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Tag Archives: climate-change
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), Argentina ( 16 ), beetles, climate-change, Rain ( 9 ), temperature
(ARGENTINA) JUST IN: A small town in has shut down street and public building lights after being invaded by a large number of beetles #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Jan16: They have also been found in the roofs of houses, where they hide in dark holes and spaces during the day: Biologists say that unusual heavy rains for this time of the season combined with high temperatures made the bugs reproduce in high numbers.
#AceDailyNews says according to AP/ABC News Report: Thousands of "cascarudos", as they are known in Argentina, have taken over parks and gardens in the town of Santa Isabel, in the central province of La Pampa.
The beetles hide in dark holes and spaces during the day.
"We had more rainfall, therefore more humidity, and this, together with the heat we are experiencing, created a favourable climate for the development of these little animals," Santa Isabel deputy mayor Cristian Echegara said.
Mr Echegaray told the AP the town decided to shut down street and public building lights for the past three days to let the visitors "go away and find another town".
The blackout has been effective, and the number of beetles has decreased dramatically.
AP/ABC
#AceNewsDesk report ………..Published; Jan.2022:
#argentina, #beetles, #climate-change, #rain, #temperature
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), #COP26 ( 29 ), #GlobalWarming ( 9 ), climate-change, climatechange ( 22 ), Global warming ( 18 ), London ( 818 )
(LONDON) The Climate Change Committee (CCC) Report: On Dec.03: 2021 published its review of the #COP26 conference and the key outcomes of the Glasgow Climate Pact #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Dec.14: Reduced rates of taxation are a perfectly legitimate means to reduce the cost of living and encourage economic growth. In this sense they are not only "efficient" but compassionate and humane.
#AceDailyNews Report: #GlobalWarming & #ClimateChange matters but getting rid of gas and fossil fuels without putting in a replacement is not logical and calling for the it NOW is not going to provide light and heating so this should always be a step by step move to provide WHAT is needed and NOT what people WANT ……..Editor
But please read below what this CCC report below confirms …..
Net Zero Watch Reports: Rishi Sunak should reject proposal to quadruple tax on heating homes as it latches on to the agreement's wording that countries should "phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies," recommending that the UK Treasury should increase VAT from 5% to 20% on natural gas for home heating and hot water
Published: Friday 3rd December 2021
They are quite different from the real subsidies consumer have to pay via their energy bills and which are given to wind farm investors and other renewable investors, now costing consumers £10 billion per year.
Since the CCC's proposal for an increase in taxation on natural gas would be applied to the household bill after the imposition of other climate related levies, the overall effect on the cost of warmth and hot water to households would be severe.
The fuel poverty charity National Energy Action has warned that average domestic energy bills have already soared by over £230 per customer compared to last winter. It warns that the government's plan to further raise the so-called price cap in April could see the average combined domestic energy bill increase by a further £550 per year.
Dr John Constable, the Net Zero Watch energy editor, said:
It has long been clear that Lord Deben and his Climate Change Committee give too little thought to the cost implications of green policies, but this proposal for a huge increase in the cost of household heating and hot water suggests a degree of indifference bordering on cruelty.
It would also be, of course, politically suicidal. No government would long survive the imposition of this new heating tax."
Dr Benny Peiser, Net Zero Watch director, said:
The Climate Change Committee's proposal to quadruple the tax on gas heating is deeply concerning for people across the country, adding insult to injury for millions of families who are already struggling to keep their homes warm this winter.
Rishi Sunak should reject this ill-conceived plan and make every possible effort to reduce the burden of energy costs at this difficult time."
#cop26, #climate-change, #global-warming, #london
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), Aberdeen, climate-change, Gas ( 19 ), Oil ( 44 ), oilfield, Scotland ( 98 )
(SCOTLAND) Cambo Oilfield Report: Business leaders have warned that thousands of oil and gas jobs could be at risk in the UK after Shell pulled out #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Dec.04: Aberdeen's Chamber of Commerce said a "premature" end to domestic production could see some areas suffer the fate of mining communities in the 1980s.
#AceDailyNews Cambo Oilfield Report: Jobs warning as Shell pulls out of oil field development Environmentalists say new fossil fuel projects like Cambo are incompatible with action on climate change according to BBC Business says Cambo's majority stakeholder said it was "disappointed" by Shell's decision.
Getty Images: Industry leaders argue oil and gas extraction cannot be scaled back too quickly
Siccar Point Energy said it would continue talks with the UK government about developing the oil field, located west of Shetland.
Shell, which has faced widespread criticism over its 30% stake in Cambo, said it now believed the economic case for investment was "not strong enough".
Greenpeace welcomed the announcement, describing it as the "death blow" for the plans.
But industry body Oil and Gas UK insisted developments such as Cambo were needed during the transition to sustainable energy.
External relations director Jenny Stanning said: "This is a commercial decision between partners but doesn't change the facts that the UK will continue to need new oil and gas projects if we are to protect security of supply, avoid increasing reliance on imports and support jobs."
It is too early to write the obituary of the North Sea oil and gas industry, despite claims by some environmental campaigners that Shell's decision marks the beginning of the end.
That's because, whatever Shell says in public, this is about reputational cost not conventional economics.
Battling environmentalists and the Scottish government for the right to drill for oil is not a good look for a company that claims to be transitioning away from fossil fuels.
But the Cambo oilfield is reckoned to hold hundreds of millions of barrels of oil, each worth some $70 at current prices, and there are lots of less high-profile companies who would be willing to suffer some bad publicity for a cut of that prize.
So, the real question Shell's decision raises is whether the UK government is willing to put its net-zero ambitions ahead of the huge tax revenues the project could deliver and deny a licence to develop the oilfield.
The chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce called for a "reasoned debate" about oil and gas extraction, which he said directly supported more than 120,000 UK jobs.
Russell Borthwick said there was enormous potential for the renewable energy sector in the region but he warned against a "knee jerk" reaction to climate change.
He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "If we get this wrong, all of those people and organisations demanding a premature end to domestic oil and gas production might want to be able to reflect back to their role in scripting a repeat of what happened to our mining communities in the 1980s."
The fallout from the 1984/85 miners strike and the long term decline of UK coal mining left many communities facing high unemployment and other problems that were still being felt decades later.
Businessman Sir Ian Wood chairs Aberdeen's Energy Transition Zone, a not-for-profit company set up to support the shift to renewable energy. He said: "We must not create an adverse investment environment at this crucial moment in our energy transition journey.
"The future prosperity of our region and the country's ability to meet net zero, depends on it."
The Cambo oil field
Located in the North Atlantic, about 125km (75 miles) west of the Shetland islands.
Contains an estimated 800 million barrels of oil.
The exploration licence dates back to 2001, but UK government must approve drilling – which could start as early as 2022.
Major stakeholder is Siccar Point Energy, with a 70% stake, backed by private equity firm investors.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie welcomed Shell's announcement and said it made it less likely Cambo would go ahead in the "near term".
"It's absurd to suggest that our transition to a zero carbon economy depends on drilling for ever more oil and gas," he said.
He said Scotland had a quarter of Europe's wind energy potential, and that investment should be focused on renewables instead.
"We could be exporting renewable resources and make that the backbone of Scotland's economy," he told the BBC.
He continued: "The idea of keeping global warming below 2 degrees and 1.5 degrees if we possibly can – this is not optional.
"This is not a normal political choice. This is mission critical for our survival.
"It is humanity's only survival strategy and we need to invest now in the transition that has to be fair, but it has to be fast."
Activists at the COP26 summit called for the Cambo development to be blocked
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, now in a power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens, has recently signalled her opposition to Cambo.
Having previously stopped short of opposing it outright, she said last month it should "not get the green light".
"The presumption would be that Cambo could not and should not pass any rigorous climate assessment," she told MSPs.
The UK government, which makes the final decision on whether to allow drilling, insists an environmental impact assessment will be carried out but appears far more supportive: Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has said the new field should "100%" get the go-ahead.
#aberdeen, #climate-change, #gas, #oil, #oilfield, #scotland
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), climate-change, Employment ( 14 ), Energy Crisis, Gas ( 19 ), Oil ( 44 ), Worldwide ( 20 )
(WORLDWIDE) Climate & Energy Crisis Report: The oil and gas industry worldwide faces a talent gap as workers contemplate moving to renewables or leaving the energy industry altogether #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Dec.02: More than half of workers in oil and gas, 56%, said they would look for employment opportunities in the renewables energy sector, according to the survey. Last year, that percentage was 38.8%, highlighting the shortages the oil industry is facing as it looks to hire again, after letting go in 2020 thousands of workers in oil and gas and related services in the supply chain.
#AceDailyNews says according to an RT News Report: Oil industry to lose nearly half its workers survey by recruitment firm Brunel & Oilandgasjobsearch.com/ cited by Reuters, showed: With robots threaten to replace hundreds of thousands of oil & gas jobs by 2030 – report
The survey also showed that 43% of workers want out of the energy sector within the next five years.
As more workers look to move to renewables or to ditch the energy sector altogether, recruiters in the oil and gas business find attracting talent with the right skills increasingly difficult.
Labor shortages have already become evident this year in the US shale patch and in the Canadian oil sands as demand recovers and companies put rigs back into operation.
Despite the recent uptick in oil industry employment in the United States, short-term and permanent shifts in workers' negative perceptions of the sector have already started to create labor shortages. These shortages threaten to delay and even hinder the recovery of US oil production, analysts say. More and more workers are fed up with the boom-and-bust nature of the oil industry after two major oil price and drilling activity collapses in just five years. They vow they will never again be beholden to the volatile oil markets, and have quit the sector entirely after being let go in 2020.
In Canada, the number of total jobs expected is set to rise next year, but labor constraints have already started to impact the members of the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC), the association said last week in an otherwise positive outlook on Canada's drilling activity for 2022.
#climate-change, #employment, #energy-crisis, #gas, #oil, #worldwide
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), #Russia ( 288 ), climate-change, climatechange ( 22 ), Europe ( 85 ), Fossil Fuels, Moscow ( 368 )
(MOSCOW) Energy Crisis Report: With much of Europe setting its sights on renewable energy and weaning themselves off fossil fuels, Russia has unveiled a new proposal to save its status as a major exporter of fuel across the continent for the future #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Dec.02: The plan, set out in a statement on the Kremlin's website on Tuesday, comes as part of a larger overview of Russia's environment policy, with a new strategy to tackle climate change unveiled just weeks ago.
#AceDailyNews #ClimateChange RT News Report: Russia eyes plan to become green energy superpower: Under the provisions, a project will be launched to study the possibility of exporting clean-burning hydrogen, mixed with methane, through the country's already-built gas pipelines. This would mean large volumes could be shipped without needing to construct new infrastructure.
1 Dec, 2021 09:17
Alexander Novak, the deputy prime minister and former minister of energy, will work with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and with Alexey Miller, the head of energy giant Gazprom, to test the pipelines' capability and negotiate with European nations. The Kremlin has requested a report detailing whether the scheme is possible by the middle of 2022.
After decades of reliance on oil & gas, Russia starts preparations to adapt economy for global green energy transition – reports
The value of Russia's fuel and energy exports was $167 billion last year, down from $263 billion in 2019, with the country increasingly gaining revenue from sectors like manufacturing and services. Crude oil accounts for the largest share of this, followed by petroleum products and gas. Moscow is the world's leading exporter of gas and the second largest exporter of crude oil, after Saudi Arabia.
Nations have been increasingly looking to 'green' hydrogen as a source of renewable energy. The gas can be used as a low-carbon power source for manufacturing and transportation, but is expensive to produce and difficult to transport. With demand expected to surge, exporters are racing to demonstrate it can be delivered safely and cheaply.
In August, Moscow said it would set up a series of working groups to oversee the country's transition to green energy, with a focus on renewables and environmental protection. However, Russia has come under fire for setting a carbon neutrality target for 2060, a decade after many other nations. However, President Vladimir Putin has insisted that the country is doing its part to reduce emissions.
#russia, #climate-change, #europe, #fossil-fuels, #moscow
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), #COP26 ( 29 ), CAT, climate-change, climatechange ( 22 ), Glasgow ( 28 ), Global warming ( 18 ), Scotland ( 98 ), Worldwide ( 20 )
(WORLDWIDE) #ClimateChange CAT Report: In the first week in Glasgow, we saw a number of governments make big announcements at the Leaders' segment, along with signing a number of agreements pledging to cut emissions in various sectors #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Nov.21: They certainly kept US busy and now Glasgow is over, and we hope you've had a bit of time to recover. We thought we'd send out a summary of the work we've done over the past few weeks.
#AceDailyNews CAT's Glasgow #ClimateChange Summary Report: First, just ahead of COP26, on 28 October we released, with a number of partners, the State of the Climate Action report for 2021, that identifies 40 indicators across key sectors that must transform to address the climate crisis, and assesses how current trends will impact how much work remains to be done by 2030 and 2050 to deliver a zero-carbon world in time.
The news wasn't great, but there are some areas showing good signs.
There was a buzz of excitement when India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would aim for net zero by 2070, along with a new set of targets. We saw China and the US submit their Long Term Strategies (LTS). We rated the US net zero target as "average" and that of China as "poor".
We got to work and assessed India's new target. At most, it will only drive minor reductions in real world emissions as the country is already on a pathway to more than meet most of its targets. Without any further details, we couldn't assess the net zero target, so have rated it "target information incomplete." . Shortly before COP, we assessed green recovery for India. We identified India's substantial potential to reduce national emissions through reducing coal use and scaling up renewable energy by 2030 with benefits to its economy and health. However, to achieve this and even further emissions reductions, India would need significant external support.
There were other, last-minute NDC updates, such as that from New Zealand, which managed an extraordinary feat of creative accounting that transformed a 22% reduction by 2030 into 50%, and Australia who refused to increase their 2030 target at all, instead opting for a net zero target that turns out not to reach net zero at all.
Toward the end of the first week of Glasgow, the IEA released it assessment of all net zero targets, arguing that they would bring global warming down to 1.8˚C. But just how real was that assessment?
We set the record straight on Tuesday 9 November when we released our global update, bringing the hype back to reality: without strong near-term 2030 targets, we won't make it to net zero. Glasgow, we argued, has a credibility gap: if all governments achieved their current 2030 pledges, we'll get 2.4˚C of warming by 2100, and if nobody did anything more than what they're doing today (our policies & action pathway), we're heading to 2.7˚C.
While yes, we, too, got the 1.8˚C under our "optimistic" scenario, it is indeed just that: highly optimistic, and no reason for complacency. See the full update here. We also wrote an article for The Guardian summarising our findings.
#AceNewsDesk report …………….Published: Nov.21: 2021:
#cop26, #cat, #climate-change, #glasgow, #global-warming, #scotland, #worldwide
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), #COP26 ( 29 ), climate-change, Glasgow ( 28 ), Global warming ( 18 ), Scotland ( 98 ), UNFCCC
(GLASGOW) #COP26 Report: If you are going to host a world summit on #ClimateChange then it really should attempt to be green as possible but not at this summit #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Nov.13: The UK government says it is committed to making the event "carbon neutral" but a new report suggests its emissions will be more than double those from the previous summit in Madrid……
#AceDailyNews says according to How green was the #COP26 climate summit? ………According to an initial assessment report for the UK government the carbon emissions are expected to reach the equivalent of 102,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide double from previous COP25 in Madrid ……
LAST DAY ?
A report into the summit shows the UK government purchased "carbon offsets" to support five global projects which reduced emissions in India, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.
More delegates, more emissions
That is similar to the annual emissions from about 10,000 UK households.
The figure for COP26 is double the emissions from the last climate summit in Madrid in 2019.
Top 10 tips for combating climate change revealed
Some of that could be down to the size of this summit.
The UK government says that, despite the Covid pandemic, the Glasgow COP attracted more than 39,000 participants as opposed to 27,000 in Madrid in 2019.
International flights and private jets
According to the report, about 60% of the COP26 emissions are estimated to have come from international flights.
In order to avoid emissions from flights, attendees were urged to travel by land where possible.
However many world leaders flew in by private jet, plus there were cargo aircraft which carried helicopters and vehicles for motorcades.
US President Joe Biden's plane lands in Scotland for the COP26 climate change summit
What's the climate impact of private jets at COP26?
'It's my job to keep the summit fed – sustainably'
Foodbank receives tonnes of food leftover by G7 summit
Aviation analytics company Cirium told the BBC's Reality Check there was a total of 76 flights involving private jets, or VIP flights, arriving in and around Glasgow in the four days leading up to 1 November.
Powering the venue
The report, prepared for the government by sustainability consultant Arup, says that it is the "preliminary baseline assessment" for COP26 and it does not breakdown the figures for other emissions.
Among the other factors included in the assessment is "energy, water and waste management" at the SEC campus where the summit is being held.
According to the Arup report, a new mains power supply was installed at the SEC to provide power for temporary buildings to avoid the use of generators, except for backup power in certain circumstances.
It said energy supply during the event would also use a renewable energy tariff.
Transportation to and from venues
Electric shuttle buses take to the streets of Glasgow for COP26
Low carbon transport including public transport and low-carbon vehicles were also promoted by COP organisers.
Delegates to the blue zone were given public transport travel cards and a conference shuttle bus operated during the event using an electric fleet.
What are top polluters doing to cut emissions?
Can the food we eat help tackle climate change?
Sustainable catering
Catering staff at the summit aimed to source 80% of food from Scottish suppliers
In the COP venue they took a "low carbon" catering approach which included locally sourced and seasonal menus.
The BBC heard from Lorna Wilson, head of catering at COP26, who said the event had eliminated single-use cups and plastics.
Instead, she said there were nearly 400 water coolers around the site for delegates to use with reusable bottles.
Ms Wilson said staff had been "working towards" a catering strategy of 80% Scottish food, 15% from the rest of the UK and 5% from abroad.
She said the menu was 40% plant-based and 60% vegetarian overall.
However the inclusion of meat, seafood and dairy on the menu was heavily criticised by the animal and climate justice group Animal Rebellion.
A spokesperson for the group told the Big Issue that the "illogical decision" was like "serving cigarettes at a lung cancer conference".
How can COP26 be carbon neutral?
If the report says the event is responsible for 100,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, how can it be carbon neutral?
The UK government says that in order to offset the summit's carbon it can take on projects that are recognised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
These include renewable energy projects, reforestation and energy efficiency measures.
The UK government says it will be the first COP to demonstrate carbon neutrality validation through PAS2060 – the internationally recognised standard on carbon neutrality.
The recent three-day G7 summit in Cornwall was certified as "carbon neutral" despite generating an estimated 20,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
#AceNewsDesk report …………..Published: Nov.13: 2021:
#climate-change, #glasgow, #global-warming, #scotland, #unfccc
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), climate-change, environment ( 17 ), GOVUK ( 60 ), London ( 818 ), nature, Waste ( 3 ), Water ( 5 )
(LONDON) GOVUK Parliament Statement Report: World-leading Environment Act becomes law with legislation aimed at air and water quality and tackling waste #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Nov.12: Legislation that will protect and enhance our environment for future generations has now passed into UK law: Through the Act, we will clean up the country's air, restore natural habitats, increase biodiversity, reduce waste and make better use of our resources…..
#AceDailyNews reports on UK Government Legislation that will improve air and water quality, tackle waste, increase recycling, halt the decline of species, and improve our natural environment according to Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
It will halt the decline in species by 2030, require new developments to improve or create habitats for nature, and tackle deforestation overseas.
It will help us transition to a more circular economy, incentivising people to recycle more, encouraging businesses to create sustainable packaging, making household recycling easier and stopping the export of polluting plastic waste to developing countries.
These changes will be driven by new legally binding environmental targets, and enforced by a new, independent Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) which will hold government and public bodies to account on their environmental obligations.
Environment Secretary George Eustice said:
The Environment Act will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth.
It will halt the decline of species by 2030, clean up our air and protect the health of our rivers, reform the way in which we deal with waste and tackle deforestation overseas.
We are setting an example for the rest of the world to follow.
The Environment Act includes a new legally binding target on species abundance for 2030, which will help to reverse declines of iconic British species like the hedgehog, red squirrel and water vole.
The UK will now be able to go further than ever before to clamp down on illegal deforestation and protect rainforests, through a package of measures will ensure that greater resilience, traceability and sustainability are built into the UK's supply chains.
The Act will crack down on water companies that discharge sewage into rivers, waterways and coastlines. It will see a duty enshrined in law to ensure water companies secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows. New duties will also require the government to publish a plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows by September 2022 and report to Parliament on the progress towards implementing the plan.
Natural England Chair Tony Juniper said:
It is imperative that we step up action to boost nature recovery if we are to tackle the twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change.
This landmark Act will give us more of the tools and the momentum we need to really put nature on the road to recovery during this decade, enabling us to have more, better, bigger and connected areas of natural habitats, bringing a range of practical benefits and permitting more people to enjoy the wonders of the natural world, while improving wider environmental quality at the same time.
We will work across Government, industry and society to help make it happen. The creation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies will be key in helping us to build a Nature Recovery Network across the country, backed by other measures in the new Act, including mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain for built development and a healthier freshwater environment.
Emma Howard Boyd CBE, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:
We need strong laws, investment by the private sector and clear, well-funded regulation to protect the environment. Without this, we will not see the progress we all want.
The new legal targets for water in the Environment Act today will help wider efforts to tackle pollution, reduce demand for water and secure clean and plentiful water for all.
It is good to see these laws pass as we work to protect the natural world, help people to stay safe from flooding and support communities, businesses and government to make the country more resilient to climate shocks.
Forestry Commission Chair Sir William Worsley said:
As the government's leading forestry experts, the Forestry Commission supports the new measures included in the Environment Act which gives our woodlands much needed protection, so we can ensure they live on and continue to bring benefits to people, nature and climate.
We are excited about new measures that will improve Forestry Commission's enforcement powers to help us further protect England's woodlands from illegal felling, including our most precious ancient woodlands.
Increasing tree planting now is an important step towards creating a more wooded country, and we look forward to working closely with the government as they consider a long-term tree target, which could be introduced through the new powers in the Environment Bill.
Work on implementing Environment Act policies is well underway. We have started work on developing legally binding environmental targets, and launched consultations on the deposit return schemes for drinks containers, extended producer responsibility for packaging and consistent recycling collections which will transform the way we deal with our rubbish.
We have also published a draft Principles Policy Statement which will put protecting the environment at the heart of future policy.
The Office for Environmental Protection was set up in an interim, non-statutory form in July, providing independent oversight of the Government's environmental progress and accelerating the foundation of the full body. The OEP will formally commence its statutory functions shortly.
Dame Glenys Stacey, Chair of the OEP said:
The Environment Act is a cornerstone of the government's ambitions to tackle ever more pressing environmental issues.
I am delighted that the Act creates the independent Office for Environmental Protection, and gives us the tools for our job – to protect and improve the environment by holding government and public authorities to account. We are well underway with establishing a functionally independent, fully operational OEP from early in the new year.
There has never been a more crucial time for us all to work to protect and improve our environment. The OEP will play its full part.
The Environment Act has become law during the UK's hosting of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, during which the UK has brought the world together to secure ambitious commitments to tackle climate change.
Nick Molho, Executive Director at the Aldersgate Group, said:
The passage of the Environment Act into law marks a major milestone for the UK, particularly as it hosts the important COP26 climate summit. Having a framework which supports nature restoration and looks at the whole of the environment – including land as well as sea – is a key step forward in efforts to reverse the decline of nature.
Businesses have long supported an ambitious and robust Environment Act, and having legally binding long-term targets will play a significant role in making continuous improvements to the natural environment.
Dr Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:
Becoming the first country with a legal target to halt wildlife decline by 2030 is a world-leading innovation and testament to the huge public and parliamentary demand to improve our state of nature.
Now there's no time to lose for action. 2030 is an ecological heartbeat away, so the whole of Whitehall must work together on a scientifically sound plan to meet this "net zero for nature", so that England can lead the way ahead of next year's global nature negotiations.
The Environment Act will deliver:
Long-term targets to improve air quality, biodiversity, water, and waste reduction and resource efficiency
A target on ambient PM2.5 concentrations, the most harmful pollutant to human health
A target to halt the decline of nature by 2030
Environmental Improvement Plans, including interim targets
A cycle of environmental monitoring and reporting
Environmental Principles embedded in domestic policy making
Office for Environmental Protection to uphold environmental law
Extend producer responsibility to make producers pay for 100% of cost of disposal of products, starting with plastic packaging
A deposit Return Scheme for single use drinks containers
Charges for single use plastics
Greater consistency in recycling collections in England
Electronic waste tracking to monitor waste movements and tackle fly-tipping
Tackle waste crime
Power to introduce new resource efficiency information (labelling on the recyclability and durability of products)
Regulate shipment of hazardous waste
Ban or restrict export of waste to non-OECD countries
Require Local Authorities to tackle air quality
Simplify enforcement within smoke control areas
Strengthened biodiversity duty
Biodiversity net gain to ensure developments deliver at least 10% increase in biodiversity
Local Nature Recovery Strategies to support a Nature Recovery Network
Duty upon Local Authorities to consult on street tree felling
Strengthen woodland protection enforcement measures
Conservation Covenants
Protected Site Strategies and Species Conservation Strategies to support the design and delivery of strategic approaches to deliver better outcomes for nature
Prohibit larger UK businesses from using commodities associated with wide-scale deforestation
Requires regulated businesses to establish a system of due diligence for each regulated commodity used in their supply chain, requires regulated businesses to report on their due diligence, introduces a due diligence enforcement system
Effective collaboration between water companies through statutory water management plans
Drainage and sewerage management planning a statutory duty
Minimise damage water abstraction may cause on environment
Modernise the process for modifying water and sewerage company licence conditions
#AceNewsDesk report …….
#climate-change, #environment, #govuk, #london, #nature, #waste, #water
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), #COP26 ( 29 ), climate-change, Glasgow ( 28 ), Global warming ( 18 ), Scotland ( 98 )
(GLASGOW) #COP26 SUMMIT REPORT: Released by the UK, it urges countries to strengthen their climate plans by the end of next year and, for the first time, calls for the phasing out of coal and fossil fuel subsidies #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Nov.11: Diplomats from the nearly 200 countries represented at the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow will on Wednesday begin to negotiate the text hoping to strike a final deal before the conference comes to a close on Friday.
#AceDailyNews says heres the UPDATED: First draft of #COP26 climate deal is released: The seven-page document is the first version of the agreement that will outline how countries plan to cut emissions and keep global warming below 1.5°C…….This draft text isn't the end of the story yet in Glasgow but it marks the beginning of the end for the summit.
The first draft of a COP26 agreement has been published.
This seven-page document is the first version of the agreement that will outline how countries plan to cut emissions and keep global warming below 1.5°C. https://t.co/wXS3538Jkj
— euronews (@euronews) November 10, 2021
Poorer, climate-vulnerable countries have called for other nations to cap warming at 1.5°C – a temperature increase scientists say is just short of calamitous.
The push for more regular reviews of climate plans is seen as necessary because countries' current 2030 pledges would lead to 2.4°C of warming.
CAT global update: Glasgow has a credibility gap between talk and action. If all govts met their 2030 targets, we would have 2.4˚C of warming in 2100. But right now, current policies put us at 2.7˚C. https://t.co/dkX4jAbo2f
A Thread 🧵 pic.twitter.com/EdLlIfdhXt— ClimateActionTracker (@climateactiontr) November 9, 2021
Earlier in the summit, the world was told that even 2°Cwould be a "death sentence" for island nations.
The draft, which the UN released just before 6 am UK time, also calls on countries to "accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels," a demand of climate change campaigners.
It also urges developed countries to "urgently scale up" financial support for developing countries, responding to their need to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Loss and damage, one of the key themes from this week, does get a mention in the main text but without many details on how this will be addressed.
The draft ticks all of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's boxes on his pre-COP checklist with mentions of coal, cars, cash and trees. But critics say it is notably light on the last point with financial pledges lacking specifics.
Also conspicuous in their absence are references to a phase-out of fossil fuel beyond just coal.
UNEP director, Inger Anderson has also acknowledged that the commitments in the deal meet the UN's criteria for success in Glasgow.
This is because the draft secures $100 billion in climate funding for vulnerable nations, half of that going to adaption for the worst impacts of global warming, and includes pledges to half greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Campaigners are concerned
Campaigners are concerned because usually the first draft of a COP deal starts ambitious and is then "watered down" as countries negotiate.
Greenpeace says that this draft is already "exceptionally weak".
"To keep 1.5 alive, four words must be added: 'fossil fuels phase out', and countries must come back next year to close the gap," says Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International.
Negotiators shouldn't even think about leaving Glasgow until they've agreed a deal that meets the moment.
Because most assuredly, this one does not.
#COP26
(2/2)— Jennifer Morgan (@climatemorgan) November 10, 2021
Edwin Namakanga is a 27-year-old activist from Uganda who arrived on board the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior ship last week. He has a message for world leaders.
"The result from Glasgow must be the end of new fossil fuels, and there must be proper financial support for countries in the Global South.
"We need solidarity and just transition to renewable energy, because anything less is a death sentence for whole peoples, countries and areas."
Murray Worthy, campaign leader at Global Witness believes that the "impact of hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists" at COP26 can be seen in this draft.
"The science is clear – we must start phasing out all fossil fuels, starting now, if we're to have a hope of limiting warming to 1.5°C.
"Yet this agreement falls spectacularly short – only calling for an accelerated phase-out of coal, and an end to taxpayers bankrolling the fossil fuel industry through subsidies.
"This simply does not match the ambition people all over the world have looked to COP26 for. Nor does it match what is needed to avert the climate crisis the world is currently experiencing."
#climate-change, #glasgow, #global-warming, #scotland
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(GLASGOW) #COP26 Summit Report: Despite pledges made the world is still nowhere near its goals on limiting global temperature rise, a new analysis shows #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Nov.10: It calculates that the world is heading for 2.4C of warming, far more than the 1.5C limit nations committed to.………………..But the prediction contrasts with optimism at the UN meeting last week, following a series of big announcements that included a vow to stop deforestation.
#AceDailyNews says according to a BBC News Report: By Georgina Rannard: #COP26 World Leaders so far have US on track for 2.4C #GlobalWarming target and has a massive credibility, action and commitment gap", according to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT).
The Glasgow summit is seen as crucial for curbing climate change as #COP26 is expected to finish this week.
Follow our live updates
Stay angry on climate, Obama tells young people
A really simple guide to climate change
What's been agreed so far?
The projection comes as the UK's Met Office warns that a billion people could be affected by fatal heat and humidity if the global average temperature rises by 2C above pre-industrial levels.
The report by Climate Action Tracker looks at promises made by governments before and during COP26.
It concludes that, in 2030, the greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet will still be twice as high as necessary for keeping temperature rise below 1.5C degree.
Scientists say that limiting warming to 1.5C will prevent the most dangerous impacts of climate change from happening.
The COP summit held in Paris in 2015 laid out a plan for avoiding dangerous climate change which included "pursuing efforts" to keep warming under 1.5C.
But when governments' actual policies – rather than pledges – are analysed, the world's projected warming is 2.7C by 2100, suggests Climate Action Tracker. The Tracker is backed by a number of organisations including the prestigious Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
"This new calculation is like a telescope trained on an asteroid heading for Earth. It's a devastating report that in any sane world would cause governments in Glasgow to immediately set aside their differences and work with uncompromising vigour for a deal to save our common future," said Greenpeace International's executive director Jennifer Morgan.
However, the world's outlook has improved since the Paris climate summit in 2015 when Climate Action Tracker estimated the policies put the planet on track to warm by 3.6C.
Climate Action Tracker blames "stalled momentum" from governments for limited progress towards cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
It says new promises by the US and China to reach net zero have slightly improved its forecasting on temperature rises. But it concludes that the quality of most government's plans to limit climate change is very low.
Reaching net zero involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible, then balancing out any remaining releases by, for example, planting trees – which remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
More than 140 governments have promised to reach net zero, covering 90% of global emissions.
But Climate Action Tracker says only a handful have plans in place to reach the goal. It analysed the policies of 40 countries and concluded that only a small number are rated "acceptable", covering a fraction of the world's emissions.
What does net zero mean?
COP26: Time to sober up
"If they have no plans as to how to get there, and their 2030 targets are as low as so many of them are, then frankly, these net zero targets are just lip service to real climate action," said Bill Hare, chief executive of Climate Analytics, one of the groups behind the Tracker.
The main driver of the gap between promises and projections is continued coal and gas production, the organisation concludes.
A false dawn
With one sharp jab, this Climate Action Tracker report has punctured the balloon of optimism that's been swelling since the start of this conference.
For days now, a number of observers, including the formerly conservative International Energy Agency, have been pushing a narrative that the new net zero goals from countries like India plus the long list of announcements made here in Glasgow had pushed the prospective temperature rise this century down to 1.8C.
That seemed like huge progress from the 2.7C that the UN Environment Programme had announced at the start of the conference.
So how has the confusion come about?
The problem comes from the inclusion of long-term pledges to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
More than 140 countries, covering 90% of global emissions have announced a mid-century-ish carbon neutrality target – China's is 2060, India's 2070.
According to the CAT, these goals are giving "false hope".
Based on what countries have put on the table for 2030, the world is set to warm by 2.4C by 2100. That picture gets a bit better if you include the US's and China's long-term targets, which reduces the temperature to 2.1C.
If every country implemented their long-term net zeroes, then 1.8C could indeed be possible.
But the reality is that, without a serious plan for 2030, most of these longer-term goals will not be realised.
That's why the real focus for the negotiators here must be on the actions that countries take over the next nine years.
Any deal agreed here will need to have a strong and credible pathway for the next decade. Otherwise Glasgow will be judged a failure.
What has been agreed at COP26?
The summit is still negotiating a deal that all 197 countries will agree on. But a series of side deals were announced last week:
More than 100 world leaders promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, including Brazil, home to the Amazon rainforest
The US and the EU announced a global partnership to cut emissions of the greenhouse gas methane by 2030 – reducing methane in the atmosphere seen as one of the best ways to quickly reduce global warming
More than 40 countries committed to move away from coal – but the world's biggest users like China and the US did not sign up
Some new pots of money were announced to help developing countries adapt to climate change and deal with the damage and loss it brings – but many say it's not enough
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(GLASGOW #COP26 Report: The carbon footprint of the world's richest 1% is on track to be 30 times higher than what's needed to limit global warming to 1.5C, a study says #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Nov.06: But emissions of the poorest 50% will continue to be below climate goals: A tiny elite appear to have a free pass to pollute," says Naftoke Dabi at Oxfam: The charity commissioned the study from the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Institute for European Environmental Policy: Their over-sized emissions are fuelling extreme weather around the world and jeopardising the international goal of limiting global heating."
#AceDailyNews says according to BBC Population Report: #COP26 emissions of rich nations will put climate goals at risk according to new study: The research, carried out by two European environmental agencies, comes as world leaders meet at the climate conference in Glasgow: A recent study that tracked the air travel of celebrities via their social media accounts found some emitted over a thousand tonnes a year ….
#Ace says #ProfitB4People NOT #PeopleB4Profit again …..
BBC World: By Stephanie Hegarty
Population correspondent
Flooding in Bangladesh: The world's poorest 50% will have the lowest carbon footprint, the study says
Climate scientists warn that there is a finite amount of greenhouse gases that we can continue to release into the atmosphere before the planet warms to more than 1.5C from pre-industrial levels. By 2030, they say, we need to only emit as much carbon as the planet can absorb.
If this amount were split evenly and every adult on the planet had a share, by 2030 we could each emit 2.3 tonnes of CO2 every year.
The super-rich – many of whom have multiple homes, private jets and superyachts – emit a lot more than others.
But the global 1% are not just billionaires, or even millionaires – it includes anyone earning over $172,000.
This study also looked at the world's richest 10% – anyone earning over $55,000 – and found emissions were still high. The richest 10% will emit nine times more carbon than their share.
Traci Curth's family has three cars, which she says is normal for most American families
One example of people in the top 10% is the Curths, a family of four in the suburbs of Toledo, Ohio. Traci Curth, her husband and her teenage daughter each drive a car.
"The suburb I live in, that's pretty much how everyone gets around," says Traci.
Toledo has hot summers and cold winters, so the air-conditioning is on when the heating isn't. The family has a freezer loaded with chicken breasts and mince beef – they eat meat about four or five times a week.
"I would say that's pretty normal for most American families," says Traci.
Togonin, an English teacher and environmental educator, doesn't own a car and goes to work on moped
For English teacher Togonin Severin Togo in Kati, Mali, life is quite different.
Like 80% of people in the world he doesn't have a car – he travels to work on his moped.
"Cars are considered to be for rich people," he says.
He gave up meat recently, but before that he ate it just two or three times a week. And – like 90% of people around the world – he's never been on an aeroplane.
But he does worry about emissions from people burning waste in his city, where the waste management system is not functional, as well as the inefficient wood and gas burners used for cooking.
Oxfam's report found that it's the 40% in the middle doing the most to curb emissions.
While their carbon footprint rose significantly between 1990 and 2015, it is set to drop, thanks to changes being made at government level in sectors like transport and energy since the Paris climate agreement in 2015.
But governments need to do more, Oxfam's Naftoke Dabi says, calling for bans and taxes on "carbon-intensive luxury goods, such as mega-mansions, SUVs or space tourism".
"They need to tackle the emissions of the richest because they're hugely responsible for the climate crisis, and it's the poorest that are paying the highest price," she says.
#climate-change, #glasgow, #global-warming, #poor, #rich, #scotland
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(SCOTLAND) #ClimateChange Report: What is historically the UK's longest lasting patch of snow has disappeared for "only the eighth time in 300 years" on Cairngorms island #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Nov.04: Stirling-based Mr Cameron has been studying snow patches in Scotland for 25 years and is author of the book The Vanishing Ice, which he describes as a "lament" to snow and ice that lingers high in Scotland's hills.
#AceDailyNews says according to BBC Scotland Report: Dubbed the Sphinx, the patch on remote Braeriach in the Cairngorms has melted away more frequently in the last 18 years: Snow patch expert Iain Cameron said climate change was a likely factor: According to records, the Sphinx previously melted fully in 1933, 1959, 1996, 2003, 2006, 2017 and 2018: Before 1933, it is thought to have last melted completely in the 1700s:
Getty Image: The Sphinx pictured in early October
The Sphinx had shrunk to the size of an A4 piece of paper in recent weeks before finally disappearing in mild weather.
He worked alongside the late Dr Adam Watson, a biologist dubbed Mr Cairngorms because of his many years studying the mountains.
Some of Dr Watson's research on the Sphinx drew on information handed down by generations of people who worked and visited the Cairngorms, which suggests the patch may have only melted a few times in the last 300 years.
From the 1840s the Scottish Mountaineering Club began noting the fortunes of the patch, and more recently scientists and ecologists have gathered information.
Mr Cameron told BBC Scotland that historically the Sphinx was the UK's "most durable" snow patch.
But he said: "That is being challenged because it is disappearing more often."
A report published last year warned of declining snow cover in the Cairngorms
Mr Cameron said warmer weather due to climate change "seemed to be the logical" explanation for the increased rate of melting.
He added that the conditions were affecting snowy areas high on other Scottish mountains including in the Ben Nevis range in Lochaber.
Aonach Beag, near Ben Nevis, also has a patch of snow that has often survived from one winter to another.
But Mr Cameron said: "What we are seeing from research are smaller and fewer patches of snow: Less snow is falling now in winter than in the 1980s and even the 1990s."Separately from Mr Cameron's research, a report commissioned by Cairngorms National Park Authority and published last year said declining snow cover, and fewer days when it snowed had been observed on Cairngorm mountain since the winter of 1983-84: Researchers also noted a trend for increasingly warmer weather since the 1960s, and suggested that by the 2080s there would be some years with very little or no snow at all on Cairngorm.
Lauren McCallum, of international climate change campaign group Protect Our Winters, said the Cairngorms – and wider world – needed to be protected from further rises in temperature: She said: "We have to maintain a healthy temperature for our ecosystems and communities to survive."
The Sphinx lies in Garbh Choire Mor, a hollow known as a corrie formed by ice or a glacier during the last ice age, on 1,296m (4,252ft) Braeriach – Britain's third highest mountain.
Garbh Choire Mor is described as Scotland's snowiest corrie because of the amount of snow it can hold even through summer months.
The Sphinx is the name of a climbing route near the snow patch.
The COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. Almost 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.
#cairngorms, #climate-change, #scotland, #snow
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(WASHINGTON) House Oversight Committee Report: Four CEO's of the largest oil companies together with two of the largest lobbying companies refuse to admit culpability of the damage done to the climate and deceiving the public #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Oct.31: Four of the fossil fuel industry's head honchos appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday to testify about their companies' history of climate denial:
#AceDailyNews Climate Change Day Monday as a report by Grist last Thursday has highlighted that the CEOs of Exxon, BP America, and Chevron and the president of Shell's U.S. subsidiary were present, along with the presidents of two top lobbying groups: the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It was a landmark moment — the first time that the executives addressed Congress about their "long-running, industry-wide campaign to spread disinformation about the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming," as an announcement from Democratic Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Ro Khanna put it What climate denial? Oil executives play dumb at major congressional hearing. on Oct 28, 2021.
The executives' testimony was predictably opaque. By the end of the hearing, they had not, as many activists had hoped, admitted culpability for deceiving the public about the risks of climate change, or for obstructing climate action through third-party lobbying groups.
"As science has evolved and developed, our understanding of the science has evolved and developed," said Darren Woods, ExxonMobil's CEO. It was a similar story throughout the day, as pointed question after pointed question from Democrats received cryptic non-answers. Climate change "is one of the biggest challenges of our time," Chevron's Mike Wirth said. "We believe the future of energy is lower-carbon."
Geoffrey Supran, a research associate in the history of science at Harvard University who has studied the industry's disinformation campaigns, said the executives' behavior was predictable. "It wasn't a surprise that they dug in their heels and didn't break down with a mea culpa," he told Grist. "They were well-trained and well-rehearsed in these questions."
Meanwhile, Republicans on the committee acted as a cheering section for the executives. "I think it's shameful how the other side wants to demonize our oil and gas industry," Representative Bob Gibbs of Ohio, a Republican, said. Byron Donalds, a Republican representative from Florida, addressed the fossil fuel executives directly. "I'm sorry for you, and I'm sorry for the people in our country who have to witness shenanigans like this," he said.
Representative Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, who led the hearing along with Representative Ro Khanna. AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
Indeed, much of the hearing saw the four company heads stuck in a push and pull between Republicans and Democrats on the committee, with Democrats trying to eke new climate-related pledges out of the witnesses and Republicans trying to shield said witnesses from Democrats.
"Some of us have to actually live the future that you are setting on fire for us," Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, reminded the witnesses toward the end of the hearing, after her colleagues had tried and failed to get the executives to support a pause on oil and gas leasing on federal lands, reveal their anti-climate lobbying activity, and admit to using third-party groups to lobby against climate change initiatives in multiple states.
The hearing had been widely anticipated by environmental advocates, who have spent years calling for a federal investigation into the oil and gas industry — first and foremost for having deceived the public about the reality of climate change. Documents uncovered in 2015 by InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times revealed that ExxonMobil knew as early as 1977 that fossil fuels would have dangerous consequences for the planet's climate. In fact, the documents showed, Exxon's in-house climate scientists were so good that in 1982, they correctly predicted that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere would rise to roughly 415 parts per million by the year 2019. They warned that the impacts could be "catastrophic."
InsideClimateNews' reporting was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize and gave rise to the hashtag #ExxonKnew. But more recent reporting has shown that other oil companies knew too, including Shell, BP, and the corporate entities that later became Chevron — all of the companies represented at the House Oversight Committee hearing. Rather than using their extensive climate knowledge to warn the world of an urgent need to decarbonize, the companies launched a multifaceted disinformation campaign meant to cast doubt on the reality of global warming. They ran advertisements to stress "uncertainty" in climate science. In some cases, they highlighted the potential benefits of climate change.
Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, refused to drop out of lobbying groups that oppose climate action. AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
"Their argument that their positions have always been in line with science is demonstrably false," Supran said. But rather than confirm what is evident in publicly available documents, the executives "punted."
None of the fossil fuel company executives present on Thursday denied the science of climate change; their companies dropped outright climate denial years ago. In fact, all of them said that they support some sort of climate policy, and the two firms headquartered in Europe — Shell and BP — have announced plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. (Chevron said this month that it has an "aspiration" of hitting net-zero by 2050, but only for its operational emissions, not the emissions from the oil it sells.)
But the Oversight Committee's Democratic members were skeptical of their about-face on climate action. "They are obviously lying," Maloney said at one point. "Our witnesses today would like you to think that their actions" to obstruct climate action "are ancient history, but they are not." She cited a Greenpeace U.K. sting operation conducted earlier this year, in which an undercover reporter recorded a top ExxonMobil lobbyist saying that the company's support for a carbon tax was largely performative. Exxon backed it as a "talking point," the lobbyist said, but didn't believe it would ever be enacted.
The lobbyist also spoke candidly about the company's influence strategy, saying that ExxonMobil funded "shadow groups" to spread doubt about climate science.
Maloney played the clip during the hearing and turned to the oil executives. "I want each of you to affirm that your organization will not spend any money, either directly or indirectly, to oppose efforts to reduce emissions and address climate change," she told them. No one took the pledge, either staying silent or listing off their companies' talking points. BP's executive hedged by inventing a different, unrelated pledge to "advocate for low-carbon policies."
Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, appeared virtually at the Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday. AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
ExxonMobil and other oil and gas majors have recently come under fire for funding lobbying groups — including the Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute — that oppose the Democrats' multitrillion-dollar reconciliation package. Even though it's been watered down from its original proposal, the $1.85 trillion framework as it currently stands would still funnel $555 billion toward fighting the climate crisis and would represent the most significant piece of climate legislation ever passed in the U.S.
The Chamber of Commerce has vociferously opposed the bill as an "everything but the kitchen sink collection of bad policies," and vowed to do "everything we can" to defeat it. The American Petroleum Institute similarly said it was "using every tool at our disposal" to work against it, including by spending at least $423,000 on Facebook ads that have been viewed more than 20 million times.
By the time the hearing wrapped up, it was obvious that the historic day had not yielded any groundbreaking revelations. Democrats on the committee hit the witnesses with every tool in their arsenal — visual aids in the form of bags of rice and M&Ms, sheafs of evidence that oil companies used front groups to kill climate action up and down ballots across the country, even some vaguely therapeutic and possibly counterproductive yelling.
But House Democrats have stressed that the hearing was only the beginning of a longer-term strategy to hold the fossil fuel executives accountable for past and present climate obstruction. An obvious next step is to force the companies to comply with document requests that were made weeks ago by Maloney and Khanna. Internal documents could help shed new light on the companies' awareness of climate science and bolster ongoing litigation against them.
In concluding the meeting, Maloney said she intended to subpoena the fossil fuel companies. "We are at 'code red' for climate, and I am committed to doing everything I can to help rescue this planet and save it for our children," she said. "We need to get to the bottom of the oil industry's disinformation campaign, and with these subpoenas, we will."
#AceNewsDesk report …………..Published: Oct.31: 2021:
#climate-change, #global-warming, #oil, #washington
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(GLASGOW) #COP26 REPORT: Climate Change Sponsors Sky, the summit has 10 other major sponsors, including energy giants Hitachi, National Grid, Scottish Power and SSE, US tech titan Microsoft, and FTSE companies GSK, NatWest, Reckitt, Sainsbury's and Unilever #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Oct.29: Companies that stumped up millions of pounds to sponsor the Cop26 summit have condemned it as "mismanaged" and "very last minute" in a volley of complaints as next month's event in Glasgow draws near.
#AceDailyNews says #COP26 SPONSORS line-up in readiness behind the scenes to LOBBY for their cause of putting #ProfitB4People and not #PeopleB4Profit as the 10 major ones provide the most CASH and WANT it to go just one way THEIR'S ….
Meanwhile The Guardian reports they are complaining about being mismanaged ….
The sponsors, which include some of Britain's biggest companies, have raised formal complaints blaming "very inexperienced" civil servants for delayed decisions, poor communication and a breakdown in relations between the organisers and firms in the run-up to the landmark talks.
The Guardian understands that a letter to the organisers in May, written by the broadcaster Sky and co-signed by senior leaders from other Cop26 sponsors, raised concerns over plans for the event, followed by another co-signed letter in recent weeks.
The UK is running its Cop26 presidency from within the Cabinet Office, under the leadership of the former business secretary Alok Sharma, who is the Cop26 president, and the businessman Nigel Topping who was appointed the government's high-level climate action champion last year. Sponsorship is expected to help defray a policing bill estimated to reach up to £250m.
Alongside Sky, the summit has 10 other major sponsors, including energy giants Hitachi, National Grid, Scottish Power and SSE, US tech titan Microsoft, and FTSE companies GSK, NatWest, Reckitt, Sainsbury's and Unilever. Unilever has denied signing the letter penned by Sky. Other lower tier "partners" include the car maker Jaguar Land Rover and the furniture retailer Ikea.Q&A
What is Cop26?
One source, employed by a Cop26 sponsor, said that "the biggest frustration" was the lack of information about how the event will run, and the role for its key backers, because important questions have gone unanswered and planning decisions have been delayed.
"They had an extra year to prepare for Cop due to Covid, but it doesn't feel like this time was used to make better progress. Everything feels very last minute," the source said.
The upcoming climate talks, considered the last chance to put the world on track to meet its climate ambitions, are due to take place in early November after the event was postponed by a year because of the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020.
They have already been thrown into turmoil by suggestions that the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will skip the event, threatening the chances of a global pact with the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitter.
Organisers of Cop26 promised sponsors an "outstanding opportunity" and "unique benefits" in exchange for their support, including a chance to promote their brands at the conference "green zone" exhibition space and the participation of government ministers at their events.
But in multiple emails and official letters the companies have complained to organisers about unmet expectations, and deepening concerns over delays to the green zone plans. They have also raised complaints that ministers have not always been available for their events in the run-up to Cop26, as agreed as part of the sponsor deals.
Other sources have described the "shifting goal posts" and "inertia" plaguing the Cop26 planning as "deeply frustrating".
Many of the event's corporate backers regularly take part in high-profile sponsorship deals for big events, and have been left bewildered by the slow progress of the Cop26 events, another source explained.
The source blamed the "very young, very inexperienced" civil servants tasked with planning the event for taking a "top-down public sector approach" that has raised hackles among sponsors.
"It's clear that many of them have very little experience managing relationships in the private sector, or even experience attending a Cop event," the source said.
The energy company sponsors – Hitachi, National Grid, Scottish Power and SSE – are understood to be particularly frustrated because they were under the impression that no other energy brands would feature at Cop26. However, the "blue zone", which is organised by the UN, will include rival brands.
Ministers had been due to release three key documents on Monday on the government's plans to achieve its net zero target by 2035, but publication has been delayed owing to the murder of the MP Sir David Amess.
The documents reveal a stark split within the cabinet, understood to be between on one side Boris Johnson, the prime minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, and Michael Gove, responsible for improving the UK's homes, all seeing benefits to strong climate action; and on the other, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, a free-market hawk instinctively opposed to government intervention.
All three papers are now expected to come later in the week, with the government seeking to preserve a show of unity over the publications.
The row over the government's handling of Cop26 planning has emerged amid public order concerns, with up to 150,000 protesters expected to take to Glasgow's streets in early November alongside the crucial climate talks, which will require one of the largest policing operations ever undertaken in Britain.
Countries and organisations planning to host events have also said they fear that increased costs will cause problems for developing nations.
Multiple participants told the Guardian earlier this month that the cost of renting Cop26 pavilions – event spaces for hosting workshops, panel discussions and keynote speeches during the conference – is considerably higher than it was at Cop25 in Madrid, with some saying it had increased by as much as 30%.
A Cop26 spokesperson said the organisers were "working closely" with sponsors which would increase the value-for-money for taxpayers, and reduce the overall financial cost of Cop26.
A Whitehall veteran of Cop summits said: "It feels like some of these sponsors have forgotten the actual reason we're in Glasgow. Cop isn't about branding, it's about tackling climate change. Keeping 1.5C in reach is the best thing you can do for your bottom line: they would do well to remember this."
This article was amended on 18 October 2021 to clarify that the letter written by Sky and co-signed by other sponsors was sent in May, not July, and came before a second letter was sent to organisers by unconfirmed signatories. The subheading was also amended to remove the names of specific Cop26 sponsors.
Guardian Report: Jillian Ambrose/Additional reporting Fiona Harvey
#climate-change, #cop26sponsors, #glasgow, #global-warming
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(GENEVA) UN World Meteorological Organisation Report: Levels of climate-heating gases in the atmosphere hit record levels in 2020, despite coronavirus-related lockdowns, has announced #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Oct.26: The concentration of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, is now 50% higher than before the Industrial Revolution sparked the mass burning of fossil fuels. Methane levels have more than doubled since 1750. All key greenhouse gases (GHG) rose faster in 2020 than the average for the previous decade and this trend has continued in 2021,
#GlobalWarming & #ClimateChange Desk says according to Guardian Environmental News: By Damian Carrington Greenhouse gas levels hit new record despite lockdowns, UN reports on Monday and the data sends a 'stark' message to the nations tasked with increasing action at the #COP26 climate summit, UN meteorology chief says and the WMO report found.
The data shows the climate crisis continues to worsen and send a "stark" message to the nations meeting at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgowin a week's time, according to WMO chief Prof Petteri Taalas: "We are way off track."
The negotiators at the summit must deliver action to keep alive the goal of ending GHG emissions by 2050 and avoiding the worst climate impacts. Only stopping emissions will stabilise the levels of the gases and halt the temperature rises that drive the increasing damage from heatwaves, floods and droughts.
"At the current rate of increase in GHG concentrations, we will see a temperature increase by the end of this century far in excess of the Paris Agreement targets of 1.5C to 2C," said Taalas. "[Rising levels of GHGs] have major negative repercussions for our daily lives and wellbeing, and for the future of our children and grandchildren."
"It is hoped Cop26 will see a dramatic increase in commitments," he said. "We need to transform our commitment into action that will have an impact on GHGs. We need to revisit our industrial, energy and transport systems and whole way of life – the needed changes are economically affordable and technically possible. There is no time to lose."
The burning of coal, oil and gas is the biggest source of CO2, which is the cause of 66% of global heating. CO2 emissions fell by about 5% in 2020 due to Covid restrictions, compared to 2019. But many billions of tonnes of CO2 were still pumped into the atmosphere, meaning the Covid economic slowdown "did not have any discernible impact on the atmospheric levels of GHG and their growth rates", the WMO said.
About half of the CO2 from human activities remains in the atmosphere, with the other half soaked up by oceans and trees and plants on land. But the WMO warned that global heating is damaging the ability of the natural world to take up emissions with, for example, the Amazon now having flipped from absorbing CO2 to emitting it as wildfires, droughts and logging destroy trees.
Methane accounts for 16% of global heating and the majority of its emissions are caused by human activity such as cattle farming and fossil fuel production. Methane is a potent and relatively short-lived GHG, so cutting emissions has a rapid impact. Ahead of Cop26, the US and EU pledged to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
The other major GHG is nitrous oxide, responsible for 7% of global heating. These emissions mostly come from the overuse of chemical fertilisers in farming and cattle manure. The GHG data is collected by the WMO's Global Atmosphere Watch Programme.
Levels of atmospheric GHGs are higher than ever experienced by the human race, and the highest for 3-5 million years. At that time, global temperature was 2-3C hotter and sea level was 10-20 meters higher than today, said Talaas: "But there weren't 7.8 billion people then."
"The true success, or failure, of Cop26 will be written in our skies in the form of greenhouse gas concentrations. This WMO report provides a brutally frank assessment of what's been written there to date. So far, it's an epic fail," said Prof Dave Reay, at the University of Edinburgh.
"The small window of opportunity to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that meets the Paris climate goals is about to vanish," he said. "Will this 26th Cop find success where the previous 25 have fallen short? Our atmosphere will bear witness."
#AceNewsDesk report …………Published: Oct.26: 2021:
#climate-change, #global-warming, #greenhouse-gases
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(WORLDWIDE) #Climate Change & Global Warming Report: The Group of 20 rich countries are divided over phasing out coal and committing to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius as they prepare for a crucial summit in Rome next week, sources familiar with the negotiations said #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Oct.22: The need to curb emissions will be high on the agenda of the Rome G20 gathering on Oct. 30-31, seen as a key stepping stone immediately ahead of broader United Nations climate talks, called #COP26, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
#AceDailyNews says that according to a report G20 split over coal, 1.5 degree climate limit ahead of Rome summit according to sources and so far big polluters such as China and India have dug in their heels and little progress has been made since G20 energy and environment ministers met in Naples in July, said three sources, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the talks
Just as #COP26 is due to get underway and leaders look at #ProfitB4People again ….
"Countries are not moving, at the moment they are still just making sure their positions are heard loud and clear," said one of the sources.
However he added that such intransigence was normal at this stage and any concessions were unlikely to come before G20 climate sherpas meet face-to-face next Thursday and Friday, immediately before their leaders' weekend meeting.
"Where I see the problem is in the commitment to 1.5 degrees and in the phase out of coal and fossil fuels by China, India and Russia," said another source, a G20 minister.
In Naples, energy and environment ministers recognized the desirability of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees but fell short of a clear commitment to achieve the goal.
They also failed to reach unanimous agreement on fixing dates to end fossil fuel subsidies, halt international financing of coal projects and phase out coal power altogether, asking leaders to bridge the gaps at the upcoming Rome summit.
Big-hitters stay home
At least four G20 leaders are not expected to come to Rome, including China's Xi Jinping, at the helm of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, and Russia's Vladimir Putin, head of the largest energy producer.
One source said while such absences were "not a great political signal," they would not necessarily prevent progress.
Neither Russia, China nor India have committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, considered a vital goal in limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.
So far China is proving most reluctant to commit to the 1.5 degree ceiling, while India is most intransigent in not pledging net zero emissions by 2050, one of the sources said.
China and India are also among a group of countries that have not yet presented new national plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ahead of COP 26, on how they will help curb climate change.
The COP26 president, Britain's Alok Sharma, said in a speech this month the G20, which accounts for 80 percent of global emissions, would be "make, or break" for achieving success in Glasgow.
However, one of the sources said breakthroughs were more likely in Glasgow than in Rome.
Big emitters like China, India and Russia tend to feel pressured and hectored by the Western countries at the G20, he said, making them defensive and reluctant to concede ground.
The much larger UN forum was more "neutral" and conducive to compromise, he said.
The Rome G20 will also focus on the coronavirus pandemic and how to foster global economic recovery, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who will chair the meeting, said on Wednesday.
#china, #climate-change, #g20, #global-warming, #naples, #rome, #worldwide
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(SWEDEN) #ClimateChange Report: New Credit Card Will Shut Off When Your 'Carbon Footprint' Gets Too High as 'Going GREEN Begins' to bite #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Oct.17: The site goes on to say that this is a partnership not only with credit giant Mastercard but under the authority of the United Nations as well. Then they drop the 'other shoe' as the old saying goes. Your credit gets cut off when you reach your 'carbon limit'. To effectively reduce the climate crisis, we have to make behavioural changes with high impact. DO Black is a, not yet launched, credit card that helps us calculate our climate spending, but it also comes with a monthly tCO2e limit, ensuring that we stick to the UN-2030-recommended cuts in carbon.
#AceDailyNews says according to a EU Times reports: Going GREEN will be a New Credit Card that Will Shut Off When Your 'Carbon Footprint' Gets Too High It's being touted as "climate action in your pocket", and the Doconomy site says "Our non-plastic, biodegradable DO card tracks the CO2 emissions generated from our transactions and then displays that data through a simple app." as Doconomy launches Mastercard credit card with a carbon-emission spending limit
Doconomy Mastercard is the first credit card ever to stop you from overspending based on the level of CO2 emissions generated by your consumption. It's presented as an "educational effort," according to one of the founders.
Remember Klaus Schwab warning us last year that they were preparing the Great Reset which was part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and that the entire global paradigm upon which this sin-cursed and fallen world sits was going to radically and drastically change? Lol, 20 months later it's obvious they sure weren't lying about that. Since the whole world is heading rapidly to the Mark of the Beast System, it seems only fitting that have a true 666-style credit card to go along with it, right? Yep, and here it is, the new Doconomy Mastercard.
We're teaming up with partners Barclays @ThinkRiseNY + @Doconomyto launch the #ClimateFintech Cards & Payments Challenge – for fintech startups who want to co-create the future of digital payments with us and help tackle climate change. Join us: https://t.co/Z8nXszXtLzpic.twitter.com/D59ll6QyGJ
— Mastercard News (@MastercardNews) September 8, 2021
"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear." Revelation 13:7-9 (KJB)
It's being touted as "climate action in your pocket", and the Doconomy site says "Our non-plastic, biodegradable Doconomy DO card tracks the CO2 emissions generated from our transactions and then displays that data through a simple app."
The site goes on to say that this is a partnership not only with credit giant Mastercard but under the authority of the United Nations as well. Then they drop the 'other shoe' as the old saying goes. Your Doconomy credit gets cut off when you reach your 'carbon limit'.
To effectively reduce the climate crisis, we have to make behavioural changes with high impact. DO Black is a, not yet launched, credit card that helps us calculate our climate spending, but it also comes with a monthly tCO2e limit, ensuring that we stick to the UN-2030-recommended cuts in carbon.
Sometime I wonder if these people are reading Now The End Begins, and they just do this stuff to mess with me, because all this is exactly what we've been warning you about for years now. Money as you know it is getting ready to drastically change, and it will be connected to the Mark of the Beast in the days after the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church takes place. But because we are so very close that event right now, the Lord is allowing us to watch this lost world 'set up shop' for the coming Son of Perdition. They have created the race crisis, the climate crisis, the COVID crisis, the Vaccination Passport crisis, and the next thing will be the monetary crisis. Put it all together and you will find yourself in the time of Jacob's trouble. Well, maybe you will, not me, I have a seat booked on Flight #777 on Titus213 Airlines. Enjoy the credit card!
Swedish fintech company Doconomy has launched a credit card that tracks the carbon dioxide emissions of purchases, and caps the climate impact of users' spending…..
#climate-change, #climatechange, #credit-card, #sweden
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), #COP26 ( 29 ), climate-change, Worldwide ( 20 )
(WORLDWIDE) Climate Change Study Report: #COP26 Approaches with everyone saying this one has to be the one that we keep our promises but with sponsorship from oil and energy companies lobbying and now muted scientists do we really believe it will #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Oct.09: Less than 1% of the authors were based in Africa, while only 12 of the papers had a female lead researcher: The lack of diverse voices means key perspectives are being ignored, says the study's author. ……
#AceDailyNews says that according to BBC News Climate Change Voices from global south muted by climate science after the study looked at 100 of the most highly cited climate research papers over the past five years as Climate change academics from some of the regions worst hit by warming are struggling to be published, according to a new analysis.
By Matt McGrath
BBC Environment correspondent
Researchers from the Carbon Brief website examined the backgrounds of around 1,300 authors involved in the 100 most cited climate change research papers from 2016-2020.
Climate science breakthroughs win physics Nobel
Stop climate smoke and mirrors, rich nations told
Money on the agenda at Milan climate talks
They found that some 90% of these scientists were affiliated with academic institutions from North America, Europe or Australia.
CELINE CLERYI: Issues concern to African climate researchers were in danger of being ignored……
The African continent, home to around 16% of the world's population had less than 1% of the authors according to the analysis.
There were also huge differences within regions – of the 10 authors from Africa, eight of them were from South Africa.
When it comes to lead authors, not one of the top 100 papers was led by a scientist from Africa or South America. Of the seven papers led by Asian authors, five were from China.
"If the vast majority of research around climate change is coming from a group of people with a very similar background, for example, male scientists from the global north, then the body of knowledge that we're going to have around climate change is going to be skewed towards their interests, knowledge and scientific training," said Ayesha Tandon from Carbon Brief, who carried out the analysis and says that "systemic bias" is at play here.
"One study noted that a lot of our understanding of climate change is biased towards cooler climates, because it's mainly carried out by scientists who live in the global north in cold climates," she added.
There are a number of other factors at play that limit the opportunities for researchers from the global south. These include a lack of funding for expensive computers to run the computer models, or simulations, that are the bedrock of much climate research.
Other issues include a different academic culture where teaching is prioritised over research, as well as language barriers and a lack of access to expensive libraries and databases.
MATTHIEU RONDEL: Most of the leading papers on climate change were published by institutions in the global north….
Even where researchers from better-off countries seek to collaborate with colleagues in the developing world, the efforts don't always work out well.
One researcher originally from Tanzania but now working in Mexico explained what can happen.
"The northern scientist often brings his or her own grad students from the north, and they tend to view their local partners as facilitators – logistic, cultural, language, admin – rather than science collaborators," Dr Tuyeni Mwampamba from the Institute of Ecosystems and Sustainability Research in Mexico told Carbon Brief.
Researchers from the north are often seen as wanting to extract resources and data from developing nations without making any contribution to local research, a practice sometimes known as "helicopter science".
For women involved in research in the global south there are added challenges in getting your name on a scientific paper
SIA KAMBOUA scientist at work in Cote D'Ivoire: Women tend to have a much higher dropout rate than men as they progress through academia," said Ayesha Tandon: But then women also have to contend with stereotypes and sexism, and even just cultural norms in their country or from the upbringing that might prevent them from spending as much time on their science or from pursuing it in the way that men do."
The analysis suggests that the lack of voices from women and from the global south is hampering the global understanding of climate change.
Solving the problem is not going to be easy, according to the author.
"This is a systemic problem and it will progress and keep getting worse, because people in positions of power will continue to have those privileges," said Ayesha Tandon.
"It's a problem that will not just go away on its own unless people really work at it."
#cop26, #climate-change, #worldwide
Tags: #AceDailyNews ( 1,804 ), #AceNewsDesk ( 5,365 ), #AceNewsReport ( 5,310 ), Amazon ( 16 ), Apple ( 22 ), climate-change, climatechange ( 22 ), Disney, Microsoft ( 20 ), New York ( 135 )
(NEW YORK) U.S #ClimateChange Crisis Bill Report: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft & Disney are some of the clutch of corporate entities that are backing business groups against the legislation #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Oct.03: Some of America's most prominent companies, including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Disney, are backing business groups that are fighting landmark climate legislation, despite their own promises to combat the climate crisis, a new analysis has found…
#AceDailyNews says that Guardian by Oliver Milman reports that Apple and Disney among companies backing groups against US climate bill: A clutch of corporate lobby groups and organizations have mobilized to oppose the proposed $3.5tn budget bill put forward by Democrats, which contains unprecedented measures to drive down planet-heating gases. The reconciliation bill has been called the "the most significant climate action in our country's history" by Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the US Senate…..
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1335
Most large US corporations have expressed concern over the climate crisis or announced their own goals to cut greenhouse gases. Jeff Bezos, one of the world's richest people, has said that the climate crisis is the "biggest threat to our planet" and the company he founded, Amazon, has created a pledge for businesses to cut their emissions to net zero by 2040. Microsoft has promised to be "carbon negative" within a decade from now and Disney is aiming to use only renewable-sourced electricity within the same timeframe.
But these leading companies, and others, either support or actively steer the very lobby groups that are attempting to sink the bill that carries the weight of Joe Biden's ambitions to tackle the climate crisis, threatening one of the last major legislative efforts that will help decide whether parts of the world plunge into a new, barely livable climatic state.
"Major corporations love to tell us how committed they are to addressing the climate crisis and building a sustainable future, but behind closed doors, they are funding the very industry trade groups that are fighting tooth and nail to stop the biggest climate change bill ever," said Kyle Herrig, president of watchdog group Accountable.US, which compiled the analysis.
None of the companies contacted by the Guardian would rebuke the stance of the lobby groups they are part of and none said they would review their links to these groups.
"Hiding behind these shady groups doesn't just put our environment at risk – it puts these companies' household names and reputations in serious jeopardy," Herrig said.
The US Chamber of Commerce has vowed to "do everything we can to prevent this tax raising, job killing reconciliation bill from becoming law". The leading business lobby group's board includes executives from companies including Microsoft, Intuit, United Airlines and Deloitte, which have all expressed concern over climate change – Deloitte even includes teaching the climate crisis to employees in its staff training – and have made various promises to reduce emissions.
Another group, the Business Roundtable, has said it is "deeply concerned" about the passage of the bill, largely because it raises taxes on the wealthy. The organization is made up of company chief executives, including Apple's Tim Cook, who has called for stronger action on the climate emergency from governments and businesses. Other members include Andy Jassy, chief executive of Amazon, Sundar Pichai, who heads Google's parent company Alphabet, and Darren Woods, chief executive of the oil giant Exxon.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group that includes Bayer and AstraZeneca among its members, has run adverts attacking the proposed bill. The Rate Coalition, another lobby group that has Disney, FedEx and Verizon as members, is also planning an advertising blitz to help kill off the legislation while the National Association of Manufacturers – backed by Johnson&Johnson, Dow and Goodyear – has said it is attempting to upend the bill "in every way you can imagine".
This blitz threatens legislation that already faces a perilous path through Congress, with the president needing every Senate Democrat to vote for the package for it to pass. Joe Manchin, the centrist Democrat from West Virginia who is a major recipient of donations from the fossil fuel industry, has said the climate section of the bill "makes no sense" and has demanded that subsidies for coal, oil and gas remain in place. Republicans universally oppose the bill.
If enacted, the bill would establish a system to phase out emissions from the US electricity system, provide payments to prop up carbon-free nuclear energy and support the adoption of electric vehicles.
As the first major attempt at climate legislation in more than a decade, the bill comes at a time when scientists warn the world is rapidly running out of time to avoid catastrophic climate change. The legislation's failure would not only wound Biden politically, it would also likely hinder attempts to prod other countries into more drastic action at crucial upcoming UN climate talks in Scotland.
"This is a historic chance to end fossil fuel subsidies and invest in a livable future," said Lukas Ross, climate program manager at Friends of the Earth. "We can't waste this opportunity to pass meaningful climate legislation because there might not be another."
#AceNewsDesk report ……….Published: Oct.03: 2021:
#amazon, #apple, #climate-change, #climatechange, #disney, #microsoft, #new-york
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(LONDON) Climate Change Protestors Report: At least three people have been arrested on suspicion of orchestrating protests that caused disruption on the M25 over campaign for action on housing insulation #AceNewsDesk report
#AceNewsReport – Sept.17: The government said it was offering support for energy efficiency measures: Hertfordshire Police said it attempted to engage with protesters before making arrests…
#AceDailyNews says here's latest on M25 Protest: Met arrests three over 'orchestration' and said it also made 14 arrests at junction 25, bringing the total made by all forces after two days of protests to 165 Wednesday and follows protests on Monday when five junctions were blocked and 77 arrests made as Insulate Britain activists stopped traffic on the M25 for the second time this week in their campaign for action on home insulation.
Climate change activists returned to the M25 on Wednesday after protests on Monday
The Met Police said arrests on suspicion of orchestrating the protest were made across the UK.
As of 11:20hrs on Wednesday, 15 September, the Met had cleared junction 25 of the M25 of protestors making 14 arrests for obstructing the public highway. A further three people have been arrested across the country on suspicion of orchestrating the protest.
Officers attended as soon as we had received the information regarding the protest and immediately arrested and removed 11 protesters by 09:25hrs. The remaining three had glued themselves to the road or to each other. As soon as these protesters were unglued they were arrested.
A number of protesters have been demonstrating around the M25 motorway this week and have caused significant disruption to motorists, commuters travelling to and from work and businesses whose vehicles use this route to deliver goods. It is our intention to remove these protesters as soon as it is safe and we have sufficient officers and transport to take them into custody.
We cannot remove protesters who are glued to the road without specialist equipment and trained officers. This was happening at multiple locations around the M25 and it took time to resolve – time which could have been spent policing our communities in London.
We consider their actions to be unreasonable and unsafe highway obstruction and we will respond as quickly as possible and robustly to any incidents of this nature.
Three other police forces made 71 arrests as demonstrators targeted other sections of the UK's busiest motorway on Wednesday.
There were long delays at junctions 1a and 1b for Dartford, Kent; eight for Reigate and nine for Leatherhead, Surrey; and 23 for South Mimms in Hertfordshire.
Protesters blocked roundabouts and the motorway itself, while some glued themselves to the road surface.
Surrey Police said it arrested 32 people, Hertfordshire Police 18 and Kent Police 21.
Hertfordshire Police detained 18 people at junction 23 for the A1(M)
Announcing Wednesday's action, Insulate Britain said 89 of its members were taking part saying "sitting in the road makes Boris Johnson sit up and take notice".
It wants the government to make "a meaningful commitment to insulate Britain's 29 million leaky homes".
In response to Monday's protests, a government spokeswoman said it was "investing £1.3bn this year alone to support people to install energy efficiency measures, and our upcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy will set out how we decarbonise the nation's homes in a way that is fair, practical and affordable".
#AceNewsDesk report ………Published: Sept.17: 2021:
#activists, #climate-change, #insulation, #london, #m25
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