Climate Action

Photo: A dried cornfield is pictured on August 6, 2018 in Mitschdorf, eastern France, as a heatwave sweeps across Europe. Credit: phys.org

New Study Warns Of 'Hothouse' Threatening Planet Earth

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN (IDN) – Planet Earth is inching towards crossing the Rubicon by passing a tipping point and entering an irresistible "Hothouse" state. Rivers would flood, coasts would vanish, storms would wreak havoc on coastal communities, coral reefs would be eliminated, and numerous people would perish because of food scarcity and inescapable lethal heat.

All this by century's end or even earlier, even if the carbon emission reductions called for in the Paris Agreement are met, scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, University of Copenhagen, and Australian National University have warned.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 07 August 2018

Photo: LandInfo App training in Nakuru, the fourth-largest city in Kenya after Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. Credit: ATPS.

African Experts Decry Information Gap on Climate Change

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – Climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in Africa are being undermined by lack of information on climate issues among the public, policy-makers and leaders in Africa, leading to poor and delayed decision making as well as untimely undertaking of remedial actions.

This emerged during a Regional Climate Change Dialogue and Training Workshop organised by the African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) held on June 25-27, 2018 in Nairobi.

ATPS is a trans-disciplinary network of researchers, policy-makers, private sector actors and the civil society that promotes the generation, dissemination, use and mastery of science technology in Africa.

: Justus Wanzala; THE WORLD; Africa; 27 July 2018

Photo: Bhutanese delegation reporting progress in implementing Sustainable Development Goals. Credit: www.mfa.gov.bt

Climate Change Threatens Bhutan's Development Gains

By Ramesh Jaura

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The Buddhist kingdom Bhutan's report to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development was in many ways exceptional. The holistic goal the landlocked country on the Himalayas' eastern edge has set itself is the pursuit of Gross National Happiness (GNH).

The principal guiding philosophy behind the country's development process considers GNH "much more meaningful than economic growth alone," the Bhutanese delegation told the HLPF 2018 at the UN headquarters in New York on July 17, 2018.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 19 July 2018

Photo (left to right): President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, China's President Xi Jinping, and President of the European Council Donald Tusk. Credit: European Union

Climate Change 'Main Pillar' of EU-China Relations

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Collaboration between the European Union (EU) and China on climate change and clean energy is set to become "a main pillar" of their bilateral partnership, including in their economic relations, according to a joint statement.

Titled EU-China Leaders' Statement on Climate Change and Clean Energy, the statement underlines their "highest political commitment to the effective implementation" of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

It emphasizes their "firm determination" to work with all stakeholders to tackle climate change, implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, climate-resilient and sustainable development globally.

: Robert Johnson; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 18 July 2018

Photo: The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Plant in Þingvellir, Iceland. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

UN University Supports Iceland in Facilitating Developing Countries' Access To Geo-Energy

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – 439 million Asians and 588 million sub-Saharan Africans lack access to electricity, according to the International Energy Authority’s Energy Access Outlook. The situation is worse for those living in rural areas: although 98 percent of urban Filipinos have access to electricity, this is only true for 84 percent of rural dwellers.

Aware of what millions have to forego and such wide gaps between the urban and rural populations, the Geothermal Training Programme of the United Nations University (UNU-GTP), the Government of Iceland and the National Energy Authority are assisting developing countries in capacity building for geothermal exploration and development.

: Lowana Veal; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 14 July 2018

Photo: The United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development, Bonn. Credit: UNSSC

UN Summer Academy Brings 2030 Development Agenda To Life

By Rita Joshi

BONN (IDN) – In 2015, countries from around the world adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. In November 2016, the Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force, addressing the need to limit the rise of global temperatures.

Since January 2016, governments, businesses and civil society together with the United Nations have been mobilizing efforts to achieve the SDGs. Meanwhile 12 years are left for the 2030 Agenda goals to become a reality. The UN Summer Academy in Bonn is offering an engaging five-day programme from August 27 to August 31, 2018 aimed at 'Bringing the 2030 Agenda to life'.

: Rita Joshi; UN INSIDER; 11 July 2018

Worldwide Shipping Could Jeopardise Climate Goals

By Sean Buchanan

LONDON (IDN) – Worldwide, shipping contributes an estimated 2.5 percent of global emissions, but left unchecked this could grow to 17 percent by 2050, warns Transparency International – an international non-governmental organisation based in Berlin.

Failure to dramatically reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, says the NGO, will jeopardise the pledges signed by 195 states in the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit planetary warming to “well below” 2°C, and ideally to no more than 1.5°C.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 08 July 2018

Photo: The UN General Assembly agreed May 10 to take the first step toward considering whether a new international instrument was needed to address gaps between international environmental agreements. Credit: UN

Unrestricted Economic Welfare Menaces Human Well Being

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN (IDN) – The Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement set the target of prosperous development for people and our planet. Yet, it remains challenging to translate these aims into concrete policy implementations without risking human welfare and the Earth ecosystem.

A new climate study argues that optimizing economic welfare without constraints might put human well being at risk. While being successful in bringing down costs of greenhouse gas reductions for instance, the concept of profit maximization alone does not suffice to avoid the tipping of critical elements in the Earth system, which could lead to dramatic changes of our livelihoods.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 07 July 2018

Photo: South Island of Lake Turkana, Kenya © Doron CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

UN Sounds Alarm About Ethiopian Dam Threatening World Heritage Site

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Lake Turkana, the reputed birthplace of mankind, has been designated an endangered environmental hotspot by a UNESCO panel. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1997, Kenya’s Lake Turkana stands among such treasures as the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China.

It’s the world’s largest desert lake, a spectacular site whose fossil finds have contributed more to the understanding of human ancestry than any other site in the world. Turkana is an outstanding laboratory for the study of plant and animal communities.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 July 2018

Image: Amazon forest landscape. Credit: Ecuador Government

Forests Comprise Large Part of Climate Solution But Receive Meagre Investment

By Fabiola Ortiz

OSLO (IDN) – It has been a decade now that the mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation – known as REDD+ – has been included in climate negotiations, however investments have not been sufficient for bringing them down.

“Even though science tells us that forests represent thirty percent of the solution to climate change in terms of the mitigation potential of greenhouse gas emission, we are only spending less than two percent of climate finance on forest,” according to senior fellow Frances Seymour of the World Resources Institute (WRI).