Only One Big Economy Is Aiming for Paris Agreement's 1.5C Goal (financialpost.com) 48
Seven of the 10 world's largest economies missed a deadline on Monday to submit updated emissions-cutting plans to the United Nations -- and only one, the UK, outlined a strategy for the next decade that keeps pace with expectations staked out under the Paris Agreement. From a report: All countries taking part in the UN process had been due to send their national climate plans for the next decade by Feb. 10, but relatively few got theirs in on time. Dozens more nations will likely come forward with updated plans within the next nine months before the UN's annual climate summit, known as COP30, kicks off in Brazil.
The lack of urgency among the more than 170 countries that failed to file what climate diplomats refer to as "nationally determined contributions" (NDCs) adds to concerns about the world's continuing commitment to keeping warming to well below 2C, and ideally 1.5C, relative to pre-industrial levels. Virtually every country adopted those targets a decade ago in the landmark agreement signed in Paris, but a series of lackluster UN summits last year has added to a sense of backsliding. US President Donald Trump has already started the process of pulling the world's second-largest emitter out of the global agreement once again. Political leaders in Argentina, Russia and New Zealand have indicated they would like to follow suit.
The lack of urgency among the more than 170 countries that failed to file what climate diplomats refer to as "nationally determined contributions" (NDCs) adds to concerns about the world's continuing commitment to keeping warming to well below 2C, and ideally 1.5C, relative to pre-industrial levels. Virtually every country adopted those targets a decade ago in the landmark agreement signed in Paris, but a series of lackluster UN summits last year has added to a sense of backsliding. US President Donald Trump has already started the process of pulling the world's second-largest emitter out of the global agreement once again. Political leaders in Argentina, Russia and New Zealand have indicated they would like to follow suit.
Sounds about right (Score:2, Insightful)
Nobody takes the commitment seriously. Not even seriously enough to commit a plan to paper on time let alone actually implemented. They just like to talk about game and dump all of the Donald Trump and USA when he/we stop pretending and just acknowledge what the real policy choices are going to be and what they were always going to be no matter who was in office because otherwise as Harris found out - you lose elections.
Re: (Score:2)
If flying leaders in planes to make agreements that reduce pollution by millions of times what was produced by those flights, then that would be worth it
It is and you are a troll
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Don't insult cows, that's racist.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Most of them do because they've come to very much appreciate eating. And sleeping indoors in an individually private room with or without a partner of choice. And wearing clothes.
I mean to say, they are pragmatists in their own lives, doing all that is necessary to thrive. Shutting off fossil fuels and private transportation would cost them their jobs, their choices, their comfort.
But they feel better railing against the rest of us who freely admit we want it all. It's just not here yet.
Re: (Score:2)
The global warming problem is not going to be solved by individual actions. Why should a few individuals take all the burden on themselves? The more effort they do, the less the rest of the world will do anyways.
Global warming can only be solved by having a price on carbon, and then letting people decide whether it's worth it or not to drive that big ICE car. Some will say it's worth it, others won't. But at least the price on carbon will be enough to cover for the consequences of pollution. Those with a hi
Carbon taxes (Re:Sounds about right) (Score:2)
Global warming can only be solved by having a price on carbon
If that's a high price due to natural rarity then people will be highly motivated to find alternatives. If the high price is from taxes then expect people to be motivated to find new elected representatives.
Those with a high emission lifestyle will end up paying the most. And with all that collected money we can reduce other taxes anyways so there is no loss.
Those with a high emission lifestyle tend to be those that are in blue collar work. The white collar workers are people that can often work from home, can afford a BEV or PHEV, and can afford the upfront cost of a rooftop solar PV system so they can collect on the government tax incentives at the end o
Re: (Score:2)
On the other hand, most greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation and electricity. A good chunk of that is industrial
Re: (Score:2)
Those with a high emission lifestyle will end up paying the most. And with all that collected money we can reduce other taxes anyways so there is no loss.
+1 Funny
Re: (Score:2)
But climate scientists and activists don't take it seriously either. They all still have cars (gas or electric) or ride bus/train rather than ride bicycles or walk.
Speak for yourself, not for other people. I personally have been trying for years to minimize my climate impact. I work from home and drive as little as I possibly can. When I have to, it's in a plug-in hybrid. I rarely fly and almost never eat red meat. Just to give a few examples.
I'm not unique in this. I know other people who do the same.
Just because you choose to live as if there were no crisis, don't pretend everyone does the same.
Distractions (Re:Sounds about right) (Score:1)
Nobody takes the commitment seriously.
Maybe because they are a bit distracted by energy and food shortages in Europe because Putin decided to start a war. Then there's problems getting food and fuel through the Red Sea because some people thought it might be cute to fire missiles at passing ships. Panama canal is having issues getting ships through because of a drought and mismanagement. Perhaps I'm mistaken or it's been resolved but I seem to recall labor union strikes at various seaports in the USA. Then there's ships getting lost at sea
I hope there is an award (Score:4, Funny)
They should give the UK some of its empire back for good behavior.
Re: (Score:2)
I say start with the Palestine Mandate. They can have Gaza.
Re:I hope there is an award (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: I hope there is an award (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
He got modded insightful because obviously he meant Atlantis.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Of the top of your head about Tuvalu would be wrong.
From 2000 to 2013 it lost a few hectares of uninhabitable land which fueled the scare tactics but since 2014 it's been growing, 73 hectares of habitable land to be exact. Funny enough the media hasn't reported that.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Are you claiming that the sea level is actually falling? Or that the mitigations their government has put in place are actually working? Or...?
Accretion.
Re: (Score:2)
Reward those who actually solve problems, not those who merely make an effort to appear to be doing something.
Re: (Score:2)
juIt's almost like trying to get multiple nations, none of which can really enforce anything against the others takes more than just strong words but takes an actual commitment from the nations that are looked at and considered the leaders, like say the nation that was considered the global hegemon and thus the trendsetter for the world. If that nation was clearly not serious than what would the motivation be for any others, especially when that richest and most influential nation has signaled its intentio
Re: (Score:2)
Why does the rest of the world have to follow the US?
Green energy is good. It costs less and is more reliable and cleaner than non green energy. That's why China, for example, stopped building coal and nucle... oh wait. Nevermind.
Re: (Score:1)
Nuclear power is green. Anyone who opposes nuclear is a climate change denier. It's literally our only hope.
Re: (Score:2)
Even with the accidents, nuclear energy is even safer for us when accounting for the whole process and resultant contaminants.
Disposal of the waste is even a more-or-less solved problem. Chuck it in a disused mine. When it's full cap it off with concrete. Every 25 years, send someone out there to replace the signs.
Also, more research on thorium MSRs, please.
Re: (Score:2)
Nuclear power is green. Anyone who opposes nuclear is a climate change denier. It's literally our only hope.
BEVs are good, hybrids, H2 and e-fuels are bad. Wind and solar are good, nuclear and hydro are bad. Global warming is bad, but we must only use certain select approved-by-obsessives methods to address it.
This is why I don't care. Can't be that big a crisis if we can afford to be really picky about our solutions. All hands on deck clearly not needed here. Moving along.
Re: (Score:2)
I never said anyone "had" to, that's an assumption and a bad faith one.
Even you would have to admit when you looking at motivations amongst actors who cannot enforce actions against the other (unless we are talking direct violence) that there is a collective action problem at hand and having the wealthiest, most powerful nation in the world taking action has an effect on the motivations and actions on the rest of the world. Of course the current admin prefers a multipolar world where America cedes that inf
Just another example... (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
I don't say this to be rude or demeaning, it was true for me too, but if you thought the situation was otherwise it was probably due to youth or naivete. Maybe you believed the people who said we'd save the world with climate summits. Well, half of them knew it was just for show and wouldn't matter, the other half were just painfully naive.
Re: (Score:2)
I grew up during the cold war. Believe me when I say it's not the same. Living under the constant fear that at any moment we could be wiped out by a nuclear attack really sucked. But it also really did force nations to work together.
Back then we really did believe that democracy was the answer, and that it was an inevitable force of history. We boasted there had never been a war between two democracies. The idea that so many democracies would embrace fascism and reject the very principle of internation
The collective world order (Score:2)
The best description I've ever heard of it is an international poker game where everybody's cheating.
You would need to start breaking down national borders and effectively increasing the scope and size of what people think of as their tribe in order to
What is UK's plan? (Score:2)
I was curious if there was a specific plan laid out by the UK government to cut CO2 emissions. I believe I found it:
https://www.gov.uk/government/... [www.gov.uk]
It's a long read so I thought to skim it over to find some kind of summary on their plan, emphasis in the quote is mine:
In December 2024, the UK government published the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. The government will work with the private sector to radically increase the deployment of onshore wind, solar and offshore wind so that electricity generated by renewables and nuclear power will be the backbone of a clean electricity system by 2030. In a typical weather year, the 2030 power system will see clean sources produce at least as much power as Great Britain consumes in total over the whole year, and at least 95% of Great Britainâ(TM)s generation; reducing the carbon intensity of our generation from 171gCO2e/kWh in 2023 to well below 50gCO2e/kWh in 2030.
It appears the UK government is following the studies done by Dr. David JC MacKay. Dr. MacKay was was appointed Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change due to his work on studying energy and CO2 emissions. He
We are decarbonizing (Score:2)
Did it by ruining their economy (Score:1)
...via Brexit.
If you don't have an economy of course you are going to pollute less.
Not buying food keeps the kitchen cleaner.
If you are a left winger in America (Score:4, Interesting)
If you're on the left wing and you have an issue that keeps you there what you need to be focusing on right now is voting rights. Nothing else matters.
And no you can't go outside democracy to get what you want. You won't be able to build the kind of parallel power structures without the help of sympathetic government and if you try to resort to violence you'll do the same thing China and Russia did and turn into right-wingers. That's because the right wing is inherently better at violence because they're better at command structures and you need a strong command structure to do effective violence, a command structure you aren't going to get rid of when the shooting stops.
I honest we don't know if we're going to have elections in 2 years let alone 4. But if we don't do anything about voter suppression then no we aren't going to have elections. Stalin was wrong, it's not about who counts the votes it's who gets to vote in the first place. You would think after Jim Crow we'd have learned that
Well they failed then. (Score:2)
We have already passed 1.5 degrees