20/09/2021

(The Conversation) 4 Strategies For A Global Breakthrough On Energy And Climate Change

The Conversation -  | 

Reducing fossil use and increasing renewable energy worldwide are crucial to both sustainable development and fighting climate change. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Authors
  •  is Professor of Public Policy and Director, Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines
  •  is Payne Institute Fellow, Colorado School of Mines   
Two important global events are coming up that are widely hoped to help address what the United Nations calls the “dual challenge” – fighting climate change and ensuring that poorer countries can develop sustainably. Energy is a central theme in both.

For the first time in 40 years, the U.N. General Assembly is convening a global summit of world leaders focused solely on energy. If all goes as planned on Sept. 24, 2021, they will consider a road map that includes tripling investment in renewable power and making affordable modern and clean energy available to everyone everywhere within the decade.

The second event is the U.N. climate conference in November, where negotiators representing nations around the world will be asked to ramp up their countries’ efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

This year’s climate summit will be the first to assess progress toward meeting the 2015 Paris climate agreement. There are a few new efforts – President Joe Biden announced on Sept. 17 plans for a U.S. and European Union pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% within the decade and urged other countries to join – but there are also some remaining sticking points in how nations will meet their promised targets. Resolving these will be important for the credibility of the agreement and the willingness of developing countries to commit to further progress.

As climate policy experts with decades of experience in international energy policy, we have identified four strategic priorities that would help provide the foundations for success in cleaning up both energy and climate change.

What has been achieved so far?

Despite the ambitious goals in many countries, the world’s greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise. The year 2020 was a brief exception – emissions fell significantly due to the global pandemic – but that trend has already reversed as economies recover.

The statements released by world leaders after the recent G7 and G20 meetings underlined recognition of the problem. Still, very few countries and companies have detailed plans and budgets in place to meet their own high-level goals.


Meeting the Paris climate agreement goal of keeping global warming under 1.5 C (2.7 F) will require reducing fossil fuels and increasing renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere with techniques such as carbon capture and storage or use (CCS and CCU). International Renewable Energy Agency
4 strategic priorities

Getting energy and climate policies worldwide headed in the same direction is a daunting task. Here are four strategies that could help countries navigate this space:

1) Deploy carbon pricing and markets more widely.

Only a few countries, states and regions currently have carbon prices that are high enough to push polluters to cut their carbon dioxide emissions. The climate negotiations in Scotland will focus on getting the rules right for global markets.

Making these markets function well and transparently is essential for effectively meeting the many net zero climate goals that have been announced by countries from Japan and South Korea to the U.S., China and the European Union. These include rules on the use of carbon offsets – they allow individuals or companies to invest in projects that help balance out their own emissions – which are currently highly contentious and largely not functional or transparent.

2) Focus attention on the “hard-to-decarbonize” sectors.

Shipping, road freight and industries like cement and steel are all difficult places for cutting emissions, in part because they don’t yet have tested, affordable replacements for fossil fuels. While there are some innovative ideas, competitiveness concerns – such as companies moving production outside regulated areas to avoid regulations – have been a key barrier to progress.

Europe is trying to overcome this barrier by establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism, with emission levies on imports similar to those for European producers. The Biden administration is also exploring such rules.

3) Get China and other emerging economies on board.

It is clear that coal, the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, needs to be phased out fast, and doing so is critical to both the U.N.‘s energy and climate agendas. Given that more than half of global coal is consumed in China, its actions stand out, although other emerging economies such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam are also critical.

This will not be easy. Notably half of the Chinese coal plants are less than a decade old, a fraction of a coal plant’s typical lifespan.

4) Focus on innovation.

Support for innovation has brought us cutting-edge renewable power and electric vehicles much faster than anticipated. More is possible. For example, offshore wind, geothermal, carbon capture and green hydrogen are new developments that can make a big difference in years to come.

Who leads in developing these new technologies, and which companies, will reap important economic benefits. They will also support millions of new jobs and economic growth.

Luckily, investors are actively supporting these technologies. More investors are starting to believe in energy transitions and are putting their money into developing the associated technologies. Still, increased government support for research and development funding can catalyze these efforts.

An opportunity also exists to broaden innovation efforts beyond technology, to a systemic approach that includes dimensions such as market design, social acceptance, equity, regulatory frameworks and business models. Energy systems are deeply interconnected to social issues, so changing them will not be successful if the solutions focus only on technology.

Not one solution

It is likely that U.N. energy and climate deliberations over the coming months will continue to move in fits and starts. The real work needs to take place at a more practical implementation level, such as in states, provinces and municipalities. If there is one thing we have learned, it is that mitigating climate change will be a long slog, not a one-off political announcement or celebrity endorsement. It requires much more than simply repeating platitudes.

Politicians need to show that the many energy transitions emerging are good for economies and communities, and can create long-lasting jobs and tax revenues. While it’s uncontested that the benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation far exceed the cost, it is not always easy to marry this with short-term political cycles.

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(Kenya The Guardian) Drought Puts 2.1 Million Kenyans At Risk Of Starvation

The Guardian - 

National disaster declared as crops fail after poor rains and locusts, while ethnic conflicts add to crisis

A man crosses arid land in western Turkana, one of 23 counties in Kenya facing an urgent need for food due to poor rains. Photograph: David Bathgate/Corbis/Getty Images

An estimated 2.1 million Kenyans face starvation due to a drought in half the country, which is affecting harvests.

The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said people living in 23 counties across the arid north, northeastern and coastal parts of the country will be in “urgent need” of food aid over the next six months, after poor rains between March and May this year.

The crisis has been compounded by Covid-19 and previous poor rains, it said, predicting the situation will get worse by the end of the year, as October to December rains are expected to be below normal levels.

The affected regions are usually the most food-insecure in Kenya due to high levels of poverty.

Last week, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the drought a national disaster promising “comprehensive drought mitigation measures”.

In July, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Kenya said the country needed 9.4bn Kenyan shillings (£62m) to mitigate the effects of the drought between July and November.

Asha Mohammed, secretary general of the Kenya Red Cross, said most of the affected counties had already had to deal with desert locust invasions, flash floods and tribal conflicts driven by diminishing resources.

“You have two seasons of depressed rains, desert locusts ravaging farmlands in the same counties and people fighting over the few resources available. That is the making of a disaster,” said Mohammed.

A child tries to chase away a swarm of desert locusts near the town of Rumuruti, Laikipia, Kenya, January 2021. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters
She said it was not only farmers who had been affected by the drought, but also people in urban areas who had been forced to pay higher prices for the little available food.

“There is some food reaching the urban areas within these counties but there is little purchasing power because many have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic,” she said.

The coronavirus pandemic has added to food insecurity by reducing available workforce in a country whose subsistence farming relies heavily on communal labour.

The NDMA said social distancing measures had “restricted the communal performance of agricultural activities and availability of casual labour opportunities, reducing the amount of land cultivated and projected crop production”. The disruption of supplies of staple food items and livestock has led to increased price volatility, it added.

Production of maize, Kenya’s staple food, is projected to decline by 50% in the affected regions due to low acreage under cultivation, while some areas will see total crop failure. Poor harvests have also affected those farming crops with short maturity cycles, such as vegetables.

Thomas Waita, from Kathatu village, in eastern Kenya, does not expect to harvest many tomatoes from his half-acre farm this year. Poor rains and dwindling water levels from a shallow well have seen the size of tomatoes shrink and a good portion of the crop damaged by blossom end rot, brought on by insufficient calcium intake.

For the father of two, a poor harvest means little money in the pocket and poor nutrition for his young family. “The tomatoes are ripening but didn’t get enough water. With drip irrigation, I can only afford to water them twice a week rather than daily. They will not fetch good prices at the market,” said Waita.

‘Everything is changing’: the struggle for food as Malawi’s Lake Chilwa shrinks.  Read more
Waita counts himself among the fortunate ones because he at least had some water for his crops. Lack of water has seen maize planted in neighbouring farms wilt and die after hardly reaching knee height.

Many farmers, he said, use irrigation methods that require a regular flow of water and, with rivers drying up, it is a matter of time before his fellow villagers become part of drought statistics.

“We are told it’s because of climate change. In the past, we used to have many trees here but most have been cut down for firewood and charcoal. [Scientists] tell us such fuels are contributing to global warming and changing rainfall patterns,” said Waita.

Mohammed said it is time the country thinks of medium and long-term interventions to mitigate the climate crisis and break the cycle of food insecurity.

“It’s clear this is going to get worse,” she said. “We have all the data to help these communities become more resilient and bounce back.”

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(USA NPR) Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change And Say Governments Are Failing Them

NPR - 

For a forthcoming study, researchers with the U.K.'s University of Bath and other schools spoke to 10,000 people in 10 countries, all of whom were between the ages of 16 and 25, to gauge how they feel about climate change. FG Trade/Getty Images

How are young people coping with climate change?

The answer, according to one study, is not well, and for good reason.

For a forthcoming study, researchers with the U.K.'s University of Bath and other schools spoke to 10,000 people in 10 countries, all of whom were between the ages of 16 and 25, to gauge how they feel about climate change.

The prevailing response could be summed up in two words: incredibly worried. And the respondents say governments aren't doing enough to combat climate change.

Climate

The survey arrives more than six weeks before the world's nations are set to gather in Glasgow, Scotland, at an annual meeting convened by the United Nations to address climate change.

Scientists say that nations aren't passing the right kinds of bold policies to avert the worst effects of climate change.

The survey suggests that young people around the world grasp how widespread and dangerous political inaction is on climate change.

The study concluded that there's a correlation between negative emotions, such as worry, and beliefs that government responses to climate change have been inadequate.

So the way governments have been addressing — or failing to address — climate change is directly affecting the mental health of young people.

Of those surveyed, nearly 60% reported that they felt either "very" or "extremely" worried about climate change, and more than half said climate change made them feel "afraid, sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and/or guilty."

Life Kit

Positive feelings such as optimism were reported least among the respondents, researchers said. In fact, 77% said that they considered the future to be frightening, and 56% agreed with the viewpoint that humanity is doomed, according to the study.

For many young people, those feelings of fear and worry affect their ability to function, too, results showed. More than 45% of the respondents said the way they feel about climate change adversely affects their day-to-day lives.

And for those living in poorer countries in the Southern Hemisphere, who are more likely to be affected by natural disasters worsened by climate change, the outlook is even worse:

Overall, they're more worried, and their ability to function is even more impeded, researchers found.

Young people also said they were generally dissatisfied with how their governments have been handling the realities of climate change.

Goats and Soda

Across all the countries represented — the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, France, Finland, India, Nigeria, Portugal and the Philippines — 65% of young people felt their government was failing them on climate change and 60% felt that the government had been dismissing citizens' distress over it.

Nearly half of those who said they talk with other people about climate change said that their concerns were ignored, according to researchers.

Combating climate change individually isn't enough on its own, the researchers said.

Those in power have a responsibility to act to protect not only the Earth but also the mental health of those who stand to inherit the planet, they said.

As one 16-year-old included in the study wrote, "I think it's different for young people. For us, the destruction of the planet is personal."

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