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Reaching a global agreement on climate change took more than 20 years of tortuous negotiations. Signed just under a year ago, the insufficient but workable Paris agreement at last constructed a legally binding framework for the principle of cutting carbon emissions. It was to be the foundation of a sustained ratcheting up of ambition that would hold global warming below 2C. Last Tuesday night, as one by one from east coast to west the United States went Republican red, that progress was wiped out.
Donald Trump is the first self-declared climate denier to lead of one of the world’s biggest emitters. Even President George W Bush, though he surrounded himself with sceptics, did not publicly disavow climate science. He even managed a few helpful moves. But Mr Trump has pledged to unpick the Paris agreement. In Marrakech, where delegates are meeting for the first time since Paris, they are putting a brave face on proceedings. But they know the outlook is bleaker than it has been since the collapse of the Copenhagen talks in 2009.
Continue reading...The absence of climate change as a leading topic in the election was a failure of the media – and it’s now their responsibility to get Americans talking about it
Imagine the world was facing upheaval on a scale not seen during modern civilization, a change that would imperil the world’s great cities by the rising seas and snuff out species at at the fastest rate since the dinosaurs disappeared. Then imagine you were a journalist, had repeated chances to ask the next president of the United States about this and decided to not do so.
The apparent failure of the media during the presidential election has been multifaceted and fiercely debated. But the absence of climate change as a leading topic in the election of Donald Trump is perhaps the single greatest rebuke to the idea that power should be held to account for the benefit of this and future generations.
Continue reading...The president-elect wants to bypass the theoretical four-year procedure to exit the accord, according to a Reuters source
Donald Trump is looking at quick ways of withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement in defiance of widening international backing for the plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Reuters has reported.
Since the US president-elect was chosen, governments ranging from China to small island states have reaffirmed support for the 2015 Paris agreement at 200-nation climate talks running until 18 November in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Related: Donald Trump presidency a 'disaster for the planet', warn climate scientists
Continue reading...The Wangan and Jagalingou are divided over allowing Adani to exploit Galilee basin homelands for Carmichael coalmine
Traditional owners fighting to stop Australia’s largest proposed coalmine are at the centre of a new University of Queensland project exploring worldwide Indigenous rights movements in the era of climate upheaval.
Leaders from the Wangan and Jagalingou traditional owners council, who are enmeshed in a legal and lobbying effort to head off Adani’s Carmichael mine, will collaborate with academics and human rights lawyers for the first “flagship” project chosen by UQ’s Global Change Institute.
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Continue reading...As news of Donald Trump’s victory reached Marrakech on Wednesday, the many thousands of diplomats, activists, youth and business groups gathered in the city for the UN’s annual climate conference were left in shock and disbelief that the US could elect a climate-change denier as president.
Some of the younger activists were in tears. “My heart is absolutely broken at the election of Trump,” said Becky Chung, a delegate for youth advocacy group SustainUS from California.
Continue reading...The president-elect is a political novice whose energy plan doesn’t account for the economic reality of coal and renewable energy
As the world struggles to absorb the implications of Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the US general election, no one is facing the future with more trepidation than those working on clean energy, clean transportation, climate and the environment. Hillary Clinton had promised to build on Obama’s substantial progress in this area; now they worry that it may be reversed, and then some.
What does the future hold, under a Trump government, and how worried should we be?
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Continue reading...For many the US election result could inspire despair – but far better that mourning be brief, and followed by positive action. Here dedicated activists explain why giving up is not an option, and we list six ways to get involved
Related: Will Donald Trump destroy America?
The shock may have started to subside, but the despair is just beginning. For non-Americans, the aftermath of the US election feels like being in mourning, but perhaps in that detached way we feel when a beloved musician or actor dies (and goodness knows we’ve had enough of that this wretched year) – it was not our election; Donald Trump is not our president. And yet it does affect us, not just in whatever economic impact is to come, or because the president-elect couldn’t care less about climate change. The seeding of fear and hate, the misogyny that has been condoned, the attacks on our most vulnerable: this affects us all. It is time, therefore, to get to work – even from over here. You could retreat to a bunker, but fighting back will probably make you feel better, as long-time activists confirm.
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Continue reading...EU concerns are growing that some oil-rich nations that have not yet ratified the deal could now try and slow action on reducing emissions
Concerns are mounting that Donald Trump’s victory could embolden some fossil fuel-rich countries to try unpicking the historic Paris climate agreement, which came into force last week.
Saudi Arabia has tried to obstruct informal meetings at the UN climate summit in Marrakech this week, and worries are rife that states which have not yet ratified the agreement could seek to slow action on carbon emissions. Trump has called global warming a hoax and promised to withdraw the US from the Paris accord.
Related: Donald Trump presidency a 'disaster for the planet', warn climate scientists
Continue reading...Government divisions over approach to climate change plan are bridged, but targets will be reviewed in 2018 to consider their impact on industry
Germany’s coalition government has reached an agreement on a climate change action plan which involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95% by 2050, a spokesperson said on Friday.
The plan, which will require German industry to reduce its CO2 emission by a fifth by 2030, and Germany’s energy sector to reduce emissions by almost a half, will be reviewed in 2018 with a view to its impact on jobs and society.
Related: Zero carbon emissions target to be enshrined in UK law
Continue reading...Leading scientists say the climate denier’s victory could mean ‘game over for the climate’ and any hope of warding off dangerous global warming
The ripples from a new American president are far-reaching, but never before has the arrival of a White House administration placed the livability of Earth at stake. Beyond his bluster and crude taunts, Donald Trump’s climate denialism could prove to be the lasting imprint of his unexpected presidency.
“A Trump presidency might be game over for the climate,” said Michael Mann, a prominent climate researcher. “It might make it impossible to stabilize planetary warming below dangerous levels.”
Related: Renewables made up half of net electricity capacity added last year
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