Paris Climate Talks – Reactions to Saturday’s Final Agreement

12/12/201512/12/2015 Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, developing world, Energy, News, sustainability carbon, climate, climate change, co2, coal, cop21, fossil fuel, global warming, Paris

Breaking: Final Plenary to Vote on New Climate Agreement Delayed to 17:30 CET Saturday

Now that parties have had a chance to review the final text points of disagreement remain. Some changes will likely be made in the final plenary this evening. However these usually need to be agreed on beforehand in the informal sessions that are happening right now.

Tension mounts while it is clear nearly everyone senses the end of COP21 is very near.

Wide Range of Reactions to the new final text:

The Paris agreement is a historic turning point for the whole world. One of the most remarkable outcomes of the agreement is that its objective is to “pursue efforts to limit” global warming to 1.5C above preindustrial, while holding warming “well below 2C.

While the agreement is itself historic, the challenges ahead in achieving it will dominate the 21st-century. The agreement has been made at a time when national greenhouse gas emission reduction contributions for 2025 and 2030 together far exceed the levels needed to hold global warming well below 2C, let alone limit to 1.5C.”

Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics

“If agreed and implemented, this means bringing down greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero within a few decades.

John Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

There’s much in the text that has been diluted and polluted by the people who despoil our planet, but it contains a new imperative to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. That single number, and the new goal of net zero emissions by the second half of this century, will cause consternation in the boardrooms of coal companies and the palaces of oil-exporting states.”

— Kumi Naidoo, International Director, Greenpeace

Rich countries have moved the goal posts so far that we are left with a sham of a deal in Paris. Through piecemeal pledges and bullying tactics, rich countries have pushed through a very bad deal

Sara Shaw, Friends of the Earth International climate justice and energy coordinator.

t’s a sad day for vulnerable people everywhere. An exclusion clause that robs the poor of their right to compensation.

Azeb Girmai, LDC Watch International

If agreed and implemented, this means bringing down greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero within a few decades. … CO2 emissions have to peak well before 2030…

John Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

“If agreed, this deal will represent a turning point in history, paving the way for the shift to 100% clean energy that the world wants and the planet needs. By marching in the streets, calling leaders and signing petitions, people everywhere created this moment, and now people everywhere will deliver on it to secure the future of humanity.

Emma Ruby-Sachs, Acting Executive Director, Avaaz

For the first time in history, the whole world has made a public commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deal with the impacts of climate change

Mohamed Adow, Senior Climate Advisor, Christian Aid

Paris Climate Talks – Late Breaking Update Friday

11/12/201511/12/2015 Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, ENVIRONMENT, global warming, News, sustainability carbon, co2, cop21, fossil fuel, oil, Paris

Final Paris Agreement to be released Sat Dec 12 at 1030 am CET

Countries will then spend Saturday reviewing, commenting and, if all goes well, voting on the new climate agreement by end of day.

It is certainly possible – some say likely – that contentious revisions will be requested by a few countries and that will delay a final vote until Sunday.

Once accepted by all (or nearly all) — it is a consensus process which often leads to last-minute drama, sometimes forcing the COP President to bend the rules — the Paris Agreement will be the climate action plan for all nations.

[Check here for the Agreement]

Paris Climate Talks – What Does “Emissions Neutrality” Mean?

11/12/2015 Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, global warming, News, Science carbon, cop21, fossil fuel, GHG, Greenhouse gas, Paris

What Does “Emissions Neutrality” Really Mean?

Explainer:
Negotiators have deleted specific emission reduction targets for the long-term goal i.e. +2050. Thursday night in Paris a new proposal surfaced for “greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions neutrality in the second half of the century, on the basis of equity and guided by science in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication”.

This should mean zero GHG emissions from all sectors by first reducing emissions to near zero and then using negative emissions (taking CO2 etc out of the atmosphere) to achieve net zero.

Defining it as GHG neutrality vs carbon neutrality is very important from climate science perspective. In 2012, 23% of emissions were non-CO2 greenhouse gases.

Bottom line:

There is no way to get to 1.5C or 2.0C without GHG neutrality before 2100. What’s missing in the agreement is a specific time table – “second half of the century” is pretty vague. Expect this to change at some future COP (yes there will be many more) when the science catches up with figuring out what is needed to achieve it.

Paris Climate Talks – Late Breaking Update

11/12/201511/12/2015 Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, global warming, News coal, cop21, fossil fuel, global warming, Greenhouse gas, oil, Paris

Final Paris Agreement to be Ready Saturday AM

At 5:40 local time Friday #COP21 President Laurent Fabius announces his last text will be ready Saturday morning, for final decision around noon.

Paris Climate Talks – Reactions to New Dec 10 Text

10/12/201510/12/2015 Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, global warming, News, Science carbon, climate, co2, cop21, Environment, Greenhouse gas, oil sands, Paris, tar sands

Things are moving faster than expected, debate continues overnight with hopes of a final agreement ready to be voted on late Friday. We’ll see. Remember this is a consensus process, one country can hold up the rest.

NEW TEXT HERE

It is slightly longer with about 50 brackets – down from 150 to 200.

Some reactions in the order they were made:

“The standard of any effective climate policy is clear: does it keep fossil fuels in the ground and accelerate a just transition to 100% renewable energy?

The commitments we are seeing in the text are a start, but they won’t get the job done, so activists are already mobilizing to close the gap between rhetoric and reality.”
— Payal Parekh, 350.org Global Managing Director

At first glance happy with new COP21 draft – target ‘well below 2C’ and ’emissions neutrality’ in 2050-2100 both ambitious but achievable
— Corinne Le Quéré (@clequere)

$100bn confirmed as rich nations’ floor in new draft Paris #COP21 text. Left – today Right – yesterday
— Simon Evans (@DrSimEvans)

#Oceans #biodiversity & “Mother Earth” out of #brackets in Preamble #update #UNFCCC #COP21
— Paris Agreement News (@ParisAgreement)

Binding part of new #climate agreement draft no longer includes #humanrights – that is going to upset a lot of people
— Megan Rowling ‏@meganrowlin

I see “people in vulnerable situations and under occupation” remains… here’s why that’s a little tricky: http://www.climatechangenews.com/2015/12/07/israel-palestine-conflict-seeps-into-paris-climate-talks-in-human-rights-row/ …
— Edward King

As I’ve been saying, addition of 1.5C wording is about recognizing harm to small islands and other countries #COP21 pic.twitter.com/Cw4Di5dtGz
Simon Donner (@simondonner)

3rd draft is out. No liability/compensation. Adriano Campolina of @ActionAid called it “draft deal that denies the world justice”
— Stella Paul (@stellasglobe)

By including a clause for no future claim of compensation and liability, the US has ensured people suffering from the disastrous impacts of climate change will never be able to seek the justice owed to them.

This unfair and unjust draft deal won’t face up to the realities of climate change and will only serve to widen the chasm between rich and poor.Rich countries have a responsibility to ensure a fair global deal for everyone, not just themselves, and as we move into these final hours of negotiations poorer countries must not settle for anything less.
— Adriano Campolina, ActionAid Chief Executive

New #COP21 text is remarkably streamlined. But big issues on target, differentiation (funding) & transparency still open. Important progress
— Simon Lewis (@SimonLLewis)

First published on the Climate News Mosaic Paris Climate Talks Live Blog available here:
Inter Press Service News Agency (International)
DeSmog Blog (Seattle)
Philippine EnviroNews (Philippines)
Earth Journalism (International)
Watson (Switzerland)
Skeptical Science (International)

Paris Climate Talks – New Text Now, Final On Track for Friday

10/12/201510/12/2015 Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, Global Issues and Perspectives, global warming, News carbon, climate change, co2, cop21, fossil fuel, global warming, oil, Paris

In a very brief session at 21:00 COP President Fabius says he will lead meetings of negotiators from 11.30 pm and overnight to hash out “compromises” and “landing zones”.

“I think I will be able to present final text tomorrow,” he said.

NEW TEXT HERE

It is slightly longer with about 50 brackets – down from 150 to 200.

Paris Climate Talks – Science Behind Need for 1.5C

10/12/201510/12/2015 Stephen arctic, CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, global warming, News, Science carbon, climate change, co2, cop21, fossil fuel, global warming, oil sands, Paris

No climate scientist thinks two degrees C will be “safe”. Many countries, especially least-developed countries and small island states, have been calling for global target to be less than 1.5C of heating in 2009 at COP 15 in Copenhagen. Before that some countries launched ‘1.5 to stay alive’ campaign at the UN in September 2009.

Humans have enjoyed 10,000 years of climate stability, in which the global average temperature varied less than one degree C – even during the Little Ice Age.

This heating will be wildly uneven with the Arctic warming 2-3 times faster. In 1.5C world much of the far north will be 4.0C. Canada is already 1.6 to 1.8 C warmer today.

Large parts of Africa including the African Sahel, including the Horn of Africa, are very vulnerable to any increase in temperatures. Even with 1.5C large portions of the Arctic and Antarctic will continue to melt raising sea levels, albeit at a slower rate threatening the very existence of some small islands states.

Delay in making the shift to non-fossil fuel energy sources will be very costly. Waiting until 2020 to curb global emissions will cost twice as much compared with peaking emissions by 2015 various analysis have shown.

At least 65% of Existing Coal Plants Must be Shuttered by 2030

Serious action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions means 65 percent of current coal power plants will have to be shut down in the next decade or two, a 2012 study concludes.

There are enormous benefits if global emissions decline before 2020. Failure to do so will mean we will need to use more nuclear, massive amounts of bioenergy, large-scale carbon capture and storage

Joeri Rogelj, a climate scientist at Switzerland’s Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science

Paris Climate Talks – Update & Key Disputes

09/12/2015 Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, developing world, global warming, News, sustainability climate, co2, coal, cop21, fossil fuel, global warming, oil sands, Paris

Screen Shot 2015-12-09 at 10.17.09 PM

Late Wednesday night for over 3 hours dozens of countries’ stated the draft Paris Agreement is a great start but… x, y and z need fixing.

And so informal groups are meeting overnight to find compromises on a number of key issues. In the morning a new revised draft Paris Agreement will be released. There will still be bracketed issue.

Expect negotiations to go into the weekend.

Key Issues in Dispute

* Developing countries want a strong and separate article for the Warsaw International Mechanism for loss and damage associated with climate change impacts

* Finance – who’s going to pay and by when. More $$ from rich nations will be needed

* Differentiation – who has to do what

* Ambition – what’s the long-term temperature goal

* Response measures -what to do when measures to address climate change hurt fossil fuel-dependent economies ie Saudi Arabia

First published on the Climate News Mosaic Paris Climate Talks Live Blog available here:

Inter Press Service News Agency (International)
DeSmog Blog (Seattle)
Philippine EnviroNews (Philippines)
Earth Journalism (International)
Watson (Switzerland)
Skeptical Science (International)

Paris Climate Talks: Illegal March Sat – Start of “Red Line” Global Protests

09/12/201509/12/2015 Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, global warming, Media, News co2, cop21, Environment, fossil fuel, Paris, protests, red lines, tar sands

Screen Shot 2015-12-09 at 11.09.25 AM.jpg — Illegal March Planned for Sat Dec 12 in Paris Credit: 350.org

Breaking: Climate March Planned for Paris this Saturday, at noon <

According to 350.org “thousands of people will gather in the streets of Paris carrying red flowers to honour past and future victims of climate change”.

Marches are illegal in Paris under current security measures. Where people will gather and march is being kept a secret.Details will be posted here

Oganizers say they plan to unfurl over 100 meters of red fabric to form a giant red line down a major boulevard. The flowers will include more than 5,000 red tulips that will be laid down along the line.

This “Red Lines” action is the launch of a new wave of what some activists call “climate disobedience,” civil disobedience actions that challenge the fossil fuel industry, often at major infrastructure projects like coal mines or pipelines.

On Thursday, campaigners at COP21 will announce a major mobilization planned for May 2016 called “Break Free,” when people around the world will take on some of the worst fossil fuel projects in their region.

Protests Escalate in Paris: Beginning of “Red Lines” Protests

10 Arrested at Louvre Wednesday

Sit down protest inside COP 21 ongoing

Police remove protestors at “Solutions 21” event in Paris

Screen Shot 2015-12-09 at 11.32.18 AM.jpg

Paris Climate Talks – Breaking: Options for Global Target 1.5C

09/12/201509/12/2015 Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Energy, global warming, News, sustainability climate, co2, coal, cop21, fossil fuel, global warming, oil, Paris

Final President’s Draft Just Released

At 3pm CET Dec 9 the President’s draft was released. It’s much shorter at 29 pages. A quick glance reveals perhaps two dozen brackets down from 800 a few days ago.

Parties will review this new next and reconvene the plenary at 8 pm CET to figure out how to resolve the remaining contested issues.

On the Contentious Issue of 1.5 vs 2.0C

— 3 options still to debate — see below

Screen Shot 2015-12-09 at 9.47.40 AM.jpg

Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist

Discovering Global Environmental Interconnections

cop21