The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says its primary role is to help countries tackle balance of payments problems, stabilise their economies, and restore sustainable economic growth. Dileimy Orozco and Njavwa Sanga at E3G and Alexia Meynier at ENGIE Impact explain that the IMF has now elevated climate change to one of its top priorities, considering it a systemic risk for the stability of the global economy and financial system. Until now, the … [Read more...]
Lookahead to 2024 27-nation EU Parliamentary elections: will ambitious climate policies win or lose votes?
In June next year Europeans from 27 nations will elect a new EU Parliament that will shape the bloc’s energy and climate policy in the years leading to the 2030 climate target deadline. It’s not clear whether rising prices, energy security and heatwaves will steer votes towards parties pushing for more rapid decarbonisation, or whether the cost and disruption of transition will do the exact opposite. At the last election in 2019 climate concerns … [Read more...]
U.S. Heat Pump adoption is evenly spread across rich and poor. Surprised?
The problem with subsidising first-adopters of new technologies is that they can substantially benefit rich households. They’re the ones who buy the first EVs, rooftop solar, etc. Lucas Davis at the Haas School of Business presents data that shows that, in the U.S., heat pumps are being bought evenly across the income distribution. This is a surprise, not least to the author! Nationwide, 15% of households have a heat pump as their primary heating … [Read more...]
Climate sceptics’ denying of the science is declining. Opposing the policies is the new tactic
In the media, the good news is that those opposed to acting on climate change – sometimes called climate deniers or climate sceptics – are not challenging the science nearly as much as they used to. The bad news is that they are now using “response scepticism”. This means obstructing policies with arguments like “it costs too much”, “what about China’s emissions?”, “stopping flying is too extreme, do something else”, “infringement on civil … [Read more...]
Credit Rating Agencies: a guide to pricing in long-term climate risks
Nobody wants share, stock and bond prices to fall off a cliff unexpectedly. But while Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) continue to evaluate based on short-term policy changes and market forces without specifically accounting for climate risks, that’s what could happen. IEEFA have published their guides to how CRAs can adapt – without throwing out – their existing models to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) credit risks. Hazel … [Read more...]
IPCC AR6 report reveals a bigger impact at lower temperatures than previously predicted: health, crops, species loss +more
Published in March, the IPPC’s AR6 Synthesis Report on Climate Change updates its predictions of the effects of temperature rises. It starkly concludes that those temperature rises will have a bigger impact at lower temperatures than previously predicted. Charlotte Edmond, writing for the World Economic Forum, picks out five charts from the report to illustrate the point: the range of likely temperature rises; global map of change in temperature, … [Read more...]
Galway and Sofia lead in climate adaptation plans for European cities: new online tool to help others follow
A new study assesses the most recent adaptation plans of 167 European cities. Six “principles” - evidence of impacts and risks; adaptation goals; adaptation measures; implementation; monitoring and evaluation; societal participation in plan creation – are used to quantify performance. The authors – Diana Reckien, University of Twente; Attila Buzási, Budapest University of Technology and Economics; Marta Olazabal, Basque Centre for Climate Change; … [Read more...]
The problem with CO2e: we need separate emissions data for each climate pollutant (methane, soot, etc.)
Currently, we measure non-CO2 emissions by converting their impact into the CO2 equivalent over a 100-year period. The problem is that other pollutants can have their worst impact well within 100 years, like methane (the first 20 years is when the impact of methane is worst). Though CO2 has caused the most warming, other short-lived pollutants have contributed nearly half of the total, particularly methane, black carbon from soot, and some … [Read more...]
Silicon Valley Bank failed. Don’t blame the Climate Tech it backed
Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S. was a favourite for climate tech start-ups. So its recent collapse inevitably raised questions over whether those start-ups and by extension the whole climate innovation ecosystem was much more fragile than previously thought. Rushad Nanavatty, Colm Quinn and Amy Yanow Fairbanks at RMI explain why that’s not the case. Instead, it was an old-fashioned bank run caused by poor risk management, weakened regulation of … [Read more...]
Big Consultancies are now advising on climate change. Will it conflict with their business-as-usual work?
The world’s top management consultancies - like BCG, Accenture, PwC, EY, McKinseys - who for decades have advised the biggest polluters, are now rushing into the business of helping companies cut emissions to become more sustainable, explains Emma Thomasson at Clean Energy Wire. The necessary expertise is in very short supply, so they are retraining staff, poaching environmental experts, and buying up smaller specialist firms. BCG is even running … [Read more...]
How new and better science is driving climate litigation
Delta Merner at the Union of Concerned Scientists makes her predictions for climate litigation in 2023. There will be much more, globally. The stand out observation is that new and better science is driving the evidence, impacting the litigants and the courts. That points at major changes to the litigation landscape. More granular geographical evidence allows local litigants to more accurately make a case for connecting emissions and pollutants … [Read more...]
What if Exxon had acted on its 1970s climate forecast? No climate crisis, cheap energy, Exxon the unrivalled top global energy firm
In January the world media widely covered a paper published in Science that looked at the internal Exxon report that predicted the climate change crisis we now all know we are facing. The paper concludes that the Exxon forecasts were very accurate. John Grant at Sheffield Hallam University composes a counterfactual history of what would have happened in Exxon and the world had taken the report seriously and acted immediately. Yes, we’d have … [Read more...]
Measuring the effect of radical protests on the public and the national agenda
Climate protest happen all over the world now. In some places they hit the news headlines hard because roads are blocked and cultural artefacts are vandalised by small numbers of protestors. These radical protestors are facing the “activist’s dilemma”: even though many of the public object to their methods, will the publicity help their cause? Colin Davis at the University of Bristol offers research that tries to measure the phenomenon. … [Read more...]
Tools to design energy systems resilient to natural disasters: from small villages to big cities
There is little doubt that emissions reduction will not be enough to cope with climate change. Adaptation will be essential too. Connor O’Neil and Moriah Petty at NREL describe how the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is developing free-to-use tools to help configure and create energy systems that are resilient to natural disasters. The tools have already been applied to small and large populations, ranging from a 500-person town to big … [Read more...]
Global Wind Speeds: are they falling due to climate change?
Last year, Europe experienced a “wind drought”, with wind speeds falling 15% in many regions, sometimes more. Deeper research shows speeds dropped gradually between 1978 and 2010, though rose again in the last decade. It’s difficult for the science to create a clear picture and predict long term trends. But the IPCC forecasts slowing winds for the coming decades, saying average annual wind speeds could drop by up to 10% by 2100. Jim Robbins at … [Read more...]
