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In 2023 for the first time, CO2 emissions produced from Canada’s fossilfuel exports surpassed a billion tonnes, at 1,030 million tonnes, significantly eclipsing the country’s domestic emissions estimate of 702 million tonnes for the same year.
It’s not just the poor air quality, long lines, and excessive fossilfuel company representation ; nations are still too far apart in their positions on a fossilfuel phaseout, the top priority for this COP. Yet global fossilfuel production and use continue to expand. Particulate matter (PM2.5)
Last week, I joined my colleagues at COP28 in Dubai , as negotiators and civil society push for a fossilfuel phaseout to meet climate goals. The industry is pushing a narrative that misleadingly calls out emissions , not fossilfuels as the problem. Source: IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.
Countries committed to a principle of fairness when they signed the ParisAgreement in 2015, acknowledging that those who have profited for decades from oil, gas and coal had a responsibility to deliver funds to the countries least responsible, yet most impacted by climate change.
This year, we yet again witnessed the dramatic consequences of the world’s continued burning of fossilfuels, such as hurricane Debby in Quebec, the wildfires in Jasper, and the flooding in southern Ontario. Before the ParisAgreement was signed in 2015, the world was on track for a catastrophic four degrees of warming.
Fossilfuel power plant owners are facing increased accountability for their air and water pollution, including from a new round of environmental and public health protections that are being rolled out by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We’ve heard these lazily disingenuous narratives before.
After 30 years of international negotiations failing to mention the root cause of the climate crisis, the acknowledgement that we must phase out all fossilfuels and massively scale up renewable energy in order to effectively tackle the climate crisis, was both long overdue and extremely significant.
Plans countries have submitted under the ParisAgreement would lead to an increase in overall emissions by 2030 and that trend desperately needs to be reversed. Corporate high emitters When a methane super-emitter is identified, the company or government who owns that site needs to take action. Other teams find similar results.
Union of Concerned Scientists’ (UCS) research shows that top fossilfuel producers’ emissions are responsible for as much as half of global surface temperature increase. The best solution: Replace fossilfuels with renewable energy. A small number of big corporations are responsible for the climate crisis.
And fossilfuel power plants may not stick to their retirement schedules for a variety of reasons. The bottom line: There’s still a long way to go, and the clean energy transition must move quicker than it has been—despite the fossilfuel industry’s self-serving claims to the contrary. A bit more on those reasons later.
Even so, it compares favorably with the national governments in places like the U.S. According to the Energy Information Agency , South Korea’s power sector is heavily reliant on fossilfuels. Actual generation is tilted a bit more toward fossilfuels and nuclear. What is South Korea doing to cut its emissions?
Under the 2015 ParisAgreement, the United States voluntarily pledged to reduce its global warming emissions at least 50 percent below their 2005 levels by the end of this decade and reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050. It also will save US consumers money because they will spend less on fossilfuels.
For years, fossilfuel companies have socialized the costs of their pollution while privatizing the benefits. Since local and state governments are on the frontlines of paying for worsening wildfires, they should also be on the leading edge of holding fossilfuel companies accountable.
If policymakers can reduce short-term, high-impact heat-trapping gases such as methane we can limit warming and keep the ParisAgreement goals within reach. But governments must put policy measures into place immediately to be effective. At COP27, 636 registered attendees are lobbyists for the fossilfuel industry.
As I prepare to attend the UN’s 28 th annual Conference of the Parties (COP28 ), I’ve been thinking a lot about the connection between the UN climate talks and litigation, especially in light of the stark reality that parties to the 2015 ParisAgreement are falling short on key milestones leading up to the next month’s meeting.
Some events last week sent a strong signal that the tide is turning against fossilfuels. To paraphrase Churchill, this may not be beginning of the end for fossilfuels, but at least it is the end of the beginning of the campaign against them. Each of the events standing alone would have been noteworthy.
During the Hangzhou plenary, governments had the opportunity to review and adjust the draft outlines developed at earlier expert meetings. This debate is not just technicalit is deeply tied to ethics, governance, and the role of the IPCC in assessing emerging technologies.
Now the reports driven by these resolutions are beginning to roll in, and while they certainly provide some insight into the fossilfuel industry’s investment in political influence, a sleight of hand is preventing investors from seeing the companies’ full strategy. degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
During the Hangzhou plenary, governments had the opportunity to review and adjust the draft outlines developed at earlier expert meetings. This debate is not just technicalit is deeply tied to ethics, governance, and the role of the IPCC in assessing emerging technologies.
Last year, climate negotiators in Glasgow finalized the ParisAgreement rulebook for international cooperation through carbon markets, clearing the way for the expansion of emissions trading and carbon pricing worldwide. The post Governing Emissions Trading in California and China appeared first on Legal Planet. Stay tuned.
Our experts will be able to provide insight on the negotiations at COP29 – including on issues related to climate finance, the energy transition and fossilfuel subsidies. Our team will also be tracking the participation in the negotiations and proceedings by the Government of Canada, provincial leaders, and oil and gas lobbyists.
When they converge on Glasgow this fall to rekindle pivotal global climate negotiations that were dampened during the pandemic, diplomats and government ministers will confront a world much changed since their last convention. In the Parisagreement rich countries said they would contribute $100 billion annually.
In the year since, there have been even more important advances in climate litigation seeking to hold companies and governments accountable for climate harms. Instead of warning the world and transitioning away from fossilfuels, the industry spent the last 50-plus years spreading disinformation and obstructing government action.
The dangerous impacts of a warming, fossil-fuel dependent world span from wildfires capable of destroying entire towns to cancer-causing air pollution that afflicts the next generation. The UNFCC ParisAgreement , for example, proposed that the global community would work together to limit the Earth’s temperature warming by 1.5°C
The key word here is “ intensity :” Fossilfuel companies often focus on emissions intensity, meaning emissions per barrel of oil, rather than absolute emissions, which is a set number measured in metric tons. Heat-trapping emissions must be cut in half by 2030 to reach the Parisagreement goal of keeping global warming to 1.5
Two-thirds of the G20’s public finance for energy went to fossilfuels in 2019–2020. The G20 group of nations provided nearly US$200 billion in support of fossilfuels in 2021, despite the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and their pledge in 2009 to phase out “inefficient” subsidies. By Catherine Early.
Fossilfuels are the root cause of climate change, of long-standing environmental injustices, and are also frequently connected to geopolitical strife and violent conflicts. Other countries are dependent upon these fossilfuels, they don’t make themselves free of them. This is a fossilfuel war.
Vanuatu and the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) asserted that these legal consequences are governed by the general law of State responsibility. Micronesia , Ghana , and Saint Lucia also emphasized that cessation and non-repetition would involve reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cutting fossilfuel subsidies, and phasing out fossilfuels.
A leaked recording showed a vital member of the presidency being exposed for wanting to use the summit to strike fossilfuel deals. He declared fossilfuels to be ‘a gift of god’ and used the platform the summit presented him with to attack Western democracies. The climate activist group 350.org
degrees–the goal of the ParisAgreement and a critical threshold for climate change–the world must stop approving fossilfuel projects AND significantly ramp down the production of all fossilfuels: coal, oil, and fossil gas. So what do we need governments to do? Starting now.
We’ve been hearing a lot lately about geoengineering – the various scientific theories and governance ideas that could eventually lead to technological interventions to help cool the planet. How will governments deal with private startups if they continue to perform unscientific, unregulated experiments? A weather balloon.
So, what if all parties – government, private sector, environmental groups, the public more broadly -actually made difficult choices and compromises, sometimes even involving important principles, in the face of dire consequences. To be blunt, in a world at great risk from the burning of fossilfuels, this is bordering on insanity.
Trading in disinformation In its climate lobbying report, ExxonMobil deemed 52 associations “aligned” for acknowledging the risks of climate change, publicly backing the ParisAgreement goal of limiting average global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and taking steps to reduce carbon emissions.
Spearheaded by the Republic of Vanuatu, they want the court to clarify how existing International Law can strengthen governmental action on climate change, protect public health and the environment, and save the save the ParisAgreement.
When diplomats and government ministers converge on Glasgow this fall, they hope to rekindle pivotal negotiations on global climate that were dampened during the pandemic. It’s also an essential consideration as countries plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Parisagreement.
Statement from Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate Dubai, UAE – Today at COP28 Canada joined eight other countries in signing a Joint Ministerial Statement on FossilFuel Subsidies , to address inaction on a 14 year old commitment to eliminate fossilfuel subsidies.
COP is far from just a showy conference – it is an important forum that has created agreements and momentum which over the past three decades have measurably reduced the severity of climate change. Before the ParisAgreement was signed in 2015, the world was on track for a catastrophic four degrees of warming. Who attends COP?
And they’re preventing efforts to build a healthy, equitable world beyond fossilfuels. That’s why we’ve included them in our brand-new campaign that names and shames the key players in the fossilfuel industry who are guilty of fueling climate chaos and the tactics they use to greenwash and misinform us all.
Canada promised to cut its greenhouse gas emissions after the 2016 ParisAgreement. It was part of the global agreement where 195 countries all agreed to reduce their emissions, and Canada has set this promise into law. The federal government has set targets and policies for most sectors in the economy….except
There’s a direct line of culpability between fossilfuel corporations and climate change – it’s why so many oil and gas CEOs have topped our list of Climate Villains. But they aren’t the only powerful players who shoulder responsibility for keeping us hooked on fossilfuels, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Canadian government brought very little new to this UN conference. Obviously Canada can’t be exclusively blamed for why serious gaps remain in fulfilling the commitments made in Paris, but our lack of action and ambition is a factor. Finally F-words: fossilfuels. Phasing out fossilfuels is not in question.
Photo credit: Karwai Tang / UK Government via Flickr. For the first time ever in the 27-year history of UN climate talks, at COP26 fossilfuels were mentioned in the final agreement. This shows that we are getting nearer to consigning the fossilfuel industry to history, even though there’s still a long way to go.
The joint statement from the recent G7 environment and energy ministers’ conference in Japan suggests there is ambition for action in some areas – on climate-related finance and investments and on eliminating toxic chemicals, for example – but less on eliminating fossilfuel subsidies and very little on eliminating plastic pollution.
This will be the first time that the CER will model a net-zero scenario, which is a big deal, since the models showcased in the Energy Futures report are used for decision-making by the governments and private sectors. Canada isn’t the only country that has communicated support for some form of fossilfuel phase out.
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