Energy and climate ministers from the highly-influential G20 group took part in back-to-back meetings in India, in what was seen as a crucial stepping stone on the road to Cop28 in Dubai.

High hopes for a broad consensus on ambitious targets have been dashed first in Goa where energy ministers met, and then again in Chennai where climate ministers wrapped up talks just hours ago.

The meetings replayed familiar fights over fossil fuel phase-down and climate finance but also revealed new ones over a target of tripling renewable energy capacity.

That’s despite increasingly desperate appeals from Sultan al Jaber, the Cop28 chief, and Simon Stiell, the UN climate boss, who urged the world’s largest economies to show a sense of leadership. But that’s come to nought.

Nearly 10,000 miles away from India, tensions have also been running high in Kingston, Jamaica, where the little-known International Seabed Authority holds its annual meetings.

Four days into the week-long talks, governments have not yet been able to agree on an agenda.

At the heart of the conflict is the future of deep-sea mining, the controversial proposition to extract minerals from the bottom of the oceans.

A dozen of countries headed by Costa Rica, France and Chile want to officially discuss for the first time the possibility to pause any deep-sea mining projects while China and the island nation of Nauru have blocked the motion.

This week’s news:

• G20 divisions over key climate goals pile pressure on Cop28 hosts
• Germany plans to keep funding new gas projects overseas despite pledge
• Pressure grows on governments and banks to stop supporting Amazon oil and gas
• UN climate fund suspends project in Nicaragua over human rights concerns
• UN deep-sea mining talks deadlocked over agenda clash
• G20 climate talks fail to deliver emission cuts despite leadership pleas

The UN climate fund suspended payments to a $117 million forest protection project in Nicaragua over human rights concerns.

An independent review found the project could “cause or exacerbate” violent conflict between indigenous people and settlers. Worryingly, investigators also pointed out that the project had been approved even though it did not comply with the fund’s policies.

The Green Climate Fund said new evidence came to light subsequently and it will now make sure issues are resolved to its satisfaction.

But, as the fund continues to take information submitted from third parties in good faith, this may cause more headaches in the future.

Making decisions in this way leaves the fund “extremely vulnerable to policy and safeguards non-compliance that can result in huge reputational risks”, the investigators wrote in a damning report.

The post A rocky path to Cop28 – Climate Weekly appeared first on Climate Home News.

Medco had initially planted a vast timber plantation to produce wood chips for exports. Then, in 2017, Indonesia injected Medco with $4.5 million to build a biomass plant in the area and committed the state-owned electricity company to buy the energy it generated. In 2021, the government gave the plant an extra $9 million. 

The company said it needs to almost double the size of its plantation to meet the demands of the power plant, and that it would continue to use wood harvested from the forest as it is cleared. 

Ultimately, the most affected were local villagers depending on the forest. The project has made it harder for Marind people, hunter-gatherers indigenous people to the lowlands of Papua, to find food to eat. 

This story is the result of a new Climate Home News investigation in collaboration with The Gecko Project and Project Multatuli, both publications based in Indonesia. 

This week’s news:

• “Green” finance bankrolls forest destruction in Indonesia
• FSC’s rehab scheme for forest destroyers under fire after fresh allegations
• Amazon gateway city Belém will host Cop30 climate talks
• Comment: Climate movement must switch on to UAE threat

Our reporter Joe Lo is in Paris covering key UN plastics treaty negotiations. Check out our coverage:

• Row over veto powers holds up Paris plastic treaty talks
• Comment: How a local victory against petrochemicals can spur global action on plastics

Forest protection has been on our radar recently, as allegations surged that forest logging companies were using a sustainability certification scheme called the FSC to brand themselves as sustainable while continuing to clear forests. 

At its assembly last year, the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) agreed to give their stamp of approval to companies that have cut down trees between 1994 and 2020 if they restore part of the forests and compensate communities.  

These companies include two Indonesian pulp and paper giants, Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (April) and Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), which had cleared vast areas of the tropical rainforest for decades. 

But environmental groups accused both companies of sourcing wood from suppliers which continue to cut down intact forests. One of the suppliers, they found, cut down an area equivalent to 20,000 football pitches. 

FSC told Climate Home News it “will not engage with any organisation that continues to be part of destructive activities”. “The FSC should prepare itself not to be fooled,” one campaigner responded. 

The post “Green” funds destroy Indonesia’s forests – Climate Weekly appeared first on Climate Home News.

More and more people are needing help as climate change makes storms, floods, droughts and heatwaves worse. Alongside that, there are the regular disasters – the earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, wars, pandemics and terrorist attacks.

But the supply of help isn’t keeping up with demand. We published a deep dive this week into how cutbacks at the United Nations hindered the international community’s response to the floods in Pakistan.

Six months on from the rains, about 200,000 people are still displaced, a harvest has been missed, winter has come and malaria is rife. “Humanitarians have failed in this disaster”, Islamic Relief’s Pakistan chief told us.

That’s not surprising as the UN agency tasked with coordinating the international response had just seven people working for it in Pakistan when floods hit – down from 35 in 2016.

They scrambled in staff from other countries when disaster struck. The same people are probably off to Turkey now. They’ll be somewhere else next. But the UN shouldn’t have to play whack-a-mole when people’s lives are at stake.

This week’s stories

• Missed deadline raises risk of delays to loss and damage fund
• Switzerland won’t follow EU out of controversial energy treaty: official
• UN budget cuts hindered response to Pakistan’s extreme floods
• Europe proposes mass exit from energy treaty
• Denmark to put CO2 in seabed in step towards carbon negativity
• China warns of more floods and heatwaves in 2023
• Circuses have evolved and so must UN climate summits

The post Spread too thin – Climate Weekly appeared first on Climate Home News.

After all, there’s no use making clean electricity if you can’t get it to anyone who needs it. 

But, while anyone with a few million in their back pocket can throw up a solar farm, who has got the billions to build power cables across the country?

Well the Indian government does. On Wednesday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman promised $1bn towards cables linking renewable projects in the Himalayan state of Ladakh with states that people actually live in.

Over in Washington DC, the Climate Investment Funds does too. It has just lent Colombia $70m for transmission lines and other green projects. It has got $230m more in the pot for projects like this and is asking rich nations to top it up so they can roll out the programme to big hitters like India, Brazil and Indonesia.

This week’s stories

• Colombia gets $70m from new global renewable integration fund
• Coal communities fear South Africa’s clean energy transition
• India announces $4.3 billion investment in clean energy
• France seeks EU loophole for French Guiana to power space sector with biofuels
• Taiwan’s failure to clean up industry endangers its net zero pledge
• DR Congo delays rainforest oil auctions
• EU plans restrictions on climate-wrecking fishing method

In Colombia though, there are fears that having to consult with every community the cables pass through could slow the project down more than is helpful in a climate crisis.

Over in South Africa’s coal country, locals complain that they’ve not been consulted over plans to shut down coal power plants. They fear being left behind.

Making the energy transition both fast and fair is no easy task.

The post Cables become cool – Climate Weekly appeared first on Climate Home News.

Ahmed Djoghlaf and Dan Reifsnyder’s version of the climate negotiating text is due out today (Pics: IISD)

By Megan Darby

“We can now say that the text is quantitatively shorter than when we left Bonn in June. Whether or not the substance brings us qualitatively closer to a deal in Paris will take some time to determine.”

That was Thoriq Ibrahim, Maldives minister and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, on the deadline day for the UN to publish a revised negotiating text for climate talks.

Unfortunately, that is the best intelligence we have, because co-chairs Ahmed Djoghlaf and Dan Reifsnyder are taking it right to the wire. A spokesperson told RTCC not to expect the document before 10pm.

Diplomacy blitz

But it has been an exceptional week for climate diplomacy.

We’ve had the Major Economies Forum, 46 ministers meeting in Paris, 60 mayors in the Vatican and the world’s first Summit of Conscience for Climate.

France’s chief climate diplomat Laurence Tubiana hailed headway on moves to ensure all countries review their carbon cutting achievements every five years.

“This is a breakthrough,” she said in the post-summit press conference. “That was not obvious to get.”

Ed King has wrapped it all up for your reading pleasure and put faces to names of 28 men and women to watch.

STAT OF THE WEEK

€100 a tonne – the price of carbon in 2030, under France’s new energy law

Australian lawsuit?

Fresh from her legal victory against the Dutch government, Urgenda chief Marjan Minnesma has been rabble-rousing down under.

Environmentalists in Brisbane lapped up her tale of triumph over the Netherlands’ high carbon status quo.

It could be hard to replicate in Australia, lawyers said, but they were determined to try and challenge Tony Abbott’s laggardly policies in the courts.

These were labelled bewildering, distorted, illogical, risky and isolating by a former UK Tory minister this week. MP Richard Benyon finished his attack on Abbott’s climate stance by calling his attitude to climate change “un-conservative”.

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Hansen horror

World famous climate scientist James Hansen warned on Monday several metres of sea level rise could happen this century – and a 2C warming limit was not enough to stop it.

The dire forecast, based on modeling of feedback loops not considered by previous studies, has yet to be peer reviewed. It is in a discussion paper, allowing other scientists to critique it publicly.

Will it change the course of climate talks? He evidently hoped so.

INDC watch

The Marshall Islands and Kenya submitted their climate pledges to the UN this week.

At less than 0.01% of global emissions, the Marshall Islands’ contribution isn’t going to make or break the deal. But as one of the most vulnerable countries to sea level rise, it made a point of targeting ambitious economy-wide emissions cuts.

Meanwhile, Kenya asked for international support to cut emissions 30% on business as usual by 2030 and protect its citizens – a plan costed at US$40 billion.

That plea was echoed by Mithika Mwenda of the Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance, commenting ahead of US president Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya this weekend.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I like to think of it like losing weight: you go on a diet and you exercise” – Noah Deich, founder of new Center for Carbon Removal, on why and how we need to suck carbon out of the air

Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia are all expected to reveal their climate plans “in the coming weeks”, according to EU commissioner Miguel Arias Canete.

Colombia floated a headline figure of 20% cuts from business as usual in 2030, or up to 30% with international support.

Oil be there

Shell, BP and Total are among the oil majors promising to be part of the solution to climate change. They plan to unveil their strategy at a summit in October.

You can expect them to call (again) for a carbon price, but will they put any of their own money into measures like carbon capture and storage?

Another month, another heat record

June was the hottest on record worldwide, the latest NOAA data shows, making 2015 a near certainty for warmest year.

In a spot of lukewarm news, Arctic sea ice recovered volume in 2013. The ice cap could be more resilient than previously thought, UK scientists said.

This was seized on by UK right-wing newspaper the Daily Mail to attack climate change policies – to the dismay of Rachel Tilling, the scientist behind the Arctic study.

Think someone got the wrong end of the stick here http://t.co/hp0ifAQbqu

— Rachel Tilling (@rachel_tilling) July 22, 2015

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KEY DATES COMING UP

24 July: Obama visits Kenya, Ethiopia
27-31 July: Sustainable Development Goals talks, (New York)
31 August – 4 September: Interim climate talks (Bonn)

The post Revised Paris climate text expected amid diplomacy blitz appeared first on Climate Home News.

Snow covered mountain, South Shetland Islands. (Pic: NOAA/Flickr)

By Ed King

“Just ridiculous”.

That’s how Deke Arndt, climate monitoring chief of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) described warming seas in 2014.

Ocean surface temperatures were the warmest in 135 years said the body’s annual State of the Climate report.

Global sea levels also broke records, hitting the “highest yearly average in the satellite record,” it said. Based on data from 58 countries and over 400 scientists, the study said that over 90% of the heat generated as a result of burning fossil fuels had been absorbed by the seas, with likely side effects for centuries to come.

Addis cash

The year’s first main development summit (ahead of September’s mooted Sustainable Development Goals and December’s COP21 UN climate conference) ended with agreement on plans for a new technology transfer system from rich to poor countries, as well as provisions for ‘worldwide safety net systems’.

No new money was placed on the table, but given the SDGs will run until 2030, this was not seen as a major issue. More urgently, developed countries still have to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 in climate finance, and observers said this was not addressed.

For more read Leo Barasi’s analysis from Addis Ababa.

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Paris outline

Top climate envoys from the US, China, Brazil, Russia and 18 other countries have offered the clearest signal yet they feel a UN climate deal will be reached in Paris this year. That’s the finding from a new study by the Washington DC-based C2ES group.

Former South Africa environment minister Valli Moosa, who helped coordinate discussions, said they had left him convinced failure in Paris would be “seizing defeat from the jaws of victory”.

Legal deal?

Will the mooted Paris deal be binding on all countries, and if so what will it compel them to do? Influential figures involved in the process believe it could end up looking like a credit rating agency, where keeping your AAA status is seen as economically beneficial.

Huge week

The next 7 days are likely to be critical for the success of the Paris climate pact. On 18 and 19 July, the 17-strong Major Economies Forum – which includes the US, EU, China, India, Brazil and Russia – meets in Luxembourg for two days of talks, chaired by senior US climate envoy Todd Stern.

On 20 and 21 July, there’s a ministerial meeting of senior climate envoys in Paris, while on Friday July 24 we’re expecting a revised version of the Paris negotiating text to be released by the co-chairs.

INDC watch

Quiet week, but Japan’s is set to be submitted on Friday, targeting 26% greenhouse gas cuts on 2013 levels by 2030. India and Australia are likely to follow suit next month. Follow all the updates on our Paris tracker.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I have yet to see any element of Lord Lawson’s budgets which suggested the poor were high on the list of priorities,” – Lord Deben questions his fellow peer’s concern for the poor when railing against climate policies.

Climate risk

A study backed by experts from the UK, US, India and China with funding from the UK Foreign Office warned this week of a nightmare scenario of more floods, droughts and storms should climate change intensify. Pakistan and Bangladesh are among countries that could “fail” under extremes, said security analysts.

EU masterplan

The European Commission issued its summer energy plan this week, confirming the central role it hopes the region’s carbon market will play in lowering emissions post 2020. But will it actually lead to more rewards for polluters? Megan Darby reported.

STAT OF THE WEEK

50%. That’s the increase in illegal timber shipped to Vietnam, China and India between 2006 and 2013, said new research from Chatham House.

Brazil tribes protest

The $11 billion Belo Monte dam on the Amazon has met just 30% of the social and environmental safeguards demanded by government, say NGOs. An estimated 2000 people will relocated as flood waters rise – but concerns over rainforest damage mean a smaller area will be reserved for water storage, meaning it will only operate at 40% of capacity.

Groupthink

Does a lack of diversity on boards make US oil majors particularly liable to ignore carbon risk? Yes, said Oxford University researchers this week. ExxonMobil has only one board member who is not a US citizen. Chevron has none. At each US oil major, the age range between the youngest and oldest board member is just 16 years.

Off on holiday?

Just be aware a brewing El Nino could make your journey a little longer, if you’re flying along the US West Coast.

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The post Global warming hits oceans, Addis cash and outline climate deal appeared first on Climate Home News.

The GCF board met in Songdo this week (Flickr/Dongho Kim)

By Megan Darby

Is the Green Climate Fund losing its way? More than 20 NGOs think so, after the UN-backed climate finance initiative this week named Deutsche Bank as a partner.

Germany’s leading investment bank is the world’s tenth biggest funder of coal, Action Aid, Friends of the Earth and others point out in a joint statement.

“It boggles the mind” that such an institution should be chosen to channel aid for poor countries to cut carbon, said Action Aid’s Brandon Wu.

Abyd Karmali of Bank of America Merrill Lynch leapt to the GCF’s defence, tweeting that the move would help to tap mainstream investors and scale up climate cash.

BRICS bank

The US$10 billion facility is not the only game in town.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are launching a development bank five times that size.

While the fund does not have an exclusive climate focus, its first project should be green, India prime minister Narendra Modi argued at a BRICS summit on Thursday.

STAT OF THE WEEK

$5 billion – the value of 100 foundations and trusts that have committed to divest from fossil fuels

Deep denial 

It’s no news that oil majors have sought to undermine the scientific consensus that their product causes climate change.

An email uncovered by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows just how long they have been aware of the harm they could be causing.

Exxon was considering the CO2 impact of a particular gas field as early as 1981, former employee and scientist Lenny Bernstein wrote.

Yet Exxon and others continued to promote misinformation for some three decades, the NGO’s “climate deception dossiers” reveal.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We need to protect the evidence-bound sphere of scientific arguments from the largely unconstrained buzz outside that sphere” a republished study by psychologist Stephan Lewandowsky and colleagues takes on conspiracy theories in the climate sceptic blogosphere

Enter Naki

The race to lead the world’s top authority on climate science is hotting up.

Austria and Montenegro have nominated energy economist Nebojsa Nakicenovic – “Naki” to his friends – to chair the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

He and the other four candidates have three months to convince representatives of each government to vote for them in an October election.

INDC watch: New Zealand is the latest to submit its climate pledge to the UN. NGOs call the plan “weak” and “a slap in the face” to Pacific islands. These academics aren’t impressed, either.

Morocco’s environment minister, Hakima El Haite, told RTCC the national pledges need explaining – the reason Rabat is hosting a summit in October.

RTCC editor Ed King argues the UN needs to take control of the whole messy business.

Dutch courage

Remember that court ruling the Netherlands must cut its emissions faster?

Well, RTCC’s Alex Pashley has been investigating what next for the Dutch government.

And Megan Darby spoke to campaigners around the world inspired by the landmark victory, finding five climate change lawsuits to watch.

But Tuvalu’s prime minister Enele Sopoaga warned one of those ideas – making fossil fuel companies pay for damage to vulnerable communities – risked jeopardising UN talks.

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Bumblebees: These essential pollinators are finding their territory squeezed by rising temperatures, spelling bad news for ecosystems, a study finds.

Surplus gas: Terminals to export America’s shale gas boom don’t make economic sense in a 2C world, warns Carbon Tracker. It is the last of three reports looking at fossil fuel assets which could be stranded as the world curbs carbon emissions.

Joseph Stiglitz: Nobel prize-winning economist argues a green economy provides a route out of economic slump in the wake of financial crisis.

KEY DATES IN JULY

13-16: Development finance summit (Addis Ababa)
20-21: UNFCCC ministerial meeting (Paris)
20-31: SDGs negotiations (New York)

And finally…

Relax, everyone. One Direction have mobilised their millions of fans to the climate cause. It can’t fail now.

The post Green fund controversy, IPCC race and deep denial appeared first on Climate Home News.

Changsha in Hunan province, China. (Pic: Jakob Montrasio/Flickr)

By Ed King

Hopes for a successful outcome at this year’s Paris climate talks were boosted with the release of China’s carbon cutting pledge this week. Not that it was new – the headline figure aiming for an emissions peak by 2030 was announced last November.

Analysts were quick to accuse China of aiming too low. The team at Climate Action Tracker said a goal to cut the carbon intensity of GDP 60-65% below 2005 levels by 2030 was “inadequate”. And as Gerard Wynn argues in an analysis for us, it’s not clear what the emissions levels will be in 2030.

Still, it was met with relief from UN officials who know that without China on board, a global pact is all but impossible. According to the country’s climate strategy team, the commitment to invest in renewables means China alone will effectively double the global capacity of wind and solar.

INDC watch: Along with China, four other pledges dropped through the UN’s letter box in Bonn this week: Serbia, Iceland, South Korea and Singapore. RTCC’s Paris tracker has all the latest figures.

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India: Environment minister Prakash Javadekar said it would not be following China by announcing an emissions “peak”. But he added it would release its plans “soon” and they would me more ambitious than anyone expects.

Brazil: A high level meet between Dilma Rousseff and Barack Obama failed to deliver the Amazon zero deforestation announcement many hoped for, but she said it hopes to source 28-33% of its energy from renewable sources in 2030, excluding hydropower.

Rousseff also outlined plans to eliminate illegal deforestation and restore 12 million hectares of forest by 2030. To achieve this it will try and register all the country’s 5 million land holdings by 2016.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Ensure that henceforth your government engagement is clearly focused on the outcome you have sought in your letter to me,” – UN climate chief Christiana Figueres tells big oil to quit lobbying against a Paris deal.

Australia: Tony Abbott’s climate commission says he should slash emissions 30% on 2000 levels by 2025, and 40-60% by 2030. That’s deeper cuts than Norway, Japan, EU, Canada and the US. He’s likely to ignore the panel, all appointed before he took office.

But for inspiration Tony could head to South Australia, where state premier Jay Weatherill tells RTCC‘s Megan Darby the future is green.

Pakistan: Islamabad is planning to set up a carbon market with the help of China, to help “lure” low carbon investment. Climate minister Arif Ahmed Khan told RTCC it could come online in the “next couple of years.”

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Cities: Over 1700 mayors and regional leaders representing 60 million people signalled their support for a Paris deal this week at a UN-backed summit in Lyon. At the same event, 20 states and sub-regions from British Columbia to the Basque Country spotlighted their carbon cutting targets.

STAT OF THE WEEK

$500 million: That’s how much the Green Climate Fund has in its project pipeline – with more details due soon on its first investments.

Small islands: Kiribati’s president says the Paris deal will be “too late” for low lying atoll islands like his own, while the Maldives’ environment minister wants countries to aim for a tougher 1.5C warming limit. Still, some good news from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Fiji, Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands have “vast” supplies of clean energy it says in a new report.

UK headlines:
-Reform the FTSE 100 or face an economic crash
-Advisor says climate credentials under threat
-Can a new runway at Heathrow work with climate goals?
-DECC 90% staff budget cuts risks UK’s climate plans

Clinton emails: Onward! So started Hillary Clinton’s email to her top climate advisor Todd Stern after the Copenhagen summit. The newly released messages from her time as SOS offer an intriguing glimpse into how the US approaches UN climate talks.

Low carbonara: We missed you. The comedy blog following the UN climate talks is back after a two-year break. Who writes it? Not us. But it’s worth following in the run-up to Paris.

And finally. If you like twitter… check @getinthesea

KEY DATES IN JULY

6-9: Green Climate Fund board meeting (Songdo)
7-10: ‘Our common future’ climate science conference (Paris)
9-11: BRICS summit (Russia)
13-16: SDGs finance simmit (Addis Abba)
20-21: UNFCCC ministerial meeting (Paris)
20-31: SDGs negotiations (New York)

The post China offers Paris boost as UN climate deal pledges trickle in appeared first on Climate Home News.

Judge delivers verdict in Urgenda case against Dutch government (Screenshot/Urgenda livestream)

By Megan Darby

It’s not every day a district judge gets cheered and clapped. But there was jubilation in one courtroom on Wednesday.

The case was climate campaign group Urgenda against the Dutch government. The verdict: Netherlands must cut its carbon emissions faster, in line with the science.

It was the first time judges ordered a national government to up its climate game, but it may not be the last.

“The legal arguments that we used in the case – and that the court acknowledged exist – are not unique to the Netherlands,” legal advisor Dennis van Berkel told RTCC. “All states have this legal obligation.”

Under the ruling, the Netherlands must cut emissions 25% on 1990 levels by 2020, instead of its planned 17% reduction.

In practice, Carbon Pulse reports, the Dutch government could meet the tighter target by buying international carbon credits worth €5 million at today’s prices.

“But the move may be questioned by citizens eager to see structural changes to cut the country’s use of fossil fuels,” the newswire noted.

STAT: US$3.7 trillion will be invested in solar power in the next 25 years, Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts – but coal is still undermining emissions goals

Brussels bubble

Alex Pashley has been on a journey to the heart of EU policymaking and returned with some nuggets for you.

Carbon capture and storage, carbon markets and a long term emissions goal will be on the agenda when top Chinese officials visit next Monday, climate and energy chief Miguel Arias Canete revealed.

And Brussels is spearheading a summit in Morocco this October to assess how national climate plans measure up against the goal to limit warming to 2C. But how many countries will show up?

QUOTE: “If we get it right, our environmental policy will make us world leaders on this issue instead of giving us a black eye around the world” – Alberta environment minister Shannon Phillips

Coal v coral: a zero score draw?

Adani’s $16 billion coal venture in Australia is hanging in the balance, as low coal prices and slow regulatory approvals hit the business case.

The Indian conglomerate has halted engineering works, it emerged this week, prompting speculation it could shelve the whole project.

That would come as a relief to campaigners concerned about its impacts on the climate and the Great Barrier Reef.

But it is not enough on its own to protect the delicate coral ecosystem from warming oceans, overfishing and pollution.

Environmental lawyers argue the reef – a world heritage site – should be put on Unesco’s endangered list at a committee meeting next week.

In a rare bit of good news for coral, scientists have found relocating larvae from warm to cooler seas can boost survival rates.

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US-Brazil meet

Ending destruction of the Amazon will be a hot topic when president Dilma Rousseff visits Barack Obama in Washington next Tuesday.

Forest experts say deforestation could be ended by 2025, but 2030 is a more likely target in Brazil’s climate contribution.

That might not be announced next week, but a proposed end to the US ban on Brazilian beef imports gives an opportunity to demand stricter protections.

Climate fragility…

…should be a foreign policy priority, according to a report commissioned by the G7.

At its London launch, experts cited Syria’s slide into bitter conflict, triggered by a five-year drought, as an example of the destabilising effect of climate impacts.

They made the case for cooperation and planning for weather extremes to keep the world stable.

Health warning

Prestigious medical journal the Lancet has thrown its considerable weight behind calls to stop burning coal.

Its panel of international experts warned climate change could set back health gains 50 years if unchecked.

Coal is doubly dangerous, they said, as it spews out a cocktail of harmful air pollutants as well as greenhouse gases.

Bluffer’s guide

And finally, with less than six months to go to the Paris climate summit, Ed King covers everything you wanted to know but were too afraid to ask. Read his bluffer’s guide.

The post Netherlands court case win inspires climate campaigners appeared first on Climate Home News.

(Pic: White House/Flickr)

By Ed King

US president Barack Obama says he deeply admires Pope Francis’ call for a global deal to tackle climate change, and hopes governments will “reflect” on his message.

“As we prepare for global climate negotiations in Paris this December, it is my hope that all world leaders – and all God’s children – will reflect on Pope Francis’s call to come together to care for our common home,” Obama said in a statement.

The Pope’s letter to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics was heavily trailed, with his views on the the moral and ethical dimensions of climate change well known.

But as I argue here – it’s the timing and strong rhetoric – calling environmental degradation a “sin” that make this document stand out.

Our live blog pulled together all the reaction from a frenetic day.

All the green NGOs welcomed his views. Carbon traders said his dismissal of carbon credits was misguided. Lead US Republican and devout Catholic John Boehner said he respected his right to speak out.

For a different take – try Nick Butler in the FT (£) “A papal message that misses the point.”

China’s climate pledge

Expected out on Wednesday, in the end there was silence. Some sources suggest it could now appear at the end of the month or even later.

Nevertheless, premier Li Keqiang has emphasised China will target an emissions peak by 2030.

But that’s just the peak. The decline in CO2 is likely to be slow, Professor Yufeng Yang, lead author of the annual China Energy Outlook told a meeting in London this week. Goodbye 2C?

Peru’s climate pledge

Ambitious or foolhardy? Alex Pashley runs the numbers on its draft proposal.

STAT: Last month was the hottest May on record since 1880, with temperatures 0.87C above last century’s average.

Venezuela – the climate paradox

Heard of the petro state awash with cheap gas and always at the front of calls for climate ambition? Nope. You’re not Caracas. It is Venezuela – and it has no plans to ditch fossil fuels.

Greening the world in 9 graphs

We’re set to blow the carbon budget by 2040, but there is another way – says the International  Energy Agency. Megan Darby was at the launch of their most recent report and runs through the analysis.

Global energy-related CO2 emissions in the INDC scenario and remaining carbon budget for a >50% chance of keeping to 2C (IPCC and IEA data; IEA analysis)

FACTS FACTS FACTS

A data crunch of recent polls shows that where climate is discussed, Tea Party supporters score high on ideology, but low on facts. Check the comments below the line. And keep your replies clean.

QUOTE: “I don’t believe in climate change. I’m convinced by the evidence” US Rear Admiral David Titley.

UK frack-attack

It’s all kicking off in the UK over new plans for shale gas fracking. Lancashire council will decide whether to give Cuadrilla the green light to start drilling next week.

Supporters say the UK needs a secure supply of gas and tough environmental regulations will minimise the local and climate risks.

Critics ask why the UK government censored a study into fracking last year. We’ll find out soon enough – this week it was ordered to release a full un-redacted version.

Elsewhere – the political consensus on fracking is floundering, while the government has also decided to slash support for onshore wind. Useful analysis on this by the Guardian’s Damian Carrington.

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#fortheloveof

Alex Pashley donned his tie-dye and joined this week’s Climate Coalition MP lobby – here’s his report.

Moisture mill

Evaporating water could be an energy source for the future. Seriously. Megan Darby has more.

And finally…

What do the former heads of the CIA, EPA, US Treasury and an assorted group of ex Admirals, Generals and scientists have in common?

Answer: They all think climate change is one of the most serious challenges facing the world. Check out their video messages or watch Hank Paulson below.

The post Obama welcomes Pope’s climate call, Republicans cry foul appeared first on Climate Home News.

(Pic: UNFCCC/Flickr)

By Ed King

After two weeks of interim UN climate talks in Bonn got bogged down in procedural matters, all the contentious issues remained to be tackled.

Countries agreed to hand the co-chairs of the negotiations the task of whittling down the 80+ page text into something more manageable – by next month.

In a typically obtuse UN release the new text will be called a “tool”. A vice, a sledgehammer, or perhaps a sieve? Whatever you choose – it needs to have an effect.

NGOs told our reporter Megan Darby they weren’t too happy with the outcome (when are they ever?), while the UN’s climate chief Christiana Figueres was typically optimistic.

Participants insisted there were positive conversations behind the scenes and trust was running high, standing them in good stead for the next round in August.

Forests saved!

There was one bright spot of progress. Plans for the UN’s huge REDD+ forest protection scheme were finally signed off in a surprising yet positive move.

INDC watch

Three UN pledges for the deal came out this week…

Morocco: 32% cut in emissions by 2030. Verdict: Positive
Ethiopia: 64% cut in emissions by 2030. Verdict: Positive
Serbia: 9.8% cut in emissions by 2030. Verdict: Fiddled

Australia was also accused this week of fixing its UN pledge, which is still under development. Analysts say the government overstated projected CO2 emissions to make its 2030 goal look harder than it actually is.

2C or not 2C?

We may never know, after China, India and Saudi Arabia shut down discussions on whether the UN’s agreed 2C warming limit is adequate.

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Pope watch

The world’s fourth most famous Argentine (after Maradona, Messi and Eva Peron) will release his much anticipated encyclical on the environment next week. 18 June to be precise. Much of the content is already public but the letter is expected to be politically huge. US Republicans are already incensed. Christiana Figueres said it would have a “major impact”.

Quote of the week

“What we did recently in the Senate was reduce, Alan, reduce, capital R-E-D-U-C-E” – Australia PM Tony Abbott tells radio host Alan Jones he’s not up for boosting clean energy.

G7

Monday seems an age away – but the 2015 G7 meeting ended with support from the world’s richest developed countries for a low carbon economy by the end of the century. The leaders taking part will all be dead by then – but their grandkids may still be kicking around – so we can only hope they meant it. Reports from Germany suggest Angela Merkel pressured Canada and Japan into playing ball.

Show me the beef

Sometimes climate diplomacy has nothing to do with the climate. So reports Lisa Friedman at ClimateWire. “Analysts familiar with the bilateral negotiations said a long-standing effort by Brazil to end a US ban on its beef is receiving fresh attention as an area ripe for climate potential,” she says. So it seems simple. Buy our cows and we’ll cut emissions.

Stat of the week

Natural gas use will rise 1.9% a year to 2035 says BP in its annual energy stats review.

US round-up

-US Democrats launch carbon tax plan at conservative thinktank (Carbon Pulse)
-EPA says airline emissions are damaging human health (RTCC)
-Jim Inhofe tells Pope to butt out of climate politics (Guardian)

Vanuatu heads to court

The tiny Pacific island says it plans to put leading fossil fuel polluters in the dock. “We commit to holding those most responsible for climate change accountable. By doing so, we send a message of hope that the people and not the polluters are in charge of humanity’s destiny,” the country said in a statement.

Coming up in June

15: IEA release CO2 stats for 2014
15-19: EU sustainable energy week
17: London climate march
18: Papal encyclical on environment

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The post Trust us, says UN: Our ‘tool’ will keep climate talks on track appeared first on Climate Home News.

(Pic: NASA)

By Ed King

Was there ever a pause in global warming? Was the so-called 15 year ‘hiatus’ in rising temperatures a glitch in the data?

A new study published in Science suggests warming did not – as is often claimed – slow down. It claims the rate of warming since 2000 has been the same as the previous five decades. “There is no slowdown in warming, there is no hiatus,” the Guardian quotes lead author Dr Tom Karl, director of Noaa’s National Climatic Data Centre.”

On twitter the debate is raging between scientists. Some think it’s vindication of their work over the past 15 years – others caution over leaping to conclusions.

In my mind the pause is very real – we need to understand it, not dismiss it https://t.co/qH1XZcV1P0

— Piers Forster (@piersforster) June 5, 2015

Long-term warming is what matters for AGW. If “slowdown” not correct, neither was “acceleration” implied by IPCC AR4 http://t.co/I1Wwzd6OBU

— Richard Betts (@richardabetts) June 5, 2015

For a deeper analysis head to the Carbon Brief.

UN climate talks

“We are deeply concerned at the slow pace”, the head of the Maldives delegation in Bonn told RTCC, speaking after four days of negotiations on plans for a global climate deal. Just 5% of the mammoth 90-page negotiating text has been cut – and with two more sessions of talks (September + October) some are getting worried they will run out of time to finalise the agreement by December.

What the Paris pact should and could deliver is still the matter of fierce debate. This week Poland’s climate chief Marcin Korolec, in many ways one of the architects of UN efforts to address global warming, said participation rather than CO2 cuts was a priority.

“This is the most important point… how to mobilise the biggest number of countries to be part of effort – and then to have a dynamic agreement which will operate in cycles of 5 or 10 years which will lead us collectively to reach the goal,” he told RTCC in an interview.

Paris pledges

Stay across all the latest climate commitments with our tracker – where we collate and assess the level of ambition on offer for a global deal

Australian ambition

Poor old Tony Abbott got it from all angles this week. While his environment minister Greg Hunt maintains the country has a credible plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions, plenty others disagree. This week in Bonn China, Brazil, the US and South Africa lined up to question how scrapping the country’s emissions trading scheme would help it meet its climate goals.

Ex UN chief Kofi Annan also stuck his oar in, labelling Australia a “free rider” that had lost its leadership role at climate talks. Analysts at Climate Action Tracker say Australia will likely miss its goal to slash emissions 5% on 2000 levels by 2020, predicting a 12-18% overshoot.

In London, ex Australian PM Kevin Rudd called for a change in global strategy on addressing climate change – saying it’s time to do this at the G20 where all the big emitters are present, rather than rely on unwieldy talks involving 190+ countries.

Germany’s G7

There’s huge pressure on German chancellor Angela Merkel to deliver something on climate at the G7 summit this week – where she’s chair. Top of the list is cash. Where will G7 countries find the promised $100 billion by 2020 to give to developing countries for help investing in clean energy and adaptation projects? And can she and others encourage Canada and Japan to target tougher CO2 cuts?

Oil manoeuvres

What’s going on with Europe’s oil and gas majors? Once accused of trying every trick to slow UN climate talks, now they want a seat at the table and a part to play in developing a global carbon price. A letter sent to the UN’s top climate official comes out of fear for the future, former Shell advisor Tom Burke told RTCC.

Another clue came from Shell’s CFO, who said a pricing structure would ensure coal, the most polluting form of fossil fuel, would stay in the ground. The move has sparked a rift with their US cousins – this week the head of Exxon-Mobil said they had no plans to join. Chevron said a carbon price wouldn’t work.

But the move isn’t news said Tom Moody Stuart, former Shell chair. He told a conference in London this week Shell had warned of the perils of climate chaos in 1997.  He also backed divestment and spoke of his “distress” at the lack of climate action.

Is natural gas green?

Shell, BP et al would have you believe so, but many are less than convinced. This week Michael Lazarus and Kevin Tempest from the Stockholm Environment Institute crunched the numbers for us. Read their analysis here.

Stat of the week

Returns in the coal sector could fall between 18-75% by 2050, says a new analysis by consultants Mercer, backed by the World Bank and governments of Germany and the UK.

Quote of the week

“The church has gotten it wrong a few times on science. We’re probably better off leaving science to the scientists and do what they’re really good at, which is theology and morality.” – US presidential candidate Rick Santorum says the Pope should keep mum on climate change.

Analysis

Will China’s national market become a reality in 2016? We spoke to carbon traders, analysts and World bank officials – who all seem fairly chipper – although it’s likely to be 2020 before it’s anywhere close to fully functioning.

Battle of Balcombe

Remember the summer of 2013? Those balmy days in West Sussex were interrupted by a huge fight over fracking for oil. It led to explorer Cuadrilla backing down and the small village where it was drilling pledging to generate all its power from renewables. This week it announced plans for a 5MW crowdfunded solar plant. Watch this space.

For your diary in June

1-11: UN climate talks in Bonn
7-8: G7, Germany
17: London climate march
18: Papal Encyclical expected
22-25: UN SDG negotiations, New York

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The post Global warming ‘slowdown’ did not exist, say scientists appeared first on Climate Home News.

By Ed King

Welcome to RTCC’s weekly wrap, where we pull together the top stories from the past week, and highlight key events to look forward to over the next 7 days.

You can sign up for this to be sent directly to your inbox – here.

Marshall Islands foreign minister Tony de Brum told Megan Darby why he is standing up to his country’s powerful shipping lobby. “We don’t want to have a situation where the tail is wagging the dog,” he said.

He was speaking a day after the UN’s shipping body, the IMO,shelved proposals from de Brum to curb greenhouse gas emissions in the sector, agreeing only to do so “at an appropriate future date”. Emissions from shipping could rise by 50-250% by 2050, analysis by the IMO reveals.

China coal
More intrigue from China with latest data suggesting coal use continues to fall. Greenpeace data-crunchers say consumption from January-April was down 8%. In 2014 it fell 2.9%. China – in case you have been asleep for the past decade – is the world’s largest carbon polluter.

EU hypocrisy
Brussels is great at handing out advice. Not so good at taking it. We revealed on Thursday that the European Commission has dropped its demand on member states to cut their subsidies for oil, gas and coal. That’s despite the UN, IMF and World Bank saying it’s one of the best ways to curb global emissions.

Quote of the week 
“Consumerism is a key ingredient to the recipe of the end of the world. Consumption based on fossil fuel is eating the planet alive” – we meet Reverend Billy, climate crusader

UK election
Prime Minister David Cameron won plaudits from green groups for appointing Amber Rudd as UK energy and climate chief. Rudd, previously climate minister, is a vocal supporter of solar energy and has warned previously of the dangers global warming could pose the country.

UN climate talks
Diplomatic hotlines are buzzing as envoys criss-cross the world working out how a global pact could work. This week G7 energy ministers said they were in agreement over the need for an ambitious climate deal that would offer “deep” cuts. They said little on specifics. That will wait until the G7 summit on June 7-8.

G7 leaders at the 2014 Hague summit (Pic: Number 10/Flickr)

Meanwhile in a teleconference UN climate chief Christiana Figueres pushed the line that a deal would boost economic growth. Some scientists like Kevin Anderson at the Tyndall Centre say growth needs to fall to ensure the 2C target is met. Figueres clearly disagrees. She did say Paris will not be a “silver bullet”. Good news for carbon emitting werewolves.

Stat of the week
Sea level rise sped up over the last two decades rather than slowing down as previously thought, say scientists in a new report

Around the world
Why Australia’s coal habit is as bad as Saudi Arabia’s oil habit, Myanmar’s government is being pushed into building 10 new coal plants, the US decision to allow Shell Arctic drilling is akin to “climate denial” and the World Bank says carbon pricing is not enough to solve climate change.

Wonky analysis
Will the Paris climate pact have any teeth? At all? We look at two studies released this week outlining the legal options. Note: it may hinge on whether the word “should” is used instead of “shall”. Time for us all to scrub up on modal verbs.

Improving RTCC
Please help us make our coverage even better – by filling out a quick survey for us. It’ll take you less than 5 minutes and you could win something rather cool.

For your diary
11-15: IMO Environmental Committee (London)
18-22: SE4 ALL Forum (New York)
18-22: UN SDG negotiations (New York)
19-21: World Hydropower Forum (Beijing)
20-21: Business & climate summit (Paris)
26-28: Carbon Expo (Barcelona)

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The post Climate change weekly wrap (May #2) – news, video and analysis appeared first on Climate Home News.

By Ed King

Welcome to RTCC’s weekly wrap, where we pull together the top stories from the past week, and highlight key events to look forward to over the next 7 days.

You can sign up for this to be sent directly to your inbox – right here!

Shell: Narcissistic, paranoid, and psychopathic
Those were the three words that John Ashton, former the UK Foreign Office’s chief climate diplomat, chose to describe the oil giant’s climate strategy in a letter to its CEO this week. Printed in full on RTCC, it generated a huge response across the world.

(Pic: Foe)

Tackling disasters
This week 187 countries agreed to a new UN-backed plan to reduce deaths and economic damage from natural disasters. Known as the Sendai Framework, it sets seven targets and four priorities over the coming 15 years. Megan Darby rounded up all the news in a live blog and closing summary.

Given the UN says 87% of all natural disasters are now linked to climate change, the deal sets a strong precedent ahead of this year’s Paris summit. But it also highlighted how difficult those talks would be – ActionAid’s Harjeet Singh described the toxic climate politics that infected some of the Sendai discussions.

Cyclone Pam
The plight of Vanuatu in the face of an intense cyclone provided a sobering backdrop to the Sendai discussions. In the space of 24 hours virtually every house on the nation’s archipelago of islands was damaged, trees torn down and people left homeless and at times without hope. On Friday the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation reported that the vast majority of crops had been damaged.

Small island states have pulled together – on Thursday the Seychelles called an emergency meeting in New York to mobilise support. The direct links between climate change and this storm are as yet unclear. In 2013 a UN panel of scientific experts said it had “low confidence” in future projections of tropical storms, but an increase in intense storm activity was “more likely than not”.

For veteran climate officials like Yeb Sano it’s more than enough evidence, and proof that the UN needs to adopt an ambitious climate strategy at this year’s Paris summit. “A human death is a human death. People who lost loved ones… it is a tremendous trauma for them. Losing your home is an experience that will only be very painful and hard to rise up from,” he told us in an interview.

Solar Express
India has huge plans to roll out solar energy across its vast rail network. The railways are India’s largest consumer of diesel, with energy consumption rising 5% annually. We asked Ashok Thanikonda from the World Resources Institute in Delhi to explain what the potential of this move to clean energy could be.

That’s the good news. What’s not great is that Delhi is the world’s most polluted city, and what’s even worse is the government doesn’t have a coherent plan to address poor air quality. Avik Roy reported for us from the city’s smoggy streeets.

Interview:
RTCC speaks to the UK prime minister’s climate envoy Greg Barker about his hopes for Paris, ambitions for India’s solar growth and why he thinks this government has met its “greenest ever” pledge.

Quote of the week:
“In some cases… you have elected officials who are shills for the oil companies or the fossil fuel industry and there’s a lot of money involved,” – US president Barack Obama accuses US lawmakers of being swayed by their financial interests.

Stat of the week:
14.54 million square kilometres: That’s the record low level that the Arctic’s winter sea ice fell to, according to US data.

Solar eclipse of the week:
This is what #eclipse2015 looked like from the RTCC office. Thanks to heavy air pollution levels in London, we didn’t see much.

#eclipse2015 #london #woeful https://t.co/8KLv4UT5vV

— Edward King (@rtcc_edking) March 20, 2015

The post Climate change weekly wrap (March #3) – news, video + analysis appeared first on Climate Home News.

By Ed King

Welcome to RTCC’s weekly wrap, where we pull together the top stories from the past week, and highlight key events to look forward to over the next 7 days.

You can sign up for this to be sent directly to your inbox – right here!

Climate solved?
Global emissions stalled in 2014, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency Faith Birol said on Friday – cue mass twitter celebrations and mopping of brows. This was good news ahead of Paris, said Birol, where over 190 nations will come together in December and sign off on a pact to curb global warming.

But hold your horses, CICERO energy expert Glen Peters tweeted RTCC. These are energy-related stats, and don’t include cement emissions, which rose 2.3% in China. Plus the full report isn’t due out till June.

@rtcc_edking IEA probably does not include cement, and that grew 2.3% in China and may tip the balance to global growth @Oliver_Geden

— Glen Peters (@Peters_Glen) March 13, 2015

Coal business
China and India’s dirty lignite burning plants could be storing up trouble for investors. Many of the world’s most inefficient coal power stations are based in these countries, and could be forced out of action in the event of tougher rules to slash greenhouse gas emissions. The IEA reckons a quarter of these ‘subcritical’ plants will have to be shut down by 2020 to avoid dangerous warming.

In DC, John Kerry made his feelings on coal pretty clear. Investments in it are “destructive” he said. Governments had to stopped splashing the cash on fossil fuel subsidies. He would push the case for axing these handouts at the G20 and APEC summits this year, Kerry added.

Green Finns
This week Finland passed climate law, targeting 80% emission cuts on 1990 levels by 2050. Megan Darby had the story.

Video
Watch the amazing Solar Impulse plane soar around the world – powered by the sun

Carbon bubble
Last year a senior Shell executive said the idea of stranded fossil fuel assets in a low carbon world was alarmist. This week the company’s annual report admitted that yes – new regulations and campaigns by NGOs could hit demand hard. Shell says a Paris climate deal needs to drive investments into CCS and offer a global carbon pricing system. But it’s still planning to drill in the Arctic, and Nigeria, and Iraq. And Kazakhstan too.

UK election special
The UK Independence Party have been hot on climate change this week. First its leader Nigel Farage admitted in an interview he had not “got a clue” about climate change. He added later: “My boys, who were spoonfed climate change all through school, used to think it was hilarious when I ranted at the Six O’Clock News about that bloody iceberg and that bloody polar bear HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.” In case you’re wondering, UKIP wants to ditch the UK’s climate laws.

Two days later Stuart Agnew, a Norfolk farmer and MEP, warned colleagues in the European Parliament that it was “madness” to cut emissions. The plants would lose their natural food, he said. We asked the head of climate impacts at the Met Office, who said that no, this was not the case.

Disaster risk
The first of three big UN agreements involving the climate and environment will be signed off in Japan next week. Megan Darby has the details.

Holy smoke
Small wisps are beginning to appear from the upcoming Papal encyclical on the environment, offering a clue on what it will include. Here’s the latest – via Ireland.

Stat
Zero. That’s the number of women in the running to be the next head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, aka the IPCC.

Thomas Stocker wants to see the IPCC focus more on regional climate threats (Pic: University of Bern/Adrian Moser)

Quote
“This is personal to me. But you know what? The bottom line is it ought to be personal to everybody” – US secretary of state John Kerry lays his desire for a climate deal on the line during a speech in Washington DC.

Debate
Should climate scientists slash air miles to set an example? The UK’s Tyndall Centre on climate change – one of the premier climate science establishments, is planning to do just that. What do you think?

Foot in mouth
This week’s (inaugural) award goes to US EPA chief Gina McCarthy. Who said the US wanted a legally binding climate treaty in Paris. And then realising it doesn’t, rapidly backtracked, with a little help from the State Department.

Bookmark this:
Keep our Paris tracker within easy reach. We’ll have *all* the latest commitments when they happen. Right here.

The post Climate change weekly wrap (March #2) – news, video + analysis appeared first on Climate Home News.

By Ed King

Welcome to RTCC’s weekly wrap, where we pull together the top stories from the past week, and highlight key events to look forward to over the next 7 days.

You can sign up for this to be sent directly to your inbox – right here!

China
We start in Beijing, where the annual National People’s Conference takes place from March 4-14. It’s huge this year, as it’s where the 13th Five Year Plan (2016-2020) will be signed off, charting a course for China’s economy. At the event’s opening premier Li Keqiang announced a new goal to reduce energy intensity 3.1% on 2014 levels. he announced a new coal cap and plans to boost the wind and solar sectors.

This tallies with a report RTCC carried earlier this week, where Beijing climate and energy expert Qi Ye predicted the next FYP would see a new “serious cap” on greenhouse gas emissions, building on the news that coal consumption is falling (down 2.9% in 2014).

The government is under pressure to respond due to increasing public anger at horrendous air quality levels. The release of a documentary ‘Under the Dome’ charting life in China’s big cities and the toxic fumes people endure has resonated at the top of government, said Qi. So much so the media is now banned from writing about it.

Solar costs
Wow. Those radical greens at Deutsche Bank say the costs of solar could plummet 40% by 2020. It’s closing in on coal as the world’s cheapest source of electricity, they say, predicting a 10-fold increase in the solar industry over the next decade. By 2050 the sun could account for 30% of global power generation.

Quiz time
When’s the first big UN climate deal of the year set to be signed off? And where? Well – the answer is two week’s time, in Sendai, Japan. 160 countries will there seal a pact to develop better strategies to deal with disaster risk, which the UN says could cost between $250-300 billion a year by 2030. Central to this deal (although the UN is a little coy over the link) is the need for better climate adaptation planning. The road to Paris starts in Sendai.

India budget
Narendra Modi’s government released its first national budget at the start of this week. No surprise that not everyone was happy. Money for forest protection is down, but funds for solar are up, and the government has doubled the coal tax. Keep an eye too on India’s railways – they’re investing heavily in solar. This is, in case you don’t know, the largest railway system on the planet.

Quote of the week
“The British government is probably making a bigger effort on international negotiations than any other government,” UK climate envoy, Sir David King

Stat of the week
“In markets heavily dependent on coal for electricity generation, the ratio of coal-based wholesale electricity to solar electricity cost was 7:1 four years ago…This ratio is now less than 2:1 and could likely approach 1:1 over the next 12-18 months” – Deutsche Bank

Video
Courtesy of Russell Brand. ISIS or climate change – which kills more?

For Guiuan
This week UN climate chief Christiana Figueres wrote for RTCC from the Philippines, where she was visiting areas hit by Typhoon Haiyan back in 2013. In particular, she wrote of her visit with French president Francois Hollande to the small village of Guiuan, devastated by the storm.

“Like many other vulnerable communities around the world, the villagers of Guiuan need a strong agreement in Paris, one that can bend the curve of emissions in order to protect them from the worst impacts of climate change.” 

Winter is coming
One for all you Game of Thrones fans out there – what can the hit series tell us about climate change? Sophie Yeo, in her last article for RTCC before she heads to pastures new,  mulls over what the White Walkers are really telling us.

The post Climate change weekly wrap (March #1) – news, video + analysis appeared first on Climate Home News.

By Ed King, Megan Darby and Sophie Yeo

Welcome to RTCC’s weekly wrap, where we pull together the top stories from the past week, and highlight key events to look forward to over the next 7 days.

You can sign up for this to be sent directly to your inbox – right here.

Whither Europe?

This was the week Europe was supposed to set out its bold ambitions to be a climate leader. The details arrived on Wednesday, along with an avalanche of documents. Alas for the European Commission, which was behind the announcements, member states like the UK say the new goals could “severely undermine” efforts to cut emissions. RTCC had the exclusive on Secretary of State Ed Davey’s stinging letter to his European counterpart Miguel Arias Canete.

In a column for RTCC, Mattias Soderberg – a Danish climate analyst at the ACT Alliance – explained why he felt Brussels’ plans for a UN climate deal this December were “lame.”

Coal crash
In better news, China’s official statistics agency says the country’s use of coal fell 2.9% in 2014. Thermal power is still HUGE in China, accounting for over 60% of electricity, but MASSIVE investments in solar and wind are starting to alter the balance. Glenn Peters from the Oslo-based CICERO climate research centre said China’s 2014 CO2 emissions are projected to be 0.7% lower than 2013.

Pachauri quits
In the end, it must have come as a relief to the UN climate-science panel’s chief to go. Facing allegations of sexual harassment that surfaced last week, Rajendra Pachauri decided he’d step down as IPCC chair and allow the body to get on with its work. He denies the charges and says his computer was hacked, but said his presence would affect this week’s IPCC meeting in Nairobi. Sophie Yeo had a look at what the IPCC needs to do next.

Quote of the week
“Failure to write the prescription, however, might leave us contemplating the death certificate instead…” – Prince Charles hopes a UN climate pact later this year will be a success.

Analysis
Can the Green party crack Westminster, asked Ed King. We heard from current and former green ministers in Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands.

Picture
Ok – this isn’t as lovely as a beach in the Maldives or an Amazonian rainforest – but it’s arguably more important. China’s emissions could have peaked – and this is how.

MUST READ!
So good I put this IN CAPITALS. In the first of a series of columns, Marshall Islands poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner reflects on the cultural dimensions of climate change. It’s a beautiful and compelling article.

Comment-fest
Sophie Yeo’s short report on research in the journal Nature has caused a storm. The paper relates to the so-called global warming hiatus. Scientists think it could last a bit longer – but will end with fast warming. Many readers were not convinced (below the line at least)

Must watch
Scientist Chris Rapley discusses how climate risk should be communicated, and offers his views on the qualities the next IPCC chair should have.

The post Climate change weekly wrap (Feb #4) – latest news, great photos and analysis appeared first on Climate Home News.

By Ed King, Megan Darby and Sophie Yeo

Welcome to RTCC’s weekly wrap, where we pull together the top stories from the past week, and highlight key events to look forward to over the next 7 days.

You can sign up for this to be sent directly to your inbox – right here.

Brazil’s drought
This week’s most popular story was Fabiola Ortiz’s account of life in Brazil as the country deals with its worst drought in 84 years. Poor rains, deforestation and high water consumption has led to parts of the country declaring a state of emergency. Even carnival dancers will suffer – water used to cool them off has been banned. In the country’s biggest city, Sao Paulo, the mayor is close to restricting water access to two days a week.

G20 crunch time
The world’s top economies will decide how successful a global climate deal is – long before countries actually come to sign off any deal in Paris later this year. That was the message from top EU climate official Artur Runge Metzger, who spoke to RTCC this week. “Practically all the G20 should be able to [submit pledges] – they have the intellectual capacity and political will to move this forward,” he said.

Forests progress
Are we starting to see some movement on efforts to stem deforestation? It’s a huge problem, accounting for 10-15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Aida Greenbury, chief sustainability offer at APP, a huge paper and pulp company operating in Indonesia, told us it is slowly stopping the practice of cutting down tropical forests, and is taking steps to safeguard biodiversity and local tribes.

Asia Pulp and Paper has stopped converting natural forest to plantations, but is not stopping others (Pic: Flickr/Rainforest Action Network)

UK climate love-in
They’re used to tearing strips off each other, but PM David Cameron, Deputy PM Nick Clegg and opposition leader Ed Miliband signed a commitment to target an ambitious climate deal in Paris later this year. This is more spin than substance, but green groups said it was politically significant ahead of May’s General Election, and a sign the country’s climate consensus isn’t dead. Yet.

Mapped
Across the world climate impacts are already changing lives, and forcing people to leace their homes. Sophie Yeo has mapped some critical areas of concern.

Quote of the week
“We have never seen such sensitive and worrying situation as this” – Brazil’s minister of environment Izabella Teixeira on the country’s drought, its worst in 84 years.

China-watch
Beijing claims its emissions fell in 2014. Gerard Wynn wonders how they came to that conclusion.

Analysis
The Kyoto Protocol was 10 this week. What has it achieved?

Stat of the week
BP says global energy demand will rise 37% by 2035, with two-thirds coming from fossil fuels.

Picture
This year could be the worst on record for coral bleaching, say scientists. Warming waters cause them to release algae, lose their colour and in some cases die off.

Pic: U.S. Geological Survey

Big debate
Should journalists be climate campaigners? Some green groups say the climate situation is *so* serious media outlets have to start aggressively raising levels of public knowledge on the issue.

We ran two articles on it this week – one from RTCC editor Ed King, the other from former Daily Telegraph environment correspondent Louise Gray. Please let us know what you think – either via email or on twitter @RTCCclimatenews

Coming up next week
24-27:  IPCC meeting in Nairobi, Kenya
25: UK Green Party to launch election campaign
25: European Commission to release its proposed pledge for 2015 climate deal

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