About: climate science
Cost-benefit analysis does not work well for wicked problems like climate change
What is the monetary value of being able to breathe in Beijing or New Delhi without discomfort? Beyond the simple numerical challenges, cost-benefit analysis has an inherent ethical blind spot, writes Kevin Noone.
Youth spell out five demands to tackle climate breakdown
Climate change is threatening the future of younger generations, but decision makers are still not taking it seriously. To get them started, youth organisations have joined forces with partners across Europe to come up with a set of five demands for how to solve the crisis.
Students’ climate strikes: Right goals but wrong words
The students striking are heroes, but their moral arguments need to be further developed if they want to reach new audiences, writes Darrick Evensen.
ExxonMobil misled the public. Now they’re trying to mislead the European Parliament
Last month, US oil giant ExxonMobil was invited by the European Parliament to testify publicly about the history of climate change denial. But instead of responding transparently, they tried behind the scenes to discredit the peer-reviewed research conducted by Harvard University researchers, writes Geoffrey Supran.
Climate change is a problem of politics, not science
The scientific, economic and social arguments for aggressive action on climate change are powerful. Our political leaders are now at a fork in the road and our children and grandchildren are watching, write Valérie Masson-Delmotte and Jiang Kejun.
World’s pension funds vulnerable to climate risks, study reveals
87% of assets managed by the world’s 100 largest public pension funds are yet to undergo formal climate risk assessment, according to research published on Tuesday (23 October), with only 15% of them adopting a coal exclusion policy.
CDP boss: ‘Companies or sectors may face liability risks on climate change’
Private investors need to come clean and commit to science-based targets on climate change, says Paul Simpson. Unfortunately, “there is still money out there for the dirty investments in the short term,” he laments, calling on regulators to take action against opaque finance.
Lavender farmer explains legal case against EU climate policy
Back in May, a lavender farmer and 10 other families decided to sue the European Union for failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Now, the fragrant-flower farmer explains the rationale behind the landmark case. EURACTIV.fr reports.
Ex-IPCC Vice-Chair: EU contribution to Paris goals is ‘unambitious and outdated’
The European Union needs to “significantly improve its policy package” for 2030 in order to align itself with the emission trajectories of the Paris Agreement, according to renowned Belgian climate scientist Jean-Pascal van Ypersele.
Warming of 2C ‘substantially’ more harmful than 1.5C – draft UN report
The latest version of major UN science report concludes the upper temperature goal of the Paris Agreement does not represent a climate safe zone. EURACTIV's media partner, Climate Home News, reports.
UN climate draft report leaked ahead of intense climate week
If emissions continue at their present rate, human-induced warming will exceed 1.5°C by around 2040, according to a draft UN report leaked ahead of an intense climate-focused political week.
Climate change makes mountain tops bloom, for now
Europe's mountain summits are flush with new plant species, a greening that has increased in lock-step with the acceleration of global warming since the mid-20th century, researchers said Wednesday (4 April).
UN Arctic chief: ‘Climate change isn’t linear – it’s accelerating’
Climate change is most evident in the Polar Regions and its impact will serve as a litmus test for what happens to the rest of the planet, the UN’s chief Arctic adviser told EURACTIV in an interview.
Scientists dismiss ‘geo-engineering’ to stop climate change
“None” of the negative emission technologies currently available – including forest carbon sinks and other geo-engineering techniques – have the potential to deliver CO2 removals at the scale and rate needed to keep global warming below 2°C, European scientists have warned in a new report out today (1 February).
Scientists struggle to explain spike in methane emissions
Emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, have increased sharply since 2012, according to a group of researchers. But they struggled to put their finger on why. EURACTIV France reports.
Auditors’ report on biofuels calls for return to common sense
Will the report of the EU Court of Auditors (ECA) regarding the EU system for the certification of sustainable biofuels spark an outbreak of common sense within the Commission, asks Dick Roche.
World on track for 3C of warming under current global climate pledges, warns UN
The commitments made by governments on climate change will lead to dangerous levels of global warming because they are incommensurate with the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report.
Nuclear fusion project leader laments ‘uncontrollable’ political forces
Creating an experimental nuclear fusion reactor is an undertaking that has to face both technical and political challenges. Bernard Bigot, director general of the ITER project, told EURACTIV Spain that the political forces are "more uncontrollable" though.
Ethanol makers criticise the EU’s ‘biased’ transport decarbonisation goals
The European Commission is in denial concerning the contribution of conventional ethanol to the EU's transport decarbonisation goals post-2020, according to European ethanol producers.
Paris climate accord to take effect on 4 November
A global agreement to combat climate change will take force after support from European nations sent the accord across an important threshold on Wednesday (5 October), prompting US President Barack Obama to hail it as a "historic day" for protecting the planet.
EEB: The Slovak presidency must set higher climate and waste targets
Repatriating competences to the member states is not going to help citizens enjoy a better environment, Jeremy Wates tells EURACTIV Slovakia.
Member states haggle over ‘low-carbon mobility’ goals
The European Commission is having “very intense discussions” with member states over the individual emissions reduction percentage that they will be assigned to reduce emissions in sectors not covered by the Emissions Trading Scheme, a top EU official told journalists today (31 May).
Forestry emissions and the EU’s risky LULUCF debate
Proposed changes in the way the EU accounts for land use and land use change (LULUCF) emissions are scientifically flawed and could lead to dangerous global warming, writes Hannah Mowat.