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Despite green energy investment promises, many governments still financially back the fossil fuel industry.

Climate activists from the Philippines, the UK and Argentina take questions on climate change.

What exactly is the right mix of wind and solar as grid shift from centralised fossil fuel generators to variable renewables?

The post Efficient frontiers: Finding the right balance between wind and solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The world's two biggest CO2 emitters pledge to co-operate in an announcement at the COP26 summit.

Commonwealth Environmental Water Office MEDIA RELEASE

Commonwealth Environmental Water Office MEDIA RELEASE

We must take significant and rapid action now, to ensure cities play their part in limiting dangerous global warming and withstand the climate challenges ahead. Anna Hurlimann, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Georgia Warren-Myers, Senior Lecturer in Property, The University of Melbourne Judy Bush, Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Countries facing exposure to the EU's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) are progressively easing their opposition as they envisage laying out comparable policies to avert carbon leakage, the European Commission's climate chief Frans Timmermans said on Wednesday.

California divvied out the fewest number of compliance offsets this week since spring 2020, although the number of California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) that lost their invalidation period swelled for the second consecutive issuance, according to data from state regulator ARB published Wednesday.

Washington’s WCI-modelled cap-and-trade system will not have any linkages when it commences from 2023, and it is uncertain when or even if the jurisdiction will ever join another programme, a state government official said this week.

The US and China surprise COP26 with a rare joint statement to cooperate on climate action, bridging the ambition gap and accelerating a coal phase out.

The post Coal on the chopping block as US and China agree to cooperate on climate action appeared first on RenewEconomy.

China and the US, the world's two largest GHG emitters, made a joint statement late on Wednesday at the COP26 climate summit pledging stronger cooperation to curb emissions in the 2020s and in particular on methane.

In a surprise press conference, the two superpowers promised to cooperate more and hoped for the success of Cop26

China and the US announced a surprise plan to work together on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the crucial next decade, in a strong boost to the Cop26 summit, as negotiators wrangled over a draft outcome.

The world’s two biggest emitters had been trading insults for the first week of the conference, but on Wednesday evening unveiled a joint declaration that would see the world’s two biggest economies cooperate closely on the emissions cuts scientists say are needed in the next 10 years to stay within 1.5C.

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The launch of a Ukrainian carbon market appears uncertain as the country examines several options to put an adequate price on emissions while averting political opposition and the EU's border measures.

US congresswoman posts video of herself sampling the drink at Cop26 after being given a can by Nicola Sturgeon

Cop26 is not short of controversial subjects, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demonstrated she is not afraid to get stuck into the big questions: namely, would she like the Scottish fizzy drink Irn-Bru?

The bright orange drink has become the surprise curiosity of Cop26, and is on sale throughout the SEC convention centre due to a deal between building’s owners and drinks manufacturer AG Barr. Delegates from all over the world have been sharing their thoughts on its unique taste, with mixed reviews.

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Organisers at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow projected the words 'Go away' on the summit's venue on Tuesday, in a bid to stop climate protesters projecting their own slogans on to the building. The slogans, condemning greenwashing and demanding an end to fossil fuel use, were projected by the activist group Gastivists Network

• Cop26: Boris Johnson says critical warming target of 1.5C is possible but ‘anything but a done deal’ – live
  

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Heading into the final days of the Glasgow summit, the goal of limiting heating below 2℃ looks attainable, and 1.5℃ is still within reach. There is still room for hope. John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The credibility of international efforts to combat the climate crisis depend on the summit’s ambitions being honoured

In the staid idiom of international summitry, to “note with serious concern” is a statement of distress. To “express alarm” is verging on panic. Thus the draft text of a Cop26 negotiating outcome signals that the conference is not on track to match its ambitions, and recognises that failure will have calamitous consequences.

On the trajectory of existing commitments, carbon emissions are set to rise 13.7% by 2030. Dramatic movement in the opposite direction is needed if the goal is to limit global heating to 1.5C by the end of this century – the outcome counselled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). That requires a 45% emissions cut by 2030, and net zero by mid-century. Yet a projection by the Climate Action Tracker shows that the world is heading for a rise of 2.4C above preindustrial levels, despite high-profile carbon-cutting pledges made in Glasgow. Heating on that scale would unleash extreme weather, bringing devastation across the globe: rising sea levels, drought and displaced populations.

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Australia under pressure over coal use, and earns a fifth fossil award, while US and China issue rare agreement on tackling climate change.

The post Glasgow Brief: Draft COP26 deal heaps pressure on Australia as US-China issue rare joint statement appeared first on RenewEconomy.

How such catastrophes occur remains mysterious. But research suggests that Earth may experience a cascade of disruptions when stressed

Five times in the last 500m years, more than three-fourths of marine animal species perished in mass extinctions. Each of these events is associated with a major disruption of Earth’s carbon cycle. How such catastrophes occur remains mysterious. But recent research increasingly points to the possibility that the Earth system – that is, life and the environment – may experience a cascade of disruptions when stressed beyond a tipping point.

As world leaders gather at Cop26 in Glasgow, it makes sense to rally behind concrete goals such as limiting warming to 1.5C. If we don’t meet such a goal, we’ll know it soon. Mass extinctions, on the other hand, may require tens of thousands of years or more to reach their peak. But if they are indeed the result of a disruptive cascade, we must act now to prevent such a runaway process from starting.

Daniel H Rothman is a professor of geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He co-directs MIT’s Lorenz Center, which is devoted to learning how climate works

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