Tag: climate change

Four nations led by China pledged on Sunday to meet an end-month deadline to submit action plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions and challenged rich countries to come up with funding to help fight global warming.

Industrial biotechnology is gaining supporters among environmentalists as a way to make significant cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions and eventually move to a society free from fossil fuels.

The European Union is unlikely to raise its commitment to cut carbon emissions by 30% from the current 20% until other countries show greater willingness to follow suit, ministers said on Saturday (16 January).

"The outcome of the Copenhagen summit proved extremely disappointing as regards international aviation and shipping emissions," laments Transport & Environment in a January paper.

After two weeks of extenuating talks, world leaders delivered an agreement in Copenhagen that left Europeans disappointed as it failed to commit rich and poor countries to any greenhouse gas emission reductions. EurActiv reports from the Danish capital.

President Barack Obama arrives in Copenhagen today (18 December) for the final day of the UN climate conference on a positive note, after the US pledged to contribute to international climate aid. EurActiv reports from the Danish capital.

A new global climate treaty would provide an opportunity to create social cohesion by sharing low-carbon technologies between rich and poor countries, Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the European Environment Agency (EEA), told EurActiv in an interview.

Drawing up a new global climate treaty provides an opportunity to create social cohesion by sharing low-carbon technologies between rich and poor countries, Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the European Environment Agency (EEA), told EurActiv in an interview.

Regions and local government have asked for the "right signals" from world leaders in Copenhagen so that they can kick-start the policies and investments needed to make the switch to a low-carbon economy.

The high-level segment at the UN climate summit opened in Copenhagen on Tuesday (15 December), with UN chief Ban Ki-moon telling nations to "seal a deal" on climate change but warning that a deal on financial aid to poor nations may have to be delayed.

Civil unrest will grow in the coming years unless heads of state and government show political leadership to stop climate change, said Mary Robinson, a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former Irish president, in an interview with EurActiv.

Civil unrest and human rights litigation cases are likely to increase in the coming years unless heads of state and government show political leadership to stop climate change, said Mary Robinson, a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former Irish president, in an interview with EurActiv.

Climate action is not about the environment, but about building a new economic order, the vice-chair of the European Parliament's delegation in Copenhagen, Karl-Heinz Florenz MEP, told EurActiv in an interview, arguing that the investments of today will be the growth of tomorrow and trigger a sustainable development revolution.

European Union leaders claimed today (11 December) they had drawn up "a very strong mandate" to take to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen next week, committing 2.4 billion euros per year to help developing countries tackle global warming. But senior politicians and NGOs cried foul, saying the sum was no more than a re-packaging of existing development aid.

With nearly 200 nations having begun climate talks in Copenhagen, a genuine global regulatory framework is required to create a level playing field for businesses seeking to slash their emissions and move towards a low-carbon future, Giuseppe Montesano, head of environmental policy at Italian power company Enel, told EurActiv in an interview.

International carbon emission offsets are likely to continue to be based on the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), as the EU's proposal to replace it with sectoral crediting will not be feasible for years to come, Eva Filzmoser, coordinator at CDM Watch, told EurActiv in an interview.

While EU leaders are expected to agree on immediate action to provide financial support for developing countries in Brussels today (11 December), in Copenhagen billionaire investor George Soros has unveiled a plan to provide up to 150 billion dollars for poor countries to access clean technologies.

The scientific consensus that melting ice in Greenland will contribute to a five centimetre sea-level rise this century is outdated, with the actual figure "more likely" to reach 14cm, says Dr Jan-Gunnar Winther, director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, in an interview with EurActiv.

The Copenhagen climate talks are neglecting a food crisis, which requires measures that can both curb climate change and boost food production, the head of the UN's food agency has said.

European cities are taking the lead in fighting climate change, according to a new report ranking the continent's financial capitals according to their green credentials.

Setting a clear timetable for delivering a comprehensive legally binding climate treaty by mid-2010 is a must, the EU's Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told EurActiv in an interview.

From 7-18 December, governments from 192 countries meeting in Copenhagen will attempt to thrash out a sweeping agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, amid growing signals from scientists that global warming is occurring more quickly than expected.

Governments and academics are deeply divided over the economic costs and benefits of combating climate change and moving towards a low-carbon economy. The Stern Review, an influential enquiry into the issue, concluded in 2006 that fighting global warming would cost 1% of global GDP, while non-action could lead to a 20% loss of GDP in the long term. In comparison, research published in January 2009 shows that avoiding dangerous climate change could cost as little as 0.5% of global GDP.

The overwhelming majority of EU citizens consider climate change as a serious problem and call for more action against global warming. More than one third of Americans say instead that climate change is not an issue, and only a minor percentage think that it is the consequence of human activity, international polls reveal.