At long last, Japan has entered its official Intended Nationally Determined Contribution into the pool of national climate pledges for the UN’s Paris COP21 talks in December. The Paris summit aims for a worldwide agreement to limit global average temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels, … [continued]
The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is one of the 44 countries that have submitted emissions pledges to the official United Nations INDC list. South Korea is one of the fastest growing emitters in the developed world and is in the top 10 (#7, in April) on the world list. … [continued]
China’s premier has announced that his country will attempt to curb its carbon emissions before a 2030 target. During a visit to Paris this week, Premier Li Keqiang announced plans for his country to reduce carbon emissions. Specifically, “China’s carbon dioxide emissions will peak by around 2030, but China will work hard to … [continued]
As telegraphed by promises last fall and repeated as recently as yesterday by Yang Yanyi, Beijing’s ambassador to the EU, China has kept its word and submitted a United Nations climate INDC. This occurs as the UN high-level meeting in New York winds down and an EU–China summit opens in … [continued]
Although negotiations on a draft text for December’s Paris climate talks have stalled, with very little of the 89-page document having been pared, and calls for the UN climate secretariat to winnow it further increasing, the results are in for the largest ever citizen consultation on climate change. More than … [continued]
A ten-day meeting to hone the draft text of the Paris 2015 universal climate agreement has begun in Bonn, Germany. Presidents of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Lima COP20 (Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, the deft and diplomatic Environment Minister of Peru) and the upcoming Paris COP21 meetings (Laurent Fabius, who is … [continued]
Over 2,000 global business leaders, political leaders, and senior climate negotiators at the Business & Climate Summit pledged this week to lead a global transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. The main question is “who will lead?” Policymakers call for business leadership, and business leaders call for well-founded policy. The … [continued]
Energy ministers from the Group of Seven industrial nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) have all agreed today on the world’s critical need to corral quickly worsening climate change. The G7 energy leaders have met for two days in Hamburg, Germany, the second … [continued]
Just two hours ago, California Governor Jerry Brown raised the bar for the rest of the US, Mexico, and yet-uncommitted Canada on limiting climate change. Brown issued an executive order to reduce California GHGs by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. Over four terms as governor, Brown has occupied the forefront of … [continued]
The past week or so has brought some unequivocally good news about Canada’s climate change preparations, instead of the usual indifference-to-bluster coming out of Ottawa. Canada has enormous potential for renewable energy, as shown below, but it persists in a damaging and expensive shorter-term chase after petroleum resources. The nation to … [continued]
