. Earth Science News .
CLIMATE SCIENCE
Mixed signals for economic switch on climate change
By C�line SERRAT, Marie HEUCLIN
Paris (AFP) Nov 3, 2016


EU sinks cash into climate fight
Brussels (UPI) Nov 3, 2016 - More than a quarter billion dollars will go to help members of the European Union transition to a low-carbon future, the governing body said.

The European Commission approved a package of investments worth around $246 million to support the region's sustainable future. Investments unveiled Thursday are part of the so-called LIFE program, a low-carbon investment scheme started in the 1990s.

"With the Paris Agreement entering into force in a matter of weeks, we must now focus on delivering on our promises," European Commissioner for Climate Action Miguel Arias Cañete said in a statement.

Projects selected under the LIFE program are meant to support European efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030. European member states are obligated to use renewable energy to meet 20 percent of their energy needs by the end of the decade.

Eurostat, the European statistics office, said data from 2014, the last full year for which it published information, show the share of energy from renewable resources was 16 percent, about 89 percent above 2004 levels, the first year it started keeping records on renewables.

The regional low-carbon coordination comes about two months after the EU ratified the Paris climate agreement, which calls on the global community to take action to address threats posed by a warming climate by cutting their emissions.

From a human rights perspective, the United Nations said a changing climate presents a growing threat to future generations.

"That each of the last three years has been the hottest on record shows why it is imperative to focus on implementing the Paris deal and to ensure that the commitments States made to respect and promote human rights in climate action are acted upon and deepened," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said in a statement.

Beyond the broad political consensus behind the Paris Agreement, there are mixed signals on how fast the world is pivoting towards the low-carbon economy needed to beat back the threat of global warming.

Here is an overview of positive and negative signs:

POSITIVE

- Energy emissions -

Emissions by the energy sector, which comprise two-thirds of global greenhouse-gas output, showed no increase for a second straight year in 2015. This was despite the world economy expanding three percent -- a contrast which confirms that growth and energy, once intertwined, are no longer necessarily linked.

- Renewable record -

With $286 billion (258 billion euros) invested and 153 new gigawatts worth of capacity installed, 2015 was a record year for renewable energy, notably in emerging economies.

Renewables now represent 15 percent of energy production and 23 percent of electricity output.

- Cheaper solar -

Between 2009 and 2015 the cost of solar power fell by 80 percent, making it competitive against gas and coal in some countries including Chile, the United Arab Emirates and India.

A plant in Abu Dhabi holds the record for the cheapest average solar megawatt-hour, about $23.

- Efficiency up -

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy intensity -- the energy consumed for every unit of GDP -- is falling year on year (-1.8 percent in 2015), a consequence of the 221 billion euros invested in energy efficiency last year.

- Obama cans Keystone -

The Keystone XL pipeline between Canada and United States was blocked last year by US President Barack Obama's administration on grounds it would hinder the fight against climate change.

- Ending HFCs -

The world community agreed in mid-October to progressively eliminate so-called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), gases widely used in refrigerators and air conditioners.

HFCs stoke climate change, as they are super-efficient at trapping heat in Earth's atmosphere.

- Carbon tax -

Carbon taxation and pricing schemes, already in use in Europe and California among other places, are spreading.

Canada has announced a minimum price of Can$10 (US$7.63) per tonne of carbon pollution in 2018 and China, after provincial experiments, is set to launch a national market next year.

According to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), 29 percent of the world's biggest listed companies use internal carbon prices to evaluate their investments.

- 100% renewable -

A growing number of cities are launching plans to become 100 percent renewable energy reliant.

Barcelona focuses on solar power and heating while Frankfurt has a vast energy efficiency programme. San Francisco, San Diego, Fukushima, Copenhagen and Munich are among countries moving in a similar direction.

Companies like Apple or Ikea have made commitments, while Google has invested more than a billion euros in wind, solar and biomass (plant and animal waste) energy.

- Green funding -

Green bonds to finance environmental projects are exploding: from $42 billion last year to an estimated $80 billion in 2016, according to the Moody's ratings agency.

But it still represents less than 0.5 percent of the global debt market. France will launch the first green sovereign bond next year.

NEGATIVE

- Too much coal -

Coal plants with a capacity to produce 350 gigawatts of electricity are under construction worldwide, with a further 930 gigawatts in the pipeline, according to the CoalSwarm research group.

Such new fossil fuel build is incompatible with the aim of limiting global warming to under two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

- Subsidies -

Annual subsidies to the fossil energy industry are flourshing, exceeding $500 billion in 2010, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and IEA.

- Arctic threat -

While some companies have stopped prospecting for oil in the Arctic due to the collapse in crude prices, Norway gave out licences to 13 companies in May.

- Trudeau backs gas -

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has given the green light for a Can$1.3 billion expansion of natural gas pipelines in Alberta province, the second such project approved since he took office.

- Aircraft emissions -

An international agreement struck in October aims to cap air transport emissions, but starting only in 2021 and by measures to compensate for emissions rather than actively cutting them.

- Steel, shipping lag -

The steel sector, which produces seven percent of global emissions, has not cut its greenhouse gas output in 10 years and the shipping industry, which produces 2.8 percent, has no plans to do so.


Comment on this article using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation






Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
CLIMATE SCIENCE
Climate change: Low-hanging fruit ripe for the picking
Paris (AFP) Nov 3, 2016
Earth is hurtling deep into the red zone of dangerous global warming, but experts say there are some low cost, effective options for putting on the brakes. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, UN members pledged to cap rising temperatures at less than two degrees Celsius (2.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial era levels. The big culprit is CO2, the byproduct of fossil fuels that ... read more


CLIMATE SCIENCE
Italy quake zones fear tourism collapse as displaced total rises

Colombian president 'inspired' by N. Irish peace process

Lottery of misery: Bleak choices for North Korea's women

Aid workers 'brace for worst' from Mosul battle

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Establishing an advanced bonding technique for tungsten and copper alloys

Engineers develop new magnetic ink to print self-healing devices that heal in record time

Why buoyant spheres don't always leap out of the water

Cal State LA partners with NASA to study how materials solidify in space

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Brazil dam burst like 'end of the world'

Coral-algae partnership is more than 210 million years old

Researchers test shark detection sonar technology in Australia

Conundrum of missing iron in oxygen minimum zones solved

CLIMATE SCIENCE
How much Arctic sea ice are you melting? Scientists have the answer

Why does our planet experience an ice age every 100,000 years?

Factors promoting growth of cryoconite granule formation and glacial-ice sheet melting

See how Arctic sea ice is losing its bulwark against warming summers

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Soil could become significant CO2 contributor in near future: Study

ChemChina extends Syngenta offer after EU launches probe

3,000 Italian farms 'need quake help'

Scientists calculate carbon footprint of breakfast, lunch and dinner

CLIMATE SCIENCE
CYGNSS Satellite Mission Aims to Improve Hurricane Forecasting

50 years on, Florence recalls its 'Angels of the Mud'

Italy's experts warn of more quakes

Hurricane Matthew damages in Haiti tally nearly $2 bn

CLIMATE SCIENCE
President says UN 'scapegoating' Kenyan soldiers in S.Sudan

Deadly clashes in CAR as France ends military mission

Elephant poaching costs Africa tourism $25mn: study

Niger arrests 38 after deadly herder clashes

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Ancient human history more complex than previously thought

Europeans and Africans have different immune systems, and neanderthals are partly to thank

Study finds earliest evidence in fossil record for right-handedness

Extensive heat treatment in Middle Stone Age silcrete tool production in South Africa









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.