The dire outlook for Argentina’s renowned higher education system under President Javier Milei, a right-wing populist, was highlighted on April 22 – Earth Day – by Argentine plant ecologist Pedro Jaureguiberry, who was announced as a finalist in the prestigious Frontiers Planet Prize.

​“The current budget for universities in 2024 is insufficient, adding to the fact that in recent years we have only received 20% of the budget we asked for conducting research at our lab,” Jaureguiberry,  an assistant researcher with the Multidisciplinary Institute of Plant Biology at the National University of Córdoba (UNC), told Climate Home.

The 44-year-old scientist, who has spent his entire academic career in Argentina, was shortlisted for the award as one of 23 national champions drawn from science research teams across six continents, in recognition of a study he led on the drivers of human-caused biodiversity loss.

Dr Jaureguiberry conducting fieldwork in central western Argentina. (Photo: Diego Gurvich)

Of the finalists, three international winners will be announced in June in Switzerland, receiving prize money of $1.1 million each for their role in groundbreaking scientific research.

Global billionaires tax to fight climate change, hunger rises up political agenda

With annual inflation running close to 300%, this year’s freeze on Argentina’s government budget for universities and scientific research amounts to a spending cut in real terms of around 80%, according to the University of Buenos Aires, which this month declared itself in an “economic emergency”.

On Tuesday, university teaching staff and students, backed by trade unions, will march in Buenos Aires and other cities “in defence of public education”, which they say faces a grave threat from the budget squeeze.

Met office hit by layoffs

Argentine meteorologist Carolina Vera, former vice-chair of a key working group responsible for the latest assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that in four decades of teaching and research she had never seen “such a level of dismantling through the reduction of research grants and programs with such disdain for knowledge”.

“This is very serious for atmospheric and ocean sciences, key to issues such as climate change, placing a whole new generation of meteorologists and climatologists in danger,” she told Climate Home from Trevelin, in the southern province of Chubut.

There has been widespread condemnation of 86 layoffs affecting administrative and other contractors at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), while Vera added that she is concerned about the situation at the National Meteorological Service, where 73 technicians have been let go. That, she warned, would affect the functionality of early warning and disaster prevention systems.

Canadian minister vows to fight attempts to weaken plastic pollution treaty

Climatic and meteorological challenges are increasing in Argentina, from heavy rains due to the El Niño weather phenomenon – which has caused an ongoing dengue epidemic – to extreme heat and wildfires.

A significant drought is forecast for the southern hemisphere summer of 2024-2025, from November to February, as El Niño gives way to an expected La Niña, with the National Meteorological Service having a key role to play in predicting conditions and disseminating information about them ahead of time.

Vera added that the budget restrictions on CONICET would also limit its research capabilities, particularly relating to climate change. “​We hope that this will be reversed soon,” she added.

Greenlight for extractive industries

Milei has branded climate change a “socialist lie” since 2021 and has also questioned public education for “brainwashing people” with Marxist ideology.

Sergio Federovisky, deputy minister of environment during the previous presidency of Alberto Fernández, said Milei is not only disdainful of scientific views on global warming but also on broader environmental protection. For example, Milei – a former university professor and television pundit – said during his presidential campaign that “a company can pollute a river all it wants”.

“Climate denialism is not a scientific position, but rather an argument used to release all types of extractive actions that could be hindered by an environmental policy on the use of natural resources and the concentration of wealth,” Federovisky told Climate Home from Buenos Aires.

Meeting between Argentine President Javier Milei and Elon Musk in Texas, United States, at the Tesla factory on April 12 2024, forging a partnership through which the government is betting on attracting investment to Argentina. (Photo: Prensa Casa Rosada via / Latin America News Agency / Reuters)

In an economic review published on February 1, which unlocked $4.7 billion to support the new government’s policies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed its support for investment to increase the exploitation of oil and gas reserves and metals mining in Argentina, in order to boost exports and government revenues.

World Bank head Ajay Banga told journalists before last week’s Spring Meetings that the Argentine economy is going through a “whole economic realignment”. The bank “is supportive of the direction of that economy” and looks forward “to working closely with their leadership to help them as they go forward”, he added.

Yet he also noted that the bank’s latest review of economic prospects for the region highlighted challenges, including the impacts of Argentina’s correction, with regional GDP projected to expand by 1.6 percent in 2024, one of the lowest rates in the world and insufficient to drive prosperity.

World Bank climate funding greens African hotels while fishermen sink

The IMF’s support for Milei’s neoliberal economic policies has been strongly criticised by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which said on Friday that fiscal austerity “is not the answer when people’s lives and their democratic rights are at stake”.

“The IMF is celebrating the budget surplus in Argentina, but it’s indefensible to ignore the human cost of this economic shock therapy,” the ITUC’s General Secretary Luc Triangle said in a statement.

“Pensions have been slashed, thousands of public sector workers fired, public services are on the verge of collapse, unemployment is growing and food poverty spreading.”

Last week the government attempted to head off Tuesday’s protest by announcing a last-minute budget increase for maintenance costs for universities. But that was rejected by a national council of rectors and has not deterred the movement against the austerity measures, with large numbers set to come out onto the streets as planned.

(Reporting by Julián Reingold; editing by Megan Rowling)

The post Argentinian scientists condemn budget cuts ahead of university protest appeared first on Climate Home News.

January

The year started with a controversial decision from the EU to include aviation in its ETS (Source: chris.loxton/Flickr)

01/01: The New Year sees aviation included in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme. The decision, which aims to charge all flights in and out of the EU for the carbon emitted for their entire journey, begins a year long battle pitching the EU against other countries and the airline industry.

08/01: Stephen Hawking celebrates his 70^th birthday with a warning that climate change will be one of the greatest threats posed to the future of human-kind and the world. Speaking to the BBC he says: “It is possible that the human race could become extinct but it is not inevitable. I think it is almost certain that a disaster, such as nuclear war or global warming will befall the earth within a thousand years.”

15/01: Philips tell RTCC their LED lighting could replace 88 billion litres of kerosene a year. “We are at a tipping point in the LED revolution,” Harry Verhaar, senior director energy & climate change tells us.

23/01: US climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe tells us her profession is feeling under threat after a series of attacks from sceptics. “The abuse, the virulence, the hatred is astonishing. And much of it is coming from people who share much of the same values as I do, and that’s what is so hurtful about it. It’s a wholestyle rejection – you can be right for 99/100, but if you differ on point 100 you deserve anything that people give you.”

February

07/02: Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, a leading voice for climate vulnerable states, resigns after a coup. He had brought the plight of climate vulnerable nations – particularly the small island states – to international attention.

16/02: The US launches a voluntary emissions reduction scheme aimed at tackling short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, soot and hydroflourocarbons (HFCs). The Climate and Clean Air Coalition targets pollutants that have a greater effect than CO2 but a shorter lifecycle.

21/02: Research from NASA provides further proof that human activity is behind climate change, showing that despite low solar activity from 2005-2010, the planet had absorbed more heat than it returned to outer space.

March

The EU agrees to set 2030 renewable targets (Source: Mattburns.co.uk)

15/03: The European Parliament votes in favour of setting a binding renewable energy target for 2030, but fails to decide what that target should be.

20/03: Australia passes a controversial tax on coal and iron ore mining companies, ending a two-year long dispute between the industry and the government.

26/03: A study published in Nature Geosciences finds temperatures could rise by as much as 3°C by 2050. The research uses almost 10,000 simulations and warns even moderate emissions could see the world cross the 2°C barrier at some point this century.

28/03: The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change releases a special report that finds extreme weather events could become more likely, more frequent and more extreme with worsening climate change.

April

23/04: Mexico becomes the second country in the world to begin legislating against climate change, when its House of Representatives passes a climate law requiring the whole country to reduce its carbon by 50% by 2050.

24/04: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for the Rio+20 Earth Summit to create a sustainable development index that would replace GDP as the main measure of a country’s advancement.

30/04: The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approves controversial legislation on forests which would ease rules on the amount of forest farmers have to keep on their land. The move sparks a month of protests across the country and the world calling on the country’s President Dilma Rousseff to veto the law, and ends with her vetoing some parts of the Bill.

May

Report warns that companies rushing into the Arctic could impact on the ecosystems that exist there (Source: USFWS/Flickr)

03/05: A report from leading insurers Lloyd’s of London warns that rushing too fast into exploration of the Arctic could lead to ruined ecosystems.

07/05: South Korea became the latest country to establish a carbon trading platform.

25/05: Research from the Climate Action Tracker project warns that governments are extending rather than shrinking the gap between their climate change policies and what they need to do to limit warming to less than 2°C.

25/05: An intersessional meeting of the UNFCCC in Bonn leaves delegates feeling “sad” after it exposes the weaknesses of the Durban Platform deal. A central issue discussed is equity – here’s our take on those discussions.

June

11/06: A new study examining the rising ocean temperatures over the past 50 years finds that man-made emissions have been largely responsible.

19/06: The leaders of the G20 group of countries meet and agree to the full implementation of the UNFCCC COP16 and COP17 agreements.

21/06: Greenpeace launchetheir Save the Arctic campaign which aims to get a UN resolution passed demanding a global sanctuary around the North Pole and a ban on oil drilling and unsustainable fishing in the wider Arctic zone.

22/06: The Rio+20 Earth Summit concludes in Brazil with little to show for the year of preparation and fortnight of discussions. While there are some successes of the conference, including a greater focus on oceans, and an agreement to move forward with the Sustainable Development Goals, civil society show their frustration over the weak text with a mass walkout.

July

Coral reefs face total collapse because of climate change, according to research in Science (Source: USFWS Pacific/Flickr)

06/07: New research in Science shows that climate change once caused the total collapse of reef systems in the Eastern Pacific lasting 2500 years, and could be on the verge of doing so again.

10/07: Researchers from the UK’s Met Office and USA’s National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration find that climate change is increasing the chance of extreme weather events.

24/07: Data from NASA shows that an extreme melt event in Greenland in mid-July caused 97% of the ice sheet’s surface to disappear. Such events occur around every 150 years according to NASA.

31/07: Research from Berkley Earth finds that the average global temperature of the Earth’s land has warmed 1.5°C over the past 250 years and that the warming was due to humans.

The temperature of the Earth’s land surface, as determined from over 36,000 temperature stations around the globe. (Berkley Earth)

August

03/08: US Special Envoy for Climate Change, Todd Stern suggests that the 2°C target should be dropped from future climate change negotiations.

17/08: The US drought monitor reports that 30% of the country is in extreme to exceptional drought, amidst fears over agriculture production and rising food prices.

22-23/08: The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Maria van der Hoeven says that limiting global temperature rises to 2°C is still possible despite the world’s current trajectory. But the UK government’s scientific advisor and former IPCC chief Bob Watson disagrees, saying the target is “out of the window.”

28/08: Australia announces it will join the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. Having already established plans for its own domestic system, the Australian government says this will be fully integrated into the EU scheme by 2018.

28/08: Data from the European Space Agency warns that the Arctic could be ice free in summer by the end of the decade.

September

12/09: The UN climate talks in Bangkok end with a “draft” document on the 2^nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

The IEA’s chief economist warns world is heading to ‘doomsday’ scenario (Source: *~Dawn~*)

12/09: Fatih Birol, the Chief Economist for the International Energy Agency warns of a doomsday scenario for climate change unless investment in low carbon technology is not ramped up in the next five years. He says the world is on a pathway to 6°C in temperature rise.

19/09: Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and NASA shows that the summer sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to its lowest seasonal minimum since satellite records begun.

20/09: The EU and China announce details of a deal that will see the two countries work together on a series of environmental and climate projects including the design of a Chinese carbon market.

October

01/10: The 2012 edition of DARA’s Climate Vulnerability Monitor finds that the carbon economy and the impacts of climate change could be responsible for five million deaths a year. This figure combines 700,000 deaths as a result of climate change impacts and over four million from the health impacts of the world’s carbon intensive economy.

24/10: Songdo, Incheon City in the Republic of Korea is selected to host the Green Climate Fund.

31/10: Hurricane Sandy hits the US’s East Coast, devastating communities in New Jersey and New York. Just a week before the US elections the storm helps to put climate change back on the election agenda as Mayor Bloomberg of New York gives his support to President Obama in its wake.

November

President Obama re-affirmed his commitment to climate change as he was re-elected (Source: White House)

08/11: President Obama is re-elected in the US and uses his election speech to re-affirm his commitment to climate change.

10/11: The Arab Youth Climate Movement launches ahead of the UN climate talks in Qatar – and is widely hailed as offering ‘new hope’ in the fight against climate change in the Middle East.

12/11: Australia announces it will sign up for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, but New Zealand becomes the latest country to walk away from the scheme.

13/11: The EU announces a freeze on airlines’ inclusion in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme while the International Civil Aviation Organisation works on a new agreement on aviation emissions.

14/11: The Californian carbon market holds its first auction.

20/11: The World Meteorological Organisation’s latest Greenhouse Gas Bulletin finds the volume of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2011.

20/11: A report from the World Bank warns the world is on a pathway to a 4°C temperature rise by 2100 unless urgent action is taken on climate change.

22/11: The United Nations Environment Programme warns that the emissions gap (the gap between current pledges and the action needed to stay below 2°C) is widening and says efforts to reduce carbon emissions must be accelerated.

28/11: Poland is announced as the hosts for the COP19 climate conference next December.

December

Figueres show carbon emissions expected to reach a record high in 2012 (Source: foto43/Flickr)

03/12: Figures from the Global Carbon Project reveal that global carbon dioxide emissions are set to reach a record high in 2012.

04/12: Typhoon Bopha hits the Philippines and offers a timely reminder to the delegates at the UN climate conference in Doha about the potential impacts of climate change. The head of the Philippines delegation tells the conference that the world is at a “critical juncture” on climate change.

10/12: The COP18 climate summit ends with the Doha Gateway, including a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The final hours of the talk leave many confused, as the COP18 President passes all texts in minutes.

Russia expresses anger at being ignored in the final moments, while NGOs criticise a ‘weak deal’.

VIDEO: COP18 President Al Attiyah gavels through the ‘Doha Climate Gateway’

15/12: A fierce Cyclone smashes through the Pacific state of Samoa, and then sets course for Fiji. The storm leaves at least four people dead, with eight missing, and an estimated 200 injured.

18/12: Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows November 2012 to be the 333^rd consecutive month where global temperatures were above the 20^th century average.

Source: NOAA – Click to enlarge

The post RTCC’s 2012 review – a year in climate change appeared first on Climate Home News.

While the US holds its stalemate at the UN climate change talks, the situation at home is far more progressive.

President Barack Obama’s re-election goes part of the way to resolving this issue but more change is required to lift barriers currently restricting the country’s position on climate change internationally.

There are reasons to be cheerful. Pockets of positive climate action have emerged around the country. Regional carbon markets could erode opposition to their international equivalents and if clean energy continues to drive job creation, the perception of renewables only as “anti-fossils” will also be worn away.

ARPA-E

ARPA-E research includes algal biofuel, using buildings as batteries and cooling using soundwaves. (Source: Energy Department/Quentin Kruger)

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is responsible for some of the greatest, and strangest, developments in the military including shape shifting materials, flying submarines and robot insects.

It’s policy is to pursue the hair brain ideas, and unearth a few gems, along the way such as mind controlled prosthetic limbs. ARPA-E is the Department of Energy’s equivalent.

It is currently working on air conditioning alternatives using soundwaves, super-smart grids and thermal energy storage; the kind of early stage projects few economies can finance.

The Pentagon

One of the biggest investors in biofuel research. Bioenergy in all forms has its critics and overcoming issues surrounding its sustainability, means more research and more demand.

The US Navy in particular is driving a lot of work on algae-based biofuels that negate the food versus fuel debate entirely.

The US Army is also investing in solar power as it looks to decouple itself from global energy shocks.

Carbon trading

Next week the world’s eighth largest economy will launch its first auction of carbon credits to kick-off its own emissions trading platform. The Californian system will join up with four Canadian provinces in the future to form the Western Climate Initiative (WCI). The scheme will rival all but the EU ETS for its scale.

Together with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which covers electricity producers in nine US states in the north east of the country, the two could represent a significant chunk of US emissions. The rest of the country won’t want to be missed out if the scheme is successful.

Microsoft is launching its own global in house trading scheme for emissions from building use and air travel. If the US private sector backed carbon trading across the board, opposition to cap and trade, currently considered a dirty word on Capitol Hill, could vanish.

Renewable energy is keeping the lights on and creating jobs in states like Iowa. (Source: Flickr/cwwycoff1)

Renewable energy

The energy picture across the States varies greatly. Indiana gets 95% of its electricity from coal. Idaho gets 84.5% from alternative sources.

More than half of states have a Renewable Portfolio Standard which sets binding limits on utility firms to generate a proportion of the state’s power from renewables. Only 12 states have no policies on renewable energy at all, and many have less stringent aspirational targets on clean energy generation.

Transport

As gasoline prices have risen in the US, consumers have responded with their wallets. The price of gasoline tripled between 1998 and 2008. A third of all the world’s hybrid vehicle sales have been in the US.

In July 2012, the Californian legislature passed $5.8bn of funding to get the ball rolling on a $68.4bn high speed rail network. Once complete the network will link Los Angeles with cities to the North.

The plans have the backing of President Obama with federal funds pledged for the system too, although many schemes in other parts of the country have been shelved.

“Building a new system of high speed rail in America will be faster, cheaper, and easier than building more freeways or adding to an already over-burdened aviation system – and everybody stands to benefit,” said President Obama announcing national plans back in 2009.

Related articles:

China’s 20 top technologies to combat climate change

Volcanoes, seaweed and space lasers: Five energy technologies to fight climate change

Does Todd Stern have a point over 2C climate change target?

The post Climate action in the US: 5 Reasons to be cheerful appeared first on Climate Home News.

A new study has successfully sequestered carbon deep under the ocean by triggering a phytoplankton bloom that then sink to the seafloor.

Plankton fertilisation could store significant volumes of carbon according to a new study. (Source: Flickr/Eelke Dekker)

The experiment, published in Nature, added iron compounds to a specific point in the Southern Ocean meeting strict criteria set by the researchers.

The iron fertilisation triggered a phytoplankton bloom within an eddy current. After four weeks there was a “mass mortality event”. At least half of the plankton, and the carbon captured within it, sank to the bottom of the ocean.

The team, led by Victor Smetacek of the Alfred Wegener Institute, concludes that there is potential for iron fertilisation as a carbon capturing technique working over a centuries long timescale.

The practice is currently one of many geoengineering measures banned from widespread use.

Locating a suitable current in the ocean is however an expensive process, making this particular practice costly.

Focus on CCS: Who’s winning the race to get CCS to work?

The post Could climate change answer lie 20,000 leagues under the sea? appeared first on Climate Home News.

Mexico is a country leading the way on climate change action.

Earlier this year it became the second country to pass comprehensive legislation to cut emissions.

As well as legally binding emissions goals, Mexico’s climate change bill, which was passed in April, encourages a voluntary carbon emissions trading market, and gives the energy ministry authority to establish policies and incentives to promote low-carbon technologies.

When the country held the G20 meeting last month, outgoing President Calderón insisted on the environmental agenda being a priority at the talks, which were held just before the Rio+20 summit.

In the second of the series RTCC is running on Youth Climate groups from around the world, we talk to Christopher Córdova, Director of PIDES International (Plataforma Integral de Desarrollo Sustentable) to find out what it is like to be part of the youth climate movement in Mexico.

What is your group doing and what areas of work do you focus on?

PIDES NGO is based in Mexico City but we have a team spread in 14 countries and we have developed many different projects. We have projects on climate change mitigation in Mexico for instance and now we have a very big project for testing an international theoretical model in different places – in Qatar and in Costa Rica.

We wish to test a theoretical model which tries to explain how the green economy transition can be fast-tracked, in the local, the national and the international realm.

This big project is led by PIDES International. PIDES NGO manages the project in Mexico and our branch of it PIDES International manages all the international projects, so the projects which are not based in Mexico. We also have a research centre – a youth led research centre which is called the Junior Observatory of Sustainability.

This research centre publishes reports and also special and also special research about climate change, about youth participation, about sustainable development, about the green economy transition etc. For instance we have this research now which is called ‘Paths to Sustainability in the Middle East’.

So we have many different projects, some theoretical and some practical on all of these issues – mainly youth, sustainability, green economy and climate change.

We have had representatives in COP16 which was in Mexico. We led a youth event at COP16 in Mexico – the Climate Village. We were the organisation that was leading that youth event, supported by Mexico’s government. Then we were in South Africa also, invited by the Mexican government too and we sent a person also to this year’s Rio Summit and shortly we will send another representative to Qatar for COP18. So we have been involved in those international negotiations processes.

But we also have these other projects. Our focus is on the practical projects rather than only following the negotiations and all of that. And also we have this focus on being a bridge of communication among governments and civil society. So we are not only interested in representing civil society before governments but being a youth led bridge, a youth led channel of communication. We really want to continue to strengthen our communications schemes between Civil Society and governments internationally.

What results have you seen from your work so far?

We are just finishing a project in Mexico this month called ‘Bet for Climate’ – it was financed by GIC, the cooperation institution of the German Government and the German Embassy in Mexico. That project was aimed to lower the carbon footprint of different High Schools in six states of Mexico. So by lowering the carbon footprint the students could bet to local governments that they could lower their carbon footprint faster and more efficiently than the local government itself.

So it was a very very good strategy for strengthening the idea of the power of organisation and the power of youth, building the confidence of those students and also helping them to organise practical projects aimed to lower carbon footprints no matter where they are.

It was in the schools this time but later on they can direct this carbon footprint lowering strategies in all of the institutions and the idea of building this bridge with government – with local government particularly – and also spreading this idea that it is not government alone that needs to lower the carbon footprint of a given country, a given state or a given province but that it is the whole of society that is responsible for that.

Also in terms of research and publishing we have published a lot of books by our research pillar and these books have reached what we consider a wide audience – other organisations are now using some of our categories, some of our theories. We have a theory of the notion of sustainability and now the theoretical model of the ICPS (Integral Cooperation Platform for Sustainability) model which has been designed and tested by PIDES International in collaboration with ISPA-NET Consulting (Integral Sustainable Policy Alternatives – New Economic Tools) which is the consultancy that we work with.

We have seen results also in our reach in lectures. We have lectured in 11-12 countries – I have personally presented lectures in nine countries – and have presented more than 70 lectures. And we have reached a wide public in those presentations – mainly students but there have also been policy makers, in particular local policy makers. That is another result that we can count as part of our permanent programme of training and capacity building.

And now with PIDES International with this pilot programme with the ICPS model for the National Integral Programme for Sustainable Development which is going to be tested in Costa Rica and in Qatar over the next two years.

What challenges have you faced in your work? What has or hasn’t worked?

The group hold lectures and talks in countries across the world

I believe that one of our biggest challenges has been to make our point to explain to youth, to civil society in general, to NGOs in different countries that it is not government’s responsibility.

It is everyone’s responsibility to transition to a low carbon world economy, to sustainable development and to implement all of those measures. I think there is some misleading information about who is responsible for our current unsustainable patterns of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.

A lot of people from civil society think that it is all governments’ fault and they do not consider their own responsibility in consumption for instance. That has been a very hard part, maybe one of our greatest challenges, in trying to explain that it is everyone’s responsibility and trying to be clear enough in how to share that responsibility and what is to be done by government, what is to be done by companies and the business sector, what is to be done by civil society, what is to be done by youth etc.

We have found that the best way to overcome this is by completing the circle that goes from research, from theory to practice. That is why we are not an NGO that only focuses on practical solutions or implementing solutions but also about theorising and generating ideas that we think are integral and also sustainable and through creating first the theory in the paper, in the document, publishing it, spreading it through a lecture, getting the feed-back from the public, publishing again and then closing the circle by implementing that solution in a particular project.

What support have you seen for your activities?

Thanks to this idea of having both theory and practice in the same organisation and also being open to collaboration with governments and companies I think we have seen quite a lot of support and we are very grateful. Through embassies, individual diplomats, companies, universities, research centres and cultural institutions, national governments, local governments environmental agencies etc we have seen quite a lot of support because we have offered this alternative of bringing both theory and practice within the same solution.

They have seen that we are, yes, young people and, yes, civil society but we know what it takes to produce a public policy for instance. So governments see that we understand their language. And young people understand that we understand their language. It is a very nice scheme that has worked for us.

What are the impacts you are seeing in your country and local area from climate change?

Yes there are many. I will just mention two which are most representative. Mexico is a big country with a huge climate diversity and a huge ecosystem diversity and biodiversity too. It is one of the 17 mega-diverse countries in terms of biodiversity in the world. So it is very complex.

In the south there is a lot of water and there is a more humid climate. Both have been changing quite a lot. The rain for instance in the province of Tabasco in the past – 50 years ago – it could rain almost all year round and now there is a rainy season. So that has definitely changed the ecosystems. Also there are hurricanes in the south of Mexico which seem to be stronger every year and this causes huge damages to the coastlines of the south of Mexico.

Mexico is already feeling the impacts of climate change (Source: tjschloss/Creative Commons)

On the other hand in the north, at the beginning of this year there was a huge shortage of water and a big, very intense drought. It was very severe for food production in the north. The north of Mexico is much more arid, and has a lot less water than the south, but this year it was very very intense. It was way more intense than expected and it really impacted food production and some isolated communities really had a lot of problems in terms of food security.

What is your vision for 2050? How do we get there?

We are seeing at the very centre of the climate problem, the climate reality there is the issue of climate financing. The thing is we are not getting even 10% of the resources that we need to mobilise in order to really tackle climate change, so that is a huge thing. And our current mechanisms are never going to produce the amount that we require to really stop climate change. So initiatives like AOSIS, the Alliance of Small Island States [a coalition made up of those states imminently threatened by climate change], it is really like a desperate call for the international community to start acting in a really comprehensive way on this and at the very centre is the issue of finance.

So by building this strategy of the ICPS model we aim to start discussing seriously the issue of financing. Because as many experts have stated this is not an environmental problem. This is a political problem. And the political problem is resource allocation and before that actually getting enough resources. That is why we are developing this model intended to produce international solutions as well as producing the required resources financing those solutions.

What we are saying is that by 2015 we need to have a solution for financing. That is the most important part.

What would help your group moving forward in the future?

For our strategy for the ICPS model we will actually require – we do not require it now because we are just finishing the preparation process. But we will require it as soon as it is launched officially, we will require two things.

One, once the strategy is finished, we will need $5 million in order to create a world awareness campaign in media which will be celebrity led. We will ask celebrities all around the world to lead this media campaign in order to get the 3% of global GDP that we need to finance sustainable development and to eradicate extreme poverty.

In order to get to that we are seeing that the world needs a voluntary tax on most of its goods and services but with full operational rules which include full transparency in the resource allocation ands also the governments should not be in charge of allocating the resources.

So in a few months we will be looking for this $5 million and we will be looking for exposure – a lot of exposure internationally in order to foster our strategy of the IPCS model because we think that it is a model which will really help to transform the economy.

Why did you get involved in the climate movement? What do you think youth groups bring to the debate?

Since 2008 the group has been working to raise awareness for climate change

On the institutional side PIDES has been working for three years and we are totally passionate about these issues of sustainable development. It has been a very rich process because one thing has led us to the other. Our research has brought us to the point of applying solutions. And from implementing the solutions we have got the feedback from thousands and thousands of people, very valuable feedback which has inspired us much more.

Form the personal side. I did my first lecture when I was 14 and my first book was published when I was 15 so I was involved in all of these issues from a young age. Since then I have had this beautiful opportunity of travelling the world, presenting my books. I am very grateful for the governments who have supported by work and who have invited me to come to their countries to present – Indonesian government, Mexican Government, Moroccan Government.

I think there are two aspects. Firstly youth will inherit the world, they will inherit the world of the future. But I think there is a deeper aspect and that is that we were born and we are reaching adulthood in the age of information. That makes us one state ahead of the other generations before us. In the age of information, it is proven to be far more valuable than any other resources. Information is so important and it is the youth who are use to it and are used to accessing it. This gives us the possibility of really transforming reality – we are the insiders of the information era and the previous generations are the outsiders.

But the problem is that rather a lot of young people out there who do not have this access. The gap between the young who have access to information and those who do not is even wider than those separating different generations. Unless we close that gap it will be bad for the future. We have to reduce these inequalities. We have to share information and share the opportunity of accessing information – but it is huge challenge to close that gap. We have to strive to bring information tools – along with better living standards – to those who still live without this access.

Related Video: Members of PIDES talk to RTCC at the Durban Climate Talks about the work they are doing in explaining the dangers of climate change and environmental degradation to youth in Mexico…

The post Youth Profile #2: How PIDES are working on practical solutions to climate change in Mexico appeared first on Climate Home News.

– The day’s top climate change stories as chosen by RTCC
– Tweet @RTCCnewswire and use #RTCCLive hashtag
– Send your thoughts to ts@rtcc.org
– Updated at 0900, 1300, 1700 BST (GMT+1)

Tuesday 10 July

Last updated: 1700 BST

Latest news

One museum exhibition is helping to illustrate the impact of plastics on our ocean by cataloguing an expansive collection of plastic retrieved from beach around the world. The exhibition’s central installation, pictured above, shows how much plastic is released into the sea every 15 seconds.

The French town of Tramayes has won the 2012 ‘Champion League for Renewable Energies’, beating off competition from over 4,000 competing local authorities across Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Poland.

RTCC series profiling Youth Groups from around the world continues this week with PIDES International. Based inMexicothe group works across 14 countries aiming to get people involved in sustainable living and bridging the gap between policy and action.

BONN UPDATE: The UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change raised the issue of levies on international shipping as a source of climate finance. It has been described by the Indian delegation as “unfair”, “a double blow” and “against the principles of the UNFCCC”. After almost two days of talks, no obvious source of finance has emerged without detractors.

BONN UPDATE: Geoff Sinclair of Standard Bank has said that the existing CDM system for establishing low carbon projects is the only mechanism that has had any success. He added that it remains flawed and must be scaled-up. He also backed private money to get the best results: “Private money is more efficient because there are commercial incentives.”

BONN UPDATE: An advisor to Mexico’s finance Minister reveals that the country is establishing a $200m green investment fund. The country recently passed some very strong climate change legislation.

BONN UPDATE: Despite a strong wave of support on Twitter, seemingly started by Oxfam, the financial transaction tax, or Robin Hood Tax, was shot down by two panellists in Bonn. Paul Bodnar of the US State Department said companies would find a way round it and could drag other tax revenue offshore at the same time. He called for an emissions linked funding source such as a carbon price. Consultant Erik Haites said there was no chance it would be on the agenda in Doha later this year.

Janice Lough, a marine scientist from James Cook University has said that the Great Barrier Reef will be “boring and full of rubble” by the end of the century if urgent action is not taken to slow the rate of ocean acidification. She was talking at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns that is focusing on what will happen to the oceans if climate change continues at current rates.

Plans to burn the UK’s radioactive nuclear waste as fuel for the next-generation of reactors has moved a step close as GE-Hitachi submitted a feasibility report to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority responsible for cleaning up the UK’s civil nuclear facilities.

Scientists are to march through Ottawa, Canada in their white lab coats to protest against cuts to research and environmental damage. It will be the second biggest protest in a month against Canada’s Harper government’s science and environmental agenda.

BONN UPDATE: Cuba has said that climate finance is a win-win situation but “talks are plagued by the notion that rich countries will lose money”. He says most cash will be spent on developed world products and services, loans will be repaid and that we all benefit from improved mitigation efforts and reduced climate impacts. He also criticised a perceived Western bias on the panels and asked for more balance at future meetings.

BONN UPDATE: More from Paul Bodnar of the US State Department. He was criticised by the Indian moderator earlier for saying that countries were categorised as high or low polluters based on GDP. Historical emission output is used. Bodnar suggested maybe these lists need to be updated as countries develop their economies. “If you think historical responsibility should be based on a list drawn up in 1992 you’re welcome to that opinion. As other countries capabilities evolve, I would have thought that you would want them to ramp-up their responsibilities.”

BONN UPDATE: Guyana’s lead negotiator Andrew Bishop has said the issue of climate finance is about political will, not the absence of money: “If we went to war tomorrow, billions could be made available.”

BONN UPDATE: Martin Khor of the South Centre has backed Jeffrey Sachs’ proposal to ditch carbon trading. “The sun is setting on carbon trading. A carbon tax would be much more predictable as it does not depend on supply and demand.”

BONN UPDATE: Paul Bodnar of the US State Department said the investment environment of climate vulnerable countries must be improved to “pull money” into them. “Funding should be based on climate risk not investment risk,” he said.

A satellite conceived by Vice President Al Gore – but banished after George Bush beat Gore for the presidency – could get a ride into space as early as 2014 as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aims to raise $23 million next year to continue the reboot of the device.

Climate change could give curries a boost in the UK. A team funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs concluded that with climate change and rising population putting further pressure on global food supplies by 2050, the UK will have to grow more ingredients for their favourite dishes at home.

A coalition of 10 environmental groups is planning a federal lawsuit to overturn approvals for Shell’s plans for exploration drilling in Arctic waters off Alaska. It aims to seek to overturn the approvals to the company’s oil spill plans that were granted earlier this year.

Changes to the EU ETS are expected to emerge over coming weeks – the first step in a set of reforms which are been sought by business and environmental campaigners. A review into the scheme is set to be published – although a date is yet to be announced – and is likely to include measures such as delaying the auction of some allowances to reduce a huge surplus that has kicked down carbon prices.

Top Tweets

Some of the latest coming out of this morning UNFCCC Climate workshop on finance:

Mattia Romani of @gggi_Seoul & London School of Economics @MediaLSE speaking abt the importance of equal access to #climate finance #LTFchat

— UNFCCC (@UN_ClimateTalks) July 10, 2012

Mattia Romani: Generate finance while you change the economy #LTFchat

— UNFCCC (@UN_ClimateTalks) July 10, 2012

#LTFchat #LSE “the equity case suggests that a significant part of the climate funds should be grants or grants equivalent, and public”

— Alix Mazounie (@ClimatAlix) July 10, 2012

 

Want an easy, effective way to raise billions in climate finance, @UN_climatetalks? We’ve got it! A #RobinHoodTax. #LTFchat

— Oxfam EU Advocacy (@OxfamEU) July 10, 2012

Stat of the day

The UK has a stockpile of around 100 tonnes of plutonium waste. Current options for its disposal include converting it into mixed-oxide fuel (Mox) for use in conventional nuclear reactors or underground storage.

Photo of the day

Africans have to walk in unity to defeat Climate Change. twitter.com/Slumbook5/stat…

— Slumbook Ent. (@Slumbook5) July 10, 2012

Video of the day

Today marks the day Greenpeace’s iconic Rainbow Warrior ship was bombed, 28 years ago. This video takes you through the life of the Rainbow Warrior, from the first ship three decades a go to the newest ship – the Rainbow Warrior III launched last year…

The post Climate Live: Great Barrier Reef will be “boring” with climate change, new solutions for nuclear waste in UK and Canada’s scientists march in protest appeared first on Climate Home News.

Plans for a new underwater ocean observatory are on show at Rio+20.

The SeaOrbiter is a 58m long drifting exploration vessel that will allow a team of 18 researchers to live in open water up to five-months at a time. Ocean observations are currently limited to around five weeks as traditional vessels require refueling.

“It lets scientists observe the ocean, under water 24 hours a day, that has never been possible before,” said Ariel Fuchs, director of science, education and media with SeaOrbiter.

“Humans have often characterized the ocean as a glimmering surface, we want to change that,” said Fuchs.

“At the moment scientists use floating buoys, mini-submersibles and drag instruments behind ships. It is only possible to really measure 1% of the ocean this way and if you include the sub-sea, that number is even smaller.”

The aluminum vessel is powered by solar panels and wind turbines that also run a desalination unit. The craft will also be fitted with a waste compactor ensuring that it attains a “zero-waste” standard.

As well as enabling research at the highest scientific level – NASA, NOAA and the Scripps Institute are among those to have registered an interest in the project – it will also look to provide an online educational resource for young people.

The craft is funded principally by Rolex with construction beginning in October this year and a six-month testing mission scheduled in 2014.

VIDEO: Euronews report on the SeaOrbiter project

The post Rio+20: The underwater lab that could unlock the secrets of the ocean appeared first on Climate Home News.

The aim is to demonstrate how Sustainable Development is becoming a reality on every continent, country and city.

Here Brigit Fremault from the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium and Alain Hubert of the International Polar Foundation explain how the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research base sustainability measures help scientists to study with minimal environmental impact.

Princess Elisabeth Antarctica: First Zero Emission Research Station (© Rene Robert/International Polar Foundation)

Harsh Antarctic winds and 24-hour sunlight fuel Belgium’s zero emission polar science research station, Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.

The state-of-the-art building, perched on a rocky outcrop above the polar ice cap, was designed and is operated by the International Polar Foundation on behalf of the Belgian Polar Secretariat, and created through the cooperation of public and private partners.

The station welcomes scientists from around the world who travel to Antarctica to study its unique environment and serves as a beacon of how we can leave lighter footprint on the Earth’s environment, and a strong reminder of the integral role played by the polar regions in our planet’s climate mechanisms.

Smart grid

PEA finished station (© Rene Robert/International Polar Foundation)

Buildings accounts for over 40% of global carbon emissions according to the IEA; Princess Elisabeth Antarctica responds to this challenge by using efficient building technologies to minimise energy needs.

The station uses an innovative micro smart grid to regulate and prioritise electricity use, making it three times more efficient than any existing conventional energy network.

The smart grid power demand management also influences human behaviour, such as how we use energy; scientists and staff quickly learn the importance of not wasting electricity.

But smart grids aren’t just for Antarctica, or for the cutting edge of scientific endeavour – while Princess Elisabeth station demonstrates new ways for harnessing readily accessible energy technology, these new ways are now being put to use in mainstream projects that redefine how we use energy in homes, offices and schools in every town and city across the world.

Building a base

Princess Elisabeth Antarctica travelled from the drawing board to reality by enlisting the power and know-how of multiple partners who helped finance, develop and complete the project.

By combining the mobility of a small reactive team of workers on the ice of Antarctica, and the strength of corporate and public partners who understood the importance of polar science and the goal of zero emissions, the International Polar Foundation acted as a catalyst to show how a strong spirit of entrepreneurship between business, governments and citizens can achieve a low carbon future, and successfully meet the climate challenge.

The innovative technology and equipment used at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica are the fruit of know-how from Belgium and beyond.

The base was the work of multiple partners who helped finance, develop and complete the station (© Rene Robert/International Polar Foundation)

Laborelec (GDF-Suez) and Schneider Electric collaborated to create and implement the micro smart grid. 3E, the Von Karman Institute, Philippe Samyn & Partners provided engineering input, ADW Software developed the surveying program and Iemants created the support metal structure.

Smet-Boring handled the station’s ground anchoring. BESIX, Belgium’s largest construction firm, coordinated the on-site construction of the building and Cherbai took care of the interior design.

The science

Princess Elisabeth Antarctica continues to uphold the values of cooperation, by becoming a nexus of international scientific cooperation, where researchers strive to further our understanding of the Polar Regions, of our climate and our planet – working to anticipate changes, and to communicate their findings to the wider public.

During the 2011-2012 season, geologists, glaciologists, microbiologists, seismologists and meteorologists from Belgium, Germany, Japan worked at Princess Elisabeth, the largest and most logistically demanding season at the station since operations began in 2008.

In cooperation with the corporate sector, Princess Elisabeth Antarctica will continue to grow its capacity for zero emission operations, by constantly improving its energy systems; it’s also set to apply the zero emission factor to transport and mobility, with future prototypes of electric field vehicles planned for scientists’ logistics in the field.

During the 2011-2012 season, geologists, glaciologists, microbiologists, seismologists and meteorologists worked at the station (© International Polar Foundation)

The successful use of renewable energy and energy efficiency at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica shows that it is possible to meet our climate obligations by choosing new ways of behaving when it comes to using energy in our homes, workplaces and cities, so that we can lay the groundwork for a truly sustainable economy.

Birgit Fremault is Environment Advisor to the FEB (Federation of Enterprises in Belgium), Alain Hubert is President of the International Polar Foundation

This article is part of a series commissioned by the Rio Conventions for their RioPlus Business project.

The post Rio+20 Business Focus: Putting sustainability at the heart of Belgium’s Antarctica base appeared first on Climate Home News.

West Antarctic ice shelves are being torn apart as they lose their grip and fall away from the rock and ice sheets into the sea, according to a new study.

And the extent that this is occuring could amplify the already accelerating loss of ice in the region, warn glaciologists from the University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics.

The study, published in the Journal of Glaciology, examined 40 years of satellite data of the ice shelves in the critical eastern Amundsen Sea Embayment in West Antarctica.

It found that warming temperatures and melting ice accumlations on the floating ice shelves are causing them to lose their grip,  eventually calving – breaking off – and floating out into open sea.

While this break up of the ice shelves occurs naturally, partiuclarly in the summer months, the researchers say that the extent to which ice shelves are being lost will make it much more difficult for grounded ice – that rested on the ground rather than the sea – to be held back.

It is the loss of grounded ice that most worries scientists – as this directly contributes to sea level rises.

The rift found along the Pine Island Glacier last year was around 20 miles long and growing by around 2 metres a day(© Michael Studinger, NASA's Operation IceBridge)

Last November, NASA Scientists warned of one particular rift found along the Pine Island Glacier in Antractica, where they found a 20 mile long crack in the ice.

They predicted the iceberg – an area the size of Berlin – would calve from the glacier towards the end of 2011 or early 2012.

While the iceberg being tracked by NASA is a natural occurance, the latest study found some longer term negative trends of the ice extent in the region.

“Typically, the leading edge of an ice shelf moves forward steadily over time, retreating episodically when an iceberg calves off, but that is not what happened along the shear margins,” says Joseph MacGregor, lead author of the study.

Pairs of Landsat satellite images showing changes in ice shelf margins in the eastern Amundsen Sea Embayment in West Antarctica between 1972 and 2011.

“Anyone can examine this region in Google Earth and see a snapshot of the same satellite data we used, but only through examination of the whole satellite record is it possible to distinguish long-term change from cyclical calving,” adds MacGregor.

The study found that the shear margins that bound these ice shelves are now heavily rifted – resembling a cracked mirror.

Eventually large areas of ice will clave from the shelves and the detached icebergs would drift out into open sea, causing an unstable front to the ice sheet.

As the glacier flow continues, pushed by gravity, towards the direction of the broken ice-sheet the glacier front can calve rapidly.

While the this pattern is created by glacier melt – which helps to losen the ice shelves grip – the researchers also warn of the resulting increase of the loss of ice to the sea.

“As a glacier goes afloat, becoming an ice shelf, its flow is resisted partly by the margins which are the bay walls or the seams where two glaciers merge,” says Ginny Catania, co-author of the report. “An accelerating glacier can tear away from its margins, creating rifts that negate the margins’ resistance to ice flow and causing additional acceleration.”

The team found that the largest relative glacier accelerations occurred within and upstream of the increasingly rifted margins.

The study is the most extensive record yet of the evolution of floating ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea Embayment.

It found substantial changes between the beginning of the Landsat satellite record in 1972 and late 2011, particularly in the last decade.

The affected ice shelves include the floating extensions of the rapidly thinning Thwaites and Pine Island Glaciers.

VIDEO: Produced by Joseph MacGregor and Ginny Catania, (Institute for Geophysics / University of Texas at Austin), this video shows a series of satellite images mapping the rifts along the Pine Island Glacier…

The post New report: West Antarctic ice shelves tearing apart appeared first on Climate Home News.

(Source: US Geological Society)

A huge dome of fresh water detected in the Artic Ocean is expanding and could potentially lower the temperature in Europe, say British Scientists.

The team from University College London and Britain’s National Oceanography Centre found the bulge of fresh water has increased by at least 8,000 cubic km – about 10 percent of all fresh water in the Artic Ocean.

Using satellites to measure the sea surface between 1995 and 2010, they found the western Arctic’s surface has risen by about 15 cms since 2002.

The study, published in Nature Geoscience, warns that changes in wind direction could cause the pool of fresh water to spill out into the rest of the Artic Ocean and even into the North Atlantic Ocean.

A similar change in wind direction was witnessed in the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s.

If water were to enter the North Atlantic in large quantities it could potentially slow down the ocean current coming from the Gulf Stream which helps to keep Europe relatively mild.

The team believe the rise could be due to strong Arctic winds influencing an ocean current called the Ceaufort Gyre – forcing water together a creating the bulge.

The believe winds and currents have transported this freshwater, from melting ice and river run-off, around the ocean until it has been pulled into the gyre.

The team plans to further investigate the relationship between sea-ice cover and wind changes.

The post Expanding Arctic water pool could cool Europe appeared first on Climate Home News.

In this year's starkest warning the IEA said the door for action against climate change would only remain open until 2017 (Source: UN)

Scientists offered  stark warnings in 2011 about what the world would experience if climate change ran out of control.

As people ready themselves for a new year full of new promise, RTCC asks what lessons can be learnt from last year’s key research findings.

Greenhouse gas emissions

One of the clearest warnings in 2011 came from the International Energy Agency (IEA) who said that the world has just five years to prevent dangerous climate change.

Speaking at the report’s launch Fatih Birol, the IEA’s cheif economist said: “If by 2017 there has not been major investment then the door for two degrees will close. We looked at the current infrastructure in terms of power generation and vehicles. Under current policy we are looking at a potential warming of six degrees.”

This was supported by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report ‘Bridging the Emissions Gap’. It found limiting warming to 2°C is possible but would require a speedy roll-out of renewable technology and increased energy efficiency.

The report also warned that without such action there would continue to be an annual gap of 12 gigatonnes between what the world is producing and what sciencists recommend it can take.

These warnings came just weeks after a report from the US Department of Energy (DOE) found that 2010 saw a record rise in global carbon emissions – showing that the dip caused by the global recession was well and truly over.

The DOE’s figures also calculated that greenhouse emission levels were higher than the worst case scenario outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) four years ago, a finding that was echoed by the IEA and the Global Carbon Project this year.

2012 could also see a shift in the way that countries think about and record their emissions following research this year. Currently countries’ registered emissions are only those produced within the states boundaries.

Research this year from the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research looked to take into account the role imports and exports and consumption patterns could have when reporting emissions.

Within the study, a country which has high emissions but also exports a lot of products overseas – like China – would see its registered emissions go down, while a country like the UK which imports a lot of goods would see their recorded emissions go up.

Extreme weather

The weather was another hot topic this year. In February research from the University of Oxford and the UK’s MET Office  became the first of its kind that attempted to directly link a weather event and climate change.

They concluded that the severe flooding the UK experienced in 2000 could be attributed to climate change.

In April, another attempt was made to develop this link. This time research published in the journal Science examined the ‘mega-heatwaves’ which baked much of Europe in 2003 and 2010.

The research called for adaptation methods to be put in place, such as early warning systems and increased help for the vulnerable. It predicted heatwaves would increase in frequency.

A special report by the IPCC also aimed to clarify the link. Unlike other studies, this research looked at multiple types of weather events and found that rainfall, storms and droughts will be more frequent with uncontrolled climate change.

Speaking at the launch of the report summary Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the IPCC said: “We want policy makers to pick up several areas of this report to come up with actions at all levels; national, regional and international.”

2011 finished with figures from the UK MET Office revealing that 2011 was the second warmest year on record in the UK.

Glacier melt and rising seas

As well as increased weather extremes, research this year pointed towards the growing threat of glacier melt and sea level rise on people’s lives.

Two separate reports, one from the US based National Snow and Ice Data Center and one from the University of Bremen point towards record sea ice melt in the Artic during the summer months, a figure which is backed up by NASA.

Meanwhile the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found that sea levels were increasing at the highest rate in over 2000 years.

After examining sediments from the US Atlantic Coast the research found that after many centuries with fairly stable sea levels, these suddenly started to rise around the year 1900.

Research published at COP17 in Durban from the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) – which is responsible for tracking glacier retreat – found examples across all regions of Asia’s mountainous Hindu Kush-Himalayan, where 30% of the world’s glaciers are found alongside some of the world’s highest peaks, including Mount Everest.

Climate impacts

Research this year also looked at where the effects of climate change will be felt the most.

A study by the MET Office’s Hadley Centre found that the impacts of climate will be shared across the globe. Their research focused on 24 countries, both in the developed and developing world and found that a majority would see rises in temperatures as well as increased risk from sea level rise, flooding and declining food security.

Meanwhile a study from Maplecroft, mapped countries’ vulnerability to climate change. This highlighted the  fact that those countries that did least to cause the problem would be most vulnerable to future impacts.

A report out this year from the Foresight Group predicted widespread migration away from areas at high risk from climate disasters. It warned that previous research into this area had been underestimated.

Renewables

Not all of this year’s research pointed to doom and gloom. In May, the IPCC released another special report which took a look at the potential for renewables in supplementing energy supply.

The report found that as much as 80% of the world’s energy could be produced by renewables by 2050 if it were backed by the right policies. This in turn could mean cumulative greenhouse gas saving equivalent of 220-560 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide between 2010-2050.

Researchers at WWF predicted even higher levels of renewable capability in their report.

Their Energy Report paints a scenario where by 2050, the world is run on 100% renewable energy, a target which WWF says is achievable.

Moving into 2012

2011 was a remarkable year both in terms of quality and weight of climate research conducted. Despite a continued climate skeptic camp, there can be little doubt about the cause and effects of climate change.

For now there is still time but Fatih Birol from the IEA warned, this time is running out.

In the UK, companies are showing their faith in the renewables sector, with £2.5 billion worth of investment, meanwhile wind company Vestas has ended its year with deals in Poland, Germany, France, the UK and Pakistan – representing over 259MW of power.

While science and business are leading the pace heading into the new year, the question now is will the politicians follow?

Contact the author of this story @rtcc_tierney or email ts@rtcc.org

CLIMATE CHANGE TV: IPCC chief Dr Rajendra Pachauri says he’s worried at the ‘lack of urgency’ among the world’s politicians to tackle climate change.

The post Apocalypse 2011: The year of climate alarms appeared first on Climate Home News.

(Source: UNFCCC)

Scientists have warned RTCC that the Durban Platform leaves the world on a pathway to 4 degrees.

Under the agreements, a new legally binding agreement will be decided by 2015 and in force by 2020.

With a second commitment of Kyoto to bridge the gap currently offering no increased ambition, scientists warn this date is far too late.

In an email to RTCC Asher Minns from the Tyndall Centre said: “In some analysis using cumulative emissions the year to peak global emissions is 2015 (and in a couple of notable cases, earlier than the year the study was carried out).

“The reduction of emissions per year to achieve this (2 degrees) afterwards is significant and hugely challenging year on year to the end of the century. So yes, it (2020) is too late to prevent a global warming of 2 degrees.”

Bill Hare, Director of Climate Analytics echoed this saying: “What remains to be done is to take ambitious actions to reduced emissions, and until this is done we are still headed to over 3 degrees warming. There are still no new pledges on the table.

“What was positive in Durban is that governments have reopened the door to a legally binding global agreement involving the world’s major emitters, a door which many thought had been shut at the Copenhagen Conference in 2009.”

Minns said current research, all released within recent weeks, shows that on average the world is expected to warm by at least 3.5 degrees 2100. This includes research from the Potsdam Institute in Germany, the Hadley Centre in the UK – which saw changes in most of the 24 regions studied – the UN Environment Programme and the International Energy Agency.

Add to this the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change linking climate change and extreme weather and the latest International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development research which found glacier retreat accelerating and you build up a bleak picture of the challenge ahead.

Two degrees has long been hailed by scientists as the upper limit to which average temperatures should be capped to avoid runaway climate change. However, even at this temperature scientists warn that the world would see changes, and many nations – particularly low lying islands – have called for this level to be lowered to 1.5 degrees.

Currently the world has average temperatures at 0.8 degrees above industrialised levels.

A release by the IPCC following the COP17 highlights “emissions of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming must fall by 2050 by 50-80% globally compared to the emissions of the year 2000 and that global emissions must peak well before the year 2020, with a substantial decline after that, in order to limit the growth in global average temperatures to 2 degrees.”

They warn this must be “borne in mind in the package.”

What would 4 degrees look like?

The latest Carbon Action Tracker briefing – a joint project between consultancy firm Ecofys, Climate Analytics and the Potsdam Institute – examined what the world would be facing at 4 degrees.

Bringing together scientific literature, the report compares a 2 and 4 degree warming, and warns the severity of climate impacts will increase with mean temperature while the climate tipping points would respond abruptly when certain thresholds are crossed – posing further risk.

While two degrees will already see some species loss this could be seen on a much larger scale at 4 degrees, while in the ocean the threats to corals could also increase with higher temperatures – partly due to the greater acidification of the oceans.

A similar trend can be seen in crop decline. For example at 2 degree scientists predict a risk of crop yield decline of 20% for millet in Sahel Africa, while a 3-4 degree increase could see the yield loss potentially double.

Sea levels – projected to raise by up to 80cm at 2 degrees – could rise by up to a metre at 3.5 degrees, while there will also be a higher risk of the Greenland Ice destabilising and the West Antarctic ice sheet disintegration. Meanwhile glacier melt could leave many in Central Asia and South America with reduced water availability.

While diplomacy and negotiating the Kyoto Protocol and what comes after it must continue, as both a way of reducing emissions and funding adaptation in poor countries, Minns says that science must now also examine the world we may be inheriting.

“I think science and research and the knowledge economy has to quickly understand about coping with a 4 degree world – food, water, agriculture, ecosystems, where people live,” he said. “And based upon this knowledge, academia also needs to learn to suitably train and equip professional and leaders for a world with a different climate than the one you and I live in today.”

Reason to hope

The Durban Platform – while leaving the world at risk – does provide a base from which commitments and ambition can grow, and there is still an opportunity for countries to bring into force some clear commitments prior to and in line with the 2020 deadline.

And while commitments may not have been as strong as the science would have wanted, it does at least leave the door open to future negotiations.

In his review of COP17 Nick Mabey of E3G says: “Durban could have definitively shit the door on the climate secure future. Many large countries came here looking to continue a system of voluntary emissions reductions. This would have locked-in a 4 degree plus world. The efforts of the new “Green Coalition” of countries have prevented this disastrous outcome.”

While sharing a similar sentiment Niklas Höhne, Director Energy and Climate Policy at Ecofys warns that time is quickly running out.

“There are still options available to close the gap between current globally planned mitigation and what is needed to hold warming below 1.5 or 2°C – if action takes place fast,” he said. “Emission reduction options are rapidly diminishing.”

And while the global politics continues to be held up in negotiations and diplomacy, Minns sees a role for research in keeping the world off a path to catastrophic climate change.

He said: “Research needs to understand a lot more about the economies of stimulating the emission reductions that business and civil society can deliver that global politics cannot, at least not until 2020 and beyond.”

The post Durban Platform leaves world on pathway to 4 degrees appeared first on Climate Home News.