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Insights and expert analysis on climate issues.
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Are you kidding, India? Your last-minute Glasgow intervention won’t relieve pressure to ditch coal
Bill Hare
Even though India managed to weaken the language on coal phase-out in the Glasgow Climate Pact, the pressure to ditch the fossil fuel is not going away.
The 1.5℃ global warming limit is not impossible – but without political action it soon will be
Bill Hare, Dr Carl-Friedrich Schleussner
Whether Earth can stay within 1.5℃ warming involves two distinct questions. First, is it physically, technically and economically feasible, considering the physics of the Earth system and possible rates of societal change? Science indicates the answer is “yes” – although it will be very difficult and the best opportunities for success lie in the past.
In it for the long haul: Lessons in developing mid-century decarbonisation strategies
Raghuveer Vyas
The COVID-19 stimulus and recovery plans that governments put forward at this critical juncture present a unique opportunity to embed ambitious climate action into national sustainable development visions.
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) – also known as “negative emissions” – is needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. This means that solutions – whether natural or technological – and governance mechanisms will need to be ready for scale-up in the next couple of decades. But who should bear the responsibility for developing and deploying CDR?
While it is positive that Germany is moving to legislate a coal exit, the draft law threatens to undermine its place in history as a climate policy leader, as it would allow highly polluting lignite to burn until 2038, well beyond the Paris Agreement compliant 2030 deadline for OECD countries.
Every few years, the idea that gas will help Australia transition to a zero-emissions economy seems to re-emerge, as if no one had thought of it before. Federal energy minister Angus Taylor is the latest politician to jump on the gas bandwagon.