THE DON JONES INDEX… |
GAINS
POSTED in GREEN LOSSES
POSTED in RED |
|
6/4/21… 14,204.48 5/28/21… 14,210.59
6/27/13… 15,000.00 |
DOW JONES INDEX: 6/4/21…34,084.15; 5/28/21…34,464.64; 6/27/13…15,000.00)
LESSON for June 4, 2021 – “A LITTLE LITE READING!”
Americans
by the milliards are driving over the highways and through the woods to
grandmama’s house, to Disney World and, of course, flocking to the nearest
beach (except the unlucky wet, freezing souls in the Northeast). Meat and marshmallows on the grill,
mellow-able drinks in the cooler and all that is lacking is a good beach book
to read. Have we
got one for you, Mister Jones! “It is
worse, much worse, than you think,” states David Wallace-Wells in his late
2018/early 2019 tome “The Uninhabitable Planet”. Bad
enough. And the book, like the
climate, gets worse too. “The
slowness of climate change is a fairy tale, perhaps as pernicious as the one
that says it isn’t happening at all, and comes to us bundled with several
others in an anthology of comforting delusions: that global warming is an
Arctic saga, unfolding remotely; that it is strictly a matter of sea level
and coastlines, not an enveloping crisis sparing no place and leaving no life
un-deformed; that it is a crisis of the “natural” world, not the human one;
that those two are distinct, and that we live today somehow outside or beyond
or at the very least defended against nature, not circumscribed and literally
overwhelmed by it; that wealth can be a shield against the ravages of
warming; that the burning of fossil fuels is the price of continued economic
growth; that growth, and the technology it produces, will allow us to
engineer our way out of environmental disaster; that there is any analogue to
the scale or scope of this threat, in the long span of human history, that
might give us confidence in staring it down. “None of
this is true.” Mr.
Wallace-Wells is, apparently, not a climatologist, but he has interviewed
plenty of these in his aweful book about the
awfulness of the human (and the planetary) future. He is a Deputy… formerly for the Paris
Review, presently for New York Magazine’s high sheriffs; he is also a fellow
who is not only a Fellow but a National Fellow at the New America Foundation, billed
as a “distinctive community of thinkers, writers, researchers, technologists,
and community activists” (which, assuming said Fellow is only even partially
correct, will be a short-lived enterprise… almost as short as Donald Trump’s blog). Well
reviewed (See Attachment Three), lauded by a couple of Williams (Vollmann,
author of No Immediate Danger, and Gibson, Neuromancer),
compared to “The Sixth Extinction”, “Silent Spring” and ”a
cross between Stephen King and Stephen Hawking”, “Uninhabitanle”
evokes the sort of fearful respect that, owing to its relentless, unmitigated
pessimism, is more easily praised than responded to. The
recently concluded Climate Summit initiated by President Joe was a necessary,
if feeble, first step towards re-establishing an American presence on the global
stage, rudely given the hook by Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the Paris
Climate Accords which, as noted in Station Eleven, “Climate Conflict”, the
meeting of which would not have been enough to save the world from
“bloodshed”… the literal climactic damages as well as the toll from
inevitable wars and criminal activities to come as the planet warms. (After a series of computer crashes and
possible hacks, we have finally managed to include both Biden’s introduction to
the Summit and responses and notes on the contributors as Attachments One and
Two.) How bad is
it? (The situation, not the book –
although with statements like “not a new normal, but the end of normal… never
normal again,” it’s not exactly the fun beach read for summer. Courtesy
of the publisher, the first chapter of “Uninhabitable”…
“Cascades” is available online and reprinted below as Attachment Three. The author
posits twelve discrete but interconnected “Elements of Chaos”, each of which
shares the common denominator that the worsening of the carbon dioxide
toxicity of the planet and a plethora of multiplying factors – all bad
(except, perhaps, for the Russians… but only in the short term). Like the twelve Stations of a Cross from
which there is no relief and no resurrection, the uber-pessimistic Mr. W-W drags his burden of despair to our
doorstep before disappearing into the night. Humanity
faces, it would seem, twelve Stations of dying… as individuals and as a
species, and the race to the end is likely to conclude before the end of the
twenty-first century (although individual and select geographical
catastrophes will manifest long before the last hominid takes its last
breath) and Earth becomes rather like Venus.
These special deaths dangle on a de-needled Anti-Christmas tree of
fear and loathing like so many Satanic ornaments… each dedicated to a
special, infernal and eternal concluding shriek. Spin the wheel and place your bets. These
twelve forms of death (the author’s “Elements of Chaos” although there is a
logical and intelligent progression, in each case, from the worrisome to the
tragic), all prolonged and excruciating as any tortures devised by the
Spanish Inquisition, are… 1. Heat
Death The most
obvious of the Elements, and one which will soon (if not already) be upon us
for another long, hot summer (temperatures in Fargo, North Dakota, reached
one hundred degrees this week) – the author notes that an increase of seven
degrees centigrade will kill directly, a four degree
increase (widely circulated as the best worst-case scenario) will directly
kill half the planet’s population by 2100. 2. Hunger Every
degree Centigrade cuts grain production by ten
percent. With the United Nations
predicting population growth to soar to the point where fifty percent more
food will be needed by 2050, the actual grain production… let along meat,
which requires eight pounds of grain per pound, and other, more
climate-sensitive plant foods… will be falling. Moreover, the soil… especially in less
affected, even less prone to heat in places like Canada and Russia… is of
poor quality. The result is what Mr.
W-W refers to as “the Malthusian tragic”, potentiated by well-meaning
liberals who oppose and even block potentially useful GMO technologies. 3. Drowning If
unchecked by 2100, sea levels raised by Arctic and Antarctic glacier melt
will inundate the world’s large coastal cities from New York and Los Angeles
to Miami (including both the White House and Mar-a-Lago). A four degree hike will raise sea levels by
260 feet, Such
a possibility is comparable to the Biblical Great Flood which, archaeologists
have determined, did actually occur about 5,500 BC in the region of the Black
Sea, 4. Wildfires Citing
Joan Didion’s “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” (but, somewhat surprisingly, not
Nathaniel West’s “Day of the Locust”, the author enumerates innumerable fires
that have raged, particularly in the American West, over the past decade… not
to mention the chaos in the Amazon, where Trumptastic
dictator Jair Bolsonaro has been busily chopping
down the Amazon rainforest, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle: fires kill
trees, dead trees release their carbon into the atmosphere, heating it up and
enabling more fires to repeat the process. 5. Disasters “Uninhabitable”
was published a few weeks before the emergence of the perversely pestiferous Covid plague but, a year earlier, the summer of 2017
produced three major hurricans (in sequence), not
to mention smaller (but no less injurious to their victims) catastrophes like
floods, fires, storms and landslides.
The author notes that researchers are considering adding a new
Category Six class of super typhoons which, citing Australian folk-tales, are
bundled together as “dreamtime weather”.
Atop this add the environmental damage of flooded chemical refineries
and earthquake shaken nuclear plants. 6. Freshwater
Drain While the
earth is 71% water, only one percent of it is drinkable. Four billion human face chronic shortages –
especially in Cape Town, Africa; Sao Paolo, Brazil and Barcelona, Spain. (Not to mention Flint, MI!) 7. Dying
Oceans “Undersea”
by Rachel Carson (written 20 years before Silent Spring) was no Disney
homage; rather a tale of terror, death and horror as if a new version of the
Little Mermaid was directed by Eli Roth of the “Saw” franchise. Since its publication, coral reefs have
been dying off and fish are migrating northwards – some schools as 250
miles. See, also, a March New York
Times expose entitled “CLIMATE
CHANGE IS CAUSING THE GULF STREAM TO WEAKEN”. 8. Unbreathable
Air Are you
feeling tired? Do others think you’re
stupid. You are and they’re right
because mental faculties are far more dependant than
the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (or its lack). The air quality index is measured on a
scale – 50 is the old normal, it become dangerous over 300 (which point was
reached in recent Western wildfires) and at the time of publication, had been
measured at 993 in China, 991 in Delhi, India. 9. Plague Mild
winters and rainy springs bring a bountiful harvest of ticks, fleas and
mosquitoes – all of which were the prime disease spreaders before Covid elbowed them aside.
Now they’re itching to get back in the race. You’ll be itching too – or worse. A note: Mister W-W entirely missed the
present plague, the book was published just as lab
researchers in Wuhan were starting to feel not so well. 10. Economic
Collapse We saw a
taste of it last year when the stocks slumped and
unemployment soared. We may be
recovering but the next disaster… most likely climate related… will be even
worse. There is going to be a stark
trade-off… reduce (or terminate) “fossil capitalism” and pay the economic
price, or don’t. 11. Climate Conflict Those
nations that do find their situations worsening may… well, will… attempt to
survive at the expense of others, and this may… well, will… lead to war. How much and how destructive are yet to be
answered, but it is notable to note that Mr. W-W had no comment on the
possibility of a nuclear war winter canceling out a climate induced global
warming to felicitous circumstances.
Other are probably looking into this. 12. “Systems” (i.e. refugees, migrants, mental
health) Finally,
the catch-all for whatever didn’t fit in the first eleven. This may include crime, race riots,
political upheavals (for good or ill), a renunciation or embracing of strange
religious beliefs – whatever. A coda:
the likelihood of UFOs landing and guiding us out of our cage through science
and/or wise counsel is unlikely because it is assumed that any interplanetary
culture probably experienced the same sort of energy-related mishaps as we
are going through and then either learned to mind their own business and
forego space travel or else they extincted
themselves. After the
Chaos, comes, a somewhat inadequate unnamed, unnumbered swamp of… 13. Remedies President Biden’s April climate summit took place after the publication
of “Uninhabitable” but, as Attachment Two details, most of the attendees at
least admitted that there was a problem – duly acknowledged in post-climate
media coverage. As set out in the landmark Paris Agreement, (which, EDF Europe
Executive Director chose to mention without mention of Donald Trump), “now is
the time when we’re looking for countries to bridge the gap between their
ambition to limit temperature increases to near 1.5 degrees Celsius and the
commitments put forward in Paris, which amounted to temperature increases of
around 3 degrees.” Three degrees,
stated Wallace-Wells is well down the road to extinction. Perhaps a handful of immensely powerful men (or woman if Joe
goes and Kamala replaces him) can do something about it. Otherwise, all that Don Jones can do is
become a hermit, wait for the end and hope there is a Heaven for the
virtuous). Failing that, drive down to
the mall and shop, take home a beer and a burger and live life out to the end. But feel guilty about it. As for Don Jones,
even a record rebound in employment couldn’t wipe away the stain of debt that
threatens to sink America.
As it has for the past few weeks, the Don bounced around a
little, settled slightly higher this week… almost the same as two weeks
ago. Many of the indices were variable
and subjective… housing prices keep rising, gladdening owners, discouraging
renters and people who need to move for good reasons or bad. Sales, however, are declining so realtors
have that… what’s that buzzword above… “re-entry anxiety”? THE DON JONES INDEX CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to
EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000 (REFLECTING… approximately… DOW
JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013) See a further
explanation of categories here… ECONOMIC INDICES (60%)
The Don Jones Index for the week
of May 28th through June 4th, 2021 was DOWN 6.11 points. The Don Jones Index is sponsored by the Coalition
for a New Consensus: retired Congressman and Independent Presidential
candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan,
Administrator/Editor. The CNC denies,
emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well as any of its
officers (including former Congressman Parnell,
environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna
Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy and Renaissance” and “The
Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere pawns in the web-serial
“Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective legal action against
parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders. Comments, complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC
donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com |
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ATTACHMENT ONE – from
the American White House,
March 26, 2021
President Biden Invites 40 World Leaders to Leaders
Summit on Climate
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
PRESIDENT BIDEN INVITES 40
WORLD LEADERS TO LEADERS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE
President Biden took action his first day in office to return the United
States to the Paris Agreement. Days later, on January 27, he announced
that he would soon convene a leaders summit to
galvanize efforts by the major economies to tackle the climate crisis.
The Leaders Summit on Climate will underscore the urgency – and
the economic benefits – of stronger climate action. It will be a key
milestone on the road to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26)
this November in Glasgow.
In recent years,
scientists have underscored the need to limit planetary warming to 1.5 degrees
Celsius in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. A key
goal of both the Leaders Summit and COP26 will be to
catalyze efforts that keep that 1.5-degree goal within reach. The Summit
will also highlight examples of how enhanced climate ambition will create good
paying jobs, advance innovative technologies, and help vulnerable countries
adapt to climate impacts.
By the time of the Summit, the United States will announce an ambitious 2030
emissions target as its new Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris
Agreement. In his invitation, the President urged leaders to use the
Summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries also will contribute to
stronger climate ambition.
The Summit will
reconvene the U.S.-led Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which
brings together 17 countries responsible for approximately 80 percent of global
emissions and global GDP. The President also invited the heads of other
countries that are demonstrating strong climate leadership, are especially
vulnerable to climate impacts, or are charting innovative pathways to a
net-zero economy. A small number of business and civil society leaders
will also participate in the Summit.
Key themes of the
Summit will include:
·
Galvanizing
efforts by the world’s major economies to reduce emissions during this critical
decade to keep a limit to warming of 1.5 degree Celsius within reach.
·
Mobilizing public
and private sector finance to drive the net-zero transition and to help
vulnerable countries cope with climate impacts.
·
The economic
benefits of climate action, with a strong emphasis on job creation, and the
importance of ensuring all communities and workers benefit from the transition
to a new clean energy economy.
·
Spurring
transformational technologies that can help reduce emissions and adapt to climate
change, while also creating enormous new economic opportunities and building
the industries of the future.
·
Showcasing
subnational and non-state actors that are committed to green recovery and an
equitable vision for limiting warming to 1.5 degree Celsius, and are working
closely with national governments to advance ambition and resilience.
·
Discussing
opportunities to strengthen capacity to protect lives and livelihoods from the
impacts of climate change, address the global security challenges posed by climate
change and the impact on readiness, and address the role of nature-based
solutions in achieving net zero by 2050 goals.
Further details on
the Summit agenda, additional participants, media access, and public viewing
will be provided in the coming weeks.
The President
invited the following leaders to participate in the Summit: (Attachment Two, below)
ATTACHMENT TWO – from
VARIOUS
These are statements from invitees to the Earth Day (virtual)
climate conference, April 22-3, as well as biographical and documentary
material from local, hometown and global sources…
Prime Minister
Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda
STATEMENT BY PRIME
MINISTER THE HON. GASTON BROWNE AT LEADERS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE
April 22nd to 23rd 2021
I thank President Biden for
convening this very important gathering, to address the most significant threat
facing, our one planet and our one humanity.
We are grateful that the United States and China have pledged to reduce
their greenhouse gas emissions and we look forward to swift action in their
transitioning into carbon neutral economies.
We urge other major emitting nations to
follow this vital example set by the United States and China.
We remind that, the 44 members of the Alliance of Small Island
States, through no fault of their own, confront the greatest threats of Climate
Change.
The 44 AOSIS members, are the least contributors to greenhouse gas
emissions, but the most affected by climate change.
Collectively, they emit just 1.5 percent of the emissions of
industrialized nations, and many of them have already begun to roll out
ambitious programmes to reduce their small carbon
footprint, particularly in renewable energy.
They made ambitious national commitments at COP 21 in Paris and
they remain passionately committed to implementing them within their means.
However, the harmful effects of Climate Change are growing, and
the cost of mitigation and recovery is being counted in human lives and
livelihoods.
The economic situation of our countries was already grave before
the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is now dire, particularly for tourism dependent nations.
We are literally teetering on the edge of despair.
Over the years, the debt of small states has risen to unsustainable
levels, because of repeated borrowings to rebuild and recover from continuous
debilitation by natural disasters, arising from climate change.
Mechanisms, introduced by International Financial Institutions (IFIs),
for addressing the looming debt crisis are insufficient.
For some small states, even these inadequate instruments are
denied, because of the false criterion, of middle and high per capita income,
which ignores the huge vulnerabilities that small states face.
It is urgent that policy makers of the IFIs, instruct that more
determining criteria of small size, resource constraints and vulnerabilities,
be taken fully into account for concessional financing.
Colleagues, repayment of official debt by small states, including
to the Paris Club, is near impossible in the prevailing parlous circumstances.
A permanent solution to the looming debt crisis is compelling and
necessary.
This requires action to design new and innovative financial
instruments and to provide debt relief, including debt cancellation, debt
suspension, debt rescheduling, debt restructuring and debt-for-climate swaps.
Worsening Climate conditions are uprooting workers from previously
productive sectors and causing a crisis of emigration and refugees.
This, too, must be reversed in the global interest.
We should acknowledge the interconnectedness of human civilisation and we need to respect and protect our common
humanity.
Small states are also economic markets, providing revenues and
employment for larger and richer nations.
Every major country benefits perennially
from trade surpluses with small states.
To continue to be viable markets, to remain viable democracies
that uphold human rights and the rule of law; to achieve climate justice, and to
provide economic conditions that discourage refugees, we need the following:
·
Urgent access to COVID-19
vaccines, which should be prioritised based on
vulnerability.
·
Immediate action to cut
greenhouse gas emissions.
·
A programme
of debt forgiveness and debt rescheduling
·
Concessional financing that
takes account of vulnerabilities and,
·
Funding to compensate for
damage to help reconstruct our economies and funding to acquire decarbonised technologies to assist in building resilience.
It is our hope that a spirit of cooperation will emerge from this
gathering of 40 that can be taken to Glasgow, to inspire an ambitious programme of action to achieve net zero by 2050.
Thank you.
Alejandra Padin-Dujon
FROM CARICOM
Two Caribbean heads of state were
invited to U.S. President Joe Biden’s “Summit of 40 Leaders” on April 22-23,
2021. One of these was none other than Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua
and Barbuda. Those interested in reading PM Browne’s full remarks, which are
brief, may find them here.
The remarks:
“The 44 [Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)] members,
are the least contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, but the most
affected by climate change.”
This is not a terribly new or remarkable take on the plight of
small island developing states (SIDS). Nonetheless, it was a critical point to
raise in light of wealthier countries’ tendency to assign uniform culpability
and obligations to all members of the international community. Just as COVID-19
is not, in fact, a “great equalizer” where “we are all in the same boat,” not
all countries suffer equally from climate change. Neither do all countries have
the same resources, or bear the same blame, in this matter. PM Browne and other
Caribbean leaders push deliberately against homogenizing narratives in
recognition of the fact that the future of global climate policy depends on
identifying resources and obligations where they actually exist.
“Collectively, [AOSIS emits] just 1.5 percent of the emissions of
industrialized nations, and many of them have already begun to roll
out ambitious programmes to reduce their small
carbon footprint, particularly in renewable energy.”
Aha! Here we go. Without contradicting his earlier point about the
minimal culpability of SIDS in creating the problem of climate change (“small
carbon footprint”), PM Browne draws attention to climate mitigation efforts:
namely, investment into renewable energy.
Global climate discourse is still dominated by developed,
high-emitting countries, and as a result, climate mitigation (i.e.,
reducing greenhouse gas emissions) is a hot topic, whether or not the country
in question actually pollutes significantly. It has been a long and arduous
fight for climate-vulnerable developing countries to draw attention to the need
for adaptation measures, and even now, many nations with the luxury of treating
climate change as an impending problem and not a current one,
call this attitude defeatism. To remain well-regarded players in the climate game,
even SIDS need to participate in climate mitigation schemes. Declarations of
commitment to renewable energy feed into a global hunger for technology-driven
climate change solutions.
“For some small states, even these inadequate instruments [from
international financial institutions] are denied, because of the false
criterion, of middle and high per capita income, which ignores the huge
vulnerabilities that small states face.”
PM Browne’s main point here echoes previous remarks by Prime
Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, and possibly
others, regarding the need to revise the rules of official development
assistance (ODA). Oftentimes, choice remarks are directed toward Paris Club
members for their dealings in the Caribbean as well. Climate vulnerability is a
costly and destabilizing threat to SIDS finances, and this need is often
neglected – especially in the Caribbean – due to World Bank classifications by
per capita income. PM Browne’s case here is particularly salient for Antigua
and Barbuda: the country was recently “upgraded” from upper middle income
to high income in 2020, and is faced
with drastic reductions in its access to ODA in the process. Most Caribbean
islands are classified as middle or high income.
“Over the years, the debt of small states has risen to
unsustainable levels, because of repeated borrowings to rebuild and recover
from continuous debilitation by natural disasters, arising from climate change
[…] This requires action to design new and innovative financial instruments and
to provide debt relief, including debt cancellation, debt suspension, debt
rescheduling, debt restructuring and debt-for-climate swaps.”
This is where the Prime Minister enters into territory that might
seem contentious for an American, a Brit, or another Western observer, but that
is actually par for the course in Caribbean political dialogue. It isn’t
radical so much as perceptive – and justified.
The fact is, Caribbean governments feel the crushing weight of a
national debt – sometimes above 100% of GDP – that simply cannot be
repaid. To add insult to injury, debt is oftentimes the result of wealthier
countries’ heinous misdeeds, like the creation of anthropogenic climate change
and centuries of colonialism. Caribbean countries’ borrowed funds are often
poured into disaster relief efforts and postcolonial economic development.
Caribbean debt, in other words, is not really a Caribbean problem. It is a
European, American, Canadian, Australian, (etc.) one that is simply borne by
Caribbean governments.
Thoughts:
PM Browne’s remarks expose the degree to which painting emissions
as a universal problem falsely implicates small developing countries and
distracts from discussions on adaptation. A subtler, but no less important
point is the utter unsuitability of per capita income as an index of need for
climate-vulnerable countries. Climate change is a global problem. Yet a lack of
global attention to the nuances of prosperity and vulnerability in the
developing world persists.
President Alberto Fernandez, Argentina
From aa.com turkey
ARGENTINE PRESIDENT COMMITS TO FIGHTING
CLIMATE CHANGE
LONDON
4/22/21
The president of Argentina participated in a virtual summit
alongside 40 global leaders who pledged to tackle climate change.
Alberto Fernandez thanked US President
Joe Biden for the invitation and reaffirmed Argentina's efforts to put
"climate and environmental action" at the center of his government's
agenda.
"It is now or never,"
insisted Fernandez. "I have instructed our National Climate Change Cabinet
to prepare the National Adaptation and Mitigation Plan - to be presented at COP
26 in Glasgow,” he said, referencing the UN Climate Change Conference in the
first half of November.
He also stressed that the
nation will honor the Paris Agreement.
"I call on us to
coordinate regional and solidarity measures. The new generations look to us.
The time of doubt is over - no one is saved alone," said Fernandez as he
encouraged joint action from Latin American and Caribbean governments.
"We assume the commitment
to develop 30% of the national energy matrix with renewable energy," as
part of Argentina's agenda to reduce its environmental footprint, he said.
He also announced that he would
send an environmental bill to protect native forests. "We will adopt
profound measures to eradicate illegal deforestation, classifying it as an
environmental crime."
Fernandez said international
credit organizations should contribute more, particularly with contributions
"for ecosystem services" and "debt swaps for climate
action."
He also raised the issue of
negotiations with the IMF, pointing out that he believes environmental justice
goes hand in hand with social and financial justice. "Let's go through a
different time together with social, financial and environmental justice,"
said Fernandez.
He insisted that the
coronavirus pandemic has worsened Argentina’s economy and debt restructure now
requires "greater flexibility of terms, rates and conditions."
Fernandez also said that
Argentina will promote the Federal Environmental Education Law to create more
cultural awareness in the South American nation.
From Buenos Aires Times
PRESIDENT REITERATES ‘DEBT SWAPS FOR CLIMATE ACTION’
CALL BEFORE GLOBAL LEADERS
Alberto Fernández pledges Argentina’s commitment
to tackling climate change, saying he has “put climate and environmental action
at the centre of his government’s convictions.”
President
Alberto Fernández on Thursday participated in a virtual Earth Day summit
against climate change convened by his US counterpart Joe Biden, during which
he said Argentina is fully committed to the environmental crisis.
Biden,
Chinese President Xi Jinping and IMF Managing Director Kristalina
Georgieva were among the officials who at the summit backed calls for higher
carbon taxes and massive investments in green energy to curb rising
temperatures and put the world on the path to prosperity.
Fernández,
who was invited to attend the summit virtually in a letter from the US
president back in March, told world leaders that he was fully onboard with
attempts to limit the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees
Celsius.
The
Peronist president said that under his leadership, Argentina "has put
climate and environmental action at the centre of its
convictions" and stressed that his country would “honour”
the aims laid out in the Paris Agreement.
"It
is now or never; I have instructed my Cabinet to develop a national adaptation
and mitigation plan," said the president, as he addressed the summit,
adding that he would soon send Congress "a bill for the environmental
protection of native forests."
However,
Fernández then used much of his speaking time to push the idea that
international credit organisations should provide
financial support for environmental commitments, such as "debt swaps for
climate action." He also called for “a new allocation of [International
Monetary Fund] Special Drawing Rights, without discrimination, to middle-income
countries to improve our environment. "
He
argued that “irresponsible over-indebtedness caused before the pandemic and
aggravated by the presence of this virus, with greater flexibility of terms,”
had left countries in crisis feeling the pinch.
"We
need to renew the international financial architecture,” he added. “The agenda
is clear: mobilisation of concessional and
non-reimbursable resources channelled through
multilateral and bilateral banks and with agile and transparent processes.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison,
Australia
STATEMENT
Well
thank you, Mr President, and very much to you for
leading this Summit and can I also acknowledge you Mr
Secretary as well as Special Envoy Kerry.
It’s
right to speak to our ambitions at this Summit, it’s also right to focus on
performance.
Australia
has a strong track record of setting, achieving and exceeding our commitments
to responsibly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and playing our part to keep the
1.5 degrees within reach.
We
have met and exceeded our 2020 Kyoto commitments and we are transparent about
our progress through our annual projection updates and quarterly carbon
reporting.
We
are well on the way to meet and beat our Paris commitments and will update our Long Term Emissions Reduction Strategy for Glasgow.
Achieving
our 2030 target will see emissions per capita fall by almost half, of our
emissions per unit of GDP by 70 per cent.
Already
we have reduced our emissions by 19 per cent on 2019- on 2005 levels I should
say, more than most other similar economies - and by 36% when you exclude
exports.
We
are deploying renewable energy ten times faster than the global average per
person. We have the highest uptake of rooftop solar in the world.
Australia
is on the pathway to net zero. Our goal is to get there as soon as we possibly
can, through technology that enables and transforms our industries, not taxes
that eliminate them and the jobs and livelihoods they support and create,
especially in our regions.
For
Australia, it is not a question of if or even by when for net zero, but
importantly how.
That
is why we are investing in priority new technology solutions, through our
Technology Investment Roadmap initiative.
We
are investing around $20 billion to achieve ambitious goals that will bring the
cost of clean hydrogen, green steel, energy storage and carbon capture to
commercial parity. We expect this to leverage more than $80 billion in
investment in the decade ahead.
In
Australia our ambition is to produce the cheapest clean hydrogen in the world,
at $2 per kilogram Australian.
Mr President, in the United States you have the Silicon Valley. Here
in Australia we are creating our own ‘Hydrogen Valleys’. Where we will
transform our transport industries, our mining and resource sectors, our
manufacturing, our fuel and energy production.
In
Australia our journey to net zero is being led by world class pioneering
Australian companies like Fortescue, led by Dr Andrew Forrest, Visy, BHP, Rio
Tinto, AGL and so many more of all sizes.
It
is also being pioneered by our agricultural and marine sectors through soil
science and sustainable fisheries.
Marine
protected areas in Australia are approaching 40 per cent of our waters.
We
have already funded over 100 cutting-edge projects to safeguard our global
treasure, the Great Barrier Reef, and are committing a further $100 million to
protect our oceans, coastal ecosystems and pioneer blue carbon initiatives to
mitigate climate change.
We
are also providing $1.5 billion in practical climate finance focusing on our
blue Pacific family partners in our region.
Mr President, we want to work with others on the ‘how’, through our
new international technology partnerships programme,
led by Australia’s former Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel.
My
Government is committed to playing its part in making COP26 a success in
Glasgow, and you can always be sure that the commitments Australia makes to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions are bankable.
We
have proven performance, transparent emissions accounting and transformative
technology targets to unlock pathways to net zero.
Future
generations, my colleagues and Excellencies, will thank us not for what we have
promised, but what we deliver. And on that score Australia can always be relied
upon. Thank you for your kind attention.
[Ends]
AUSTRALIA RESISTS
CALLS FOR TOUGHER CLIMATE TARGETS
From bbc 4/23/21
Australia's Prime Minister
Scott Morrison has resisted pressure to set more ambitious carbon emission
targets while other major nations vowed deeper reductions to tackle climate
change.
Addressing
a global climate summit, Mr Morrison said Australia
was on a path to net zero emissions.
But
he stopped short of setting a timeline, saying the country would get there "as
soon as possible".
It
came as the US, Canada and Japan set new commitments for steeper cuts.
US
President Joe Biden, who chaired the virtual summit, pledged to cut carbon
emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by the year 2030. This new target
essentially doubles the previous US promise.
By
contrast, Australia will stick with its existing pledge of cutting carbon
emissions by 26%-28% below 2005 levels, by 2030. That's in line with the Paris
climate agreement, though Mr Morrison said Australia
was on a pathway to net zero emissions.
"Our
goal is to get there as soon as we possibly can, through technology that
enables and transforms our industries, not taxes that eliminate them and the
jobs and livelihoods they support and create," he told the summit.
"Future
generations... will thank us not for what we have promised, but what we
deliver."
Australia
is one of the world's biggest carbon emitters on a per capita basis. Mr Morrison, who has faced sustained criticism over climate
policy, said action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would focus on
technology.
The
prime minister said Australia is deploying renewable energy 10 times faster
than the global average per person, and has the highest uptake of rooftop solar
panels in the world.
Mr Morrison added Australia would invest $20bn ($15.4bn; 11.1bn)
"to achieve ambitious goals that will bring the cost of clean hydrogen,
green steel, energy storage and carbon capture to commercial parity".
"You
can always be sure that the commitments Australia makes to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions are bankable."
Australia
has seen growing international pressure to step up its efforts to cut emissions
and tackle global warming. The country has warmed on average by 1.4 degrees C
since national records began in 1910, according to its science and weather
agencies. That's led to an increase in the number of extreme heat events, as
well as increased fire danger days.
Ahead
of the summit, President Biden's team urged countries that have been slow to
embrace action on climate change to raise their ambition. While many nations
heeded the call, big emitters China and India also made no new commitments.
"Scientists
tell us that this is the decisive decade - this is the decade we must make
decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis,"
President Biden said at the summit's opening address.
Referring
to America's new carbon-cutting pledge, President Biden added: "The signs
are unmistakable, the science is undeniable, and the cost of inaction keeps
mounting."
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,
Bangladesh
LEADERS’ SUMMIT ON CLIMATE: PM HASINA FOR IMMEDIATE
ACTION PLAN
From Dhaka Tribune Published at 07:50 pm April 22nd, 2021
·
·
Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday put forward four suggestions to global
leaders to fight climate change challenges with a strong collective response.
The premier made the suggestions in her prerecorded
video message screened in the opening session of the two-day “Leaders’ Summit
on Climate” hosted by US President Joe Biden.
Joe Biden invited 40 world leaders, including
Sheikh Hasina, to join the virtual Summit to galvanize efforts by major economies
to tackle the climate crisis.
Sheikh Hasina’s suggestions include –
announcing an immediate and ambitious action plan by developed countries to
reduce their carbon emissions to keep the global temperature at 1.5°C with
focus on mitigation measures; and ensuring the annual target of $100 billion
which should be balanced 50:50 between adaptation and mitigation with special
attention while pursuing losses and damages.
The other two suggestions are, major
economies, international financial institutions, and private sectors should
come forward with plans for concessional climate financing as well as
innovation and focusing on green economy and carbon-neutral technologies with a
provision of technology transfer among nations.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us that
any global crisis can only be addressed through a strong collective response,”
she said.
Sheikh Hasina thanked US President Biden for
convening the summit and inviting her to speak at this gathering saying that
Bangladesh deeply appreciates the US’s return to the Paris Climate Agreement
and is keen to engage with the international community.
“Despite being a climate-vulnerable country
with resource constraints, Bangladesh has emerged as a global leader on
adaptation and mitigation,” she said.
The prime minister mentioned that every year
Bangladesh is spending about $5 billion, about 2.5% of the GDP, on climate
adaptation and resilience-building measures.
“The 1.1 million forcefully displaced
Rohingyas from Myanmar whom we’ve sheltered worsened our vulnerabilities,” she
added.
The prime minister said Bangladesh is pursuing
a low-carbon development path. “To raise its Nationally Determined Contribution
(NDC) and adaptation ambition, it has included new sectors in addition to the
existing energy, industry, and transport sectors in the mitigation process.
We’re planning to submit a quantified ambitious NDC by June 2021,” she added.
Sheikh Hasina said that Bangladesh is
observing “Mujib Year,” marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“We’re planting 30 million saplings nationwide
and adopting the ‘Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan’ to achieve low-carbon economic
growth,” she furthered.
As the chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum
(CVF) and V20, Sheikh Hasina said that Bangladesh’s key focus is on upholding
the interests of the climate-vulnerable countries, she added
The prime minister said Bangladesh is hosting
the South Asian regional office of the Global Centre on Adaptation which is
promoting locally-led adaptation solutions.
US President Biden and Vice President Harris
opened the inaugural session of the summit.
The opening session titled “Raising Our
Climate Ambition” underscored the urgent need for the world’s major economies
to strengthen their climate ambition by the time of COP 26 to keep the goal of
limiting warming to 1.5°C within reach.
The UN Secretary General António Guterres,
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, British Prime
Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French
President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South Korean
President Moon Jae-in, among other world leaders, spoke at the virtual summit.
The Leaders’ Summit on Climate would be a key
milestone on the road to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26)
this November in Glasgow.
President Biden took action
on his first day in office to return the US to the Paris Agreement as days later,
on January 27, he announced that he would soon convene a leaders’ summit to
galvanize efforts by the major economies to tackle the climate crisis.
From the Daily Star
ENSURE $100 BILLION ANNUAL
FUND: PM AT LEADERS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE
"Major
economies, international financial institutions and private sectors should come
forward for concessional climate financing as well as innovation," she
said virtually today at the Leaders Summit on Climate
hosted by US President Joe Biden.
Hasina
also suggested pursuing "Loss and Damage", a process that refers to
the harms caused by anthropogenic climate change within the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Forty
world leaders including major emitting countries US, China, Russia, India,
Japan, UK, Canada, as well as leaders from the climate vulnerable countries and
those that demonstrated innovations and leadership in tackling climate change
also attended the two-day summit.
Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina, president of Climate Vulnerable Forum -- a group of 48
climate vulnerable countries -- said, "The Covid-19 pandemic has reminded
us that global crisis can only be addressed through strong collective
response."
As a responsible member state of the COP and as the Chair of CVF, she suggested
an immediate and ambitious action plan by developed countries to reduce their
carbon emissions to keep the global temperature rise at 1.5 degree Celsius.
"The
developing nations should also focus on mitigation measures," she said in
the virtual summit.
"Focus is needed on green economy and carbon neutral technologies with
provision of technology transfer among nations," PM Hasina said.
She
thanked President Biden for convening the Summit and inviting her to speak to
the august gathering and deeply appreciated the US' return to the Paris Climate
Agreement.
"Despite
being a climate vulnerable country with resource constraints, Bangladesh has
emerged as a global leader on adaptation and mitigation. Every year we are
spending about 5 billion dollars, about 2.5 percent of our GDP, on climate
adaptation and resilience-building measures," she said.
However,
she said the 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar who took shelter
in Bangladesh following the 2017 military crackdown in Rakhine have worsened
Bangladesh's vulnerability.
PM
Hasina said Bangladesh is pursuing a low carbon development path and to raise
the country's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and adaptation ambition,
Bangladesh has included new sectors in addition to the existing energy,
industry and transport sectors in the mitigation process.
She
said the Bangladesh government is planning to submit a quantified ambitious NDC
by June 2021.
She
said Bangladesh is observing 'Mujib Year', marking the birth centenary of
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and is planting 30
million saplings nationwide and adopted "Mujib Climate Prosperity
Plan" to achieve low carbon economic growth.
As
the Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and V20, Bangladesh's key focus is to
uphold the interests of the climate vulnerable countries.
She
also said Bangladesh is hosting the South Asian regional office of the Global
Centre on Adaptation which is promoting locally-led adaptation solutions.
Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Bhutan
From
channelnews asia By Jack
Board 03 Aug 2020 06:08AM(Updated: )
CLIMATE CHANGE
LIKE A CANCER THAT NEEDS URGENT TREATMENT, SAYS BHUTAN’S PM
THIMPHU:
Bhutan’s Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, a practicing
surgeon on weekends, has compared the global effects of climate change to
cancer that without urgent action will become an incurable disease.
In an exclusive interview with CNA, Dr Tshering said he was
“disappointed” by the lack of action being taken by the rest of the world, as
more impacts start to be felt by the mountainous developing nation.
“The evidence is clear out there. If we, the decision makers, don’t
listen to this, at some point, the Earth will suffer from an incurable disease.
We don’t want to wait that long,” he said.
Bhutan, a kingdom of about 800,000 people,
has for decades been a champion for environmental policy and action.
It is the only carbon negative country in the world, absorbing
about four times as much emission as it produces. Through its exported
renewable energy, it can offset millions of additional tonnes
of carbon dioxide.
“We are just a drop on the world map and greenhouse gases do not
need passports or visas to cross geographical boundaries. If bigger nations did
a bit of what we are doing, probably we wouldn’t be talking about climate
change so much.”
Care
for the natural world is enshrined in the country’s constitution, which
mandates that at least 60 per cent of the country forever remain under forest
cover.
At present, that number is 72 per cent - vast swathes of
protected trees providing a major carbon sink for the region, while Bhutan
remains a low-emission nation irrespective, with no major polluting industry
and a small, rural and mostly subsistence-reliant population.
As a consequence of a decades-long focus on preserving the
environment, Dr Tshering says, Bhutan has suffered economically.
The country’s coal reserves sit mostly untouched. Legal clamps
were placed on the timber industry in the late 1970s and heavy investment has
gone into renewable energy sources.
It is a price the people of Bhutan are willing to pay, he
believes.
“We are economically disadvantaged. It
limits our economic growth a bit. But politically, myself, my government, and
the people of Bhutan are okay with this because now we are becoming more and
more clear that this is the way forward. It’s not for the short term but for
generations to come,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s any debate on this. The only way forward
is we all must agree, be willing to sacrifice a little bit now more from an
economic point of view.”
Bhutan’s economy is heavily reliant on hydropower, which it
exports principally to neighbouring
India. Largely due to this electricity development and the export
relationship with India, the country “maintains solid growth and macroeconomic
stability”, according to an analysis by the World Bank.
However, the sustainability and viability
of hydropower is under genuine threat from climate change.
Bhutan has relied on less environmentally-impactful,
run-of-the-river hydropower operations but intends to invest in larger
reservoir dam projects in the near future - starting with the massive Sankosh Hydroelectric Project.
It is a concession that the climate cannot be relied upon to
deliver consistent rainfall and river flow, which the dams require to produce
electricity.
“(The) hydropower we have is very highly climate dependent. We
have realised this and we are a little worried,”
Dr Tshering said.
All
national policies are screened through the country’s Gross Happiness
Commission, including those related to climate change, and the prime minister
says there is a very high threshold for large projects being commissioned,
regardless of economic need.
“As a country, we need to move forward and we need to balance
everything along with economic development. We’d like to go ahead with
hydropower with all the environmental assessments done properly. If it is not
going to be viable, we will not go ahead, that is very clear,” he stated.
“We’d like to start (with Sankosh) and
then see how it does for the next decade or so. If climate change becomes more
dependable, if it settles down a bit, we can embark on the next project.
We have to be very careful with this.”
Melting glaciers and the danger of glacial lake outburst floods from
temperatures rising faster at higher altitudes means much of the country is on
edge from potential disasters.
And while other countries are investing heavily in mitigation,
Dr Tshering says Bhutan must push for preventing climate change from getting
worse, given it has few resources to protect itself.
“The biggest problem here is we have been trying very hard but
we are hit very hard. That is the paradox here,” Dr Tshering said.
“We’re under constant threat and that is the most unfair part
when I say we’re a little disappointed. How much ever we try, we poorer
countries are affected disproportionately. That’s a big concern on our part.
But there’s nothing much we can do.
“We have done our best by being where we are today, yet we have
to face this. That is the irony of life. I find it totally unfair.”
Geographically edged between global superpowers China and India,
and being a small player in international negotiations, Dr Tshering said he
does not expect the world to sit up and heed his advice or philosophy.
Nor will he “waste time” trying to convince world leaders who
take an alternative path on climate change action.
“Historically,
traditionally, culturally and emotionally, we have been climate champions. Not
because of all these climate issues. For centuries we have been very
environmentally friendly,” he said.
“There is no Bhutan stand on this. If world leaders all agree on
the fact that this is inevitable, if they agree that this is real, if they all
agree that a stage-one cancer if not treated will go on to progress onto stage
two or three and will be incurable one day, if they know they have no choice,
then they will act now.
“World leaders who believe there is a choice, probably they will
act when it’s too late.”
President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil
BRAZIL'S BOLSONARO, UNDER U.S. PRESSURE, VOWS CLIMATE NEUTRALITY
BY 2050
Reuters April 22, 2021 10:21 AM EDT by Jake Spring, Lisandra Paraguassu
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday announced his most ambitious
environmental goals yet, saying the country would reach emissions neutrality by
2050 in response to U.S. President Joe Biden's demands for stronger climate
action.
Speaking at a summit of world leaders
called by Biden for Earth Day, Bolsonaro's pledge
would move up the previous target for reaching net zero emissions by 10 years.
Bolsonaro had sought to closely align with the
United States under former President Donald Trump, who did not criticize
Brazil's environmental policy despite a major surge in Amazon rainforest
deforestation and fires.
The Biden administration appears to have
forced a realignment in relations by placing environment at the center of
U.S.-Brazil diplomatic talks in recent weeks.
On Thursday, Bolsonaro
pledged to double funding for environmental enforcement efforts in an apparent
policy reversal.
The president had previously railed
against environmental enforcement and further weakened environmental agencies,
whose budgets and staff had already been dwindling for years.
It was unclear how Brazil would pay for
the additional enforcement, with the 2021 budget nearly complete and Bolsonaro facing a deadline Thursday to sign it.
"This funding is being determined
now on the occasion of the budget being approved, together with Congress,"
Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said in a press briefing following Bolsonaro's speech, without giving further details on the
budgetary process.
Salles repeated a previous demand for $1
billion per year in foreign aid for Brazil's environmental enforcement efforts.
Environmentalists said they were
skeptical about Bolsonaro following through on the
pledges, given his past criticisms of conservation efforts and calls to develop
protected indigenous reserves.
"The government makes totally empty
promises," said Marcio Astrini,
the head of Brazilian environmental group Climate Observatory.
Deforestation in Brazil's portion of the
Amazon has soared under Bolsonaro, hitting a 12-year
high in 2020 with an area 14 times the size of New York City destroyed.
Bolsonaro repeated a commitment made last week to
end illegal deforestation by 2030, adding that it would reduce the country's
greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 50% by that date. read more
Bolsonaro called for international support for
Brazil's climate efforts, striking a slightly more conciliatory tone than in
his past public remarks that told foreign nations to stay out of the country's
environmental affairs.
"With this spirit of collective
responsibility and common destiny, I invite you once again to support us in
this mission," Bolsonaro said.
BRAZIL CUTS ENVIRONMENT BUDGET DESPITE
CLIMATE SUMMIT PLEDGE
From
BBC 24 April
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has
approved a cut to the environment ministry budget a day after he vowed to boost
spending to tackle deforestation.
At a
US-led climate summit, he promised to double the money reserved for
environmental enforcement and to end illegal deforestation by 2030.
But
the budget signed off on Friday did not include his spending pledge, or
additional proposals made by Congress.
His
government has weakened protections and wants to develop protected areas.
Critics
say the president's promises on Thursday were linked to a controversial deal
Brazil is negotiating with the US to receive financial aid in return for
protecting the Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, and other areas.
AND
ILLEGAL AMAZON RAINFOREST PLOTS SOLD ON FACEBOOK
Amazon under threat: Fires, loggers
and virus
The
2021 federal budget includes 2.1bn reais (£280m; $380m)
for the environment ministry and agencies it oversees. The ministry had a
budget of about 3bn reais in 2020.
Late
on Friday, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said he had requested the economy
ministry to review the numbers and fulfil the pledge made by President Bolsonaro at the virtual climate summit hosted by US
President Joe Biden.
The
environmental policies of President Bolsonaro, who is
supported by powerful agribusiness leaders, have drawn widespread condemnation.
The far-right leader has encouraged agriculture and mining in the Amazon, and
rolled back environmental legislation.
AND…
LAST YEAR, DEFORESTATION IN THE
BRAZILIAN AMAZON SURGED TO A 12-YEAR HIGH
Activists
and indigenous groups say environmental enforcement remains underfunded, and
denounce the impunity for illegal logging and mining in protected areas.
The
president rejects the criticism, saying Brazil remains an example for
conservation. But at Thursday's summit he attempted to strike a more
conciliatory tone, and also promised that Brazil would reach zero carbon
emissions by 2050, 10 years earlier than previously agreed.
Brazilian
and US officials have been discussing the possibility of collaborating to stop
the destruction of the Amazon. Politicians and environmentalists have warned
that the Bolsonaro government should show results
first before any financial commitment is made.
Earlier
this week, a group of 35 US and Brazilian
celebrities voiced their opposition to a deal with Brazil, saying
it risked legitimising a government that was
encouraging environmental destruction.
The
document followed another letter in which more than 200 Brazilian groups told
President Biden that the Bolsonaro government was an
"enemy" of the Amazon and that it did not have legitimacy to
represent Brazil.
Last
week, the environment minister said the country would need $1bn in foreign aid
to support efforts to reduce deforestation in the Amazon by 30% to 40% in a
year.
Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau, Canada
TRUDEAU VOWS STEEPER POLLUTION CUTS AT BIDEN CLIMATE SUMMIT
From
the National Observer,
By Carl
Meyer April 23rd 2021
Canada’s new carbon pollution target is
a range, rather than a specific number, in order to signal the “uncertainty”
involved in setting future goals based on forecasts, the federal government said
Thursday.
Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau announced
April 22 that Canada’s new greenhouse gas reduction target under the Paris
Agreement would
be “40 to 45 per cent” below 2005 levels by 2030.
Canada's 2005 levels were estimated to
be 739 million tonnes (Mt) of greenhouse gases in its
latest national inventory submission to the United Nations.
In 2019, the most recent year data is available, emissions
stood relatively unchanged at 730 Mt.
“When Canadians elected us five years ago,
our emissions were projected to keep rising through 2030,” Trudeau said at the Leaders Summit on Climate, hosted virtually by U.S.
President Joe Biden.
“But with hard work and a solid plan,
Canada is now on track to blow past our old target.”
'Models are models — they’re based on assumptions'
The previous Paris target was set at 30
per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Environment and Climate Change
Minister Jonathan
Wilkinson told Canada’s
National Observer he felt a target range was appropriate this time because
it “communicates to Canadians that there is some uncertainty about these
things.”
“It reflects ambition in terms of
continually pushing towards the upper end of that range, but it also reflects
the fact that anybody, and any country, who tells you that they have the exact
number that they are going to hit isn’t telling you the truth,” he said.
“Models are models — they’re based on
assumptions, and they’re based on forecasts with respect to a whole range of
different variables. And what we’re saying to Canadians is, based on everything
that we know and the assumptions that we’ve made based on the evidence that
exists today, this is a reasonable target for this country.”
Wilkinson also said he had met with the
leaders of national Indigenous organizations “on at least a couple of
occasions” during the process of developing the new target.
He said he had also committed to them that
they would be part of the framing of Canada’s new nationally determined
contribution at COP26, the next UN climate summit.
Phasing out coal, but oil and gas remains
The Liberals argue their initial climate
plan, the Pan-Canadian Framework, has put Canada on a path to slashing 227 Mt
of emissions by 2030. They say their new
climate plan will
cut 85 Mt more by that date.
The difficulty will be in actually
achieving all the reductions the government promises will happen as a result of
their plans.
Canada’s emissions have actually climbed
slightly every year the Liberals have been in power, from 707 Mt in 2016 to 716
Mt in 2017, 728 Mt in 2018 and 730 Mt in 2019.
The government points out, however, that
Canada’s 2019 emissions were down by 34 Mt compared to what they were
previously projected to be in 2015, the year the Liberals took power and before
they could establish their climate plans.
Wilkinson has also promised 2019 would be
the last year emissions climbed, due to the government’s plans coming online.
For one, the government now has a clear
path to continue raising its carbon price, a key part of its climate
plan, after the Supreme Court ruled
last month that
Parliament had acted constitutionally when it passed the legislation.
But Canada still has an oil and gas
industry that represents the largest portion of Canada’s emissions by economic
sector, at 191 Mt, and a transport sector that is not far behind at 186 Mt.
Over the last 15 years, emissions from oil
and gas extraction and gas-powered trucks and heavy-duty diesel vehicles have
climbed. But they were partly offset by plummeting emissions from electricity
generation, in part because of shuttering coal power.
As Trudeau pointed out Thursday, Canada
has already committed to phasing out its coal plants, so that option is no
longer on the table as a new source of emissions to tackle.
"If major economies in the room were
to follow Canada's lead and adopt a rising price on pollution and commit to
phase out coal plants, we would accelerate our global path for a safe,
prosperous net-zero future," he said.
NDP says U.S. plan 'vastly more ambitious'
When introducing the summit, Biden said
the opportunity was there to create jobs in the new low-carbon economy, from
cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells to installing electric vehicle charging stations, renewable energy sources
and carbon-capture technology on factories.
“By maintaining those investments, and
putting these people to work, the United States sets out to cut greenhouse
gases in half — in half — by the end of this decade,” he said.
“That’s what we can do, if we take action
to build an economy that’s not only more prosperous, but healthier, fairer and
cleaner for the entire planet.”
NDP environment critic Laurel Collins said
Canada will still fall short of what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change says is necessary to avoid catastrophic global healing.
She said the Biden administration’s plan
of at least 50 per cent reductions was a “vastly more ambitious plan.”
“Canadians can’t afford to be left behind
when it comes to creating clean jobs and protecting our environment,” said Collins.
Climate Action Network Canada said the
country should be aiming for at least a 60 per cent cut below 2005 levels by
2030.
That is what Canada’s “fair share” would
look like, it said, towards a goal of holding global heating to 1.5 degrees
Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“It’s good to see Canada is driving up
ambition — and it’s not enough,” said executive director Catherine Abreu, who
is also a member of the government’s Net-Zero
Advisory Body.
“The new target is not aligned with a 1.5
C compatible future ... we hope to see Canada continue to ramp up ambition,
both in future years and as (climate target) consultations occur in coming
months.”
President Sebastián Piñera,
Chile
From
the ministry of foreign affairs Thursday, April 22, 2021
PRESIDENT PIÑERA
ANNOUNCES CHILE WILL ADVANCE A PROPOSAL TO FULLY PROTECT AN AREA OF THE HIGH SEAS
IN THE SOUTHESTERN PACIFIC, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND
Today, during the 2021 Virtual Leaders
Climate Summit hosted on Earth Day, President Sebastian Piñera
announced Chile will launch efforts to create a fully protected high seas marine
protected area (MPA) in the Eastern Pacific as a priority measure to address
the climate crisis. The high seas MPA will be the first of its kind,
protecting the Nazca Ridge, an area incredibly rich in biodiversity and
abundant in endemic species. The Nazca Ridge includes a series of connected
submarine mountains offering refuge to both resident and migratory marine
species, including threatened blue whales and leatherback sea turtles that
return to these waters annually to breed and feed. The area proposed for
protection has been designated as an Ecologically and Biologically Significant
Area (EBSA) in need of protection under the United Nations Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD).
The high seas MPA will link up existing
protections by connecting the fully protected Nazca-Desventuradas
Archipelago MPA to the east and the highly and fully protected areas of Rapa
Nui and Motu Motiro Hiva MPA
to the west, both within Chile’s adjacent national waters.
This announcement followed a call by
President Piñera to urgently protect the waters
around the Antarctic Peninsula, another high-level ocean priority currently
championed by the Chilean government.
Chile has long maintained the need to
safeguard the ocean and advance marine protected areas as a key measure to
address the climate crisis, including during its tenure as President of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change COP25. During his speech, President Piñera highlighted:
"We have dubbed COP25 as "the
Blue COP" precisely to underscore the role that the Ocean plays as a
climate regulator agent and the importance of protecting it. Chile has already
established marine protected areas that cover over 43% of our EEZ, but it’s not
enough, and that’s why today I want to invite you to go further by asking you
to join Chile in [these] two concrete proposals."
Chile wants to go further by starting
what it calls "the second phase" of its efforts to secure marine
protected areas. The Nazca Ridge fully protected high seas MPA proposal will be
developed by a high-level scientific-technical group and will be presented to
relevant international organizations with the objective of protecting the area
from destructive extractive activities and compounding threats that currently
affect its marine ecosystem; conserving biodiversity and ensuring the ocean's
continued role as a carbon sink. While the South Pacific Regional Fisheries
Management Organization (SP-RFMO) will be engaged in the process, the new UN
high seas treaty, currently under negotiation, is meant to be the international
body that will oversee the long-term management of the MPA to ensure
science-based, precautionary conservation measures are in place to protect all
biodiversity of the area.
World-renowned oceanographer and marine
scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle celebrated the announcement:
"Protecting the ocean is essential
to addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, two key issues that
threaten planetary security and human prosperity. Full protection is urgently
needed for the Nazca Ridge and its backbone of undersea mountains which are
globally recognized as a biodiversity hot spot. Chile’s leadership has set a
high bar among nations for ocean stewardship, and that leadership is needed now
as never before to bring about enduring care for the Nazca Ridge, an important
link in the living ocean system that makes Earth a planet habitable for
humans."
Chile is firmly committed to realizing a
network of highly and fully protected high seas MPAs around the world as a
means to conserve marine biodiversity and build resilience to a changing
climate.
This new high seas MPA is a
groundbreaking first step and builds on Chile’s efforts through the Blue
Leaders initiative, the Global Ocean Alliance, the High Ambition Coalition for
People and Nature, and others, to secure a new global ocean protection target
at the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP to protect at
least 30% of the ocean by 2030 through a network of highly and fully protected
MPAs.
From xinhuanet, china
CHILE
DETERMINED TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE, SAYS PRESIDENT
Source:
Xinhua| 2021-04-23 11:09:16|Editor: huaxia
SANTIAGO, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chile, as a small
country, is determined to make a contribution in the fight
against climate change, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said Thursday.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is not the only threat
facing humanity today. Climate change has not been quarantined, but has
continued to advance at a speed that calls on us to take action today, so that
humanity can have a tomorrow," he said while addressing the U.S.-hosted Leaders Summit on Climate via video link.
Although Chile is "a small country" and
responsible for only 0.25 percent of the world's total greenhouse gas
emissions, it is determined to have "a significant and positive impact,
and to make an important contribution in our fight against climate change,"said the president.
Chile sets to contribute by pushing forward green
hydrogen, a type of fuel produced from water with the use of renewable energy,
Pinera said, noting that Chile seeks to lead the world's production of such
fuel by 2050.
According to Chilean government data, green hydrogen
would contribute 17-27 percent of the reductions needed for the country to
reach carbon neutrality.
President Xi
Jinping, People’s Republic of China
FULL
TEXT: REMARKS BY CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING AT LEADERS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-22
22:51:43|Editor: huaxia
BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President
Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the Leaders Summit
on Climate via video link from Beijing on Thursday.
Please see the attachment for the
translation of the full text of the speech. Enditem
For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together
Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping
President of the People’s Republic of China
At the Leaders Summit on
Climate
22 April 2021
Honorable President Joe Biden,
Honorable Colleagues,
It is a great pleasure to join you at
the Leaders Summit on Climate on Earth Day. I wish to
thank President Biden for the kind invitation. It is good to have this
opportunity to have an in-depth exchange of views with you on climate change,
and to discuss ways to tackle this challenge and find a path forward for man
and Nature to live in harmony.
Since time of the industrial
civilization, mankind has created massive material wealth. Yet, it has come at
a cost of intensified exploitation of natural resources, which disrupted the
balance in the Earth’s ecosystem, and laid bare the growing tensions in the
human-Nature relationship. In recent years, climate change, biodiversity loss,
worsening desertification and frequent extreme weather events have all posed
severe challenges to human survival and development. The ongoing COVID-19
pandemic has added difficulty to economic and social development across
countries. Faced with unprecedented challenges in global environmental
governance, the international community needs to come up with unprecedented
ambition and action. We need to act with a sense of responsibility and unity,
and work together to foster a community of life for man and Nature.
— We must be committed to harmony between
man and Nature. “All things that grow live in harmony and benefit from the
nourishment of Nature.” Mother Nature is the cradle of all living beings,
including humans. It provides everything essential for humanity to survive and
thrive. Mother Nature has nourished us, and we must treat Nature as our root,
respect it, protect it, and follow its laws. Failure to respect Nature or
follow its laws will only invite its revenge. Systemic spoil of Nature will
take away the foundation of human survival and development, and will leave us
human beings like a river without a source and a tree without its roots. We
should protect Nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes,
and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and Nature can both prosper
and live in harmony.
— We must be committed to green
development. Green mountains are gold mountains. To protect the
environment is to protect productivity, and to improve the environment is to
boost productivity — the truth is as simple as that. We must abandon
development models that harm or undermine the environment, and must say no to
shortsighted approaches of going after near-term development gains at the
expense of the environment. Much to the contrary, we need to ride the trend of
technological revolution and industrial transformation, seize the enormous
opportunity in green transition, and let the power of innovation drive us to
upgrade our economic, energy and industrial structures, and make sure that a
sound environment is there to buttress sustainable economic and social
development worldwide.
— We must be committed to systemic
governance. Mountains, rivers, forests as well as farmlands, lakes,
grasslands and deserts all make indivisible parts of the ecosystem. Protecting
the ecosystem requires more than a simplistic, palliative approach. We need to
follow the innate laws of the ecosystem and properly balance all elements and
aspects of Nature. This is a way that may take us where we want to be, an
ecosystem in sound circulation and overall balance.
— We must be committed to a
people-centered approach. The environment concerns the well-being of
people in all countries. We need to take into full account people’s longing for
a better life and a good environment as well as our responsibility for future
generations. We need to look for ways to protect the environment, grow the
economy, create jobs and remove poverty all at the same time, so as to deliver
social equity and justice in the course of green transition and increase
people’s sense of benefit, happiness and security.
— We must be committed to
multilateralism. We need to work on the basis of international law, follow
the principle of equity and justice, and focus on effective actions. We need to
uphold the UN-centered international system, comply with the objectives and
principles laid out in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
and its Paris Agreement, and strive to deliver the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. We need to each take stronger actions, strengthen partnerships and
cooperation, learn from each other and make common progress in the new journey
toward global carbon neutrality. In this process, we must join hands, not point
fingers at each other; we must maintain continuity, not reverse course easily;
and we must honor commitments, not go back on promises.
China welcomes the United States’ return
to the multilateral climate governance process. Not long ago, the Chinese and
US sides released a Joint Statement Addressing the Climate Crisis. China looks
forward to working with the international community including the United States
to jointly advance global environmental governance.
— We must be committed to the
principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The principle of
common but differentiated responsibilities is the cornerstone of global climate
governance. Developing countries now face multiple challenges to combat
COVID-19, grow the economy, and address climate change. We need to give full
recognition to developing countries’ contribution to climate action and
accommodate their particular difficulties and concerns. Developed countries
need to increase climate ambition and action. At the same time, they need to
make concrete efforts to help developing countries strengthen the capacity and
resilience against climate change, support them in financing, technology, and
capacity building, and refrain from creating green trade barriers, so as to
help developing countries accelerate the transition to green and low-carbon
development.
Colleagues,
The Chinese civilization has always
valued harmony between man and Nature as well as observance of the laws of
Nature. It has been our constant pursuit that man and Nature could live in
harmony with each other. Ecological advancement and conservation have been
written into China’s Constitution and incorporated into China’s overall plan
for building socialism with Chinese characteristics. China will follow the
Thought on Ecological Civilization and implement the new development
philosophy. We will aim to achieve greener economic and social development in
all aspects, with a special focus on developing green and low-carbon energy. We
will continue to prioritize ecological conservation and pursue a green and
low-carbon path to development.
Last year, I made the official
announcement that China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before
2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. This major strategic decision
is made based on our sense of responsibility to build a community with a shared
future for mankind and our own need to secure sustainable development. China
has committed to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality in a much shorter
time span than what might take many developed countries, and that requires
extraordinarily hard efforts from China. The targets of carbon peak and carbon
neutrality have been added to China’s overall plan for ecological conservation.
We are now making an action plan and are already taking strong nationwide
actions toward carbon peak. Support is being given to peaking pioneers from
localities, sectors and companies. China will strictly control coal-fired power
generation projects, and strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over
the 14th Five-Year Plan period and phase it down in the 15th Five-Year Plan
period. Moreover, China has decided to accept the Kigali Amendment to the
Montreal Protocol and tighten regulations over non-carbon dioxide emissions.
China’s national carbon market will also start trading.
As a participant, contributor and
trailblazer in global ecological conservation, China is firmly committed to
putting multilateralism into action and promoting a fair and equitable system
of global environmental governance for win-win cooperation. China will host
COP15 to the Convention on Biological Diversity this October and looks forward
to working with all parties to enhance global governance on biodiversity. We
support COP26 to the UNFCCC in achieving positive outcomes. As we in China
often say, “It is more important to show people how to fish than just giving
them fish.” China has done its best to help developing countries build capacity
against climate change through various forms of results-oriented South-South
cooperation. From remote sensing satellites for climate monitoring in Africa to
low-carbon demonstration zones in Southeast Asia and to energy-efficient lights
in small island countries, such cooperation has yielded real, tangible and
solid results. China has also made ecological cooperation a key part of Belt
and Road cooperation. A number of green action initiatives have been launched,
covering wide-ranging efforts in green infrastructure, green energy, green
transport and green finance, to bring enduring benefits to the people of all
Belt and Road partner countries.
Colleagues,
As we say in China, “When people pull
together, nothing is too heavy to be lifted.” Climate change poses pressing,
formidable and long-term challenges to us all. Yet I am confident that as long
as we unite in our purposes and efforts and work together with solidarity and
mutual assistance, we will rise above the global climate and environment
challenges and leave a clean and beautiful world to future generations.
Thank you.
From china un
PRESIDENT
XI JINPING DELIVERS A SPEECH AT THE UNITED NATIONS SUMMIT ON BIODIVERSITY
2020/09/30
On September
30, 2020, President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech via video at the
United Nations Summit on Biodiversity.
Xi
Jinping stressed that at the special moment that the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary
and all countries devoted to the fight against COVID-19 and high-quality
economic resurrection, the UN Summit on Biodiversity is of both practical and
far-reaching significance to discuss the important issues of protecting
biodiversity and promoting sustainable development.
Xi
Jinping pointed out, the survival and development of human beings are
threatened by the biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation resulted from
faster extinction of species. The COVID-19 pandemic teaches us that men and nature
are a community of shared destiny. We should make concerted efforts to advance
preservation and development side by side, and create a better home for the
coexistence of all things.
Xi
Jinping gave four proposals:
First,
adhering to ecological preservation and enhancing the motivation to create a
beautiful world. Biodiversity is a critical basis for human survival and
development. The ecological prosperity leads to civilization prosperity. From
the perspective of being responsible for human civilization, we should respect,
adapt to and protect the nature, explore the pathway to harmonious coexistence
between men and nature, promote the coordination of economic development and
ecological preservation, and jointly build a prosperous, clean and beautiful
world.
Second,
adhering to multilateralism and gathering the joint force of world
environmental governance. The international conventions such as the Convention
on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change and the Paris Agreement, supported and participated by all parties, are
the legal basis for environmental governance and the important achievements of
multilateral cooperation. Confronted with the global environmental risks and
challenges, all countries are to form a community of share destiny.
Unilateralism goes against people's shared aspiration and cooperation is the
right way. We should firmly protect the UN-cored international system,
safeguard the dignity and authority of international rules, and improve the level
of global environmental governance.
Third,
maintaining green development and incubating the vitality for high-quality
economic resurrection in the post-pandemic era. We should take a farsighted
view and keep focusing on green, inclusive and sustainable development. We
should try to find development opportunities in the protection of nature, and
ensure both ecological preservation and high-quality economic development.
Fourth,
enhancing the sense of responsibility and the capability to cope with environmental
challenges. The developed countries and the developing countries are in
different stages of development, thus have different historical
responsibilities and practical capabilities towards environmental issues. We
should persist in the principle of common yet differentiated responsibilities,
and give consideration to the fund, technology and
capacity building concerns of the developing countries. We should earnestly
fulfill the commitments and turn the targets into reality.
Xi Jinping
also stressed that China gives top priority to and makes ecological
preservation the guiding principle for its development, and adopts effective
policies and actions to this regard. Over the past decade, China saw 70 million
hectares of forests, ranking first in the world. China leads the world in the
collection and preservation of biogenetic resources thanks to its long-term and
large-scale desert control and effective wetland preservation. 90 percent of
terrestrial ecosystems and 85 percent of key wildlife populations are
effectively preserved. China actively participates in global environmental
governance and honestly fulfills its obligations to climate change and
biodiversity specified in environmental-related treaties. It has completed the
2020 targets of responding to climate change and establishing natural reserves
ahead of schedule. China will uphold the philosophy of a community of shared
future for mankind, assume the international responsibility appropriate to its
development level, and make more independent contributions. China will adopt
more vigorous policies and measures to reach CO2 emission peak value by 2030
and carbon neutrality by 2060, aiming to give greater supports to the targets
set by the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Xi Jinping
concluded that China will host the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15)
in Kunming, Yunnan Province next year. "I want to welcome you to Kunming
to discuss and draw up plans together for protecting global biodiversity. Now,
let us proceed from this Summit and work in concert to build a beautiful world
of harmony among all beings on the planet."
President Iván
Duque Márquez, Colombia
WHY THE PRESIDENT
OF COLOMBIA BELIEVES IT’S TIME TO REDUCE, REUSE, AND RECYCLE
From World Economic Forum, by Sean
Fleming 22 Sep 2020
Waste
to wages: technology is a game changer in Ghana’s fight against plastic
pollution
·
Colombia
is taking steps to reduce its CO2 emissions by transitioning to renewables.
·
The country’s
wind and solar capacity have increased six-fold since 2018, says President Ivan
Duque.
·
He
believes cities are instrumental in helping to protect biodiversity.
In 2018, Ivan Duque Márquez became the youngest-ever
president of Colombia, a country of more than 50 million people in the
northernmost part of South America.
It is a country that has to balance its
growing cities with the careful maintenance of natural habitats.
As part of the World Economic
Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit, President
Duque discusses how Colombia is managing the transition to clean energy and why
cities are key to protecting biodiversity.
How
is Colombia approaching the issue of biodiversity?
Sometimes I think it’s too easy to think
about biodiversity as a matter of what happens in the jungle or what happens in
the savannas or what happens in the national parks. But we have to acknowledge
that the protection of biodiversity begins with the issue of daily human
habits. And those take place in cities.
So we need to think about sustainability
in cities as an important part of protecting biodiversity. And that has to do
with how a city manages its waste. How it manages energy, water and sanitation.
How a city manages transportation and how a city manages the quality of its
air.
Also how a city can create sustainable
consumption habits. I think it's important that citizens in the cities are
conscious of their responsibilities – not only in the way they reduce, reuse,
recycle and the way they consume energy, but also in the way their actions can
contribute to protecting biodiversity.
What
steps is Colombia taking toward energy transition?
Although Colombia represents only around 0.4%
of global CO2 emissions, we must adapt and contribute to
international efforts to reduce the effects of climate change. An important
part of that is our energy transition strategy.
When our administration began, solar and
wind generation was only something close to 0.5% of the Colombian energy
matrix. In the past two years, we have expanded that to reach more than 10%. We
have multiplied the installed capacity of wind and solar by six times and we
have an additional agenda to get to 20% before 2030.
How
are you working to protect the natural world?
Our strategy for fighting deforestation
is a combination of carrot and stick. We're fighting against illegal activities
that destroy the tropical jungle. At the same time, we're building up
nature-based solutions. In the past two years, we have been able to reduce the
rate of deforestation by 19%.
Am I satisfied with that? No, because we
have to do much more. And that's why we're also connecting that agenda with
the One Trillion Trees initiative from
the World Economic Forum. Colombia's contribution will be to plant 180 million
trees by August 2022. So far, we're above 30 million and we're going to reach
50 million by the end of this year.
Around 35% of our country is Amazon
territory and more than 50% is tropical jungle. But we also have cities that
have a close relationship with nature. We want that relationship to be
sustainable, to have a positive impact and to involve our urban citizens in
protecting biodiversity.
FROM impakter November 8, 2019
HOW
COLOMBIA’S PRESIDENT IS IGNORING THE CLIMATE CRISIS
Colombia.
A country the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) described as “at high risk from climate change impacts.” So
how do the remarks made by Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez at the UN Climate
Action Summit held in New York on September 23 align with this very real
threat? This piece seeks to illustrate how the balance between environmental
rhetoric and economic development is mired in deliberate omissions, that often favour pure market calculations.
Colombia compromises on climate
change
The President duly pointed to domestic policies
aimed at protecting ecosystems and promoting clean energy production and
protection of the commons.
Natural
disasters as a collateral effect of the climate crisis were also mentioned. The
President said that they ‘demand that we act with a sense of urgency and
determination; that we understand that this is the greatest challenge’.
However,
Márquez neglected to address the root causes of human-induced disasters in
Colombia that include environmentally detrimental practices in the mining and
extraction sector as well as surface level resource exploitation. This can have
rippling effects on communities.
‘Researchers
have argued that ‘the substitution of social justice for market laws leads to
different crises, especially those that erode human rights.’
Opposition to Fracking
Columbia’s
state-run oil company, Ecopetrol, plans to embark on
a fracking pilot programme in 2020. Not with standing the ongoing legal challenges in national
courts, the company has been given permission to proceed with the
implementation of the programme galvanising
opposition movements against fracking, which environmental activists have
linked to water contamination.
With
the government having given a green light, natural reserves both terrestrial
and marine-protected areas have been put at risk. According to Alessi, Zolfagharu, Kletke, Gehman, Allen, and Goss (2017), hydraulic fracturing fluid
components such as petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals that are byproducts
of the extraction process, pose major health risks to humans, and are major
drivers of ecosystem toxicity.
A Contradiction in Terms
As
the case of Colombia attests, what is preached abroad, is often not what’s
witnessed on the ground. What is delivered from the podiums to the
international community, does not always bare resemblance to the realities on
the ground.
President
Márquez revelled in the climate change rhetoric but
his failings reside mostly in what went unsaid. Brushing aside controversial
projects does not alter nor help resolve the fundamental tension between
economic empowerment and the need for sustainable growth.
Colombia’s
example is not unique. A global comparison between what political leaders claim
in the international arena and their actual policy implementations might reveal
other significant gaps between what is said and what is being done.
President Félix
Tshisekedi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
From Reuters
CONGO
PROPOSES RAISING PRICE OF FOREST CARBON CREDITS TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE
KINSHASA,
April 22 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi said
on Thursday the price of forest carbon credits should be raised to at least
$100 per tonne in order to achieve the climate
objectives set out in the Paris Agreement.
Tshisekedi
said the current price of $5 per tonne was neither
fair nor realistic, and achieving carbon neutrality would not be possible
without taking into account the conservation and
regeneration of forests.
From spglobal.com
DRC PRESIDENT TSHISEKEDI CALLS
FOR $100/MT CARBON PRICE TO PRESERVE CONGO BASIN
23 Apr 2021 | 09:35
UTC
HIGHLIGHTS
$5/mt forest carbon 'unfair, unrealistic'
Fair price would account for lost revenue
World's largest peat complexAndy Critchlow
African forestry needs $100 carbon offsets to preserve
and extend its carbon abatement potential, President of the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, told US President Joe Biden's Leaders
Summit on Climate April 22.
Nature-based carbon offsets are currently trading
between $4 and $6 per metric tonne CO2, representing
a premium over CORSIA-eligible carbon (CEC) credits, assessed by S&P Global
Platts at $2.05/mt CO2e April 22. CORSIA credits meet standards set by the
International Civil Aviation Organization.
"Achieving carbon neutrality will not be possible
without taking into account the conservation and
regeneration of forests, but the current price of forest carbon, at $5 per tonne, is neither fair nor realistic. A fair price for
forest carbon that incorporates foregone opportunities should be at least $100
per tonne," Tshisekedi said.
Tshisekedi, who is also Chair of the African Union, said
the DRC and its neighbors were working to protect two million square kilometers
of tropical forest in the Congo Basin.
Broader than Alaska and spanning six African countries,
the basin hosted the world's largest peat complex and held three years' worth
of global emissions, he said.
"These forests are endangered by the illegal use of
timber and raw materials. We can improve the lives of people living in these
areas by combatting corrupt activities, implementing sustainable energy
production and improving agricultural practices. I know from my discussion with
President Biden and Vice President Harris that the US is willing to invest in
this critical issue," he said.
The summit should accelerate access to additional
finance and simplify procedures for least developed countries, the majority of
which were in Africa, he said.
Carbon credits are generated by specific projects that
avoid, reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions. They are typically verified
and validated by a set of independent standards created by coalitions of NGOs
and market participants over the last few decades.
Prime Minister
Mette Frederiksen, Denmark
DANISH
PREMIER SAYS CLIMATE OUTWEIGHS ANY RUSSIA, CHINA TENSIONS
From Bloomberg.com, by Morten Buttler April 21,
2021, 1:45 PM EDT Updated on April 22, 2021, 2:23 AM EDT
Denmark’s
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said international efforts to reduce carbon
emissions must move forward, regardless of geopolitical tensions or
disagreements in other areas.
“If
you try to put all sorts of other agendas on the same table, then I don’t think
we’ll achieve the things we need to achieve globally,” Frederiksen said in an
interview Wednesday when asked about negotiating with Russia or China. “We can
easily, and I think that’s also the basis of the Paris Agreement, have
disagreements in all kinds of areas and then you can have an agreement on
climate, where you work together to reduce carbon emissions.”
Frederiksen
spoke on the eve of U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate summit, which begins on
Earth Day. To her point, President Vladimir Putin spoke of the need to
modernize his country to reduce carbon emissions in his annual address, while
at least 40,000 Russian soldiers moved toward Ukraine’s border.
The
U.S., China, Russia and the European Union have all signaled higher climate
ambitions in the past week. On Wednesday morning, the EU agreed on a new set of
criteria for green investments and to a legally binding climate emission
reduction target of 55% for 2030. In his speech on Wednesday, Putin said Russia
should have a lower cumulative volume of net emissions than the EU over the
next three decades, without detailing how to achieve the goal.
Read
More: Putin Hints at Raising Climate Target on Eve of Biden’s Summit
Denmark
was invited to Biden’s climate event to share its view on green solutions, the
transition away from fossil dependence and the social effects of such a shift.
“If the consequence of high climate ambitions
is unemployment, social inequality and division among the population, we lose
as much as we gain,” Frederiksen said. “We must insist that both things must be
possible and on solving the task in a balanced and sustainable way, not only
for the environment and climate but also in relation to social cohesion.”
Denmark
has made several milestone decisions in recent months to get closer to
achieving its ambitious target to reduce carbon emissions by 70% no later than
2030 compared with 1990-levels. The country decided to end its oil production
in the North Sea in 2050, and announced the construction of a 120,000
square-meter (30 acre) artificial island off its coast to support the future
expansion of its offshore wind farms.
The
transition from fossil to green energy has been going on for more than 50 years
in Denmark, which started to invest heavily in windmills in the 1970s.
Frederiksen underlined the importance of focusing on job creation, when some
industries have to make way for others. She highlighted the city of Esbjerg on
the country’s Western coast, where most workers used to be employed in the oil
industry. Today, most jobs are in offshore wind.
“It’s
crucial to explicitly include job creation as a part of the foundation for a
country’s climate policies,” Frederiksen said. “The task is to show that
ordinary people can have their living conditions improved both because of the
climate and environmental benefits, but also in their work and everyday lives.”
Tensions
may still cloud talks at the climate summit. The U.S. has imposed fresh
sanctions against Russia over the alleged interference in last year’s U.S. election.
And Russia’s troop movements are the most recent escalation of its war with
Ukraine.
The
U.S. has also imposed sanctions on European companies involved in building the
Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline that runs 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from
Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany. Denmark is against the natural gas
link because it runs through its economic zone and increases the EU’s
dependency on Russian energy.
“It’s
well known that the Danish government is against it,” Frederiksen said, adding
that the issue should remain separate from any discussions on reducing
pollution.
From
Foreignpolicy.com
DENMARK’S PLAN FOR
A GREEN FUTURE
For
a maritime nation, curtailing transport emissions is the first step.
By Mette Frederiksen, Jeppe Kofod,
and Dan Jorgensen APRIL 22,
2021, 2:38 PM
U.S. President Joe Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate—which begins Thursday—comes at a
critical juncture. In the run-up to the 26th United Nations Climate Change
Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, this November, there is a need for renewed momentum
in the global fight against climate change. We can assure Biden that Denmark
will do its part to tackle what is one of the greatest challenges of our time.
Though Denmark is a small country, we are committed to being a front-runner in
all things green.
Today, more than 50 percent of Denmark’s
electrical grid is powered by wind and solar energy; by 2027, we expect
renewables to meet 100 percent of our electricity needs. We have also set
ambitious climate goals for the future: Denmark hopes to achieve a 70 percent
reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reach climate neutrality—that
is, net-zero greenhouse gas emissions—by 2050.
We are confident we can do it. Why?
Denmark’s green edge has a 50-year-strong foundation. Since the 1973 oil crisis,
Danish research and innovation have led the charge in the global clean energy
transition—a tradition we proudly carry on to this day.
Here is an example: Imagine an island in
the North Sea. But rather than teem with vacationers, it is home to hundreds of
wind turbines, industrial halls, and fuel tanks providing clean electricity,
clean fuels, and green innovation for millions of European households. That
vision is of an energy island. And it is not just something to dream about; in
Denmark, the world’s first energy island will soon be a reality.
Over the past four decades, Denmark has
developed a cutting-edge wind industry. Thanks to innovative technologies,
smart regulation, and financial support from the government, wind energy in
Denmark is now as cost-competitive as that generated by fossil fuels.
Today, onshore wind power is the
cheapest energy source available in Denmark and much of the United States. In
just a few years, we expect offshore wind power to be cost-competitive, too.
The Danish government’s investment in energy islands is a recognition of this
soon-to-be reality.
These future offshore energy hubs will
provide low-cost green electricity to households in Denmark and neighboring
countries. But our ambitions don’t stop there. In time, the energy islands will
allow us to turn green electricity into green hydrogen for use as fuels in
industries not suitable for direct electrification.
This achievement will mark a
groundbreaking uptick in potential for offshore wind. In fact, it could solve
one of the major challenges we face in combating climate change: curtailing
transportation emissions from ships, trucks, and planes.
Ensuring these engines of industry can
go green is a key component of Denmark’s climate agenda. A green energy
transition must also create jobs and economic growth. Today, Denmark has more
jobs in renewable energy than in fossil fuels. Companies from all industries
are transitioning to a greener future through bold innovation.
Green
job creation is at the center of Denmark’s cooperation with the United States.
Take the Danish port of Esbjerg: Once a
major oil and gas hub, Esbjerg is now among the world’s leading hubs for
offshore wind. Here, 250 companies—some of which were previously active in the
fossil fuel industry—now operate within the offshore wind industry. Their
transition was possible because of a joint public-private focus on transferring
competencies, resources, and assets from the oil and gas sector to new, green
industries.
These firms are creating jobs, too.
Odense Steel Shipyard, founded in 1917, was restructured into a massive test
center for wind turbines after its closure in 2012. Over the past nine years,
the facilities of the old shipyard have generated 3,000 new jobs—replacing
those that had been terminated due to the shipyard’s closing.
Green job creation is not just a
domestic matter. It is also at the center of Denmark’s cooperation with the
United States to secure a clean energy transition. Denmark’s commitment to a
socially fair transition is reflected in our leadership of the International
Energy Agency’s new global commission on people-centered clean energy
transitions, a body in which the United States is also represented.
Denmark cooperates bilaterally on the
green energy transition with 16 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and
Latin America that together produce more than 60 percent of global carbon
dioxide emissions. Through policy dialogue, technical assistance, and
peer-to-peer learning across the energy value chain, we aim to share Denmark’s
experiences leading a green energy transition with others.
Such international partnerships build on
the Danish tradition of strong public-private cooperation. In Denmark, we have
established 13 public-private climate partnerships representing all branches of
Danish business—from energy and heavy industry to the financial sector and
shipping.
Denmark is the world’s fifth-largest
maritime nation. We are well aware that the maritime sector must contribute to
climate change mitigation while also continuing to facilitate global trade. The
public-private partnerships in the shipping industry, for example, work hard to
pave the way for carbon-neutral ships, green port infrastructure, and green
fuels.
Just two years from now—in 2023—the
world’s leading container shipping company, Maersk, will launch its first
carbon-neutral container ship. We hope there will be many more to follow—and
are glad that the United States has decided to join Denmark in leading the
mission on decarbonizing international shipping at Mission Innovation, a global
initiative of 24 countries and the European Commission working to facilitate
innovation in the clean energy transition.
Denmark welcomes the strong leadership
that the new Biden administration is taking on green energy transformation,
and, at this week’s Leaders Summit, we stand ready to
support it. We also look forward to contributing to a constructive dialogue on
climate diplomacy and energy with U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and the
European Union.
In the climate arena, the work has only
just begun. This decade is a crucial one in the fight for our planet—but
together, we can build back better. Denmark and the United States can make the
future green.
President Ursula
von der Leyen, European Commission
From ec.europa.eu
Thank you very much, dear President
Biden,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A little over five years ago, the world
came together to sign the Paris Agreement. Today, we have to strengthen that
global unity around ambitious new goals. Because this will be the ‘make or
break' decade for our climate. Therefore, I want to thank President Biden for
convening this meeting on Earth Day.
The Paris Agreement is humanity's life
insurance. At the COP26 in Glasgow, we must show that we all have understood
this and that we are ready for more climate action. Because we are getting
dangerously close to 1.5 degrees of global warming. Science tells us it is not
too late yet, but we must hurry up.
This is what Europe is doing. 11 days
after taking office, my Commission launched the European Green Deal for
transforming our economy. Yesterday, we agreed Europe's first ever Climate Law
with the European Parliament and our 27 governments, as Angela Merkel
mentioned. With this, we write into stone the goal set out by the European
Green Deal – to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050.
We also have agreed to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. In June, my Commission will table
proposals to make Europe ‘Fit for 55'. We will make emission trading work – not
only for energy generation and industry – but also for transport and for
buildings. Carbon must have its price – because nature cannot pay the price any
longer.
But ‘Fit for 55' is not just about
emissions. We will safeguard our nature and enhance biodiversity, going for
nature-based solutions wherever possible. And we will ensure that all this is
done in a just and inclusive way. Because for our ambition to succeed, we must
leave nobody behind.
Climate action is also a massive
opportunity for our economies. It creates new markets. It mobilises
investment in new and transforming industries, and it unleashes innovation for
a healthier and more prosperous future. This is why 30% of Europe's Recovery
Plan – NextGenerationEU, Mario Draghi mentioned it –,
altogether EUR 1.8 trillion, is earmarked for climate-related goals.
The fight against climate change will be
the engine for our global recovery. And it will be our compass for cooperation
with all of you in many areas. In research, innovation and breakthrough
technologies through forums like Mission Innovation. Or in helping vulnerable
countries to become resilient to climate change.
Europe wants to be the first
climate-neutral continent in the world. But to save the climate, we need the
world. We need all major economies to take their responsibility and to turn the
transition into an opportunity for all. Let us set together a new global
benchmark for climate neutrality. Let us work together on a shared commitment
and joint action for reducing emissions by 2030. This puts us on a pathway to
net-zero emissions by 2050. That is what our planet needs.
Thank you again, President Biden, for
this meeting. It is so good to have the U.S. back on our side in the fight
against climate change. Together, we can go faster and get further. Together,
we will win the future.
Thanks a lot.
FROM aa.com turkey
EU
OFFICIALS URGE COOPERATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
ANKARA
EU officials
have called for joint commitment and action across the world to reduce
emissions by 2030 in the fight against climate change.
"Today
we must strengthen global unity around ambitious new targets," European
Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told the
virtual Leaders Summit on Climate on Thursday hosted
by US President Joe Biden, noting that five years had passed since the Paris
agreement was signed.
Warning
that the world was getting "dangerously" close to 1.5 C of global
warming, she stressed that because of this, the time is ripe for fresh climate
action.
She
underlined that in the coming COP26 meeting in Glasgow, the world must show
that it understands that the preceding Paris Agreement "is humanities'
life insurance."
"Science
tells us it is not too late yet but me must hurry up," von der Leyen added.
Touching
on efforts to tackle the negative effects of climate change, she mentioned the
European Green New Deal and the continent's first Climate Law that passed just
recently, as well as the block's goals on dealing a significant dent in
emissions.
The
European Commission head also noted that EU countries had agreed by 2030 to
reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 55% below their 1990 level.
"Climate
action is also a massive opportunity for economies, it creates new markets and
mobilizes new investments, transforming industries and it unleashes innovation
for a healthier and more prosperous future, she added.
'We are ready to take responsibility'
Charles
Michel, the president of the EU Council, said the world is currently facing a
great challenge in the face of climate change, and that since fossil fuel use
is not sustainable, humanity must adapt itself to a new situation.
"In
December 2019, leaders committed to climate neutrality by 2050 and we were the
first major economy to take such a bold decision," Michel said.
He
noted that they had decided to allocate at least €100 billion ($120 billion)
annually for "climate finance" and said they expected developed
countries to increase their contributions.
Stating
that as the EU, they want to introduce a carbon regulation mechanism at their
borders, Michel said this was needed for competition on equal terms and must
comply with the rules of the World Trade Organization.
He
added that with the intention of being a strong and loyal partner, the bloc is
prepared to join forces with all global partners and take responsibility for
the well-being of humanity and the planet.
President Charles
Michel, European Council
From
consilium.europa.eu
Dear
President Biden,
Thank
you for convening this important summit. America is back with us at the
forefront of multilateralism. And your decision to return to the Paris
Agreement sends a strong global signal. This is good news for the world.
We
face a civilisational challenge. Human beings have
always shown a unique ability to adapt. Adapting from agrarian communities to
industrial nations, dependent on fossil fuels.
Today
we understand this is not sustainable. And we must once again adapt, to
fossil-free economies. This is now the third industrial revolution.
In
December 2019, EU Leaders committed to climate neutrality by 2050. We were the
first major economy to take such a bold decision. And just yesterday, we
enshrined our ambitious climate goals into European Climate Law. In three minutes I’d like to focus on two critical areas: green bonds
and carbon pricing.
Green Finance
First, we need to be more
determined in the field of climate finance. We decided collectively to mobilise at least 100 billion dollars a year, for climate
financing.
The
EU and our Member States remain the largest contributor of public climate
finance to developing countries. We urge all developed countries to scale up
their contributions. This would send a strong signal in the run up to COP 26.
This
is why our EU budget and recovery package will dedicate around 600 billion
euros to powering our green transition. Transition to a low carbon economy
requires massive investment, which far exceeds public investment capacity
alone.
We
need to use our public funding intelligently — to create buy-in from the
private sector. The green transition is our prosperity strategy.
Green bonds
30% of our recovery package
will be funded through green bonds. Since finance is global, green finance must
also be global. We want to cooperate and orientate the private sector.
Green
finance was born in Europe. And today, our currency — the euro — is by far the
leading currency when it comes to green bonds. We have the most advanced
regulatory framework in the world. We will soon establish a European Green Bond
Standard. But we need to create the right global regulatory framework. Let’s
provide greater certainty for private investors, everywhere in the world.
In
2019, we set up the International Platform on Sustainable Finance. Today, the
Platform represents 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions. And we encourage
more countries to join. Our European ambition is also reflected in our EU
financial institutions.
As
of this year, the European Investment Bank has aligned all its financing
activities with the goals of the Paris agreement. It will dedicate at least 50%
of annual financing to green investment by 2025. It will support 1 trillion
euro in investment for green projects, this decade. And the European Central
Bank is also working on the implication of climate change for monetary policy
and financial stability.
Carbon Pricing
My second point, a global
approach to carbon pricing is paramount to promoting green investment. If we
want to be at peace with nature, we need to chase carbon from our business
model. This is the only way to change direction.
Preserving
a global level playing field is essential. We must set the right incentives at
the global level. Because carbon leakage across our economies is detrimental.
That’s
why we intend to introduce a carbon border adjustment mechanism. This is needed
to ensure a level playing field. And it must be compatible with WTO
rules. We are ready to work with all our partners on carbon pricing.
We want to be a strong and loyal partner. And we are ready. Ready to join
forces with all global partners. Ready to take our collective responsibility
for the well-being of our people and of our planet. Thank you.
Press contacts
Spokesperson
for the European Council President
+32
2 281 5150
+32
486 22 68 65
If you
are not a journalist, please send your request to the public information service.
AND
In his speech at the Leaders' Summit on
Climate hosted by US President Joe Biden on 22 April, European Council
President Charles Michel highlighted the EU's leadership in fighting climate
change and its binding target of 55% emissions reduction by 2030. He also
stressed the need for a global approach to carbon pricing and urged all developed
countries to scale up their contributions to climate finance.
A global approach to carbon pricing is
paramount to promoting green investment. If we want to be at peace with nature,
we need to chase carbon from our business model.
President Charles Michel
"Green
finance" - Speech by President Charles Michel
Leaders' Summit on
Climate, 22 April 2021
The
objective of this virtual summit was to underscore the urgency – and the
economic benefits – of stronger climate action. It was a milestone on the road
to the UN climate change conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow, United
Kingdom.
The
EU was represented by European Council President Charles Michel and European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The heads
of state or government of EU member states Denmark, France, Germany, Italy,
Poland and Spain also attended the event.
EU
leaders underlined Europe's leadership in the fight against climate change
which is reinforced by the recent provisional agreement on the EU climate law,
paving the way for the continent to become climate neutral by 2050. They sought
to convince their international partners to commit to similarly ambitious
targets.
This
summit was another opportunity to stimulate global efforts to keep the Paris Agreement goal of seeking to limit global warming to
1.5 degrees Celsius within reach. The summit highlighted examples
of how enhanced climate ambition will create good-paying jobs, advance
innovative technologies, and help vulnerable countries adapt to climate
impacts.
The
summit date was chosen so as to fall on Earth Day, a global annual event on 22 April to demonstrate
support for environmental protection.
The General Secretariat of the Council is a body of staff
responsible for assisting the European Council and the Council of the EU. It
helps organise and ensure the coherence of the
Council's work and the implementation of its 18-month programme.
President Emmanuel Macron, France
From elysee.fr POSTED ON 22 APRIL 2021
LEADERS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE - SPEECH BY FRENCH
PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON
Heads of State and Government,
Mr President of the United States, Joe Biden, thank
you above all for gathering us here today. I welcome the announcement of the United
States’ contribution. It is a historic decision on the road to Glasgow.
I would also like to commend your decision to join the Kigali Amendment on
HFCs. A few days ago, with Federal Chancellor Merkel, we spoke with President
Xi Jinping and he has also committed to working in this direction. It is also
important for all of us to start the fight to reduce methane emissions. We are
making progress.
There is only one goal for the coming weeks and months: to move more quickly.
We need to move more quickly to implement
commitments for 2030. A plan of action that is clear, measurable and
verifiable. Basically, 2030 is the new 2050. It is this plan that the European
Union put forward in December, with its Green Deal.
It is therefore up to us to use all the levers available to us: innovation,
transformation, regulation.
·
Let’s
move more quickly on our cooperation on innovation and disruptive technologies,
which will enable us to rise to the challenge and drive down costs, just as we
have done in the areas of solar energy or batteries. This will be at the core
of European action, especially in the months ahead.
·
A
second lever, we need to completely transform our financial system. We have
started to do this. With the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS),
which the Fed has just joined, which is something I welcome. With the Task
Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFS), we have also taken, all
of us together in these last several years, an extensive and transformative
initiative. The One Planet initiative has brought together sovereign funds,
asset managers and private equity, so that everyone can use this same
methodology. These initiatives have now become models for the future and are
changing global finance. France will shoulder all of its responsibilities in
the coming months in order to go even further on the issue of this finance for
climate.
·
Taking action for the climate means regulating, and regulating at international
level. If we don’t set a price for carbon, there will be no transition.
Therefore, we need to factor the environment in the cost of investment, in
our regional investment, in our regional markets, and in our trade relations.
There can be no credible and sustainable environmental action if there is no
social and climate justice.
To succeed collectively, we need to move
much more quickly to improve climate justice.
That is the meaning behind the action we have taken with India in the
International Solar Alliance.
That is also why we are holding the Summit on the Financing of African
Economies in Paris on 18 May.
It is now up to us to establish a stronger mandate for our public banks, in
order to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.
Lastly, if we wish to beat the climate
challenge – and I will conclude with this point – we need to move more quickly
to protect biodiversity.
The fight is the same; it is a fight for the planet.
In this regard, the Great Green Wall Accelerator shows that Africa can
contribute to tackling the causes and effects of climate change, while boosting
food security and job opportunities for its young people.
All of these agendas are connected. It is up to us to take
action.
Thank you again, Joe.
It is up to us to take
action for our generations and the generations to come.
Thank you.
FROM cbsnews
MACRON SAYS BIDEN IS "100%
RIGHT" TO PUSH FOR MORE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
By ZOE
POINDEXTER CBS NEWS April 18, 2021, 11:05 AM
Washington
— French
President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the U.S. back into the Paris climate accords
on Sunday, saying President Biden was "100% right" to rejoin the
agreement and seek further cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's
time to deliver. It's time to rush, and President Biden is 100% right to do
so," Macron said in an interview with "Face the Nation" that
aired Sunday. "I think the decision taken by your president, in general,
this year was super important. Welcome back. I was extremely happy because now
the U.S. and the federal government decided to join again and to commit."
·
Transcript: French President Emmanuel
Macron on "Face the Nation"
·
Macron says France
"finalizing" plans to ease restrictions for vaccinated travelers
·
Macron: International community must
draw "clear red lines" with Russia
In
2017, then-President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris
climate agreement, citing unfair standards on American businesses and workers.
Mr. Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office in January rejoining the 2015 accord,
which set targets for countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Mr. Biden
is hosting a virtual summit with dozens of world leaders this week to discuss
further action to fight climate change.
While
he hailed Mr. Biden's moves, Macron acknowledged that many of the 184 countries
that have signed the agreement haven't met their own goals for reducing
emissions.
"As
Europeans, we increased our targets for 2030 and 2050 a few months ago because
indeed we were lagging behind in comparison with our targets. And now we have
to accelerate because we are living the first consequences of basically climate
disorders," said Macron.
China
and India are the world's first and third largest contributors to global
greenhouse emissions, respectively. When asked if these countries should make
new commitments to reduce their emissions, Macron said both are improving their
systems and are committed to reducing hydrofluorocarbons, which he said are
even worse than carbon dioxide emissions.
"We
need two things. We need to accelerate innovation and ability to deliver. We
need India and China to be with us," Macron said. "We had a
discussion with President Xi and I think we felt the commitments of President
Xi on climate to work with the U.S. and with Europe. First to accelerate its
target of 2030 to have the peak emission, and in some cities and some regions
to do better and faster."
But
meeting these targets would require an increase in carbon prices, Macron said,
which could exacerbate social inequality. The French president said that
dynamic was overlooked in 2018 when the country faced riots, protests and
violence over a hike in fuel taxes.
"We
have to help middle classes and poor people to make this change with us,"
said Macron. "This is a comprehensive and inclusive agenda. I'm sure about
that now. And I can tell
you, with a lot of humility, I'm even more sure because I made mistakes
myself."
President Ali
Bongo Ondimba, Gabon
From
theafricareport.com
By Marwane Ben Yahmed, in
Libreville Posted on Friday, 9
April 2021 04:01
GABON: CORRUPTION, SUCCESSION, ELECTIONS… PRESIDENT
BONGO OPENS UP
Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba
recently granted his first interview since suffering a stroke in 2018. Well
aware that "a few people thought it was their turn to take the reins"
after his illness, he is determined to reform Gabon and unafraid to tackle
thorny issues.
Gabon’s
President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who suffered a stroke in
October 2018 in Saudi Arabia, finally accepted to sit down with us for an
exclusive interview. No topic was too taboo, it was a relatively impromptu
affair and no question went unanswered.
We
had, given the time that had passed since his illness, no shortage of questions
on the true state of his health and his capacity to lead the country: how he
was able to gradually put himself back together and the alarming sequence of
events that went down during his recovery when his power wavered and settling
of scores was rampant in his own camp.
We
were also eager to discuss all the headlines that have been splashed across
Gabon since Ali Bongo’s return: the purge of his
inner circle, including the dramatic
ouster of his all-powerful chief of staff Brice Laccruche
Alihanga; the revolving door of cabinets and
prime ministers; the rise to power of his eldest son Noureddin
Bongo Valentin; anti-corruption efforts; the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
and the authorities’ reform strategy.
Ali
Bongo hosted us on the morning of 16 March 2021 in the ambassadors’ room at his
official residence, the Palais du Bord de Mer.
Cheerful and relaxed, not to mention physically transformed – he has shed more
than 40kg since his health ordeal – the President set his usual reservations
about such interviews aside, humouring us during the
more than hour-long back-and-forth.
Life-changing experience
His
speech sounded normal, though it is perhaps less smooth than before his stroke.
When speaking about technical matters, he sometimes took a while to find his words, but physically speaking,
he has regained his motor skills and the full use of his limbs – notably on his
right side – which he had long battled to recover the use of, though his leg
still has a mind of its own.
He
uses a walking stick to get around, moving at his own pace, which is not as
fast as he used to when playing football with his family on Sunday nights. If
Ali Bongo has come this far in his recovery, it is due to hundreds of hours of
physical and speech therapy, as well as his adoption of healthier habits (he is
a former food and cigar lover).
Ali
Bongo knows his story is a miracle, that if his stroke had occurred in
Libreville or Chad – the country he was slated to visit the day after his
incapacitation – he would likely
no longer be with us, and the experience has changed him. After running
out of questions, we are the ones who wrapped up the interview: he would have
gladly continued.
You
suffered a serious stroke in Saudi Arabia in October 2018. How are you feeling
now?
Ali Bongo: Thanks
be to God, I’m doing well, and I’d like to repeat my gratitude to the
authorities in Saudi Arabia and Morocco for their warm, brotherly hospitality.
I also want to thank the Gabonese people, as their thoughts and prayers helped
me get through this ordeal. Their support gave me a great deal of strength.
Lastly, I want to thank my family, especially my wife and my children, for
remaining by my side.
All
of that is behind me now, so I’m firmly focused on exercising my duties as head
of state. I’ve even stepped up my work rhythm in an effort to achieve my
long-standing goal, which is that the Gabonese people want for nothing and that
the country continues its development trajectory.
Did
your health challenges change you?
Certainly.
I’m much more careful now about my health. That said, what doesn’t kill you
only makes you stronger – and boosts your determination. I’m looking forward to
recovering my full health and regaining my natural speech pattern. I still have
a few steps ahead of me before I can get there. This is something I work at
each day, on top of my duties as head of state. I have to admit that I went
through some difficult times.
During
your recovery, your power wavered and a clan war broke out among those close to
you. How did you deal with that?
That
incident only concerned a microcosm of people. A few people thought it was
their turn to take the reins. I suspected as much. But the vast majority of
people supported me. They have been wonderful and I couldn’t leave them in the
lurch. Their support gave me strength and that helped me recover more quickly
than the doctors predicted. It was also important that our constitutionally
governed institutions keep functioning, and they held strong. That’s something
in which we, the Gabonese people, can take pride.
I’ve never given up and it has never occurred to me
to quit the presidency. A captain cannot abandon his ship.
Did
your stroke impact the way you approach your life?
I’ve
come out of this ordeal with a much greater drive to make Gabon one of the most
advanced nations in Africa inside of 10 years in areas such as training, health
and the green economy. I’ve also become more demanding. The way I think about
time is different now. We are all limited by time, so we need to make the most
of it. I’m dedicating my time to the Gabonese people.
Your
opponents say you are weakened or even incapable of leading Gabon. What is your
response to them, especially as 2023 draws near? Do you plan to stand for
re-election?
As
head of state, I have enough to think about and do. I have the burdensome task
of leading a country and accomplishing certain initiatives. The presidential
election is still more than two years away. I’m focused on taking
action and carrying out reforms. I don’t have much time to devote to
anything else, particularly in light of the public health crisis.
As
for my opponents, they should direct their energy to coming up with ideas and
gaining an understanding of the population’s daily concerns and take a
constructive approach. They are sorely mistaken if they think they can win over
the Gabonese people by merely criticising and
stirring controversy.
Have
you ever thought about leaving office?
I’ve
never given up and it has never occurred to me to quit the presidency. A
captain cannot abandon his ship.
After
your stroke, you sidelined your closest associates – those whom have been part
of your inner circle since 2009, or even going further back, including Maixent Accrombessi, Liban Soleman, Étienne Massard, Frédéric Bongo, Monsieur Park, Steed Rey, Serge Mickoto and Arsène Emvahou. Only Jean-Yves Teale, Michael Moussa and Lee White
have stayed on. Why the purge?
It
wasn’t about any individual person, but about our collective efficiency. After
my return on the job in 2019, I wanted to embark on a new phase in my
seven-year term of office. That meant bringing in people with new skill sets,
people who think and approach situations differently. To be able to
continuously adapt, we have to be prepared to shake up our organisational
charts.
You
appointed your eldest son, Noureddin, as coordinator
of presidential affairs. What is his role exactly? Some say that, looking ahead
to the 2023 election, you are preparing your successor, for instance.
I
asked him to come work for the Gabonese people. Without a moment’s hesitation,
he left a job he loved and excelled at to do so. Noureddin,
whom I obviously trust completely, is extremely competent. He helps me in my
day-to-day work and ensures that my instructions are carried out and followed
up. His role is highly technical.
He
also has a distinct vision for Gabon’s long-term development, a modern
perspective and a keen awareness of a range of issues such as job training,
combating inequality and environmental protection.
Finally,
I especially value his honesty. That’s not a common trait in the political
class. He’s not afraid to tell me what he thinks or to sound the alarm if he
thinks we’re going down the wrong path. But I’m not going to comment on
anything that’s pure speculation or invention.
His appointment was announced after the ouster and subsequent
arrest of your chief of staff, Alihanga, on charges
of embezzling public funds. Once an all-powerful figure in your administration,
his fall from grace caused confusion. What really happened?
I’m
sure you understand that, as president and in accordance with the separation of
powers, I cannot comment on a pending legal case. All I can say is that I have
absolute confidence in my country’s judicial system. If any wrongdoing has been
committed, the courts will get to the bottom of it and he will be punished for
his misdeeds.
Pressure
from outside forces – no matter where it comes from or what form it takes –
cannot change the course of events. The Gabonese judicial system is
independent.
Anti-corruption efforts have brought down quite a few other
figures. What has been the outcome of Gabon’s various anti-corruption
campaigns, such as Operation Mamba I and II and Operation Scorpion?
Tackling
corruption is one of my top priorities. You mention Operation Mamba and
Operation Scorpion. On a different note, you could bring up the recent work
conducted by our domestic debt task force, which found that, out of a total
audited amount of 1trn CFA francs ($1.9bn), 623bn CFA francs was fake debts –
that is, a 62% share.
In recent months, our institutional mechanisms have been
reinforced (including the public procurement directorate and the national
financial investigations agency, alongside the creation of a national audit
board), and our procedures have become more stringent. My policy towards
corruption is clear-cut: zero tolerance!
Since
your re-election in 2016, you have worked with three different prime ministers
and initiated at least a dozen cabinet reshuffles. Not exactly the picture of
stability, is it?
When
it comes to my cabinet, what matters most isn’t stability or how long members
serve, but efficiency. Stability is a means to an end, while efficiency is an
end in itself. If change will bring about more efficiency, then I don’t
hesitate to institute change. A president has to know how to adapt and to make
decisions.
Are
you pleased with your prime minister, Rose Christiane Ossouka
Raponda, and her team?
I’ve
gotten to know her well since her first cabinet appointment. She made a name
for herself when she did a remarkable job at the defence
ministry. She and her cabinet, like their predecessors, will be judged, when
the time comes, on their track records. I’m expecting them to deliver
meaningful progress.
We
must improve the everyday lives of the Gabonese people and better prepare the
country for the future. What I can say at this point is that the prime minister
has earned my complete confidence.
The cabinet has embarked on a constitutional reform process. One
provision provides that, in the event the president is unable to exercise his
duties, a triumvirate made up of the defence minister
and the presidents of both houses of parliament would be responsible for
exercising the role of acting president. That’s an unusual arrangement,
to say the least.
I’d like
to clarify a point. It isn’t a question of ‘reforming’ as in ‘changing’; it’s
about strengthening our constitutional structure by resolving a number of
technical points, including the potential for a power vacuum, the criminal
liability of the head of state and the senate’s make-up. There’s no need to politicise a debate that is actually a purely legal matter.
All the reforms being undertaken serve to deepen our country’s democratic
foundations.
But
to specifically address your question on the inclusion of the defence minister in the group that would take over the
president’s duties in the event of a power vacuum, given the president of the
republic’s role as head of the armed forces, it’s normal for the defence minister, who has the required expertise and
experience in the area, to replace him if he is unable to perform his duties.
The
political climate has been tense ever since the 2016
presidential election. What can be done to ease the situation?
That
may be your point of view, but it is one that I don’t share and it doesn’t
correspond to reality. For one, the elections that have been held since then,
whether legislative, local or, more recently, senatorial, went off without a
hitch, with no violence to speak of. And let’s not forget that our opponents
today were our partners yesterday.
Gabon
has one of the most peaceful political climates in Africa. That said, there’s
no guarantee that things will stay that way, which is why we have to keep
working on two fronts.
First,
we need to ensure that our political institutions are more representative of
the diversity of our population, which is why we want to include women, young
people and private-sector voices in the cabinet, in the national assembly and
within other bodies.
Second,
we must carry out the reforms the Gabonese people have come to expect.
Establishing a peaceful, calm environment in the country involves enacting
reforms that are popular with the people.
How
has your Parti Démocratique Gabonais (PDG) been faring since its
underwhelming performance in the most recent presidential election?
Once
again, you are free to say what you will, but that isn’t an accurate
assessment. The PDG, which just celebrated its 53rd anniversary, has undergone
a lot of reforms in recent years. To be sure, the party has had its fair share
of departures and taken disciplinary action against some of its members. That
said, it has gained a great many new members, to the extent that we’re seeing
positive growth, for the most part.
The
PDG reflects the diversity of our population more closely now. We have given a
bigger role to women, young people, private-sector workers and the regions. In
addition, the party brought its programmatic software up to speed and, taken
together, these efforts have paid off. The PDG had a record showing in the
three most recent elections [legislative and local elections in 2018,
senatorial elections in 2021]. That momentum hasn’t waned. On the contrary, the
party is in tip-top shape.
The
opposition is fragmented. Who are your biggest rivals? The likes of Jean Ping,
Guy Nzouba-Ndama and Alexandre Barro-Chambrier?
I’m
not at liberty to comment on specific people, especially if they aren’t members
of my political party. But let it be said that the same people who have
something critical to say at every turn have been in office for a long time and
held top-level positions. As the saying goes, criticism is easy, but art is
difficult.
Gabon’s
democracy would stand to benefit from having a structured, constructive
opposition movement. One that doesn’t just spew criticism without ever making
counterproposals. Politics isn’t just a power game: it means having the fate of
hundreds of thousands of men and women in your hands. So
you have to know how to take responsibility and to put your country’s interests
before your own.
You
haven’t named a successor to former vice-president Pierre Claver
Maganga Moussavou. Do you
have plans to replace him?
The
question will be settled very shortly. I’m currently reviewing several
candidates, and my decision will be announced promptly.
How
has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted Gabon? And how is the country’s outlook
shaping up for 2021?
The
pandemic has chiefly had a human cost. Despite the fact that our response was
deemed very effective by international institutions, with high testing rates
and low mortality, Gabon has recorded a little over 100 deaths, though this
number doesn’t factor in cases of long Covid.
But
there have also been social impacts. Our lives have undergone profound
transformations in the space of a year. The Gabonese people have made huge
sacrifices, and I thank them for their efforts.
Finally,
there has been economic fallout. In 2020, we were dealt a triple shock tied to
the collapse in global demand for our main exports, the fall in commodity
prices and the slowdown in certain sectors due to measures taken nationwide to
slow the spread of the epidemic.
As a
result, our GDP contracted by about 5% year on year versus 2019, coming in at
between -1% and -2%. At the same time, our budgetary revenue fell by around 4%
of GDP year on year versus 2019 and our spending dropped by 1.5%, despite an
increase in health expenditures to combat the epidemic.
Gabon
is proving to be more resilient than other African countries, however. As a
result, we’re anticipating a strong rebound this year and a growth rate of 4%.
Coronavirus-related restrictions do not sit well with the
population, especially seeing as the number of Covid
cases and deaths seems relatively low.
Communities
are bearing the brunt of the restrictions. This is something happening all over
the world, and I sympathise with their hardship. My
responsibility as head of state requires me to implement measures that are not
enjoyable. But I have to take the right decisions to protect the Gabonese
people.
Also,
while the number of deaths reported in Gabon is relatively low, the figure has
risen significantly since the start of the year. One-third of all
coronavirus-related deaths were reported in the past three months, which shows
how essential it is to maintain, and sometimes tighten, certain restrictions.
It also highlights the need to hasten the implementation of our vaccination programme.
At
the beginning of March, we received our first shipment of 100,000 doses of Sinopharm’s vaccine. Sputnik V vaccines are set to arrive
soon. Gabon is also a member of the COVAX initiative, which has already begun
delivering vaccines in other parts of Africa, so we should receive our
allotment soon.
No
stone has been left unturned. Taken together, these efforts will ultimately pay
off, I’m sure of it. My goal is to help the Gabonese people get back to a
normal lifestyle as quickly as possible.
You
launched the Plan d’Accélération de la Transformation
(PAT) for 2021-2023 for Gabon’s economy. What are you looking to achieve? There
has been talk of economic diversification for a long time now.
Just
as Rome wasn’t built in a day, diversifying an economy doesn’t happen at the
snap of a finger. The fact remains that Gabon has made immense strides on this
field in the space of 10 years. For instance, the timber sector has gained
considerable ground, while the share of oil in GDP is down from 42.2% in 2010
to 32.7% in 2019. In addition, Gabon is increasingly processing its commodities
locally before exporting them abroad, which is good for industry and creates
jobs.
We
want to boost these dynamics with the help of the PAT, which was adopted in
January. The objective is to make the most of the three years covered by the
plan for Gabon. Eventually, our growth will not only be more robust, but also
more endogenous, meaning less reliant on global commodity prices, as well as a
more powerful engine for job creation – 30,000 jobs in three years in the
timber sector alone – and more sustainable and adapted to the emergence of
climate change.
Another
aspect I’d like to point out is that our debt, which currently stands at 70% of
GDP, will be brought below the 50% threshold. We’ll get there by keeping our
spending under control, accelerating our growth and restructuring our debt
(through extending its maturity and renegotiating interest rates).
How
would you assess your performance as head of state since 2009? In 2016, a large
majority of voters rejected you in favour of Jean
Ping.
Anyone
who loves their country would always like to do more for it. Certainly, we
could have done better in some areas. Mistakes that could have been avoided
were made.
But
while we have fallen short in certain respects, we have also produced many
accomplishments. They shouldn’t be overlooked, whether we’re talking about the
economic success of the timber sector, the social progress of free maternity
healthcare or the societal achievement of gender parity. I don’t have the power
to change the past, but I can take action both in the
here and now and in the future. And that’s what I’m focused on.
How
have Gabon’s relations with France changed under President Emmanuel Macron?
François Hollande’s presidency (2012-2017) was an especially tricky period.
During
Hollande’s presidency, relations between Gabon and France were not always very
smooth. There were misunderstandings. Since Macron’s election, things have
improved markedly. We share the same desire to have bilateral relations that
are enriching, serene and, I would say, in line with the times.
Which
countries are Gabon’s main partners today?
In
10 years’ time, Gabon has greatly expanded its pool of
partnerships. Countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, along with Russia
and Turkey, are increasingly doing business here, which attests to our economic
attractiveness. At the same time, we have been able to maintain a special
relationship with our traditional partners, chief among them Europe and the
United States.
In
the international arena, Gabon is a partner that matters. Our activism and
place at the forefront on certain issues, such as tackling climate change [the
country chairs the African Group of Negotiators ahead of COP26], is admired in
particular.
Gabon’s
diplomatic influence has also made itself known through our election in October
2020 to the UN Human Rights Council and the African Union’s approval last
February of our candidacy as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
The
Gabonese people have a multitude of expectations, especially in the wake of the
Covid pandemic. Do you think you will be able to meet
their demands?
If I
had the slightest doubt about this, I would have suffered the consequences long
ago. I have an obligation to deliver results to the Gabonese people. I will continue
to devote all my energy to meeting their most legitimate expectations. And I
have energy to spare!
On a
personal note
What
is your worst trait?
Ali Bongo: My
stubbornness.
And
your best trait?
My
perseverance.
What
are you reading right now?
Andrew
Roberts’ Churchill: Walking with Destiny. I must admit,
however, that I barely find the time to read lately, as I have a great deal of
projects on my plate.
What
historical figure has influenced you the most?
My father,
of course. Among contemporary figures, I’d say Martin Luther King Jr and
Charles de Gaulle, as well as Lee Kuan Yew for his
effective leadership.
What’s
your favourite hobby?
Music.
I love to play and compose it.
If you
could be reincarnated as an animal, which would you choose?
A
feline: a lion, tiger or panther.
What
was the most moving moment of your life?
The
birth of my children.
From aa.com turkey
23.04.2021
'AFRICA
SUFFERS WORST IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE'
ANKARA
Despite
emitting the lowest amount of carbon per capita in the world, Africa suffers
the worst of the impacts of climate change, including droughts and floods,
locust and pest invasions, according to the head of the African Development
Bank Group (AfDB).
Speaking
at the Leaders Summit on Climate via videoconference
on Thursday, Akinwumi Adesina said the AfDB has
committed $25 billion to climate finance over the next four years.
"Our
share of financing devoted to climate rose from 9% in 2016 to 35% in 2019 and
we will reach 40% in 2021," Adesina added.
Gabon's
President Ali Bongo Ondimba said the fight against
climate change must be intensified and serve as a development opportunity for
Africa.
"Developing
countries often suffer the most from the devastating effects of climate change
in the form of drought, extreme storms and rising sea levels," according
to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
"Consequently,
developed economies have a responsibility to support developing economies to
enable them to mitigate and adapt to climate change," Ramaphosa
added.
He
said South Africa's emissions will begin to decline from 2025, effectively
bringing the country's emissions decline a decade forward.
Ramaphosa called on all developed economies,
which he said bore the greatest historical responsibility on emissions, to
fulfill their responsibilities to developing economies.
"This
will be vital to restoring the bonds of trust between developed and developing
economies."
"As
we have done since the time of Nelson Mandela, South Africa stands ready to
work with other nations to build bridges to find solutions that secure
humanity's future," he added.
Chancellor Angela
Merkel, Germany
FROM www.dw.com
MERKEL PUSHES FOR CARBON PRICING
'WORLDWIDE' AT FINAL CLIMATE CONFERENCE
Expectations
were high for Angela Merkel as she spoke one last time at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. But her speech promoting
carbon pricing and "international solidarity" left climate experts
disappointed.
Germany's
Angela Merkel, in her last climate summit as chancellor, told representatives
from some 40 countries on Thursday that a carbon pricing system would help keep
global CO2 emissions in check.
"From
my point of view, it would be very desirable if we also had a CO2 price
worldwide, which would have to be introduced step by step," she told
the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, which was held
online this year. Merkel initiated the Petersberg
conference in 2009, after negotiations at the United Nations Climate
Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) stalled.
Merkel
on Thursday urged other countries to follow Germany's carbon tax
example, citing the €25 ($30) per ton tax slapped on carbon
dioxide emitted by the country's transport and heating sectors this January,
saying, "In the interest of future generations all over the world, it
is important that we act quickly and decisively to limit the dramatic
consequences of global warming."
The
chancellor's remarks also come a day after the German government announced
plans to implement more "ambitious" climate goals to
curb emissions after a landmark ruling by the country's top court declared
a prior key climate protection law "insufficient."
New
climate goals still fall short, say experts
Many
observers in Germany found Merkel's performance at the annual summit,
a preparatory meeting for this November's UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow,
Scotland, disappointing for its lack of vision — especially considering the fact
that it was Merkel who called for the first such summit 12 years ago.
Prior
to the summit, Oxfam — a confederation of charitable organizations — called
for, "more leadership on global climate policy, more ambitious German
climate protection measures and more financial assistance for disadvantaged
countries in the fight against the climate crisis."
Although
Merkel repeated the goals laid out by German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze and Finance
Minister Olaf Scholz on Wednesday — lowering emissions
to 65% of what they were in 1990 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2045 rather
than 2050 — observers say much more must be done if such goals are
to actually be met rather than discussed.
"Germany
must cut climate harming emissions by at least 70% by the year 2030. Otherwise
we'll have to take action so drastic that it will
gravely injure the fundamental rights of younger generations. There is simply
no avoiding quickening the exit from coal power by 2030, ending registration
for new internal combustion vehicles by 2025 and swiftly ending mass livestock
farming," says Greenpeace climate expert Lisa Göldner.
'International
solidarity,' but help falling short
Another
key point of discussion at the Petersberg summit was
that of assisting developing countries struggling
with the financial burden of the climate crisis.
Wealthy
industrialized countries have pledged to make $100 billion available to
such countries each year — but that has yet to happen.
Groups
such as the international church network ACT Alliance EU, have bemoaned the
fact that wealthier countries have failed to
live up to their promise to help, pointing out that Germany, France, and Spain,
for instance, have now opted to provide loans to be paid back at current market
rates while presenting those as aid.
"That
is unfair because those loans have to be paid back with interest, which means
lender nations are going to profit," said Sabine Minninger,
an environmental policy expert for the church organization Brot
für die Welt (Bread for the World).
Dubbed by some as
the "climate chancellor," Merkel's speech at her last climate
conference left experts feeling underwhelmed.
While Merkel urged
for "international solidarity" to curb emissions, she spoke little of
the issue of aiding developing countries — only noting that leaders would
likely have to discuss new aid goals in Glasgow and urging wealthy nations
to honor commitments despite the financial strains of the coronavirus pandemic:
"This pandemic has torn enormous holes in the budgets [of
industrialized nations]. We have invested a great deal to counter this pandemic
... and yet we must not let up in our international responsibilities. That will
be a very big task."
UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson was more assertive when addressing the topic, saying: "We
simply must meet our existing commitments on climate finance, that long overdue
$100 billion dollars a year target, and then we must go further still."
Johnson
said of Glasgow: "It must be a summit of agreement, of action, of deeds,
not words. For that to happen, over the next six months, we must be relentless
in our ambition and determination, laying the foundations on which success will
be built," adding, "If all that emerges from COP26 is more hot air,
then we have absolutely no chance of keeping our planet cool."
FROM www.euractiv.com
MERKEL’S LAST CLIMATE SUMMIT FAILS ON
FINANCE FOR POOR NATIONS
By Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | EURACTIV.de May 7,
2021 (updated: May 14, 2021)
The 12th Petersberg Climate Dialogue, hosted in Berlin on Thursday
(6 May), failed to deliver on expectations of increased financial support for poorer
countries.
The high-level political dialogue, which
takes place on an annual basis, was originally founded by German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and this year’s edition was her last international climate
summit.
“We need to meet our climate financing goals,
such as the $100 billion goal, which has not yet been achieved,” said UK Prime
Minister Boris Johnson who spoke ahead of Merkel at yesterday’s summit.
“Industrial nations need to empathise with developing countries,” he added.
At the COP15 climate summit in 2009, industrialised nations pledged to help the poorest, by
providing $100 billion in aid each year by 2020. Rich countries renew their
promise each year without fully delivering.
At the summit, Germany was expected to
increase its financial commitments to support climate mitigation and adaptation
in poorer countries.
As Merkel laid out Germany’s plan to
contribute its fair share to global climate finance, she failed to participate
in further closing the global climate finance gap, to the consternation of environmtal NGOs.
“It is a deep disappointment that German
Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to make a commitment to increase climate
finance,” said Jan Kowalzig of Oxfam Germany.
“As of today, Chancellor Merkel and her
equivalents in the G7 are leaving vulnerable and middle-income countries in the
lurch,” said Jennifer Tollmann of E3G, a climate
think tank.
Germany should act in concert with the
UK in order to bring the rest of the G7 members along ahead of the COP26
climate summit later this year in Glasgow, she said.
Wealthy countries still failing on $100
billion climate finance pledge
In 2017, the most industrialised
countries contributed a little above $70 billion to nations vulnerable to the
effects of climate change. This number is far below the annual $100 billion
pledged in 2009 for the following decade. EURACTIV’s partner le Journal de
l’environnement reports.
Kowalzing pointed out that both the US and the UK
committed to doubling their climate financing.
“While you only care about your positive
climate image before the elections, our communities continue to be the most
affected by the climate crisis,” said Maria Reyes, a youth climate campaigner
at Fridays for Future Mexico.
Reyes accused Germany of an
opportunistic inward focus ahead of the country’s upcoming general elections in
September.
“As the biggest economy in the EU the
eyes of the world are on Germany. It has a history of being a climate leader
but this is starting to slip badly,” said Mohamed Adow
of PowerShift Africa.
The news comes amid an otherwise bullish
summit for Germany, which announced new ambitious national emission targets
this week.
“Germany will aim to cut emissions by
65% relative to 1990 levels by 2030,” said Merkel, adding that the country will
achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.
Pointed criticism is also came from
within Germany.
“Going at it alone on the national level
does nothing for climate protection,” said Lukas Köhler on behalf of the Free
Democratic Party (FDP) on Thursday (6 May), warning that emissions would just
be shifted out of Europe.
He also pushed for an international
expansion of the EU’s emissions trading scheme, the European carbon market
which puts a price on emissions from the power sector and industry.
Germany pledges to become
carbon-neutral by 2045
Germany pledges to become carbon-neutral
by 2045. Germany has announced plans to become carbon neutral by 2045, in a
landmark shift in climate policy driven by a recent constitutional court ruling
demanding better defined emissions targets after 2030.
German Finance Minister …
[Edited by Frédéric Simon]
EURACTIV's
editorial content is independent from the views of our sponsors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India
FROM
livemint.com in
'TIMELY REMINDER OF GRAVE THREAT': PM
MODI AT US-HOSTED VIRTUAL CLIMATE SUMMIT
Updated:
22 Apr 2021, 07:03 PM
·
India’s per capita
carbon footprint is 60% lower than the global average as our lifestyle is still
rooted in sustainable traditional practices, PM said
·
Humanity is
battling a global pandemic right now and this event is a timely reminder that
grave threat of Climate Change hasn't disappeared, he added
While addressing US-hosted a virtual climate summit on
Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said
India’s per capita carbon footprint is 60% lower than the global average owing
to the fact that our lifestyle is rooted in sustainable traditional practices.
The prime minister said, "Today, as
we discuss global climate action, I want to leave one thought with you. India’s
per capita carbon footprint is 60% lower than the global average as our
lifestyle is still rooted in sustainable traditional practices."
He also noted that as a
climate-responsible country, India welcomes partners to create templates of
sustainable development.
Speaking about the Indo-US climate and
clean energy initiative, the prime minister noted, "President Biden and I are
launching India-US climate and clean energy Agenda 2030 partnership. We will
help mobilise investments, demonstrate clean
technologies and enable green collaborations."
Humanity is battling a global pandemic
right now and this event is a timely reminder that grave threat of Climate
Change hasn't disappeared. It is a lived reality for millions around the world,
Modi said.
Joe
Biden pledges to cut emissions
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden opened a
global climate summit on Thursday aiming to get the world leaders to dig deeper
on emissions cuts.
“Meeting this moment is about more than
preserving our planet," Biden said, “It’s about providing a better future
for all of us."
“The signs are unmistakable,
the science is undeniable. the cost of inaction keeps mounting," he added.
His new commitment to cut U.S. fossil
fuel emissions up to 52% by 2030 marks a return by the U.S. to global climate
efforts after four years of withdrawal under President Donald Trump. Biden’s
administration is sketching out a vision of a prosperous, clean-energy United
States where factories churn out cutting-edge batteries for export, line
workers re-lay an efficient national electrical grid and crews cap abandoned
oil and gas rigs and coal mines.
FROM business
standard
CLIMATE SUMMIT: MODI ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF INDIA-US
CLEAN ENERGY PARTNERSHIP
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced partnership with the US for the
"Agenda 2030" initiative to combat climate change
Updated at April 23, 2021 07:06 IST
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi announced
on Thursday that India and the US are launching an "agenda 2030"
partnership on green collaborations as he pitched for concrete action at a
"high speed" and on a "large scale" globally to
combat climate change.
Addressing
a virtual summit on climate change convened
by US President Joe Biden, Modi said a guiding philosophy of "back to
basics" must be an important pillar of the economic strategy for the
post-COVID era and asserted that India has taken "many bold steps" on
clean energy, energy efficiency and bio-diversity, despite its development
challenges.
The
summit is being attended by some 40 world leaders, including Chinese President
Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga.
"As
a climate-responsible developing country, India welcomes partners to create
templates of sustainable development in the country. These can also help other
developing countries, who need affordable access to green finance and clean
technologies.
"That
is why, President Biden and I are launching the 'India-US Climate and Clean
Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership'. Together, we will help mobilise
investments, demonstrate clean technologies and enable green collaborations,"
Modi said.
In his
remarks on the opening day of the two-day summit, the prime minister also
recalled the words of Swami Vivekananda, saying he called on "us to
'arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached'".
On the
Indo-US partnership, a joint statement by the two sides said it is aimed at
demonstrating how the world can "align swift climate action" with
inclusive and resilient economic development, taking into
account national circumstances and sustainable development
priorities".
"Led
by Prime Minister Modi and President Biden, the partnership will represent one
of the core venues for India-US collaboration and focus on driving urgent
progress in this critical decade for climate action," it said.
"The
partnership will aim to mobilise finance and speed
clean energy deployment; demonstrate and scale innovative clean technologies
needed to decarbonise sectors including industry,
transportation, power and buildings; and build capacity to measure, manage and
adapt to the risks of climate-related impacts," it added.
"Both
India and the US have set ambitious 2030 targets for climate action and clean
energy. In its new nationally determined contribution, the US has set an
economy-wide target of reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 per
cent below 2005 levels in 2030," the joint statement said.
In his
address at the summit, Modi said India's per capita carbon footprint is 60 per
cent lower than the global average.
"For
humanity to combat climate change, concrete action is needed. We need such
action at a high speed, on a large scale and with a global scope," he
said.
"We,
in India, are doing our part. Our ambitious renewable energy target of 450
Gigawatts by 2030 shows our commitment," the prime minister added.
He
said humanity is battling a global pandemic right now and the climate summit is
a timely reminder that the grave threat of climate change has
not disappeared.
"In
fact, climate change is a lived reality for millions around the world. Their
lives and livelihoods are already facing its adverse consequences," Modi
said.
He
said India is among the few countries whose "NDCs are two-degree-Celsius
compatible".
Under
the Paris agreement, each country has to set its own emission-reduction
targets, known as national determined contributions (NDCs) and the pact's goal
is to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius.
"Today,
as we discuss global climate action, I want to leave one thought with you.
India's per capita carbon footprint is 60 per cent lower than the global
average. It is because our lifestyle is still rooted in sustainable traditional
practices," Modi said.
He
also emphasised the importance of a lifestyle change
in climate action.
"Sustainable
lifestyles and a guiding philosophy of 'back to basics' must be an important
pillar of our economic strategy for the post-COVID era," Modi said.
He
also mentioned that India is encouraging global initiatives such as the
International Solar Alliance, the LeadIT and the
Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
The
summit is being hosted by Biden, for whom climate change has been an area of
focus.
After
taking charge as the president, Biden on January 20 announced the return of the
United States to the Paris climate accord.
The
virtual summit is part of a series of global meetings focussing
on climate issues, being held in the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference
(COP26) in November.
Earlier
this month, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry visited India
and discussed issues relating to climate, including the virtual summit, with
Indian leaders.
The
Indian leaders conveyed to him about the country's efforts to meet the
commitments under the Paris climate agreement and reduce emissions.
President Joko
Widodo, Indonesia
FROM setkab.go.id
PRESIDENT JOKOWI
ADDRESSES THREE ISSUES ON CLIMATE CHANGE
By Office
of Assistant to Deputy Cabinet Secretary for State Documents & Translation
Date 23 April 2021
President
Joko “Jokowi” Widodo attended the Leaders Summit on Climate
which was held virtually, from Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java province,
Thursday (22/4).
On the
occasion, the President addressed three issues related to the climate change,
as follows.
First, he emphasized that Indonesia is very serious
in controlling climate change and inviting the world to take concrete actions.
As the
largest archipelagic country and owner of tropical forests, President Jokowi
said that tackling climate change is Indonesia’s national interest. Thanks to
policies, empowerment, and law enforcement, Indonesia’s current deforestation
rate has fallen to the lowest in twenty years.
“The
halt in the conversion of natural forests and peatlands has reached 66 million
hectares, or more than the area of England and Norway combined. The reduction
in forest fires was up to 82 percent while several regions in America,
Australia and Europe saw the widest increase,” said President Jokowi.
Second, the President invited world leaders to
promote green development for a better world. According to him, Indonesia has
updated its nationally determined contribution (NDC) to increase adaptation
capacity and climate resilience.
Moreover,
Indonesia also welcomes the 26th Framework Convention on
Climate Change held in the United Kingdom for an implemented and balanced
outcome. Indonesia also welcomes the target of a number of countries towards
net-zero emission by 2050. However, to be credible, this commitment must be
carried out based on the fulfillment of the 2030 NDC commitment.
“Developing
countries will carry out the same ambition if the commitment of developed
countries is credible with real support. Support and fulfillment of the
commitments of developed countries are needed,” he added.
Third, to achieve the target of the Paris
Agreement and the next shared agenda, President Jokowi expressed views that the
global partnership must be strengthened. World countries need to build an
understanding and strategies to achieve net-zero emissions and towards the 26th session
of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Framework
Convention (UNFCCC COP 26) in Glasgow, he added.
In
addition, Indonesia itself is currently accelerating net-zero emission pilot
project, among others, by building the Indonesia Green Industrial Park covering
an area of 12,500 hectares in North Kalimantan province, which will become the
largest in the world.
“We
are currently rehabilitating 620 thousand hectares of mangrove forests until
2024, the largest in the world with carbon absorption reaching fourfold higher
than that of tropical forests. Indonesia is also open to investment and
technology transfer, including investment for energy transition,” he said.
Furthermore,
President Jokowi explained that great opportunities are also open for the
developments of biofuels, the lithium battery industry and electric vehicles
(EV). He emphasized that the Indonesia’s presidency for the G20 in 2022 will
prioritize strengthened cooperation on climate change and sustainable
development.
“Indonesia
also continues to support the efforts of our friends in the Pacific region. We
must continue to take collective actions, a real global partnership, and not
blame each other, let alone apply trade barriers under the pretext of
environmental issues,” he said.
For
the record, the Leaders Summit on Climate was
officially opened by President of the United States Joe Biden and Vice
President of the United States Kamala Harris. This conference was attended by
41 heads of states/heads of governments/heads of international organizations. (BPMI/Presidential Secretariat/UN)
(EST/MUR)
And,
previously…
President Jokowi Calls for Extraordinary Measures to Tackle
Climate Change
By
Office of Assistant to Deputy Cabinet Secretary for State Documents &
Translation Date 26 Januari
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called for extraordinary
measures to tackle the global impacts of climate change. According to the
President, enormous impacts of these changes are very real, particularly for
archipelagic countries such as Indonesia. “The impacts of climate change are
right before us, particularly for archipelagic countries such as Indonesia,”
the President said during the 2021 Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) virtually,
Monday (25/01). Cyclical changes in the climate, according to the President,
require farmers and fishers in Indonesia to make adjustment in facing
uncertainties, adding that rising sea levels also require coastal and small
island populations to persevere.
The Head of State also pointed out that COVID-19 pandemic that
has hit at least 215 countries worldwide including Indonesia, has further
complicated these challenges. “For that, we must take extraordinary steps,” he
said.
According to the President, those steps are as follows:
First, all countries must meet their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)
to tackle climate change. “Indonesia has updated its NDC to boost resilience
and adaptability,” he said. Second, all countries must mobilize all the
potential of the communities to raise awareness in dealing with and taking action related to the impacts of climate change that
will inevitably occur in the future. “Indonesia has engaged its communities to
mitigate climate change through the Climate Village program covering 20,000
villages by 2024,” he said. Third, all countries must strengthen global
partnerships. Indonesia itself is prioritizing capacity building cooperation in
dealing with climate change for countries in the Pacific, he said. “Of course,
developed countries must fulfill their commitments,” he said. Fourth, all
countries must continue to promote green development for a better world.
The President also expressed hope that the 2021 CAS Summit
can multiply global climate action through solidarity, collaboration and global
collective leadership, as well as ensure the detailed implementation in each
country.
For the record, the CAS Summit is a global summit aimed to
speed up and boost global efforts to adapt the communities and the economy to
the impacts of climate change in the future. This year, the Netherlands hosted
the CAS Summit virtually with 22 countries including Indonesia joining the
Summit. (BPMI/UN) (MUR/EP)
Sumber: https://setkab.go.id/en/president-jokowi-calls-for-extraordinary-measures-to-tackle-climate-change/
Also previously, from – the Jakarta Post
‘Missed opportunity’: Indonesia shies away from net-zero
target at climate summit World leaders appear on the screen during a virtual
Climate Summit, as seen from the East Room at the White House in Washington,
DC, on Thursday.(Reuters/Tom Brenner) Share this
article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin
A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The
Jakarta Post) PREMIUM Jakarta
But, later…
Mon,
April 26, 2021
Indonesia has failed to make a stronger commitment to
mitigate the climate crisis as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo opts to shy away from
declaring a net-zero emission pledge at a recent climate summit, when most
leaders announced a tougher promise to address the matter. The President
attended the virtual climate summit hosted by United States President Joe Biden
on Thursday, when 40 world leaders were expected to raise their ambitions in
mitigating the crisis. Jokowi opened his five-minute speech by reiterating
Indonesia’s commitment to mitigating the crisis: “Indonesia is serious in
tackling climate change and calls upon the world to take concrete actions.”
However, the President did not specify any net-zero emissions goal, or when
Indonesia would reach a point of balancing out the greenhouse...
Continue reading in thejakartapost.com with the title "‘Missed opportunity’:
Indonesia shies away from net-zero target at climate summit; Indonesian public
figures, celebs push for climate action". Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2021/04/05/indonesian-public-figures-celebs-push-for-climate-action.html.
Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel
PM NETANYAHU'S REMARKS AT THE LEADERS’
SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
23
Apr 2021
Following are Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's video remarks, today (Friday, 23 April 2021), to the Leaders’ Summit
on Climate Change hosted by US President Joe Biden:
“I thank President Biden and his team for
hosting this important virtual summit. I have known President Biden for some
forty years. I know the strength of his commitment for stronger action on climate.
This is a commitment we in Israel fully share. I have pledged to reduce
Israel's carbon footprint and to completing a successful transition from fossil
fuels to renewable energy by 2050.
“We have already made crucial
progress in two specific areas. In coal, we have substantially reduced our
dependency. In fact, Israel is a global leader in cutting coal consumption. By
2025, that's four years from now, barring unforeseen circumstances, Israel will
no longer be burning coal. Period. In solar energy, over the last five years we
have increased our generation from two percent to almost ten percent this year.
And we are committed that by the end of this decade, renewable energy will be
providing over a third of Israel’s electricity.
“The challenge we still face is
solar-energy storage. My government is working to overcome this challenge and
make Israel a global leader in energy storage. This will enable us to
revolutionize our use of renewable energy. Hundreds of Israeli start-ups are
working on this project and on related issues. These companies have already
received billions of dollars; they'll receive more. Because I am convinced that
Israeli science and Israeli ingenuity will enable us to play our part in the
global transition to a net zero carbon economy.
“In water too
Israel is making a big difference. We have shown the world how to use water
more efficiently in agriculture through pioneering developments in drip
irrigation, hydroponic agriculture and the use of artificial intelligence.
Israel is a world leader in water purification and recycling, as well as in
desalination. About 93 percent of Israel's wastewater is purified, and 86
percent is recycled for use in agriculture. These are very big numbers.
“And cooperation in the fields of water
and renewable energy are also an integral part of our new cooperation with the
UAE and Bahrain. So, not only are we working to end dependency on fossil fuels
and finding solutions to the climate crisis, but we are helping to cement
Arab-Israeli peace. And that bodes well for the entire region, for the entire
world."
From
Haaretz.com
AT BIDEN'S CLIMATE SUMMIT, NETANYAHU
SAYS ISRAEL WILL STOP USING FOSSIL FUELS BY 2050
Israel's position has been unclear
before the global summit, and some activists doubt the sincerity of the prime
minister's ambitious pledge to rely solely on renewable energy by 2050 and
close coal-based power plants by 2025
By Zafrir Rinat,
Apr. 23, 2021
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
announced on Friday that Israel will work to supply all of its electricity from
renewable sources by 2050, at a virtual summit convened by President Joe
Biden to discuss the global climate crisis.
Biden called the meeting with dozens of
heads of state to declare the United States back at the climate leadership
table after his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the
Paris agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The leaders of some 40 countries participated
in the two-day summit that kicked off on Thursday, setting the ground
for the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November.
The Democratic president announced a new
U.S. target on Thursday to reduce its emissions 50-52 percent by 2030 compared
with 2005 levels. Japan and Canada also raised their targets.
Speaking at the virtual
conference, Netanyahu also mentioned the
Israeli government's short-term goals, to close coal-based power plants by 2025
and ensure that, by the end of the decade, about 30 percent of power production
will come from renewable energy sources, mainly solar.
In the run up to Netanyahu's speech on
Friday, it was unclear what goals Israel would announce. Neither the Prime
Minister’s Office nor the energy and environmental protection ministries had
issued
any statements on the topic.
Several activists and environmental
groups warned Netanyahu's pledge was insincere, as Israel has failed to stand
by some of its previous commitments on climate or pass binding
legislation.
·
U.S. pledges to halve its emissions
by 2030 in renewed climate fight
·
Squabbling among water officials
imperils Jordan River rehabilitation
·
Israeli ministries compose plan to
fight climate change days before U.S. summit
Prof.
Ofira Ayalon who, together
with Prof. Adi Wolfson, co-authored a policy proposal submitted to the premier
ahead of the summit, said of Netanyahu’s speech that it “was not a real
commitment,” adding that his failure to mention “climate legislation or carbon
taxation indicate that it was an eloquent speech that does not bind Israel to
anything.” Ayalon lamented that the speech did not “present a courageous vision
capable of propelling not only the Israeli economy but also humanity towards a
carbon-free future by exporting innovative technologies in the field of green
and clean tech.”
The world has had its fill of climate
conferences, but this summit is important because it illustrates the United
States’ return to the process of dealing with the climate crisis. It was
difficult to demand of states like Russia or Brazil to commit to the project
while the United States showed no real interest in it during Trump’s
presidency.
The summit is also important because of
its potential influence on more ambitious goals to reduce hothouse gas emissions by
the end of the decade. Numerous scientists say the next 10 years will be
critical to prevent the earth’s warming by more than a degree and a half
compared to the pre-industrial era, a fateful limit.
Some scientists doubt world leaders’
ability to bring about significant changes in the short term.
A report published at the beginning of
the month at the U.S. Energy Department’s request follows the progress to
achieve the goal of zero carbon emissions in energy production. The report says
that 15 years ago experts estimated that in 2020, carbon emissions would reach
3 billion tons. But the actual emitted amount was half of that. This was mainly
due to increased energy efficiency, shifting from coal to gas, continuing to
use nuclear reactors and considerable growth of solar and wind electricity
production.
Britain has already announced that by
2035 it will reduce carbon emissions by 78 percent compared to 1990. Both the
European Union and United States pledged they would slash emissions by
roughly 50 percent by the end of the decade, compared to 2015.
Meanwhile, Danish Prime Minister Mette
Frederiksen presented a plan for the construction of a new artificial island
that will serve as a wind energy hub, supplying half of Denmark’s electricity
needs. She also noted that the number of people employed in Denmark’s renewable
energy industry is currently greater than the number of people engaged in the
Denmark’s fossil fuel industry.
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm
said that by 2030, the clean energy market will hit $23 trillion and be a
driving force for a new economy. Granholm noted that the U.S. has pledged to
reduce the price of solar power by fifty percent until the end of the decade.
To keep these commitments, far-reaching
changes will have to be made in methods of energy, food and industrial
production. The countries will also have to forge an economic policy in pricing
carbon and revoking subsidies for the oil and coal industries.
Achievable?
Israel is a very minor player in the
world emission-balance. Still, it’s not clear how it will do so as long as the
ministries dealing with the matter – the energy and environmental protection
ministries – have different and sometimes contradictory positions.
Perhaps the differences between the ministries
are the reason for the complete lack of transparency in the government’s
activity regarding the climate crisis. The government hasn’t informed the
public of the approach it will take in the leaders’ conference.
Netanyahu's decision to close down the
coal stations is an important achievement. But in all other areas, Israel is
lagging far behind. It hasn’t achieved its goal of producing 10 percent of
electricity with renewable energies in 2020, and it’s not clear it will be able
to do so by the end of the decade, or how.
Netanyahu also said that Israel is
investing large sums of money in companies that are developing technologies to
improve solar energy storage capacity.
Netanyahu claimed that Israel has
succeeded in increasing solar energy electricity production from two percent to
ten percent, but this is not accurate. Israel has not yet reached the 10
percent mark – the Energy Ministry claims that this is due to delays resulting
from the coronavirus pandemic and has promised that the goal will be achieved
this year.
Netanyahu’s pledge that Israel would
work to produce all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050 is much
more optimistic than the 85 percent figure touted by the Energy Ministry.
The ministry clarified that even the 85
percent benchmark will be extremely difficult to achieve on account of Israel’s
inability to utilize additional energy sources such as nuclear reactors, as
well as the challenge of allocating adequate space for solar energy production.
In December, Netanyahu had said that Israel would stop using fossil fuels by
2050, the target accepted by most countries in the West. However, he has not
yet presented a plan of action or proposed legislation mandating that fossil
fuels be phased out.
COVID
and the climate
The contradictions in the government’s
policy are a major problem. On one hand it plans to close the Haifa refineries, and
on the other it authorizes marine oil exploration and
pushes for increased oil tanker activity in the ports of Eilat
and Ashkelon.
It appears that some of the government’s
promises are empty. The Energy Ministry announces it will act to ban importing
cars with an internal combustion motor from the end of the decade, but at the
moment there is no economic or logistical preparation for creating a market for
electric cars at an reasonable price, and with an
adequate charging network.
An especially large threat looms over
each country’s announced goal – the coronavirus crisis and how to get out of
it. Many countries are already showing interest in economic revival packages
that enable the polluting-energy industry to resume operations at full steam,
as other industries renew activities that emit hothouse gases.
The world will have to find a balance
between the desire to recover from the economic burden caused by the
coronavirus and the necessity to avert the burden created by the climate
crisis.
From
– timesofisrael.com
AT
BIDEN’S CLIMATE SUMMIT, PM PLEDGES TO MOVE ISRAEL TO RENEWABLE ENERGY BY 2050
In address to online confab, Netanyahu promises to wean
Israel off fossil fuels, give ‘billions of dollars’ to Israeli startups working
in sustainability
By SUE SURKES 23 April 2021, 6:39
pm
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the second day of US President Joe
Biden’s Climate Summit on Friday, pledging to “transition the country from
fossil fuels to renewable energy by 2050.”
The climate
summit, launched on Thursday, Earth Day, and continuing through Friday, is
intended to encourage world leaders from 40 nations to take more ambitious
steps towards cutting the carbon emissions that lead to global warming in the
run-up to November’s planned UN climate confab in Glasgow, Scotland.
Netanyahu
said that he was familiar with the strength of Biden’s
commitment to stronger action on climate, a commitment that “we in Israel fully
share.”
He
went on, “I pledge to reduce Israel’s carbon footprint and to completing a
successful transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy by 2050.”
The
prime minister said that Israel had already made progress in two specific areas
— cutting coal, with the aim of ending its use completely by 2025, and increasing
solar energy as a percentage of all energy from 2% to almost 10% this year.
“We
are committed that by the end of this decade, renewable energy will be
providing over a third of Israel’s electricity,” he said.
But
the country still faced the challenge of storing solar energy, he went on.
Israel
was trying to overcome this and to become “a global leader for renewable energy
storage.”
Hundreds
of Israeli startups were working on this and other related issues and had already
received “billions of dollars, and they will receive more,” he said, “because
I’m convinced that Israeli science and Israeli ingenuity will enable us to play
our part in the global transition to a net-zero carbon economy.”
Netanyahu
went on to describe Israeli advances in water efficiency such as drip
irrigation, hydroponic (water-based) agriculture, desalination and water
purification and recycling. He said that 93% of Israel’s wastewater is purified
and 86% of it recycled for use in agriculture. Water efficiency was also being
boosted by the use of artificial intelligence.
He
ended by saying that Israel was cooperating with the United Arab Emirates and
Bahrain in water and renewable energy technology, following normalization
agreements signed with the two countries last year.
It
was unclear what Netanyahu meant when he pledged to transition away from fossil
fuels by 2050.
There
is no government policy as regards 2050. The only official goal is to ensure
that 30% of energy comes from renewable sources – mainly solar energy — with
the rest coming from natural gas.
Earlier
this week, the Energy Ministry published a roadmap to cutting global warming
emissions by 80% by 2050. This set a goal of cutting emissions across the
energy sector by 23% by 2030 and from electricity in particular (one form of
energy) by “approximately” 30%.
Environmentalists
said Netanyahu’s pledge was at odds with the reality in Israel.
A
spokesperson for Greenpeace Israel said, that “in practice, Israel has no plan
to fight the climate crisis.”
On
the contrary, the organization charged, the state’s efforts were mainly focussed on exploring for more gas and oil and — through
plans to export gas to Europe — on “creating new demand for fossil fuels.”
“The
Israeli government should sober up from the gas dream, listen to the winds of
change, anchor the targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a law or a
government decision and immediately freeze all new plans for the production,
transportation and burning of fossil fuels,” the spokesperson said.
“Instead,
it should invest as much as is needed in the development of solar energy and
storage technologies that will also lead to the creation of tens of thousands
of green jobs in the coming years.”
Yoni
Sappir, chairman of the Home Guardians environmental
organization, said it was not clear what Netanyahu meant when he referred to
government efforts to find solutions for renewable energy storage, when many large scale projects already existed elsewhere in the world,
including in the US.
He
also referred to an ongoing row between the Energy and Environmental Protection
Ministry over the 2050 goals that should be set. The latter has called for at least 40% of electricity to be generated
by solar panels in 2030 and 95% of it by 2050.
The
prime minister, said Sappir, must “immediately pass,
with his personal involvement, a climate law that includes carbon taxation,
which the Finance Ministry has torpedoed. Without these moves, Netanyahu’s
statements will remain hollow…It’s time to stop talking and to move on to real
and binding deeds.”
President Moon Jae-in, Republic of
Korea
MOON: S. KOREA TO SET HIGHER GOAL OF
CUTTING EMISSIONS, SUBMIT IT TO U.N. THIS YEAR
From – yna.co.kr, All News 22:19
April 22, 2021, By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, April 22 (Yonhap) -- President Moon
Jae-in announced South Korea's plan to further bolster its carbon emission
reduction target on Thursday, speaking to U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese
President Xi Jinping and two dozen other global leaders during a virtual
climate summit.
In an updated report to the United Nations
last December, the Asian economic powerhouse presented its target of reducing emissions
by 24.4 percent from the 2017 level by 2030. It is part of the country's
commitment under the Paris Agreement, known as a nationally determined
contribution (NDC).
South Korea will "additionally
raise" the NDC and report a new target to the U.N. within this year, Moon
said during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate
hosted by Biden on Earth Day.
He did not give a specific figure, as
inter-agency consultations are under way on the matter, which would heavily
affect the nation's overall industrial sector, according to government
officials.
The move is in line with Seoul's stated
goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Moon also said South Korea will stop
official financing for foreign coal power projects.
This means that state-owned enterprises
here would be banned from participating in the construction and operation of
coal-fired power plants abroad.
The liberal Moon administration has closed
10 aged coal-fired plants in the country and suspended the authorization of a
scheme to build new ones.
The government is instead rapidly revving
up the use of renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, Moon said.
"South Korea plans to push
aggressively for the expansion of green finance for investments in renewable
energy facilities at home and abroad," he added.
The president then requested support for
the second P4G summit on green growth and sustainable development to be held in
Seoul in late May, so that it can serve as a "stepping stone" for the
success of the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) to
take place in November.
The climate summit set the stage for
Moon's first online meeting with Biden since the U.S. leader took office in
January. The two are slated to hold in-person summit talks in Washington D.C.
next month.
Moon joined the event from the "hanok-style" Sangchunjae
guesthouse inside the presidential compound. Hanok
refers to a traditional Korean house.
He wore a necktie, made of recycled
plastic waste and produced by a local small and medium-sized enterprise, with a
lapel pin made using marine trash worn on his suit. It is the official lapel
pin of the upcoming P4G session.
On display at Sangchunjae
were electric vehicle battery packs made by LG and SK, and a car battery model
produced by Samsung.
lcd@yna.co.kr
REMARKS
BY H.E. PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA AT THE LEADERS SUMMIT ON
CLIMATE
(Unofficial Translation)
Honorable President Biden,
Your Excellencies,
This evening, on Earth Day, the Korean people turned their lights off for ten
minutes and heeded the whispers of the earth. I hope that the warm support of
Koreans will reach out to all the countries that are in the fight against
climate change together.
As we embark on the implementation of the Paris Agreement this year, President
Biden has exerted global leadership by rejoining the Paris Agreement and
hosting this Leaders Summit on Climate. I express my
deepest respect to the President and his administration for all their hard
work.
Your Excellencies,
The people of Korea, amidst the challenges posed by COVID-19 last year, set the
goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, and are now working to put together detailed
scenarios. Today, on behalf of the Korean people, I am deeply pleased to make
two pledges for achieving carbon neutrality.
First, the Republic of Korea will further raise our Nationally Determined
Contribution for 2030 and submit it to the United Nations within this year.
Last year, we replaced our previous reduction target based on BAU with an
absolute target of cutting 24.4% from 2017 emissions level, making it our first
upward adjustment. Now, in a strong aspiration to reach net zero emissions by
2050, we plan to enhance our NDC once again. Korea reached peak greenhouse gas
emissions in 2018, and in the ensuing two-year period from 2019 to 2020,
reduced more than 10% of emissions from 2018 level.
Second, Korea will end all public financing for new overseas coal-fired power
plants. Since the launch of my government, Korea has stopped issuing permits
for building new domestic coal power plants, shut down ten aged units earlier
than scheduled and, as a result, drastically reduced its reliance on coal for
power generation. Instead, we are swiftly moving to ramp up the production of
renewable energy such as solar and wind power.
To become carbon neutral, it is imperative for the world to scale down
coal-fired power plants. Yet, developing countries that will struggle due to
their heavy dependence on coal should be given due consideration and access to
proper support. On the domestic front as well, we need countermeasures for
addressing the negative impacts to related industries, businesses, and jobs,
among others. With a view to promoting investment in renewable energy
facilities, both in and outside Korea, we will actively seek to scale up green
finance.
In coming May, the second P4G Summit will be held in Seoul. Member countries,
civil society, industries as well as other diverse partners will come together
to accelerate the vision of carbon neutrality for humanity. As a host, Korea
will exert every effort to prepare for the summit that inspires an actionable
vision and stronger cooperation. I ask for your keen interest and participation
so that the second P4G Summit becomes a stepping-stone to a successful COP26
this coming November.
Thank you.
Prime
Minister Andrew Holness, Jamaica
From
opm
PRIME MINISTER OF JAMAICA, THE MOST HON.
ANDREW HOLNESS AT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA VIRTUAL LEADERS’ SUMMIT ON CLIMATE
SESSION 2 ON THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021
The Honourable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United
States of America,
Excellencies
and colleagues:
Happy
Earth Day!
The need
for meaningful climate action has never been greater.
Jamaica
is heartened that the United States has re-joined the Paris Agreement – an
important expression of global solidarity for climate action. We are also
greatly encouraged by the United States’ announcement to cut emissions by half
by 2030.
The
COVID-19 pandemic has created a perfect storm for Small Island Developing
States with the collapse of tourism, falling revenues, rising debt, limited
access to vaccines and with disasters continuously threatening lives and our
sustainability.
Governments
are forced to choose between addressing today’s crises and building resilience
to mitigate against future shocks.
Notwithstanding
these challenges, Jamaica’s enhanced NDCs target a 60% reduction in emissions
by 2030.
We,
like all SIDS and many developing countries, remain committed to advancing
climate action, and we are determined to build forward stronger, better and
greener.
The
world COMMITTED to $100 billion per year to support climate action in developing
countries. It is critical that this commitment not only be honored but that the
ambition be increased and major emitters should contribute more to its
financing. We welcome President Biden’s announcement in this regard.
I
encourage all governments to play their part in achieving this goal, and the
private sector MUST ALSO be engaged.
While
increasing the quantum of financing is necessary, it will not be sufficient to
address the needs of SIDS unless it is accessible and flexible enough to target
support for our vulnerabilities.
While
some progress has been made, significant hurdles remain in accessing climate
finance; and the pace of implementation does NOT reflect the urgency of the
climate crisis.
We
need to take specific actions to include:
1)
The establishment of a global disaster fund to help SIDS recover, and manage
disaster risk.
2)
The development of innovative risk-informed financing for disasters and climate
events.
3)
The inclusion of vulnerability measures as the PRIME CONSIDERATION in determining
access for financing rather than only income criteria.
4)
The scaling-up of debt-for-climate-adaptation swaps to simultaneously address
climate crises AND the systemic debt issues affecting already burdened
developing countries.
Jamaica
has great sprinters; we know that a great start does not guarantee a win.
It
requires momentum building, in this case, an accessible and equitable climate
finance mechanism.
We
have raised our ambition and now call on major economies to step up and sprint
with us to the finish line. We can win this, but we must act now!
I
thank you.
FROM loopjamaica
PM CALLS FOR ACCESSIBLE, EQUITABLE FINANCING TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE
April
22, 2021 01:25 PM ET
Prime
Minister Andrew Holness is calling on developed countries
to establish an accessible and equitable climate finance mechanism to help
developing countries attain greenhouse gas emission goals.
Speaking
at the online Climate Change Summit, Holness joined
other world leaders to call for a combined effort to reduce climate change,
which he said is affecting small states in disastrous ways.
According
to Holness, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the
vulnerability of small and developing states to shock, which could be
heightened by the effects of climate change. He said developing states
governments are now having to choose between addressing the effects of the
pandemic and mitigating against future climate shocks.
Holness, however, stated that Jamaica has
remained committed to advancing climate action and is determined to build
forward stronger, better and greener.
“Withstanding
the challenges, Jamaica has enhanced its national determined contributions to
target a 60 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.
“Jamaica
has great sprinters and we know that a great start does not guarantee a win, it
requires momentum building. In this case an accessible and equitable climate
finance mechanism. We have raised our ambition and now call on major economies
to step up and sprint with us to the finish line. We can win this, but we must
act now,” he said.
Holness also called for a commitment to honouring and increasing the $100 billion per year for
climate action in developing countries.
“While
increasing the quantum of financing is necessary, it will not be sufficient to
address the needs of small island developing states unless it is accessible and
flexible enough to support our vulnerabilities.
“While
some progress has been made, significant hurdles remain in accessing climate
finance and the pace of implementation does not reflect the urgency of the
climate crisis,” Holness said.
He
said specific actions need to be taken to hasten the decline of climate change,
such as the establishment of a global disaster fund to help states recover and
manage disasters; development of innovative risk-informed financing for
disaster and climate event; inclusion of vulnerability measures as the prime
consideration in determining access to financing, rather than only income
criteria; and the scaling up of debt for climate adaption swabs to
simultaneously address the climate crisis and the systemic debt issues
affecting already burdened developing countries.
Meanwhile,
US President Joe Biden also called for a combined effort to tackle climate
change, and expressed a desire for the private sector to become involved in the
climate change process.
He
said the private sector’s involvement will also mean that unemployment
will decrease as many opportunities are being opened in climate change, but the
process will have to be led by governments.
Biden
said the United States will double commitments to developing countries by 2024.
Prime Minister
Yoshihide Suga, Japan
FROM Nikkei Asia
JAPAN AND US PLEDGE SHARPER CUTS BY 2030 AT BIDEN
CLIMATE SUMMIT
But activist Greta Thunberg says they are hardly
enough
Nikkei staff writers April
22, 2021 17:07 JSTUpdated on April 23, 2021 04:29 JST
NEW YORK/TOKYO -- A
two-day, virtual climate summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden kicked off
Thursday, with world leaders promising to take concrete actions to secure a
greener future.
"The United States sets out on the
road to cut greenhouse gases in half by the end of this decade," Biden
said in his opening speech from the White House. A fact sheet released earlier
announced a target of a 50%-52% cut from its 2005 level by 2030.
Biden pledged to build "an economy
that's not only more prosperous but healthier, fairer and cleaner for the
entire planet." But he added, "These steps will set America on a path
of a net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050, but the truth is America
represents less than 15% of the world's emissions. No nation can solve this
crisis on our own."
Biden's climate envoy John Kerry later
told reporters the U.S. will likely exceed those goals.
"Will we probably wind up exceeding
it? I suspect yes," Kerry said. "I'm generally optimistic because so
much is beginning to happen."
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga
laid out a 2030 target of cutting Japan's emissions by 46% from the country's
2013 level.
"A goal of 46% in reductions would
mean that Japan will raise our current target by more than 70% and it will
certainly not be an easy task," Suga told the summit.
"However, by defining a top-level,
ambitious target," Japan is ready to demonstrate its leadership for
worldwide decarbonization, the prime minister said.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga
said Japan is ready to be a leader in the global push for decarbonization.
(Photo by Uichiro Kasai)
The new goal is loftier than Japan's
original target of a 26% reduction from 2013, when emissions were at their
highest. The nation is striving to keep pace with the U.S. and Europe in moving
toward a global goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, and intends to accelerate a push
into renewable energy.
Japan, like the U.S., has fallen behind
Europe when it comes to lowering emissions. The European Union logged a 22.5%
reduction between 1990 and 2018, compared with just 2.5% for Japan.
Speaking after opening
statements by Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Chinese President Xi Jinping
reaffirmed Beijing's goal to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and to achieve
carbon neutrality by 2060.
The Chinese leader also pledged to
"strictly control" coal-fired power generation projects and
"strictly limit" the increase in coal consumption over Beijing's 14th
five-year plan period (2021 to 2025) and phase it down in the subsequent 15th
five-year plan period.
As the world's top two emitters, China
and the U.S. together account for more than 40% of global emissions. The
climate has also emerged as one of the few topics where both sides are
receptive to dialogue amid mounting bilateral tensions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at
the climate summit on April 22.
China and the U.S. agreed in a joint
statement on Saturday to work together to combat climate change. It was issued
during a trip by U.S. climate envoy John Kerry to Shanghai.
Referencing the U.S.-China joint
statement, Xi said China "looks forward to
working with the international community, including the United States, to
jointly advance global environmental governance."
"China will promote joint efforts
to build a Green Belt and Road to benefit the people of all countries," Xi
said.
The Chinese president said developed
countries need to make concrete efforts to help developing countries accelerate
the transition to green and low-carbon development, while full recognition
should be given to developing countries contribution to climate action and
accommodate their particular difficulties and concerns.
But as the leaders took turns speaking
about their commitments, Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg
issued a video message saying they were hardly enough.
"These very insufficient targets
are better than nothing, but we cannot be satisfied with something just because
it's better than nothing," she said.
"The gap between our so-called
climate targets and the overall current best available science should no longer
be possible to ignore," she warned.
India has proposed to decrease its
emissions intensity per gross domestic product by 33% to 35% by 2030 from 2005
levels. The country has faced growing pressure from the international community
to curb its emissions, which have surged with its economic growth.
But Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
told the summit that his country's per capita carbon footprint is 60% lower
than the global average. "It is because our lifestyle is still rooted in
sustainable traditional practices," he said, and encouraged the world to
make the philosophy of "Back to Basics" an important pillar of
economic strategy for the post-COVID era.
South Korea President Moon Jae-in
reaffirmed the country's commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050, a goal first
announced last year. Seoul has also raised its nationally determined
contribution for 2030 under the Paris Agreement. South Korea peaked its
greenhouse gas emissions in 2018.
Having stopped issuing permits for
new coal plants domestically, South Korea will also end public financing for
overseas coal fired power plants, Moon said, adding that it will scale up
investment in renewable energy home and abroad.
The EU targets a 55% cut from 1990 levels
by 2030, while the U.K. enacted legislation Tuesday aiming for a 78% reduction
over the same period.
The Biden administration looks to make
Washington a global leader on the issue, in a complete turnaround from the
approach taken by predecessor Donald Trump. Biden signed an executive order on
the first day of his presidency to return the U.S. to the Paris climate accord
and announced the upcoming summit shortly thereafter.
Washington's previous goal was to cut
greenhouse gas emissions between 26% and 28% compared with 2005 levels by 2025.
Biden and Suga agreed during their
meeting Friday to launch a bilateral climate partnership to achieve the goals
of the Paris accord and interim 2030 targets as well as develop clean-energy
technology and promote decarbonization in the Indo-Pacific region and
elsewhere.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also
attended the summit. Russia plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by
2030 from 1990, according to its proposal to the U.N. It likely hopes to
improve its deteriorating ties with the U.S. through cooperation on climate
change.
Countries around the world are
scrambling to fight climate change in response to the concentration of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere more than doubling in the past 50 years.
Carbon emissions have skyrocketed
worldwide since the 1970s due to the increased use of coal and petroleum, and
currently outpace the amount that plants and the ocean can absorb. This means
that atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases are only expected to rise.
By country, China is the world's largest
total emitter of greenhouse gases, followed by the U.S. and India. But the U.S.
tops the list per capita. Cooperation between these countries, as well as the
EU and emerging economies, will be crucial to effective international
negotiations on emission curbs.
Electricity production and heating are
now responsible for over 40% of global emissions. Increasing the share of
renewable energy like solar and wind power and reducing the use of
carbon-intensive coal will be key to shrinking the sector's carbon footprint.
The transportation sector, which is the
next largest greenhouse gas emitter, is also starting to shift from
gasoline-fueled vehicles to electric alternatives.
Researchers at the U.N. and other
institutions have warned that the world must significantly reduce carbon
emissions by 2030 to limit climate change, regardless of whether it can
achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The U.N. and the EU are urging the rest of
the international community to set more ambitious goals for 2030 to prevent
irreversible damage.
·
From
mofa.go.jp
·
LEADERS
SUMMIT ON CLIMATE REMARKS BY H.E. MR. SUGA YOSHIHIDE, PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN
·
Good
morning, good afternoon and good evening, everyone. Joe, I am pleased to meet
with you again. I would like to reiterate my deepest gratitude for your
hospitality upon my visit at the White House just a week ago. I would also like
to take this opportunity to commend your leadership for holding this important
summit. Extreme weather events such as torrential rains, forest fires and heavy
snowfalls, are witnessed worldwide in recent years and climate change is said
to be a major cause of such events.
·
Addressing
climate change and advancing decarbonization is hence an imminent challenge
which the whole of humankind should aim to solve. At the same time, our effort
to address climate change is no longer a constraint on our economy. Rather, it
will be the driving force of the long-term dynamic growth of, not only Japan’s
economy, but also the global economy.
·
With
this vision in mind, in the fall of last year, immediately after assuming the
office of Prime Minister, I declared that Japan will aim for net-zero by 2050.
Japan will take a big step toward overcoming this global issue. Japan aims to
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent in fiscal year 2030 from its
fiscal year 2013 levels, setting an ambitious target which is aligned with the
long-term goal of achieving net-zero by 2050.
·
Furthermore,
Japan will continue strenuous efforts in its challenge to meet the lofty goal
of cutting its emission by 50 percent. 2 Such goal of 46 percent in reductions
would mean that Japan will raise our current target by over 70 percent, and it
will certainly not be an easy task. However, by defining a top-level ambitious
target befitting to a next growth strategy of the nation which underpins
manufacturing in the world, Japan is ready to demonstrate its leadership for
world-wide decarbonization.
·
From
now on, we will accelerate our deliberations toward identifying policies and
measures for meeting our goals. In order to create a virtuous cycle of the
economy and the environment and to realize robust growth toward our ambitious
goal for 2030, the Government of Japan will work to maximize utilization of
decarbonized power sources, such as renewable energy, and take incentive
measures sufficient for inducing investment by companies. The national and
subnational governments of Japan will work together to aim for achieving
decarbonization in more than 100 subnational regions across the country by
2030. Japan will also work for the realization of innovation that will enhance
production and secure sustainability in food, agriculture and forestry sectors.
·
Furthermore,
Japan will advance the transition to a circular economy, thereby creating new
industries and employment. Japan will continue its efforts consistently in its
challenge to meet the goals for 2030, and 2050. Global decarbonization cannot
be achieved through the efforts of one country alone; it is a challenge that
requires the whole international community to act in one. We can create a surge
of climate change measures globally, with ambitious targets presented, and
implemented, by countries attending the Summit today which are responsible for
around 80 percent of global emissions, thereby engaging with the whole world. 3
Joe, on the occasion of my recent visit to the United States last week, I had
the pleasure to confirm with you, our commitment to lead the global
decarbonization efforts. In more concrete terms, Joe and I launched “Japan-U.S.
Climate Partnership on Ambition, Decarbonization, and Clean Energy.” Based on
this partnership, Japan and the United States will work to promote world-wide
decarbonization and continue cooperation in each area of climate ambition and
the implementation of the Paris Agreement; clean energy technologies and
innovation; and accelerating transition of developing countries including
Indo-Pacific countries to a decarbonized society.
·
In
parallel with such bilateral efforts, Japan has provided public and private
climate finance annually, amounting to approximately 1.3 trillion Japanese yen,
which is equivalent to approximately 11.8 billion US dollars. We announced that
we will make contributions of up to 3 billion US dollars to the Green Climate
Fund. We will support the global transition to decarbonization by maximizing
the use of Japan’s leading technologies in areas such as energy-efficiency,
hydrogen and CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage). In the area of adaptation, Japan
will promote international cooperation to address the impacts of climate change
hitting vulnerable states in the world.
·
No
other time than now, does international society need further solidarity for the
realization of a decarbonized society. Japan, as a nation that puts utmost
importance on multilateral approaches, is determined to take the lead in
solving the challenge of climate change for the whole of humankind, by
cooperating with each country and international organizations, looking ahead to
COP 26 and beyond.
·
Thank
you very much for your attention.
President
Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya
From
Xinhua, China
Source:
Xinhua| 2021-04-24 10:39:34|Editor: huaxia
KENYA AIMS TO LOWER EMISSIONS BY 32 PCT BY 2030
NAIROBI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Kenya is
committed to lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent by the year 2030,
said President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday.
According to a statement of the
presidency, Kenyatta made the pledge on the second day of a climate summit
attended online by world leaders, describing climate change as a development
and security threat that must be addressed urgently.
Kenyatta called for global solidarity in
addressing climate change, saying that many developing countries were
struggling to finance mitigation and adaptation actions.
Citing the 2020 Adaptation Gap Report
issued in mid-January by the United Nations Development Program, the president
said that annual adaptation costs in developing countries are estimated at 70
billion U.S. dollars, and could reach up to 300 billion dollars in 2030 if no
action is taken.
Kenyatta welcomed global investors to
support Kenya in raising financial resources for climate adaptation programs.
He said Kenya has great geothermal
potential, yet "the amount currently tapped is under 10 percent. This
presents huge investment opportunities across the technology value chain."
Kenya's target is to fully move to
renewable energy by the year 2050, said Kenyatta, adding that clean energy
accounts for approximately 90 percent of national electricity supply and will
amount to 100 percent by 2030. Enditem
From
thehindu.com (india)
‘WE’RE GONNA DO
THIS’: BIDEN CLOSES GLOBAL SUMMIT ON CLIMATE
WASHINGTON , APRIL 24, 2021 01:40 IST
Biden’s closing message
echoed the sentiments of Kenyan President Uhuru Muigai
Kenyatta, who told the summit: “We cannot win this fight against climate change
unless we go globally to fight it together.”
World
leaders joined President Joe Biden Friday to close his virtual climate summit
with stories of their own national drives to break free of climate-wrecking
fossil fuels — Kenyans leapfrogging from kerosene stoves to geothermal power
and Israeli start-ups scrambling to improve battery storage.
“We’re
gonna do this together,” Biden exhorted, speaking
live to a Zoom-style screen of leaders of national governments, unions and
business executives around the world.
Biden’s
closing message echoed the sentiments of Kenyan President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, who told the summit: “We cannot win this
fight against climate change unless we go globally to fight it together.”
The
second and final day of Biden’s summit of 40 world leaders made the case for
massive investment now — in the U.S. and around the world — for prosperous as
well as cleaner economies in the long run.
Compared
with the United States and other wealthy but carbon-dependent nations, Kenya
stands out as a poorer nation closing the technology gap despite limited
financial resources. It has moved in decades from dirty-burning coal, kerosene
and wood fires to become a leading user and producer of geothermal energy, wind
and solar power, all aided by mobile-phone banking.
The
summit’s opening on Thursday saw a half-dozen nations, including the United
States, pledge specific, significant new efforts to cut emissions. Other summit
speakers, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country is the world’s
top climate polluter, held out the possibility of deepening their commitments,
in China’s case by easing back on building of coal-fired plants.
Biden’s
own pledge, nearly doubling the U.S. target for cutting emissions from coal and
petroleum this decade, depends on his keeping political support from voters and
securing more than $2 trillion for a nationwide infrastructure overhaul.
“The
commitments we’ve made must become real,” Biden said Friday, speaking to the
home audience as much as the international one. “Commitment without doing
anything is a lot of hot air, no pun intended.”
He
wondered aloud if there was “anything else you can think of that could create
as many good jobs going into the 21st century.”
The
coronavirus pandemic forced the summit into its virtual format, with a TV talk
show-style set created in the White House East Room. Cabinet secretaries
stepped in as emcees to keep the livestreamed action moving.
It
was all in service of an argument officials say will
make or break Biden’s climate vision: Pouring trillions of dollars into
clean-energy technology, research and infrastructure will speed a competitive
U.S. economy into the future and create jobs while saving the planet.
While
technological development and wider use has helped make wind and solar power
strongly competitive against coal and natural gas in the U.S., Biden said
investment also would bring forward thriving, clean-energy fields “in things we
haven’t even thought of so far.”
Republicans
are sticking to the arguments that then-President Donald Trump made in pulling
the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate accord. They point to China as the
world’s worst climate polluter — the U.S. is No. 2 — and say any transition to
clean energy hurts American oil, natural gas and coal workers.
It
means “putting good-paying American jobs into the shredder,” Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Thursday in a speech in
which he dismissed the administration’s plans as costly and ineffective.
Much
of the proposed spending to address climate change is included in Biden’s
infrastructure bill, which would pay for new roads, safe bridges and reliable
public transit, while boosting electric vehicles, clean drinking water and
investments in clean energy such as solar and wind power.
Biden’s
plan faces a steep road in the closely divided Senate, where Republicans led by
McConnell have objected strongly to the idea of paying for much of it with tax
increases on corporations.
The
White House says administration officials will continue to reach out to
Republicans and will remind them that the proposal’s ideas are widely popular
with Americans of all political persuasions.
Friday
also featured billionaires Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg, steelworker and
electrical union leaders and executives for solar and other renewable energy.
“We
can’t beat climate change without a historic amount of new investment,” said
Bloomberg, who has spent heavily to promote replacing dirty-burning coal-fired
power plants with increasingly cheaper renewable energy.
Biden
envoy John Kerry stressed the political selling point that the president’s call
for retrofitting creaky U.S. infrastructure to run more cleanly would put the
U.S. on a better economic footing long-term. “No one is being asked for a
sacrifice,” Kerry said. “This is an opportunity.”
Global
leaders described their own investments and commitments to break away from
reliance on climate-damaging petroleum and coal. Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu described scientists at hundreds of Israeli start-ups working to improve
crucial battery storage for solar, wind and other renewable energy. Prime
Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark renewed her country’s pledge to end oil
and gas exploration in the North Sea, switching from offshore oil and gas rigs
to wind farms.
On the
summit’s opening day Thursday, Biden pledged the U.S. will cut fossil fuel
emissions as much as 52% by 2030. South Korea, Japan, Canada and South Africa
also joined in specific new emissions efforts timed to the summit.
Biden’s
new goal puts the United States among the most ambitious nations in curbing
climate change, the Rhodium Group, an independent research organization,
announced overnight.
Different
nations use different base years for their emission cuts so comparisons are difficult
and can look different based on baseline years. The Rhodium Group said using
the U.S.-preferred 2005 baseline, America is behind the United Kingdom but
right with the European Union. It’s ahead of a second tier of countries
including Canada, Japan, Iceland and Norway.
President
David Kabua, Republic of the Marshall Islands
MARSHALLS GETS PACIFIC VOICE HEARD AT CLIMATE SUMMIT
From
rnz.com nz 5:12 pm on 24 April
2021
The
Marshall Islands has issued a plea for help and a call to action at the US Leaders Summit on Climate Change.
Addressing
the virtual meeting on Friday, President David Kabua
laid out the existential threat facing his country and the Pacific.
Kabua is the lone Pacific leader invited by
US President Joe Biden to the two-day talks.
Kabua shared the stage with the world's
biggest economies and pressured those he said held the Pacific's future in
their hands.
President
Kabua said there were a series of island nations
already feeling the effects of rising oceans.
He
said the Pacific now faced an even greater threat.
"We
are low-lying atoll nations, barely a metre above sea
level," he said.
"For
millennia, our people have navigated between our islands to build thriving
communities and cultures.
"Today,
we are navigating through the storm of climate change, determined to do our
part to steer the world to safety."
Kabua told the leaders their actions had a
direct bearing upon the future of the Marshall Islands and others in the
Pacific and beyond.
He
called for stronger emission targets, a carbon levy to help the most vulnerable
and for 50 percent of climate financing to go towards adapting to the
devastating effects of climate change.
"We
know what a safe harbour looks like."
Kabua said the Marshall Islands, with AOSIS,
fought for years to create consensus around a 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature
goal.
"In
2015, we brought together the High Ambition Coalition to turn the 1.5 to stay
alive rallying cry into a goal shared by all parties to the Paris Agreement."
The
role of the coalition is even more important today to ensure that 1.5 remains
in reach, Kabua said.
He
said the coalition's key task this year was to ensure that updated national
emissions commitments were in line with that goal.
"NCDs
are where ambition moves from promise to plan. Given how far off-track the
world is today, it is vital that we come together every five years to increase
ambition.
"All
nations should also be charting long-term net zero strategies and
implementation pathways before COP26 in the UK in November."
Too
often, vulnerable countries hear the excuse that steep emissions cuts are too
costly, Kabua said.
But
he added political signals, especially from the major economies, shaped
decisions on investment and innovations for low-carbon pathways.
The
Marshall Islands leader said the recovery from Covid-19 gave the country a rare
chance to invest in a safer and healthier world.
Kabua said now was the moment for this signal
to be unequivocal: the recovery from Covid-19 gave the Pacific a rare chance to
invest in a safer and healthier world.
Sector-wide
transformations were possible, he said.
"Together
with the Solomon Islands, we are pushing for stronger emissions action at the
IMO through a carbon levy to fund research and help the most vulnerable.
"Leading
from the front-lines, we were the first to strengthen our NDCs in 2018. And we
have a 2050 net-zero strategy paired with an electricity roadmap as our
implementation pathway.
"We
recently celebrated the success of the Micronesia Challenge and will be joining
the Local2030 Islands Network."
But
the President said all this would not be enough if the big emitters failed to
act.
We
feel the effects of climate change now, he said, and so the Marshalls is
leading the way on adaptation.
Kabua said Majuro delivered its Adaptation
Communication in 2020 and developing the National Adaptation Plan.
"Adequate
and accessible financing is key. And so I support the
call for 50 percent of climate financing to go towards adaptation."
Support
for the world's developing and worst-affected nations was a common theme at the
virtual summit.
The
issue was raised repeatedly by Biden and leaders from India, China, Germany,
the EU and others.
Australian
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his country was providing $US1.5 billion in
"practical climate finance, focusing on the blue Pacific family partners
in our region".
Morrison's
New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern opened her address to the summit by
saying her country's "Pacific neighbours have identified
climate change is the single biggest threat to their livelihoods, security and well being".
"Our
collective goal here at this summit and beyond has to be effective global
action on climate change," Ardern said.
"That
means our collective commitments in 2021 will need to be enough to limit global
warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures."
Developing
countries said the United States still owed $US2 billion in aid for
transitioning away from fossil fuels that former President Barack Obama had
promised but President Donald Trump didn't pay.
However,
Biden delivered new pledges, saying the US would double climate funding help
for less wealthy countries by 2024.
That
cost would be more than made up for when "disasters and conflicts are avoided,"
he said.
For
the Marshall Islands and President David Kabua, it's
not what the world is going to do to address the climate crisis but more when.
"I'll
conclude by asking my fellow leaders, how will you move from plans to
implementation to align with a 1.5 degree future and
help others do the same?
"Your
answer will define the future for your children and grandchildren, and for
mine."
The
US Leaders Summit on Climate Change ends today.
·
From
9news austr.
·
POWERFUL CLIMATE
MESSAGE FROM TINY AUSTRALIAN NEIGHBOUR
·
By Jorge Branco, 8:00am Apr 23, 2021
From
29 low-lying coral atolls scattered across the Pacific Ocean, to the world
stage: a plea for help and a call to action.
The
Marshall Islands, with a population in the tens of thousands, shared the
virtual stage with the world's biggest economies late on Thursday in an attempt
to pressure those who in many ways hold the Pacific nation's future in their
hands.
"We
are low-lying atoll nations, barely a metre above sea
level," President David Kabua said, addressing
the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate with a powerful
speech.
"For
millennia, our people have navigated between our islands to build thriving
communities and cultures.
"Today,
we are navigating through the storm of climate change, determined to do our
part to steer the world to safety."
Seated
at a large wooden desk, hands clasped, flag on one side and a model boat on the
other, President David Kabua stared into the camera
and laid out the existential threat facing his country, a series of islands
already feeling the effects of rising oceans.
The
islands, infamously the
site of dozens of atomic bomb tests conducted by the US throughout
the 1940s and '50s that left residents with radiation poisoning, birth defects
and cancer, now face what appears to be an even greater threat.
A 2018 US
Geological Survey study predicted rising sea levels
would leave some of the atolls without potable drinking water by 2035 and with
annual flooding on the majority of their landmass by 2055-65.
The
islands have been tackling the threat head on, leading the "1.5 to stay
alive" campaign for the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5
degrees and becoming the first nation to submit new climate targets after
signing.
"But
all our actions will not be enough, if peak emitters fail to act," Mr Kabua said.
"We
feel the effects of climate change now."
He
called for stronger emission targets, a carbon levy to help the most vulnerable
and for 50 per cent of climate financing to go towards adapting to the
devastating effects of climate change.
"Too
often … countries hear the excuse that steep emission cuts are too costly, but
political signals, especially from the major economies, shape decisions on
investment and innovation for low-carbon pathways," he said.
"Now
is the moment for the signal to be unequivocal.
"The
recovery from COVID-19 gives us a rare chance to invest in a safer and healthier
world."
Support
for the world's developing and worst-affected nations was a common theme at the
virtual summit, raised repeatedly by Mr Biden and
leaders from India, China, Germany, the EU and others.
Speaking
later in the summit, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country
was providing $1.5 billion in "practical climate finance, focusing on our
blue Pacific family partners in our region.
New
Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern opened her address to the summit by
saying her country's "Pacific neighbours have
identified climate change is the single biggest threat to the livelihoods,
security, and well being"
"Our
collective goal here at this summit and beyond has to be effective global
action on climate change," she said.
"That
means our collective commitments in 2021 will need to be enough to limit global
warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures."
Developing
countries say the United States still owes US$2 billion ($2.6 billion) in aid
for transitioning away from fossil fuels that President Barack Obama promised
but President Donald Trump didn't pay.
Mr Biden delivered new pledges, saying the US would double climate
funding help for less wealthy countries by 2024.
That
cost would be more than made up for when "disasters and conflicts are
avoided," he said.
"I'll
conclude by asking my fellow leaders, how will you move from plans to
implementation to align with a 1.5 degree future and
help others do the same," Mr Kabua
said.
"Your
answer will define the future for your children and grandchildren, and for
mine."
President
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico
MEXICO
FALLS FURTHER BEHIND ON CLIMATE AT LEADERS SUMMIT
From nrdc April 23, 2021 Carolina Herrera
Mexico once more failed to demonstrate climate
ambition and leadership, this time at the Leader’s Summit on Climate. While
several countries announced more ambitious emission reduction targets,
President Andrés Manual López Obrador (AMLO) used the Summit to push forward a
misguided energy policy that threatens the well-being of Mexican citizens and
the global climate, attempting to distract from Mexico’s failure to advance a
clean energy transition. The proposals AMLO brought essentially ensure that
Mexico will not meet its international climate commitments and clean energy
targets. It is increasingly urgent for the international community to hold
Mexico accountable and to work with stakeholders in Mexico that can help
prevent further backsliding.
President López Obrador outlined three proposals that
he had previously described in more detail in a video released
on social media:
1.
Limit crude oil
production to domestic fuel needs, refined locally
2.
Modernize existing
hydroelectric plants to displace coal and fuel oil
3.
Expand the Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life)
tree-planting initiative, including to Central America
The first two demonstrate AMLO’s adherence to an
energy strategy that seeks to re-establish the market power of the fossil-fuel
dependent state-owned petroleum (PEMEX) and electricity (CFE) companies at the
expense of renewable energy options like solar and wind. The third seems to be
an attempt to draw attention away from the fact that Mexico is doing little, if
anything, to reduce energy sector emissions. Together, they demonstrate an
utter disregard for the gravity of the climate crisis.
Below is a recap of what these proposals entail and
what’s at risk.
Increased local
fuel refining will harm human health and increase global warming.
According to AMLO, Mexico would cap its crude oil
production at 2 million daily barrels, down from 3.4 million. This production
would be refined locally, ending the practice of exporting crude and importing
gasoline. However, AMLO’s proposal actually means Mexico would produce and use
more fossil fuels—precisely the opposite of where countries should be headed.
Mexico hasn’t produced more than 3 million daily
barrels since 2007; in 2020 it
produced an average of 1.7 million daily barrels. So, AMLO’s “cap” is actually
higher than where we are today. In addition, increasing the amount of crude
refined locally would result in the use of more dirty fuel oil in electricity
production.
Fuel oil is a high sulfur byproduct of the refining
process that is linked to respiratory and
cardiopulmonary disease and premature death.
State of the art facilities can limit this residue to less than 5%. But in
Mexico, up to 30% of the crude oil processed by refineries is transformed into
fuel oil. The more of its crude Mexico refines at home, the higher the supply
of fuel oil. Until relatively recently, much of this residual byproduct could
be sold to the maritime industry. Yet as this sector adheres to stricter
emission standards, Mexico has had to look for an alternative market for its
fuel oil.
This is one of the reasons why the recent
modifications to Mexico’s Electric Industry Law are so
concerning. If implemented, the modified law would require changes to the order
in which electricity is fed into the national grid resulting in the burning of
more fuel oil. Instead of dispatching electricity based on lowest cost, CFE
owned plants—including fuel oil-powered plants—would be used before privately
held renewable energy.
A recent analysis of the
environmental impacts of the modified law found that as
national refining levels increase, fuel oil production could reach nearly
300,000 barrels per day by 2024, representing an eleven-fold increase from
current levels. In the same time frame, the fuel oil consumed by CFE thermal
plants could increase up to 70%, with the remainder made up by natural gas.
This would mean that 771,269 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) would be
pumped into the air, jeopardizing the health of local communities. It would
also result in annual emissions from the electric sector of 169.7 million tons
of CO2 by 2024, a 32% jump from 2020 levels. There is simply no
way that Mexico can meet its 22% emission reduction commitment under such a
fuel oil dependent scenario.
Hydro would not
necessarily displace all fuel oil and coal. Solar and wind absolutely would.
AMLO claims that renovating CFE’s existing
hydroelectric plants will reduce reliance on fuel oil and coal. However, even
with modernizations, hydropower may not be sufficient to displace all the fuel
oil that can be anticipated if the proposed changes to electricity dispatch are
implemented. Prioritizing less expensive options like wind and solar is the
best way to phase out the use of coal and fuel oil.
In addition, local groups point
out that modernizing Mexico’s hydropower plants, m1a0ny of which are 40 to 50
years old, could result in environmental damage. Variations to precipitation
patterns due to climate change also mean that a hydropower-centric emission
reductions strategy is risky at best.
Nature-based
solutions are necessary but must be well designed and coupled with rapid reduction
of energy emissions.
Nature-based solutions, including forest protection
and restoration, are a critical part of addressing the climate crisis. This is
an area in which Latin America, with its wealth of natural resources and
biodiversity, is uniquely suited to contribute. In Central America,
nature-based solutions can indeed help address drivers of migration by building
resilience and reducing food insecurity. But such efforts must be very well
designed, implemented and monitored.
Mexico’s Sembrando
Vida initiative holds a lot of
promise for achieving both climate and social
development goals in rural areas. But there are concerns that
design and implementation flaws have contributed to loss of forest cover in
some areas. Mexico should focus on strengthening the program to ensure its
success so that it can truly serve as a model for other countries. It should
not use the initiative’s potential benefits to distract from the urgency of
reducing its energy sector emissions.
It’s time for the
international community to more forcefully call out Mexico’s retreat from its
climate commitments.
Mexico is the 12th largest greenhouse
gas emitter in the world and its productive sectors are deeply intertwined with
those of its North American neighbors. Its retreat from international climate
commitments is regionally and globally significant. The United States and other
progressive climate leaders must urgently engage with Mexican stakeholders to
help turn back this trend. There are actions that would allow Mexico to advance
toward emission reduction goals—from harmonizing emission and efficiency
standards to ramping up energy efficiency and distributed solar. It’s time for
President López Obrador to stop the distractions and start putting in place
real solutions to climate change.
From Reuters
TREES FOR VISAS: MEXICO SUGGESTS US
CITIZENSHIP FOR REFORESTATION
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez
Obrador on Thursday suggested the U.S. government offer temporary work visas
and eventually citizenship to those who take part in a vast tree planting
program he hopes to expand to Central America.
In remarks at a White House virtual
climate summit, Lopez Obrador said that Mexico aimed to expand his
administration's signature "Sembrando
Vida," or "Sowing Life," program to Central America, which he
said is planting 700,000 trees.
Calling it "possibly the largest
reforestation effort in the world," Lopez Obrador said the program aims to
create 1.2 million jobs and plant 3 billion additional trees through expansion
into southeastern Mexico and Central America.
At the two-day climate summit attended
virtually by leaders of 40 countries, Lopez Obrador said U.S. President Joe
Biden "could finance" the program's extension to Guatemala, Honduras
and El Salvador.
"I add a complementary proposal,
with all due respect, the U.S. government could offer those who participate in
this program that after sowing their lands for three consecutive years, they
would have the possibility to obtain a temporary work visa," Lopez Obrador
said.
"And after another three or four
years, they could obtain residency in the United States or dual
nationality," he added.
Lopez Obrador did not make new
commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions. He has faced criticism for a
pro-fossil fuel energy policy, but said Mexico is modernizing its hydroelectric
plants to reduce the use of oil and coal in the production of electricity.
"The energy produced with water is
clean and cheap, which is why we have decided to change old turbines for modern
equipment, which will allow us to take advantage of the water from the
reservoirs to produce more energy without building new dams and without causing
any damage," he said.
Since taking office in December 2018,
Lopez Obrador has prioritized the health of Mexico's state-owned energy
behemoth Petroleos Mexicanos
(Pemex) over wind and solar.
The president says renewable energy
companies were given excessively generous contracts by previous
administrations, and sees the tree planting program as a major plank of his
climate change mitigation strategy.
Mexico Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Wednesday said he had spoken to U.S climate envoy
John Kerry and they agreed on the priority of reducing methane gas emissions
and recovering the rainforest of southern Mexico and Central America.
The statement made no mention of carbon
emissions.
At the virtual conference, Lopez Obrador
also framed worker opportunities through tree planting as a potential way to
address a cycle of poverty that has led millions of people to leave Mexico and
Central America in recent years.
"The migratory phenomenon, as we
all know, is not resolved with coercive measures, but with justice and
wellbeing," Lopez Obrador said, adding that Biden was a "sensitive
man" who understood the spirit of work.
Lopez Obrador has tended to skip
international events and has only left Mexico once, to meet with then-U.S.
President Donald Trump, since assuming power.
Biden’s opening statements at the summit
were broadcast in Spanish at Lopez Obrador’s regular morning news conference.
Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
GLOBAL CLIMATE SUMMIT: JACINDA ARDERN URGES OTHER
NATIONS TO FOLLOW NZ'S LEAD
From
rnz.com 8:28 am on 23 April 2021
Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern has urged other nations at a global summit to follow
New Zealand's lead in taking financial action to address climate change.
The
United States is hosting 40 world leaders in a two-day virtual summit in the
White House to discuss ways of fulfilling the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The
US and other countries pledged bigger greenhouse gas emission cuts.
Ardern
said New Zealand had been leading the charge on "climate finance"
such as ending fossil fuel subsidies.
"Global
agreement on the need for fossil fuel subsidy reform is long overdue. Fossil
fuel subsidies undo any advances we make on pricing carbon.
"We
cannot take money from emitters paying for their carbon emissions and then give
them money back in subsidies."
She
said the $US500 billion per year in subsidies could be spent elsewhere.
"Imagine
what diverting trillions of mobilised finance could
do to help us achieve our collective goal to limit global warming to 1.5
degrees above pre-industrial levels.
"It
is time to stop imagining and for us to do what is needed."
Ardern
called on leaders to price carbon, make climate-related financial disclosures
mandatory, end fossil fuel subsidies, and finance adaptation.
New emissions goals
US
President Joe Biden unveiled a goal to cut emissions by 50 to 52 percent from
2005 levels. The cuts are expected to come from power plants,
automobiles, and other sectors across the economy, but the White House did not
set individual targets for those industries.
Canada
Prime Minster Justin Trudeau country's goal to a cut of 40 to 45 percent by
2030 below 2005 levels - up from 30 percent.
Brazil's
President Jair Bolsonaro announced his most ambitious
environmental goal yet, saying the country would reach emissions neutrality by
2050, 10 years earlier than the previous goal.
Japan's
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga raised his country's target for cutting emissions
to 46 percent by 2030, up from 26 percent.
Greenpeace
UK's head of climate Kate Blagojevic said the summit
had more targets than an archery competition.
"Targets,
on their own, won't lead to emissions cuts," she said. "That takes
real policy and money. And that's where the whole world is still way off
course."
Most
of the countries did not offer new emissions goals. Chinese President Xi
Jinping said China expects its carbon emissions to peak before 2030 and the
country will achieve net zero emissions by 2060.
Developing nations
UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for rich countries to make good on
their promises of climate finance for developing nations at the G7 meeting in
June.
He
noted that global warming had already hit 1.2 degrees Celsius and was
"racing toward the threshold of catastrophe".
To
get all countries on board to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century, a
"breakthrough" was needed on climate finance and efforts to help
communities adapt to the fast-accelerating impacts of global warming, he said.
The
summit is the first in a string of meetings of world leaders - including the G7
and G20 - ahead of annual UN climate talks in November in Scotland. That serves
as the deadline for nearly 200 countries to update their climate pledges under
the Paris agreement, an international accord set in 2015.
World
leaders aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial
levels, a threshold scientists say can prevent the
worst impacts of climate change.
- RNZ / Reuters
From
“Stuff”
PRIME
MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN MAKES NO NEW CLIMATE COMMITMENT AT BIDEN'S GLOBAL
SUMMIT
Olivia Wannan
13:04, Apr 23 2021
'The Government will not hold back': Jacinda Ardern on how NZ
could go zero carbon
Jacinda
Ardern and James Shaw on what the Government will do about the Climate Change
Commission's draft plan for slashing New Zealand's emissions.
Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern announced no new climate initiatives while speaking at
a global climate summit early this morning – a move that will disappoint local
activists.
It was hoped Ardern might lift the ambition
of the country’s Paris Agreement pledge. She said work was underway to adjust this target,
also known as a Nationally Determined Contribution.
“We
will lift our ambition because we must,” she told the meeting. But unlike other
nations, she did not make a firm commitment during the event.
US
President Joe Biden hosted the climate summit, as a milestone on the road to a
major UN conference set to be held in Glasgow in November, the postponed COP26 meeting.
Biden’s
announcement – to cut US emissions in half by 2030,
compared to 2005 levels – was one of the biggest of the summit, which is to run
April 22 and 23 (US-time). He also pledged to double the climate finance the US
will provide to other countries, from 2024.
Oxfam
New Zealand’s Jo Spratt said Biden’s pledge shows up Ardern’s Government.
“President Biden’s new climate target to halve their emissions demonstrates
that he and his administration are serious about tackling the climate crisis,
and really puts the heat on the New Zealand government to at least match this
level of ambition, or else get left further behind.”
New
Zealand is failing to be a leader or even a fast follower in the climate
crisis, Spratt added in a statement. “Our emissions are continuing to go up,
and we are not contributing our fair share of climate finance to those on the
frontlines of climate breakdown.”
Ardern
was one of 40 world leaders invited to attend the
meeting. Chinese president Xi Jinping, Russian president Vladimir Putin, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also
appeared. The Earth Day-aligned event was livestreamed, so the public could
watch.
Countries
including Canada and Japan joined Biden in announcing
new climate targets.
Chinese
president Xi reiterated his country would “strive to peak” emissions by 2030.
He promised to strictly limit new coal consumption over
the next five years and phase the fossil fuel down during the following five
years.
Australian
prime minister Scott Morrison was criticised on social media for
excluding exports when claiming during his summit speech that his country has
cut emissions by 36 per cent.
Ardern
spoke at 3.15am New Zealand-time, an hour few Kiwis would be awake to listen
in. She outlined four steps our country has taken to limit climate change:
pricing carbon including agricultural emissions by 2025; mandatory disclosures of climate-related financial risks;
ending fossil fuel subsidies and financing adaptation.
Ardern
said climate aid for vulnerable countries – including in the Pacific – has
increased, but support remains low.
“We
must do better to support countries to adapt to the effects of climate change.
The numbers we are discussing are beyond astronomical. Globally, fossil fuel
subsidies total around US$500 billion a year. This is five times our annual
climate finance goal of US$100b a year. Imagine what diverting trillions in mobilised finance could do to help us achieve our
collective goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial
levels.”
Greenpeace
executive director Russel Norman also expressed disappointment, following the speech. “Ardern is
encouraging other countries to follow New Zealand’s lead on climate. Quite
frankly, that’d be a disaster, considering our Government is too timid to
regulate our biggest climate polluter.”
The
Government must limit climate-damaging agricultural practices, he said in a
statement.
“What
works is cutting the bad stuff and making polluters pay, while making it easier
for farmers to do the right thing. That means legislation to phase out
synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and imported feed like
palm kernel extract, a price on agricultural emissions, and support for farmers
to switch to regenerative organic farming methods,” he said.
“The
cap on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser was a first step
in the right direction, now we need to treat climate change as if it really
were an emergency.”
The
summit included several youth activists, including 19-year-old Xiye Bastida, a Mexican climate
and indigenous rights campaigner. In a powerful speech, she demanded the world
aim for net emissions by 2030. Bastida also stated
the importance of people’s right to protest, a right at risk here in New
Zealand after revelations that private investigators monitored and interfered with
climate activism.
Before
the summit, concerned citizens called on leaders to announce ambitious action.
A group of 101 Nobel Prize winners wrote an open letter,
urging governments to introduce measures to keep fossil fuels in the ground.
In
New Zealand, youth activists with Generation Zero also called for action.
Pointing out how weak our current Paris Agreement pledge compares to countries
such as the UK, Generation Zero asked the Prime Minister to announce a new world-beating
carbon-cutting pledge during the event.
In
2016, the National Government set a target to reduce our emissions by 30 per
cent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. The Climate Change Commission’s draft
advice, released in February, concluded the country should make this pledge a lot tougher –
though whatever the final 2030 target is, it’s likely the country will need to
purchase billions of dollars of international carbon credits to
achieve it.
Stay on top of the latest climate news. The Forever Project's
Olivia Wannan will keep you in the know each
week. Sign up here.
President
Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria
From the Premium
Times
NIGERIA ‘TREADING THE PATH OF
SUSTAINABILITY’, BUHARI SAYS AT US CLIMATE SUMMIT
"As one of the
most vulnerable nations, Nigeria is undertaking major environmentally sound and
climate-friendly programmes and treading the path of
sustainability."
By Daniel Whyte, April 24, 2021
President Buhari
has said Nigeria is undertaking climate-friendly programmes
and is ‘treading the path of sustainability.’
He made this
statement at the just concluded Leaders Summit on
Climate convened by the President of the United States, Joe Biden,
which was held virtually from April 22 to 23.
Speaking to the
world leaders on Nigeria’s climate efforts so far, the president said, “As one
of the most vulnerable nations, Nigeria is undertaking major environmentally
sound and climate-friendly programmes and treading
the path of sustainability.
“Since ratifying
the Paris Agreement in 2016, Nigeria has rolled out several policy enablers
such as institutional frameworks to cut emissions by 20% unconditionally and
45% conditionally with international support by 2030. Nigeria is convinced that
through net-zero transitions, tremendous prospects are available for job
creations and other economic benefits.
“We are
expeditiously implementing programmes that stimulate
the gradual transition away from the use of wood stoves to kerosene, liquefied
natural gas, biogas and electricity with immediate effects, including healthy
competition among private sector players leading to higher productivity,
employment and faster service delivery.”
In the
agricultural production and supply chain sector, he said his administration is
seeking to improve productivity through effective weather forecasts for
farmers, among others.
“We are targeting
improved efficiency and productivity through the provision of accurate and
timely weather forecasting to farmers, supply of drought-tolerant and highly
matured crop variety and promoting employment through the diversification of
sources of livelihood.”
He added that
“beyond ending gas flaring by 2030, the oil and gas sector has undertaken steps
for diversification, risk management systems, insurance, research and
development and energy crisis management. The Nigerian government in 2017
launched the Green Bond programme as part of
commitment contained in the Paris agreement signed on September 21st 2016.”
“The overall
outcome of the highlighted actions have translated
into food supply sufficiency, improved nutrition, less hunger, increased
employment, more jobs and opportunities, better livelihoods, reduced poverty,
decreased vulnerability to health challenges and high quality of life.”
He concluded by
calling for a global shift towards a circular economy as well as sustainable
production and consumption.
“Excellencies, Nigeria
calls on countries to embrace circular economy and sustainable production and
consumption models in order to expedite attainment of the long
term goals of Paris Agreement. I wish, your excellencies, to reiterate
Nigeria’s commitment to galvanize relevant stakeholders for climate action and
our readiness to extend support to regional, continental and global
multilateral processes for the attainment of the lofty objectives of the Paris
Agreement. The fight to address the impact is the responsibility of all,” he
said.
President Moon Jae-in, Republic of Korea
From – yna.co.kr
(LEAD) Moon: S. Korea to set higher goal of cutting
emissions, submit it to U.N. this year
All News 22:19 April 22, 2021
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(ATTN: CHANGES headline; UPDATES
throughout with Moon's speech; ADDS photos)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, April 22 (Yonhap) -- President Moon
Jae-in announced South Korea's plan to further bolster its carbon emission
reduction target on Thursday, speaking to U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese
President Xi Jinping and two dozen other global leaders during a virtual
climate summit.
In an updated report to the United Nations
last December, the Asian economic powerhouse presented its target of reducing
emissions by 24.4 percent from the 2017 level by 2030. It is part of the
country's commitment under the Paris Agreement, known as a nationally
determined contribution (NDC).
South Korea will "additionally
raise" the NDC and report a new target to the U.N. within this year, Moon
said during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate
hosted by Biden on Earth Day.
He did not give a specific figure, as
inter-agency consultations are under way on the matter, which would heavily
affect the nation's overall industrial sector, according to government
officials.
The move is in line with Seoul's stated
goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Moon also said South Korea will stop
official financing for foreign coal power projects.
This means that state-owned enterprises
here would be banned from participating in the construction and operation of
coal-fired power plants abroad.
The liberal Moon administration has closed
10 aged coal-fired plants in the country and suspended the authorization of a
scheme to build new ones.
The government is instead rapidly revving
up the use of renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, Moon said.
"South Korea plans to push
aggressively for the expansion of green finance for investments in renewable energy
facilities at home and abroad," he added.
The president then requested support for
the second P4G summit on green growth and sustainable development to be held in
Seoul in late May, so that it can serve as a "stepping stone" for the
success of the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) to
take place in November.
The climate summit set the stage for
Moon's first online meeting with Biden since the U.S. leader took office in
January. The two are slated to hold in-person summit talks in Washington D.C.
next month.
Moon joined the event from the "hanok-style" Sangchunjae
guesthouse inside the presidential compound. Hanok
refers to a traditional Korean house.
He wore a necktie, made of recycled
plastic waste and produced by a local small and medium-sized enterprise, with a
lapel pin made using marine trash worn on his suit. It is the official lapel
pin of the upcoming P4G session.
On display at Sangchunjae
were electric vehicle battery packs made by LG and SK, and a car battery model
produced by Samsung.
lcd@yna.co.kr
From the President’s official website…
REMARKS
BY H.E. PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA AT THE LEADERS SUMMIT ON
CLIMATE
Apr 22,2021 (Unofficial Translation)
Honorable President Biden,
Your Excellencies,
This evening, on Earth Day, the Korean people turned their lights off for ten
minutes and heeded the whispers of the earth. I hope that the warm support of
Koreans will reach out to all the countries that are in the fight against
climate change together.
As we embark on the implementation of the Paris Agreement this year, President
Biden has exerted global leadership by rejoining the Paris Agreement and
hosting this Leaders Summit on Climate. I express my
deepest respect to the President and his administration for all their hard
work.
Your Excellencies,
The people of Korea, amidst the challenges posed by COVID-19 last year, set the
goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, and are now working to put together detailed
scenarios. Today, on behalf of the Korean people, I am deeply pleased to make
two pledges for achieving carbon neutrality.
First, the Republic of Korea will further raise our Nationally Determined
Contribution for 2030 and submit it to the United Nations within this year.
Last year, we replaced our previous reduction target based on BAU with an
absolute target of cutting 24.4% from 2017 emissions level, making it our first
upward adjustment. Now, in a strong aspiration to reach net zero emissions by
2050, we plan to enhance our NDC once again. Korea reached peak greenhouse gas
emissions in 2018, and in the ensuing two-year period from 2019 to 2020,
reduced more than 10% of emissions from 2018 level.
Second, Korea will end all public financing for new overseas coal-fired power
plants. Since the launch of my government, Korea has stopped issuing permits
for building new domestic coal power plants, shut down ten aged units earlier
than scheduled and, as a result, drastically reduced its reliance on coal for
power generation. Instead, we are swiftly moving to ramp up the production of
renewable energy such as solar and wind power.
To become carbon neutral, it is imperative for the world to scale down
coal-fired power plants. Yet, developing countries that will struggle due to
their heavy dependence on coal should be given due consideration and access to
proper support. On the domestic front as well, we need countermeasures for
addressing the negative impacts to related industries, businesses, and jobs,
among others. With a view to promoting investment in renewable energy
facilities, both in and outside Korea, we will actively seek to scale up green
finance.
In coming May, the second P4G Summit will be held in Seoul. Member countries,
civil society, industries as well as other diverse partners will come together
to accelerate the vision of carbon neutrality for humanity. As a host, Korea
will exert every effort to prepare for the summit that inspires an actionable
vision and stronger cooperation. I ask for your keen interest and participation
so that the second P4G Summit becomes a stepping-stone to a successful COP26
this coming November.
Thank you.
President Vladimir Putin, The Russian
Federation
From en.kremlin.eu April 22, 2021
16:10
LEADERS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE
Vladimir Putin took part, via
videoconference, in the Leaders Summit
on Climate. Organised by the United
States, the event is being held on April 22–23.
The Kremlin, Moscow
The President of Russia put
forth Russia’s position regarding the development of broad
international cooperation aimed at mitigating the negative
consequences of global climate change.
On the Russian side,
the summit was also attended by Minister of Natural Resources
and Environment Alexander Kozlov and Adviser
to the President and Special Presidential Representative
on Climate Issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev.
* * *
Speech at the Leaders Summit on Climate
President of Russia Vladimir
Putin: Mr President,
Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
Our discussion today has demonstrated
our deep mutual concern over climate change and our interest
in stepping up international efforts to resolve this problem.
The success of our efforts will largely determine the future
of the entire planet, the development prospects of every
country, people’s welfare and their quality of life.
We believe that the universal
agreements reached at the UN provide a reliable legal framework
for the joint efforts of states to control and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
I would like to point out that
Russia is scrupulously implementing its international commitments in this
sphere. This concerns, first of all,
the implementation of the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris
Agreement. We have been working energetically to formulate modern
legislation to ensure reliable control over carbon emissions
and to stimulate their reduction.
Yesterday I delivered
my annual Address to the Federal Assembly
of the Russian Federation, and one of the top priority
tasks I have set in terms of socioeconomic development was
to substantially limit cumulative emissions in our country by 2050.
I am sure that this task is
feasible despite Russia’s size, its geographical, climatic and structural
peculiarities. Let me recall that compared to 1990, Russia has reduced its
greenhouse gas emissions more than many other countries. These emissions were
cut in half – from 3.1 billion to 1.6 billion tonnes of СО2 equivalent.
This was a result of the fundamental restructuring
of Russian industry and energy over the past 20 years.
As a result, now 45 percent
of our energy balance comes from low-emission energy sources, including
nuclear power. It is common knowledge that nuclear power plants produce almost
zero greenhouse gas emissions throughout their life cycle.
We intend to continue increasing
the scale of associated gas utilisation. We
will also continue implementing our large-scale programme
for ecological modernisation and higher
energy efficiency in all economic sectors. We will ensure
the capture, storage and use of carbon dioxide from all sources
and create the infrastructure for producing hydrogen
as both a raw material and a source of energy.
I would like to mention
in this context that Russia’s Sakhalin Region has launched a pilot
project to create a carbon pricing and trading system. This
project will allow this Russian region to reach carbon neutrality
by 2025.
Obviously, the situation that
provoked the global warming and related problems emerged a long
time ago. What do we think about comprehensive solutions to these
problems?
First. Carbon dioxide has been
in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. Therefore, it is
not enough to talk just about new amounts of emissions. It is
important to absorb the carbon dioxide that has already accumulated
in the atmosphere. It is no exaggeration to say that Russia is
making an enormous contribution to the absorption of global
emissions, both our own and those of others, owing
to the absorbing capacity of our ecosystems, which is estimated
at 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide
equivalent a year.
Second, we must take
into account absolutely every cause of global warming.
For example, methane accounts for 20 percent of anthropogenic
emissions. The greenhouse effect of each tonne
of methane is 25–28 times greater than a tonne
of СО2. Experts believe that if we could halve
methane emissions in the next 30 years, global temperatures would
decrease by 0.18 degrees by 2050. The difference between this
figure and the target set in the Paris Agreement is about
45 percent.
In this context, it would be
extremely important to develop broad and effective international
cooperation in the calculation and monitoring of all
polluting emissions into the atmosphere.
We urge all interested countries
to take part in joint research, to invest in climate
projects that can have a practical effect and to redouble
efforts to create low-carbon technologies to mitigate
the consequences and adjust to climate change.
Third, I have no doubt that climate
efforts should, of course, rally the efforts of the entire
international community. Russia is willing to propose a number
of joint projects and discuss possible incentives for foreign
companies that would like to invest in clean technology, including
in our country.
And lastly, global development
should not just be green but also sustainable in the full meaning
of the word – and for all countries without exception.
And consequently, it should be closely connected with progress
in such high-priority areas as efforts against poverty
and closing development gaps.
In conclusion, I would like
to emphasise once again that the Russian Federation
is genuinely interested in stepping up international cooperation so that
we can continue to search for effective solutions to climate
change, as well as other acute global problems. In fact, this
should be the goal of the current video summit.
Thank you for your attention.
FROM Reuters
PUTIN CALLS FOR RUSSIAN GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS TO BE
LOWER THAN EU’S
April 21, 20217:59 AM EDT Reuters Gleb Stolyarov Olesya Astakhova
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday
he wanted Russia’s total net greenhouse gas emissions to be less than the
European Union’s over the next 30 years, a goal he described as tough but
achievable.
Russia is the world's fourth largest
greenhouse gas emitter. Putin is set to deliver a speech at an online climate
change summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday.
"Over the next 30 years,
accumulated net greenhouse gas emissions in Russia must be lower than in the
European Union," Putin told top officials and lawmakers at his annual
state-of-the-nation speech.
"This is a difficult task, given
the size of our country, its geography, climate and economic structure.
However, I am absolutely certain that this goal, given our scientific and
technological potential, is achievable."
Russia's greenhouse gas emissions are
around half of the total of the 27 EU countries, which combined have more than
three times the population.
The EU has announced aggressive targets
to reduce its emissions over the next three decades, aiming to achieve complete
carbon neutrality by 2050. Russia's targets so far have been more modest.
CHALLENGES
Russia's economy is heavily reliant on
exports of oil, gas and mineral resources, and the push to combat climate
change poses serious challenges for the Kremlin.
"Construction of green
infrastructure by using oil and gas revenues could better prepare Russia for
the energy transition. However, the green projects are still perceived in
Russia with big scepticism," said Dmitry Marinchenko, a senior director at Fitch.
He added that Russia is still aiming to
make use of its vast oil reserves over the next decade by launching massive projects,
such as Vostok Oil, designed by the oil giant Rosneft. (ROSN.MM)
Putin has said Russia is warming at 2.5
times the world average and that it would be a disaster if the permafrost melts
in its northern cities.
The Russian leader, who has questioned
whether human activity is the sole driver of warming climate cycles, has lately
cast himself as a defender of the environment.
Russia joined the 2015 Paris Agreement
to fight climate change in September 2019. Putin ordered the government last
November to work towards an emissions cut by 2030 of
up to 30% below 1990 emissions levels. The EU is aiming for a 40% cut by 2030,
on its path to carbon neutrality by 2050.
King Salman bin Abdulaziz
Al Saud, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
From
– arabnews.com Monday . May 17, 2021
KING SALMAN CALLS FOR GLOBAL APPROACH TO TACKLING
CLIMATE CHANGE
by EPHREM KOSSAIFY April 22, 202108:15
NEW YORK: Boosting international
cooperation is the “optimal solution” to tackling climate change, Saudi
Arabia’s King Salman told a summit of world leaders on Thursday.
He said global warming threatens lives
on our planet and that the challenges “recognize no national borders.”
“The objective is sustainable
development, and in order to achieve this there must be a comprehensive
methodology that takes into account the different developments and
circumstances that exist around the world,” King Salman said during the Leaders Summit on Climate, which was hosted by the US.
He said the Kingdom has launched
packages of strategies and introduced regulations with the aim of using clean,
renewable sources to produce 50 percent of the country’s energy needs by 2030.
“Enhancing the level of international
cooperation is the optimal solution to meeting the challenges of climate
change,” the king said.
“During our G20 presidency last year we
advocated the need to adopt a notion of a circular carbon economy, launching
two international initiatives to curb land degradation and to protect coral
reefs.”
He added that Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman recently announced two new environmental plans: the
Green Saudi Initiative and the Green Middle East Initiative. They aim to reduce
carbon emissions in the region by more than 10 percent of current global
contributions.
“These initiatives also aim at planting
50 billion trees in the region,” he said.
The Kingdom, he added, will work with
its partners to achieve these goals and host forums for both initiatives later
this year.
“Finally we
would like to affirm our keenness and commitment to cooperation to combat
climate change, in order to create a better environment for future generations,
wishing success for our efforts to protect our planet,” he said.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden — who
convened the summit with a view to building global momentum for climate action
ahead of COP26, the UN’s
Climate Change Conference in Glasgow,
Scotland, in November — pledged to cut US fossil fuel emissions by up to 52
percent by 2030.
“Meeting this moment is about more than
preserving our planet,” Biden said. “It’s about providing a better future for
all of us.” He called it “a moment of peril but a moment of opportunity.”
In his presidential campaign last year,
Biden made tackling climate change one of his top priorities. While Republicans
oppose his plans on the grounds they will cost jobs in the coal, oil and gas
industries, Biden believes that a transition to cleaner energy sources will
create millions of well-paid jobs, a stance echoed by many of the world leaders
who attended the summit.
“This is not bunny-hugging, this is
about growth and jobs,” said the UK’s Conservative prime minister, Boris
Johnson.
Forty leaders are taking part in the
two-day summit. The UN has described 2021 as a “climate emergency” year, with
scientists warning that climate change caused by the use of coal and other
fossil fuels is exacerbating natural disasters such as droughts, floods,
hurricanes and wildfires. There are fears that the world now faces a race
against time to avoid the disastrous extremes of global warming.
The world’s most powerful nations have
announced various measures to address the crisis. They include targets for
reductions in harmful emissions, plans to stop the public financing of coal,
and a commitment to integrating climate action into economic-stimulus plans in
an effort to “build back better” after the pandemic-related economic collapse,
with the goal of “leaving no one behind.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian
President Vladimir Putin also made commitments to reduce emissions. Neither of
them made any mention of their respective non-climate disputes with Biden.
Xi — whose country is the world’s
biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, followed closely by the US — said that “to
protect the environment is to protect productivity, and to boost the
environment is to boost productivity. It’s as simple as that.”
Putin, who Biden recently referred to as
a “killer” because of the Russian leader’s crackdown on opponents, said his
country is “genuinely interested in galvanizing international cooperation so as
to look further for effective solutions to climate change as well as to all
other vital challenges.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined a
number of other leaders who spoke at the summit in welcoming the US back to the
2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, from which President Donald Trump
withdrew.
She told Biden: “There can be no doubt
about the world needing your contribution if we really want to fulfill our
ambitious goals.”
Small states and island nations, which
contribute the least to greenhouse- gas emissions but face the most severe
dangers and damage resulting from climate change as they are increasingly
affected by hurricanes and rising sea levels, asked the major world powers for
help.
Gaston Alfonso Browne, prime minister of
Antigua and Barbuda, said his people are “teetering on the edge of despair.” He
asked the international community for debt relief and assistance to help his
country recover from the effects of storms and the pandemic, to “prevent a flow
of climate refugees.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
described the commitments made during the summit to achieving carbon neutrality
as “a much-needed boost to our collective efforts to address the climate crisis
ahead of COP26 in November in Glasgow.”
He added: “It is now urgent that all
countries, especially other major emitters, present their 2030 climate plans
well before COP 26.”
Guterres also urged leaders to deliver
on $100 billion of climate commitments made to developing countries a decade
ago.
“The world will be watching carefully,
particularly those already experiencing severe climate impacts and an ongoing
economic crisis,” he said.
“Today’s summit shows the tide is turning
for climate action, but there is still a long way to go. To avert a permanent
climate catastrophe, we must now urgently build on the momentum delivered
today, in this make-or-break year for people and the planet.”
FROM republicworld.com
Saudi's King Salman Speaks At Climate Summit
From the AP, Last Updated: 22nd
April, 2021 22:13 IST
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Location unknown - 21 April 2021
++AUDIO OF ENGLISH TRANSLATION FROM SOURCE
OVERLAYS VIDEO OF KING SALMAN++
++VIA VIDEO CONFERENCING++
1. Wide of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia: ++INCLUDES CHANGE
OF ANGLE++
"In accordance with the Saudi vision
2030, we have launched a packages of strategies and
regulations such as the national environmental strategy with the aim of
producing 50% of the kingdom's energy needs by 2030 using clean renewable
sources."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia: ++INCLUDES CHANGE
OF ANGLE++
"During our G20 presidency last year,
we advocated the need to adopt the notion of a circular carbon economy,
launching two international initiatives, to curb land degradation and to
protect coral reefs. More recently, his royal highness the crown prince
announced two new initiatives, the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East
Green initiative which aims at reducing carbon emissions in the region by more
than 10% of global contributions."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
The king of Saudi Arabia said Thursday
that his country is working on "producing 50% of the kingdom's energy by
using clean renewable energy," as part of the Kingdom's so-called economic
"Saudi Vision 2030".
King Salman bin Abdulaziz
Al Saud speaking at the Climate Summit added that "the crown prince
announced two new initiatives, the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East
Green initiative which aims at reducing carbon emissions in the region by more
than 10% of global contributions."
Saying the United States and other big
economies “have to get this done,” President Joe Biden opened a global climate
summit aimed at getting world leaders to dig deeper on emissions cuts.
Speaking from their home countries, the leaders pledged action to lower carbon
emissions, although they differ on details.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,
Singapore
From pmo.gov.sg by PM Lee Hsien Loong | 23 April 2021
TRANSCRIPT
OF INTERVENTION BY PM LEE HSIEN LOONG AT THE VIRTUAL LEADERS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE,
CONVENED BY US PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, ON 23 APRIL 2021.
I would like to thank President Joe
Biden for convening this Summit. It is a welcome signal of US leadership and
commitment to a multilateral climate solution, underlined by the US rejoining
the Paris Agreement.
Although Singapore is a small island
state, we will contribute our share to the climate agenda. Singapore was among
the first 20 countries to submit our long-term strategy to the UNFCCC. This
year we launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030, our roadmap towards sustainable
development and net zero emissions. Our strategy goes beyond meeting emission
caps or implementing our carbon tax.
To overcome our small size and lack of
resources, and achieve our emission reduction goals, Singapore must also
innovate and use technology extensively. For instance, we have very limited
renewable energy options. Nevertheless, we plan to quadruple solar energy
production by 2025. We are opening one of the world’s largest floating solar
energy systems, which will offset 33,000 tonnes of
carbon dioxide (CO2) annually. Another major concern for our compact and dense
city is rising urban temperatures. To moderate this, we are using computer modelling
for more climate-responsive urban design, experimenting with special cooling
paint on buildings, and planting one million more trees.
As a financial hub, Singapore can help
the global push for sustainability through green finance, fintech and capability
building. We have launched a US$2 billion Green Investments Programme.
This will support the development of carbon trading and services,
sustainability consultancies and environmental risk management. One promising
area is emissions verification, including using new technology to measure the
carbon footprints and monitor abatement commitments of businesses. Singapore is
happy to share our experience in all these areas. We have incorporated climate
and sustainability in the Singapore-US Third Country Training Programme. And as country coordinator for ASEAN-US energy
cooperation, we will work closely with the US to support our region’s clean
energy transition. We look forward to working with the US and all countries to
build a sustainable future.
Thank you.
FROM channelnewsasia.com
Singapore’s
climate strategy goes beyond emission caps, carbon tax: PM Lee at Biden’s
summit
Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate.
(Photo: Ministry of Communications and Information)
By Matthew Mohan 23 Apr 2021 09:15PM(Updated: 04 May 2021 06:53PM)
SINGAPORE:
Singapore is committed to tackling climate change and has adopted a strategy
that goes beyond meeting emission caps or implementing a carbon tax, said Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday (Apr 23).
“Although
Singapore is a small island state, we will contribute our share to the climate
agenda,” Mr Lee said in his recorded remarks for the
Leaders’ Summit on Climate hosted by US President Joe Biden.
“Singapore
was among the first 20 countries to submit our long-term strategy to the UNFCCC
(United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). This year we
launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030, our roadmap towards sustainable
development and net zero emissions.”
Mr Lee
noted that because of Singapore’s size and lack of resources, it must innovate
and use technology extensively to achieve its emission reduction goals.
He
pointed out that even though Singapore has “very limited” renewable energy
options, there are plans to quadruple solar energy production by 2025, as well
as to open one of the world’s largest floating solar energy systems that will
offset 33,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
Another
“major concern” for Singapore is rising urban temperatures, said Mr Lee.
To address
this, the country plans to use computer modelling for more climate-responsive
urban design, experiment with cooling paint on buildings, as well as plant one
million more trees.
Given
Singapore’s status as a financial hub, it can help the global push for
sustainability through green finance, financial technology and capability
building, said Mr Lee.
“We
have launched a US$2 billion Green Investments Programme.
This will support the development of carbon trading and services,
sustainability consultancies and environmental risk management,” he said.
“One
promising area is emissions verification, including using new technology to
measure the carbon footprints and monitor abatement commitments of businesses.”
Mr Lee
added that Singapore is “happy” to share its experience in these areas.
“We have incorporated climate and
sustainability in the Singapore-US Third Country Training Programme.
And as country coordinator for ASEAN-US energy cooperation, we will work
closely with the US to support our region’s clean energy transition,” he said.
“We
look forward to working with the US and all countries to build a sustainable
future.”
The
two-day summit convened by Mr Biden involves 40 world
leaders. Ahead of the virtual meeting, countries such as the United
Kingdom and Japan had announced strengthened new targets as part of their plans
to tackle climate change.
On
Thursday, the Biden administration also pledged to halve US greenhouse gas
emissions to 52 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.
As previously
announced, Singapore aims to halve its 2030 peak greenhouse gas emissions by
2050 and achieve net zero emissions "as soon as viable" in the second
half of the century.
Said
Mr Lee: “I would like to thank President Joe Biden
for convening this summit. It is a welcome signal of US leadership and
commitment to a multilateral climate solution, underlined by the US rejoining
the Paris Agreement.”
Source: CNA/mt(gs)
President Matamela
Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa
FROM:
gov.za.com 22 Apr 2021
PRESIDENT CYRIL
RAMAPHOSA: VIRTUAL LEADERS' SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Your Excellency, President Joe Biden,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to start off by thanking President Biden for convening this Leaders Summit on Climate.
We are also all delighted to have the United States back working with all of us
to tackle the global challenges of climate change.
Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time.
It is a global phenomenon from which developing economies are particularly vulnerable.
Without effective adaptation, climate change has the potential to reverse the
developmental gains in our countries, and push millions of people further into
poverty.
In doing so we have to adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities
and respective capabilities.
Poor countries have historically contributed least to emissions.
Developing countries often suffer the most from the devastating effects of
climate change in the form of drought, extreme storms and rising sea levels.
Consequently, developed economies have a responsibility to support developing
economies to enable them to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Significant progress can be made when we all honour
our mutual commitments.
We therefore need to emphasise the primacy of
multilateralism in ensuring the full implementation of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change.
South Africa is fully committed to enhancing its ambition and accelerating its
climate actions.
Last year we finalised our National Climate Change
Adaptation Strategy, coordinating adaptation actions at all levels of
government.
We have also adopted a Low Emissions Development Strategy in pursuit of a just
transition to a low-carbon, sustainable and climate resilient development pathway.
We are currently in the process of updating South Africa's Nationally
Determined Contribution. Our new NDC target ranges have been released for
public consultation.
The new target ranges we are proposing are much more ambitious in two respects.
First, the top of the 2030 range has been reduced by 28%, or 174 million metric
tons, a very significant reduction.
Second, according to our previous Nationally Determined Contribution, South
Africa's emissions would peak and plateau in 2025, and decline only from 2035.
South Africa's emissions will begin to decline from 2025, effectively shifting
our emissions decline 10 years earlier.
With regard to our energy resources, we plan to build capacity to generate over
17 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030.
We remain committed to contributing our fair share to reduce global emissions,
and to do so in the context of overcoming poverty, inequality and
underdevelopment.
The move towards a low-carbon, climate resilient society cannot happen
overnight.
We need to work together to create a climate resilient society and amongst
other things we should, firstly, ensure that as we transit to a more climate
resilient future it must be based on a just transition that ensures that those
who are most vulnerable in society do not get left behind.
Secondly, it is therefore critical that all three of the goals of the Paris
Agreement – mitigation, adaptation and finance – be advanced with equal
determination and ambition.
Thirdly, we must massively scale up support in the form of financing,
technology and capacity building, so that developing economies, including those
in Africa, are able to enhance ambition on adaptation and mitigation.
Fourthly, it is important that aid on climate change should be provided
separately, and should not be part of conventional development assistance. When
it is given in the form of loan financing the debt burden of developing
countries is worsened.
We call on developed economies, which historically bear the greatest
responsibility for emissions, to meet their responsibilities to developing
economies.
This will be vital to restoring the bonds of trust between developed and
developing economies.
As we have done since the time of Nelson Mandela, South Africa stands ready to
work with other nations to build bridges to find solutions that secure
humanity’s future.
I thank you.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spain
"CLIMATE EMERGENCY IS A REALITY AND
WE MUST ACT NOW TO COMBAT IT", SAYS PEDRO SÁNCHEZ
From la moncloa, Moncloa Palace, Madrid, Thursday
22 April 2021
The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro
Sánchez, will take part on Friday in the Leaders' Summit on Climate, promoted
by the President of the United States, Joe Biden. On Thursday - Earth Day - he
has sent a message of adherence to this initiative urging action to be taken in
response to the climate crisis.
Pedro
Sánchez claimed that it was necessary and opportune to call this Summit because
"the climate emergency is a reality and we must act now to combat
it".
During
his participation by video-conference, the President of the Government claimed
that this event must serve to raise the level of climate ambition urgently and
comprehensively, since the global level is still insufficient. "Spain has
taken great strides and our commitment is unquenchable, but success does not
just depend on us".
The
President of the Government highlighted the need to speed up the transition
towards a decarbonised future and to accompany the
climate goals with social measures. The recovery funds, he said, "offer us
an historic opportunity to do things well".
Leaders' Summit on Climate
The
Climate Summit, inaugurated by the President and the Vice-President of the
United States, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, is being held virtually on Thursday
and Friday and includes the participation of close to 40 leaders from around
the world, including the Secretary-General of the United States, António
Guterres, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The
President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will take part on Friday, together
with the Presidents of Nigeria, Poland and Vietnam, the Secretary of
Transportation of the United States and representatives of several companies
and organisations in a panel on economic
opportunities stemming from the ecological recovery and long-term decarbonisation.
The
Minister for Defence, Margarita Robles, took part on
Thursday in a panel on the risks posed by climate change to security issues.
Non official translation
From politico eu
POLAND AND SPAIN SHOW TWO FACES OF THE
ENERGY TRANSITION AT BIDEN’S CLIMATE SUMMIT
The countries have markedly different
approaches to decarbonization.
BY AITOR HERNÁNDEZ-MORALES April
23, 2021 7:24 pm
The drive to decarbonize has vast
political and economic costs — something shown by leaders from Spain and Poland
speaking at the final session of U.S. President Joe Biden's climate
summit on Friday.
The two ends of the Continent are at
very different stages of their exit from coal. Spain is almost done — and can
now reap the benefits — while Poland is only starting.
That saw quite different takes on
demands to slash emissions and phase out fossil fuel power — a key
aim of the U.S.-led summit.
Polish President Andrej Duda appeared notably out of step with other leaders
touting ambitious climate goals.
"In Poland over the next two decades
we aim to build a new zero-emissions energy system, thanks to which the level
of coal will fall from the current 70 percent to even 11 percent by 2040,"
he said, adding that all coal-fired power would end by 2049.
That's a huge cut for Poland, but still
puts Warsaw at odds with the rest of the EU; Germany plans to end all
coal-fired power by 2038, and the Czech Republic is eyeing the same year.
While praising Poland's role in hosting
the COP24 global climate summit in 2018, Duda balked
at committing Poland to sign onto Brussels' 2050 climate neutrality goal,
saying that while Poland acknowledged and had the ambition to implement the
target, it was not by "pure political declarations" that Warsaw
intended to "change the reality." That leaves Poland as the only EU
country not to commit to domestic climate neutrality by mid-century.
He spelled out a vision for the
transition to a "balanced and low-emissions energy mix" based on
renewables, nuclear and natural gas. He said that "the only solution"
for Poland, while it waited to build its first nuclear power plant, was
"simply using energy from gas."
Activists like Greenpeace's Joanna Flisowska ridiculed Duda's speech,
calling it "a complete embarrassment" at a time when Poland needed to
make firm climate commitments.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey
Last Updated: 22nd April, 2021
22:18 IST
TURKISH PRESIDENT SPEAKS AT CLIMATE SUMMIT
Written
By Associated Press Television News
1. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, President of Turkey:
"It is our joint moral and
conscientious duty to leave the earth, which has been entrusted to us, as a
more habitable place for future generations. Climate change doesn't just affect
the world's main polluting countries. It affects all of humanity and especially
the African continent."
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, President of Turkey:
"We are making great efforts to
reduce the impact of climate change. We are making serious investment to
increase our country's forest land and trees, improve biological diversity and
protect the environment."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, President of Turkey:
"By 2030, we will increase our
electricity production capacity by solar energy to 10 gigawatts and wind power
to 16 gigawatts."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said on Thursday that it was every nation's "joint moral and conscientious
duty" to protect the world from the effects of climate change.
"We are making serious investment to
increase our country's forest land and trees, improve biological diversity and
protect the environment," he said, addressing a US-led climate summit via
video link.
US President Joe Biden convened leaders of
the world's most powerful countries during Thursday's summit, to try to spur
global efforts against climate change, drawing commitments from Chinese
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to cooperate on
cutting emissions despite their own sharp rivalries with the United States.
Biden's own new commitment, timed to the
summit, is to cut U.S. fossil fuel emissions up to 52% by 2030, marking a
return by the U.S. to global climate efforts after four years of withdrawal
under President Donald Trump.
President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, United Arab Emirates
UAE
CLIMATE ENVOY: PARTICIPATION IN US SUMMIT SHOWS OUR COMMITMENT TO TACKLING
CLIMATE CHANGE
From – the nationalnews.com uae
Forty
leaders from around the world attend online event in crucial year for the
planet
The
UAE's Special Envoy for Climate Change said the country's participation in US
President Joe Biden’s climate summit underlines its commitment to tackling the
issue.
Dr
Sultan Al Jaber said that the event "is a key milestone in the
international climate space and strengthens momentum towards the United Nations
Climate Change Conference (Cop26) this November in Glasgow".
The
event, being held online on Thursday and Friday, features 40 world leaders
discussing the climate challenge, with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice
President and Ruler of Dubai, leading the summit for the UAE.
Mr Biden initiated proceedings by
announcing that the US will aim for a 50 per cent to 52 per cent cut in carbon
emissions over 2005 levels by 2030.
Dr
Al Jaber, meanwhile, outlined how the UAE was ramping up efforts to fight
climate change.
"Due
to early investment and policy choices, the UAE now enjoys the lowest-cost
solar power in the world, enabling further competitiveness in our industries
and services," Dr Al Jaber said.
"We
are also investing in new zero-carbon fuels, including hydrogen that shows
promise as an energy source of the future," he said.
Themes
of the summit include how to create new technologies to reduce emissions
and how to jump start private and public sector finance to drive the net-zero
transition.
Dr
Al Jaber also hinted at a major global new partnership focusing on research and
investment on agriculture and food systems.
Saying
it would be announced shortly, the partnership will aim to adapt to climate
change and reduce emissions in the sector.
Dr
Al Jaber recently hosted US special presidential envoy for
climate John Kerry and Cop26 president Alok Sharkma
in Abu Dhabi for the Regional Climate Dialogue event. The talks concluded with
11 countries pledging to do even more to stop temperatures rising.
FROM
the BBC
BORIS JOHNSON: CLIMATE CHANGE ABOUT JOBS NOT 'BUNNY
HUGGING'
By Chris Mason
Tackling climate change is
about "growth and jobs" not "expensive bunny hugging",
Boris Johnson has said.
Speaking
at a virtual summit, the prime minister told world leaders "we can build
back better from this pandemic by building back greener."
At
the same event, US President Joe Biden pledged to cut carbon emissions by
50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030.
Mr Johnson praised Mr Biden for "returning
the US to the front rank of the fight against climate change".
One
of Mr Biden's first acts as president was to rejoin
the Paris climate agreement, months after his predecessor Donald Trump had
taken the US out.
·
Biden: 'Decisive decade' to tackle climate change
·
EU agrees to cut CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030
·
Have countries kept their climate change promises?
Forty
other leaders attended the summit including China's President Xi Jinping who
reiterated a promise to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
It
is hoped that all countries will commit to further carbon emission cuts at the
COP26 conference due to be held in Glasgow this November.
Earlier
this week, the UK government announced its own plans to cut carbon emissions by
78% compared to 1990 levels by 2035.
Labour welcomed the new commitment - which
brings the current target forward by 15 years - but said the government
"can't be trusted to match rhetoric with reality".
The
party's shadow environment secretary Ed Miliband urged ministers to match
promises with "much more decisive action".
media
captionJoe Biden urged nations to help "overcome
the existential crisis of our time"
In
his speech to the Leaders Summit on Climate, Mr Johnson said UK's carbon emissions were lower than at
any point since the 19th century.
He
also praised the wind power sector in the country, describing the UK as
"the Saudi Arabia of wind".
The
prime minister called on other countries to "make this decade the moment
of decisive change in the fight against climate change" by setting their
own tough targets on carbon emissions.
He
also emphasised the connection between wildlife and
climate, saying: "If we're going to tackle climate change we have to deal
with the disaster of habitat loss and species loss across our planet."
And
he sought to play up the economic benefits of fighting climate change arguing:
"It's vital for all of us to show that this is not all about some
expensive, politically correct, green act of bunny hugging.
"What
I'm driving at is this is about growth and jobs."
The
prime minister's contribution to today's virtual climate jamboree included
familiar lines from him: the UK being the "Saudi Arabia of wind"
power and him being a man keen on having your cake and eating it: "cake,
have, eat" as he put it.
He
didn't dwell on what many say would be the colossal costs and changes society
will have to take on to get to net zero emissions.
There
is a bigger picture here too: the prime minister casting himself as a globally
central figure in all this, ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in
November.
Mr Johnson welcomed the return of the United States "to the
front rank of the fight against climate change," with President Biden
replacing Donald Trump.
Mr Biden will be an enthusiastic participant in Glasgow later this
year, whereas it would have been far from certain a re-elected President Trump
would have even turned up.
Climate
change, the ultimate international issue, has turned diplomacy green: for the
prime minister, it is central to his vision for "Global Britain."
President Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Vietnam
VIETNAM'S NEW LEADERSHIP: THE RISE OF THE SECURITY APPARATUS
From Institut Montaigne By
Benoît de Tréglodé - 14 APRIL 2021
On April 5, Vietnam selected
the leaders who will hold the country’s four key positions over the next five
years: the General Secretary of the Vietnamese
Communist Party, Prime Minister, President, and President of the National
Assembly. These appointments, which originated in decisions by the Party
Congress, were confirmed through a vote of the National Assembly. Benoît de Tréglodé, head of Africa-Asia-Middle East research
Department at the Institute for Strategic Research of France’s École Militaire (IRSEM), sheds light on the significance of these
appointments, Vietnam’s relationship with China and Russia, and the motivation
to preserve the Party’s authority within Vietnamese society.
At the recent 13th National Congress of
the Vietnamese Communist Party (PCV), PCV General Secretary Nguyên
Phu Trong was appointed to
a third term in office despite his 77 years of age and poor health. During the
last session of the National Assembly of Vietnam’s 14th Legislature (March
24-April 8), the country chose a new team of leaders. Nguyên
Xuân Phuc, the outgoing
Prime Minister who managed to execute impressive control of the COVID-19
pandemic, was elected president; Pham Minh Chinh was
elected Chairman of the Central Party Organization Committee and Prime
Minister; and Vuong Dinh
Hue, former Party Secretary of Hanoi, is now Chairman of the National Assembly.
What should we take from these
appointments? At first glance, Vietnam seems to be sending a signal of
continuity-and strength. New Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh
is expected to stick to his predecessor’s policies with respect to economic
growth and institutional reform. The
country hopes to diversify its trading partners, in order to counterbalance its
growing economic dependence on China. In 2020, Vietnam was China’s
largest trading partner within the ASEAN region, with a volume of trade
reaching $192.2 billion-an increase of 18.7%. Beijing is the country’s third
largest foreign investor. The Vietnamese have always tried to balance the
economic, political and strategic interests of the great powers while
maintaining full membership (since the mid-1990s) in ASEAN.
The 13th National Congress
of the PCV has shown a readiness to increase security within the structure of
the Vietnamese state.
In the context of heightened
Sino-American rivalry in the Indo-Pacific zone, and particularly in the South
China Sea, the 13th National
Congress of the PCV has shown a readiness to increase security within the
structure of the Vietnamese state. Through Pham Minh Chinh, the three-star general and former Deputy Minister of
Public Security, and General Tô Lâm
(the previous Minister of Public Security who was just reappointed for a second
term), the police have now gained representation within the state apparatus.
The Ministry of Public Security has
traditionally been strongly in favor of maintaining - if not increasing - the
Party’s authority and sound ties with China. Now for the first time since the country’s 1976 reunification, the
Political Bureau - the regime’s highest political body comprised of 18 members
- can count one third of its members from among the country’s security forces.
This includes four public security figures: Pham Minh Chinh, Tô Lâm
and Phan Dinh Trac-Tô Lâm’s former deputy at the head of the Ministry in charge
of security for the Central Committee-and Nguyên Hoa Binh, current Chief Justice
of the Supreme People’s Court. The Ministry of Defense can claim two
representatives, a first since 2001. Previously, only the Minister of Defense
sat on the Bureau, along with Generals Phan Van Giang,
the new Minister of Defense, and Luong Cuong,
chairman of the General Department of Army Policy. In addition, there was the
unexpected decision, made in February, to appoint General Nguyen Trong Nghia to the head of the
Propaganda and Education Commission. This former vice-president of the General
Department of Army Policy is best known for being the first person to lead
Force 47, the ministry's famous unit of 10,000 cyber-fighters. Rumor has it
that General Nguyen Trong Nghia,
originally from Tien Giang in southern Vietnam, could
also become the 19th member of the Politburo, or could at least obtain an
influential deputy post. The final decision rests with Nguyên
Phu Trong, and it will be
highly significant as it will help calibrate the decision-making of the highest
political body in the regime, and potentially reduce the under-representation
of the south of the country (which currently has 3 members out of 18), while
also consolidating the power of security actors.
What
we see now in Vietnam is the consolidation of the Party’s authority in the
context of social changes that might weaken its power. According to its representatives,
there are two major challenges threatening the survival of the Party, and the
regime: "the presence of hostile forces trying to overthrow the
government, and the risk of ideological decline among the ranks, associated
with a general decline in the confidence of the people."
What we see now in Vietnam
is the consolidation of the Party’s authority in the context of social changes that
might weaken its power.
Since the country reopened in the early
1990s, Russia has remained
Vietnam's main security partner. In March, during discussions in
Hanoi with Tô Lâm,
Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang and Nguyên Phu Trong,
Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of the Russian Federation’s Security Council,
reminded the Vietnamese of the importance Russia places on their country’s
political stability. This especially in a region weakened by "the
emergence of much social unrest" (Myanmar, Thailand, Hong Kong). At the
same time, Vietnamese police arrested Le Trong Hung,
one of the 70 independent candidates in the parliamentary elections scheduled
for May, for propaganda against the state. Through his campaign, the Vietnamese
had demanded the creation of a constitutional court, and the passage of laws
relating to surveillance and the right to protest.
On
the occasion of the 12th Congress of the PCV in 2016, which marked the start of
Nguyên Phu Trong's second term, the Ministry of Public Security
discreetly strengthened its partnerships with Chinese security organs. While the two countries often clash over
maritime issues in the South China Sea, they agree on issues of social
stability as well as the future place of the Party within society. A few days
after the end of the 13th Congress, Chinese Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi visited Hanoi to co-chair the 7th conference on
cooperation in the prevention and fight against crime, together with his
counterpart Tô Lâm. During
this visit, Zhao Kezhi spent several weeks with many
of the new leadership’s most important figures.
In Vietnam, the Communist Party is
responsible for securing the country’s legitimate interests, while benefiting
from Chinese development. The
choice of Pham Minh Chinh as the new Prime Minister
confirms that the Vietnamese are still not able fully answer the call of the
Indo-Pacific. Pham Minh Chinh is believed
to be the closest leader to China - other than Nguyen Phu
Trong. Speculation about his position abounds, with
some commentators already predicting that he will eventually look to succeed Nguyên Phu Trong
in the event the latter experiences further health problems. He is also seen as
having pro-Chinese positions, after his support for co-exploitation projects in
China and the South China Sea, and for the creation of special economic zones
in the country. After all it was Pham Minh Chinh,
then a young intelligence officer, who was posted to Bucharest in the spring of
1989 to observe the effect the popular protests in Eastern Europe had on the
communist powers in the region. And if we look through the list of positions he
has occupied throughout his career in the Ministry of Public Security, the
future Prime Minister has been continually at the head of the human and
economic intelligence structures that focused on the defense of strategic
national interests. In Vietnam, the new leadership is now making the control of
its population a political priority, while also trying to meet the consumerist
aspirations of the people in this favorable economic context. The PCV is facing the fight for the future of
the regime by focusing on the "economic" dimension of its mission,
while ensuring that security figures hold key positions.
ATTACHMENT
THREE – from “The
Uninhabitable Earth” (excerpt)
Chapter 1 - Cascades
It is worse, much worse, than you think. The slowness of climate change is a
fairy tale, perhaps as pernicious as the one that says it isn’t happening at
all, and comes to us bundled with several others in an anthology of comforting
delusions: that global warming is an Arctic saga, unfolding remotely; that it
is strictly a matter of sea level and coastlines, not an enveloping crisis
sparing no place and leaving no life un-deformed; that it is a crisis of the
“natural” world, not the human one; that those two are distinct, and that we
live today somehow outside or beyond or at the very least defended against
nature, not circumscribed and literally overwhelmed by it; that wealth can be a
shield against the ravages of warming; that the burning of fossil fuels is the
price of continued economic growth; that growth, and the technology it
produces, will allow us to engineer our way out of environmental disaster; that
there is any analogue to the scale or scope of this threat, in the long span of
human history, that might give us confidence in staring it down.
None of this is true. But let’s
begin with the speed of change. The earth has experienced five mass extinctions
before the one we are living through now, each so complete a wiping of the
fossil record that it functioned as an evolutionary reset, the planet’s
phylogenetic tree first expanding, then collapsing, at intervals, like a lung:
86 percent of all species dead, 450 million years ago; 70 million years later,
another 75 percent; 100 million years later, 96 percent; 50 million years
later, 80 percent; 150 million years after that, 75 percent again. Unless you
are a teenager, you probably read in your high school textbooks that these
extinctions were the result of asteroids. In fact, all but the one that killed
the dinosaurs involved climate change produced by greenhouse gas. The most
notorious was 252 million years ago; it began when carbon warmed the planet by
five degrees Celsius, accelerated when that warming triggered the release of
methane, another greenhouse gas, and ended with all but a sliver of life on
Earth dead. We are currently adding carbon to the atmosphere at a considerably
faster rate; by most estimates, at least ten times faster. The rate is one
hundred times faster than at any point in human history before the beginning of
industrialization. And there is already, right now, fully a third more carbon
in the atmosphere than at any point in the last 800,000 years—perhaps in as
long as 15 million years. There were no humans then. The oceans were more than
a hundred feet higher.
Many perceive global warming as a
sort of moral and economic debt, accumulated since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution and now come due after several centuries. In fact, more
than half of the carbon exhaled into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil
fuels has been emitted in just the past three decades. Which means we have done
as much damage to the fate of the planet and its ability to sustain human life
and civilization since Al Gore published his first book on climate than in all
the centuries—all the millennia—that came before. The United Nations
established its climate change framework in 1992, building a political
consensus out of a scientific consensus and advertising it unmistakably to the
world; which means we have now done as much damage to the environment knowingly
than we ever managed in ignorance. Global warming may seem like a distended
morality tale playing out over several centuries and inflicting a kind of Old Testament
retribution on the great-great-grandchildren of those responsible, since it was
carbon burning in eighteenth-century England that lit the fuse of everything
that has followed. But that is a fable about historical villainy that acquits
those of us alive today—and unfairly. The majority of the burning has come
since the premiere of Seinfeld. Since the end of World War II,
the figure is about 85 percent. The story of the industrial world’s kamikaze
mission is the story of a single lifetime—the planet brought from apparent
stability to the brink of catastrophe in the years between a baptism or bar
mitzvah and a funeral.
We all know those lifetimes. When my
father was born in 1938—among his first memories the news of Pearl Harbor and
the mythic air force of the industrial propaganda films that followed— the
climate system appeared, to most human observers, steady. Scientists had
understood the greenhouse effect, had understood the way carbon produced by
burned wood and coal and oil could hothouse the planet and disequilibrize
everything on it, for three-quarters of a century. But they had not yet seen
the effect, not really, not yet, which made it seem less like an observed fact
than a dark prophecy, to be fulfilled only in a very distant future—perhaps
never. By the time my father died, in 2016, weeks after the desperate signing
of the Paris Agreement, the climate system was tipping toward devastation,
passing the threshold of carbon concentration—400 parts per million in the
earth’s atmosphere, in the eerily banal language of climatology—that had been,
for years, the bright red line environmental scientists had drawn in the
rampaging face of modern industry, saying, Do
not cross. Of course, we kept going: just two years later, we hit a monthly
average of 411, and guilt saturates the planet’s air as much as carbon, though
we choose to believe we do not breathe it.
The single lifetime is also the
lifetime of my mother: born in 1945, to German Jews fleeing the smokestacks
through which their relatives were incinerated, and now enjoying her
seventy-third year in an American commodity paradise, a paradise supported by
the factories of a developing world that has, in the space of a single
lifetime, too, manufactured its way into the global middle class, with all the
consumer enticements and fossil fuel privileges that come with that ascent:
electricity, private cars, air travel, red meat. She has been smoking for
fifty-eight of those years, always unfiltered, ordering the cigarettes now by
the carton from China.
It is also the lifetime of many of
the scientists who first raised public alarm about climate change, some of
whom, incredibly, remain working today—that is how rapidly we have arrived at
this promontory. Roger Revelle, who first heralded
the heating of the planet, died in 1991, but Wallace Smith Broecker,
who helped popularize the term “global warming,” still drives to work at the
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory across the Hudson every day from the Upper
West Side, sometimes picking up lunch at an old Jersey filling station recently
outfitted as a hipster eatery; in the 1970s, he did his research with funding
from Exxon, a company now the target of a raft of lawsuits that aim to
adjudicate responsibility for the rolling emissions regime that today, barring
a change of course on fossil fuels, threatens to make parts of the planet more
or less unlivable for humans by the end of this century. That is the course we
are speeding so blithely along—to more than four degrees Celsius of warming by
the year 2100. According to some estimates, that would mean that whole regions
of Africa and Australia and the United States, parts of South America north of
Patagonia, and Asia south of Siberia would be rendered uninhabitable by direct
heat, desertification, and flooding. Certainly it
would make them inhospitable, and many more regions besides. This is our
itinerary, our baseline. Which means that, if the planet was brought to the
brink of climate catastrophe within the lifetime of a single generation, the
responsibility to avoid it belongs with a single generation, too. We all also
know that second lifetime. It is ours.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
ATTACHMENT
FOUR – from Various
REVIEWS
of “The Uninhabitable Earth” from many sources and compilations…
A) From Amazon.com website
Editorial Reviews
“Potent and evocative. . . . Wallace-Wells has resolved to offer something other
than the standard narrative of climate change. . . . He
avoids the ‘eerily banal language of climatology’ in favor of lush, rolling
prose.” —Jennifer Szalai, The
New York Times
“The book has potential to be this generation’s Silent Spring.” —The Washington Post
“The Uninhabitable Earth, which has become a best seller, taps into
the underlying emotion of the day: fear. . . . I
encourage people to read this book.”—Alan
Weisman, The New York Review of Books
"Most of us know the gist, if not the details, of the climate change
crisis. And yet it is almost impossible to sustain strong feelings about it.
David Wallace-Wells has now provided the details, and with writing that is not
only clear and forceful, but often imaginative and even funny, he has found a
way to make the information deeply felt." —Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything is Illuminated
“A brilliant new book. . . . a remorseless,
near-unbearable account of what we are doing to our planet."—John Lanchester, The
New York Times Book Review
"David Wallace-Wells argues that the impacts of climate change will be
much graver than most people realize, and he's right. The Uninhabitable
Earth is a timely and provocative work." —Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The
Sixth Extinction
"An excellent book. . . . Not since Bill
McKibben’s The End of Nature thirty years ago have we been
told what climate change will mean in such vivid terms." —Fred Pearce, The Washington Post
"One of the very few books about our climate change emergency that doesn't
sugarcoat the horror." —William
T. Vollmann, author of No Immediate Danger
“Clearly and engagingly written, widely informed, with references supplied in
extensive and detailed endnotes, this overview of the present status of the
climate emergency and our response to it is completely captivating: it is our
own story, happening here and now.”—Lydia
Davis, Times Literary Supplement
“Powerfully argued. . . . A masterly analysis of
why—with a world of solutions—we choose doom.” —Nature
"This gripping, terrifying, furiously readable book is possibly the most
wide-ranging account yet written of the ways in which climate change will
transform every aspect of our lives, ranging from where we live to what we eat
and the stories we tell. Essential reading for our ever-more-unfamiliar and
unpredictable world." —Amitav
Ghosh, author of Flood of Fire
“Urgent and humane. . . . Wallace-Wells is an
extremely adept storyteller. . . . A horrifying
assessment of what we might expect as a result of climate change if we don’t
change course.” —Susan Matthews, Slate
“If we don’t want our grandchildren to curse us, we had better read this
book.” —Timothy Snyder, author
of Black Earth
“Lively. . . . Vivid. . . .
If you’ve snoozed through or turned away from the climate change news, this
book will waken and update you. If you’re steeped in the unfolding climate
drama, Wallace-Wells’s voice and perspective will be
stimulating.” —David George
Haskell, The Guardian
“Wallace-Wells has a gorgeous command of the English language, and knows how to
lay down prose that moves the reader at such a clip that one feels like a
Kentucky Derby–exhausted mare at the end of each chapter. . .
. Wallace-Wells sets himself and his analysis of climate change apart
from the predominant voices of leadership in the field.” —Laurie Garrett, The Lancet
“Beautifully written. . . . As climate change
encroaches, things will get worse. Much worse. And David Wallace-Wells spares
no detail in explaining how.” —Kate
Aronoff, Bookforum
"Relentless, angry journalism of the highest order. Read it and, for the
lack of any more useful response, weep." —Bryan Appleyard, The Sunday Times
"A brilliant and unsparing analysis of a nightmare that is no longer a
distant future but our chaotic, burning present. Unlike other writers who speak
about human agency in the abstract, Wallace-Wells zeros in on the power
structures and capitalist elites whose mindless greed is writing an obituary
for our grandchildren." —Mike
Davis, author of Ecology of Fear
"A lucid and thorough description of our unprecedented crisis, and of the
mechanisms of denial with which we seek to avoid its fullest
recognition.” —William Gibson,
author of Neuromancer
"David Wallace-Wells has produced a willfully terrifying polemic
that reads like a cross between Stephen King and Stephen Hawking. Written
with verve and insight and an eerie gusto for its own horrors, it comes just
when we need it; it could not be more urgent than it is at this moment. I hope
everyone will read it and be afraid." —Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon
About the Author:
David
Wallace-Wells is
a columnist and deputy editor at New York magazine. He has
been a national fellow at the New America Foundation and was previously the
deputy editor of The Paris Review. He lives in New York City.
B) From the publisher (Penguin) – more various
(positive, of course) reviews…
Mr. Wallace-Wells’s outline of
possible futures alarmist. He is indeed alarmed. You should be, too.” —The Economist
“Potent and evocative. . . . Wallace-Wells has resolved
to offer something other than the standard narrative of climate change. . . . He avoids the ‘eerily banal language of climatology’
in favor of lush, rolling prose.” —Jennifer
Szalai, The New York Times
“Most of us know the gist, if not the details, of the climate change crisis.
And yet it is almost impossible to sustain strong feelings about it. David
Wallace-Wells has now provided the details, and with writing that is not only
clear and forceful, but often imaginative and even funny, he has found a way to
make the information deeply felt.” —Jonathan
Safran Foer, author of Everything is Illuminated
“A brilliant new book. . . . a remorseless,
near-unbearable account of what we are doing to our planet.” —John Lanchester, The
New York Times Book Review
“David Wallace-Wells argues that the impacts of climate change will be much
graver than most people realize, and he’s right. The Uninhabitable
Earth is a timely and provocative work.” —Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction
“An excellent book. . . . Not since Bill
McKibben’s The End of Nature thirty years ago have we been
told what climate change will mean in such vivid terms.” —Fred Pearce, The Washington Post
“One of the very few books about our climate change emergency that doesn’t
sugarcoat the horror.” —William T.
Vollmann, author of No Immediate Danger
“Powerfully argued. . . . A masterly analysis of
why—with a world of solutions—we choose doom.” —Nature
“This gripping, terrifying, furiously readable book is possibly the most
wide-ranging account yet written of the ways in which climate change will
transform every aspect of our lives, ranging from where we live to what we eat
and the stories we tell. Essential reading for our ever-more-unfamiliar and
unpredictable world.” —Amitav Ghosh,
author of Flood of Fire
“Urgent and humane. . . . Wallace-Wells is an
extremely adept storyteller. . . . A horrifying
assessment of what we might expect as a result of climate change if we don’t
change course.” —Susan Matthews, Slate
“If we don’t want our grandchildren to curse us, we had better read this
book.” —Timothy Snyder, author
of Black Earth
“Lively. . . . Vivid. . . .
If you’ve snoozed through or turned away from the climate change news, this
book will waken and update you. If you’re steeped in the unfolding climate
drama, Wallace-Wells’s voice and perspective will be
stimulating.” —David George
Haskell, The Guardian
“Beautifully written. . . . As climate change
encroaches, things will get worse. Much worse. And David Wallace-Wells spares
no detail in explaining how.” —Kate
Aronoff, Bookforum
“Relentless, angry journalism of the highest order. Read it and, for the lack
of any more useful response, weep.” —Bryan
Appleyard, The Sunday Times
“A brilliant and unsparing analysis of a nightmare that is no longer a distant
future but our chaotic, burning present. Unlike other writers who speak about
human agency in the abstract, Wallace-Wells zeros in on the power structures
and capitalist elites whose mindless greed is writing an obituary for our grandchildren.” —Mike Davis, author of Ecology of
Fear
“A lucid and thorough description of our unprecedented crisis, and of the
mechanisms of denial with which we seek to avoid its fullest
recognition.” —William Gibson,
author of Neuromancer
“David Wallace-Wells has produced a willfully terrifying polemic that
reads like a cross between Stephen King and Stephen Hawking. Written with
verve and insight and an eerie gusto for its own horrors, it comes just when we
need it; it could not be more urgent than it is at this moment. I hope everyone
will read it and be afraid.” —Andrew
Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon
Get news about: David Wallace-Wells
C) From Guardian UK
THE UNINHABITABLE
EARTH BY DAVID WALLACE-WELLS REVIEW – OUR TERRIFYING FUTURE
By Mark O'Connell Wed 27
Feb 2019 02.30 EST
You already know it’s bad. You already know the weather has gone weird,
the ice caps are melting, the insects are disappearing from the Earth. You
already know that your children, and your children’s children, if they are
reckless or brave enough to reproduce, face a vista of rising seas, vanishing
coastal cities, storms, wildfires, biblical floods. As someone who reads the
news and is sensitive to the general mood of the times, you have a general
sense of what we’re looking at. But do you truly understand the scale of the
tribulations we face? David Wallace-Wells, author of the distressingly
titled The Uninhabitable Earth, is here to tell you that you do not.
“It is,” as he puts it in the book’s first line, “worse, much worse, than you
think.”
The
book expands on a viral article, also titled The Uninhabitable Earth, which Wallace-Wells
published in New York in the summer of 2017, and which frightened the life out
of everyone who read it. Writing at length, he is even more remorseless in his
delineation of what the not nearly distant enough future probably holds for us.
The book’s longest section, entitled Elements of Chaos, is composed of 12 short
and brutal chapters, each of which foretells a specific dimension of our
forecast doom, and whose titles alone – Heat Death; Dying Oceans; Unbreathable
Air; Plagues of Warming – are enough to induce an honest-to-God panic attack.
Wallace-Wells
identifies a tendency, even among those of us who think we are already
sufficiently terrified of the future, to be strangely complacent about the
figures. Yes, we know that climate change will cause sea level rises of between
four to eight feet before the end of this century, but then again what’s a few
feet if you happen to live a couple of miles inland? “That so many feel already acclimated to the prospect of a near-future
world with dramatically higher oceans,” he writes, “should be as dispiriting
and disconcerting as if we’d already come to accept the inevitability of
extended nuclear war – because that is the scale of devastation the rising
oceans will bring.”
The
book is extremely effective in shaking the reader out of that complacency. Some
things I did not want to learn, but learned anyway: every return flight from
London to New York costs the Arctic three square metres
of ice; for every half degree of warming, societies see between a 10 and 20%
increase in the likelihood of armed conflict; global plastic production is
expected to triple by 2050, by which point there will be more plastic than fish
in the planet’s oceans. The margins of my review copy of the book are scrawled
with expressions of terror and despair, declining in articulacy as the pages
proceed, until it’s all just cartoon sad faces and swear words.
There
is a widespread inclination to think of climate change as a form of compound
payback for two centuries of industrial capitalism. But among Wallace-Wells’s most bracing revelations is how recent the bulk of
the destruction has been, how sickeningly fast its results. Most of the real
damage, in fact, has taken place in the time since the reality of climate
change became known. And we are not slowing down. One of the sentences I found
most upsetting in this book composed almost exclusively of upsetting sentences:
“We are now burning 80% more coal than we were
just in the year 2000.”
There’s
also a temptation, when thinking about climate change, to focus on denialism as
the villain of the piece. The bigger problem, Wallace-Wells points out, is the
much vaster number of people (and governments) who acknowledge the true scale
of the problem, and still act as if it’s not happening. Outright climate denialism as a political force, he
argues, is essentially a US phenomenon – which is to say, essentially, a
phenomenon of the Republican party – and the US is responsible for only 15% of
the world’s emissions. “To believe the fault for global warming lies
exclusively with the Republican party or its fossil-fuel backers is a form of
American narcissism.” (I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone make quite so
simplistic a case, but the point about denialism as largely a red herring is an
important one.)
It’s
easy to overlook how bad things have got, to accept the floods, wildfires and
hurricanes as the nature of things
This
all makes for relentlessly grim reading, particularly in that first section. As
is generally the case in any sustained exposure to the subject of climate
change – a subject that can seem increasingly like the only subject – a kind of
apocalyptic glaze descends over even the most conscientious eyes, a peculiarly
contemporary compound of boredom and horror. (“Human kind,” as the bird in TS Eliot’s Four Quartets sagely points out,
“cannot bear very much reality.”) It’s a problem of which Wallace-Wells is
clearly aware. “If you have made it this far, you are a brave reader,” as he puts
it, somewhere past the halfway point, acknowledging the likelihood of the
material he’s sifting through causing despondency in anyone considering it.
“But you are not merely considering it,” he clarifies, “you are about to embark
on living it. In many cases, in many places, we already are.”
That
last point turns out to be one of the most crucial of the book’s warnings.
Because as dire as the projections are, if you are surveying the topic from a
privileged western vantage, it’s easy to overlook how bad things have already
got, to accept the hurricanes and the heatstroke deaths as
simply the unfortunate nature of things. In this way, Wallace-Wells raises the
disquieting spectre of future normalisation
– the prospect that we might raise, incrementally but inexorably, our baseline
of acceptable human suffering. (This phenomenon is not without precedent. See,
for example, the whole of human history.)
For
a relatively short book, The Uninhabitable Earth covers a
great deal of cursed ground – drought, floods, wildfires, economic crises,
political instability, the collapse of the myth of progress – and reading it
can feel like taking a hop-on hop-off tour of the future’s sprawling hellscape.
It’s not without its hopeful notes: in a sense, none of this would even be
worth talking about if there were nothing we could do about it. As
Wallace-Wells points out, we already have all the tools we need to avoid the
worst of what is to come: “a carbon tax and the political apparatus to
aggressively phase out dirty energy; a new approach to agricultural practices
and a shift away from beef and dairy in the global diet; and public investment
in green energy and carbon capture”. The fact that the route out of this hell
is straightforward does not mean, of course, that it won’t be incredibly
arduous, or that we should be confident of making it.
The
book, however, is less focused on solutions than on clarifying the scale of the
problem, the horror of its effects. You could call it alarmist, and you would
not be wrong. (In the closing pages, Wallace-Wells himself accepts the charge
as “fair enough, because I am alarmed”.) But to read The
Uninhabitable Earth – or to consider in any serious way the scale
of the crisis we face – is to understand the collapse of the distinction
between alarmism and plain realism. To fail to be alarmed is to fail to think
about the problem, and to fail to think about the problem is to relinquish all
hope of its solution.
Mark O’Connell’s To Be a Machine is published by Granta. The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future is
published by Allen Lane, £20). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330
333 6846. Free UK p&p over £15, online
orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
.
ATTACHMENT FIVE – from
the WashPost
DESTRUCTION FROM CLIMATE CHANGE WILL BE
‘WORSE, MUCH WORSE, THAN YOU THINK’
By Fred Pearce, Feb.
21, 2019 at 12:10 p.m. EST
Here is a modest proposal: Climate scientists should shut up about
global warming. The gatekeepers for what we know and think about climate change
should take a vow of silence and let some other people get a word in edgeways.
Because, important though the science is, we need to stop defining the great
issue of the 21st century in scientific terms.
If climate change is, as this book successfully argues, a
game-changer for everyone, everywhere, all the time, then let’s reflect that in
the discourse. We’ve got the science. Let’s bring on the philosophers and
playwrights, lawyers and priests, economists and comedians. Society’s response
depends on it.
David Wallace-Wells offers a good starting point. His book, “The
Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming,” scares us with tales from a future
climate-changed world that transcend climate science. Not since Bill McKibben’s
“The End of Nature” 30 years ago have we been told what climate change will
mean in such vivid terms. “It is worse, much worse, than you think,”
Wallace-Wells begins the book. Not least because, in those 30 years, we have
doubled our cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels.
He foretells a world in which climate change is pervasive,
ubiquitous and dramatic. “The path we are on as a planet should terrify anyone
living on it,” he writes. Nothing will be the same. Wherever we live, we will
be flooded, engulfed by fires, plagued by new diseases, choked by toxic air,
deprived of water or impoverished as a climate in chaos leads to an economy in
meltdown. “The assaults will not be discrete,” he warns. “They will produce a
kind of cascading violence, waterfalls and avalanches of devastation
. . . in ways that build on each other and undermine our ability to
respond.” There will be climate wars. Nature itself will look like an enemy
rather than a friend.
The naysayers of climate change would rather not hear these
stories. They are very good at shutting climate into an echo chamber of
spurious scientific uncertainty. What they fear is voices like Wallace-Wells’s that might strike a strong public chord. That was
why, last fall, they tried to prevent the “climate kids” — American students
who charge the government with violating their human right to live in a safe
climate — from having their day in court. The legal tussle is still unresolved.
In the first half of his book, Wallace-Wells, an editor at New
York magazine but not, he insists, an environmentalist, does a valiant job of
giving a plain person’s guide to the scary scenarios and inevitable truths of
climate change. Dying oceans, drying rivers, wildfires, plagues of disease,
climate wars and rising tides all get their chapters. His sourcing is good, and
he makes the right caveats. All science is provisional, he warns. “What
actually lies ahead may prove even grimmer, though the reverse, of course, is
also possible,” he writes.
The essence of the matter is plain, however. Once in the
atmosphere, the carbon dioxide from our burning fossil fuels stays there,
constantly turning up the planetary thermostat. Climate change does not have an
on-off switch. It won’t stop at two degrees or four degrees or six degrees or
indeed anywhere, until we stop those pesky emissions. The only questions are
how soon and at what level.
That simple truth is alarming but also a challenge to action. “However
warm the planet gets,” wallace-Wells writes, “it will
always be the case that the decade that follows could contain more suffering or
less,” depending on our choices.
It also changes the dynamic of optimism vs. pessimism over the
future, something Wallace-Wells deals with well. In the midst of one apparently
doom-laden narrative, he steps aside: “The thing is, I am optimistic,”
he says. “I know there are horrors to come. . . . But those horrors are not yet scripted.”
We don’t have to surrender, because there is no inevitable.
Technology is our best shot at halting the planet’s warming. The
good news is that “the solutions are obvious, and available,” he writes.
Post-McKibben, we have brought down the cost of wind turbines, solar panels and
electric cars so that the seemingly inevitable trade-offs between low-carbon
energy and economic growth are disappearing. We now appreciate that
reformulating our industries based on low-carbon emissions is good for growth.
What also worries Wallace-Wells is what is going on in our
heads. Why do we react to obvious and available solutions so slowly? Why do we
often seem blind to the climate catastrophes happening all around us? We’ve
already witnessed a huge impact from the one degree of warming we have caused
so far, but we choose barely to notice. We still routinely call the sharp
extremes of climate change natural disasters.
Wallace-Wells argues that climate change lay behind the civil
war in Syria that sent a million refugees to Europe. The influx of desperate
people, he says, excited anti-migrant passions, unleashing “much of the
populist moment the entire West is passing through.” That narrative may be an
arguable proposition. Probably Bashar al-Assad had a hand in there, too. But he
is undoubtedly right that we constantly avoid framing geopolitical events in a
way that acknowledges climatic influences.
The most interesting part of this excellent book is where
Wallace-Wells moves on to wonder whether this pattern of climate denial might
continue into a “hothouse Earth” of supercyclones, megafloods, droughts without end and killer heat waves.
Will it morph into nihilistic acceptance and even a failure to recognize what
is happening at all?
As Wallace-Wells puts it: “One way we might manage to navigate
[rising temperatures] without crumbling collectively in despair is, perversely,
to normalize climate suffering at the same pace we accelerate it.” After all,
urban air pollution already kills millions each year. “We live with . . . those death tolls, and hardly notice them,” he observes.
He delves into why we find it hard to get our heads around
something so enormous and all-embracing. The elephant in the room. Nobody’s
academic discipline can encompass it. It plays havoc with the mental models we
create to try and understand a complicated world. It questions our ingrained
“sunny-side-up optimism” by confronting us with a future in which “the facts
are hysterical.”
Climate change upends the certainties of 10,000 years of
post-ice-age climate stability, an era that allowed human civilization to
evolve to our current crossroads. But to move forward, to make sense of what we
are learning to call the Anthropocene, requires new perceptions that probably
lie far beyond the imaginings of climate modelers. “It is not a subject that
can sustain only one narrative, one perspective, one metaphor, one mood,”
Wallace-Wells concludes. Step aside, scientists. Please.
Fred
Pearce is a U.K.-based science correspondent, whose books include “With Speed
and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change”
ATTACHMENT
SIX – from the New York
Times
After Dramatic Walkout, a New Fight Looms Over Voting
Rights in Texas
After killing a Republican-sponsored
bill to restrict voting in the state, Democrats vowed to oppose any efforts to
revive it. Republicans pledged to pass it in a special legislative session.
·
·
·
·
Peanut
Galleries round the Globe…
FROM
The Uninhabitable Earth
Jim Laurenson
a year ago
Excellent
research, a good balance between depicting the likely future as well as the possible
future if everyone gets on board. Please read it, and act on it! Here's my
favorite quote: "That we know global warming is our doing should be a
comfort, not a cause for despair, however incomprehensibly large and
complicated we find the processes that have brought it into being; that we know
we are, ourselves, responsible for all of its punishing effects should be
empowering, and not just perversely.
...MORE
Brian
Wilder
7 months ago
This
book is incredibly well-researched and incredibly important. Some reviewers try
to dismiss the book by disagreeing with one or two of the thousands of points
that the author makes. They are cowards unwilling to clearly state to the
public the harsh realities we face and the even harsher realities we face if we
don’t take immediate action and on a massive scale. A good place to start: stop the climate disaster profiteers, led by
Chase Bank, who are still massively funding the fossil fuel pr
...MORE
abebe Gebrehiwot
Yihdego
a year ago
"At
present the trees of the Amazon take in a quarter of all the carbon absorbed by
the planet's forests each year." Page 76
"Globally,
deforestation accounts for about 12 % of carbon emissions, and forest fires
produces as much as 25%. " page 77
From
the Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells
I am
wondering how much of trees of Amazon are burning at this right moment? At this
moment, the moment i am reading this book Amazon is
burning, the world is going down, the ices ...MORE
RYACK
a year ago
I
received this book as a Christmas gift and tried to read it twice. I found the
book to be very poorly written and not engaging. Boring and uninteresting. It
is unfortunate that a subject so important comes across as something so dull
that you put it down and decline to read it. The author certainly does not
captivate the reader.
Kenton
Childs
2 weeks ago
this
book is amazing i am in year 8 at school and i loved this book thank you.
Andrew
Lubwama
a week ago
David
Wallace Wells succinctly dissects an oft misconstrued realm of climate change.
The opus is a "Tour de force". A pedigreed narrativization of ecocide
Jim
Smith
a year ago
The
most important book today. Please send
it to every human. Especially leaders.
Agnes
Dcosta
a year ago