Climate change
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No real progress at ICAO on reducing carbon emissions
At the close of the 38th session of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Friday the ICAO States committed the organisation to develop a global market-based measure (MBM) to limit the growth of international aviation emissions. The key paragraph is 5 on page 13: “Resolves that States and relevant organizations will work through ICAO to achieve a global annual average fuel efficiency improvement of 2 per cent until 2020 and an aspirational global fuel efficiency improvement rate of 2 per cent per annum from 2021 to 2050, calculated on the basis of volume of fuel used per revenue tonne kilometre performed”. This commitment is purely aspirational and voluntary Paragraph 5…
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IPCC, Clmate Change Update
There is overwhelming evidence that the average temperature of the earth is rising and we have understood the contribution of greenhouse gases to that process for 150 years. Given the potentially, and increasingly likely, disastrous consequences the precautionary principle requires that we take action now to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. The Summary for Policymaker, Working Group I contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report is now available. In each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth’s surface than any preceding decade since 1850. “Human influence has been detected in warming of the atmosphere and the ocean, in changes in the global water…
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Climate change is causing human conflict already – the problem is now in Syria.
We rarely hear progressive opinion from the USA. That is not to say that it does not exist there. William R Polk served on the State Department’s Policy Planning staff during the Kennedy years. In a thought provoking piece about the Syrian chemical attack issue Polk explains why Syria has entered a crisis – and it is to do with water. Climate change produced drought, hunger and displacement – and civil war. “Syria has been convulsed by civil war since climate change came to Syria with a vengeance. Drought devastated the country from 2006 to 2011. Rainfall in most of the country fell below eight inches (20 cm) a year, the…
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Emissions Trading isn’t working and may be dangerous
While we wait to hear in October whether the EU will be extending emissions trading to international aviation it is worth reflecting that the cost of carbon pollution is very low. Not much of an incentive. On the carbon offsetting website Terrapass you can buy a metric tonne for $13.12 EU Allowances (EUAs are trading at around €5.5 as I write this For the background on the EU ETS As they argue “By putting a price on carbon and thereby giving a financial value to each tonne of emissions saved, the EU ETS has placed climate change on the agenda of company boards and their financial departments across Europe. A…
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Danger: climate change deniers at large in the House of Commons
It is interesting how politicians demand much higher standards of proof when the facts are inconvenient; more than the criminal justice system standard of beyond reasonable doubt. For the facts on how spurious their case is see George Monbiot’s piece in today’s Guardian read more They are not very numerate either …..
