Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge on emissions is an encouraging step at a frightening moment
Predictions that this will be the first calendar year in which the 1.5C warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement is surpassed provide a stark backdrop to the UN’s 29th climate conference. This year – 2024 – has already seen the hottest-ever day and month, and is expected by experts to be the hottest year too. Addressing delegates on Tuesday, the UN chief, António Guterres, referred to a “masterclass in climate destruction”. The escalating pattern of destructive weather events, most recently in Valencia, is a warning of what lies ahead.
When the 1.5C figure was included in the 2015 deal, it was known to be a stretch. The treaty says countries must hold the average temperature “well below 2C above pre-industrial levels” and aim for 1.5C. Busting this target in 2024 will not mean it has been definitively missed; the measurement of global temperatures relies on averages recorded over 20 or more years. But the crossing of this threshold is a menacing moment. Around the world, people as well as governments and climate specialists should take notice – and act.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/12/2024 - 13:26
11/12/2024 - 12:37
A recent study highlights that over one-third of Vietnam's 329 mammal species are threatened with extinction.
11/12/2024 - 11:50
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11/12/2024 - 11:43
King Felipe VI reportedly plans to revisit Valencia amid alerts for heavy rain, high waves and strong winds
People in flood-hit Spain stacked sandbags and braced for new storms on Tuesday as the political repercussions from last month’s deadly climate disaster rumbled on.
Amid fresh weather warnings, local media reported that King Felipe VI would soon return to the site of the flash floods, after he was pelted with mud and eggs on his first visit last week owing to local fury at the poor preparation and response of the authorities.
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11/12/2024 - 11:27
Greenpeace and Uplift say Rosebank and Jackdaw licences were granted unlawfully by former Tory government
Climate campaigners have urged a Scottish court to cancel the licence to drill the UK’s largest untapped oilfield, arguing it will cause “sizeable” and unjustified damage to the planet.
Greenpeace and Uplift accuse the former Conservative government of having unlawfully given the Norwegian oil giant Equinor a licence to exploit the Rosebank oilfield, which sits 80 miles (130km) north-west of Shetland and holds nearly 500m barrels of oil and gas.
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11/12/2024 - 11:23
Keir Starmer has confirmed that the UK has committed to an 81% cut to emissions by 2035. The prime minister also said the British government was due to launch the CIF Capital Markets Mechanism, a climate finance scheme, on the London Stock Exchange to help developing countries
UK has ‘huge opportunity’ to lead on green investment, Starmer says
Cop29 – live updates
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11/12/2024 - 11:16
Twenty-nine-metre tall fir destined to be chopped down and transported to St Peter’s Square in the Vatican
Environmental campaigners in Italy’s northern Trentino province have started a campaign to stop the felling of a 200-year-old fir tree intended to form the centrepiece of the Vatican’s Christmas decorations.
The so-called “Green Giant” is 29 metres tall and is due to be chopped down next week in a forest in the Ledro valley before being transported to the Vatican and positioned in St Peter’s Square, where it will be unveiled on 9 December.
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11/12/2024 - 11:00
Restaurants are a major part of Asheville’s $3bn tourist economy. But no drinking water in most areas and little recovery money put staff in limbo
Josiah McGaughey’s fine dining restaurant, Vivian, is still standing. Many of its neighbors in the River Arts district in Asheville, North Carolina, were leveled by Hurricane Helene’s flooding in late September.
“We were graciously spared the worst of the damage,” said McGaughey, who opened the business with his wife, Shannon, in 2017. Then, it was a pop-up serving elevated cuisine on paper plates at a local brewery. During the recent storm, Vivian’s building sustained some roof damage. “We lost water and power, as did everyone else. But we also lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of product.”
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11/12/2024 - 10:25
Environmental Protection Agency rule seeks to curb ‘super pollutant’ more potent than carbon dioxide in short term
Oil and natural gas companies for the first time will have to pay a federal fee if they emit dangerous methane above certain levels under a rule being made final by the Biden administration.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule follows through on a directive from Congress included in the 2022 climate law. The new fee is intended to encourage industry to adopt best practices that reduce emissions of methane – the primary component of natural gas – and thereby avoid paying the fee.
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11/12/2024 - 10:00
Newly unearthed documents contain warning from head of Air Pollution Foundation, founded in 1953 by oil interests
Major oil companies, including Shell and precursors to energy giants Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP, were alerted about the planet-warming effects of fossil fuels as early as 1954, newly unearthed documents show.
The warning, from the head of an industry-created group known as the Air Pollution Foundation, was revealed by Climate Investigations Center and published Tuesday by the climate website DeSmog. It represents what may be the earliest instance of big oil being informed of the potentially dire consequences of its products.
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