans.</p><p>"A lot of people sank a lot of money into this. For participants in developing countries this is a huge issue. Without support, this could impact participation by the global south," Tollman told The Guardian.</p><p>More broadly, the protests that forced Chile to step away from hosting the conference show the importance of incorporating social justice into any plan for climate action.</p><p>"Climate policy has to be social policy. That's what will be discussed inside and outside the negotiation rooms," Tollman said.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Spain Battles Largest Wildfire in 20 Years as Europe Sizzles in ... ›
- 6 Dead in Worst Storm to Drench Eastern Spain in 140 Years ... ›
- Winning Party in Spain's Election Campaigned on a Green New Deal ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less