A new study finds that wealthy Americans living in spacious houses in upscale neighborhoods are responsible for 25% more emissions on average than those living in smaller houses in poorer areas. Pxfuel
Dreaming of a white-picket-fence home in an affluent suburb? Chances are your carbon footprint will be 15 times larger than your less-well-off neighbor.
<p>A new study finds that wealthy Americans living in spacious houses in upscale neighborhoods are responsible for 25% more emissions on average than those living in smaller houses in poorer areas.</p><p>Rich people live in bigger houses and consume more energy, generating greater climate-warming emissions, according to the research published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.</p><p>"Although houses are becoming more energy-efficient, U.S. household energy use and related greenhouse gas emissions are not shrinking," lead author Benjamin Goldstein, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, said in a statement, adding that "this lack of progress undermines the substantial emissions reductions needed to mitigate climate change."</p>
<p>The U.S. has the highest per capita emissions of any country and has <a href="https://climateanalytics.org/media/historical_responsibility_report_nov_2015.pdf" target="_blank">historically pumped </a>the largest amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. About a quarter of U.S. emissions are produced by households, which is more than Germany's total emissions.</p><p>Goldstein and his team tracked energy consumption patterns of nearly 100 million households by reviewing their 2015 tax records. They looked at incomes, building types, the climate, and the kind of power grid supplying homes to generate the first-ever national carbon emissions rankings of states down to the zip code.</p><p>House acreage plays an outsized role in determining a household's carbon footprint, and lower-income people generally live in smaller spaces. Carbon emissions linked to residences are a result of everything from the use of dishwashers and lights, to heating and cooling.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUwMjEyNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzg1NjY2Nn0.k6yBmhmgEPusOS99_5ylZaAuyVJD6mfTwk-4rjOc0fI/img.jpg?width=980" id="c3008" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3b1a7f7d6f8d03b886e4a5954631a861" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
U.S. household greenhouse gas intensity in 2015 by state. Household GHG intensity represented by kilograms CO2-equivalents per square meter (kg CO2-e/m2) by state. Benjamin Goldstein
<p>"Regional variations were driven mainly by the amount of energy needed to heat and cool homes and by the type of fuel used to generate electricity," the study authors said.</p><p>This is why regions where the demand for heating or cooling is higher guzzle more energy and produce more carbon emissions, especially states in the northeast. Maine, Vermont and Wisconsin were the largest consumers of energy in 2015.</p><p>Vermont is the home state of Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, who promised to declare climate change a national emergency if elected president and has pushed for a more ambitious domestic policy on climate change. Sanders ended his presidential run earlier this year and has endorsed Joe Biden, the former vice president. Biden last week unveiled a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/07/14/890814007/biden-outlines-2-trillion-climate-plan" target="_blank">$2 trillion plan</a> to tackle climate change.</p><p>The least energy-intensive states were Florida, Arizona and California. Overall, central states fared the worst when it came to their carbon footprint per unit of floor space in 2015.</p>
<p>Donald Trump, who is vying to be re-elected this November, is openly dismissive of climate change concerns. In 2015, 195 countries came together to sign the Paris Agreement laying down targets for reductions in carbon emissions by 2030 and 2050. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the global climate treaty last year.</p><p>Despite this, Democrats hope a new president will be installed in the White House, who will push an even stronger climate agenda than Barack Obama, who helped forge the Paris climate treaty.</p><p>The goal under the treaty for housing is to reduce emissions by 80% from their 2005 levels. An analysis by the researchers suggests that U.S. households won't meet the 2050 targets set for residential emissions, even if the electricity grid relies on cleaner sources of energy.</p><p>Only if homes are smaller and more tightly packed together would that target be achievable. But it would still require Americans to use energy more sparingly and more efficiently.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/energy-guzzling-mcmansions-make-the-american-dream-a-climate-nightmare/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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World Mayors Call for Car-Free Streets, End to Fossil Fuel Subsidies as Part of ‘Green and Just Recovery’
16 July
Politics
Cyclists ride through an intersection in downtown Brooklyn on July 30, 2019 in New York City. Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Mayors from some of the world's major cities have unveiled their vision for how the world can recover from the coronavirus pandemic while encouraging environmental justice and fighting the climate crisis.
<p>The <a href="https://c40.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#36000001Enhz/a/1Q000000kVoY/kuR1PLHMGR2K9eEbo8aivV.xPegZVTqwt.EjX.4a.hk" target="_blank">C40 Mayors' Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery</a>, announced Wednesday, includes measures already being adopted in many cities to recover from the pandemic in a way that addresses inequalities and keeps global heating to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. As part of their vision, the mayors are calling on national governments to end all subsidies for the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> industry.</p><p>"Nations must seize this moment to decisively move away from investments in high carbon and fossil fuel intensive industries and increase investments in a low carbon future," the mayors wrote, according to a press release emailed to EcoWatch.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.c40.org/about" target="_blank">C40 Cities</a> are a group of 96 world cities representing more than 700 million of the world's people and a quarter of the world's economy. In April, they formed the Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force to craft a way to respond to the pandemic without abandoning their climate goals, <a href="https://grist.org/climate/the-worlds-mayors-want-a-pandemic-recovery-that-takes-cars-off-the-streets-covid/" target="_blank">Grist reported</a>, and Wednesday's proposal is the result.</p><p>"Right at the outset of the pandemic, C40 Mayors felt the need to collaborate even more closely, to be able to rapidly learn from each other and take the most appropriate decisions to tackle the COVID-19 challenge," task force chair and mayor of Milan, Italy Giuseppe Sala said in the press release. "A visionary Mayoral Task Force was created to elaborate on a pathway towards a new, better normal, to the benefit of all cities of the world."</p>
<p>The mayors' <a href="https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/C40-Mayors-Agenda-for-a-Green-and-Just-Recovery?language=en_US" target="_blank">agenda</a> is divided roughly into two parts: what cities can do on their own, and what they are calling on national and international institutions to help them achieve. On the city level, the mayors called for green jobs, support for essential workers, investments in public services and the creation of greener, more livable cities.</p><p>Part of this vision means a shift away from cars and towards public transportation, walking and cycling, Grist pointed out. The plan includes calls to "give streets back to people" by devoting more roadspace to pedestrian or bike paths. It also promotes the idea of a 15-minute city, in which residents can find everything they need within a short walk or bike-ride of their home.</p><p>These changes are already being implemented in some cities, <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20200716113048-9jhn0" target="_blank">Thomson Reuters Foundation reported</a>. Seattle, for example, has permanently banned cars from 20 miles of city streets. Montreal has created 185 miles of new bike and walking paths in two months. Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, is working on building a network of electric cable cars.</p>
<p>Cities are also investing in green jobs and green energy. Los Angeles has supported the installation of solar panels on the homes of almost 2,000 low-income families and hired 200 recently incarcerated people to do it. Cape Town, South Africa is training and paying people from low-income communities to retrofit houses.</p><p>"Once again, it is city mayors who are showing us the way forward in confronting the COVID-19 public health crisis, reducing inequality and addressing the climate crisis. City mayors understand that we must take action that protects people's lives and livelihoods now and in the future by recovering better and building a more resilient and sustainable economy," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in support. "Cities are agents and engines of change and they can deliver solutions that will reduce carbon emissions to get to carbon neutrality by 2050 while creating better and more sustainable jobs."</p>
<p>But the mayors also acknowledged that they could not achieve this vision alone. They called on national and international governments and institutions to support them by adapting six commitments. In addition to ending fossil fuel subsidies, the other commitments are:</p><ol><li>Ensuring all recovery plans are green</li><li>Ensuring all recovery plans prioritize equality and inclusivity</li><li>Supporting public transportation</li><li>Supporting clean energy</li><li>Investing in cities to help with the recovery</li></ol><p>The plan also has the support of youth climate activists like University of California, Los Angeles undergraduate Briana Carbajal.</p><p>"COVID-19 made us face ourselves at our worst. We began questioning everything we know about how we exist on this planet. Out of this tragedy, I am hopeful that it has provided us with a grim enough reflection on the ways we have failed each other, and our home, so that we may move forward to remedy ourselves of racial injustice, environmental degradation, and willful ignorance," she said in the press release. "The Green and Just Recovery is a necessity on the path to healing. A path I am grateful my generation is leading."</p>
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Authors of a new study warned Thursday that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is nearing a level not seen in 15 million years. Dawn Ellner / Flickr / CC by 2.0
By Jessica Corbett
As a United Nations agency released new climate projections showing that the world is on track in the next five years to hit or surpass a key limit of the Paris agreement, authors of a new study warned Thursday that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is nearing a level not seen in 15 million years.
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<p>For the study, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67154-8" target="_blank">published</a> in the journal<em> Scientific Reports</em>, researchers at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom examined CO2 levels during the Late Pliocene about three million years ago "to search for modern and near future-like climate states," co-author Thomas Chalk <a href="https://twitter.com/ChalkyOceans/status/1281182408554020864" target="_blank">explained</a> in a series of tweets.</p><p>"A striking result we've found is that the warmest part of the Pliocene had between 380 and 420 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere," Chalk <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/09/co2-in-earths-atmosphere-nearing-levels-of-15m-years-ago" target="_blank">told</a> the <em>Guardian</em>. "This is similar to today's value of around 415 parts per million, showing that we are already at levels that in the past were associated with temperature and sea-level significantly higher than today."</p><p>When CO2 levels peaked during the Pliocene, temperatures were 3ºC to 4ºC hotter and seas were 65 feet higher, the newspaper reported. Chalk said that "currently, our CO2 levels are rising at about 2.5 ppm per year, meaning that by 2025 we will have exceeded anything seen in the last 3.3 million years."</p><p>"We are burning through the Pliocene and heading towards a Miocene-like future," warned co-author Gavin Foster, referencing a period from about 23 to 5.3 million years ago. It was during the Miocene, around 15 million years ago, when "our ancestors are thought to have diverged from orangutans and become recognizably hominoid," the <em>Guardian</em> noted.</p>
<div id="1a097" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3be1f37aee62477983e577219c84d7a9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1281182404116385792" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">https://t.co/3sNdmN8mCz New study covered by @guardiannews, we look at CO2 levels in the Late Pliocene (~3 million… https://t.co/xRhhLcpdJ5</div> — Tom Chalk (@Tom Chalk)<a href="https://twitter.com/ChalkyOceans/statuses/1281182404116385792">1594292663.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Reporting on the study elicited concern and calls for action from environmentalists and advocacy groups.</p><p>"Every kilo of CO2 we emit is one we have to sequester later, provided the food doesn't run out first," <a href="https://twitter.com/xrfinland/status/1281177680948473857" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Extinction Rebellion Finland, urging the international community to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ActNow" target="_blank">#ActNow</a>.</p><p>Nathaniel Stinnett, executive director of the U.S.-based Environmental Voter Project, also <a href="https://twitter.com/NCStinn/status/1281186259998777351" target="_blank">responded</a> to the report on Twitter, saying, "Big Oil and Gas are killing us."</p><p>A new report released Thursday by the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) about global temperatures likely coming in the next five years provoked similar alarm and demands.</p>
<p>"It's still not too late to avoid the worst effects of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimateEmergency?src=hashtag_click" target="_blank">#ClimateEmergency</a>. But governments need to act NOW," <a href="https://twitter.com/Greenpeace/status/1281166638897860608" target="_blank">declared</a> Greenpeace, pushing for a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GreenRecovery" target="_blank">#GreenRecovery</a> from the Covid-19 pandemic.</p><p>The WMO report projects that the annual global temperature is likely to be at least 1°C warmer than pre-industrial levels in each of the next five years. Although it is "extremely unlikely" the average temperature for 2020–2024 will be 1.5°C warmer than pre-industrial levels, WMO warned certain periods could hit that temperature.</p><p>Specifically, there is about a 70% chance that one or more months during those five years will be at least 1.5°C hotter than pre-industrial levels and about a 20% chance that one of the next five years will be at least that warm, according to WMO's Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, led by the United Kingdom's Met Office.</p>
<div id="23d44" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a800573625ce69a53bedfe537b572116"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1281123005695959040" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Annual mean global temperature likely to be at least 1° C above pre-industrial levels in each of coming 5 years (20… https://t.co/WOBeEOhbCe</div> — World Meteorological Organization (@World Meteorological Organization)<a href="https://twitter.com/WMO/statuses/1281123005695959040">1594278501.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In a statement Thursday, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas also <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/new-climate-predictions-assess-global-temperatures-coming-five-years" target="_blank">pointed</a> to the coronavirus pandemic—which prompted global lockdowns that briefly <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/20/after-coronavirus-triggers-17-emissions-drop-experts-say-only-fundamental-structural" target="_blank">caused</a> planet-heating emissions to drop—as an opportunity to pursue bold recovery plans that incorporate policies that combat the climate crisis, such as rapidly transitioning to renewable energy worldwide.</p><p>"WMO has repeatedly stressed that the industrial and economic slowdown from Covid-19 is not a substitute for sustained and coordinated climate action," Taalas said. "Due to the very long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere, the impact of the drop in emissions this year is not expected to lead to a reduction of CO2 atmospheric concentrations which are driving global temperature increases."</p><p>"Whilst Covid-19 has caused a severe international health and economic crisis, failure to tackle climate change may threaten human well-being, ecosystems, and economies for centuries," he continued. "Governments should use the opportunity to embrace climate action as part of recovery program and ensure that we grow back better."</p><p>Taalas added that "this study shows—with a high level of scientific skill—the enormous challenge ahead in meeting the Paris agreement on climate change target of keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C."</p><p>While some scientists and activists have criticized the 2015 Paris climate agreement as not ambitious enough, it is backed by nearly all nations on Earth. U.S. President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/04/delivering-catastrophic-message-moment-great-urgency-trump-formally-begins-ditching" target="_blank">began</a> the one-year withdrawal process in November 2019 but former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, has vowed to rejoin the accord if he wins this year's election.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/09/humanity-track-soon-hit-15oc-paris-accord-limit-atmospheric-co2-nears-level-not-seen" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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People relax in Victoria Gardens with the Houses of Parliament in the background in central London, as a heatwave hit the continent with temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius on June 25, 2020. NIKLAS HALLE'N / AFP via Getty Images
The chance that UK summer days could hit the 40 degree Celsius mark on the thermometer is on the rise, a new study from the country's Met Office Hadley Centre has found.
<p>British summers currently only reach 40 degrees every 100 to 300 years. But the study, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16834-0" target="_blank"><em>Nature Communications</em></a> Tuesday, found that such temperatures could occur every 3.5 years if nothing is done to reduce <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greenhouse-gases" target="_self">greenhouse gas</a> emissions and curb the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>"Climate change has already influenced the likelihood of temperature extremes in the UK. The chances of seeing 40°C days in the UK could be as much as 10 times more likely in the current climate than under a natural climate unaffected by human influence," lead author Dr. Nikolaos Christidis said in a <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2020/chances-of-40c-days-in-the-uk-increasing-due-to-human-influence" target="_blank">Met Office press release</a>. "The likelihood of exceeding 40°C anywhere in the UK in a given year has also been rapidly increasing, and, without curbing of greenhouse gas emissions, such extremes could be taking place every few years in the climate of 2100."</p>
<div id="f49f9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="548418422f9dfc779c1082b8d99bfcca"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1277980676583600134" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">New research published today shows the chances of 40°C days in the UK are increasing rapidly due to #GlobalWarming… https://t.co/gNwrqnYPMA</div> — Met Office (@Met Office)<a href="https://twitter.com/metoffice/statuses/1277980676583600134">1593529311.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>To reach their conclusions, the researchers combined temperature measurements across the country with 16 different climate models, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/30/likelihood-of-40c-temperatures-in-uk-is-rapidly-accelerating" target="_blank">The Guardian explained</a>. They found that reducing emissions made a big difference in lowering future temperatures. Under a medium-emissions scenario, in which emissions are reduced but not enough to honor the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> goal of limiting global warming to below two degrees, 40 degree days would occur every 15 years.</p><p>"This research shows human-caused climate change has set us on a course to see temperature extremes in the UK that would be highly unlikely under a 'natural' climate, although urgent action to reduce emissions now can significantly reduce the occurrence of extreme high temperatures in the UK in the future," coauthor and head of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre Dr. Mark McCarthy said in the press release.</p>
<p>The study also looked at the likelihood of other temperature extremes. Days 35 degrees or higher currently occur every five years on average but could happen nearly every other year by 2100 under a high-emissions scenario. The 40 and 35 degree days would be most common in the Southeast, but the North could see 30 degree days once per decade by 2100. They are now extremely rare in that region.</p><p>UK summers are already feeling the impacts of the climate crisis. The summer of 2018 was the joint hottest on record, and the country saw its highest recorded temperature of 38.7 in Cambridge during July 2019, The Guardian reported. The climate crisis has made <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/heat-wave" target="_self">heat waves</a> in the country 30 more likely, and temperature extremes caused 3,400 early deaths between 2016 and 2019. These impacts will only worsen as temperatures rise, which is a big reason why the Met Office conducted the study, Christidis told <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200630-uk-increasingly-likely-to-see-40c-temperatures" target="_blank">AFP</a>. He said he wanted to help the country plan better for extremes.</p>
<p>"Exceeding extreme temperature thresholds like the 40C in the UK would be accompanied by severe impacts — on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a>, transport infrastructure," he told AFP.</p><p>However, on a global scale, the UK won't be feeling the heat as intensely as other places.</p><p>"Heatwaves are a real risk to life in the UK, especially if we do not begin modifying our homes, workplaces and hospitals to manage their expected overheating," University of Leeds professor Piers Forster, who was not involved in the study, told The Guardian. "However, we should note that in terms of heatwaves, the UK will get off lightly compared with most other nations. Heatwaves in the major crop-growing regions of the world could have more profound effects, both globally and for the UK."</p>
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Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis visit the National Renewable Energy Lab on Aug. 1, 2019. National Renewable Energy Lab
House Democrats are releasing an aggressive new plan to fight the climate crisis on Tuesday. The 538-page plan includes various goals to dramatically reduce the nation's emissions. It sets a target for every new car sold by 2035 to emit no greenhouse gases, to eliminate overall emissions from the power sector by 2040, and to all but eliminate the country's total emissions by 2050, according to The New York Times.
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<p><em><a href="https://climatecrisis.house.gov/report" target="_blank">Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America</a></em><span style="background-color: initial;"><em> </em></span>is the first major piece of legislation from the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, established last year as the Green New Deal was garnering attention, and would put the country on a path to meeting the goals of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, as <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/505147-house-dems-to-offer-up-roadmap-to-solve-the-climate-crisis" target="_blank">The Hill</a> reported.</p><p>"While local communities and states and businesses take climate action, what's been missing is the federal government," said Rep. Kathy Castor, (D-FL), who chairs the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, in an interview with the <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2020/06/29/house-democrats-to-unveil-climate-plan-calling-for-emissions-cuts-and-new-deal-style-jobs-program/" target="_blank">Tampa Bay Times</a>.</p>
<p>Prior to creating its bold plan to set the course for a zero emissions future, the committee heard testimony from researchers, local officials and a bevy of environmental activists like Greta Thunberg, according to the Tampa Bay Times.</p><p>"Turning this plan into reality will build a safer, healthier, and fairer America, restore our global climate leadership, enhance our national security, and provide a livable climate for today's youth and future generations," the report says.</p><p>The ambitious plan, which faces an dubious future in a Republican-controlled Senate, requires companies to pay for emitting excessive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. While that cost will pass down to the consumer, it may have the net effect of reducing consumption. It also has provisions that give money back to low- and moderate-income households, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>Since racial minority communities are disproportionately affected by pollution and extreme weather from the climate crisis, the report ties environmental justice to racial justice, citing the police killing of George Floyd in its opening paragraph. As The New York Times reported, the report argues that the government should prioritize racial minority communities for new spending on energy and infrastructure.</p><p>"We have to focus on environmental-justice communities," said Castor, according to The New York Times. "There is an awakening across the country to systemic racism, and this is a report that at its center, at its core, focuses on those communities."</p>
<p>Representative Castor and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are announcing the plan at an event in front of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday morning. The Democrats underpin their report with pitches on the economy, including the chance for new jobs in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> and $8 trillion in climate and health benefits through the middle of the century, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/29/democrats-climate-crisis-carbon-emissions" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Leah Stokes, an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who studies climate policy, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/29/democrats-climate-crisis-carbon-emissions" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> that the plan was "ambitious and comprehensive."</p><p>"It shows that the committee has been listening to stakeholders, and has watched the Democratic primary carefully. Clearly they have learned from climate champions like [Washington] Governor Jay Inslee," she said.</p><p>"I am very heartened to see the detail and ambition that the committee has put forward – it shows that the Democratic party is waking up to the scale and urgency of the climate crisis."</p>
<p>The plan calls for not only taking action to stop greenhouse gas emissions to slow down the climate crisis, but also to build infrastructure to deal with its effects. It champions investments to respond to climate impacts, including water infrastructure to handle increased flooding and a next-generation 911 system to make sure wireless communications networks are reliable during disasters, according to The Guardian.</p><p>It also acknowledges that fortifying communities with improved infrastructure will not be enough as hurricanes and other storms increase in frequency and intensity. People will need to relocate. "Communities need support developing longer-term strategies, including options to relocate and resettle willing neighborhoods or communities," the report reads, according to The New York Times. Federally funded programs should "consider the trade-offs of relocation and protection."</p>
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Greta Thunberg in a video conversation with Swedish professor and joint director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Johan Rockstrom, broadcasted live to a global audience from Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm, Sweden on April 22, 2020. JESSICA GOW / TT News Agency / AFP via Getty Images
When you want a seat on the UN Security Council, the last thing you need is a teenage activist, practiced at the art of shaming government officials, working against you. However, that's just what Norway and Canada have.
<p>Canada, Norway and Ireland are vying for the two available seats on the UN Security Council. Enter <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greta-thunberg">Greta Thunberg</a>, bearing some free and stern advice.</p><p>The 17-year-old Swedish climate activist is the headline signatory on a letter to UN ambassadors of small developing nations. The letter argues that Canada and Norway both say they are concerned about the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a>, but will not shed their ardent commitment to expand <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> production, build <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipelines</a> through native land, and subsidize oil companies, as the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/greta-thunberg-canada-un-1.5605830" target="_blank">CBC</a> reported.</p>
<p>"For the young generation who will inherit the consequences of these decisions, it is critical that those who claim to be leading on climate action are held to account for decisions they are making back at home," the letter reads, according to the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/greta-thunberg-canada-un-1.5605830" target="_blank">CBC</a>.</p><p>The letter also featured the signature of three other youth activists and 22 climate scientists.</p><p>The writers argue that if Canada wants to honor its commitment to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, it should make permanent its temporary ban on extracting oil and gas in the Arctic, cancel both the Trans Mountain and Keystone XL pipeline projects, and end all subsidies to the oil and gas industry, according to <a href="https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2020/06/10/greta-thunberg-delivers-message-to-canada-ahead-of-un-vote/" target="_blank">Radio Canada International</a>.</p>
<p>Canada, despite its pristine air and forests, is actually among the worst in the G20 in meeting its Paris agreement greenhouse gas emissions targets, according to data compiled in 2019 by <a href="https://www.climate-transparency.org/" target="_blank"><em>Climate Transparency</em></a>, as <a href="https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2020/06/10/greta-thunberg-delivers-message-to-canada-ahead-of-un-vote/" target="_blank">Radio Canada International</a> reported.</p><p>The letter is addressed to the <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/sids/list" target="_blank">Small Island Developing States</a> since there are 38 members of the UN and they, more than larger countries, recognize the imminent danger the climate crisis poses. There are also 20 non-UN members. While together they are not strong enough to wield power, they do make up 20 percent of the votes. That's a significant number since the countries running for a two-year term on the security council starting in 2021 must win the backing of two-thirds of member states, whether they are contested or not.</p>
<p>"The Small Island Developing States understand more than most the existential threat posed by climate change to our peace and security, even fundamental statehood, and as such have a strong interest in ensuring that climate commitments are a central consideration when deciding which candidates to support," the <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/06/10/greta-thunberg-seeks-influence-un-security-council-election/" target="_blank">letter</a> states.</p><p>"As the Ambassador of a country that understands the grave risk posed to our security and yours, we ask that you raise these issues in your conversations with representatives of the candidate countries, and demand that they unite behind the science.</p><p>"If Norway and Canada are serious about our climate security, they should commit to no new fossil fuel exploration or extraction, and begin phasing down their domestic production at a pace that is consistent with limiting warming to 1.5C," the authors wrote.</p><p>Canada is criticized in the letter for being the second biggest financer of fossil fuels in the G20. Norway is slammed, in the letter, for its unwavering support on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic">Arctic</a> drilling.</p>
<p>Gail Whiteman, founder of Arctic Basecamp and professor of sustainability at the University of Exeter, UK, explained why she added her signature to the campaign.</p><p>"Climate change is a hugely important security topic, it is a hugely important global risk that is coming fast down the pipeline," said Gail Whiteman, founder of Arctic Basecamp and professor of sustainability at the University of Exeter, UK, who added her name to the letter, as <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/06/10/greta-thunberg-seeks-influence-un-security-council-election/" target="_blank">Climate Home News</a> reported.</p><p>"On both the Canadian and the Norwegian side, they have some quite strong stated policies on climate change but when you look at the details, that is very problematic."</p>
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U.S. Ranks 24th in New Environmental Performance Index, Near Bottom of Developed Countries
04 June
Politics
A coke storage area is seen as steam rises from the quench towers at the US Steel Clairton Works on Jan. 21, 2020, in Clairton, Pennsylvania. White plumes of smoke billow above western Pennsylvania's rolling hills as scorching ovens bake coal, which rolls in by the trainload along the Monongahela River. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images
President Trump's claim that the U.S. has the cleanest air and water in the world has been widely refuted by statistics showing harmful levels of pollution. Now, a new biannual ranking released by researchers at Yale and Columbia finds that the U.S. is nowhere near the top in environmental performance, according to The Guardian.
<p>Not only is the U.S. not in the top 10, it's not in the top 20. It ranks 24th in the 2020 <a href="https://epi.yale.edu/2020-epi" target="_blank">Environmental Performance Index</a> (EPI), which was released on Thursday. The top ranked country, Denmark, has made commitments to a carbon-free future, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. By contrast, the U.S., during the Trump administration, has worked at breakneck speed to rollback environmental regulations, expand <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> development, and ditch international treaties protecting the environment. He has even questioned climate science and ridiculed its findings.</p><p>"If you look at Denmark, they're doing great but they're a tiny fraction of overall carbon emissions or greenhouse gas emissions broadly," said Zach Wenderling, lead researcher on the index, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/04/us-ranks-24th-in-the-world-on-environmental-performance" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "The U.S. is one of the top five players in every greenhouse gas, so we need to do better than just OK if we're going to generate the best practices."</p>
<p>Many signatories to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> have ramped up their commitments to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, especially in Europe. European countries performed the best in the new index. After Denmark, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom rounded out the top four, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/04/us-ranks-24th-in-the-world-on-environmental-performance" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Researchers at Yale and Columbia universities produce the global report, which is released every two years. It ranks 180 of the world's nations on 24 key indicators in 10 categories related to environmental health and ecosystem vitality.</p><p>The data-driven and empirical approach to environmental protection makes it easier to spot problems, track trends, highlight policy successes and failures, identify best practices, and optimize the benefits of investing in environmental protection, said Daniel Esty, a professor of environmental law and policy at Yale, in a university <a href="https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/dan-esty-on-the-2020-environmental-performance-index" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>"[T]he EPI provides a clear and compelling way to see which countries are leading issue by issue, who is lagging, and what the best policy practices look like across a range of critical environmental challenges," said Esty, in the university <a href="https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/dan-esty-on-the-2020-environmental-performance-index" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
<p>Since the EPI was created in the year 2000, the U.S has never reached the top of the rankings.</p><p>"Countries that make an effort do better than those that don't don't and the U.S. right now is not making an effort. That shows up in a stagnation in the rankings where others are really seeing some significant improvements," said Esty, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/04/us-ranks-24th-in-the-world-on-environmental-performance" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>The U.S., which is the second largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions after China, is near the bottom of the rankings for advanced industrial countries. China, which suffers from poor air quality, has made significant investments in solar energy and reducing its dependence on coal, and climbed the rankings to 120th place. China is still a big polluter but has made "much more dramatic progress than other countries," Esty said, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/04/us-ranks-24th-in-the-world-on-environmental-performance" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>China's ranking as the world's worst contributor to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> is only recent. Over time, the U.S. has put more heat trapping gases into the air than any other country. India, which also sees its cities choking under polluted air quality, ranked 168th.</p>
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"Most of this fossil fuel finance flowed to wealthier countries," the report says, noting that China (pictured), Canada, Japan, and Korea provided the most public finance for dirty energy projects from 2016 to 2018.
Kevin Frayer / Stringer / Getty Images
Kevin Frayer / Stringer / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
Even after the world's largest economies adopted the landmark Paris agreement to tackle the climate crisis in late 2015, governments continued to pour $77 billion a year in public finance into propping up the fossil fuel industry, according to a report released Wednesday.
<p>The new <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2020/05/27/g20-still-digging/" target="_blank">report</a>, from Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth (FOE) U.S., focuses on financing for oil, gas, and coal projects from members of the Group of 20 (<a href="https://g20.org/en/about/Pages/whatis.aspx" target="_blank">G20</a>), which comprises governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union.</p><p>Although U.S. President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/04/delivering-catastrophic-message-moment-great-urgency-trump-formally-begins-ditching" target="_blank">began</a> the one-year withdrawal process for ditching the Paris accord in November 2019 after years of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/01/destructive-fossil-fuel-puppet-trump-ditches-climate-deal-fact-free-speech" target="_blank">threats</a>, other G20 nations remain committed to the agreement, which aims to keep global temperature rise well below 2°C (35.6 F) and further limit it to 1.5°C (34.7 F) by 2100.</p><p>Despite their public commitments to the Paris agreement, "G20 countries continue to subsidize the fossil fuel industry even as it makes bad business decisions that hurt people and the planet," FOE U.S. senior international policy analyst Kate DeAngelis <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/05/27/report-g20-governments-bankrolling-fossil-fuel-industry-least-77-billion-year" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement.</p><p>"Our planet is hurtling towards climate catastrophe and these countries are pouring gasoline on the fire to the tune of billions," she said. "We must hold G20 governments accountable for their promises to move countries toward clean energy. They have an opportunity to reflect and change their financing so that it supports clean energy solutions that will not exacerbate bad health outcomes and put workers at greater risk."</p>
<div id="19615" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fc626c0dd110d303e518e96fd2453ab1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1265419719403876353" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">⚡⚡Just Released: Our new report w/ @FoE_US reveals G20 countries provided at least $77 billion a year in public fin… https://t.co/wizlSeXnRT</div> — Oil Change International (@Oil Change International)<a href="https://twitter.com/PriceofOil/statuses/1265419719403876353">1590534546.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The new report—<a href="http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2020/05/G20-Still-Digging.pdf" target="_blank"><em>Still Digging: G20 Governments Continue to Finance the Climate Crisis</em> </a>(pdf)—warns that "with the health and livelihoods of billions at immediate risk from Covid-19, governments around the world are preparing public spending packages of a magnitude they previously deemed unthinkable."</p><blockquote>In normal times, development finance institutions (DFIs), export credit agencies (ECAs), and multilateral development banks (MDBs) already had an outsized impact on the overall energy landscape and more capacity than their private sector peers to act on the climate crisis. In the current moment, their potential influence has multiplied, and it is imperative that they change course. The fossil fuel sector was showing long-term signs of systemic decline before Covid-19 and has been quick to seize on this crisis with requests for massive subsidies and bailouts. We cannot afford for the wave of public finance that is being prepared for relief and recovery efforts to prop up the fossil fuel industry as it has in the past. Business as usual would exacerbate the next crisis—the climate crisis—that is already on our doorstep.<br></blockquote><p>As Oil Change International research analyst Bronwen Tucker put it: "Fossil fuel corporations know their days are numbered. Their lobbyists are using the Covid-19 crisis as cover to try to secure the massive new government handouts they need to survive."</p><p>Echoing <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/26/hundreds-medical-professionals-and-groups-say-covid-19-stimulus-plans-must-be" target="_blank">recent calls</a> from climate campaigners, advocacy groups, progressive policymakers, and healthcare professionals, the report urges G20 governments and multilateral development banks to support a global, just recovery to the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>"Government money must instead support a just transition from fossil fuels that protects workers, communities, and the climate—both at home and beyond their borders," said Tucker. "Instead of bankrolling another major crisis—climate change—our governments should invest in a resilient future."</p><p>Based on information from Oil Change International's Shift the Subsidies database, the report details financing from public institutions controlled by G20 governments—DFIs, ECAs, and MDBs. Key findings include that support for the fossil fuel industry has "stayed steady" since the Paris agreement and ECAs are "the worst public finance actors."</p><p>"Most of this fossil fuel finance flowed to wealthier countries," the report says, noting that China, Canada, Japan, and Korea provided the most public finance for dirty energy projects from 2016 to 2018.</p>
<div id="3a4c3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3a8dab253abb0ab96502809508dffa35"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1265623289118015492" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">New research from @PriceofOil & @foe_us shows Canada has the 2nd highest public finance for fossil fuels in the G20… https://t.co/CC21WVmLhZ</div> — EnvironmentalDefence (@EnvironmentalDefence)<a href="https://twitter.com/envirodefence/statuses/1265623289118015492">1590583080.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>Still Digging</em> examines just one way these nations support planet-wrecking oil, gas, and coal projects, acknowledging that "unlike the 2017 version of this report, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/05/talk-cheap-g20-told-end-public-subsidy-all-dirty-fuels-2020" target="_blank"><em>Talk is Cheap</em></a>, it does not include public finance directly from G20 government departments due to a gross lack of transparency."</p><p>The report also doesn't cover "majority government-owned banks without a clear policy mandate, sovereign wealth funds, or public finance institutions with subnational governance," or "subsidies to fossil fuel production at the national level in G20 state budgets, which previous analysis has indicated may provide an additional $80 billion per year in support to fossil fuel production."</p><p>However, <em>Still Digging</em> suggests that G20 public finance institutions—as entities owned by governments party to the Paris accord—could be catalysts for more climate-friendly financing decisions "due to their economic and political power."</p><p>"Private and public financial investors alike will need to shift rapidly," the report says, "but the role of public institutions is unique because of both their outsized influence on energy finance and their capacity and mandate to lead on climate action."</p>
<div id="acfed" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4c26ee7a9cd92203449579ca4aa553e7"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1265668484349992961" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">📖New Report📖: As #G20 governments spend historic levels of public finance on #COVID19 stimulus, our new report w/… https://t.co/bw8awZru86</div> — Oil Change International (@Oil Change International)<a href="https://twitter.com/PriceofOil/statuses/1265668484349992961">1590593856.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>More than 30 groups from across the globe endorsed the report—including Justica Ambiental, or FOE Mozambique, which has worked to raise alarm about international public finance supporting the expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in southern African country.</p><p>"It is unacceptable that such a high investment, which will provide billions of profits for foreign companies like Total, is contributing to the impoverishment and oppression of already vulnerable local communities," said Justica Ambiental director Anabela Lemos.</p><p>"Peasant and fishing families have lost their livelihoods for a lifetime," Lemos added. "The discovery of gas has stolen their identity and failed to provide them with the conditions stipulated in the so-called community consultation processes."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/27/new-report-details-how-g20-nations-spend-77-billion-year-destroy-climate" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) and Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte shake hands during an event to launch the United Nations' Climate Change conference, COP26, in central London on February 4, 2020. CHRIS J RATCLIFFE / POOL / AFP / Getty Images
The U.K. government has proposed delaying the annual international climate negotiations for a full year after its original date to November 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
<p>The UNFCCC COP26, which was <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/c/*W2G3xB-365jDnW7FKT0q4fMDf10/*W7mzLKG7tDPWfW91dsgq3nnS2m0/5/f18dQhb0S1Wd2RMFdXV11TtV2qy7pLN34PF4vjRgVqW8FqQ885Jsq0TW58BCvB5YYLg9W1mBYw16TClNQW7lcb078Qz-49N1fd-MyMZtdbVmZZPX1HRDfsW8VRs1v5ZPKVJVSDjNt9g5w7-W1f2W8F7B0W-RW44CHhW8nqc0CN6GXR3kY3n6SW1_7cM_5m4gSGVV7ctz1Q2qYzW5CWBtk2FY3D6W1-HJhY795-RDW7GssYn7Jld55W5SLLBH3SvxdNW5chH-f78YRW1W3JZSl8477PTRW4V5vmj2JR3bfW32wBsP79XBhhW7sPKm-6KgCzwW2Ds88Y5tBYhRW5t23HG7XGttkW4Xc8Km1FBQrcN7Jxl-LT2pXLN4h9zBycfl10N44VzMhGnJvlN3__bBCPPXR-W4rGfw64hNLR9W8Dq7wk6XQY-BN6m9SqCjmRfGW7GP_CP1tLb3_W8Ch-wJ5S7dkfW6DHhHm4gLK1cVgj-Dv7b3kXNW5Z-tSt4NbSBZW3Tt0xN6JS3NGW7vY8pY7XxV3lW5yvwDd7r87ycN46Pv811gf1sW81GG9G3FWMkHW2WK_F68q-yC_W30Bd3S5jGCnKW1lWJ1l3TMH9zW6jf9jy9jRbRhW8Nl_Gk8M35VpW7plpB09f9Q0JW9f8728936FS5W7QQwM93FThBGW3V6g6F1rTssH111" target="_blank">first delayed</a> from November 2020 to early 2021, is the most important COP since world leaders met in Paris in 2015 because countries are expected to bring revised targets for how they will meet the Paris Agreement goals to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius (35.6 F). The additional delay worried diplomats and experts that governments will craft economic recovery policies that do not align with the aggressive greenhouse gas pollution cuts needed by 2030 to avoid the worst of climate change impacts, according to the "<a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/c/*W2G3xB-365jDnW7FKT0q4fMDf10/*W3Cd5lX4JtGPrW25dC4H2-mmHF0/5/f18dQhb0SbTW8XJ93YN834vY8HyjJqVQBs5C64zxy8N3hHhcDXL0jYVnQ9Qq8--HBkW8ZPJ4K5pYx6BW8Ywp0W2SRqVtN2MTPSyKng6qW1Wg4bj2gd99PW58jrRT7rD5W4W8hrVbp2yJF1WVYT2jk6P4lCXW6hFc9L69NG1wW6Pr5q24MK9wZW4r1Pm71nq3H7W3cKN1v6gXBFnN67h1zcQC5z2VPC2cV3j5wXvVgvbF36TdDFQW2zGrSs3P_nV_W4Vs8-W6SN4p-VXhZrM36GfSQVQDpH03h24bMW5Hw66-4tpPR1W6Nz3wK1msDV8W2zWgNK1sdH0NW5CzfQH10JPclM-d-tDZMQwSW98bP2295LLcnW2xkLjl3kSB6WW8rZsJm63kCgxW5yJGY56Q_NSKW5HFsGK8dt46NW4Pw1Vk2sbPxnV_sGSc2xFq_DN3J3zp77DTKjN3jL8vRyvCdqW49X0tl4QDcJ_W1vt3zQ4dS8dTW3tVQ5k5_5lxDW4m8Tyn4ddW-XW3Df1mh10rzlyW1NwBMn1MVsRjTjMl_2MHrzj103" target="_blank">1.5 Report</a>" published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October 2018. </p>
<p>Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, also expressed concern over the wording of the U.K.'s postponement proposal. "What will surprise some is that despite saying 'ambition must continue,' the proposal doesn't specify sticking to the schedule of the Paris Agreement," he told the BBC.</p>
<p class=""><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><em><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-52814996?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=88545146&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Y0wSxkkDfKIYYaKhmWfVV8OGk103MmjyH2Us08v9D0s7yTIJ9BFFYdfaCeeXkLkaefB49qO2Dpe2IOq3C35LIufLAmNX01_9b0OmpBJfnx7tofiE&_hsmi=88545146" target="_blank">BBC</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/climate/cop26-climate-talks.html?searchResultPosition=1&utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=88545146&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Y0wSxkkDfKIYYaKhmWfVV8OGk103MmjyH2Us08v9D0s7yTIJ9BFFYdfaCeeXkLkaefB49qO2Dpe2IOq3C35LIufLAmNX01_9b0OmpBJfnx7tofiE&_hsmi=88545146" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/26/cop26-climate-talks-in-glasgow-likely-to-be-delayed-again?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=88545146&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Y0wSxkkDfKIYYaKhmWfVV8OGk103MmjyH2Us08v9D0s7yTIJ9BFFYdfaCeeXkLkaefB49qO2Dpe2IOq3C35LIufLAmNX01_9b0OmpBJfnx7tofiE&_hsmi=88545146#maincontent" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-27/u-k-proposes-one-year-delay-for-key-climate-talks-pa-says?cmpid=BBD052720_GREENDAILY&utm_term=200527&utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=88545146&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Y0wSxkkDfKIYYaKhmWfVV8OGk103MmjyH2Us08v9D0s7yTIJ9BFFYdfaCeeXkLkaefB49qO2Dpe2IOq3C35LIufLAmNX01_9b0OmpBJfnx7tofiE&_hsmi=88545146" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a> </em></p><p><em><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Unused rental cars are stored in the parking lot of dormant Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on April 23, 2020. Clearer skies have followed coronavirus lockdowns around the world. Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The lockdowns imposed around the globe in response to the coronavirus pandemic led to a record drop in greenhouse gas emissions, according to research published in Nature Climate Change Tuesday.
<p>The researchers found that daily emissions fell by 17 percent during the height of quarantine measures in early April when compared with the same time in 2019, the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/covid-19-crisis-causes-17-drop-in-global-carbon-emissions" target="_blank">University of East Anglia (UEA) reported</a> in a press release.</p><p>"Globally, we haven't seen a drop this big ever, and at the yearly level, you would have to go back to World War II to see such a big drop in emissions," UEA professor of climate change science and lead author Corinne Le Quéré told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/carbon-emissions-dropped-17-percent-globally-amid-coronavirus-n1210331" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. "But this is not the way to tackle <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate change</a> — it's not going to happen by forcing behavior changes on people. We need to tackle it by helping people move to more sustainable ways of living."</p>
<div id="3ed36" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="272e0b2caa1eb04b7d262143bed87058"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1262761177408512000" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🌍 The #COVID19 global #lockdown has had an “extreme” effect on daily carbon emissions, but it is unlikely to last -… https://t.co/HR0vkyM0w0</div> — UEA (@UEA)<a href="https://twitter.com/uniofeastanglia/statuses/1262761177408512000">1589900700.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The research is the first major study of emissions this year, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/19/lockdowns-trigger-dramatic-fall-global-carbon-emissions" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, though the International Energy Agency <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greenhouse-gas-emissions-coronavirus-lockdowns-2645880717.html" target="_self">projected</a> a record 8 percent decline in emissions for 2020. Because it is not possible to measure the change in carbon dioxide emission directly, since the gas remains in the atmosphere for such a long time, researchers instead relied on data for on-the-ground indicators like traffic, energy usage, flights and manufacturing, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/carbon-dioxide-emissions-pandemic/" target="_blank">Wired explained</a>.</p><p>That data also revealed the major drivers of the emissions decline, the UEA press release explained. The drop in ground transport, such as cars, was responsible for 43 percent of the decline, while declines in industry and power together accounted for another 43 percent. While air travel was majorly impacted by the pandemic, it only accounted for 10 percent of the emissions drop because it is only responsible for three percent of emissions overall.</p>
<p>The data was gathered from 69 countries responsible for 97 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. At the height of the global response, areas responsible for 89 percent of emissions were under some kind of lockdown. On average, countries saw their emissions fall 26 percent. In the U.S. and the UK, emissions fell by a third, Wired reported.</p><p>While these numbers are dramatic, they also illustrate the challenges involved in lowering emissions enough to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.</p><p>"This is a really big fall, but at the same time, 83% of global emissions are left, which shows how difficult it is to reduce emissions with changes in behaviour," Le Quéré told The Guardian.</p>
<p>She also pointed out to Wired that the 17 percent drop at the height of confinement measures only returned emissions to 2006 levels.</p><p>"So this is really showing just how much emissions are increasing through time every year. This incredible drop in emissions only takes us back 14 years," she told Wired.</p><p>What happens next will depend on political decisions and how soon lockdown measures are lifted, the press release explained. If they are lifted fully by June, emissions for the year will fall four percent. If some restrictions are in place all year, they will decline by seven percent. That is around the yearly decline needed to meet the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> climate goals of limiting global warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.</p>
<p>"We would have to have the same speed of reduction that's happening in 2020 every year for the next decade," Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at the University of California, Berkeley who was not involved with the study, told NBC News.</p><p>The researchers called on governments to craft economic recovery plans that encouraged the systemic changes that will ultimately make sustainable emissions declines possible.</p><p>"The extent to which world leaders consider climate change when planning their economic responses post COVID-19 will influence the global CO2 emissions paths for decades to come," Le Quéré said in the press release.</p><p>For example, governments could follow the lead of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/milan-car-limit-coronavirus-2645805180.html" target="_self">Milan</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/car-free-zones-london-2646014436.html" target="_self">London</a> in reopening cities in ways that prioritize walking and cycling over driving. Le Quéré suggested to Wired that governments stimulate the economy by directing money towards electric cars.</p>
<p>One positive development is that people around the world now have an illustration of what emissions reductions make possible.</p><p>"The most obvious change was the beautiful blue skies we saw from India to Indiana," study coauthor and Stanford University Earth system science professor Rob Jackson told NBC News. "People can relate to that more than abstract discussions about greenhouse gas emissions — you could just see that skies were clear."</p>
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Aerial view of a wind farm near The Øresund Bridge in Sweden on June 26, 2018. Maxym Marusenko / NurPhoto / Getty Images
By Johnny Wood
What does COVID-19 mean for the energy transition? While lockdowns have caused a temporary fall in CO2 emissions, the pandemic risks derailing recent progress in addressing the world's energy challenges.
<p>The current state of the sector is described in the World Economic Forum's <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/fostering-effective-energy-transition-2020" target="_blank">Energy Transition Index 2020</a>. It benchmarks the energy systems of 115 economies, highlighting the leading players in the race to net-zero emissions, as well as those with work to do.<br><br>With pressure to get idle economies back to "normal," the short-term shift to a more sustainable energy sector could be in doubt. But the current crisis also presents an opportunity to rethink how our energy needs are met, and consider the long-term impact on the planet.</p>
Unprecedented Change
<p>The past decade has seen rapid transformations as countries move towards clean energy generation, supply and consumption. Coal-fired power plants have been retired, as reliance on natural gas and emissions-free renewable energy sources increases. Incremental gains have been made from carbon pricing initiatives.</p><p>Since 2015, 94 of 115 countries have improved their combined score on the Energy Translation Index (ETI), which analyzes each country's readiness to adopt clean energy using three criteria: energy access and security; environmental sustainability; and economic development and growth.<br><br>But the degree of change and the timetable for reaching net-zero emissions differ greatly between countries, and taken as a whole, today's advances are insufficient to meet the climate targets set by the Paris Agreement.</p>The 10 Countries Most Prepared for the Energy Transition
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI3OTU4My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDQ0NjQ4MX0.SumXaqZnlWq6pBIoqAggmvg9LDqI_Vqn984i3YL1yhU/img.png?width=980" id="53351" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d6767a8b912d7699fb087ecff33ce3f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Sweden is the nation most ready to transition to sustainable energy. WEF Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2020 edition
<p>Sweden tops the overall ETI ranking for the third consecutive year as the country most ready to transition to clean energy, followed by Switzerland and Finland. There has been little change in the top 10 since the last report, which demonstrates the energy stability of these developed nations, although the gap with the lowest-ranked countries is closing.<br><br>Top-ranked countries share a reduced reliance on imported energy, lower energy subsidies and a strong political commitment to transforming their energy sector to meet climate targets.<br><br>The UK and France are the only two G20 economies in the top 10 however, which is otherwise made up of smaller nations.</p>
Powerful Shocks
<p>Outside the top 10, progress has been modest in Germany. Ranked 20th, the country has committed to phasing out coal-fired power plants and moving industrial output to cleaner fuels such as hydrogen, but making energy services affordable remains a struggle.</p><p>China, ranked 78th, has made strong advances in controlling CO2 emissions by switching to electric vehicles and investing heavily in solar and wind energy - it currently has the world's largest solar PV and onshore wind capacity. Alongside China, countries including Argentina, India and Italy have shown consistent strong improvements every year. Gains over time have also been recorded by Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Kenya and Oman, among others.</p><p>But high energy-consuming countries including the US, Canada and Brazil show little, if any, progress towards an energy transition.</p><p>In the US (ranked 32nd), moves to establish a more sustainable energy sector have been hampered by policy decisions. Neighboring Canada grapples with the conflicting demands of a growing economy and the need to decarbonize the energy sector.</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic serves as a reminder of the impact of external shocks on the global economy. As climate change increases the likelihood of weather extremes such as floods, droughts and violent storms, the need for more sustainable energy practices is intensified.</p><p>Policy-makers need to develop a robust framework for energy transition at local, national and international levels, capable of guarding against such shocks.<br><br>"The coronavirus pandemic offers an opportunity to consider unorthodox intervention in the energy markets, and global collaboration to support a recovery that accelerates the energy transition once the acute crisis subsides," says Roberto Bocca, Head of Energy & Materials at the World Economic Forum.</p><p>"This giant reset grants us the option to launch aggressive, forward-thinking and long-term strategies leading to a diversified, secure and reliable energy system that will ultimately support the future growth of the world economy in a sustainable and equitable way."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/energy-transition-index-2020-eti-clean-sustainable-power/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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