The Russian gas crisis has not resulted in the return of coal and high emissions in Europe, says Lauri Myllyvirta at CREA. He presents the figures that show quite the opposite. Coal returned, as expected, with the post-Covid rebound, but peaked in September 2022 below its pre-Covid level, and has been falling since along with emissions. Meanwhile, high gas prices caused by Russiaâs cut-off has kept gas demand low and, more importantly, driven the … [Read more...]
Embodied Carbon Emissions: understanding the different methodologies being used around the world
The measurement of the embodied carbon emissions of goods tells us what greenhouse gas emissions are generated during the production and transportation of those goods. This achieves two main things. Firstly, it allows producers to understand where their emissions are coming from, and so reduce them. Secondly, it opens the door to putting a price on those emissions, thus incentivising producers to reduce them. But, as Max Gruenig at E3G explains, … [Read more...]
New AI model predicts 1.5C temperature rise is likely in 2030s even if emissions decline
A new artificial intelligence model is predicting that 2C warming is likely to occur and sooner than expected, even if current low-emissions strategies are successful, explains Josie Garthwaite at Stanford University. The Stanford-developed AI uses âneural networkâ learning from vast quantities of past data, predicting that the 1.5C threshold is likely to be crossed in the next 10 to 15 years. Thatâs regardless of how much greenhouse gas … [Read more...]
Big Consultancies are now advising on climate change. Will it conflict with their business-as-usual work?
The worldâs 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, weâd have … [Read more...]
Understanding the new EU ETS (Part 2): Buildings, Road Transport, Fuels. And how the revenues will be spent
A fortnight ago we published Simon Gössâs explainer of the big changes happening to the EUâs Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). That article covered the new rules coming in for the existing EU ETS, and the implementation of the new carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). This article explains the introduction of an EU ETS II that extends emissions trading to the buildings sector, road transport and the usage of fuels in other, as of now not … [Read more...]
The U.S. should support the EUâs Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
The U.S. should get behind Europeâs Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), says Joseph Majkut at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Under the EUâs newest agreement, anyone importing CBAM-listed goods into Europe will have to report the emissions associated with their products starting in October, and ultimately face tariffs if those emissions exceed those of the equivalent products made in the EU. The current list is iron and … [Read more...]
Concrete: 8% of global emissions and rising. Which innovations can achieve net zero by 2050?
Concrete manufacture is responsible for 8% of global carbon emissions, with the ingredient âclinkerâ accounting for most of it. Global demand for cement (which hardens into concrete) is expected to increase 48% from 4.2bn to 6.2bn tons by 2050, mainly driven by developing nations. China used more concrete between 2011 and 2013 than the United States did in the entire 20th century. Ben Skinner and Radhika Lalit at RMI look at the materials and … [Read more...]
EU ETS and CBAM: what the big update to emissions trading rules means for Europeâs key sectors
The EUâs Emissions Trading Scheme is a vital part of the regionâs decarbonisation plans. Simon Göss at carboneer digs into the new rules coming in for the existing EU ETS, and the implementation of the new carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). Right now, the existing EU ETS covers around 40% of the EUâs emissions (energy sector, industrial installations and aviation). Its scope is being extended to include maritime transport. On top of that, … [Read more...]
2023 lookahead for Sustainable Finance: EU Taxonomy, ESG ratings, corporate disclosure laws, Europeâs âIRAâ
What will be the big issues for sustainable finance in 2023? Luca Bonaccorsi at Transport & Environment points at four. Firstly, the EU Taxonomy defines what counts as âgreenâ investment. There has been much criticism of the inclusion of gas, and critics will continue publishing their analyses of what is truly sustainable and what is greenwash. Next, ESG ratings have also been severely criticised. They are an investorâs main tool for capital … [Read more...]
30+ nations now subsidise Heat Pumps because lifetime cost is cheaper than fossil boilers
The global growth in heat pumps can deliver almost 40% of all possible emissions cuts from heating by 2030 (with most of the rest coming from efficiency, mainly insulation), says the IEA. This is according to their âAnnounced Pledges Scenarioâ (APS) which assumes that governments carry out all of the climate commitments they have made. Keeping buildings warm produces one-tenth of global energy-related CO2 emissions. So the APSâs heat pump growth … [Read more...]
Corporate targets are forcing suppliers to cut emissions or relocate to clean energy nations
Emissions targets being imposed by corporates in the U.S. and Europe are forcing manufacturers in other parts of the world to decarbonise, writes Kwangyin Liu at Clean Energy Wire. Here, she looks at how Taiwanâs TSMC â the worldâs third largest chip manufacturer â is having to set up factories in Arizona (U.S.) and Kumamoto (Japan) where emissions are lower and thus to comply with requirements set by customers like Apple, Google and Microsoft. … [Read more...]
Can Global Shipping turn talk into action on reducing emissions?
This week the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) member states are meeting to find ways and agree on how to step up their climate goals. Strategies and targets have been presented, but agreement and binding commitments are needed urgently. There are big differences of opinion within the IMO, and it might turn out that regional and industry developments will drive change faster, explains Christiaan De Beukelaer at Durham University. For … [Read more...]
COP 27: a way forward for methane, fossil fuel (not just coal) phase-out, and U.S.-China competition?
COP 27 was never expected to have the impact that COP 26 did, and thatâs how it turned out, explain Ben Cahill, Sandeep Pai and Taiya Smith at CSIS. But there are three issues that can have long term positive impacts if carried forward successfully. The first is some good news on methane emissions. The U.S., the EU, Japan and other countries announced an important producer-consumer effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions from traded gas, while … [Read more...]
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