Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
Here is a rundown of all the extreme weather we witnessed in the past few months around the world and the numerous calamities that struck all continents without exception…
To The Guardian : ” The year 2011 was another ecologically tumultuous year with greenhouse gases rise to record levels, Arctic sea ice nearly equalling 2007′s record melt, and temperatures the 11th highest ever recorded. “
” It was marked on the ground by unparalleled extremes of heat and cold in the US, droughts and heatwaves in Europe and Africa and record numbers of weather-related natural disasters. “
These are great news, just in time for the current climate talks taking place in Durban as to a new report from Bloomberg, global investments in renewables are surpassing for the first time ever the amounts invested in fossil fuels.
With economies of scale and scope, both solar energy and wind power are getting cheaper and cheaper, making them already seriously compete with much dirtier energy sources.
As a result, last year over $187 billion (141 billion euros) were invested in renewables and only $157 billion (118 billion euros) in fossil fuels. This is only the beginning. Continue »
To the AFP : ” Harmful carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels made their biggest ever annual jump in 2010, according to the US Department of Energy’s latest world data released this week. “
Global greenhouse gases emissions rose by SIX percent compared to 2009. This represents no less than 564 million more tons of carbon. Out of this, China is responsible for almost half of it alone. US emissions kept rising too…
Such an increase – when we have to stabilize our emissions and even slash them by a factor three by 2050 – is a really bad omen for our common future… Continue »
To TreeHugger : ” Last year, the Amazon rainforest experienced the worst drought on record, reducing normally flowing rivers to sun-baked stretches of dried mud and pushing the fragile ecosystem to the brink. “
” (…) As a result of 2010′s Amazon drought, experts say, some 1.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere — more than is produced by India’s entire population in a year. “
The more we put greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, the more our Planet answers back and carbon reserves like the Russian permafrost or the Amazon Rainforest start emitting even more… Continue »
As the Wall Street Journal notes : ” Australia’s controversial plan to introduce a tax on carbon emissions cleared a major political hurdle Wednesday, securing the expected approval of the country’s lower legislative house.”
” The package to introduce a price on carbon pollution and encourage investment in clean and renewable energy narrowly passed at 74-72. The law is now assured easy passage through the Australian parliament.“
The Prime Minister Julia Gillard will thus hold her promises to tax greenhouse gases emissions in 2012 as she was stating in July. Continue »
To the AFP : ” Brazil, South Africa, India and China said Saturday that November’s UN climate talks should aim to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the only binding global deal to cut greenhouse gases. “
” The four key emerging powers – seen as critical to the success of any future effort to combat climate change – said keeping Kyoto alive should be the “central priority” at the key UN summit in South Africa. “
” The bloc released the statement after two days of talks in southeast Brazil to prepare for the next UN climate conference scheduled to take place in Durban from November 28 to December 9. “ Continue »
As Sustainable Business notes : ” As part of its new sustainability goals, 3M aims to improve its energy efficiency 25% by 2015. 3M’s 2015 Sustainability Goals build upon its record of environmental achievements, which go back to 1990. “
” Since 1990, the company has cut greenhouse gases 72% and reduced solid waste indexed to sales by 66%. Those achievements have built its reputation as a global sustainability leader.”
Here is another great example of a global company that understood that the environment can go hand in hand with business. Congratulations 3M !
Here is another reason to act quickly and massively on climate : as we have seen previously, permafrost in Russia and other countries from these latitudes are trapping vast quantities of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas.
But as temperatures rise and rise and as the climate gets weirder and weirder, vast quantities of permafrost could melt by mid-century, thus releasing huge amounts of methane.
As the AFP noted last week : ” Russia’s vast permafrost areas may shrink by a third by the middle of the century due to global warming “ Continue »
According to the BBC quoting Julia Gillard, the Australian Prime Minister : “As a nation, we need to put a price on carbon and create a clean energy future… Australians want to do the right thing by the environment.”
As they note : ” The Australian government has unveiled plans to impose a tax on carbon emissions for the worst polluters. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said carbon dioxide emissions would be taxed at A$23 ($25; £15, 17€) per tonne from 2012. “
These are good news as ” Australia is one of the world’s worst emitters of greenhouse gases per head of population. The country relies on coal for 80% of its electricity generation.” Continue »
According to the WWF : ” WWF and Lafarge, the world’s largest cement maker, today agreed to continue working together to further reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions and to help build hundreds of energy-efficient buildings. ”
” (…) The company has been a member of WWF’s Climate Savers Programme since 2001 and has already exceeded previously set emissions reductions targets, leading to net emission reduction of 21.7% per ton of cement below 1990 levels in 2010. “
It seems some companies really understand that we have to commit ourselves to slashing our greenhouse gases emissions as much and as fast as possible. Continue »
