Weekly ‘Fresh Air Brief’: 10 July 2014

• Campaigners in Indonesia are celebrating a small victory having blocked enough land acquisitions to delay a 2,000 megawatt coal power plant planned for Central Java.
• The results of a pilot LED street light project in Kolkata, run by The Climate Group, led to an overall electricity savings of 40%. They’re calling for all new street lighting to be LED (or as efficient as) by 2015, and all street lighting the same by 2020.
• Dr Saleemul Huq makes the case for changing the way Bangladesh talks about its relationship with climate change.
• Chinese netizens suffocating in smog are invoking chicken farts to protest the negative effects of GDP growth.

Africa and the Middle East

• Millicent Ele is calling on Nigeria’s Ministry of Power and electric industry to take a fresh look at the environmental and health implications of the country’s power sector, urging further reform.
• CDKN looks at Kenya’s potential for geothermal power; and how the insurance industry could be a key piece of extending energy access to the nearly 77% of Kenyans still lacking.
• MongaBay analyzes the implications of SOCO’s International agreement with WWF to suspend of oil exploration in Virunga National Park.

The Americas

• Anti-coal campaigners in the US could risk losing ground in their efforts to cut off finance sources for coal development abroad. A new plan to revive US financing for overseas coal-fired plants via the country’s Export-Import Bank is infiltrating the US Congress this week. Our Tree Alert has more.
• A new report released by Oil Change International exposes over $21 billion in fossil fuel production subsidies annually in the U.S. at the federal and state levels.
• Climate Central launched a new interactive tool to help US residents understand how climate change will affect summers by the end of the century.
• 350.org is helping drive a citizen’s lobby effort to get Canada’s National Energy Board Chair, Peter Watson to include climate impacts and people’s voices in the Energy East Pipeline’s review.
• Lawsuits launched by WildEarth Guardians against three coal mining projects in the US could have far-reaching consequences that slow new coal extraction projects across the country.
• A new study released by two Alberta First Nations communities, in partnership with the University of Manitoba, reports that certain carcinogens released in tar sands operations are being found in high levels in local wildlife.

Europe

• Campaigners efforts to stop fracking in Europe got a boost this week as Germany’s economics minister Sigmar Gabriel and environment minister Barbara Hendricks work to ban the technology for the next seven years. Our Tree Alert has more.
• The Carbon Tracker Initiative is accusing Shell of misrepresenting climate change issues to investors.
• Greenpeace is out with a new video asking much-loved toy company, LEGO to ditch its partnership with oil company Shell.
• 25 activists from across seven countries chained themselves to the gates of a Chevron shale gas exploration well in Eastern Romania, calling on the government to ban fracking in the country.
• Friends of the Earth are shining the spotlight on Commonwealth Games organizers Glasgow 2014 for reneging on promises to create low emission zones around venues.
• A leaked European Union document published by the Washington Post exposes the dangerous direction the trade deal between the U.S. and the EU is taking when it comes to raw material and energy.
• As the European officials consider an energy efficiency target for 2030, experts from E3G and Policy Exchange explain why and how it could be useful.

The Pacific

• As its new Senate was sworn in and the carbon tax repeal bills began rolling through the upper house, the Australian government faced renewed pressure this week over its stance on climate change. Hundreds of young people gathered outside the country’s Parliament House, including school students and youth leaders, calling on the new Senators to protect their future.

• Prominent former heads of state José Ramos-Horta & Mohamed Nasheed took to the opinion pages of the Bangkok post in a call for Asian leadership on climate issues.

Global

• Cities are taking the initiative in tackling climate change, according to a new report from the Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40). It looked at what 207 cities across the world are doing to alleviate climate change’s impacts.
• The Carbon Brief reached out to 76 oil, gas and coal companies to better understand what the fossil fuel industry thinks about the ‘carbon bubble.’ Here’s what they learned.
• Writing for Ensia, Mike Shanahan reports on the how growing violence against environmental activists has led to a search for solutions.
• IIED’s David Satterthwaite reviews the latest draft of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and targets, which contain a stunning list of commitments, but fail to address how we will achieve them.
• In a session on 4 July in Geneva, the World Council of Churches Central Committee laid out plans to bolster church initiatives for climate justice.
• Amory Lovins looks at how the energy policies turned Fukushima into a loss for Japan and a win for Germany.

 

New US-China climate deal fuels hopes of bolder international agreements
On Tuesday, representatives from the United States and China - the world’s two largest emitters of carbon pollution - signed eight partnership pacts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by sharing technological knowledge, encouraging pro-business solutions and continuing close dialogue on achieving international carbon reductions by 2015.

While significant differences between the two nations still need to be ironed out, any effort to build close consensus between the US and China on climate is critical for achieving a global climate pact. RTCC (here and here) and Reuters have good analysis. You can also read more in our Tree Alert.

India’s new budget pushes renewable energy, but falls short of what’s required
India’s new government announced its first budget this week, pledging to kick-start the economy with more foreign investment, bigger spending on infrastructure and a renewed clean energy boost. While a number of groups are celebrating the emphasis on renewables, critics warn that the new budget doesn’t go far enough to address India’s short or long-term challenges. For example, a delayed start to the year’s monsoon rains, likely the new normal thanks to climate change, is hampering hydro-power generation. In response, the government is targeting more than 100 new coal mining projects and forecasts are predicting a record level of coal imports this year.

Beyond the budget, there’s a wealth of new analysis on how the country could and should respond to climate change, from fossil fuel subsidies to its ‘green industrial policy‘ to climate geopolitics and whether it will be a spoiler in ongoing UN negotiations. Check out the India Climate Dialogue for more.

Also on our radar:
Policies and politics

• A study of the five countries sharing and relying on the Indian sub-continent’s great rivers shows that Bangladesh is the only one that is taking climate change seriously.
• Egypt took a significant but jarring step toward phasing out fossil fuels last week, when a cut in fuel subsidies implemented led to price hikes of up to 78% for gasoline, diesel and natural gas. More on the context here.
• Nafeez Ahmed, executive director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development, writes in CiF that the Israeli Defense Force’s Gaza assault is aimed at controling Palestinian gas and averting an Israeli energy crisis.
• Brazil is drafting local-content policies designed to spur the development of a domestic solar-manufacturing industry.
• The European Commission is providing €975 million of funding to grow the bioenergy industry. The funds will be bolstered by a €2.7 billion donation from the private sector, provided by companies including Coca-Cola and French fossil fuel company Total.
• Leading energy journalist Hughes Belin picks out the top five energy issues that will be discussed by the European institutions under the Italian Presidency.
• A new report suggests Germany is set to miss its energy efficiency targets for 2020.
• In other German policy news, ministers laid out plans to ban hydraulic fracturing for shale gas. Though anti-fracking campaigners believe plans for the new law should go much further.
• The government in Singapore has proposed fines of up to $1.6 million for companies that cause the air pollution crossing over the border from Indonesia.
• The Kenyan government is reviewing its Forest Act to enable it to conform to the Constitutional requirement of realizing 10% forest cover in the country.
• The US’ largest cap-and-trade program for regulating greenhouse gases could be vulnerable to price spikes and market manipulation, according to a study recommending reforms.
• The Canadian province of Alberta came under fire Wednesday after quietly extending the deadline to renew its carbon levy on the province’s heaviest greenhouse gas emitters.
• The UN is exploring whether international refugee law should accommodate climate change.
• UN climate negotiations have made greater progress towards agreeing a global deal in 2015 than they had before the previous attempt in 2009, according to former UN climate chief Yvo de Boer.
• India’s most famous former environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, jumped back into headlines warning that the country faces climate ‘isolation’ unless it entertains accepting greenhouse gas emission cuts.
• In addition to progress between countries, the UN climate secretariat is also planning to help enable local governments, companies and individuals to offset their carbon emissions using U.N.-certified carbon credits.
• Future EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said that he is personally against fracking.
• Former French prime minister and possible UN climate talks president Laurent Fabius says fossil fuel subsidies must be scrapped to avert dangerous levels of global warming.
• Kiribati president Anote Tong shares the lessons learned from more than a decade trying to rally the international community to pay attention to climate change, and in so doing, save his nation’s future.
• Pope Francis, leader of the 1.2 billion member Catholic Church, continues to connect environmental issues to faith; most recently describing deforestation in regions like the Amazon Basin as a sin.

Climate impacts & extreme weather

• Summer storms spurred flash flooding across the UK this week. According to a new report from the Committee on Climate Change, increased flood risk is the greatest threat to the UK from climate change. Our Tree Alert has more.
• Recent flooding in Cameroon has raised fears about an increased mosquito population and Malaria. Around 3,200 were killed by malaria in the country last year.
• The latest bout of flooding in southern China has displaced over 60,000 and killed at least 15. Chinese authorities said last week that 134 people had been killed in floods in the first 6 months of 2014.
• Researchers point to climate change as the driver behind unprecedented summer flooding in parts of Canada.
• With no substantial amount of rainfall projected for the rest of the year, Jamaica is headed for critical drought conditions. The country is among several Caribbean countries experiencing such conditions because of climate change.
• The US’ largest reservoir - Las Vegas’ main water source and an important indicator for water supplies in the country’s Southwest - is expected to fall to its lowest level since construction this week.
• The baseline for “normal” weather used by everyone from farmers to governments to plan ahead needs to be updated more frequently to account for the big shifts caused by global warming, the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday.
• At a prestigious annual meeting of physicians in Australia, entitled ‘Future Directions in Health’, climate change was highlighted as the number one threat to health this century, with reducing carbon emissions seen as a key step in health improvement.
• A new study warns sea levels may rise much faster than previously predicted by models, which failed to take into account changes by disruptive westerly winds.

Tracking the polluters

• The US, buoyed by unconventional oil and gas development, has surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest oil producer; largely due to fracking in the US states of North Dakota and Texas.
• Seventeen coal miners were killed after being trapped by a gas explosion at a coal mine in northwestern China.
• A study of 10,000 pregnant women in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar, has revealed that the risk of miscarriages increases fourfold in winter; primarily to due pollution originating from coal use.
• The Asian Development Bank is considering $300 million in funding towards the construction of a 700 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Bangladesh. The plant is one of a suite of proposals at the site, with the Japan International Cooperation Agency recently committing $4.53 billion for the 1200 MW Matarbari coal-fired plant.
• Danish conglomerate Maersk has written off $1.7 billion after failing to exploit Brazil’s deepwater oil reserves.
• The UK will close most of its coal-fired power plants by 2023, leaving only three in use, as environmental rules take effect, according to the operator of the country’s electricity grid.
• New research by Brazilian and British scientists has found that logging, burning and developing plantations in the Amazon rainforest is releasing 54 million tons of carbon a year.
• Reporters for BBC News are being directed to significantly curb the amount of air time they give to people with anti-science viewpoints — including people who deny climate change exists — in order to improve the accuracy and fairness of the network’s news coverage.
• British utility Drax has won €300 million in EU funding to develop carbon capture and storage technology. Drax wants to use the funds to build a 450-megawatt coal-fired plant next to its existing power station in Selby, which is the UK’s largest single source of CO2 emissions.
• Researchers say there has been a forty-fold increase in the rate of earthquakes in one US state between 2008-13 - likely due to massive injections of wastewater from the oil and gas industry.

Business and technology

• Global investment in wind and other renewables exceeded $66 billion the second quarter of 2014, according to analysts Clean Power Pipeline. This is the highest quarterly figure since 2012.
• The value of green bonds issued in 2014 passed the $20 billion mark last week, as interest in environmentally friendly financial products grows. That is nearly double the total amount raised in 2013.
• In related news, Germany’s development bank KfW plans to issue its first green bond later this year.
• Renewable energy generated 31% of Germany’s electricity in the first six months of this year, according to a new report.
• The US, China, EU and 11 other governments in the WTO have opened negotiations on a trade deal aimed at ending tariffs on environmental goods such as wind turbines and solar panels.
• Brazilian renewable energy company Renova is moving ahead with plans to add 294 megawatts of wind power to the country’s renewable portfolio.
• Researchers in Jeddah have developed a robot able to keep desert solar panels free from dust without using water.
• The World Bank’s Neeraj Prasad reports back from the Africa Carbon Forum, which took place in Namibia earlier this month.
• According to a recent story in the Guardian, whale poo could be the secret to reversing the effects of climate change.

 

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