Many corporations are eager to contribute to the fight against climate change by sourcing renewable energy. Yet, despite some high-profile power purchase agreements, corporate renewables sourcing is still a small market and its real contribution to the energy transition is doubtful sometimes, writes Malte Gephart, energy policy expert at international consultancy Navigant. According to Gephart, this is a missed opportunity. He explains what needs … [Read more...]
A fresh start for climate change mitigation in New Zealand
The election of the sixth Labour-led government, in a coalition with the Greens, heralds a new direction for climate change policy in New Zealand, writes professor Robert McLachlan of Massey University. That is high time, according to McLachlan: the country’s emission trading system has not delivered, greenhouse gas emissions have risen. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
The case for additional actions within the EU ETS has just become stronger
It is sometimes thought that total emissions in the EU ETS (Emission Trading System) are equal to the cap, and so any additional actions, such as phase-out of coal power, increasing energy efficiency and deploying more renewables, have no effect. But this is not true, writes climate change economist Adam Whitmore. Indeed, according to Whitmore, recently agreed reforms to the EU ETS strengthen the case for additional actions. For policymakers, … [Read more...]
Ukraine: energy transition could work wonders, but policies are “the least ambitious in the world”
Ukraine can reduce its energy dependence and build a strong economy on clean and safe renewable energy, a new study shows. Unfortunately, the latest Energy Strategy adopted by the government in August shows a complete lack of ambition to pursue a low-carbon transition. Ukraine’s “nationally determined contribution” under the Paris Agreement is the least ambitious in the world, according to an independent analysis. … [Read more...]
After Bonn, 5 things to watch for in the coming year of global climate policy
Five things that should have happened at the recent climate conference in Bonn, didn’t happen, write Marc Hudson and Matthew Paterson of the University of Manchester. But there is life beyond the UNFCCC process. They identify five things to watch for in climate policy in the coming year – if it isn’t too late already to save the world from climate change. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Renewables in Africa are losing ground: a proposal for a practical climate finance instrument
If the One Planet Summit in Paris on 12 December is to meet its expectations, it must lead to a new cost- and carbon-efficient instrument to support decentralised renewable electricity generation across Africa, writes Terje Osmundsen, Courtesy Energi og Klima blog. … [Read more...]
Will Donald Trump take down the Arctic Refuge?Â
The U.S. Department of the Interior is preparing a five-year strategic plan that never once mentions climate change, but is likely to open up the Arctic Refuge for oil and gas exploration. U.S. Interior Secretary has already told the Alaska Gas and Oil Association that “Alaska is open for business”. According to author and professor of ecology Subhankar Banerjee, the plans of the Trump Administration are the beginning of a war against … [Read more...]
How the International Energy Agency is steering the world to climate disaster
The International Energy Agency (IEA) likes to present itself as a climate champion, but it is in fact steering the energy system towards catastrophic levels of warming, writes Greg Muttitt, Senior Advisor at NGO Oil Change International. The IEA is supposed to be an advisory body to its members countries, Muttit notes, but its real masters appear to be the fossil fuel companies. … [Read more...]
COP23: ramping up ambition
In a timely reminder for the national negotiators at the Climate conference in Bonn (COP23), PwC recently released their annual Low Carbon Economy Index, which showed yet again that current emission reduction plans for the global economy do not match the goal of the Paris Agreement, writes David Hone, Chief Climate Change Advisor at Shell. According to Hone, the task that confronts the negotiators is to turn the Agreement into a set of effective … [Read more...]
It is time for the UN climate process to tackle fossil fuels
The word “fossil fuels” does not appear in the Paris Climate Agreement, write Georgia Piggot and Peter Erickson of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). They call on leaders to start addressing not just greenhouse gas emissions, but coal, oil and gas production as well. Courtesy Climate Home News. … [Read more...]
What climate change policy puts America first?
The Trump Administration has ordered federal agencies to use a “social cost of carbon” that only takes into account domestic consequences of climate change, writes Meredith Fowlie, Assistant Professor of Agriculture and Resource Economics at the University of California at Berkeley. That translates into a cost of $1-$6 per ton, instead of the $45 per ton that was under the Obama Administration. Fowlie explains the reasoning behind the policy … [Read more...]
Is the Paris climate deal legally binding or not?
“Like hell it’s non-binding,” Donald Trump has said of the 2015 UN deal to cut carbon pollution. Is he right, ask Timmons Roberts and Angelica Arellano? The answer is not black or white. Article courtesy Climate Home News. … [Read more...]
World greenhouse gas levels make unprecedented leap
Global average carbon dioxide concentrations rose by 0.8% during 2016, the largest annual increase ever observed, write researchers Paul Fraser, Paul Krummel and Zoe Loh of Australia’s national science agency CSIRO. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Shell, BP climate disclosures ‘just a marketing tool’, says ShareAction
Two years after BP and Shell shareholders resoundingly passed resolutions requiring the oil majors to factor climate change risks into their corporate strategy and accounting, the two companies are disclosing no more than bare minimum, a new report from a U.K.-based NGO has found. Article by Kyla Mandel of DeSmog. … [Read more...]
In the growing wave of climate litigation, could the automobile industry be next?
The oil industry is increasingly the focus of climate change litigation, writes Martin Olszynski, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Calgary. Carmakers have so far not been targeted, but Olszynski thinks that could change – especially if they continue to urge lawmakers to relax environmental standards and promote the sales of light trucks and SUVs. … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- …
- 31
- Next Page »