Ramblings of a 70-year old: carbon emissions

Showing posts with label carbon emissions. Show all posts

Friday, November 4, 2022

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres wants COP27 to close the ambition gap, the credibility gap and the solidarity gap

Speaking ahead of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said the rich countries have a major responsibility. They must come forward and extend help to emerging economies to hasten their transition to renewable energy. UNSG goes on to say, unless the rich countries sign such a pact with poor countries on the climate, "we will be doomed." He adds - "COP27 must be the place to close the ambition gap, the credibility gap and the solidarity gap.” The points on the agenda should be to cut down on emissions, boost climate resilience and adaptation. They must also keep the promise on climate finance and address loss and damage from climate change. In fact, the former have emitted more than their share of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. They have done this by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. On the other hand, in poorer countries like Pakistan, recent floods affected 33 million people. They have suffered more damage than their share of carbon emissions. https://news.sky.com/story/un-secretary-general-calls-for-climate-deal-between-rich-and-poor-countries-12738657.

Following last year's COP26 in Glasgow, the UN Environment Programme estimated that developing countries needed $70bn a year for adaptation. This figure could double by 2030. At the summit, poorer nations again requested developed countries to extend financial help. They needed these as compensation against irreparable climate-related damage. However, COP26 ended without a resolution. The commitment of $356m fell far short of expectations. The wealthy nations rejected the fund. UNSG Mr. Guterres said that getting "concrete results" on loss and damage is the "litmus test of the commitment of the governments" involved in the summit. He went on to add - "Loss and damage have been the always-postponed issue. There is no more time to postpone it.”

Thursday, November 3, 2022

UNESCO predicts the world famous glaciers might disappear by 2050 due to global warming

The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO monitors more than 18,000 glaciers across 50 of its World Heritage sites. It mentions Mount Kilimanjaro apart from the Dolomites in Italy and the Yosemite and Yellowstone parks in the US. The prediction of UNESCO could have serious repercussion. It predicts that around 50 percent of World Heritage glaciers could almost entirely disappear unless the world takes corrective action. It may be possible to preserve them by keeping global temperature rise below 1.5C. UNESCO says World Heritage glaciers make up around 10 percent of the world's glacier areas overall. The worst part is that the world's best-known glaciers are gradually disappearing. That would be a major loss for global tourism. The report's lead author is Tales Carvalho. He estimates that World Heritage glaciers lose around 58 billion tonnes of ice every year on an average. In other words, the loss is equivalent to the total annual volume of water used in France and Spain together. It contributes to almost 5 percent of the global observed sea-level rise. Major glaciers including Mount Kilimanjaro and Dolomites to disappear by 2050, UN report says.

He adds that in order to prevent major glacier retreat worldwide it is necessary to reduce carbon emissions. UNESCO wants local authorities to make glaciers a focus of policy. They can achieve this by improving monitoring and research. They can also implement different measures of risk reduction. Tales Carvalho cautions - "As glacier lakes fill up, they can burst and can cause catastrophic floods downstream.” The timing of the report coincides with the COP27 event in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. It would be Africa's first UN climate conference in six years. Incidentally, a recent study found that glaciers in Switzerland lost half of their volume in less than a century. Moreover, the rate of retreat of ice is on the rise. This is a matter of concern.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Egypt will host COP27, the annual United Nations climate talks

Glasgow held COP26 last year but the world has changed considerably over the past year. The full form of COP is Conference of the Parties. There is now an energy crisis, the war in Ukraine, tensions over Taiwan apart from situations like the floods in Pakistan. These have changed the geopolitical concept dramatically. All eyes are now on Egypt where COP27 will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh between 6-18 November. Developing nations will look forward to Egypt, a middle-income developing nation, to provide a stronger platform to their demands. This is an annual event where leaders from almost 200 countries assemble. They put their heads together to evolve methods to tackle the crisis of climate change and its impacts. Apart from leaders, thousands of observers, civil society groups and media attend too. Incidentally, France hosted the 2015 talks. It led to the historic Paris Agreement where countries agreed the need to limit global warming to below 2°C, and ideally to 1.5°C, of warming above pre-industrial levels. COP27: Everything you need to know about the United Nations climate talks in Egypt. One of the attendees would be US President Joe Biden. King Charles, known for his focus on the environment when he was Prince of Wales, would not attend. He pulled out after discussions with Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss. As to the presence of Britain, there is no confirmation on whether the Prime Minister will attend, or whether business secretary Jacob-Rees Mogg will come instead. He supports fossil fuel expansion.

COP might not be the ideal process, but right now, it is the single biggest geopolitical forum for countries to join hands and work together to tackle a threat that has an impact on all of humanity. The violent flooding that ravaged Pakistan is a recent example of how climate change can uproot people from their homes and heap miseries on the community. A relevant issue that might come up is on whether richer countries, responsible for the vast majority of emissions, should pay reparations to poor countries. The latter suffers the worst impacts of climate change. Another contentious issue could be the untapped gas fields of Africa. In the opinion of Nick Mabey, chief executive of think tank E3G, countries could be divided over whether to exploit untapped gas or go straight from fossil fuels to clean power.

Friday, August 26, 2022

California to go electric by 2035 with more climate-friendly vehicles

Let us have more climate-friendly vehicles is the intention of California. It is evolving plans to give more thrust to manufacture vehicles that run on electricity or hydrogen. The state wants to wean people way from gas-powered cars. Automobile manufacturers need to explore alternatives. Of course, people can continue to operate gas-fueled vehicles and purchase used ones after 2035. The broad plan is to permit one-fifth of sales after 2035 to be plug-in hybrids that can run on batteries and gas. It would mean an end to filling up at the local gas station. Moreover, the change over from gas to electric cars will be environment friendly and reduce carbon emissions and air pollutants. Incidentally, California is the seventh-largest oil producing state. Its output is on the decline in view of its willingness to push forward its climate goals. Consequently, the transition might be painful in some parts of the state. California Poised to Phase Out Sale of New Gas-Powered Cars. As Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said - “The climate crisis is solvable if we focus on the big, bold steps necessary to stem the tide of carbon pollution."

The Governor had announced the 2035 goal two years ago. Subsequently, regulators have worked out the details of the action that has to be taken to ensure that our planet can cater to future generations. The road is ridden with practical hurdles. One of these is the scarcity of adequate reliable power and charging stations. At present, there are about 80,000 stations in public places. This is against a requirement of about 250,000 by 2025. The challengers include the lack of infrastructure, access to materials needed to make batteries, and issues related to the supply chain. There is a need for the authorities to address these hurdles. Climate officials in California believe its new policy will be the most ambitious in the world. It has already set clear benchmarks for ramping up electric vehicle sales over the next dozen years. This is now a global target. The European Parliament, Canada and China are in the same frequency.