Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Solar Energy News .




CLIMATE SCIENCE
Ministers in Paris to boost flagging climate talks
By Marlowe HOOD
Paris (AFP) July 18, 2015


Japan pledges 26% emissions cut by 2030
Tokyo (AFP) July 18, 2015 - Japan, the world's sixth biggest greenhouse gas polluter, has pledged to cut emissions 26 percent from 2013 levels by 2030, a target observers judged inadequate to avert calamitous global warming.

In order to achieve this goal, nuclear energy, deeply unpopular and offline since the 2011 tsunami-induced Fukushima disaster, must provide about 20-22 percent of electricity production by then, said the country's official UN filing late Friday.

Renewable electricity production, including hydro power, would be expanded to 22-24 percent of the total from 11 percent for the year to March 2014, according to documents posted on the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other official reports.

"We have decided to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent -- an ambitious target that is in no way inferior internationally," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a meeting on Friday.

"It is urgently needed to boost efforts by the international community to deal with climate change," Abe said, adding that Tokyo was ready to help set up "a fair and practical framework" involving all major greenhouse gas emission countries.

Japan became the 19th party, including the 28-member EU bloc, to submit a carbon-cutting pledge to the United Nations ahead of a November 30-December 11 conference in Paris that must finalise a world climate pact.

A roster of national emissions curbs will support that agreement, which must take effect from 2020 with the goal to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

Greenpeace called the pledge "one of the weakest targets of any industrialised nation" -- pointing out it would amount to a mere 18 percent reduction by 2030 over Japan's 1990 emissions.

The EU's target is 40 percent from 1990 to 2030.

The Climate Action Tracker, a science-based tool to analyse countries' climate efforts, has described the 26-percent target as inadequate and said Japan could reach it almost without taking any further action.

Japan's network of nuclear reactors, which once provided a quarter of the country's power, was switched off after the Fukushima accident, when reactors went into meltdown after their cooling systems were flooded.

As a result, the nation relied much more heavily on coal-fired power stations -- among the worst emitters of planet-warming greenhouse gases.

On Tokyo's own count, total greenhouse gas emissions in 2013 amounted to some 1.4 billion tonnes.

The global total is now about 50 billion tonnes per year, of which China, the United States and Europe account for about half.

According to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a two degree C pathway requires greenhouse gas cuts of 40-70 percent by 2050 compared to levels in 2010 -- and to zero or below by 2100.

Foreign and environment ministers and other high-level officials from 45 countries are set to gather in Paris Monday seeking to re-energise climate talks mired in technical details and political squabbling.

Just four months ahead of a UN conference in the French capital tasked with producing a historic climate pact, US scientists this week said 2014 was a record year for sea level rise, land temperatures, and the greenhouse gases that drive dangerous global warming.

But overwhelming consensus on the urgency of the problem has not translated into significant progress on united action to prevent the planet from overheating.

"The negotiations have not, strictly speaking, begun yet," Laurence Tubiana, France's chief climate negotiator, told journalists this week.

Ministers meeting on Monday and Tuesday "have to take ownership of the content of the negotiation, otherwise their negotiators will not really be able to engage on the key political issues," she said.

The political discussions will be followed in Bonn at the end of August with technical negotiations on the content of a draft agreement, with another ministers' gathering slated for September.

The 32 foreign and environment ministers and 13 senior negotiators in Paris, working under the guidance of France's chief diplomat Laurent Fabius, have their work cut out for them.

A draft agreement emerging from earlier rounds is little more than an exhaustive laundry list of problems and options, and is too unwieldy, Tubiana said.

The 195-nation UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has embraced a goal of limiting average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

Scientists say disastrous climate change can be avoided at this threshold, but warn the planet is on target for double that, or more.

Small island nations and poor countries in Africa and Asia, which will be hardest hit by climate-change effects, say 2C is not ambitious enough, and favour a 1.5 C target.

"As a people and a nation, our very survival is absolutely threatened by the effects of climate change," Tony De Brum, foreign minister of the Marshall Islands, told AFP ahead of the meeting.

Projected sea-level rise and enhanced storm surges, even under optimistic emissions scenarios, may force the inhabitants of some island nations to relocate before the end of the century.

- 'No guarantee' -

The Paris agreement will be supported by a roster of national emissions-curbing pledges. Many parties -- including China, the United States and the European Union -- have already submitted their plans.

"But there is no guarantee that when you combine the pledges they will collectively be consistent with the 2 C objective," Tubiana pointed out.

Hence the need for a mechanism to ensure pledges add up, and a review process to monitor adherence, she said. Both issues remain highly contentious.

An internal briefing document identifies seven major sticking points, and urges diplomats to focus on two in particular, "ambition" and "differentiation" .

In the jargon of the climate talks, ambition refers to the level of emissions cuts needed, and differentiation is about sharing out responsibility for action.

Poor nations say the West, which has polluted more for longer, should carry more of the burden for emissions cuts, but the US and other rich countries insist on equal treatment and point the finger to emerging economies like China and India now among the top emitters.

The question of money is another Gordian Knot.

Poor countries insist that rich nations must show how they intend to keep a promise of boosting climate finance to $100 billion (92 billion euros) per year from 2020.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





CLIMATE SCIENCE
Copenhagen faces bumpy road to carbon neutrality
Copenhagen (AFP) July 16, 2015
Copenhagen says it is on track to become the world's first carbon neutral capital by 2025, but even after emissions fell more than expected some critics dismiss the plan as a vanity project. The Scandinavian city launched its carbon neutrality scheme in 2009, when it hosted the UN Climate Change Conference. Visitors to the Danish capital quickly become aware of its clean energy credentia ... read more


CLIMATE SCIENCE
Tropical peatland carbon losses from oil palm plantations may be underestimated

How do biofuel perennials affect the water cycle?

Scientists study ways to integrate biofuels and food crops on farms

Biogas to biomethane by water absorption column at low pressure and temps

CLIMATE SCIENCE
3-D-printed robot is hard at heart, soft on the outside

Hopping towards a better soft robot

Elon Musk funds major research grants on dangers of artificial intelligence

Advances in Robots Needed to Explore Icy Moons

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Can you actually hear 'inaudible' sound?

Con Edison Development Continues to Build Its Wind Power Portfolio

Amazon to build North Carolina wind farm

Green shoots for Aussie renewables as Ararat Wind Farm moves ahead

CLIMATE SCIENCE
New fuel-cell materials pave the way for practical hydrogen-powered cars

In Mexico City, once beloved 'Beetle' car nearly extinct

China's Uber-style taxi app raises $2 bn

A learning method for energy optimization of the plug-in hybrid electric bus

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Engineered hybrid crystal opens new frontiers for high-efficiency lighting

In search of a healthy and energy efficient building

CEC awards annual winners

Molecular fuel cell catalysts hold promise for efficient energy storage

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Russia Will Start Selling Enriched Uranium to Europe

Neutrons find 'missing' magnetism of plutonium

Russian firm dismisses South Africa nuclear build fears

Putin, Zuma consider development of South African nuclear energy priority

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Scientists issue carbon price call to curb climate change

Climate: EU parliament backs reform of carbon market

Fossil fuels, low-carbon plans, in tug-of-war

New formula expected to spur advances in clean energy generation

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Evolutionary trees reveal patterns of microbial diversification

Kidnappers free 12 loggers in Senegal's Casamance: army

Timber and construction, a well-matched couple

Rumors of southern pine deaths have been exaggerated




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.