The Green Climate Fund seems to be off to a decent start with funding pledges in place from various countries around the globe ahead of today’s first donors’ conference in Berlin (Germany). The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) approved the governing instrument and the fund itself in… Keep reading →
The energy poverty issue is being drawn into stark relief in India, where the government is pursuing an aggressive coal expansion strategy as it seeks to bring electricity to the over 300 million people without. The New York Times reports air quality in cities is worse than China, rising seas will impact the country disproportionately… Keep reading →
In a surprise announcement last evening from Beijing, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping committed to ambitious cuts in carbon emissions over the next 15 years with the hope of preventing catastrophic global warming. The joint announcement calls for the United States, by 2025, to reduce carbon emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels and for China to reduce net carbon emissions starting in 2030 or earlier and to increase the overall share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 20 percent by 2030. The announcement lays the groundwork for a global agreement to reduce carbon emissions at the United Nations Climate Conference in Paris in December 2015.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that oil services giants Halliburton and Baker Hughes were involved in “quickly progressing” merger negotiations, which caused shares of both firms to jump. “The Journal, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, said talks were progressing quickly and a deal could come soon.” [Fuel Fix] A new study using… Keep reading →
What is the Status of National Processes to Define post-2020 Emission Reduction Targets? Last week, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the so-called ‘Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report’ of its fifth scientific climate assessment since 1990 thereby updating its 2007 climate assessment (Breaking Energy IPCC coverage here). You guessed right – according… Keep reading →
A very hopeful development, maybe even a game changer – by and large, that’s how climate-change activists were greeting the surprising news out of Beijing of cooperation between the U.S. and China on capping and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Back in Washington, Republicans, about to take control of both houses of Congress, were outraged. In a… Keep reading →
Two cyclists might seem unlikely candidates for climate ambassadors, but that’s exactly what Lindsey Fransen and David Kroodsma are doing. Traversing Asia on roads, big and small, paved and not, the two have come up against some of the harsh realities of climate change and the difficulties in properly communicating its impacts. The ride is… Keep reading →
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released what it calls the Synthesis Report on Sunday, which incorporates findings from the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report produced by over 800 scientists and released over the past 13 months. The latest report confirms the serious risks that climate change poses, indicates climate change impacts are already occurring… Keep reading →
“I’m not a scientist,” has emerged as go-to republican messaging on climate change in the run-up to midterm elections. Essentially, the response means “I’m not going to talk about this issue,” but climate change has already come up in several political debates around the US. “It’s got to be the dumbest answer I’ve ever heard,”… Keep reading →
This week, the international community descended on New York City for the United Nations General Assembly’s 69th annual high-level meetings and general debate. For the first time in UN history climate change tops the agenda. In remarks at the Climate Week opening event, at the Morgan Library in New York City, US Secretary of State… Keep reading →
