Media coverage

The world's poorest nations say the Paris climate agreement is their "lifeline" and must be strengthened. The Climate Vulnerable Forum, (CVF) representing 48 countries, said the deal was crucial to their survival. In a swipe at President Trump's oft-used phrase, they said that "no country would be great again" without swift action.

Slowing coal use in China and India has put the world's two most populous countries on track to beat their carbon emission goals under the Paris climate agreement, according to a new analysis. That would be enough to more than offset the relatively poor performance expected from the United States as President Donald Trump rolls back controls and puts the U.S. on track to miss its Paris pledge.

Cancellations of coal plants mean the world’s two largest countries are cutting emissions faster than predicted a year ago, the changes exceeding the effect of US policy rollbacks. Dr Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, said the changes in China and India “if continued and accelerated” meant it would be possible to stop the world warming more than 1.5C – the most ambitious goal of the Paris agreement and one seen as essential to saving coral reefs and low lying island nations.

China and India “are going to slow the global growth in CO2 emissions significantly, the United States’ actions under President Trump will offset that a bit, but not sufficient to actually stop that slowing of the global growth of emissions,” said Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics and a senior scientist with the organization, at a Monday news conference to introduce the new findings.

Global temperature rise of 2°C could see Australia hit by heat extremes similar to the “angry summer” of 2012-13 in almost four out of every five years, a new study says. The risk is still sizeable at 1.5°C of warming, but it lowers to less than three out of every five years. “The impacts of heatwaves in Australia are already very substantial to date and ocean warming has just led to the biggest coral bleaching event at the Great Barrier Reef," commented Climate Analytics' physicist Dr Carl-Friedrich Schleussner. He added that the paper "illustrates the substantial benefits of limiting warming to 1.5°C for Australia, a country with currently inadequate climate policies to even limit warming to 2°C.”

A background article on the challenges and opportunities of greening the economy in Central and Eastern Europe - with insights from Climate Analytics' Dr Andrzej Ancygier.

Across the Alps, glaciers have lost half their volume since 1900. And there is no letting up: Melting has accelerated since 1980. Most Alpine glaciers will be gone by the end of this century, scientists say. There is already enough heat-trapping pollution in the air to melt nearly all the ice, even if greenhouse gas emissions are cut to zero immediately, said climate physicist Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, who works as a scientific advisor for the NGO Climate Analytics.

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) is wrapping up a regional climate change workshop at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston today, which marks the launch of a four-year project in the Caribbean that will support Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) around the world. It’s called IMPACT, and is being implemented by Climate Analytics.

Nations led by China and the European Union rallied around a global plan to slow climate change on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump began undoing Obama-era plans for deep cuts in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell 11 percent from 2005-15. Bill Hare, head of the Climate Analytics think-tank, said they may remain at current levels by 2030 with Trump's policies.

Pakistan has joined the ranks of a handful of countries that have passed climate legislation. Climate Analytics' Dr Fahad Saeed says the bill must be backed by the right information and stresses the need to strengthen Pakistan's scientific research input.