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Is Germany changing course on coal?
3 Dec 2014
Germany has a problem. Europe’s biggest economy currently risks missing its national 2020 mitigation target of a 40% reduction from 1990 levels. Despite the boom of renewable energies, Germany’s emissions have been on the rise again for the last two years. If you think this is due to the country’s nuclear phase-out, then think again. […]
Are we really going to make the poor pay for loss and damage?
3 Dec 2014
It’s a fool’s game to think that polluters might get away with not paying for the loss and damage they have contributed to. For Typhoon Haiyan 6,300 people of Tacloban paid with their lives only a year ago, and 4 million of their friends and relatives paid with their houses. 13 million people in Kenya […]
Change the system, not the climate
3 Dec 2014
Peruvian civil society organisations and grassroots movements are seizing the hosting of COP20 by Peru to join efforts in elevating environmental issues on the government’s agenda, particularly as part of the country’s development policies. Climate change impacts have already reached Peru. People in Peru are already experiencing the negative impacts of climate change such as […]
Work stream 2 – It’s time to act
3 Dec 2014
If you have read yesterday’s ECO (or the IPCC’s newest report), you know why we need ADP Workstream 2 (WS2). We need to close the ambition gap ASAP to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. To stay below 1.5°C, we need to phase out all fossil fuels and phase in 100% renewable energies, with […]
ECO special edition on the Long-Term Goal
2 Dec 2014
Now that the new IPCC compendium has been worked on by the world’s leading climate scientists and published for all to see: What conclusions should countries draw from it? How about the need to phase out fossil fuels ASAP, starting today? In the next two days, a Structured Expert Dialogue will assess the adequacy of […]
IPCC makes a strong case for a 1.5°C goal
2 Dec 2014
There are many who consider a 2°C limit for global temperature rise to be an unacceptable climate risk. For them it’s “1.5°C to stay alive,” and the new IPCC report shows that they have a serious point. The IPCC’s newly updated “Reasons for Concern” indicators (sometimes called “the burning embers,” refers to a chart showing […]
IPCC science points to zero carbon by 2050
2 Dec 2014
Ok, so we have a long-term goal of keeping global warming below 2°C/1.5°C, but what does this mean in reality? Enter the IPCC AR5 cumulative emissions budgets! This is the maximum amount of tons of CO2 the atmosphere can take before crossing these limits. According to the AR5, after 2010 we can only emit an […]
Who will let down the Green Climate Fund?
2 Dec 2014
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Iceland, Greece, Portugal and the European Union are the An-nex 2 Parties yet to make their pledges to the Green Climate Fund. ECO notes the same is true for Poland, Hungary and a few others. Five years ago, developed countries had not only promised to set up the fund but, also […]
Wondering How? Efficiency and Renewables are the Winning Combo!
2 Dec 2014
The IPCC found that in order to get onto a 2°C pathway, there needs to be a massive shift in energy investment flows in the next 15 years. Hundreds of billions of dollars would need to be annually shifted away from fossil fuel investments, and into, first and foremost, energy efficiency, and secondarily, renewable energy. […]
Carbon emission cuts are not a lose-lose but a win-win proposition for development
2 Dec 2014
There is a growing realisation, supported by AR5, that emission reductions are not a zero sum game. In fact, emission reductions will have significant development co-benefits. There are two aspects to this. Firstly, without emission reductions, the impacts of climate change would be so devastating that they could erode several decades worth of developmental gains […]